If being gifted at one thing is considered a blessing, serial entrepreneur Larry Morrow has been favored far more than most. Known for bringing the biggest names in entertainment to top-tier events worldwide through Larry Morrow Events (LME), he has expanded his success by becoming a renowned real estate developer and exquisite restaurateur. Perhaps, most importantly, Morrow is creating a legacy of love in the hearts and minds of others that will carry his name into the future for generations to come.
Your journey is nothing short of inspiring. Could you share insights into how early experiences with gambling behind the barbershop influenced your approach to risk taking and business?
As a kid, I think that game prepared me for life. It taught me a lot at such an early age, the importance of risk because with high risk can come high reward, but also understanding at an early age that with those risks can come hurt feelings. It can go the opposite of what you planned. So, it just taught me how to balance my emotions and just learned to sometimes put it on the line when I have to. And I think that’s been the recipe of what I’ve been able to accomplish over the years, just being willing to take that risk and take that leap of faith. Sometimes I don’t have all the answers but I’m willing to jump off that cliff and build that plane on the way down, and it works for me because I think a lot of things that stop us from achieving what we want in life is just the willingness to risk a little something.
I agree. Now you curated extravagant events hosting A-list celebrities like Diddy, Floyd Mayweather, & Drake, what drives your creative process in organizing such star-studded gatherings?
So I’ll just tell you a quick story; basically, I gambled my whole life, and when I became of age, I started gambling in the casino. At that time, I started producing events at the age of twenty and started gambling in the casino at twenty-one. I literally would spend twelve hours a day. It was like a different game I was playing… I felt like the casino had more money, so I could make more money. But that wasn’t the case. I would actually lose more money because I just couldn’t stop. It became an addiction at that point. So while I’m producing these events, I would make my money and lose it in the casino… I’m like I really gotta switch it up. So that’s when things started to change for me… I made the decision to stop gambling at the casino and just focus more on my event production company. That’s when the transition happened.
I went from losing in the casino to making money in the casino. I was producing events inside Masquerade (it was a club inside of Harrah’s casino). I started to rent out this space, and I would bring different people like Diddy, Drake, Floyd Mayweather, Chris Brown, anyone you could think of, because the odds were just more in my favor betting on a game I was most familiar with. It was still a risk. When I started to do that, that’s when things started to change for me. That’s just when life started to change. I started doubling down on myself and taking those risks on me. Bringing different entertainers and people to host my events and it helped me to build something more than just money. It helped me to build these relationships. It helped build something different to the entertainment scene down in NOLA. I’m not from a-list market like ATL, LA, MIA, or NYC, where you see these people and you party with them on the regular. But now it’s become a regular thing. At that point people were telling me “don’t book Diddy” because I would lose, but they were putting their fears on me. They never booked Diddy or never booked somebody of that caliber or spent that type of money. A few people have, but for me to take that risk, it really exposed me to the truth. I saw I could make my money back by producing these events. Most importantly, I was in love with the fact of being able to build these relationships, which really helped me later on in life.
You also launched a self-help book called ‘All Bets On Me: The Risks and Rewards of Becoming an Entrepreneur’. What motivated you to take that experience and embody it in a book?
A lot of people asked me for help and advice. Honestly, it’s hard to articulate to so many people. This was my way of doing that. This was my way of just putting it in a book, and I’ve given so many books away… Just me doing my part and providing something from a part of my journey for people to be inspired by, also to learn from. I want them to really understand the importance of risks; the risks and the reward. A lot of people spend their lives on autopilot. Not willing to take the risks, and not willing to take that leap of faith. I think to achieve a certain level of success; you have to be willing to take that leap of faith and trust in god and trust in your ability and your work ethic.
Beyond your personal achievements, you are committed to giving back to the community. Can you elaborate on your philanthropic endeavors and mentorship programs?
In someway, everything I do every day is my way of giving back. I do, of course, host galas, and different things like that. I was just telling my grandmother at my restaurant, the greatest gift you can give someone is a piece of you. So long after you live, people can hold on to something you gave them. Whether it was advice or teaching them how to make a dish. That’s the greatest gift you can give and you will be remembered for it. That’s kind of what I do. I love to encourage people in as many ways as possible, whether it’s responding to a direct message via social media or allowing artists to send me their music. I linger around the music industry a lot and I dibble and dabble a little bit in that. We do a lot of different things, the turkey giveaways, the Merry Morrow Christmas, a bunch of different things just throughout the years to play a part.
From curating events to real estate, you have expanded your empire. How do you balance all of your business ventures?
Well, it’s a challenge. One of the biggest jobs I have is that I am engaged and I have a three-year-old daughter who’s about to be four. So that’s my real job. Everything else is secondary. My practice of self care is self reflection, me running and working out. It allows me time to myself just to try to game plan and really gather all my thoughts so I can tackle the day. It sounds so simple, but for me, that morning run is what really helps me get through the day. It allows me that time away from everything to really just run and zone out, or work out and prepare to figure out how I am going to balance everything. Cause it is a challenge every day, and every day is a new challenge. One of the big things that really helps is having a companion that really understands, and brings that balance, and contributes to everything. That helps, but for the most part, it’s clean cut and dry, just having that time for yourself to map out life and figure things out. I don’t have it all figured out, and every day is different. I currently have over three hundred employees. It’s a lot to manage at times, but I think I have such a supportive team, and a strong foundation, it helps make my life not as chaotic as it should be.
