1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,000
Speaker 1: We'll luke you here Black Tech, Green Money. So pleasing

2
00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:08,000
Speaker 1: to be with you here in this new season Black Tech,

3
00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:10,680
Speaker 1: Green Money. It's going to be a special one because

4
00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:12,719
Speaker 1: I get to talk about something that's near and dear

5
00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,040
Speaker 1: to my heart on this episode. And this episode is

6
00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:20,360
Speaker 1: really about asking permission, and you need to ask permission

7
00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,239
Speaker 1: and doing things without permission. So but before we get

8
00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,240
Speaker 1: into that, we're gonna talk about Afro tech News. Shout

9
00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,560
Speaker 1: out to all the Black inventors. Lanny Smooth becomes the

10
00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,560
Speaker 1: second person from Disney since Walt Disney himself to get

11
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,879
Speaker 1: inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He joined

12
00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:42,279
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four class of recognized Inventors. Smooth who

13
00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,479
Speaker 1: was making history as the first Disney imagineer to receive

14
00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,600
Speaker 1: the honor. He's also the second person at Walt Disney

15
00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:54,120
Speaker 1: Company since Walt Disney to earn the recognition. His forty

16
00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:59,400
Speaker 1: five year career, he's been a theatrical technology creator, inventor,

17
00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:04,640
Speaker 1: electrical engineer, scientists, and researcher. He's a mass the collection

18
00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,000
Speaker 1: of over one hundred patents, seventy four of them created

19
00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,720
Speaker 1: during his twenty five year stint at all Disney Company

20
00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:17,000
Speaker 1: and is star shined long before he joined Disney. Graduated

21
00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,960
Speaker 1: with a bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from

22
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:27,560
Speaker 1: Columbia University, developed multiple innovations such as video on demand technology,

23
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:34,600
Speaker 1: video conferencing technologies, and specialized in television for remote locations,

24
00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,640
Speaker 1: just to name a few. He's been integral in creating

25
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,000
Speaker 1: some of the most technically advanced special effects at Disney

26
00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,720
Speaker 1: theme parks and experiences, and if you've been some of these.

27
00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:52,440
Speaker 1: Examples of his special effect technologies include the Seance Room

28
00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,960
Speaker 1: at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. He worked on the Madame Leotas

29
00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:02,320
Speaker 1: float there that I've not been there. Well, I've been there,

30
00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,120
Speaker 1: but I've not seen this particular thing. But Madam Leota's

31
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:10,080
Speaker 1: floating in the Seience Room at Disney's Disneyland's Haunted Mansion,

32
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:16,120
Speaker 1: he worked on that. Disney Live Entertainment's Extendable Lightsaber, he

33
00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,800
Speaker 1: worked on that. The Magic Playfloor interactive game experience on

34
00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:25,280
Speaker 1: Disney's Cruise Line, he worked on that. And the Fortress

35
00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,200
Speaker 1: Explorations adventure at Tokyo Disney c. He worked on that,

36
00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,639
Speaker 1: and he said in a statement as a lifelong as

37
00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:35,640
Speaker 1: a lifelong inventor. Let me start that over. As a

38
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,760
Speaker 1: lifelong inventor, I am excited, delighted, and humbled to be

39
00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,760
Speaker 1: inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. This is

40
00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:45,880
Speaker 1: he told this to Disney Parks. He said, to be

41
00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:51,000
Speaker 1: included alongside my childhood hero Thomas Edison and my lifelong

42
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:55,320
Speaker 1: role model Jim West, the electreate microphone inventor who's also

43
00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,680
Speaker 1: a black man. It's exciting and humbling, and as someone

44
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,440
Speaker 1: who's had the privilege of working at the Walt Disney Company,

45
00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,320
Speaker 1: it's especially meaningful to know that Walt Disney himself is

46
00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:10,320
Speaker 1: also an inductee, So big shout out to you, mister smooth.

47
00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,320
Speaker 1: Next up, Cole Trane Curtis. If you know him, you

48
00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,400
Speaker 1: know he's an icon for marketers like myself and he

49
00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,680
Speaker 1: makes Afro Tech News Today. Team Epiphany the company he

50
00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:26,519
Speaker 1: founded his black indigenous people of color founded marketing agency,

51
00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,560
Speaker 1: and they've worked with people like Easter Ray, companies like

52
00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:34,079
Speaker 1: American Express and more. They have been acquired by Stagwell.

53
00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,640
Speaker 1: Kudos to you, Coltrane, he said in a statement. We're

54
00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,880
Speaker 1: excited to become part of Stagwell and its constellation network

55
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:44,800
Speaker 1: a company that shares our values and looks to further

56
00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:50,120
Speaker 1: Team epiphanies long standing commitment to aspirational marketing, embracing culture,

57
00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:55,680
Speaker 1: and impacting communities of influence through our work. As previously

58
00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,680
Speaker 1: reported by afro Tech, Curtis runs the business alongside his

59
00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:04,280
Speaker 1: why and fellow managing partner, Lisa Chu. The team works

60
00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,400
Speaker 1: to not only put culture at the forefront of the agency,

61
00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:13,000
Speaker 1: but also create community impact through its efforts. Team Epiphany's

62
00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:18,720
Speaker 1: clients include American Express, HBO, Max, Heineken Moore. For AMX,

63
00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,640
Speaker 1: the company worked on the company's campaigns for its AMX

64
00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,440
Speaker 1: one hundred for one hundred program, which invested two point

65
00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,919
Speaker 1: five million dollars in black female entrepreneurs part of their

66
00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,680
Speaker 1: press release and what's more, after creating launch campaigns for

67
00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:38,880
Speaker 1: the Insecure Fest for Easter Ray's show Insecure, Team Epiphany

68
00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,520
Speaker 1: went on to obtain a strategic partnership with Ray's Hooray

69
00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:48,720
Speaker 1: Media in twenty twenty three. Justin Lewis, who's chair of Constellation,

70
00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,320
Speaker 1: said in the statement, people tend to see Team Epiphany

71
00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:57,520
Speaker 1: and one to compartmentalize its offerings into multicultural or experiential,

72
00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:00,040
Speaker 1: but when I met the team, it became clear it

73
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,279
Speaker 1: me that their deep appreciation and mastery of culture is

74
00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:09,440
Speaker 1: an essential ingredient for contemporary brands focused on forward looking growth.

