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Speaker 1: What's up?

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Speaker 2: Its way up with Angela Yee and how exciting Monique

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Speaker 2: Rodriguez is here with me today. You know her as

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Speaker 2: the founder of my Yell Organics. Welcome to the show.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you for having me. Excited to be here.

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Speaker 2: Man, Listen, I look at you as a celebrity already.

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Speaker 2: I remember we did a panel together, yeah, for our Bows,

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Speaker 2: and I was like, for real Moniques on the panel.

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Speaker 1: It's just exciting, Semenok.

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Speaker 2: Wise, you know, just see everything that you've accomplished, and

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Speaker 2: now you have a book out the glory in your story.

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Speaker 4: Congratulations, thank you, thank you so much. Likewise, I feel

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Speaker 4: the same about you. I've been a fan of yours

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Speaker 4: for a minute, so it's always good to see you.

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Speaker 3: I just saw you the other day.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so I've been outside.

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Speaker 3: Yes, we've been outside.

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Speaker 1: We were at Accelerate Her, Yes.

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Speaker 4: And it was an amazing conference. I went for one

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Speaker 4: day and I was just so full just from going

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Speaker 4: at one day. So yes, it's good to see other

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Speaker 4: like beautiful black women that are doing amazing things. So

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Speaker 4: I always we always have to celebrate each other.

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Speaker 1: So you're on this book tour now.

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Speaker 2: It's interesting because in the book you talk about being

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Speaker 2: in introvert yes, which is not something that I would

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Speaker 2: necessarily think of.

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Speaker 3: You really everybody says that.

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Speaker 2: So how is it being on this book tour but

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Speaker 2: also having a book out that details things about your

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Speaker 2: life that the average person wouldn't know.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I wanted to share my story because

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Speaker 4: I think that people look at me and they see

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Speaker 4: this like perfect picture and they see the glory, but

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Speaker 4: they don't really understand like the struggle and what I

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Speaker 4: went through even as a child, coming out of like

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Speaker 4: childhood trauma and overcoming that, you know, dealing with the

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Speaker 4: loss of my son. And I really wanted to use

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Speaker 4: this book as my living testimony to show people that

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Speaker 4: no matter what you go through, no matter what circumstances

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Speaker 4: you face, you can come out on the other side.

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Speaker 4: You know, there is power in your voice, there's power

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Speaker 4: in your story, even the messy, the broken pieces. God

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Speaker 4: will put it back together and restore you, and there

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Speaker 4: is glory on the other side of that pain. So

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Speaker 4: I wanted to show and share not just the accomplishments,

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Speaker 4: right because people see Mayel and they see everything that

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Speaker 4: I post on social media and it's like celebrated. But

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Speaker 4: I wanted to show like there is a real journey

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Speaker 4: behind what you see in the forefront, what you see

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Speaker 4: behind that glory, And people see the glory, but they

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Speaker 4: don't know the story. And I know that this book

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Speaker 4: will not only just inspire, it will inform, educate, motivate,

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Speaker 4: and bring people closer to God.

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Speaker 2: Well, definitely that because you were on a journey also,

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Speaker 2: and God is really what you feel like is the

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Speaker 2: foundation of everything, everything that you have going on. And

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Speaker 2: there's times when God even spoke to you and told

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Speaker 2: you what it is that you needed to do. You

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Speaker 2: get those signs and you talk about that in the

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Speaker 2: book too, And knowing because there are a lot of

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Speaker 2: different things you wanted to do. You knew you wanted

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Speaker 2: to be an entrepreneur, but sometimes it's choosing the right business.

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Speaker 2: And owning a salon was something that you had kind

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Speaker 2: of toyed with. But you're right, that's a lot of

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Speaker 2: personalities to deal with.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And because I am an introvert, right, you know,

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Speaker 4: it was a lot and I thought about it and

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Speaker 4: I asked myself, like do I really want to deal

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Speaker 4: with all of that? Like I really wanted to just

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Speaker 4: be in my zone and create and even when I

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Speaker 4: started the company, I didn't think that, you know, I

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Speaker 4: would have the level of exposure and be out there

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Speaker 4: talking with people in the community like I've been doing.

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Speaker 4: You know, it came by surprise because I'm like, oh,

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Speaker 4: this is what I have to do because I want

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Speaker 4: people to trust that, you know the products that I'm creating.

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Speaker 4: I want them to feel the love and the passion.

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Speaker 4: And I feel that if you don't talk about your

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Speaker 4: brand and what you love, nobody's gonna know about it.

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Speaker 4: So I had to like stretch myself and push myself

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Speaker 4: out of my comfort zone to do things that you know,

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Speaker 4: I wasn't necessarily comfortable with in order for people to

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Speaker 4: even know about ma l.

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Speaker 2: You know what was important when you told this story

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Speaker 2: about wanting to own a Salione but then pivoting and

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Speaker 2: realizing that products is where it was for you is

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Speaker 2: having somebody to tell you that this is not necessarily hate.

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Speaker 2: When somebody's telling you, you know what, I don't know

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Speaker 2: if this might be the right path for you. I

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Speaker 2: don't know if you've considered X, Y, and Z, because

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Speaker 2: sometimes we do want people to be supportive of us,

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Speaker 2: but you also want people to tell you when they

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Speaker 2: I don't think something's a good idea.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely, like you don't want yes people around you because

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Speaker 4: it's you know, the what you're referring to. The girl

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Speaker 4: could have easily said, and I won't say her name

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Speaker 4: because you got to read the books to find out, right,

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Speaker 4: but she could have easily said, yeah, go ahead and

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Speaker 4: start a salon and not care and let me go

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Speaker 4: down this path where she already knew and she's been

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Speaker 4: there before, and she knows the industry and how caddie,

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Speaker 4: you know it can be working in a salon and

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Speaker 4: especially me not coming from that space, having you know,

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Speaker 4: coming from a nursing background and starting a hair salon.

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Speaker 4: You know, her point was you may not get the

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Speaker 4: level or of respect that you're looking for, and that

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Speaker 4: was a point well taken and dealing with so many

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Speaker 4: different personalities, point well taken. And I always say to

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Speaker 4: people you have to consider the source of where you're

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Speaker 4: getting advice from, right and also ask yourself what is

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Speaker 4: their experience in the industry. Are they coming from a

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Speaker 4: place of negativity or are they coming from a place

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Speaker 4: of wisdom? And there are people that will come from

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Speaker 4: a place of hate and negativity, but that's where your

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Speaker 4: discernment has to come in as well, Like you really

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Speaker 4: have to have that relationship with God to ask God like, Okay,

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Speaker 4: what direction do you want me to go in? And

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Speaker 4: God will send those people to also either confirm or

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Speaker 4: redirect the path that you should take. And I felt

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Speaker 4: that in that moment it wasn't coming from a place

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Speaker 4: of negativity or hate. It was coming from a place

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Speaker 4: of redirection. God sent her, And now I look back

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Speaker 4: in hindsight, I know that God sent her as a

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Speaker 4: way to reroute my thinking because the Salon route wasn't

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Speaker 4: for me.

