Day 159: Mychal Wilson

March 8, 2010 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“… at the end of every day, you kind of have to look at yourself, and you have to say ‘Okay, you know, what can I change tomorrow?  What can I do better tomorrow or the next day that didn’t work today?’  Every day we have obstacles in life, and part of life is to overcome those obstacles and you move on.  … There’s always tomorrow.”

.

.

Right click here to download…

.

Toni Reece: Thank you so much Mychal, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Mychal Wilson: Hi.  Thank you, Toni.  I’m Mychal Wilson.  I’m a partner, a law partner, at Mind Fusion Law, and I specialize in entertainment law and Qui Tam law, which is whistleblower law.

Toni: Okay, thank you.  And Mychal, when you think about inspiration, who do you think you inspire and how do you do that?

Mychal: Essentially, I think I inspire – or I try to inspire – my family, friends, and colleagues, and actually potential clients also.  Essentially, what I try to do is I try to have people realize that, you know, there is a sense of justice out there in society and, you know, there’s obstacles that we face every day in life, and part of life is to persevere.   You know, the easiest thing to do in life is to quit.  Part of that is, for example, my clients, I help them set short-term and long-term goals.  If they are unable to meet their goals, then I advise them not to give up on the goal but to adjust their action steps to achieve those goals.  Essentially, my motto is kind of, you know, never leave a stone unturned, and you have to really find out what is important and what really matters to you.

Toni: By working with people like this and even, I would imagine, that spills over in your day-to-day relationships as well, how do you think that helps people explore their own potential?

Mychal: Well, I think it helps a lot, because I think what they do is they focus on themselves and what’s really important to them, meaning it helps them to realize, you know, what their true skill assets are, what their God-given talents are, and it opens up the world around them.  I think part of it is to have clients or, you know, family, friends, and colleagues step back and you look at the big picture.

Toni: Now one of the things you had said as far as how you inspire others is by creating a sense of judgment?

Mychal: No; a sense of justice.

Toni: Justice – I’m sorry.

Mychal: No judgment.  No, that’s okay.

Toni: That’s why I wanted to clarify that; I’m thinking “Oh, let’s get into that a little bit.”  That would be a little …

Mychal: I’m an attorney but not a judge.

Toni: Yeah, it kind of seemed a little off for me.  Okay, so your sense of justice then, that’s obviously in the type of work that you do, and do you … can you give a little bit of background on that, please?

Mychal: Yes.  Well, when I say sense of justice, whether it’s ethical or legal … you know, we all have our rules and regulations kind of and the moral part of us and how we live our daily lives.  For me, when I say I’m a Qui Tam attorney, I represent whistleblowers in the healthcare fraud arena, meaning I represent clients who are filing lawsuits against big pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies.

I’ll be really brief.  Essentially, years ago I worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb as a pharmaceutical rep.  I was going through law school.  I had made a successful movie, and I noticed a lot of egregious conduct that was occurring.  I proceeded to speak out against the conduct; and this involved kicking back physicians, inducing physicians to write prescriptions of, for example, Pravachol and Plavix, which are billion-dollar drugs, and the company turned against me and fired me.  So in the process, I filed a whistleblower lawsuit — and there were about six of us, seven of us — and in 2007, Bristol-Myers Squibb settled for $515,000,000 for illegal marketing practices.

So when I say sense of justice meaning, you know, do the right thing.  I had co-employees come to me and tell me “Hey, do not disrupt the status quo – lay low, you know?  You’ll get your bonus check.  You’ll get your salary, you know?”  But I grew up on Capitol Hill, and that’s what I mean in terms of having a sense of justice.

Toni: Right, and I would imagine there are many people that know that story, and if you have that sense of fairness and you went to the wall for that, I would imagine that that example is also a way that you would help people to explore their own potential and that sense of fairness.

Mychal: Exactly.  You know, I’m fortunate enough to have, you know, gather a lot or sign a lot of clients in the healthcare fraud industry.  But on a personal level with families and friends, you know, I think I show … what I try to show is it’s all about perseverance and tenacity.  I really think those are undervalued attributes that we have in life.

Toni: Absolutely, I agree with you, and they are two very important attributes.  So what inspires you?

Mychal: I think what really inspires me is … again, what matters to me is really fighting against healthcare fraud, and also, you know, I’m an entertainment attorney, too.  I’m a former filmmaker, and really helping entertainment clients achieve their full potential.  So essentially, I like to help others, and the way I do it is going by the law through legal rep and advising and counseling clients.

Toni: Now have you always been that brave?  Have you always had the courage to stand up for your convictions and to use your voice and to know that “I’m going to go to the wall for this” – have you always come to the table that way?