75
00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,520
Speaker 1: I'm excited to welcome col Train, Lisa and the entire

76
00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,839
Speaker 1: team to the network. So much more afro tech news,

77
00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,159
Speaker 1: but I'll do one more for today, and that is

78
00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,440
Speaker 1: seven diverse brands will be shelved at Target stores thanks

79
00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:28,000
Speaker 1: to a woman owned tech platform prioritizing diverse led startups

80
00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,920
Speaker 1: and suppliers. This push is in part due to Diverse

81
00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,120
Speaker 1: Powered Brands of Business to Business Global digital catalog that

82
00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,920
Speaker 1: helps buyers connect with diverse supplies and brands. According to

83
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,200
Speaker 1: his website, the efforts have led to victories for the

84
00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,599
Speaker 1: new business owners. According to a news release, thirteen suppliers

85
00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:51,279
Speaker 1: to partner a pitch competition moderated by Diverse Powered Brands

86
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:56,280
Speaker 1: in last year at Target headquarters in Minneapolis, and suppliers

87
00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,839
Speaker 1: were able to pitch Target's wine team while founders interacted

88
00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:04,240
Speaker 1: with the executives from several wine distribution companies. And among

89
00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,919
Speaker 1: the companies who will be on this shelf soon is

90
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,960
Speaker 1: Boyd Crew Wines, which has been talked about an afrotech

91
00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,240
Speaker 1: before it is a story on afrotech dot com entitled

92
00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,159
Speaker 1: the Boyds are behind the first Black family owned wine

93
00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,720
Speaker 1: company in Maryland, So check that story out on afrotech

94
00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,560
Speaker 1: dot com. It created out of a deep desire to

95
00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,440
Speaker 1: honor their families legacy. Matthew and jon El Boyd created

96
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,760
Speaker 1: Boyd Crew Wines, which is a family owned winery crafting

97
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:37,200
Speaker 1: locally made wines. Were also fostering community and connection. Jon

98
00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:39,920
Speaker 1: El said in the statement, as the old saying gohs,

99
00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:44,320
Speaker 1: representation matters, and although when considering entering the wine industry

100
00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,280
Speaker 1: and starting our own winery, we noticed there was a

101
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,520
Speaker 1: lack of diversity, it was the innovation and history of

102
00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,280
Speaker 1: what our ancestors were able to accomplish and what that

103
00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 1: stood for that gave us the faith and the courage

104
00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,360
Speaker 1: to move forward and launch our own wine company. They're

105
00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,880
Speaker 1: Wine reopened in twenty twenty three, and they said their

106
00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,440
Speaker 1: ultimate goal is to own and operate a standalone vineyard

107
00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,760
Speaker 1: with a community marketplace incubator for entrepreneurs and small businesses

108
00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,280
Speaker 1: who are just starting their business. So salute to you

109
00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:20,760
Speaker 1: and you guys, go look for them on a target

110
00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:39,520
Speaker 1: shelf soon. That's Shaffro Tech News, Black Tech green Money

111
00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,520
Speaker 1: will Lucas here another exciting episode. I'm excited about this

112
00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,480
Speaker 1: one because I could do by virtue of tell you

113
00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:54,640
Speaker 1: my story hopefully inspire you to take bigger steps in

114
00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,560
Speaker 1: your journey without the things that hold you back today.

115
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,559
Speaker 1: So I'm going to tell you two different stories today. One,

116
00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,840
Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you the story of afro Tech,

117
00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,480
Speaker 1: how I found my way at afro Tech. I've told

118
00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,560
Speaker 1: pieces of your story on previous episodes, but today I'm

119
00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,200
Speaker 1: going to tell it from like a slightly different perspective.

120
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:16,560
Speaker 1: And I want to tell you the story of my

121
00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,440
Speaker 1: marketing company Creatio, which I was actually when I was

122
00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:22,280
Speaker 1: looking at the Afrotech News that I was going to

123
00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,080
Speaker 1: do today, it was so fitting to talk about what

124
00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,160
Speaker 1: col Trane Curtis did in the Afrotech News segment previous

125
00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,240
Speaker 1: to get into this section right here, because Cold Train

126
00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,600
Speaker 1: is such an inspiration to people like myself. So I'm

127
00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,679
Speaker 1: going to talk about two stories for my life and

128
00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:44,320
Speaker 1: give you, hopefully fodder to feed the spirit inside you

129
00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:49,200
Speaker 1: of going without permission. Okay, so the first one, let's

130
00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,079
Speaker 1: see I'll do I'll do Creatio first because that one

131
00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,280
Speaker 1: came first in my life. So Creatio is a full

132
00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:02,400
Speaker 1: service marketing production technology agency. We do everything from video production,

133
00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:10,280
Speaker 1: website development, communication, strategy design, more and we're situated in

134
00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,480
Speaker 1: Northwest Ohio and in my region, I have the only

135
00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:18,760
Speaker 1: full service agency that's run by a black person, that's

136
00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,559
Speaker 1: run by a minority. So we lean into that particular

137
00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,920
Speaker 1: niche and because we own it, there is no other

138
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,560
Speaker 1: person doing it in our region. And so I'm like,

139
00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:31,000
Speaker 1: if I'm going to be the only person doing this,

140
00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,640
Speaker 1: and I'm the only minority that's doing this, then i

141
00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:41,000
Speaker 1: have a particular value proposition, a competitive advantage that every

142
00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,559
Speaker 1: other marketing company in the region does not have. So

143
00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,800
Speaker 1: I'm going to lean into the things that make us special. Well,

144
00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:52,640
Speaker 1: my company I started because I got an idea and

145
00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,840
Speaker 1: it's in sort of a way, well, it's truly a

146
00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,040
Speaker 1: way that if you're just paying attention to the way

147
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,080
Speaker 1: that your life works, you will pay attention. I've given

148
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,400
Speaker 1: you this quote before because it is my favorite quote.

