WEBVTT - FLASHBACK - How creatives claim a seat at the table or build their own w/ Bimma Williams 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.520 Afro Tech is back in Austin, Texas this November is 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.040 the place for all things black, tech and Web three. 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.360 The in person afro Tech Conference experience is bridging the 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:14.840 worlds of afro technologists, innovators, investors, corporations, musicians, and everyone 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.520 in between. So pull up, grab your crew, and grab 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.360 your tickets and join us at the largest black professional 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.720 conference of the gear. This experienced the afro Tech Dot 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:27.600 Count to learn more. Our travels continue this past week 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:31.560 in Seattle with Amazon for Amazon Accelerating the Black Business Accelerator, 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:33.960 where I got a chance to finally meet all of 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:38.159 my mentees in person. Each of them are black founders 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:40.479 working to make their dreams of reality. If you want 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.919 to check out who they are my mentees that is, 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.920 check out my post on I g um at Will 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.360 Lucas on I g and you can see my peoples. 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.360 This week, I'm in l A for afro Tech Executive 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:55.400 l A. Um. Just I'm just about lost count of 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.120 all the afro Tech Executive events. Let's see, we kicked 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:03.560 it off in l A. They went to Miami, hopped 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:07.120 over to Brooklyn, d C. A couple of months ago, 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:09.160 and now we're back in l a so I guess 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.640 that makes this number five and especial number five. It 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.440 is to be back in the City of Angels. And 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:18.640 with all this road talk, I'm digging into the archives 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:23.320 for a special episode which features Beatmon Williams, and he 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:27.039 knows a lot more about fashion and upcoming designers than most. 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.119 On this episode, we discussed podcasting and media, leveraging your 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:35.440 brand for value in parallel verticals, and that was a lot. 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:37.920 It'll make sense when you get into the episode, and 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:40.680 how to keep your finger on the pulse of what's 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.200 hot so you can spire trends and capitalized early. It's 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:53.880 black teching money, Let's get into it. Afro Tech teen Oakland, California. 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.880 Al finds out Morris, who's at the time of product 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.680 designer at Corsera, the world's leading online education The platform 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:04.040 isn't an afrotech lounge, and he drops rough with three 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:06.760 keys about making it. As a designer for tech companies, 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:13.519 we work on web apps, websites. It's interesting because a 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.960 product designer is responsible for all the stages of developing 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.160 a product, where some people might think of a visual 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.799 designer as what it looks like or ux designer as 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:29.040 what it feels like a product designer is actually umbrella 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.040 of all of the stages of developing a product. So 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:36.239 we do strategy, we do discovery, we do brainstorming, we 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:40.720 do prototyping, we do wire framing and information architecture and 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.160 visual design as well as we have a close relationship 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.680 with engineering, usually because that's who ends up developing the 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.320 actual product. I think the biggest myth that I hear 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.440 is you have to be an engineering to be in tech, 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.200 And I understand why people think that, but that's why 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.280 I also said the biggest myth that I hear tech 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:06.600 has so tech is so big, there's so many layers 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.320 that engineering is honestly just one slice of the pot. 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:14.000 That's who responsible for building a product. But you got 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.160 the marketing team, you got the advertising team, you got 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.480 ux writers, you got conscious strategist, You've got designers, you 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:25.000 got data scientists, you got product managers, project managers, design leads. 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.919 There's so many different lanes in tech that if more 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:33.200 people knew that there was other positions besides for engineering 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:35.360 and tech, I think you would see a lot more 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.760 people of color in text. What skills are necessary to 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:44.440 become a product designer in twenty. I would say you 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.960 definitely need to know a design to app, for example, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.600 a sketch or a figma. You definitely need to know 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:58.360 about data as far as quantitative versus qualitative. You definitely 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:02.240 need to understand apps. And I would tell everybody something 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.280 that a skill that they can learn on their own 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.640 is to take out their phone and play with some 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:09.840 of the apps that's on their phone and judge the app, 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:11.560 what you like about the app, what you don't like 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.800 about the app, And after you do that little app 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:18.320 review with yourself, see what part of that process stood 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.640 out to you. And that's a laye that you might 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.640 be able to follow into product design because that's what 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.560 you're interested in. So there's a lot of design tools 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:29.440 you can learn. There's a lot of books and methodologies 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:31.719 you can read, but there's a lot of social media 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:36.479 places you can go to to get inspiration and follow 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:41.400 leaders in the industry. So I would say start with 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:45.240 a design tool, but also a lot of research. Do 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.240 you need to go to a four year school to 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.680 become a designer? Which is pretty much saying do I 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.160 need a degree to become a designer? No, I don't 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:57.400 think there's a threshold of when somebody can actually not 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.120 be called the designer, you know what I mean, Or 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.880 you don't become a designer once you get a degree. 