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Speaker 2: The products were, you know what I picked up onto

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Speaker 2: In the beginning of the book, You've talked about a

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Speaker 2: lot of the chima that you had as a child,

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Speaker 2: and you discuss your relationship with your father and the

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Speaker 2: things that you went through with him. I felt like

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Speaker 2: you were very careful because you love your dad. So also,

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Speaker 2: sometimes it's hard to put things out there about people

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Speaker 2: that we care about in our lives because you don't

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Speaker 2: know how other people will perceive that. And I felt

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Speaker 2: like you were very cautious in how you approach that.

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Speaker 2: How was that process for you?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I tried to be more concise versus cautious because

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Speaker 4: there was a lot more that I could have shared, right.

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Speaker 4: And the thing about with my dad is he wanted

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Speaker 4: me to share his story, so I didn't feel like

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Speaker 4: I had to hold back a lot of things. I

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Speaker 4: just felt like I couldn't put everything in there because

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Speaker 4: that probably would have been the entire book.

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Speaker 3: Right, So, you know, he set me down.

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Speaker 4: I mean, well, we had a conversation and he told

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Speaker 4: me that, you know, he wanted me to share his

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Speaker 4: story because I think with my dad, it kind of

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Speaker 4: shocks him that, you know, I was able to overcome

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Speaker 4: going through what I went through as a child and

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Speaker 4: being this you know, celebrity in his eyes and his

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Speaker 4: eyes living the American dream. And he's like, I want

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Speaker 4: you to tell my story because I think that your

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Speaker 4: story and sharing my story will inspire you know, kids

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Speaker 4: that may be going through you know, broken homes and

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Speaker 4: broken systems or dysfunctional households and how you have literally

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Speaker 4: built the American dream. He's like, you should share that

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Speaker 4: because you're going to inspire people. So I felt really

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Speaker 4: good about sharing his type simony. And also, you know,

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Speaker 4: the thing is, like my dad, he's not a bad person.

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Speaker 4: So I did not want to make him out to

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Speaker 4: be a bad person, because that's not his spirit, that's

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Speaker 4: not his soul. I know that he suffers with an addiction.

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Speaker 4: It's a sickness, and it's a stronghold that's over him

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Speaker 4: that he, you know, he has no control over. He

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Speaker 4: made a choice a long time ago, and that choice

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Speaker 4: his life is a result of those choices that he made.

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Speaker 4: And I just wanted people to realize that. You know,

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Speaker 4: we all probably have someone in our family that suffers

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Speaker 4: with addiction, and we have to look at them for

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Speaker 4: who they are, their heart and their soul, and we

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Speaker 4: can try as much as we want to to try

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Speaker 4: to get them help, but they have to want to

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Speaker 4: get to help themselves, right, And it's not any fault

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Speaker 4: of yours. It's not a reflection of who you are.

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Speaker 4: Because I used to be embarrassed and my dad was

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Speaker 4: addicted to drugs when I was younger, and I had

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Speaker 4: to realize that those life choices that he made were

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Speaker 4: not a reflection of me. What I do is the

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Speaker 4: power to break those generational curses and to do something

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Speaker 4: different to change my family lineage and legacy and get

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Speaker 4: my family a better life. And now I know what

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Speaker 4: not to do, because I've seen what drugs and alcohol

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Speaker 4: does to break up families, because that's what happened with

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Speaker 4: my family.

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Speaker 2: Right and your husband's here of course. Yes, So hello, Malvin,

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Speaker 2: how you doing today. You guys got together at a

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Speaker 2: really young age.

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Speaker 1: I kind of feel like you might.

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Speaker 2: Have been the you know, after you guys had crossed

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Speaker 2: each other's path several times, you kind of initiated the

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Speaker 2: actual link up.

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Speaker 1: Well do you look at it that way? Because I

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Speaker 1: know couples argueable. We know you were in the me first,

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Speaker 1: but no, you were.

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Speaker 4: I think it was I think it was well number one,

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Speaker 4: I was twelve, you know when we first sat. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: so I don't think I was like too aggressive at twelve.

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Speaker 4: I think I was just twelve year old girls did

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Speaker 4: later in life. I think that. I I think I

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Speaker 4: was just you know, presenting the opportunity and like letting

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Speaker 4: him know, like, listen, you got something good that's coming

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Speaker 4: across you better better it up because you know you

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Speaker 4: may not find nobody else like me. So you know,

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Speaker 4: I just presented the opportunity, you know. And then when

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Speaker 4: we did start dating, you know, I was like, okay,

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Speaker 4: we gotta we gotta do better here, Like there, I

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Speaker 4: have no way to get in contact with you. You got

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Speaker 4: to step up to the plate. You know, he was

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Speaker 4: late for our first date, so I had to really

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Speaker 4: like show him how to treat me. I had to

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Speaker 4: like set these standards. And we broke up for like

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Speaker 4: a little minute when we first started dating. So then

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Speaker 4: that's when he had to come back, and he was

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Speaker 4: more the aggressor aggressor at that point because he knew that.

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Speaker 2: That's a good lesson though that with my ex boyfriend,

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Speaker 2: I remember he was late, like early on in the

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Speaker 2: date and I went out to you did the same thing.

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Speaker 2: You were like, he's late, Okay, I'm outside with my friends.

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Speaker 2: And I went out with my friends too, And when

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Speaker 2: he called me, I was like, I'm sid I didn't

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Speaker 2: know what you were doing. I went out, you said

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Speaker 2: this time, and you do have to show people how

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Speaker 2: to treat you, because if you're just they're waiting like

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Speaker 2: where's he at? You know after that, he'll never do

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Speaker 2: it again.

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Speaker 3: And he never did. Right here he did, so you know.

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Speaker 2: You also discuss the rules that you have because you

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Speaker 2: guys also are work on ma l together right as

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Speaker 2: a unit, and so there is also that balance of

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Speaker 2: people will tell you it can be really difficult to

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Speaker 2: work with your significant other, but it feels like you

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Speaker 2: guys have gotten a pretty good balance and a good structure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, no, we have a really great balance. You know,

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Speaker 4: it's not always perfect. And I think as husband and wife,

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Speaker 4: you know, or partners, you're not going to always agree.

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Speaker 4: You're going to have disagreements. Sometimes you may be at

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Speaker 4: each other's throats, and that's quite all right, but you

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Speaker 4: have to focus on, like what is the overall bigger

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Speaker 4: picture here? And you know, I really feel Melvin and

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Speaker 4: I are like, are are like intertwined, like we have

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Speaker 4: you know, known each other for so long and we

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Speaker 4: literally think like he can complete my sentences and vice versa.

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Speaker 4: And when you are so aligned with someone like you

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Speaker 4: can focus on you know that what you're doing, the

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Speaker 4: purpose is bigger than both of you and for us,

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Speaker 4: our purpose is our legacy and what we're passing down

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Speaker 4: from generation to generation and also the impact that we

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Speaker 4: are doing on our community and people access all the time,

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Speaker 4: like how do you work so well together? You have

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Speaker 4: to like remove any egos, there is no egos involved.