149
00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:06,600
Speaker 1: It's that Steve Jobs quote, and it says, you can't

150
00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,600
Speaker 1: connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect the

151
00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,480
Speaker 1: dots looking backward. And what I get from that and

152
00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:15,640
Speaker 1: it's necessary to set this foundation, as I tell my

153
00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:20,680
Speaker 1: story is when you're in certain times of your life,

154
00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,280
Speaker 1: you may not always appreciate in the moment or understand

155
00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,160
Speaker 1: why in the moment you're doing the thing that you're

156
00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,840
Speaker 1: doing now, whether that is why am I in this

157
00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,800
Speaker 1: particular relationship, Why am I working at this particular job,

158
00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,760
Speaker 1: Why am I working this particular function at this particular job,

159
00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,040
Speaker 1: Why am I taking this class, et cetera, et cetera,

160
00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:46,160
Speaker 1: And you feel in the blank. And so I got

161
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:51,040
Speaker 1: my idea for what we do at Creatio, not intentionally

162
00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,280
Speaker 1: on my part, but it was by virtue of the

163
00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,640
Speaker 1: dots connecting for me. And so I was wanting to

164
00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,080
Speaker 1: be in the music business growing up. I told you guys,

165
00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,040
Speaker 1: it's part of my story. Before I wanted to be

166
00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:04,880
Speaker 1: in the music business, I didn't necessarily want to be

167
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,440
Speaker 1: an artist, because that wasn't my gift. I wanted to

168
00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,120
Speaker 1: be a songwriter, a producer. I wanted to be the

169
00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:14,640
Speaker 1: person behind the scenes helping the person make amazing music.

170
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,400
Speaker 1: I will particularly write R and B songs. I could

171
00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:23,040
Speaker 1: write rock songs, things like this. I could produce R

172
00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,800
Speaker 1: and B beats, hip hop beats, etc. And I thought

173
00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:28,800
Speaker 1: it was pretty good at it, but The point in

174
00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,200
Speaker 1: telling you that part is that I'm from Toledo, Ohio,

175
00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:38,559
Speaker 1: and in Toledo there's not a music industry scene necessarily,

176
00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,240
Speaker 1: or at least the scene as we consider the music

177
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,200
Speaker 1: industry to be. There is no scene for the music

178
00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,640
Speaker 1: business in Toledo if you want to be signed by

179
00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:49,320
Speaker 1: a record label or there's no record labels on the corner,

180
00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:51,760
Speaker 1: you know, and there's not a lot of studios, etc.

181
00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:58,120
Speaker 1: And so me, being a very ambitious teenager, I said,

182
00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,200
Speaker 1: you know, well, look well I live intele Ohio, not

183
00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:05,319
Speaker 1: moving yet, So what is how close can I get

184
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:10,880
Speaker 1: to the music industry from where I'm at? And I've said,

185
00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,760
Speaker 1: you know, well, the radio is pretty close. And mind

186
00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,800
Speaker 1: you like this. This is years after having asked myself

187
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,760
Speaker 1: that question first, which is why I learned how to

188
00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,000
Speaker 1: play the drums, because I was like, you know, I

189
00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,079
Speaker 1: wanted to be in the music business one day, let

190
00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,240
Speaker 1: me start learning some instruments. And so I started playing

191
00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,480
Speaker 1: the drums in church. But I wanted to give you

192
00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,360
Speaker 1: that so later in my teenage years, I'm like, you know,

193
00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,960
Speaker 1: the radio is the closest thing to the music business here,

194
00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:42,319
Speaker 1: And so I went to a teen summit which was

195
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,800
Speaker 1: at least I'm not sure if it was produced by

196
00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,360
Speaker 1: or hosted by, but there was a program director from

197
00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:53,319
Speaker 1: a local radio station on the panel at this teen summit.

198
00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,440
Speaker 1: And this is before I graduated from high school. So

199
00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,559
Speaker 1: this program director is on stage at this teen Summit.

200
00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,000
Speaker 1: I'm there with a friend of mine and I'm like, Okay,

201
00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,120
Speaker 1: here's my chance, because I want to be in the

202
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,200
Speaker 1: music business and he's in the radio, and I've already

203
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,040
Speaker 1: determined that the radio is the best way for me

204
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,400
Speaker 1: to find my way into the industry. And so at

205
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,920
Speaker 1: the end of the teen Summit event, which was at

206
00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,880
Speaker 1: a local library, I walked up to him and I'm like, hey,

207
00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,280
Speaker 1: you know, my name is Will Lucas, and I want

208
00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,360
Speaker 1: to be in the music business. You know me me

209
00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,920
Speaker 1: as sixteen, seventeen year old kid, and I'm just like,

210
00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,040
Speaker 1: I don't you know how to make that sound any

211
00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:33,400
Speaker 1: you know, more professional or whatever. It's just like, this

212
00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:35,280
Speaker 1: is what I want, you know, tell me what to do.

213
00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,240
Speaker 1: And so at the end of that conversation he was like,

214
00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:41,800
Speaker 1: you know, well number one, there was like a bunch

215
00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,040
Speaker 1: of other people in line waiting to talk to him,

216
00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,720
Speaker 1: and so I'm like, one of ten kids at the

217
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:49,840
Speaker 1: time waiting to talk to him and get some of

218
00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,320
Speaker 1: his attention. And so he's like, you know, the best

219
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,280
Speaker 1: thing I can tell you to do is find an

220
00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,839
Speaker 1: internship somewhere. As a matter of fact, just come out

221
00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,240
Speaker 1: to the radio station and we'll talk some more. Because

222
00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,800
Speaker 1: again there was other students' kids. They're waiting to talk

223
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:05,560
Speaker 1: to him. So he's like, just come out to the

224
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,120
Speaker 1: radio station, we'll talk some more and I can spend

225
00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,320
Speaker 1: some more time with you. So that next day, because

226
00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,120
Speaker 1: that's just the kind of person that was in him,

227
00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,560
Speaker 1: next day, I drove out to the radio station, which

228
00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,840
Speaker 1: was like in this one of the suburbs of Toledo.

229
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,600
Speaker 1: It was out in the country. So I drove out

230
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:28,160
Speaker 1: there after going to school. That they drove out because

231
00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:32,080
Speaker 1: he had the afternoon drive radio program, so he was

232
00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,280
Speaker 1: on the air from three to eight. So I got

233
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,440
Speaker 1: out of school at like three and then drove out

234
00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:41,440
Speaker 1: there to talk to them. So I like, I get

235
00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,440
Speaker 1: out there and he's like, you know again we number one.