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.719 You would go to college for design if there was 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.320 something super specific that you wanted to study. Can you 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.559 go to a boot camp? Yes, But I also think 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.520 you can become a self taught designer like I did. 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:20.800 I just spent every second that I could learning this software. 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:23.880 And as I did that, I grew and I understand 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.800 and I learned more about becoming a designer and what 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.360 it takes to be a designer. So I'm all for 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:34.240 four year colleges, but I'm also for allline education. I 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.400 worked at an allline ad company, CorCE Era. But I 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.600 also believe in somebody spending the time to use the 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:45.679 resources that's available through social media or medium or Twitter 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.479 or LinkedIn. So no, I do not think you need 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.159 to go to college to become a designer, and I 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:54.240 don't think you'll be a better designer if you go 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.039 to college. I think it's about preference and where you 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:01.159 want to go, because certain positions may require a degree, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:03.760 and if they require that degree, then you should probably 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.200 get it. But I don't think the degree will make 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.320 you the designer. That's what I'm saying. You gotta feel 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:12.360 the not inside that you're a designer and you gotta 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:14.640 show her through the work and the product actually produce. 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.039 I'm Will Lucas and this is Black Tech Dream Money. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.120 I'm gonna introduce you to some of the biggest names, 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:25.320 some of the brightest minds and brilliant ideas. If you're 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.000 black in building, simply using textis to kill your back. 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:35.680 This podcast is for you. Pete mc williams is a 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.080 tenure creative industry leader and executive and is currently host 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.080 of Claim Up, a career discovery podcast to help black 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:45.440 and brown creators discover their dream careers, and it's rated 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:49.480 number one in iTunes. He was also previously in global 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.960 entertainment marketing at Nike and global footwear product marketing for 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.080 Yeasy at Adidas, and he's held other creative roles at 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:59.880 global brands. This is a strong bridge between technology and 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.440 creative industries, where to be through how creative work is distributed, 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.800 the opportunity to collaborate with other creatives, or how creatives 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.600 actually create. Maybe it's a hot new app as being 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.360 a how has technology opened up the floodgates on how 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.960 creators can monetize their work in intellectual property. Oh my 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.280 goodness has changed everything, right if you think about it, 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.400 we got to go go back just a time bit 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:26.320 before you could monetize whatever you were doing, right, And 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:27.960 so I think back to the time of like when 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.840 we think about this creator kind of community that's happening 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:35.080 in the midst of of tech creator economy. There are 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.160 times you're talking like two thousands eleven, two thousands and 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:42.680 tens specifically where you know, Facebook was maturing, Instagrams coming online, 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:45.600 Twitter's pretty mature, and some of these other things starting 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:47.600 to pop up. And at the time people had like 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.920 these these big followings, but there was no way for 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.360 you to really do anything with from a monetization standpoint, right, 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:56.560 Like you might get something here and there. But when 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.280 you think about today and how those tools that really 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.160 advanced to literally you can literally have like a Patreon 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.880 account where you can get a subscription model going for 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:08.840 for and that becomes a business. Right Other than that, 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.480 folks are selling merch which is still a great you know, 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.640 revenue generator for a business, but from a tech perspective, 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.960 you weren't able to charge people's subscriptions seamlessly. You weren't 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.760 able to have digital events where people could pay to 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:24.320 attend those events um and then just the seamlessness of 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.920 those services. It didn't exist at that time. And you 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.280 think about now Apple, Apple now doing that directly through 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.240 Apple Podcasts from a tech sign right Like, these are 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.040 leaps and bounds from where we were a decade ago. 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:40.120 I wonder your thoughts on, you know, and I appreciate 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:43.360 everybody out there, whatever stage of the entrepreneurial journey they're own, 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.200 But I wonder your what what do you think when 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.480 you see people who may have in their bio you 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.880 know they're a designer or whatever, but the products may 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.439 just be the T shirt that they started. And again, 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:57.160 I appreciate everybody's journey because you've got to start somewhere. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.680 But I wonder, like, at what point is somebody a 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.920 bona fide design At what point am I at least 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:08.040 in the direction of being like a Jeff Staple versus 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.720 somebody who bought some Haynes T shirts or something, you 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:13.600 know what I'm saying, and put my logo on them 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:15.439 and I'm selling them and it still has the tag 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:20.640 from Hans or your you know, American apparel or whatever, like, 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:25.480 at what point, from your perspective, and this is your perspective, 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:29.000 is somebody really on the right road to becoming a 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.960 real designer? Right? So, well, one thing I want to 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:36.640 touch on that that you said is at a certain degree, 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:39.959 you could be a designer at multiple different levels, right 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:42.640 if if if if you have a graphic that shows 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.200 upon a T shirt, you are a designer, and there's 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.840 a space and a place for you to show up 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.240 in the industry in different ways. When you think of 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:55.080 the traditional word, uh, designer, and I think in this instance, 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.400 if you're thinking about maybe the consumer that's looking at 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.600 it versus the brand that's looking at it, um the 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.560 brand and working with partners, that typically comes down to 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:08.640 like a product designer, can you design a product from 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.400 start to scratch that shows up as this new thing? Right? 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.760 And so when we think about if you take it 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:18.480 to a T shirt, you could be considered a graphic 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.040 designer if you design that graphic that shows up on 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.600 that printed shirt. Another level of design is also a 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.679 designer that decided like, hey, I like the way that 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.000 that shirt is, but I want to change the entire 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:32.480 shape of that shirt, So you might come change, right, 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:34.839 you might come change how you know the shoulder lines 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.280 fall here, you might change the whiff and the boxingness 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.720 of the shirt. You might change you know, the size 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:44.440 of the neckline, etcetera. Like those are different iterations of design. 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:49.200 I think if you think about a Jeff Staple level designer, Jeff, 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.960 Jeff Staple is a designer that has been through multiple 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.720 phases and iterations in his career. Right, Jeff has a 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.400 background in graphic design. Jeff has also now been able 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.920 to jump into industrial and product design. I think he's 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.640 even got projects where he's designed bikes now. Right. It 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:10.040 just comes from different levels of experience, and I also 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.600 think you have to think about if you're thinking about 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.080 it from a career side, you have to also think 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.320 about where you want to go. For example, if you 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.400 want to design sneakers, right, that as a tangible product, 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.079 it does not come from maybe eveneering, which is what 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.800 we consider when maybe you add colors to a retro 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.440 sneaker like a Jordan, right, and now if you have 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.440 a totally new Jordan, like a Jordan thirty six that 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:35.080 likely went through a whole eighteen month, sixteen month, maybe 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:39.000 even longer process to design with multiple people working on 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.839 different parts of that sneaker. Yeah, and we're gonna come 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:45.360 back to that because you just sparked so many ideas 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:47.320 that that come to me. But I wonder before we 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:49.520 want to continue setting the stage here before we go 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:54.600 deeper into this, UM, I wonder how a designer who's 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.120 really put in the work, how do they become a brand? 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.360 Because I think about, like, how did what was the 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:02.920 work like in Virgil of Virgil a blow deal or 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:06.040 like a Darryl Brown? Or at what point? At what 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:10.319 point are they a brand that broke out got shelf 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.160 space at Barney's or whatever? Like, at what point do 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:15.960 you get to that? Like what are the moves you 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.320 have to make right? Or or the person you need 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.920 to know? What is it that gets me there? Right? 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.120 I think the two interesting things that are the one 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.680 interesting thing that that comes from the two folks that 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.760 you just mentioned is that, uh, they came from under 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:34.080 a certain designer and creative and that design and creative 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.880 being Kanye West. And you have to think about when 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:41.320 you are building a brand, right, the benefit of being 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.000 a brand yourself or being at a brand. Uh, if 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.600 you're thinking about it through a business lens. Is the 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:51.720 visibility that that brand can offer, right, the doors that 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.240 that brand can open, the conversations that you could be at, 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.160 the tables that you could sit at, the tables that 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.320 you can then build right after you've you've you've been 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.440 through kind of that journey. And when I think of 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.280 someone like Darre, I think of someone like Virgil. The 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:08.360 start of that was they had to set that foundation 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:10.520 for being a designer, Like where did they start to 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.360 cultivate those initial skills? Right? We know Virgil went to 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:15.960 ri Is, the we know Daryl has his background