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Speaker 4: You have to have a mutual respect for each other,

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Speaker 4: respect each other's roles and lanes, and compliment yourself with

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Speaker 4: someone that has the opposite skill set that you don't have.

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Speaker 3: So if whether it's your spouse.

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Speaker 4: Or any partner that you're looking for in business, you

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Speaker 4: should partner with someone that does something that.

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Speaker 3: You don't do.

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Speaker 2: Right, we can't both do the same thing. You can't

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Speaker 2: both do it because but is that adding to the business?

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Speaker 3: No value?

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Speaker 4: And we both offer, you know, two different sets of

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Speaker 4: skill that brought value to the company, with me being

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Speaker 4: the visionary and having the idea to create these products

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Speaker 4: and knowing a lot about hair care and having that

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Speaker 4: science background. Of course, Melvin didn't know anything about hair care,

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Speaker 4: but what he did offer was his logistical engineering background

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Speaker 4: because he was an engineer by trade. I was a nurse.

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Speaker 4: And complementing those two skill sets together it created us

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Speaker 4: to be this dynamic duo and we've built this amazing

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Speaker 4: company together because we both offer two different things. And

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Speaker 4: I think it's important with any partnership. I think that

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Speaker 4: you know entrepreneurs, A smart entrepreneur knows how to surround

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Speaker 4: themselves with people that are smarter than them in areas

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Speaker 4: that they're not because it's okay to know that you

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Speaker 4: are not an expert at every single aspect.

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Speaker 3: Of the business.

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Speaker 1: It's impossible.

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Speaker 3: It's impossible.

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Speaker 2: And he does still have hair. So that's a good thing. Yes,

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Speaker 2: that's great for the brand. Now I want to ask

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Speaker 2: you because I know there were difficult times where people

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Speaker 2: were coming at Mayel and I've been using Mayel products

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Speaker 2: even before you know clearly like snce way before where.

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Speaker 3: We've met, thank you, yeah.

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Speaker 2: And so, and I saw you being very transparent and

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Speaker 2: you said, let me address this head on. How hard

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Speaker 2: was that for you mentally, because I know it can

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Speaker 2: seem like it's okay, but that's like your baby. But

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Speaker 2: that's also trust, right because you've built such a rapport

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Speaker 2: with your audience and the consumers and people love you.

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Speaker 2: But in a second, people can also turn the other way.

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Speaker 2: And I feel like that and a lot of different

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Speaker 2: aspects when it comes to entertainment any public figure. So

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Speaker 2: talk to me about that time because I feel like

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Speaker 2: I do feel like we've navigated kind of past that

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Speaker 2: and that you did address it head on. Because transparency

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Speaker 2: being the face of the brand, it's.

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Speaker 1: A good thing.

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Speaker 2: But then it's also like when good things happen, you're

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Speaker 2: the face, and when bad things happen, you're the face.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, of course it was hurtful, right, you know,

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Speaker 4: I think that anyone that says that criticism doesn't hurt

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Speaker 4: or they don't care, you know, they're not being truthful.

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Speaker 4: And I wanted to be very transparent and vulnerable with

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Speaker 4: my community because the thing is, I understand, like hair

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Speaker 4: loss is a huge issue.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 4: I think that you know, at some point in our

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Speaker 4: lives we've suffered with both I'm saying me and you like,

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Speaker 4: as women, we may suffer with hair loss, hair shedding.

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Speaker 2: And it's devastating, it's devastating. I remember I had a

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Speaker 2: bun that was too tight and I ended up getting like.

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Speaker 3: You can get alabacia.

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Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, and it's still like not fully grown back.

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Speaker 1: And I was like, what's happening right here?

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Speaker 4: And so that's the thing, like different styles, you know,

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Speaker 4: everyone's genetic makeup is different. So the thing is, like

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Speaker 4: I understand like the heartbreak of people that's suffering with

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Speaker 4: any type of hair loss.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 4: But that's the reason why I started the company because

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Speaker 4: I care. I care about the women that I serve,

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Speaker 4: and I operate with integrity.

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Speaker 2: And the men and dan us man drops for his hair.

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Speaker 2: He said it helped him a lot.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you, your hair looks great. Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So, like I created this brand, you know, to solve

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Speaker 4: a problem. I felt that there was a void in

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Speaker 4: the market of a lack of great products that perform well,

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Speaker 4: a lack of like high quality ingredients. So I've always

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Speaker 4: focused on being mission driven and the mission of Mayel

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Speaker 4: has never changed and has never wavered and will never wavered.

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Speaker 3: So I wanted to.

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Speaker 4: Address it head on because I know and I can

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Speaker 4: speak to the confidence that the products that we create,

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Speaker 4: the processes, the formulas, the formulas have not changed.

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Speaker 3: Our processes and procedures have not changed.

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Speaker 4: We still create the great formulas that people have come

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Speaker 4: to love from before P and G came on board, right,

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Speaker 4: And it's because of that, it's why people have made

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Speaker 4: these accusations that our formulas have changed. But quite frankly,

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Speaker 4: it's just not true. And so I always have led

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Speaker 4: with transparency and integrity, and so that's why I wanted

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Speaker 4: to address it head on. And I think that people

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Speaker 4: also they forget the fact that I was a nurse, right,

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Speaker 4: I dealt with people's lives every single day. Like, I

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Speaker 4: would never operate with any ill intentions or any ill

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Speaker 4: motive to do something that was going to ruin or

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Speaker 4: damage anyone's heir. I use the products, my family uses

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Speaker 4: the products like this is something I love, This is

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Speaker 4: my passion, and I would never sacrifice that.

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Speaker 2: I think people have the conception that if a brand.

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Speaker 2: When P and G came in and started working with

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Speaker 2: a brand, people always think that's what happens, right. I

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Speaker 2: feel like that happens with a lot of products. They

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Speaker 2: feel like, Okay, well they're going to scale the product,

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Speaker 2: They're going to mass produce it more, it's going to

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Speaker 2: be in different locations, so to sup for it to

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Speaker 2: be more profitable. Because I think people also look at

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Speaker 2: large companies like that as not being like you. They

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Speaker 2: look at it as the man, you know what I'm saying,

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Speaker 2: And so people, I think automatically, the assumption is always

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Speaker 2: that something's going to change.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think that, you know, I took the

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Speaker 4: time to educate my community on you know, why brands

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Speaker 4: like Mayel scale up and take on you know, private

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Speaker 4: equity money, why we become acquired because my goal was

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Speaker 4: to be a global beauty brand is to be a

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Speaker 4: global beauty brand. And as a black woman, you know,

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Speaker 4: we already have a lack of resources, lack of finance.

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Speaker 1: The least amount of resources, the least the amount of.

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Speaker 4: Vcy to grow and scale our businesses. So at the

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Speaker 4: same time, while there is a lack of we cannot

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Speaker 4: automatically assume or tear down brands that receive the abundance

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Speaker 4: of capital. Because when Amonic Rodriguez receives capital from private

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Speaker 4: equity or is acquired, that opens the door so we

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Speaker 4: can have more access to funding, expertise, and mentorship, the

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Speaker 4: things that we lack right, So we have to embrace it,

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Speaker 4: and we have to take the time to understand when

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Speaker 4: information is being given to us and checking the source

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Speaker 4: of where the information is coming from. So if you

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Speaker 4: have a credible source that's telling you the why and

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Speaker 4: you're still choosing to misunderstand why companies become acquired or

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Speaker 4: scale up, then I feel that you're being ignorant by choice.

