Legend talks about screwing up the courage to leave a corporate job to pursue music.

John Legend: I never left music even when I was working in consulting. Or when I was in college and doing all the other things I was doing, music was always still a huge focus in my life. That’s why I never got any sleep because I was doing a day job and the music. So it never left. It was always important. I was always writing. I was always playing at a church on a weekend. I was always singing with an acapella group or doing something musical.

Even when I was working in consulting, which people think is the most kind of uptight, white collar job you could possibly do. But it’s not, and it allowed me enough time to still pursue my music. And I was playing on records with Kanye West and Alicia Keys at night, and going to work as a consultant during the day. So music was always important. I never left it. And I just wanted to get to the point where I could work at music and not have to do anything else, and I got to that point eventually.

Recorded on: Jan 29, 2008