WEBVTT - KJ Live – Alana Beard

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<v Speaker 1>This is kJ Live with Chris john Sailin and Chris

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<v Speaker 1>is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and

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<v Speaker 1>entertainment in a strain. Now here's Chris Johnson, You're now

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<v Speaker 1>Tom kJ Live, today's guest on the show. Is a

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<v Speaker 1>fourth time w NBA All Star. She's a Chief Doublin

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<v Speaker 1>in sixteen w India champion and considered one of the

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<v Speaker 1>greatest players in the history of women's basketball. She has

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<v Speaker 1>currently partnered with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group

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<v Speaker 1>and together they focused their efforts on bringing a w

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<v Speaker 1>NBA franchise to the city of Oakland. It is my

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<v Speaker 1>great honor to welcome a lot of beard to the show. Hi, kJ, Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>how are you for having me? Thanks for reaching out

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<v Speaker 1>to get me on absolutely. I mean, once I read

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<v Speaker 1>about what you're doing, Uh, it was fascinating for a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of reasons. And I'll get into that a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit later, but I really want to hear all about

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<v Speaker 1>what you're doing. But something I wanted to ask you

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<v Speaker 1>when I because I heard about it, when you when

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<v Speaker 1>you shut it down when you retired, what made you

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<v Speaker 1>decide to walk away from the game. I was ready right. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>I I think I was in a position that not

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of athletes are in UM towards the end

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<v Speaker 1>of their career. I was fortunate to be able to

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<v Speaker 1>make that decision, and I was ready to make that decision.

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<v Speaker 1>I was craving something new. I was craving the transition

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<v Speaker 1>to the business world. UM. And on top of that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I've always been I've always been that athlete

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<v Speaker 1>that never wanted to cheat the game. Right And to me,

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<v Speaker 1>if my body wasn't producing the way that I needed it,

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<v Speaker 1>you are wanted to UM considering the amount of work

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<v Speaker 1>that I put in on a daily basis, right, it

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<v Speaker 1>didn't make the game fun for me anymore. UM. And

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<v Speaker 1>And to add to that, there are only a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and forty four spots in the w n b A,

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<v Speaker 1>and I knew that I could stay in that league

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<v Speaker 1>for as long as I wanted to stay in that

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<v Speaker 1>league because of what I brought to any locker room. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, when I, you know, announced that I was retiring,

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<v Speaker 1>which was a mistake because I just wanted to just

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<v Speaker 1>roll on out, UM, coaches were reaching out to me

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<v Speaker 1>to come on board, and I was like, no, I'm done,

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<v Speaker 1>And I've always been big on mentoring, and I knew

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<v Speaker 1>that if I had stayed, I was taking up another

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<v Speaker 1>position and taking that away from young women who have

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<v Speaker 1>dreamt for years upon years of being in the w

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<v Speaker 1>n b A. Absolutely you touched on your your desire

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<v Speaker 1>to mentor um A lot of times the professional athletics,

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<v Speaker 1>you don't you see it, but you don't hear about

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<v Speaker 1>enough stories about the pros mentoring. I UM, I watched

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<v Speaker 1>some of the video of you and Marissa Coleman, I believe,

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<v Speaker 1>and you guys, actually you co owned a restaurant together.

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<v Speaker 1>Talk a little bit about that partnership, how that developed,

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<v Speaker 1>in that, in your role in that, in that relationship.

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<v Speaker 1>So Marissa and I met when I was playing in

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<v Speaker 1>Washington for the Washington Mystics. I was our best she

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<v Speaker 1>was my Rickie, right, And you know, I've always been

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<v Speaker 1>that that individual to where I don't I don't speak

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<v Speaker 1>very much. I don't I don't force anything on you.