had 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.680 to start somewhere, so they had some sort of understanding 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.920 about design to begin with. I think after you have 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.560 that particular experience, you want to start to figure out, Okay, 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.160 how can I like get more experience that takes me 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.520 a level above maybe you know some of the other 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:33.920 designers because the space is crowded, right, There's a lot 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.040 of folks that want to be in design, a lot 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:37.800 of folks want to be creatives, a lot of folks 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:41.199 want to be small business owners and entrepreneurs. And so 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.040 if if if that next step for you is like, Okay, 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.439 how can I start to separate myself. Then naturally you're 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.480 looking for experiences that are going to do that. That 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.520 usually starts with a network, right That is that next 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:57.040 phase is a huge like separator from the pack, and 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.199 it's all about what sort of network that you can 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.560 get into. Some networks come from going to work at 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.000 other brands. For example, I want to go work at 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.920 soken E, Adidas, and Nike. There's a certain thing that 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.520 comes when you're able to get into that because proximity 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.840 puts you into certain circles. If you're thinking about a 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:17.800 Darrow or a Virgil, you have to imagine before we 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:21.880 knew Virgil as Vergil today, Virgil was in the Easy 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.440 and Kanye camp for several years and no one knew 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.320 who he was. And at the time, you know, Virgil 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.760 is continuing to get more experience as a design himself. 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.600 He is also um getting challenge with all these different 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:36.880 creatives that come through that network of which he has 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.680 been working with. And then in addition to that, he 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.800 is getting, you know, his own ideas about what it 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.040 might look like for him to create his own brand. 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:48.000 And when you think about a brand, a lot of 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:49.920 times people think about brands and they're like, it's a 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.480 logo and they think it's a name. That's not a brand, 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.440 Like that's a logo, it's a it's a design thing 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.080 that tells you what the brand is. The brand and 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:02.520 his heart right, the brand is purpose. The brand is 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:04.880 how do you make people feel If we leave this 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:08.400 call today and will remember nothing else, he remembers that 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.320 I talked about careers, that's a brand. The brand is 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:15.240 what you leave here on that person that you intend 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.200 to connect with. That's what a brand is. And so 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.520 when you think about Virgil right at this current point 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.040 in time, his his brand is always going to shift 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.520 as a as a creative, that's what he should do. 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.480 But his current brand sits around this kind of deconstruction 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:33.920 of design really be mystifying democratizing design, if you will. 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.920 When you think about Darryl, he's really down this path 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.720 of work where and actually doing authentic work where and 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.960 coming from this different perspective. And so that's what brands are. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.040 It's what. It's not a name, it's what what does 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.320 it make that person feel? What does that takeaway when 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.280 you're no longer in the room or in that presence. 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.200 But like at some point there has to be where 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.920 the name doesn't hit an inflection point because how do 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.240 you get people to pay attention? So I imagined and 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.960 tell me if I'm wrong, But I imagine I found 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.440 out like Daryl's from my hometown, so I knew that. 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.000 So I'm like, but like with his stuff really hit, 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.920 you know, the upward trajectory, because I saw Lebron wearing 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:13.600 it in a press conference and so I'm like, so 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:17.040 does you talked about proximity? So is it that you 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.680 need because the marketplace is so crowded, do you need 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:25.240 that co sign? You need? You need a concert of 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.840 co signs is what I would call it. Right. You 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:32.360 need several things working for you, almost citaneously, right in 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.360 order to have that sort of that presence. Right for Daryl, 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.160 it's a couple of different things that happened, right, Like 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:43.520 Darryl came into my my, my mo mental when he 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.880 was doing the hats, the real Friends hats, right, So 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:48.440 that was like one of the things that started to 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.400 bubble and it started to circulate in the in the 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.880 pr But then you know, as you look at him, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.920 now he was a stylist for Kanye West for a 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:00.280 certain point in time, So then you have that sign 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.400 that raises his profile of bit and then he's seating folks, 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.840 and then he's developing relationships, and then he's doing partnerships 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:11.560 with different brands. Those things actually start to propel you 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.239 to a different lane. It's not just gonna be that 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:17.000 one Lebron seating that's gonna do it. It's gonna be 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.560 the Lebron hit, and then it's gonna be oh yeah, 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:22.080 this is the brand of watch because Complex just you know, 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.080 listed Darrow as the brand to watch. And then oh yeah, 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:28.880 Kanye is wearing those pants that you know, Daryl just designed. 