WEBVTT - Mark Linen Full Interview 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.000 This podcast is sponsored by Better Help Online Therapy. I'm 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.760 Michlene Maloof and I'm Nadyadessi licensed therapists and hosts of 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:10.800 Getting Better Stories of Mental Health. Join us for discussions 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.880 with Megan Trainer, Chris Bosh, Rebel Wilson, and more, from 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.840 discussing motherhood to immigrating to general mental health. Our guests 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.720 are awe inspiring. We all struggle with the same things, 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.640 so let's talk about it and de stigmatize them. Find 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.840 our new podcast, Getting Better Stories of Mental Health on 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:32.920 iHeart Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Still living in manually taking notes, 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:34.639 there is a better way to start the new year 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.000 with auto dot ai automatically get meeting notes. Auto dot 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.839 ai works for virtual meetings like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:42.640 Google Meet. Sign up on the web for free or 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.199 download in the app stores auto dot ai. That's O 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.880 T T E R. Dot ai, sticky notes, email alerts, 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:53.240 a string around your finger. They're just not big enough. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.080 So here's a big reminder from the California Lottery. Tomorrow's 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.920 Mega millions jack potties over three million play now. Please players, 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:14.280 it's must be eighteen years older to purchase player fine 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.280 Welcome to Money Making Conversation. I am your host, Rashaan McDonald. 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:25.360 Each Money Making Conversations talk show is about entrepreneurship and entertainment. 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:30.479 I provide the consumer and business owner access and celebrities, ceoled, entrepreneurs, 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.760 and social influencers. I recognize that we all have different 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:37.200 definitions of success. For some, it's a sizable paycheck. Mine 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:39.919 is helping people wake up and inspiring them to accomplish 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:43.120 their goals and live their very best life. These are 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.480 my passions and that's what I'm going to do for you. 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.240 Thank you for tuning in and hearing this great interview. 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.000 I want you to stop tripping over small challenges and 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:54.440 prepare the rise above the bigger obstacles that life will 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:57.760 present to you. The Money Making Conversations interviews provide relatable 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:03.920 information to the listener about career and financial planning, entrepreneurship, motivation, leadership, 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.320 overcoming arts, and how to live in balance life. My 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.880 next guest fun Interview. I'm I'm so excited to interview him. 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.640 Uh he's a family man or a wife and two 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:16.480 handsome young men, and he's a truck driver. Turn baker. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.240 Hear me, hear me? There go truck driver turn baker. 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.360 I know you know truck you know you you know, 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:24.960 you just got there, just on that road and all 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:26.799 that good stuff. But he's a baker, so I said, 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:29.800 he knows what he's doing. After being inspired by a 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:33.280 video featuring my man Steve Harvey, he does a lot 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.919 of inspirational videos on the Regular Divers part of this 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:40.560 YouTube channel, he decided to follow his passion and start baking. 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.560 You hear that. He decided to start follow and follow 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.720 his passion and start baking. He took that passion and 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.919 started his very own business called Brother Bakes as b 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.440 O b r O t h A Bakes. It is 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.919 an online bakery based out of Houston, Texas. They special 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.480 lies and cakes and the ship all over the country. 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.359 That's what we're talking about, online bakery that ships all 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.320 over the country. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation, my 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:18.440 man houstonian Mark Lennon. Thanks for having well Mark. I 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:21.320 love that introduction, man, making me feel a lot of professionals. 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:26.360 First of all, you're professional today. You delivered uh to 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.680 my house for your desserts. They come in the jar 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:32.000 that kicks in the jar. We'll talked about more detailed 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.680 but let everybody know one of us called the the 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.160 Ready Murphy. I love this guy. You know, he has 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.600 a sense of humor and he ties the names of 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:42.920 famous people, but he shifts a little bit of their name. 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.520 Do you kind of know what the dessert is tied 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.680 to the name of the celebrity that he's married the 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.680 dessert to Ready Murphy. I got that today, the banana 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:56.560 Ross got that today. The Germaine dupris, which is German 0:03:56.640 --> 0:04:01.080 chocolate cake, which I love. Man, you have me sold 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.240 on German ta So is that what to your website? Now? 