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<v Speaker 1>If you if you come to me and if you

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<v Speaker 1>want to know certain things, I'm going to take the

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<v Speaker 1>time to explain it to you. But more than anything,

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<v Speaker 1>I lead by example, right, And so I think Marissa

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<v Speaker 1>Coleman saw sort of my approach to sort of the game,

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<v Speaker 1>but also so my approach to you know, life outside

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<v Speaker 1>of the court. And we would we would have many, many,

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<v Speaker 1>um conversations about what's the next step, even at you know,

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<v Speaker 1>even four and five years and we would still have

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<v Speaker 1>those conversations. And so she knew that I had interests

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<v Speaker 1>of one day being a franchise z because I had

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<v Speaker 1>this grand plan of building out a portfolio of franchises

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<v Speaker 1>and operating it right. But thank god, a mentor of

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<v Speaker 1>mine kind of like you know, encouraged me to start

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<v Speaker 1>to dig into the venture capital space. But Marissa, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>she was always there, always digging in, always interested in

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<v Speaker 1>what I was doing, and I was always providing information.

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<v Speaker 1>And then eventually our relationship progressed to the point to

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<v Speaker 1>where we had enough confidence and trust in each other

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<v Speaker 1>that we decided to move forward. Um, you know, from

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<v Speaker 1>a business perspective. But that opportunity came about because Marissa

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<v Speaker 1>Coleman family had a had a family friend who had owned,

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<v Speaker 1>my goodness, at least forty franchises, um, from Domino's Pizza

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<v Speaker 1>to to Jersey Mike's. And so he literally took us

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<v Speaker 1>underneath his wing and took us through the process, step

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<v Speaker 1>by step by step to teach us um the process

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<v Speaker 1>of building out of franchise, and Mariska Coleman and I

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<v Speaker 1>were all over it. Were very like minded in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of how we see ourselves UM transitioning and living life

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<v Speaker 1>beyond the game. That is some very valuable experience, a

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<v Speaker 1>very very good blessing to have someone walk you through

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<v Speaker 1>those particular ropes. Having a little bit of business background

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<v Speaker 1>myself and been involved in franchising. If there's there's so

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<v Speaker 1>much I wish we would have did differently in those

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<v Speaker 1>first three months. Okay, that that just kind of you know,

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<v Speaker 1>changes the game for you. But but but knowing those

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<v Speaker 1>things and getting that information is a valuable experience. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>how early in your w NBA career did first, did

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<v Speaker 1>life after basketball becomes sort of the priority for you

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<v Speaker 1>to start strategically setting it up? And then how early

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<v Speaker 1>was it did you have that business that first for

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<v Speaker 1>the business side of things. Was it as a graduate

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<v Speaker 1>from Duke or did it start earlier than that, or

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<v Speaker 1>or you know, no, it's it started. It started in

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<v Speaker 1>high school, right and and it's impite started because you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I would leave the gym after practicing for hours after hours,

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<v Speaker 1>and I would go straight to I would go straight

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<v Speaker 1>to the Smoothie Key. And so I was spending all

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<v Speaker 1>my money at a Smoothie King. And in my mind,

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<v Speaker 1>why would I spend all my money when I can

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<v Speaker 1>just own one? And then um, on top of like,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, loving smoothie King, I found out that the

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<v Speaker 1>headquarters were you know, it was in New Orleans, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and so I was like, I'm gonna own hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>Smoothie Kings, right. And so that was something that started

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<v Speaker 1>in high school and I've always had that in mind.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, if you if you go back to sort

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<v Speaker 1>of a few interviews that I maybe did in college.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it was like our Duke Media Guide or something.

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<v Speaker 1>They asked me like who do I admire? Who do

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<v Speaker 1>I want to be? I was like, I want to

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<v Speaker 1>be the second richest African American woman behind Oprah went Free.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know why I didn't say the first, but

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<v Speaker 1>I just said behind Oprah Remfrey because she was the standard, right,

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<v Speaker 1>And so I've always been in that mindset. So with franchising,

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<v Speaker 1>I I followed that trend through through high through college, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and then I got to the professionals. We started having

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<v Speaker 1>more and more time on our hands, and I kept

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<v Speaker 1>following that that that trend, and then I didn't have

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<v Speaker 1>a problem connecting with people. Right if I wasn't that

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<v Speaker 1>athlete that walked around with a big head and an ego. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>if someone approached me, I'm extremely approachable. I'm gonna have

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<v Speaker 1>a conversation with you. We're all human, right, and you

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<v Speaker 1>will be surprised how many connections you make just by