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Speaker 2: See, I've learned that we should always be building companies

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Speaker 2: as if we want to sell them that is the goal,

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Speaker 2: and not even necessarily to seldom because but also just

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Speaker 2: building it that way. So that that means everything's in order.

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Speaker 2: So if one day you kind of got to stay ready,

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Speaker 2: so you don't have to get ready. So the way

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Speaker 2: you build a brand when you're building it is as

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Speaker 2: if you wanted to get acquired, because that means that

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Speaker 2: you're going to be crossing all your te's downing all

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Speaker 2: your eyes no matter what it is that you decide

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Speaker 2: to do, and what you decide to do can always.

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Speaker 1: Change too, Like you might be like I.

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Speaker 2: Want to stay you know, a small black owned business,

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Speaker 2: and then one day you might be like, I'm two

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Speaker 2: million dollars in debt. As you were dealing with this,

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Speaker 2: I need to get some funding because I might lose

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Speaker 2: my house. And that puts you in a different frame

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Speaker 2: of mind. And people have to also understand that too,

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Speaker 2: because as entrepreneurs, as a consumer, I feel like sometimes

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Speaker 2: you want to keep things and we have a connection,

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Speaker 2: and I don't think that's a bad thing. But you

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Speaker 2: also have to be supportive of when a brand is

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Speaker 2: saying okay, I want to grow. And you talk about

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Speaker 2: rich Jennis, because I know he was helpful with the

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Speaker 2: brand too, what he went through when I felt like

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Speaker 2: people were tearing him down over shame, way, but then

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Speaker 2: for him to go and acquire essence and also have

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Speaker 2: a fund that actually helps with black owned businesses. Those

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Speaker 2: are things that are very necessary that he probably wouldn't

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Speaker 2: have been able to do if he hadn't gotten with

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Speaker 2: Unilever exactly.

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Speaker 4: And so we should celebrate that as a community. And

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Speaker 4: to your point, we as a community, we should allow

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Speaker 4: the freedom and flexibility for any entrepreneur to do whatever

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Speaker 4: it is that they want to do with their brand,

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Speaker 4: and that is the goal to either exit or to ipo.

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Speaker 4: And you are building your brand. I've always built Mayo

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Speaker 4: with the mentality that this is a multimillion dollar brand

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Speaker 4: when we were just in our kitchen, right, And so

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Speaker 4: when you are an entrepreneur and you are trying to

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Speaker 4: make the decision do I grow do I take on capital?

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Speaker 4: The biggest concern for us is how is our community

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Speaker 4: going to react to it?

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Speaker 3: You know?

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Speaker 4: And what we do is we stifle the community when

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Speaker 4: we do that, tear other brands down for being acquired

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Speaker 4: or taken on private equity because it creates now of

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Speaker 4: fear for the strategics and private equity firms that either

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Speaker 4: will devalue us because they're afraid that the community is

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Speaker 4: going to tear us down after the brand takes on capital,

437
00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,359
Speaker 4: or they are afraid to invest at all. Now it

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Speaker 4: makes us a bigger risk to take on capital. So

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Speaker 4: we have to just educate the community as much as

440
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,000
Speaker 4: we can that these are the things. This is a

441
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,200
Speaker 4: normal trajectory of business. This is how we should celebrate

442
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,880
Speaker 4: this as a community, because we don't want to keep

443
00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,320
Speaker 4: pushing ourselves behind because we're not creating opportunity for us

444
00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,479
Speaker 4: to grow and scale. And growing and scaling does not

445
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,080
Speaker 4: mean you have to lose your authenticity. And I'm still

446
00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 4: the leader of this company. I still lead and make

447
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:48,200
Speaker 4: the decisions. And you can't disrupt rooms that you're in

448
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,040
Speaker 4: if you don't have a seat at the table. So

449
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,920
Speaker 4: I don't look at it as I've sold out my company.

450
00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:54,760
Speaker 4: I looked at it as I've leveled up, and I

451
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,480
Speaker 4: brought my seat with me to make those decisions.

452
00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:59,760
Speaker 2: Now that's interesting because I just also think what you're

453
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,840
Speaker 2: saying is true. You said one of the questions they

454
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,520
Speaker 2: asked you was, well, what about the backlash from the

455
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:08,480
Speaker 2: community when you were getting investment, right, Yeah, and to

456
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:10,280
Speaker 2: the brand, And you were like, do you ask other

457
00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,560
Speaker 2: businesses that or is it just because this is a

458
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 2: black owned brand, because it will make somebody be like, ooh,

459
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,640
Speaker 2: what if this changes public perception?

460
00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,840
Speaker 1: What if we do this? But that's not a question.

461
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,240
Speaker 2: And it's kind of when you think about Ryan Kugler

462
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,560
Speaker 2: doing what he's doing, or certain movies, people will feel like, oh, well,

463
00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:26,359
Speaker 2: black movies don't make money if we don't go and

464
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,640
Speaker 2: see them. But then you have to show and prove that, like, yes,

465
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,720
Speaker 2: this was an amazing investment. Now things that have never

466
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,440
Speaker 2: been done before have been done, and now that shows

467
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,080
Speaker 2: you what you need to keep on investing.

468
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 4: Absolutely, like you know, we're working hard to open up

469
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,320
Speaker 4: those those pathways, like I stand on the shoulders of

470
00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,479
Speaker 4: those that have gone before me, like you know, Lee

471
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 4: surprised Carol's daughter, Madam C. J. Walker, And we're working

472
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,439
Speaker 4: so hard to break those barriers and open those doors.

473
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,639
Speaker 4: And yes, it's hurtful when we're working hard to create opportunity,

474
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 4: but yet we're being torn down by the same unity

475
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 4: that we're working hard to open doors for.

476
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 1: I do feel like you are.

477
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,080
Speaker 2: And it's interesting because reading the book, you have a

478
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 2: chapter hold on I think I wrote it down chapter twelve.

479
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,359
Speaker 2: We can all win, ignore the naysayers and haters, but

480
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,480
Speaker 2: don't become one. And that is you know, and look

481
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,240
Speaker 2: that was in my bio is like I'd rather be

482
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:25,600
Speaker 2: hated than a hater, and you know, because yeah, it's

483
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:27,680
Speaker 2: not a good position. I don't want to ever sit

484
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:29,959
Speaker 2: around and like tear down other people or be like,

485
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,600
Speaker 2: don't support this brand. But you've dealt with a lot

486
00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,200
Speaker 2: of that in the business. Could you ever have foreseen

487
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,480
Speaker 2: how this business like we talk about the salon and

488
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,880
Speaker 2: not opening the salon and knowing that's nut, but you've

489
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,320
Speaker 2: had to deal with a lot even just having your

490
00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,680
Speaker 2: own brand, you know, on the shelves in stores and

491
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,720
Speaker 2: this product. Would you ever have thought that other people,

492
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,920
Speaker 2: other brands would tear, like you said in the book,

493
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,000
Speaker 2: tear you down the way that they have, or have

494
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,359
Speaker 2: issues with you people you've never met, when it's like

495
00:22:58,440 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 2: we can't all do this together?

