![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4TL43BE4UNHQPLZ6L5VE22EZTE.JPG\")
<\/p>\n
The first episode of ‘On Brand with Jimmy Fallon’ with BT Hale, Lauren Karwoski, Elijah Bennett, Mahiri Takai, Ryan Winn, Bianca Fernandez pictured left to right in the top row and Sabrina Burke, Jill McVicar Nelson, Scott Murphy, Jimmy Fallon, Bozoma Saint John, Pyper Bleu, Azhelle Wade pictured left to right in the bottom row.<\/p>\n
David Holloway\/NBC \/ David Holloway\/NBC<\/p>\n
Upon joining the show, Takai, a 39-year-old who has worked in brand marketing, was surprised to realize he was \u201ca student of something that [he] thought [he] was the master in.\u201d Listening to insight from Fallon and Saint John was humbling, but also eye-opening. <\/p>\n
He recalls, for example, Saint John\u2019s words of advice: \u201cThe best thing that you could ever do for a client is remember what they\u2019re asking versus what you want to see.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exactly what I needed to hear,\u201d Takai said.<\/p>\n
In episode three, which Takai won, contestants received a brief to \u201cintroduce people to the magic of Marshalls.\u201d Among the assignment\u2019s requirements, they had to create a campaign, billboard and pop-up activation. <\/p>\n
Takai pitched a branded closet where stylists would help visitors select Marshalls clothing that fit their style. <\/p>\n
As the winner, Takai had his billboard mounted on the side of a building in midtown Manhattan. He got emotional in the episode when he visited the site with his two children, months after the challenge. <\/p>\n
Takai cried at that moment, he said, not only because he was happy to win, but because of how far he had come. After growing up in Pleasant Grove, he moved to New York City in 2005 to pursue a career in fashion. He returned to Dallas in 2012 and later started Men\u2019s Fashion Week here. He currently runs Aodi, a Dallas-based marketing agency. <\/p>\n
The Marshalls challenge surfaced memories from his time in New York. Near the billboard was the Times Square church he joined, a Starbucks where he worked as a barista and the hospital he lived in when he was homeless. <\/p>\n
\u201cI moved to New York City with a dream of doing this thing \u2014 and this thing that\u2019s going to happen fast,\u201d he said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t happen fast at all.\u201d <\/p>\n
Along the way, there have been joyful moments, like marriage and having children. His kids are now watching his On Brand appearance, which he hopes will inspire courage in them. <\/p>\n
But tragedy struck as he hustled. His father was murdered, he said. <\/p>\n
Reflecting on those experiences, Takai, who was once a pastor, draws on his faith. \u201cI am so honored that God took away the pain,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Details<\/p>\n
The remaining episodes of On Brand with Jimmy Fallon will air on Fridays at 7 p.m. on NBC until the season finale on Oct. 31. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock. <\/p>\n
NDAs, prestige and power will take center stage in this adaptation of a short story by Dallas native Chandler Baker.<\/p>\n Former ABC News stars were at the center of controversy in December 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen the dictionary identifies entrepreneur, it\u2019s me that they\u2019re talking about,\u201d Dallas native Mahiri Takai said in the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":311631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,185,1596,7295,6337,358,173,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-311630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-pleasant-grove","12":"tag-reality-tv","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tv","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115391450312547322","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Nicole](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760733673_621_XFVTKJUQLNDDVAT2PYS7J7VSP4.jpg\")
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