Richard Knight shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Richard, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
Well, general speaking, my core business is helping my clients protect their ideas, their creations, their secrets, their inventions, and their freedom to operate. But what is often misunderstood are the HUGE RISKS people and businesses unknowingly incur when they fail to adequately protect themselves—that the services I provide are somehow optional and that it’s okay to delay or forego the legal protections that are available. Yet nothing could be further from the truth!
Frankly, I cannot tell you how many times I have had new clients approach me with a really cool invention that they finally want to protect…but it’s too late! Either they waited too long and the opportunity for legal protection has expired, or someone else beat them to the punch and protected their invention first. And why does this happen? Because of fundamental misunderstandings regarding when to protect and how to actually do it. And these mistakes are costly, sometimes even business-ending for a small company or a startup.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Yes, of course! My name is Richard Knight and I am the head of the Knight Legal Group PLLC, a specialty national legal practice operating out of Houston that works closely with clients to identify, evaluate, select, and protect their “intangible assets” such as ideas, creations, and inventions, as well as business names and customer recognition and goodwill. In this day and age, it is these “intangible assets” that provide sustainable competitive advantages over competitors and generate real value in the face of stiff competition coupled with how easy it is for others to copy and make cheap knockoffs of pretty much everything. By deploying a well-crafted strategy for using patents, copyrights, trademarks, and other legal safeguards, our clients truly achieve the protections they need to succeed and excel! And I really do love helping our clients protect and defend their ideas and inventions to prevent bad-actors from coming along and stealing them.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Oh, that’s an interesting questions. Hmmmm…
Well, when I was about ten years old, I had the opportunity to join my Dad on a very special week-long trip, but my folks make it clear that I could only go if I could get my fifth-grade teacher’s permission because I would miss a whole week of school.
So I approached my teacher—Mr. Roger Branz at Freeman Elementary—and I pleaded my case, promising to complete in advance all of the schoolwork and homework I would miss as well as makeup any quizzes or tests when I returned, and further explaining just how important and special this trip was to me personally. And after patiently listening to my impassioned and well-rehearsed pleas, Mr. Branz leaned in close to me and replied, “Ricky, you always work hard and pay attention in class, and your good grades reflect your effort, so not only do I give you my approval but also you do not have to make-up any of the work you will be missing because hard work has its rewards.”
Needless to say I was stunned—mostly because the rule of making up missed schoolwork was so thoroughly ingrained in us students and had never heard of any exception!—but I was deeply grateful and have never forgotten Mr. Branz’s words nor the lesson he taught me and which has inspired me ever since. And on that day, I truly did feel very powerful and fortunate for the unique and unexpected privilege I had earned, and the tremendous boost to my confidence could not have been more profound for the person I was and was going to become.
Of course, I’ve felt “powerful” on many occasions since then—far too many times to count I must admit—and I am grateful for the circumstances that have led to such positive feelings, but only when honestly and fairly warranted because I also earnestly believe that it’s important for such feelings to never come at the expense of others, from denigrating other people or diminishing their dignity, and striving to never forget what it feels like to be powerless.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Professionally? Yes, about seven years ago when my business suffered three significant setbacks simultaneously. If there was ever any “writing on the wall,” this was it and it couldn’t have been any clearer because of the improbable coincidence in me taking unexpected hits from three different directions all at once. At that time I also knew it would be risky and costly to continue—that it would take months, if not years, to recover from these setbacks and return to profitability—and that there was no guarantee of success, and that bankruptcy might become an uncomfortable possibility. As such, it was readily apparent to me that the safest, most prudent course would be cash-in and begin again elsewhere.
However, I was very reluctant to give up on the decade of time and effort I had spent building up my business—a unique legal practice dedicated to what I do extremely well and enjoy very, very much—and I strongly felt like I was on the cusp of something big, something meaningful, and so I instead decided to see it through, come what may. And I never looked back.
Two years later, the dam finally broke and my firm and I had our most successful year to date, and the subsequent years have been very strong. As a result, I continue to do what I love to do—something few others can do as well—and I am grateful I made the decision I did.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
In my experience, “fads” tend to be hugely emotional in nature—appealing to some feeling, to some unmet inner need, or to some sense of self-identity—and are also often irrational, illogical, seemingly random, and are themselves easily supplanted or replaced by subsequent fads, and are also almost exclusively focused on something “new” and “exciting” (or at least perceived to be new and exciting). This is not to diminish the importance of recognizing and understanding fads, of course, but this viewpoint does help explain why fads come and go and are often difficult to anticipate, react to, and keep in proper perspective. On the other hand, real foundational shifts or “new paradigms” tend to be more fact-based, objective, foreseeable (or at least obvious in hindsight), and are generally only seceded by subsequently newer future paradigms.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. When do you feel most at peace?
Oh, that’s easy: it’s the time I spend with my family and friends. There is nothing I value more than the relationships I have with my wife, my children, my parents, all of my extended family everywhere, and with my dear friends (many of whom I consider family). Indeed, almost all of my free-time—including evenings and weekends, vacations, and even while traveling on business—I try to spend with family and friends, and it’s always the time I am happiest, peaceful, and most self-fulfilled. Even when I’m alone or away from home, I still feel connected to these wonderful people on some level, and it brings me peace and happiness that far exceeds anything else in my life. I am truly blessed to have the family and friends that I do, and I really can’t imagine my life without them, nor ever want to.
Contact Info:
- Other: email: [email protected]
Image Credits
All photos and images are my own, taken by me or produced by me, and I have all rights, title, and interest to these images.
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