496
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 1: Can we win together?

497
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:01,440
Speaker 3: Yeah?

498
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,320
Speaker 4: I mean no, I wasn't expecting it because you know,

499
00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 4: I am a girl's girl, and like I said earlier,

500
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,879
Speaker 4: I love to see other women winning. So when that

501
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,199
Speaker 4: wasn't reciprocated, you know, I felt a little isolated. I

502
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,679
Speaker 4: felt like, well, am I doing something wrong. So I

503
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,399
Speaker 4: made several attempts to, you know, create that camaraderie with

504
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 4: other women that were in my industry, and the love

505
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,280
Speaker 4: just wasn't there in return, but it only allowed me

506
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,480
Speaker 4: to add more fuel to my fire right and motivated

507
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,639
Speaker 4: me to just focus on me, have tunnel vision and

508
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,200
Speaker 4: just be great at what I'm doing. And I had

509
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,840
Speaker 4: to realize that, you know, if you are great at

510
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,240
Speaker 4: what you're doing, it's gonna come with hate. If you don't,

511
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,119
Speaker 4: if you don't want to be copied or criticized, and

512
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 4: don't be great, and that's been my model. So just

513
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,560
Speaker 4: having the tunnel vision and focusing on like how I

514
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,679
Speaker 4: can grow mayel to be the best at what I

515
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:50,000
Speaker 4: can be.

516
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,159
Speaker 3: And the thing is, like I am competitive.

517
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,919
Speaker 4: I'm competitive at sports, you know, I'm competitive with my

518
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,639
Speaker 4: kids playing games. I think that's you can have a

519
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:02,640
Speaker 4: friendly competitive nature. You should understand your competitive landscape as

520
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 4: a smart entrepreneur. But that doesn't mean that I have

521
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,119
Speaker 4: to like throw shots or tear you down or have

522
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,720
Speaker 4: the crabs in a barrel mentality. Like I never felt

523
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,159
Speaker 4: that I had to tear another black woman down in

524
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 4: order to win, and I do feel that's why Mayo

525
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:20,760
Speaker 4: has been so successful because I've always congratulated everyone else

526
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,280
Speaker 4: you know that has been winning. Like when you are

527
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 4: not in your winning season and you clap for others

528
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,840
Speaker 4: that are winning, that's how your blessings flow. When you

529
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,360
Speaker 4: see other people winning and you can't clap for them

530
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,120
Speaker 4: because it's coming from a place of envy or you're

531
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 4: making up excuses as to why you can't support, then

532
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:37,679
Speaker 4: you're just going to stay right where you're at. So

533
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,399
Speaker 4: to your point earlier, like it's not a good place

534
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 4: to be, like to be in the position of being

535
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 4: in the hater seat versus the one that's being hated on.

536
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 2: Right, you can always ignore that, Yeah you can, But

537
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,119
Speaker 2: I feel like being a hater is such a burden

538
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 2: on you, Like I gotta really be so mad.

539
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,359
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's energy, Yeah, you know, the same energy that

540
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,120
Speaker 4: you're using to hate, Like you can take that same

541
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 4: energy to create, Like you know, and I'm sure you're

542
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 4: too busy, like building your company's your brand, Like you

543
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:05,359
Speaker 4: don't have time.

544
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,040
Speaker 1: You're right about that.

545
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 3: I do not have time to be negative. Yeah, that

546
00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 3: is very true.

547
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:11,720
Speaker 1: I don't have time to hate.

548
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:16,919
Speaker 2: No, Now, you talked about your son earlier, briefly and

549
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 2: that tremendous loss that you have, but you also in

550
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 2: the book looked at it from a.

551
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 1: Different perspective, which I thought was interesting.

552
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 2: You said, I don't believe God orchestrated my loss, but

553
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 2: I do believe He used the stillness that the loss.

554
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:28,960
Speaker 1: Created to speak to my heart.

555
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, and for you to be able to have that

556
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:36,199
Speaker 2: perspective and also just deal with something but understand that

557
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,400
Speaker 2: there's a lesson for you that came with that loss.

558
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,200
Speaker 2: I can't even picture even reading that. That part of

559
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,040
Speaker 2: the book was felt emotional for me. It wasn't even

560
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:47,679
Speaker 2: me going but I was like, I can't even imagine

561
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,159
Speaker 2: how hard that was for you to have to go

562
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 2: through that. The baby was in nick you and the

563
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,000
Speaker 2: things that women deal with because we have these conversations

564
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,399
Speaker 2: all the time being a black woman and three and

565
00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,520
Speaker 2: four times more likely to have issues use when it

566
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:01,040
Speaker 2: comes to.

567
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:03,800
Speaker 1: You know, giving birth and all of that.

568
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 2: I you know, I feel like this is a conversation

569
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,840
Speaker 2: that's being had more now than ever before. It wasn't

570
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 2: something that I felt like was in the forefront, but

571
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 2: now we see when it comes to policy, when it

572
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,200
Speaker 2: comes to people being able to speak out and seeing

573
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 2: these numbers and what it is that we can do

574
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,840
Speaker 2: about it, how we can kind of more advocate for ourselves.

575
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,440
Speaker 2: But sometimes you were advocating for yourself, but sometimes nobody's listening.

576
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 4: Correct, Yeah, yeah, And the thing is, I was a nurse.

577
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 4: I was a labor and delivery, so you knew. So

578
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,679
Speaker 4: I knew, you know, everything that was going on. I

579
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 4: knew when his heart rate was dropping, and you know,

580
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,680
Speaker 4: of course I'm in pain, so I can't advocate as

581
00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:43,399
Speaker 4: much and speak for myself, but I knew that the

582
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 4: doctor should have been there, and he didn't get there

583
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,600
Speaker 4: in time, and unfortunately, you know, it resulted in my

584
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,520
Speaker 4: son passing away because of that traumatic birth. And you know,

585
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,679
Speaker 4: I use my story to also be a voice for

586
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,360
Speaker 4: other women to be an advocate for themselves, even if

587
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,199
Speaker 4: you feel like no one's listening to you, like you know,

588
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,919
Speaker 4: ask for another doctor, and you know, I don't. I

589
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 4: don't really like to look back and dwell on, Okay, well,

590
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,639
Speaker 4: I could have done this better because the story was

591
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 4: already written, right, it was nothing that I can do

592
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,160
Speaker 4: to control that. I felt like I did everything right,

593
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,400
Speaker 4: everything that I was supposed to do, and I will

594
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,239
Speaker 4: not let guilt, you know, overtake me. But I do

595
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 4: want women to understand that you have a voice, and

596
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:29,840
Speaker 4: you can listen to your body, and you can speak

597
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 4: up and advocate for what you feel is not going

598
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,199
Speaker 4: right at the time, and prayer forerly and hopefully you

599
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,400
Speaker 4: will have the right doctors to do what they're supposed

600
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,560
Speaker 4: to do, and hopefully making the decision before you know

601
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,200
Speaker 4: you start, you know your pregnancy process, that you're choosing

602
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 4: the right doctors that look like you, that will understand

603
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,600
Speaker 4: your needs and not just be dismissive. Because the doctor

604
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,879
Speaker 4: that I had was very dismissive of some of my symptoms,

605
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,600
Speaker 4: and I was a nurse, so I just felt, you know,

606
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,280
Speaker 4: the reason to share that was so people can learn

607
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:06,040
Speaker 4: from that story and just advocate a little bit differently.