236
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,320
Speaker 1: He gave me this catalog which is like this old

237
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:53,160
Speaker 1: musician's friend catalog, which are these catalogs of instruments, keyboards,

238
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,200
Speaker 1: you know, processors, beat machines, and et cetera. He gives

239
00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,640
Speaker 1: me this catalog and he's like, you know here. So

240
00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,160
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, thank you. I didn't have the

241
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:03,800
Speaker 1: money to buy none of that stuff anyway, So it

242
00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:05,440
Speaker 1: was strange that he gave him me. At least I

243
00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:07,360
Speaker 1: thought it was strange. It was the fleeting thought. But

244
00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:10,600
Speaker 1: so it gives me this catalog and it's like, you

245
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,240
Speaker 1: know again, the best thing I can tell you to

246
00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:16,880
Speaker 1: do is find an internship somewhere. Matter of fact, we

247
00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,960
Speaker 1: need to intern here. And so my internship at the

248
00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,960
Speaker 1: radio station started that day and so three days. So

249
00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,400
Speaker 1: every day after going to school, I would get in

250
00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,119
Speaker 1: the car and drive out to the radio station immediately

251
00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,760
Speaker 1: after school. Three days into that internship. Because I don't

252
00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,800
Speaker 1: even it wasn't even like a structured internship. I would

253
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,760
Speaker 1: just hang out with him and learn what he was doing.

254
00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,320
Speaker 1: And so I would go out there. Three days after

255
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,160
Speaker 1: doing that, he put me on the air with him,

256
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,240
Speaker 1: like on a whim during the five o'clock traffic jam,

257
00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,520
Speaker 1: because again he was on from three to eight, So

258
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,640
Speaker 1: at five o'clock he puts me on the air with them.

259
00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,240
Speaker 1: Three days in and he's like you know, something to

260
00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:03,880
Speaker 1: the effect of like, hey, I'm out here. You know, well,

261
00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,480
Speaker 1: Lucas is in the studio with me, and we just

262
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,320
Speaker 1: jamming for thirty minutes, which was the five o'clock traffic jam,

263
00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,200
Speaker 1: and so then I would come off the air. No,

264
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,200
Speaker 1: I stayed on the air with him until eight o'clock

265
00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:17,840
Speaker 1: I would finish the show. And so I was on

266
00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,240
Speaker 1: every day after that, starting at five o'clock, because I

267
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,640
Speaker 1: guess the chemistry was just really good until it's like

268
00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,160
Speaker 1: he's kept putting me on. Six months after that, they

269
00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,640
Speaker 1: gave me a Saturday night show on that station. I

270
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,640
Speaker 1: was doing six to ten on Saturday nights, and it

271
00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:36,280
Speaker 1: happened to be pretty good at it because I was

272
00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,400
Speaker 1: beating all the big radio stations in town on Saturday nights.

273
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,560
Speaker 1: And then six months after that he went to the

274
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,640
Speaker 1: morning show and they gave me his drive time radio show.

275
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,120
Speaker 1: But this story is not about me in the radio.

276
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,840
Speaker 1: I just got to set a bed for the story

277
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,840
Speaker 1: I actually want to talk about, and that is creatio.

278
00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,240
Speaker 1: And so again, I did not get into radio to

279
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,600
Speaker 1: be in radio. I got into radio to be in

280
00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,639
Speaker 1: the music business. But I told you this. My favorite

281
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,439
Speaker 1: quote from Steve Jobs about connecting the dots right, so

282
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:16,200
Speaker 1: you know, keep that in your head. So I am

283
00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:21,760
Speaker 1: walking through a clothing store in my hometown. This is

284
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,320
Speaker 1: after I had been on the radio maybe three years

285
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,880
Speaker 1: or so. So I'm walking through a clothing store and

286
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,960
Speaker 1: they're playing it's like a hood clothing store, so they

287
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,760
Speaker 1: sell stuff very inexpensively. It's in the part of town,

288
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,160
Speaker 1: in the inner city, et cetera. So I'm walking through

289
00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,960
Speaker 1: the clothing store at this time, I had had, you know,

290
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,399
Speaker 1: two or three years of radio experience under my belt.

291
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,920
Speaker 1: And this clothing store is playing FM radio over their

292
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,879
Speaker 1: sound system as there in store music, so inevitably the

293
00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,679
Speaker 1: commercials come on and so you can hear it, like

294
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,359
Speaker 1: on all the speakers in the store can hear the

295
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,199
Speaker 1: commercials just like you can hear the music. And so

296
00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:08,520
Speaker 1: one of their competitors came on another clothing stores commercial

297
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:12,160
Speaker 1: came on over the air inside the store that I'm

298
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,719
Speaker 1: standing in, and I'm at the time, if I recall,

299
00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,200
Speaker 1: I was like the only person shopping at that time.

300
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,080
Speaker 1: And it was a big store too, and so it's

301
00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:24,840
Speaker 1: like fifteen thousand square feet and so I'm the only

302
00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:30,639
Speaker 1: person in the store. At this particular moment and that

303
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,119
Speaker 1: these commercials come on and one of their competitors come on,

304
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,720
Speaker 1: and I'm looking at the I'm looking at the speaker.

305
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,719
Speaker 1: I'm looking up at the roof the ceiling looking at

306
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,640
Speaker 1: a speaker like I can't believe what I'm hearing because

307
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,440
Speaker 1: it makes no sense. Why are they allowing another clothing

308
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,359
Speaker 1: store to get airtime in their clothing store. It doesn't

309
00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,040
Speaker 1: make sense to me. And so in that moment, I'm like,

310
00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,600
Speaker 1: they need their own radio station that just talks about them.

311
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,560
Speaker 1: And so this light bulb goes off like, hey, I

312
00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,479
Speaker 1: can build that. Because I had just had three years

313
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,000
Speaker 1: so far of radio experience, I know how to make

314
00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:10,040
Speaker 1: a radio program. And so one of my mentors at

315
00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,439
Speaker 1: the time owned six McDonald's and I would DJ for

316
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,720
Speaker 1: him because he also like hosted Wednesday night skate. I

317
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,720
Speaker 1: think he still does in town. It's like forever ago,

318
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:23,320
Speaker 1: but he was at least back then I think he

319
00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:26,760
Speaker 1: still does. Was the host of skating in our town

320
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,800
Speaker 1: every Wednesday night, and so I DJ for him, and

321
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,639
Speaker 1: so I went to skate. I went to DJ for

322
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,280
Speaker 1: our skating that next Wednesday night, and I'm like glug

323
00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,960
Speaker 1: Glenn I got this idea, like, I want to build

324
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:45,320
Speaker 1: these radio stations, these custom radio stations for brands, Like

325
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,159
Speaker 1: the same music that you would listen to on the radio,

326
00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,920
Speaker 1: same music that's tailored for the audience that's going to

327
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,840
Speaker 1: be in your store. But when the radio DJ comes on,

328
00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,600
Speaker 1: in between the songs, they're talking about that busines. So

329
00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,640
Speaker 1: imagine you know, me being like in it was called

330
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,199
Speaker 1: VIP Clothing store, so imagine me it's called VIP Sports.