Mychal: You know, that’s a great question there, Toni.  I think it’s always been inside me, but again I think we all have to look inside, be true to ourselves, and really follow our instincts; you know, that way it’s that gut feeling.  And you know, I wasn’t able to actually execute that until … I felt that until I became an attorney.

Toni: Oh, okay; and why was that?

Mychal: Because I think going to law school and becoming a licensed attorney gave me the tools and the skill assets to really feel confident in helping me advise and counsel my clients.

Toni: So there’s people listening to this interview all over the world and they may not be brave enough or have the courage and be, just like you, and wanting to do the right things but not sure that they can go that far, and they’re not going to become an attorney.  Now, how would you advise someone to get past that fear to do the right thing?

Mychal: Okay.  You know, obviously the fear is an obstacle, and obstacles are meant to … you know, you can overcome obstacles.  What I suggest is to develop a short-term goal and a long-term goal in terms of achieving what you really want to do in life.  Explore, experiment.

I recently spoke at my law school for aspiring entertainment attorneys, and my best advice to them was “Hey, you know what?  You guys and gals are in law school right now, and you should do internships, so take a job at a studio.  Take a job at a big law firm, a boutique law firm, because you’ll really find out if that’s really meant for you or not.  You know, if someone wants to become a doctor, if someone wants to become a carpenter, if someone wants to become a writer, the only way you’ll know is if you actually try to become one.”

Toni: So at the end of the day when you might be feeling a little down or you’re saying “You know what?  Gosh, you know, I’m looking for a little inspiration here to kind of keep things moving,” where do you go?  What do you do?

Mychal: You know, it’s funny actually; one of the sales techniques I learned in the pharmaceutical industry which is very, very helpful is that at the end of every day, you kind of have to look at yourself, you know, and you have to say “Okay, you know, what can I change tomorrow?  What can I do better tomorrow or the next day that didn’t work today?”  Every day we have obstacles in life, and part of life is to overcome those obstacles and you move on.  Again, if something isn’t working, you know, something bad happened that day, you know what?  There’s always tomorrow.

Toni: Okay, so that is what you do is that you go “All right, you know, I did all I can do today.  Now tomorrow, I may rewrite a little bit to look a little different.”

Mychal: Exactly.  Remember, the one thing we know is the sun always rises.

Toni: Absolutely.  How do you continue to explore your own potential so that you can help the industries that you’re working in and also within your own personal life?

Mychal: You know, that’s a great question, Toni.  What I do is I do a lot of research and reading.  For example, if someone … and I would advise someone if they want to become a carpenter or if they want to become an architect, well then, you know what, read the trades in your industry to find out what’s going on.  You know, you have to stay up on the latest news and events, whether … again, if you’re a stylist, if you’re in film, if you’re in politics, you know, you have to learn, you have to research, you have to explore and experiment.

Toni: And that’s what you do?

Mychal: That’s what I do.

Toni: You do, okay, great.  Can you give an example of something that you’ve done recently where you’ve done a little exploration and then experimented in an area?

Mychal: Yes.  You know, I attend conferences all the time to learn about whistleblower law.  I also read a lot, you know, whether it’s entertainment trades or whistleblower law magazines, and essentially that’s what I do to stay up on everything.  You can’t learn everything, but you know, I have colleagues I speak to, and so I kind of built a team around me.  And so if I’m unsure about something, then I can go to them for advice.

Toni: Just an interesting thought occurred to me.  When … you’re dealing with such … two entities here of entertainment law and whistleblower law.

Mychal: Yes.

Toni: Is there a correlation at all between the two?

Mychal: You know what the correlation is?  It’s I practice what I know, and I lived those two lives.  I was an actor who sat in class for years, you know?  I actually was a producer who made, you know, a successful movie that was on HBO and Starz.  I represent whistleblowers, and I was a whistleblower.  So in terms of the correlation, you know, I guess it’s my areas of law practice, and it’s what I personally experienced.

Toni: So now you can just carry that experience forward.

Mychal: Yes.

Toni: Absolutely.  Well thank you so very much for telling your story with us at the Get Inspired! Project, and I’m sure that it will inspire people on many different levels – one, to follow your passion, and how to also maybe overcome some fears so that you might have the courage to do not only the right thing, but the right thing for you, and that’s what I’m taking away from your interview today.

Mychal: Thank you, Toni.

Toni: Thank you very much.  Take care of yourself.

Mychal: You too.

___________________________________________________________

For more information about Mychal Wilson:  www.mychalwilson.com

.