608
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 4: But it was very hard. It was heartbreaking, and you know,

609
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,919
Speaker 4: I've could I could have gotten mad at God. But

610
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 4: God was the only spirit that got me through that painful,

611
00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 4: dark moment. And God used one of my darkest moments

612
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 4: for a purpose in my life. Because God knew that

613
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,399
Speaker 4: he was going to elevate me and that I was

614
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 4: not going to forget about him, that I was going

615
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,680
Speaker 4: to glorify Him because there's always glory on the other

616
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:33,399
Speaker 4: side of pain.

617
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,560
Speaker 3: And sometimes you know, with pain, you may go through.

618
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 4: It and you don't like it when you're going through it,

619
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 4: But God is pruning you. It's building character, it's increasing

620
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 4: your faith, it's increasing your resilience. Like different characteristics that

621
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:51,680
Speaker 4: I have now, I probably wouldn't have had if I

622
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 4: didn't go through the pain that I went through with

623
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 4: the loss of my son. The relationship that I have

624
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 4: with God probably wouldn't be what it is today if

625
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 4: I didn't and go through the loss of my son.

626
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 4: So even though my son was here for a very

627
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,320
Speaker 4: short time, his life was so impactful. His life has

628
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,960
Speaker 4: impacted myself, my husband, my two girls in more ways

629
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,640
Speaker 4: than probably anyone could ever imagine. So he served his purpose,

630
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 4: and ultimately our purpose is to glorify God. And so

631
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 4: with this book, I wanted to write it to not

632
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 4: only just inform, educate, and inspire, but to glorify God

633
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 4: at the same time, because there is purpose on the

634
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 4: other side of the pain. But we just have to

635
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,000
Speaker 4: unlock that gift and be stilled and listen to God

636
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 4: because there is a gift inside of that pain. We

637
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 4: just have to open it up.

638
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:44,880
Speaker 1: That was beautifully said.

639
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,040
Speaker 2: I want to ask you too, because when you were young,

640
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,400
Speaker 2: what was your relationship with God when you were younger?

641
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,440
Speaker 2: Because I know that it's gotten so much stronger, Your

642
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:54,719
Speaker 2: faith has gotten so much stronger.

643
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,960
Speaker 1: Going to church is something that has pretty much saved you.

644
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,120
Speaker 2: I would say, as it should, what was your relationship

645
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:03,800
Speaker 2: like as a younger person?

646
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 4: Though, Yeah, so my relate, like I knew, I know

647
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 4: there was a God, right, But I think I grew

648
00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:13,920
Speaker 4: up a little confused because we would go to church

649
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,680
Speaker 4: on just like Easter, you know, nothing else. And then

650
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 4: my mom put me in Catholic school one year, and

651
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 4: so their teachings and belief system is similar but still

652
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 4: a little bit different. So I kind of grew up

653
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:30,200
Speaker 4: a little confused of like, you know, my faith right,

654
00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 4: and my mom she wasn't big on church.

655
00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:35,480
Speaker 3: I'm not saying that she's not a believer.

656
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,800
Speaker 2: She believes God, but doesn't feel like they have to

657
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 2: go to church just like I have to go to church.

658
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:40,760
Speaker 3: And so.

659
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,480
Speaker 4: There was no like community of other believers that helped

660
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,720
Speaker 4: develop me spiritually, help develop my prayer life. I didn't

661
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:54,640
Speaker 4: have any mentors that you know, helped show me how

662
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 4: to increase my faith in God. Showed me how to

663
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,160
Speaker 4: pray right, you know, because prayer can also be intimidating,

664
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 4: like you're you feel like you're just sitting there talking

665
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:04,680
Speaker 4: to yourself and there's anyone listening. But I had to

666
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,600
Speaker 4: learn like God is always here with us. He's never

667
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 4: far away, and God is always just waiting for us

668
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:12,520
Speaker 4: to come to him. He's an inviting God. He's not

669
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,440
Speaker 4: a loud God. He's not a forceful God. He's just

670
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 4: standing there and saying, like in the spirit, I'm opening

671
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 4: up my arms and when you're ready, I'm gonna be

672
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:23,720
Speaker 4: here for you. And I felt like that has been

673
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 4: my journey for God. With God, like he's always been there,

674
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,600
Speaker 4: He's never left my side. And I share lots of

675
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,440
Speaker 4: stories in the book where it's like the only way

676
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 4: I was able to get through that situation. Like God

677
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:37,760
Speaker 4: had his hand on me when I was little and

678
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:40,840
Speaker 4: you know, experiencing life with my dad and the places

679
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,280
Speaker 4: that he had me, and it was only God that

680
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,560
Speaker 4: saved me from things happening that could have been worse. Right,

681
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,680
Speaker 4: So I know that God has always had his hand

682
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 4: on me, but he was just waiting for me to

683
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,680
Speaker 4: just take myself out of the equation and just start

684
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,000
Speaker 4: having that relationship with him. And the only way that

685
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 4: we can have a relationship with God is by being

686
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,400
Speaker 4: in his house, being in his kingdom, knowing his word,

687
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,760
Speaker 4: and having a conversation with him. And I learned that

688
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 4: going through that loss because my husband and I we

689
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,240
Speaker 4: started going to church and we began we got saved

690
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 4: once we started going to church, and that's when our

691
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 4: lives totally shifted.

692
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:20,160
Speaker 3: So I can.

693
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:25,600
Speaker 4: Testify to how God has glorified us and has lifted

694
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,400
Speaker 4: us up, have brought us through something so devastating and

695
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,600
Speaker 4: so painful. And I know how life was before my

696
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,800
Speaker 4: relationship with God, and I can say I like life

697
00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 4: a lot better on the other side of having my

698
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,560
Speaker 4: relationship with God versus trying to figure out things the

699
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 4: Monique way because things were not going the way that

700
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 4: I wanted to go, because I was trying to assist

701
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,120
Speaker 4: God and I was trying to manipulate situations to get

702
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 4: the outcome that I wanted. But God doesn't need our help,

703
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:53,920
Speaker 4: he doesn't need our assistance. He's just waiting for us

704
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:55,959
Speaker 4: to step aside, surrender and submit.

705
00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 2: Well, I want to ask you this because I don't

706
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 2: belie believe this was in the book. How did Melvin

707
00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:02,160
Speaker 2: propose to you?

708
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:08,680
Speaker 3: Oh, how did he propose? Yeah, he proposed.