When it comes to your real estate ventures, what inspired you to enter that domain? What challenges did you face along the way?
When I was twenty-five, I started to invest in real estate because of close friends and mentors of mine. Saddam Spencer, John Celestine, and Sidney Torres, these guys were mentoring me and they’re like gurus in this industry. I just wanted to diversify my investments. I was at that age where I was finding myself and just trying to figure life out. So I was not only producing events, I was working on the book and I was investing into real-estate. I was putting my fast cash into a safer place to try and sustain that success, and just to hold on to that money because it comes and goes fast. I would invest in real estate just to have something else to do. I would renovate and flip homes just to learn more about the industry. Real estate is a step-by-step process. Especially, to develop a home from the ground on up. One challenge I faced was learning to be patient because it’s not an overnight thing. You can’t build a home in one day. I’ve been through my fair share of lessons while developing, but I’ve also just learned that you gotta take your time and having mentors in the industry will help make your life ten-times easier rather than trying to figure it out all on your own. I think having my mentors helped make my journey in the real estate industry a lot easier than theirs, because they didn’t have all the information or the mentors to help them, or just to guide them.
Your impact extends to the culinary scene with your establishments like Morrow’s and Tree House NOLA. Can you describe your vision for these dining experiences?
My vision for the dining experiences is to bring something different to the hospitality scene in NOLA. I think NOLA is known for its culinary experiences, dining, food, and its culture. I frequent so many different places throughout the country, especially abroad. I see so many different experiences. We haven’t really challenged ourselves here to in New Orleans. So when I travel, it’s almost like painting on a canvas. You’re seeing things around the world and just wanna paint on the canvas and create your version of it… What I see around the country and outside the country inspires me to create a place where great food and dope vibes collide… I truthfully built my brand off of hospitality. If I didn’t build the relationships I built through the hospitality, I provided when I brought people to NOLA, I wouldn’t be who I am today. It’s me creating those memories and leaving those everlasting impressions on the people that I’ve worked with that help build friendships that help build a brand. It helped me build something unique within the space that a lot of places don’t have. A lot of places may have great food but they don’t have exposure and they don’t have the culture. They can not add that extra to what they’re doing. It’s not that they don’t know how, there are just certain things you have to do. In this industry, to be successful, I just think there are certain things you have to have in order to be successful. You could have a great cook, but it’s not all about the cook. It’s not all about the vibe, it’s a mixture of all of it. My mom being a great chef and me being great at curating events and bringing people to a location and creating vibes was the perfect concoction that helped create a great recipe.
Again, you have achieved a great deal of success. During this interview, you have spoken in detail about how your relationships have impacted your business ventures. What advice would you offer someone looking to follow in your footsteps to succeed?
There’s a restaurant in New Orleans called the Orleans Brothers (the owner) we met recently. I was dope meeting people in the same industry. In NOLA, it’s pretty dope. I was like, why are we just meeting? He was like; I don’t know! I knew about his business but didn’t have a face to a name. I told him you gotta be outside more. I understand that you’re working, but you gotta be willing to build your business. A lot of people want their business to grow by just sitting in their business. What helped me grow was being outside, just connecting the dots, networking with people, and building those relationships. A lot of people don’t understand that. You don’t meet people by staying at your own location. You meet people by going out socializing and networking. When I was building my event promotion company, I was passing out flyers. I was everywhere. I was doing everything. I got over 100,000 emails. I was sending out emails, collecting data, sending out text messages, passing out flyers, going to social networking events and doing the most. I think that’s what it requires when you want to build a business. You have to really be willing to do any and everything to build that business. That is only some things I’ve done that I would suggest to anyone for any business. You should get out there and network and connect the dots and connect with people. Word of mouth is still the Mecca of the market. Word of mouth holds a lot of weight, so when you can have someone speaking about your business or raving about what you’re doing when you’re not there, that’s the most powerful thing you can have. On social media, you can do paid ads, and yes, it helps, but when you hear somebody out and about in the streets raving about a business, and taking you wherever they go, that’s a strong thing.
Absolutely, that’s awesome advice and I think that my readership will definitely benefit from it. I know I will. Lastly, looking ahead are your aspirations for the future of your business, and your continued impact on New Orleans?
I want to continue to inspire and help out in any way possible. I told you earlier I had this conversation with my grandmother. I want to leave a piece of me with everybody. Especially those who may be following the journey. I hope they will let the world know I did my part to help as many people out as possible… I’m blessed to have mentors in this industry who give me advice, who show me the ropes, and I want to be as impactful as they are to me. That’s one thing I want to do for New Orleans. But as far as in this industry, I want to have one of the bigger hospitality groups in the country. I wanna be able to have their recipes throughout the country. And when I say recipes, I’m not even just speaking in the form of food. I want to build this legacy in the industry and do it on a scale like Tilman Fertitta, on a scale like Eugene over at Kess Hospitality, or David Grutman, all these different hospitality gurus who are thriving in the space. I have found something that I love. I found something that comes natural to me. And I found something that can make a big difference in my life and my family’s life. It comes so organic and I love just waking up every day and attacking whatever mission is in front of me. I want to expand and create that legacy over time and continuing to grow this company.
Again, thank you so much for taking out time for this interview. It’s been very enlightening and inspiring and it’s really dope to meet somebody who built something great from the bottom floor, and how you’ve taken the risks that you’ve taken and everything. I really appreciate it.
I appreciate you taking the time out to interview me. It means a lot. Thank you, I look forward to reading it!
Be’n Original