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.680 So German taca k, I was your man. I was 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.200 your man right there, and then the Marah carry and 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:12.200 my second favorite cake is carrot cake. So you already 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.880 got two of my favorite cakes over there, the German 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:20.880 takak and the carrot cake. So let's talk about well 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.080 you take care of it, because guess what this is 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.440 what I'm gonna do for you. I'm gonna post you 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.320 on social media. Okay. First of all, gonna take a 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.880 picture with me holding your product. Okay, I'm gonna post 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:33.200 it on social media. You know, I've got like eight 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:37.280 hundred thousand followers on my Facebook, right and Then this Wednesday, 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.839 I'm going to drop your the image that you have 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.000 on your Facebook, that beautiful image that you have all 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.920 those open jars. I'm gonna drop that on the Facebook. 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:47.919 Put the link in my newsletter that goes out there 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:52.760 naighty thousand fans on Wednesday. So those are the things 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:54.600 that I do on Money Making Conversation, all this stuff 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.599 free charge. Then I'm gonna drop you into my my 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.520 shopping zone on my Money Making Conversation dot com. You 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.599 can go there click shopping Zonus on navigation bar, and 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.880 I'm building that for stores that I recommend people to 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.760 go shop at because they're incredible and they provide a 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.520 great product. So that's that's what you're getting because you're 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.560 a great person and you're following your dreams. Okay, oh man, well, 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.240 thank you to h We appreciate that. Well good, well, good, 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:22.760 well good. Let let's talk about let's talk about what 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.400 inspired Let's let's let's talk about your truck driving life. 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.320 Let's talk about that first, and so then because we 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.600 want to understand the time that was spent over there too, 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.920 before we peep it into the what what what inspired 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.480 you do your dream and how you're doing your dream. Okay, 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.520 let's talk about truck driving life. All right, Yeah, let's 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:43.920 do that. So a little bit more before we get 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.320 into truck driving. I was actually a classic designer for 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.920 like fifteen years. Okay, cool man, Yeah, in Columbia, South Carolina, 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.320 and I just didn't work out. You know, the market 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:57.720 drive up a little bit. I need to do something. Um, 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.839 I'm a guy who's trying to provide for my family. 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.040 So the idea of going back to school for three 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.320 or four years just wasn't having it for me. So 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:06.840 I was like, you know what, I can get this 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:11.159 CDL in six weeks start working providing for my family. 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:14.040 So that's how I became a truck driver. And I've 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.080 been doing that for about four years. Uh, it's been 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:18.960 good for me, it's been good for my family. Is 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:22.640 actually a good break, um from the class design in 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.720 the marketing. But then, um, as I'm driving, you know, 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:30.719 and uh, it just wasn't It's just not my full passion. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.400 I do enjoy it, you know, I'm good at it, 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.360 but it just wasn't where I wanted to be. Now 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.239 you are are you're a local driver or you line 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.840 drive from state to state, the city of the city. Yeah, 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.400 I'm a local driver right here in Houston Metro. For 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.400 those of you familiar with Houston, UM, my route is 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:55.680 anywhere from Houston down to Galveston. Well good, Well, the 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.120 reason I found out about you, my friend or was, 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:02.000 of course, Uh, everybody knows Steve Harvey. I've been knowing 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.400 each other for thirty years. I was a manager from 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.320 official manager from two thousands sixteen, and I read an 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.440 article in the Houston Chronicle, the number one newspaper in Houston, 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.080 and they talked about you, and then you had a 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.880 little note in there that said that you were inspired 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.360 by something to talk about that is what inspired you 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:23.160 that Steve Harvey did for you. Yeah, back in um 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:27.000 the early part of the nineteen I'm just sitting in 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.520 the barbershop getting my hair cut. My barbera plays this video. 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.520 It has Steve Harvey in it, my Huse Monroe in 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.720 Denzel Washington, and I'm listening to it and Steve said, 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.080 if that alarm clock goes up every morning and you're 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.640 not excited about what you're doing, you're not living in 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.640 your passion. And that hit me like a ton of bricks. 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.360 I was like, man, that it just resonated with me. 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:51.920 So from that point on, I started thinking, Man, what 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:54.920 am I doing? What should I be doing? Where is 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.840 my passion? Went through a bunch of stuff that I 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:01.360 was thinking about. And Steve also said that if it 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:05.160 comes easy to you something you do better than anybody else, 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:06.960 Like you give an example, if you cut here better 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.720 than anybody else, you should be cutting here. And even 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.400 said if you bake better than anyone else, you should 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:15.520 be baking. And I was and that kind of hit me. 