709
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,360
Speaker 4: I don't even know if they have you know, these

710
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 4: places here at the Ciberus.

711
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:13,560
Speaker 1: What's that?

712
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:20,720
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly, it's like a I don't even know if

713
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,280
Speaker 4: they're still open now, but it's like a hotel. And

714
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:27,040
Speaker 4: they sold it as like a nice resort type of

715
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 4: you know, hotel that was more special than a motel

716
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 4: six or eight.

717
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:36,760
Speaker 3: But it really was. But at that time, you know,

718
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 3: I thought it was really nice.

719
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,920
Speaker 4: Yeah, but looking back, I don't even know if they're

720
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:42,560
Speaker 4: still open.

721
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:48,120
Speaker 1: I think they call that a rump shop. Question. Did

722
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 1: you know that was going to happen?

723
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,800
Speaker 4: I kind of felt it in my spirit, like he

724
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:55,960
Speaker 4: didn't come out the blue, Like we had been talking

725
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,640
Speaker 4: about marriage and you know, having kids long before we

726
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,640
Speaker 4: started having kids, and you know, he says this all

727
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:04,120
Speaker 4: the time, and I hope he's telling me the truth.

728
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:04,880
Speaker 3: I hope he's not a lie.

729
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 4: He's like, I always knew that you were going to

730
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 4: be my wife, So since you were twelve, maybe not twelve,

731
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,200
Speaker 4: but maybe since sixteen. But yeah, I think that like

732
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 4: like he knew, and I felt it that he was

733
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 4: gonna You think.

734
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,120
Speaker 2: You knew too, Yeah, of course, since like you always

735
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:22,920
Speaker 2: knew that you would that was going to be your person.

736
00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 3: I did.

737
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:25,319
Speaker 1: Even when he was messing up he didn't have a

738
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:26,360
Speaker 1: cell phone, yeah.

739
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,759
Speaker 3: Because he used to. He used to piss me off.

740
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:31,200
Speaker 1: Now, I want to know about some of the rules

741
00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:31,719
Speaker 1: that you guys have.

742
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:33,360
Speaker 2: One of them in the book that you talk about

743
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,600
Speaker 2: is that you guys cannot get phone numbers from people

744
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,160
Speaker 2: of the opposite sex, right, Like, even if you know

745
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,200
Speaker 2: somebody will approach you, it's business, and it's like here's

746
00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:42,320
Speaker 2: the assistance email.

747
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:42,799
Speaker 3: Yeah.

748
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:45,640
Speaker 2: What are other rules that you have when it comes

749
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:49,640
Speaker 2: to like intertwining those two things, like some boundaries that

750
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:50,480
Speaker 2: you have set.

751
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,680
Speaker 3: Up, Yeah, you know, some boundaries that we have set up.

752
00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,359
Speaker 4: It's like, you know, obviously when we're out, we meet

753
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,759
Speaker 4: a lot of people from the opposite sex, and you know,

754
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,680
Speaker 4: changing phone numbers is you know, it's not necessarily because

755
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:04,560
Speaker 4: of like you.

756
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:05,960
Speaker 3: Know, jealousy or insecurity.

757
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 4: It's more of a respects you because you know, sometimes

758
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:16,239
Speaker 4: people can take your friendliness or being extroverted as if

759
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,480
Speaker 4: they're a broken individual. They can take that as being

760
00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,839
Speaker 4: flirtatious and for both of us, right, because I make

761
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,040
Speaker 4: sure that when I'm interacting with people, I'm always very

762
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 4: nice and cordial, but I never want to give off,

763
00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 4: you know, any other type of vibes.

764
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:30,799
Speaker 3: Right.

765
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 4: We want to draw the line and say, okay, if

766
00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:34,640
Speaker 4: you want to go to the next step, if you

767
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 4: want to connect with us, here's our assistance, right, because.

768
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:41,600
Speaker 2: You can't control how people will convey exact somebody be like, yeah,

769
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:41,879
Speaker 2: you know.

770
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 4: Aming his number or I gave him my number, so

771
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:47,759
Speaker 4: you know, we have to be very like, you know,

772
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,000
Speaker 4: strict with that. And then also we travel a lot,

773
00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:54,239
Speaker 4: and you know, we travel with the opposite sex. So

774
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 4: and I put this in the book, like we are

775
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,799
Speaker 4: always on FaceTime pretty much the whole night until it's

776
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,839
Speaker 4: time to go to sleep. So we know like each

777
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:03,799
Speaker 4: other and we trust each other. But we have to

778
00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 4: be careful with other people out in this world because

779
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:08,840
Speaker 4: there are a lot of broken people that don't like

780
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,719
Speaker 4: to see a happy married couple and will try to,

781
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,240
Speaker 4: you know, do whatever to like break up a happy home.

782
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,920
Speaker 4: And so knowing that we have to just have like

783
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:22,000
Speaker 4: really great discernment and knowing how to read people and

784
00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 4: being careful with how we interact with people so it's

785
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:28,200
Speaker 4: not misconstrued or taking the wrong way. But that's that's

786
00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:29,000
Speaker 4: a big one for us.

787
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:31,399
Speaker 2: And what about business and pleasure for you guys when

788
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 2: you're how do you turn it off? Like if you're

789
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,680
Speaker 2: trying to be on vacation but things are happening. Is

790
00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:38,520
Speaker 2: there any rules as far as like can we not

791
00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:40,400
Speaker 2: talk about business for X, Y and Z?

792
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:41,239
Speaker 1: How do you handle that?

793
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's hard because especially in the beginning, you know,

794
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,640
Speaker 4: like building Mayel was something that brought us so much

795
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:49,520
Speaker 4: joy and we had so much fun doing it, so

796
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,120
Speaker 4: when we would have conversations about Mayel, it didn't feel

797
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 4: like it was inappropriate because you know, this was something

798
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:58,880
Speaker 4: that we loved talking about. And then we had a

799
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:01,879
Speaker 4: conversation with our past and you know, Melvin, he would

800
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 4: bring the laptop in the bareroom and we would like,

801
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,160
Speaker 4: you know, look at the back end of the website

802
00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,080
Speaker 4: and he'll talk about sales in the bedroom like where

803
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:10,440
Speaker 4: you know, that's like.

804
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:12,799
Speaker 1: We're trying to ye much time.

805
00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:15,880
Speaker 4: And our pastor told us, like, your bedroom is a

806
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:19,040
Speaker 4: place of you know, it's sacred and you don't want

807
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:22,440
Speaker 4: to bring work into that badroom. Your bedroom is for X,

808
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:25,440
Speaker 4: Y and Z, and that's exactly what it should be for.

809
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,719
Speaker 4: So don't bring in, you know, your work, keep your

810
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:32,320
Speaker 4: work separated at the office, and keep home that sacred

811
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 4: place where you can unwind and relax and talk about

812
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,640
Speaker 4: other things outside of work. And since he told us that,

813
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,680
Speaker 4: we've taken that advice, and it's been a lot better

814
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,759
Speaker 4: and easier for us to navigate not bringing work home.