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<v Speaker 1>sitting at a coffee shop and engaging with people, instead

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<v Speaker 1>of being so consumed in your own world that you

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<v Speaker 1>don't see the life that's around you. Um. So I

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<v Speaker 1>think that was how I I kind of started, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, developing start of the business acumen. Right. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But I can admit that when I was injured in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand and ten, when the doctors told me I

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<v Speaker 1>had a ten percent chance of returning to the court

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<v Speaker 1>at an elite level, I became hyper focused. I'm preparing

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<v Speaker 1>for life after basketball. Um to where I was like,

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<v Speaker 1>I was reaching out to people. I actually reached out

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<v Speaker 1>to this to this one guy. He was the founder

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<v Speaker 1>of a cybersecurity company in Washington, and I was like, Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>I was like, can we meet up at Starbucks once

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<v Speaker 1>a week for you to give me many lessons um

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<v Speaker 1>in business. Dude was like, yeah, we can do that.

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<v Speaker 1>So for over a year, every week I would meet

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<v Speaker 1>up at Starbucks with this guy for like two or

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<v Speaker 1>three hours a day and just sit there and go

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<v Speaker 1>through my own m b A. Right, because I'm no

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<v Speaker 1>type of person that UM. I I learned by doing

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<v Speaker 1>right and and having someone sort of just walk me

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<v Speaker 1>through and step by step I get it, like just

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<v Speaker 1>like that, like with means. And so that was kind

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<v Speaker 1>of my first maybe introduction into just really understanding what

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<v Speaker 1>mentors are. Right. I think a lot of people can

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<v Speaker 1>have people in their lives and they can say that

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<v Speaker 1>they have mentors, but how you engage with that mentor

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<v Speaker 1>is super important, right, because it's you to dictate the

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<v Speaker 1>journey that you want. Absolutely something. Yeah, and that's something

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<v Speaker 1>that is basketball athletes. I won't say basketball players, I

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<v Speaker 1>won't just generalize like that, but as athletes sometimes we

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<v Speaker 1>take for granted is that the related ship, how to deal,

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<v Speaker 1>how to behave with a mentor, how to maintain and

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<v Speaker 1>cultivate UM. That's I think more of those type of

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<v Speaker 1>classes need to be taught or seminars or whatever. But

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<v Speaker 1>the next generation definitely needs to understand that. But staying

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<v Speaker 1>on that topic, on that topic, now, when did you

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<v Speaker 1>as a player first start to think, Okay, did you

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<v Speaker 1>think about being an owner of a of a franchise

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<v Speaker 1>even back then? So when was that day or when

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<v Speaker 1>was that moment that you had that that thought. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know that I can put like a moment on it.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it was when I was injured came back after

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<v Speaker 1>two years of being off the court in the Washington

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<v Speaker 1>mystics kind of said, yeah, you're not gonna be good anymore,

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<v Speaker 1>so we're not going to resign you. Right. Maybe I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know. That was my first lesson in business. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, I'm probably gonna go off the routes here.

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<v Speaker 1>But I always bring Lebron James into this conversation because

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<v Speaker 1>I respect him for what he did right um, and

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<v Speaker 1>when he made the decision to go from Cleveland to Miami.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't necessarily like how he did it and announced it,

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<v Speaker 1>but I respected it because Lebron James was probably one

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<v Speaker 1>of the first athletes to start to do to an

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<v Speaker 1>organization what organizations kind of do the athletes all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>Like when they can't when you can't do anything for

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<v Speaker 1>that organization anymore, it's business. Gloyd's means nothing, right, And

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<v Speaker 1>so Lebron was that athlete that took control of his

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<v Speaker 1>own journey, right, and he made that decision. You know what,

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<v Speaker 1>Cleveland isn't ready for me just yet. I'm gonna go

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<v Speaker 1>to Miami. I'm gonna build up my brand, take control

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<v Speaker 1>of my brand, win some championships, and then I'll come

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<v Speaker 1>back to my hometown and win it for you went

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<v Speaker 1>out to work, so you know, and that's what I respect.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think that the thought of like becoming an

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<v Speaker 1>owner has always been in my mind, whether it's a