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:17.720 I was like, you know what, I'll make some pretty 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.240 good cakes. And from that point on it was just 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.680 full speed ahead. How can I get this going? How 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:28.480 can I get it started? And Steve really inspired me. 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.720 It changed my life, It really did. Okay, Okay, he 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:35.400 motivated you. Okay, but that motivation and execution are two 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.760 different things now because a lot of people get motivated, 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:40.600 you know that, Mark right, Oh, I'm excited go out 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.960 there and then and say, oh I gotta do all that. Whoa, whoa, 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.680 whoa whoa. Okay, cool, now let's talk about it. You know, 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.760 they said, graphic designer, you learn how to pivot, trump driver, 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:54.800 smart move and come steady income. Now all these pivot 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.160 moves and you're making you have to discuss what the 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.640 number one at the house the wife Okay, yeah, I 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:07.120 got two handsome young men there. Okay, So talk about 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:09.480 that conversation that you had with her, and had you 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:13.760 displayed these gifts to her and at that level that 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:18.160 she believed that it was possible. Talk about that. Yeah, yeah, Well, 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.400 you know, my biggest fans of my wife and my 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.440 two kids, of my baking, they've experienced more of my 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.560 desert than anybody else. She knew the product was good, 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.839 but she also know that I'm a prop person who's 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:33.920 tried a few things in the past, things that didn't 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:36.360 work out. So she was a little worried at first. 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.600 I'll be honest with you, and she's say, look, if 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:40.960 you're gonna do this, you need to do it right. 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:43.960 You need to go hard on it, and this needs 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:45.880 to be the thing. It's like, I can't have you 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:50.200 flaking out on me. Um. And once we had that 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.360 conversation and I kind of explained to her in my vision, 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:55.600 I was like, well, this is different because I'm really 0:09:55.600 --> 0:10:00.400 passionate about it. Excuse me. And she was all on board, welcome, 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.720 very encouraging that that's That's that's important because like I said, 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:05.160 you know when we come and when I bring guests 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.880 like you on money making conversation because you're startup. You 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.400 went from start up to execution. Now is this is 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.880 part of the promotion, you know, you helping you get 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.839 your word out generating additional This is more of a 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.200 thank you Rochan for any of you on me, but 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:22.960 also helped me promote and sell my cakes. What exactly 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:28.080 Brother Bake? What exactly does Brother Bakes do? Okay? So 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:32.120 what we do is we specialize in making cakes. Okay, 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:33.719 say that one more time. To say that one more time. 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:38.240 Now you specialize in whatnot? Whatnot? We put cakes. We 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.280 put cakes into jars and we ship them all over 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:46.760 the country, including Alaska, Hawaii. That's what we do. And 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:50.040 they had the equivalent of about two cupcakes. And uh 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.280 quite think we are the most delicious cakes you can 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:58.800 find in a jar. Now you know I'm a dessert guy. Okay, yeah, 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.600 people look at people always complain about going to my 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.000 Facebook page, is said Reich, I'm tired of you make 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:08.560 me hungry. Okay, get on my doring, nervous they said 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.679 another word. But but it's all positive when they say that, 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:16.200 you know, from Peach Cobb, the Germany Chocolate cake, sweet 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:22.400 Potato pie care cake. Now, what made you believe, Mark, 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:26.160 that you can put a cake in a jar and 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.000 somebody would buy that? What made you believe that? Now, Steve, 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.839 Steef Harvey didn't say that to you, Okay, but Steve 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.360 didn't say that to me. So how how this all 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:37.560 came about? Yeah, we want to know that. We want 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:41.360 to know that. Now. I knew I had good products. 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.640 I was pretty confident about that, but typically the case, 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.760 I bake a full sized cakes and I thought about, well, 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.360 you know what, sending a cake in the mail for me, 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:53.400 it just wasn't gonna happen. That's just not something that 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:57.000 I wanted to tackle. So I started thinking about it. Now, 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:00.280 I've heard of people doing this before. In fact, about 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.720 five or six years ago, as a Christmas gift, I 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:07.360 had some Christmas velvet and a cake that I gave 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.880 out to some family members. They loved it, and I 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:11.920 just came back to that idea, like, you know what, 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.679 I put these cakes in the jar, I can ship 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.280 them all over the place. And not only that, instead 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.360 of family having one flavor of cake, they can have 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:24.880 four different flavors, eight different flavors, whatever they want, and 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.600 everybody's happy. So that's why where that kind of came from. 