815
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:48,120
Speaker 4: And sometimes it still slips through the crack. You have

816
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:50,799
Speaker 4: to give each other grace, but setting those rules. And

817
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,920
Speaker 4: since we have had that conversation with our pastor, Melvin

818
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:55,920
Speaker 4: has not brought a laptop into our bedroom.

819
00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,360
Speaker 3: So he's like, I don't even have a laptop anymore.

820
00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:03,880
Speaker 4: Well, he'll use his phone, But you know, I try

821
00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,920
Speaker 4: to not let my phone or laptop control me because

822
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,320
Speaker 4: you know, it can't interfere. And sometimes even with my kids,

823
00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 4: your kids will be talking to you and you're on

824
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 4: the phone. I have to check myself like, oh, let

825
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,560
Speaker 4: me be present in this moment. So we try to

826
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 4: practice at least I try to practice it a lot more.

827
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,360
Speaker 4: Maybe it's just being present in the moment.

828
00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 1: Now the book is out, how do you feel.

829
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,239
Speaker 4: I feel very free, Like it feels very like cathartic

830
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 4: to just like put my story out there and to

831
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:38,399
Speaker 4: be vulnerable and to share stories and insights that I've

832
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 4: never shared publicly.

833
00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:42,880
Speaker 3: Okay, Number one Amazon.

834
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:48,319
Speaker 1: All right, congratulations, thank you. You got to celebrate that.

835
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:51,719
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, let me drink empty to that. That's

836
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:56,280
Speaker 2: amazing Number one on Amazon.

837
00:38:58,280 --> 00:38:59,920
Speaker 1: I like to think I'm assigned for you to.

838
00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:02,839
Speaker 2: But when it comes to you being on tour, how

839
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:06,440
Speaker 2: has that been with people receiving this story talking to

840
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:07,000
Speaker 2: you about it?

841
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 1: What has stood out to you?

842
00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:11,200
Speaker 3: Oh? Man? Like, what has stood out the most? Well,

843
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:13,360
Speaker 3: two things.

844
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:17,080
Speaker 4: One lady she drove six hours to just get her

845
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:22,680
Speaker 4: book signed because she's been a longtime fan, and you know,

846
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:26,000
Speaker 4: that was just like, wow, this is what I'm supposed

847
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:29,440
Speaker 4: to be doing. Like that's impact. We had another lady

848
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,960
Speaker 4: that drove four hours and she ended up missing the

849
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,440
Speaker 4: entire segment of me speaking. She got there just in

850
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,600
Speaker 4: time for me to sign her book, and she was

851
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 4: just like, you know, I know I missed it, but

852
00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:41,440
Speaker 4: I just wanted to just see you in the presence.

853
00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 4: I just wanted to get your signature. And that's impact,

854
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:49,160
Speaker 4: And for me, it's not just about success of the book.

855
00:39:49,239 --> 00:39:53,719
Speaker 4: It's really about significance. So if I am impacting someone's

856
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,200
Speaker 4: life by sharing my story and inspiring them to dream

857
00:39:57,239 --> 00:40:00,000
Speaker 4: bigger and lighting the fire inside of them to say,

858
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,200
Speaker 4: you know what, it's not too late. Because I've read

859
00:40:03,239 --> 00:40:05,880
Speaker 4: monique story and she started this company when she was

860
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:10,080
Speaker 4: thirty years old, she was married with kids, like you know,

861
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,480
Speaker 4: she went through a loss, she went through heartbreak, like

862
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:16,320
Speaker 4: there is nothing that I can accomplish, there is nothing

863
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:20,440
Speaker 4: that's too hard for me. And seeing my story and

864
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,160
Speaker 4: seeing how I dealt with grief, and I say this,

865
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 4: the company is successful, but that didn't save me. God

866
00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:30,319
Speaker 4: save me. I had to deal with my grief. I

867
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:33,840
Speaker 4: had to process it because in order for me to

868
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,680
Speaker 4: lead effectively, in order for me to be whole, I

869
00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:40,080
Speaker 4: had to deal with issues. I had to deal with grief.

870
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,160
Speaker 4: I had to deal with childhood trauma. And it's a

871
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 4: healing journey. And we're all the work in progress and

872
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:48,920
Speaker 4: this is a lifelong journey and I just want to

873
00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:53,360
Speaker 4: impact people with my words, with my story to just

874
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:56,600
Speaker 4: motivate them to be great, great at whatever it is

875
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:58,400
Speaker 4: that they do, like it's never too late.

876
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:00,960
Speaker 2: And listen, you guys, so you get the glory in

877
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:03,960
Speaker 2: your story. See that completely sums up the title of

878
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,120
Speaker 2: the book. But there's so many lessens here. I mean,

879
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,960
Speaker 2: there's this is like a soap opera too. There's scammers there.

880
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 2: Everything is in this book. You know, there's love, there's God,

881
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:15,759
Speaker 2: which we all need in our lives. And I think

882
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,560
Speaker 2: this will really solidify that for anybody who might feel lost,

883
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:20,439
Speaker 2: maybe it is time to go back to church.

884
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:22,719
Speaker 1: Maybe it is you really tapping.

885
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:24,160
Speaker 2: In and listening to what God is telling you in

886
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:26,279
Speaker 2: what direction it is that you're supposed to be going

887
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:28,960
Speaker 2: in and paying attention to those signs and asking for

888
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,960
Speaker 2: those signs too. By the way, but congratulations to you.

889
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:33,480
Speaker 2: I'm glad you were able to come up here. I'm

890
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:34,879
Speaker 2: glad the book is out and I had a chance

891
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:35,399
Speaker 2: to read it.

892
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:36,839
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you for reading it.

893
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:38,360
Speaker 1: Oh listen, you already know.

894
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,319
Speaker 2: I also want to say, as an entrepreneur, there's a

895
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:43,520
Speaker 2: lot of great information in here. And I always tell

896
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:46,280
Speaker 2: you this, you know, for me being an entrepreneur myself

897
00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:49,000
Speaker 2: and reading like certain tips that you have and look,

898
00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:51,520
Speaker 2: you've gotten tips from your CFO that's in this book.

899
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 2: Just different people that have been around you, lessons that

900
00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,160
Speaker 2: you've learned, and you're definitely passing those on in a

901
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,319
Speaker 2: time like this. For me being a black woman trying

902
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,400
Speaker 2: to get my brand off the ground too, it's a

903
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,600
Speaker 2: different type of brand. I have a coffee company, but

904
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,000
Speaker 2: it's also just so many things that I can take

905
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:09,799
Speaker 2: valuable lessons from from reading this book too.

906
00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:11,960
Speaker 3: Of course you can, because you're still building a brand.

907
00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:12,680
Speaker 1: Yes I am.

908
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:16,080
Speaker 4: And congratulating and be patient with myself, yes, and give

909
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:16,800
Speaker 4: yourself grace.

910
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:18,759
Speaker 1: I will, but not too much. We gotta go.

911
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:22,520
Speaker 2: Okay, but thank you so much. I appreciate it and congratulations.

912
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:24,120
Speaker 3: Thank you again, thank you for having me

913
00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:26,839
Speaker 2: Wa