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<v Speaker 1>w nb A team, UM an NBA team, NFL team, like,

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<v Speaker 1>nothing is off limits, right the w b A. Why

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't I want to do this when I have the

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity to do it? Right? Were there inspirations that you

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<v Speaker 1>drew upon, uh, black women women in general that you said, Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>I looked at this person as someone that inspires me

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<v Speaker 1>to do better and achieve the highest of heights. Oprah

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<v Speaker 1>Winfrey think it's as simple as that. It's it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>Oprah Winfrey. I think Oprah Winfrey is every black girl's

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<v Speaker 1>role model, or at least in my generation. It was

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<v Speaker 1>right you you saw her just carry herself with such grace,

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<v Speaker 1>um that that you, I don't know, I was intrigued.

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<v Speaker 1>I was intrigued early on. I'm still in tregued. Yeah. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>When when when you they say that representation matters, what

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<v Speaker 1>does that phrase mean to you personally? It means a ton.

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<v Speaker 1>You got to see it in order to believe it, right. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>when I was, you know, had aspirations of playing in

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<v Speaker 1>the NBA because I didn't have the w n b

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<v Speaker 1>A T to to look up to. That's that's what

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<v Speaker 1>it means. That was my that was my meaning of

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<v Speaker 1>of having representation. I wanted to be the next Reggie

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<v Speaker 1>Miller the w n b A started, I wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>be the next India Cooper. So it means a ton, right,

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<v Speaker 1>So what the choices that I make on this journey

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<v Speaker 1>when I tell you that me is not at the

0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:23.600
<v Speaker 1>center of any of it. I have a bigger vision

0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:25.600
<v Speaker 1>and I have a bigger purpose on this on this earth,

0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:29.199
<v Speaker 1>right to to to sort of create and lay a

0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.000
<v Speaker 1>foundation or lay a path, just as those that laid

0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.600
<v Speaker 1>that path for me before, Like I have that responsibility

0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.000
<v Speaker 1>and I don't take it lightly. So when I when

0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:41.880
<v Speaker 1>I pursue these opportunities, whether it's in the venture capital space,

0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.120
<v Speaker 1>whether it's owning a franchise, or are now you know,

0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:47.160
<v Speaker 1>leading a group to to sort of bring the team

0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:51.800
<v Speaker 1>to Oakland. It's about that generation that's coming behind me

0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.040
<v Speaker 1>to be able to see that this is attainable, that

0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.120
<v Speaker 1>this is possible if you really want it. It's cliche,

0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.240
<v Speaker 1>but it's true, and honestly a lot of the things

0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.880
<v Speaker 1>that people call cliche are some of the most valuable

0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:04.960
<v Speaker 1>lessons if we really listened to it and it really

0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.920
<v Speaker 1>hold onto those words, we learned something from it, and

0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.760
<v Speaker 1>that brings me. That brings me to today. Your involvement

0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.120
<v Speaker 1>with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group and their

0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.559
<v Speaker 1>push to bring a w NBA franchise to the city

0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.280
<v Speaker 1>of Oakland. How did you get involved with him? Doing

0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.600
<v Speaker 1>my homework so you made happy yourself. You reached out

0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:28.360
<v Speaker 1>to the people just doing my homework right again, just

0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.280
<v Speaker 1>as I you know, it goes back to when I

0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.800
<v Speaker 1>was in high school. I followed the trend with franchising,

0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:37.319
<v Speaker 1>eventually on my own franchise. Same thing here, right, aspirations.

0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:39.320
<v Speaker 1>If I if I were to show you my white

0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.440
<v Speaker 1>white board, you would see an org chart where I

0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:44.320
<v Speaker 1>have buckets of what I want to do and they're

0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.200
<v Speaker 1>not dreams. This is what I want to do. Um.

0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.920
<v Speaker 1>And so I followed the trend they I think the

0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:55.680
<v Speaker 1>announcement came out, um maybe in June of twenty one

0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:01.080
<v Speaker 1>that they were pursuing ownership and I had my agents

0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.160
<v Speaker 1>due to due diligence, right, UM. I asked them to

0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:07.559
<v Speaker 1>get me the contacts and I reached out to to

0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.760
<v Speaker 1>Ray Bob it Cold um and I and I sort

0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.280
<v Speaker 1>of you know, provided a little information on my of

0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:17.400
<v Speaker 1>myself through email and within an hour he responded, um.