331
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:12,119
Speaker 1: So imagine me being in VIP Sports. And in between

332
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,960
Speaker 1: the songs, DJ comes on, like, yo, welcome to VIP Sports.

333
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,600
Speaker 1: That was the latest song from this particular artist. Hey

334
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,280
Speaker 1: make sure you check out in Asle two. We've got

335
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,280
Speaker 1: a sale on hoodies and all backpacks are twenty five

336
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,240
Speaker 1: percent off. Here's the latest song from this other artist.

337
00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,760
Speaker 1: You're listening to VIV Sports Radio. So that was the idea.

338
00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:39,280
Speaker 1: And so what I wanted to do was build this thing.

339
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:41,240
Speaker 1: And at this time it's just an idea. But when

340
00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,520
Speaker 1: I told my mentor, Glenn, he's like his eyes got

341
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,679
Speaker 1: big and he's like do it, and that's all he said.

342
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,359
Speaker 1: And Glenn was not the kind of guy to just

343
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,320
Speaker 1: have that particular kind of response to something. But then

344
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:55,439
Speaker 1: he wasn't gonna like easily encourage you to go do

345
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,040
Speaker 1: something that he didn't think had any merit. And so

346
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,320
Speaker 1: him's you know, being looking at me to he was

347
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,800
Speaker 1: looking at me and just like do it made it?

348
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,200
Speaker 1: Gave me validation that it was something and if I

349
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:08,920
Speaker 1: can make it something real, it could be something real.

350
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,360
Speaker 1: So I go and I go to the studio, back

351
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,200
Speaker 1: to the radio station, and I put together like this

352
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,000
Speaker 1: demo of what it could sound like in a McDonald's restaurant,

353
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,359
Speaker 1: because again he had six McDonald's that he owned. And

354
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 1: so I'm like, like, if I build this, like, would

355
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,439
Speaker 1: you let me test it in one of your restaurants?

356
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,240
Speaker 1: And so he gave me one restaurant I could test

357
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:40,080
Speaker 1: it in. And what's interesting about what this particular restaurant

358
00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,240
Speaker 1: he allowed me to test this in. And this is

359
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,359
Speaker 1: the actual point of this story to pay attention here.

360
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,639
Speaker 1: So I go to this McDonald's restaurant Number one. I

361
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,159
Speaker 1: didn't know how to stream over the internet. This is

362
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:57,119
Speaker 1: you know, mid this is like not two thousand, but

363
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,560
Speaker 1: it's not quite twenty ten, so it's it's mid two thousands,

364
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:06,400
Speaker 1: and so I didn't know how to stream. At the time,

365
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,919
Speaker 1: streaming was not like a huge thing back then. And

366
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,399
Speaker 1: so I'm like, I'm gonna just burn a CD of

367
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,159
Speaker 1: a radio program and I'm going to produce that and

368
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,160
Speaker 1: then put it in his store. So I produced this thing.

369
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,959
Speaker 1: The store doesn't have a CD player, so I find

370
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,000
Speaker 1: a and I needed it to loop, and so I

371
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,399
Speaker 1: didn't really know what I was doing. So I bought

372
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,960
Speaker 1: a mini computer. It was a mini PC, and I

373
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,240
Speaker 1: just programmed it to just loop continuously this one hundred

374
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: and twenty minute, ninety minute whatever it was CD, just

375
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,440
Speaker 1: on a loop. And so I'm all ready to go.

376
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: I get to the store and the store does not

377
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: have speakers in the lobby area, and you have to

378
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:57,040
Speaker 1: sit the actual media console, the hardware, the DVD player

379
00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,440
Speaker 1: or the CD player or in my case, the computer

380
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: in the back office. And so I've got to figure

381
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,040
Speaker 1: out I've never run by this time, I had never

382
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,359
Speaker 1: run any type of wires. Was like, I was a

383
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,359
Speaker 1: very like interesting kid in the fact that I would

384
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:14,439
Speaker 1: play with electronics, but I really I knew enough to

385
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 1: figure it out, but I had never done it. I

386
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,159
Speaker 1: had never had any experience doing it, especially not in

387
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:23,439
Speaker 1: a commercial environment. It has its own city code and

388
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 1: et cetera and laws, and so I've got to figure

389
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,600
Speaker 1: out number one, what to buy speakers, wise to get

390
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 1: it appropriately designed for this restaurant, having never done this before.

391
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 1: Got to figure out how to get speaker wire from

392
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 1: the back of the restaurant to the front of the

393
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 1: restaurant where the speakers are, having never done that before.

394
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:51,400
Speaker 1: And also the CD player or the PC in my condition,

395
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,680
Speaker 1: how to get that to work. And so the challenge

396
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:01,879
Speaker 1: on top of this was there was no ceiling tile

397
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:06,640
Speaker 1: between the back office and the front of the restaurant.

398
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:12,199
Speaker 1: It's drywall, so I can't run the speaker wire above

399
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,359
Speaker 1: the ceiling to make it look appropriate and to be

400
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 1: safe like your kid. You can't just run speaker wire

401
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 1: without a conduit like you're supposed to put it in

402
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: something to protect it that I know now. I didn't

403
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,639
Speaker 1: know this then. I knew what I was about to do,

404
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,360
Speaker 1: which I'm about to tell you wasn't like the way

405
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 1: to do it, but it was all I knew. And

406
00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:38,680
Speaker 1: so I had this speaker wire which was not even

407
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 1: it was car speaker wire, like it was not even

408
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,120
Speaker 1: commercial speaker wire. It was not because commercial with speaker wire.

409
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 1: I'm about to get way too technical for a second,

410
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:51,600
Speaker 1: but commercial commercial speaker wire is wrapped in this gray cabling.

411
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,720
Speaker 1: The speaker wire I was using is for guys and

412
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,640
Speaker 1: guys who would notice. It's this transparent and you can

413
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,000
Speaker 1: see the copper on the inside of it, and that's

414
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,040
Speaker 1: what you're using cars. So the speaker wire I'm using

415
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 1: is the stuff that you're using cars. I didn't know

416
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 1: this at the time. I just knew speaker wire or

417
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 1: speaker wire. To make it worse again, I didn't have

418
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 1: a way to get it from the office in the

419
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 1: back to the front the lobby, and so I'm like, okay, well,

420
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,240
Speaker 1: and I've got to go through a commercial kitchen to

421
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,120
Speaker 1: do this, which you also have to be doubly safe

422
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,200
Speaker 1: because it's all kinds of fire issues back there, fire

423
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: protection and fire prevention issues back there. But I didn't

424
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: know any of this stuff at this time, and so

425
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 1: all I know is I got to get the music

426
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:41,439
Speaker 1: from the back of the store to the front of

427
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:46,360
Speaker 1: the door. And so I take a staple gun and

428
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:51,240
Speaker 1: I staple this speaker wire to the dry wall through

429
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 1: the kitchen from the back of the restaurant to the

430
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 1: front of the restaurant, clearly visible to anybody who walked through.

