The Tony- and Grammy Award-winning musical artist Leslie Odom Jr. told the financial professionals attending BNY Mellon/Pershing’s Insite 2021 conference that building camaraderie in any organization—whether it is a Broadway play or a financial firm—“comes from the top, for sure.”
Odom, who broke into national fame with his role as Aaron Burr in the trendsetting Broadway play Hamilton, shared his pointers about the road to success as a keynote speaker on the last day of the Insite 2021 conference Thursday.
In a conversation with Evan LaHuta, managing director of BNY Mellon/Pershing, Odom said the leadership of any organization nurtures the elements that bring success.
Odom left Philadelphia at the age of 17 headed for Broadway and what he hoped would be a role in Rent. He won the role of Paul in the long-running play.
“The decision was simple for me. I loved Rent, the way people now love Hamilton. I tell young people now, they have to find something they love ... something that opens their hearts,” he said.
After gaining success in television, he came to a crossroad and was debating his future when a mentor told him he could quit acting and singing and go a different route, “but he said he would like to see me try first. I did not know what he meant. I had been taking singing lessons since I was 13. I thought I was trying,” Odom said.
He did not quit, and “a mixed tape of the music that would eventually be Hamilton crossed my desk,” The next step was national stardom.
Being part of a successful organization should make a person feel like he or she is on a championship team. That is the way working on Hamilton felt, Odom said.
He also starred in the 2020 movie One Night in Miami, in which he plays Sam Cooke. His performance of the song “Speak Now,” which he wrote for the movie, concluded Insite 2021.
The song, he said, "is about the action you are going to take. When you speak, you have to have the support of your past,” he said. But the song's refrain is actually “listen.”
Photography By Warren Elgort, CC By 3.0