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.160 That's why I decided to do that. You know, it's 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:35.640 easier to ship jars than it is a full size Kike. Absolutely, absolutely, 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.000 But it's it's not so much that you know it's easier, 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.800 but just do you have to maintain the quality, you know, 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.200 And that's that's the whole process we're talking about right now, 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:48.360 because and you want return customers, you want word of 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.920 mouth customers, you want people, you know, especially become seasonal 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.720 customers and things like that. Now, now we all know 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:59.440 what hit this year, the pandemic COVID Nati. Okay, when 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:03.800 did you at your business? Let me ask you that question. Mark, Okay, 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:10.439 So I launched my business officially in November. Okay, November, Okay. 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:16.280 Nobody saw a pandemic coming. Nobody saw it coming. Um, 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.600 and here I am. You know, I'm selling my cakes 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.720 online and that's going well. But I'm like, you know what, 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.000 I'm in Houston. Houston is hopping, man, everything's going on 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.400 in Houston. So why don't I take some of my 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:31.000 cakes to the markets? Um? Some of the festivals around here, 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.720 and as soon as I get up to do that, 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.960 that's when COVID hit and so all of that was 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.840 shut down. So you know, I had to take a 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.000 step back. Like you know what, dream still goes for it. 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.240 So I reamp, you know, my efforts, and I decided 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.719 to just focus more on the online sales, and um, 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:55.400 that's kind of where we are. Wow. Wow, I'm talking 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:58.360 to Mark Lennon. He's a he's done in by way 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.400 of call me in South Carolina, right, Okay, I know 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.400 my brother, I know by Columbia Many Day, went down 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:07.360 there and uh did some jokes with me and Steve 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:13.800 out there selling out there. The township auditorioum okay, I 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:15.320 had to hit you with the name. You go, oh yeah, 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.439 oh yeah, he for real, he for real of the 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:22.720 man you know about the township? Absolutely, brother, A little 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.120 parking lot that surrounds that build. It looks like old church. 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.480 Before we get started in that direction about your business, 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.280 and and we know what's happening out there. Black lives matters. 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.240 We saw what happened to George Floyd. We'll see what 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.360 happened to you know, you're black man, just like me, 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:38.680 policemen stopped me and I just could just be honest. 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:41.200 It's not a comfortable feeling for any African American male 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.440 to be stopped on I'm sorry. Yeah, it has not 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:46.840 been something. It has been that way my whole life. 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.720 It was just I got a driver slice and it's 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.400 been that way, and that should not be the case. 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.040 You have two young men, uh that you're raising. How 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.440 do you approach that and what have you what what 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.360 experiences have you shared with them? That's what's going because 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.360 sometimes you do limit the amount of expose you do 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.680 the kids, our children or teenagers. Tell us about that 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:07.720 experience that you're you're and your wife are dealing with 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:12.560 right now and raising those two young men. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.000 You know, we do live in a time where we 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:18.120 have to have these conversations, you know, with our kids. 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.040 And you know, my kids are twelve and fifteen, and 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.680 quite thankly we've just been very straight up with them. 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.120 We haven't sugarcoated. We let them know that, Look, you 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:30.600 may be hanging with some of your friends and they 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.760 may be able to do certain things that you simply 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.400 cannot do, just because this is the world we live 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.240 in and you're doing the same thing they do can 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.680 cause you to get hurt or get yourself in trouble, 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.520 and it's not fair, and we explain that to them. 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.200 We know it's not fair, it's not right, but that 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.320 is the world we live in. I'd rather you be 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.880 here tomorrow upset that it happened, and you'll not be here. 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.320 So we've been very straight up with our kids about 0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:00.280 what's going on in society. 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With auto dot ai, 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.880 you can search the meeting notes, insert images, playback the audio, 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:39.120 and share them with your friends or coworkers. You can 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:43.040 capture action items, remember meeting details, and keep everyone informed. 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.240 Auto dot ai works for in person or virtual meetings 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.159 like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google meet sign Up for 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.720 free at auto dit ai or download the app for 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.399 free auto dot ai. That's O T T E R 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.159 dot ai and it's very important. And then and that 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.199 in turn talks about the COVID eighteen. We all know 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:03.440 how it has impacted African American special people of color. 