431
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 1: In the middle of the aisle, where in between the

432
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,760
Speaker 1: grill and fry station, you look up and you can

433
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:11,479
Speaker 1: see naked speaker wire running through this McDonald's restaurant. I

434
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 1: didn't know no other way. All I knew was I

435
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,120
Speaker 1: was trying to get music to play, and so put

436
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,119
Speaker 1: a book marked there because that's story number one. Story

437
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 1: number two was right here. So I went to afrotech,

438
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 1: my first afrotech in twenty seventeen. And again, if you're

439
00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:33,439
Speaker 1: listening of this podcast, you've heard this part of the story.

440
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,600
Speaker 1: So I went to afrotech in twenty seventeen. I started

441
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 1: my first podcast in twenty sixteen, and it's called of

442
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: ten Podcasts. It's still on iTunes. If you go look

443
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:48,320
Speaker 1: for it, you will hear the Will Lucas of eight

444
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,640
Speaker 1: years ago. You will hear those podcast episodes and I'm

445
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:57,119
Speaker 1: talking to black technologists. And at the end of the

446
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,680
Speaker 1: first season of ofp ten Podcasts, I had heard about

447
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,919
Speaker 1: this thing called afrotech, and I was like, how did

448
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,719
Speaker 1: I not know that this thing happened? Because everybody I

449
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 1: had interviewed on my podcast of ten podcasts. The first

450
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:12,919
Speaker 1: season was on stage at the first AFRO Tech and

451
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: I'm like, how did I miss this thing? And so

452
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,639
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm never going to miss another Afrotech And

453
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:23,080
Speaker 1: so as twenty seventeen approaches, I positioned myself to go.

454
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 1: And I also knew at the time, like there was

455
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,159
Speaker 1: no real home for black technologists. There was like no

456
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,000
Speaker 1: homecoming for us, and so I knew I was going

457
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,199
Speaker 1: to have a remarkable time because we were not on

458
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,280
Speaker 1: the cover of tech Crunch back then, like we were

459
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: not getting placed in YC Y Combinator back then, and

460
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: so black people were very way more underrepresented in technology

461
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,119
Speaker 1: back when Afrotech started. And so I'm like, I know,

462
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,919
Speaker 1: I'm going to have a remarkable time. So and I

463
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 1: got this radio background, all the things I'm going to go,

464
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 1: and I got this podcast. I'm gonna go, and I'm

465
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 1: gonna vlog every day of this conference. And since I

466
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 1: got this podcast, I'm also gonna pass out flyers like

467
00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 1: club flyers, but instead of being club flyers their podcasts advertisements,

468
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 1: they're like podcast flyers to let people know I got

469
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,720
Speaker 1: a podcast, and here are the people that are on it.

470
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,720
Speaker 1: Because it's the same people that's at on stage at

471
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 1: this conference. So I'm walking around with like you've seen

472
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 1: like a selfie stick like this is. I didn't even

473
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,159
Speaker 1: have a selfie stick. I'm just walking around with a

474
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 1: camera looking at myself, you know, selfie talking to the

475
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 1: camera all day long at afro Tech twenty seventeen. And

476
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 1: so I'm like, I need to get this content out

477
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 1: quickly because my whole intent was to give people FOMO

478
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 1: because I knew I was gonna have a good time.

479
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:53,880
Speaker 1: And I'm like, if I'm going to have a good time,

480
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,040
Speaker 1: I want the world to know that they missed out

481
00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: on this afro Tech. So I would record all day

482
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,239
Speaker 1: and if I recall, afro Tech twenty seventeen was like

483
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 1: three days long. It was like all day Thursday, all

484
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 1: day Friday, all day maybe partial of the day Saturday.

485
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: So I get there probably Wednesday night, and I've logged

486
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 1: my experience going to the airport, being at afro Tech

487
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,360
Speaker 1: all day Thursday, and I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna edit

488
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:28,480
Speaker 1: this video in my hotel room tonight. And so Thursday,

489
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 1: I edit the video that night and I publish it

490
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 1: to YouTube that night. And so Friday, a few people

491
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: walk up to me like, yo, I saw your video

492
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 1: from yesterday. That was pretty sweet. So I do the

493
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 1: same thing Friday. But my intent, Remember, it's just to

494
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 1: get people, fomo, That's all my intent is. And so

495
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 1: all day Friday, I record, walk around with a camera

496
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: and edit the video that night in my hotel room

497
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 1: and I publish it to YouTube that night. So Saturday

498
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: I will around and way more people are like, yo,

499
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,560
Speaker 1: I saw your video from yesterday, and the one before

500
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 1: the day before that, like that's doe, Like how are

501
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: you doing this that fast? And so unintentionally I was

502
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 1: building a name for myself because again I was trying

503
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: to get people from mo but I was becoming the

504
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: Will Lucas who does this podcast today and I didn't.

505
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,880
Speaker 1: But that was not the intent. I knew. I wanted

506
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 1: to contribute something to the conversation and contribute something to

507
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 1: the culture. And so in my innocence of doing that,

508
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:39,400
Speaker 1: I was doing the work. So today these blessings are apparent.

509
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 1: So I'm the brand manager Afrotech today. All right, So

510
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 1: let me actually it makes sense to tell you just

511
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,959
Speaker 1: one minute on that. And so I took my wife

512
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 1: with me in twenty eighteen, I'm like, you've got to

513
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 1: see this conference. This is the most remarkable thing. You

514
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,000
Speaker 1: got to see all these black people in San Francisco.