0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.760
<v Speaker 1>And so the synergies were there. We we had tons

0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.800
<v Speaker 1>and tons of conversations just to understand if this made sense. Um.

0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.440
<v Speaker 1>I'm big on vibes um and and it feels right.

0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:30.880
<v Speaker 1>It feels good. It felt good obviously with the other

0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:35.320
<v Speaker 1>due diligence that's needed, just felt good. Right. Their their

0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:43.360
<v Speaker 1>intent is there for the right thing there um. Potentially

0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.640
<v Speaker 1>would be some roadblocks and challenges along this road. How

0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:51.360
<v Speaker 1>do you envision sort of the process to go like?

0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.360
<v Speaker 1>Could you like because I'm you know and I know

0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:55.680
<v Speaker 1>you can't really talk about too much about the particulars

0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:57.760
<v Speaker 1>of it, but for the stuff you can't talk about,

0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.240
<v Speaker 1>what is sort of the strategic roadmap owning a w

0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:04.240
<v Speaker 1>NBA franchise if you will. Yeah, No, it's about getting

0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.080
<v Speaker 1>the community to support you one to you know what.

0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.280
<v Speaker 1>I back up. The first thing is about making sure

0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.680
<v Speaker 1>that you have a place to host the team. A

0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.400
<v Speaker 1>CG has already done that, right, They've laid that foundation.

0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.920
<v Speaker 1>There's there's just there's just they have secured a lease

0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:23.720
<v Speaker 1>agreement with Oakland Arena. That's there. The second is money

0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.480
<v Speaker 1>that's there right um. And the third I think everyone

0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:32.080
<v Speaker 1>needs to understand because you have to manage to use expectations.

0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.880
<v Speaker 1>When you see the headlines, it's like, oh, we're gonna

0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:35.720
<v Speaker 1>get a team in Oakland. No, this is a process.

0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.640
<v Speaker 1>I compare this to a political campaign. Right now, we

0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:42.160
<v Speaker 1>have to make the push to convince not only the

0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.480
<v Speaker 1>community but also the w n b A and and

0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.840
<v Speaker 1>the owners within the w n b A that this

0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.880
<v Speaker 1>is a viable that Oakland is a valuable market. So

0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:52.520
<v Speaker 1>it's it's a it's a ton of work, but I

0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.240
<v Speaker 1>think that's the one thing that attracts me more than anything.

0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.600
<v Speaker 1>Not not that I can, you know, sort of position

0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.080
<v Speaker 1>myself to sort of be a catalyst for change at

0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:05.320
<v Speaker 1>the league level, but the process of it all, that

0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.680
<v Speaker 1>is the most intriguing thing to me, right because there

0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:10.920
<v Speaker 1>are going to be challenges, there are going to be roadblocks,

0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:13.400
<v Speaker 1>but we'll figure out how to get around them or

0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.440
<v Speaker 1>get through them. And and I think the other hard

0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.000
<v Speaker 1>part to this is that we can do all of

0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.520
<v Speaker 1>this work and the league is making that decision. Yeah.

0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.680
<v Speaker 1>Also the LEA, the decision ultimately rests with the other

0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:30.160
<v Speaker 1>owners to vote on this. Absolutely the league. Yeah, absolutely, Okay, okay, um,

0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.400
<v Speaker 1>that's interesting. You know, I looked up, I looked up

0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.760
<v Speaker 1>all the information that I could on the group, and

0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.040
<v Speaker 1>I read a ton of letters of recommendation from all

0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:42.880
<v Speaker 1>over the community, from every corner of the community, which

0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.400
<v Speaker 1>is super impressive. I've actually reached down and talked to

0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.200
<v Speaker 1>some folks in Oakland. They're extremely excited about it. They

0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:52.080
<v Speaker 1>feel like this is something that definitely will go in Oakland,

0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.360
<v Speaker 1>in particular because of how they get down in Oakland,