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.560 And so it is always you know, I think Darrel 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.159 is you know, working on a couple of other projects too. 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:38.080 Like it's always a concert of things. It's never just 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:40.240 one thing. But if I'm talking to someone who is 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.919 vastly interested that, I would say, yo, like it is 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.280 one your network, right, Do you have a network of 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:50.320 other designers or a community of people that work in 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.120 that fashion space that you can you know, send products 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.080 to get their feedback, if they like they might wear it, 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:58.320 might show up somewhere. That's great. Can you do collaborations 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.959 with with other people? Is mutually beneficial and it's not 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:05.600 just about oh, we did a collaboration and you wanted 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.160 to show up on the site. You know, we're kind 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.879 of past that from from you know, a culture standpoint, 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:12.880 like that's been done before, like what's the meaning behind that? 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:17.000 And then storytelling. A lot of folks are really doubling 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.280 down on how they storytell, how they bring these ideas 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:22.439 of their brands to life, and those things start to 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.600 circulate and gain attention. Uh So I would say it's 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.640 a it's a concert kind of those different ideas building 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:32.800 momentum over time. Just for everybody watching live on lunch 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.480 Table or Facebook right now, we do have producers watching 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.040 the chat, so feel free to drop your comments, questions, 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.399 or other inside the chat, and if you know we 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:42.360 can get to it, we would certainly do our best 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.800 to get to them. And feel free to be selfish 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:46.600 and specific because I want to make sure we're being 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.200 we're bringing actual value to you in your situation. Um, 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.840 so go ahead and drop that stuff in the chat. 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:57.639 So I wonder how collapse work and how money is made, 0:18:57.720 --> 0:18:59.480 and so you think about some of the names we 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:02.240 talked about, all the Virgils, the Darrel's, the Jeff Staples 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.600 instead who have done collaborations with other brands, and one 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.800 that specifically struck my interest when I was preparing for 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.360 this talk was like the Little nos X and Mischief 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.960 for the Demons shoe And I wonder, number one, how 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:19.240 do collaborations make money for the designer? And to like 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.760 the Mischief one with Nike said we don't have anything 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:24.840 to do with this, So how did they even get this? 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:27.040 How did they get all of the sneakers to be 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:29.840 able to you know, hack them up and then put 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:32.640 them Like how did that happen? Yeah? So I would 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.280 say that particular collaboration was more one of those black 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.760 market collaborations. Right, It's not anything that's officially done with 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.040 a brand the size of Nike, So if you're gonna 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:45.000 do something like that is likely more so considered uh, 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:48.840 those to collap here. We would typically consider that there's 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:51.720 somebody customized sneakers and they sold them, you know, separately, 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:53.840 on their own. I think not. Little nos X and 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:55.879 his team took it to a different place by putting 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:59.359 a whole campaign around us. So essentially the way they 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:01.240 have to get those shoes is they likely had to 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:03.440 go purchase those shoes off a retail one hundred percent 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:06.800 unless they had some sort of connection and somebody, you know, 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:09.360 hook them up with a discount from somewhere. But likely 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:13.320 they bought those shoes retail. After they bought all of 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:17.159 those sizes, the company that was the customizer would literally 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:19.960 had to buy hand or whatever team that they have 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.520 would have to customize those shoes one by one and 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.159 then they put those those sneakers up for sale a 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:27.320 project project like that. I think they had under a 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:29.960 thousand pairs for those sneakers, right, and then I think 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:32.840 the price tag was somewhere around two d three hundred bucks. 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:35.240 And so you know, it's a it's a it's a 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:36.880 good bit of a chunk of change. But if you're 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:40.240 talking about you know, we look at the global sneaker market, 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.120 you're talking billions and billions of dollars in a large 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:45.520 scale of things, that's that's not a huge chunk. For 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:49.040 the team that customized those shoes, they made money because 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:52.640 Little Nozex team likely paid them a commission for being 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:55.720 the designers behind that. If we think about that from 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:57.920 a brand side and in the sneaker industry and how 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.840 that works on that side, well, if you you bring 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:06.240 in someone like a Virgil or a Darrel. Usually UM 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:08.760 there's a design fee behind that, right, So that's how 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:13.760 they automatically recruit UM or make money from that particular deal. 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:17.439 Beyond that, depending on how things are negotiating and how 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:19.320 they move forward, you know, they may have you know, 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.760