515
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: So I took my wife to two eighteen. I did

516
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,240
Speaker 1: not vlog that year, but at the end of that

517
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: conference of twenty eighteen, she's like, that was remarkable. I'm like,

518
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 1: wasn't it remarkable? That was remarkable. You should not come

519
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:17,000
Speaker 1: back unless you're on stage. And I'm like, how am

520
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 1: I gonna get on this stage? Did you see the

521
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:19,920
Speaker 1: people on that stage? How am I going to get

522
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,080
Speaker 1: on that stage? But I'm like, challenge accepted. I don't

523
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 1: know how I'm gonna do it, because if people on

524
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 1: that stage are doing it, I don't know how I'm

525
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,080
Speaker 1: gonna get on that stage. But if you say I

526
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:31,880
Speaker 1: should be on that stage, I want to figure out

527
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 1: how to be on that stage. And so I found

528
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,320
Speaker 1: a photo of somebody else, I think it was an

529
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: war bay I would find. I found a photo of

530
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,920
Speaker 1: an war on the Afro Tech stage and I put

531
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 1: it on my vision board. And so every day from

532
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:54,360
Speaker 1: December to March April, because there's a reason that it stopped.

533
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,120
Speaker 1: In March April, I was wake up and I would

534
00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 1: see this picture that one day I'm going to get

535
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 1: on this afro Tech stage and this next time they

536
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:04,520
Speaker 1: open up a call for speakers, I'm going to apply.

537
00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 1: And so they open up a call for speakers in

538
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 1: like February March. And so around that time I told

539
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,040
Speaker 1: you guys this story before I get an email and

540
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 1: it says, hey, my name is and I'll work for

541
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,200
Speaker 1: and we're going in a new direction for afro Tech.

542
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,880
Speaker 1: And Morgan Debon, who's the CEO of Blavity, says we

543
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,360
Speaker 1: should talk to you about running it. And I'm like,

544
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,320
Speaker 1: I cannot believe what I'm reading right now. This is

545
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,920
Speaker 1: an email. I'm sitting at a red light in Toledo,

546
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'm being asked to have a conversation

547
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 1: about running afro Tech as the brand man mis year.

548
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 1: And so I'm like, I went from just trying to

549
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,160
Speaker 1: figure out a way to get five minutes on stage

550
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,840
Speaker 1: to being a part of the conversation about running afro Tech.

551
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 1: Now to culminate these two stories, the reason I told

552
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: these two stories is because you, my friend, are waiting

553
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,000
Speaker 1: for somebody to tell you when it's time to go,

554
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 1: when it's time to do the thing, and that's a mistake.

555
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:19,200
Speaker 1: We're waiting for you to get tired enough of being

556
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,760
Speaker 1: tired in the role that you're in, or in the

557
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,120
Speaker 1: role or not in the role that you want to

558
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 1: be in. We're waiting for you to get tired of that,

559
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,680
Speaker 1: tired enough that you do something about it. Because there

560
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:37,480
Speaker 1: is nobody coming to save you. There is nobody coming

561
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 1: to tap you on the shoulder and say it's go time.

562
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,480
Speaker 1: So because there's nobody coming to do that, I'm gonna

563
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: say it it's go time. So whether or not you

564
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,720
Speaker 1: decide to go it is completely up to you. But

565
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:56,480
Speaker 1: I'm telling you the only way to go is to

566
00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 1: take the limits off yourself dream again and do something.

567
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 1: When I was doing creatio stapling speaker car speaker wire

568
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:17,080
Speaker 1: to a commercial kitchen's roof ceiling that was not legal.

569
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,200
Speaker 1: Number one, I'm not telling me you do something that's illegal.

570
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,160
Speaker 1: But what I'm saying is in my innocence, I'm like,

571
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 1: let's go, LFG like we just going because I'm going

572
00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:30,799
Speaker 1: to figure this thing out. All I know to do

573
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:32,319
Speaker 1: is what I know to do, and I'm gonna do

574
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:34,720
Speaker 1: what I know to do until I know to do better.

575
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:37,839
Speaker 1: But what I know to do I'm want to do it.

576
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,759
Speaker 1: That's the only difference between people who make it and

577
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:49,920
Speaker 1: people who don't go. Regardless. When I was going to

578
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:54,880
Speaker 1: Afrotech twenty seventeen, and the thing about like doing this,

579
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 1: like going without permission. Sometimes people go and it's innocent,

580
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:03,120
Speaker 1: like they don't even know that there being ambitious. They

581
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:07,359
Speaker 1: just go. But it's still ambitious. So when I went

582
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:11,799
Speaker 1: to twenty seventeen, my whole point was to contribute to

583
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,360
Speaker 1: the conversation. I wasn't going to be the brand manager

584
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 1: of Afrotech. I didn't even know what the experience was

585
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,320
Speaker 1: going to be. Like, I had never been to Afrotech.

586
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:24,040
Speaker 1: I wasn't going to, you know, develop a name for myself.

587
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:27,960
Speaker 1: That happened because I was doing the work period and

588
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,799
Speaker 1: it was honest and it was authentic. But I went

589
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,240
Speaker 1: and I didn't ask permission for somebody to let me record.

590
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:36,760
Speaker 1: I didn't even know if you could bring a camera,

591
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: you know, and start set up shop. You know. I'm

592
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,160
Speaker 1: just out here recording y'all footage. I'm recording, taking clips.

593
00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:44,880
Speaker 1: I'm gonna publish it to my YouTube. I don't even

594
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,319
Speaker 1: know if that's allowed, But not an ass I'm just

595
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:53,320
Speaker 1: doing it. I'm showing up, I'm recording, I'm publishing YouTube.

596
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 1: Come see me. It's still on These videos are still

597
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:57,719
Speaker 1: on YouTube. If you Google, or if you go to

598
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 1: YouTube and you start Will Lucas afrotech, you will see

599
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:07,280
Speaker 1: these videos. And they were done with innocence. Stapling speaker

600
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 1: wire to the ceiling of a McDonald's kitchen was done

601
00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:15,400
Speaker 1: from innocence, but also ambition and also like, look, nobody's

602
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 1: gonna give me a playbook on how to be successful.

603
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,640
Speaker 1: I've got to figure it out for myself and write

604
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,160
Speaker 1: the playbook for my story. Nobody was gonna give me

605
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,719
Speaker 1: a playbook and say, here's what you do. You go

606
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:28,799
Speaker 1: to afro Tech. You find a big conference to go

607
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,520
Speaker 1: to afrotext, the one you take a video camera and

608
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: you go record every day and also make You're not

609
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,760
Speaker 1: just recording every day. You also go into your hotel

610
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,520
Speaker 1: room every night and you're gonna edit the video that night,

611
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:42,799
Speaker 1: publish it that night, and then walk around the next day.