0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.400
<v Speaker 1>and that that's what I mean. I'm just saying that

0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.280
<v Speaker 1>is just what people have to understand like Oakland moves

0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:02.120
<v Speaker 1>in a different way, Berkeley moves kind of in a

0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.800
<v Speaker 1>different speed than everybody else, and they really don't really

0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:06.760
<v Speaker 1>care about what the outside world thinks of them. But

0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.760
<v Speaker 1>they're gonna get behind a team and a franchise to

0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.800
<v Speaker 1>support them. Bringing me to my next to my next question,

0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.119
<v Speaker 1>what do you want the identity of this organization? Is

0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.600
<v Speaker 1>there a name for the organization and what do you

0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:21.760
<v Speaker 1>want the identity for the organization to be? Yeah, I'm

0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:23.560
<v Speaker 1>not gonna get into a part of the name, um

0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.919
<v Speaker 1>but um, I think I've mentioned this and I will

0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.600
<v Speaker 1>always mention is about being authentic to who I am

0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.520
<v Speaker 1>as an individual, but more importantly, being authentic to who

0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:37.399
<v Speaker 1>OPEN is. That's as simple as that. Mm hmm, and

0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:41.080
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't get more simple. Final final questions, final question

0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:45.359
<v Speaker 1>for you, um Elena, What I'm a part of the

0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:47.760
<v Speaker 1>global basketball community is what I call it. So it

0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:49.760
<v Speaker 1>doesn't matter what love you played on. If you hoop,

0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.160
<v Speaker 1>you love the game, then you're part of the community.

0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:56.080
<v Speaker 1>What can the global basketball community do to help bridge

0:17:56.119 --> 0:18:00.399
<v Speaker 1>the gap surrounding the inequities and not only women's professional basketball,

0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:05.399
<v Speaker 1>but in c double a basketball high school on down

0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.160
<v Speaker 1>what can we do as a global community to bridge

0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.520
<v Speaker 1>that gap? Show up, right, show up and respect what

0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:18.320
<v Speaker 1>we do as women athletes. Understand that just because our

0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:22.080
<v Speaker 1>counterparts are making millions and millions of more dollars than

0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.359
<v Speaker 1>we are, it doesn't negate the amount of work we

0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.560
<v Speaker 1>put into our craft and perfecting it. It's all the same.

0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:32.080
<v Speaker 1>It's all the same, right, and that's what we we

0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.000
<v Speaker 1>have to get people to sort of understand. Um, it's

0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:39.080
<v Speaker 1>not about tearing someone else down, is about lifting those

0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:43.080
<v Speaker 1>around you up. So if if there's anything, um, the

0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:47.320
<v Speaker 1>global sports community can do, it's just show up, be positive.

0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:52.200
<v Speaker 1>Support um, because at some point you're gonna have a daughter,

0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:55.639
<v Speaker 1>and you're gonna want your daughter to play sports, and

0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:59.320
<v Speaker 1>your daughter maybe one of those elite individuals that make

0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:00.960
<v Speaker 1>it to the professor at a level, and you're gonna

0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.920
<v Speaker 1>want people to support them as well. So just be kind,

0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:09.000
<v Speaker 1>be nice, UM, just do good. Pick a person, right,

0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:15.600
<v Speaker 1>I I can't imagine it being that hard. We'll say it,

0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.800
<v Speaker 1>We'll see Elena. Yeah, thank thank you so much for

0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:23.840
<v Speaker 1>your time today. UM, best of luck in your push

0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:27.119
<v Speaker 1>to bring that professional basketball franchise. If anything that I

0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:28.960
<v Speaker 1>could do to help, please let me know. I don't

0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:30.880
<v Speaker 1>know if there's anything I can do, but if there's

0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:32.879
<v Speaker 1>anything I could do, please let me know, because this

0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.399
<v Speaker 1>is something I definitely want to get behind and you

0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.119
<v Speaker 1>have my full support upon Thank you so much for

0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.920
<v Speaker 1>joining kJ Live, Ladies and gentlemen, Elena Beard, thank you kJ.

0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:43.120
<v Speaker 1>This was a pleasure.