A guided tour of big breaks

Sir Mix-a-Lot doesn't have an MBA, but he knows how to make the most of a business opportunity.

The Seattle rapper, whose given name is Anthony Ray, won a Grammy for his 1993 hit "Baby Got Back."Because he had the foresight to keep most of the rights to his music, he's still making money off it and he owns a recording company.

On Tuesday he was on a panel at a University of Washington business dinner.

Michael Verchot, director of the UW Business and Economic Development Center, said people talking about business in Seattle might think of Starbucks or Microsoft, but business innovation doesn't stop there. He said Mix helped create a new music genre and a new industry.

Only 2 percent of undergraduates in the UW's Foster School of Business are African American, but the school and alumni are trying to raise that number.

The dinner was the sixth annual Celebration of African American Business Achievement, which focuses each year on African-American alumni of the business school.

Business is about dollars, but the core of Tuesday's message was that money follows creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, and that earning dollars feels best when cash isn't the primary motivation.

Mix said that after his big hit, he was sitting around the house getting fat when someone brought a young singer for him to hear. His first reaction was, "She can sing, so what?"

But then he looked into her eyes and saw "I want to sing," not "I want to be rich."

"It was about the music."

That rekindled the passion that drives his business.

Another panel member Tuesday was Craig Dawson, a 1985 graduate of the business school. He is the founder and CEO of Retail Lockbox, which processes checks, documents and credit-card transactions for other businesses.

He said he spent 12 years selling and designing computers for a big company. That was work. Now, "I'm not thinking I'm going to work. ... I'm creating something. We're creating technology that lets other people be successful."

Robert Jeffrey Jr., founder and publisher of ColorsNW magazine, also spoke, as did Lori Milton, a loan officer for small businesses.

But there was also a big dose of inspiration from a business-school student. Patricia Dixon, a junior studying finance, was awarded the first Association of Black Business Students Endowed Scholarship.

Dixon said her mother grew up poor in the Philippines, where students had to pay enrollment fees and buy supplies that often were beyond their means.

She finished only the equivalent of ninth grade. "She never understood why children in America skipped school" and instilled in Dixon a desire for education and an appreciation of available opportunities.

Dixon said, "My mother never accepted anything less than an A on my report card."

For Mix and Dixon, business is about grabbing the opportunities in front of you and creating new ones. Their words Tuesday night may inspire others to do that, too.

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.