Meet Stanford Reid

We were lucky to catch up with Stanford Reid recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Stanford, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My work ethic comes from my determination to reach and maintain certain outcomes in my life. I grew up in a place where a lot of people didn’t have drive and sometimes they would blame circumstances for them not reaching their goals. I didn’t want that to be the case for myself, so I worked harder to align myself with better opportunities for me to reach my goals. Later in life I had children, and they became my new motivation. I began working hard to give them better opportunities than I had myself.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Most of our work falls under the WAFFL Records umbrella. My collaborator Richard Rolle and I have been working hard to expand the brand with WAFFL Taco, a Caribbean-inspired taco concept. We started as a ghost kitchen in Brooklyn, NY, and within a few months, expanded to a brick-and-mortar location in Atlanta, Georgia. Our next phase includes launching a food truck to participate in various festivals and events across the region. As artists, we also plan to leverage our event curation skills to create our own full-scale music festival—stay tuned for WAFFL Music Fest.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I’ve recently learned not to underestimate the role of luck in achieving your goals. While work ethic and resilience are often emphasized—and they do matter—being prepared mentally for opportunities when they arise is just as important. For me, the three most impactful qualities were resilience, adaptability, and self-awareness.

You need self-awareness to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, resilience to push through failures, and adaptability to adjust when circumstances change. My advice for those early in their journey is to focus on developing these traits. Stay aware of yourself, persist through challenges, and be open to change when necessary.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The most impactful book in my development was The Alchemist. It taught me several valuable lessons. One was the idea of foreshadowing—how the protagonist’s journey hinted he would eventually reach his goal. This sense of certainty can be likened to self-confidence, a driving force that keeps you going even when you face adversity. The book also highlights the importance of meeting the right people along the way—mentors, friends, and collaborators who offer timely wisdom that can make all the difference. I’ve experienced this firsthand, with many people playing key roles in my progress, and I’m confident I’ll meet more who will help shed light on my path going forward.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Kilian Son, Richard Rolle, Xon Hai, Steve Porte, Nazerke Akilova

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