612
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 1: And meanwhile you're also taking flyers and everybody you interviewed

613
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:50,240
Speaker 1: on your podcast, and you're gonna go Kinko's fedexx office

614
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,359
Speaker 1: and print them and then you're gonna print them. You're

615
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,719
Speaker 1: gonna print five hundred copies, and then you're gonna go

616
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,359
Speaker 1: to AFRO Tech, you go on video camera, you gonna

617
00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,160
Speaker 1: edit that night, you're gonna publish the YouTube that I

618
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,400
Speaker 1: also walk around with five hundred flyers talking about your podcast.

619
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 1: And then also that as also also there was no playbook.

620
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 1: I was just doing stuff in furtherance and hopeful furtherance

621
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 1: of the mission, which was to contribute to the conversation

622
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,400
Speaker 1: with creatiol. The mission was to figure out how to

623
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:27,520
Speaker 1: make a business be said, to know how. There was

624
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:32,279
Speaker 1: no playbook for my story. You can get clues and

625
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:36,400
Speaker 1: tidbits and advice and etcetera from other people and books

626
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,920
Speaker 1: and podcasts and etcetera. And I think you should. But

627
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:44,720
Speaker 1: you also just have to learn by movement, get active,

628
00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 1: get about it like you gotta just go, and you

629
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:53,520
Speaker 1: got to figure it out along the way. Well, too

630
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:57,879
Speaker 1: many of us wait for is the permission number one?

631
00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:02,520
Speaker 1: And to have certainty that the destination we plug into

632
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:08,279
Speaker 1: navigation is the place we're going to arrive at. I'm

633
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:12,640
Speaker 1: telling you the destination is the goal, but the place

634
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,160
Speaker 1: where you will actually land up will be better than

635
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:18,880
Speaker 1: you could have imagined because you don't even know what

636
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:23,080
Speaker 1: opportunities are available to you. We have a limited view

637
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,919
Speaker 1: of what our opportunities are. But when you get about it,

638
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:30,480
Speaker 1: and when you get active, a world opens up to

639
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:34,360
Speaker 1: you things that you had not even imagined you wanted

640
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,160
Speaker 1: to do. As you learn and as you grow, as

641
00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:40,239
Speaker 1: you see more things, as you get more experiences, as

642
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:44,200
Speaker 1: you meet more people, your desires will change. They will

643
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:48,879
Speaker 1: get bigger. The scope of things that become at your

644
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:54,480
Speaker 1: grasp get enhanced. But none of this happens if you

645
00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,560
Speaker 1: sitting there in your car on your way to a

646
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:01,120
Speaker 1: job that you hate, with people you don't even want

647
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 1: to be that don't actually pour into your life. If

648
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:09,040
Speaker 1: you're sitting there waiting for something to happen, something will

649
00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,759
Speaker 1: happen because you know, I firmly believe some people jump

650
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:19,120
Speaker 1: and some people are pushed. Firmly believe that something will happen.

651
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,799
Speaker 1: What I'm saying is what you want to happen, you

652
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:28,560
Speaker 1: can actually get about it. There is no playbook, there

653
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:32,360
Speaker 1: is no prescribed way you're going to find your success.

654
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:37,239
Speaker 1: The only objective is to get active in doing the

655
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:41,520
Speaker 1: work that you know to do. Don't stay focused on

656
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:44,439
Speaker 1: the big goal, the big dream. Yeah, write it down,

657
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,000
Speaker 1: have a picture of it, keep it, you know in

658
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:48,480
Speaker 1: your mind when you wake up in the morning and

659
00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:50,799
Speaker 1: have a visual of it, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

660
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,799
Speaker 1: But the only thing you need to focus on is

661
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:57,640
Speaker 1: what to do next, Not what to do ten steps

662
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,000
Speaker 1: from now, not what to do one hundred steps from now,

663
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,360
Speaker 1: Not what you're gonna do when you got this big company,

664
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,120
Speaker 1: when you live in this big influencer's dream, when you're

665
00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:08,080
Speaker 1: the CEO of this big foundation, et cetera, et cetera.

666
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:12,240
Speaker 1: The only thing that matters is the very next step.

667
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,759
Speaker 1: That next step could be as simple as sending an

668
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:21,120
Speaker 1: email to somebody who could be key key contact for

669
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:25,560
Speaker 1: your thing. That next step could be going to your

670
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 1: state's website to find out if they have dollars or

671
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:33,080
Speaker 1: training programs to support retraining for people who have worked

672
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:34,920
Speaker 1: in certain jobs and now need to figure out how

673
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:37,399
Speaker 1: to do coding and software development and AI and etc.

674
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,399
Speaker 1: Many states have programs for this, many universities. Maybe your

675
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:45,880
Speaker 1: next step is going to your local university community college's

676
00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,880
Speaker 1: website to figure out if they have training program certificate

677
00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,280
Speaker 1: programs to help you figure out how to do AI,

678
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:55,960
Speaker 1: or do software development, or build a website, or do

679
00:40:56,080 --> 00:41:00,880
Speaker 1: video production intro to video production. Maybe your next step

680
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:02,920
Speaker 1: is just going to the website and seeing if you

681
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:07,239
Speaker 1: can apply for a class, not figuring out how you're

682
00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:09,560
Speaker 1: gonna pay for it. The next step is just figuring

683
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,480
Speaker 1: out what's available to you, and then once you know

684
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,279
Speaker 1: what's available to you, then the next step changes. It's

685
00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:18,880
Speaker 1: actually writing an application and submitting it to the school.

686
00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:22,239
Speaker 1: Maybe it's applying for financial aid. Whatever it may be,

687
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:24,719
Speaker 1: the next step is the only thing you should be

688
00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:30,240
Speaker 1: thinking about, is the point? What is the next step?

689
00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:36,160
Speaker 1: Too many of us are waiting for somebody to tell

690
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 1: us the steps. When I'm saying, just get active, Just

691
00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:48,919
Speaker 1: get around the conversation, Just get around people who are

692
00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:52,240
Speaker 1: doing things, and the next step will become a parent.

693
00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:57,000
Speaker 1: Start listening to the right things, get around the right people,

694
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,480
Speaker 1: Consume things that help you stay far focused on your dream.

695
00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,759
Speaker 1: It's possible. I don't care what you're dreaming about, the

696
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:06,879
Speaker 1: thing that you've been delaying, the thing that you've been

697
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:13,120
Speaker 1: discouraged about. Get active, stop waiting for permission. The answers

698
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:20,399
Speaker 1: are found when you get in motion. If you got

699
00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,839
Speaker 1: something out of this episode, Share with somebody I appreciate it,