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.480 We want to include the Hispanic community. How have uh 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:09.159 you all, LiLine business. I would like to believe that 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:12.119 your your business has not been affected as much as 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:17.960 a as a bricket mortar. Yeah, exactly, it has not. UM. 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:20.639 In fact, you know, despite what's going on, you know, 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:24.440 our sales have gone up, and I think in part 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.360 because of Black Lives Matter and there are people that 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:31.119 are supporting more black businesses. That part is true. But 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.000 also the fact that people are stuck at home and 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.040 they still want delicious desserts and then we can provide 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:39.360 them with that, and I think that is a big 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:43.800 part of of what's going on. UM and all honesty 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.800 as well as for me myself, you know, getting connected 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.760 with um Next Insurance, who featured me in a commercial 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.200 talking about that. That's right, Next Insurance. I've seen those 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.520 commercials with the people making a box and other necks 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:00.119 and doing different things with the word next. Talk about 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.320 that right quick? Okay, So you know, UM, when I 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:09.200 started this business back in November of UM, I went 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.720 hard on it, I really did. I had advertising and 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:15.240 all that. Through one of those advertising UM, this young 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.240 lady by the name of Jack found me and she 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:20.600 was like, Hey, would you be interested in doing something 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:25.800 with Next Insurance? How COVID has affected me and I 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:28.800 did you know? I told my story similar what I 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.520 said earlier about how I was all get up to 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.600 get out here in Houston and promote my business, going 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.080 to different festivals and to the markets, but when COVID hit, 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.160 I had to shut down that as my story. Next 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:44.200 love that story. So they wanted to feature me and 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:48.080 they did, and from that point on, things have been 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:51.600 going really well for me. What exactly is Next Insurance? 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:54.080 We can tell everybody what it is. You you're part 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.320 of it. Let's talk about the small business world, how 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.080 how impactful it is, and how we all need that 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:02.560 type of insurance specially that's the last thing we kind 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.159 of budget when we start out our business. It's insurance 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:08.280 and insurance should be the top of the line. Okay 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:10.840 to talk about that. You know you in Next Contact, 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.080 did you you say that it brought it shinned a 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:15.920 lot of popularity on you. But also you kind of 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.359 like a spokesperson too, So tell me what exactly is 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:23.240 Next Insurance? So Next Insurance is um an insurance company 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:27.359 that specialized and providing insurance for small businesses. They have 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.280 a website that is so easy to use, you sign 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.520 up in minutes. It's nice and affordable, and it's half 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:37.520 were free. Their customer services wonderful and of course not 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.360 only do I represent them, but you know I am 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:43.800 a customer as well and has no problems uh when 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:46.400 I need to talk to someone. So Next has been 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:49.480 really good and it is a good insurance for small businesses. 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:53.480 It also grows with you as well, absolutely youth startings, 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:57.360 and they can expand with you. Absolutely. So so let's 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.600 talk about your business you started in November. If you 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:02.800 you know, I'm not using the world mistake, but we 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:05.240 all budget certain things, and we all think this is 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:07.440 going to go in a certain direction. And we're not 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:10.120 talking about COVID ninteen or we're not talking about these 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:13.320 the civil unrest is going on all with protesting the streets. 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.680 We're talking about starting a business and planning it out right, 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:21.080 who did you seek advice from and how if you 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:24.000 had to restart it differently, what techniques would you put 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:25.840 in place and what guidelines you in place or what 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:30.480 would you budget differently? Okay, Uh, definitely one of the 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:34.800 things that would budget differently is buy an equipment very 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:38.000 least seeing if my house can handle the equipment that 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:42.840 I purchased, you know, so talk about that, talk about 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:48.040 the powerful letter, you know. So, so I'm in this house, 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:49.920 right and it's a little bit of an older house, 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:54.040 and so I decide, you know, maybe some you know, 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:58.680 maybe a refrigerator and uh uh stove in the garage 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:02.159 would be a good idea, but you know, purchased it 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:06.200 without talking to the electrician for us and realized that 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:08.439