1
00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:03,720
Speaker 1: I'm with Lucas and this is black Tach, Green Money.

2
00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,280
Speaker 2: Derek Lewis is a strategic.

3
00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,040
Speaker 1: Thought leader and transformational executive and was the first ever

4
00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,560
Speaker 1: President of Multicultural Business and Equity Development at PepsiCo North America.

5
00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:20,200
Speaker 1: Passionate about building inclusive ecosystems and accelerating economic opportunity, he

6
00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,200
Speaker 1: led major initiatives like Pepsi's dig In and the Black

7
00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:27,840
Speaker 1: Restaurant Accelerated to help Black and Hispanic communities nationwide. A

8
00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,000
Speaker 1: veteran over thirty years at PepsiCo, he rolls through the

9
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,120
Speaker 1: ranks from a sales trainee to the C suite, all

10
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,760
Speaker 1: while driving equity and impact that scale. He works to

11
00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:42,120
Speaker 1: ensure Black entrepreneurs, professionals, and communities cannot only survive, but drive.

12
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,800
Speaker 1: He also has a new book out, Survive in Advance,

13
00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,360
Speaker 1: lested on living a life without compromise, which is available

14
00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,280
Speaker 1: wherever you get yours. So I'm very interested in, first

15
00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,880
Speaker 1: of like, your corporate origin story, at least at PepsiCo.

16
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,800
Speaker 1: You know, you started as a sales trainee there, and

17
00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,920
Speaker 1: I hear so many beautiful stories of people who started

18
00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,480
Speaker 1: as an intern, started in you know the you know,

19
00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,840
Speaker 1: as somebody just mentoring me, and then I ended up

20
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:08,959
Speaker 1: in one of the top seats, and I wonder how

21
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,440
Speaker 1: that happens. How do you start as an entry level

22
00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,640
Speaker 1: person and end up, you know, president in this way.

23
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,399
Speaker 3: Look, I was incredibly blessed to have a great career

24
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,000
Speaker 3: at PepsiCo, first of all, getting recruited off campus Hampton

25
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,880
Speaker 3: University or on campus at Hampton University, and then be

26
00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 3: able to start in Baltimore, Maryland and essentially really get

27
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:34,280
Speaker 3: a great understanding of the business. So I appreciate starting

28
00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:36,520
Speaker 3: at the very lowest level so you can really get

29
00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,120
Speaker 3: a feel for how things work and operate.

30
00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:40,399
Speaker 2: And then at the same time, I was.

31
00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,400
Speaker 3: Allowed to sort of be myself and charted my own

32
00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,520
Speaker 3: course in terms of my progression and.

33
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,400
Speaker 2: My development things like that, and so I just kind

34
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:47,960
Speaker 2: of took off.

35
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,760
Speaker 3: I mean, the business is very fast paced, is very intense,

36
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,920
Speaker 3: very dynamic. The company was the same way, and so

37
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,520
Speaker 3: it was it was just this environment of pace and pace,

38
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,840
Speaker 3: and so there were those that made it and if

39
00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,200
Speaker 3: you you know, certainly made it survive, you accelerated, and

40
00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,720
Speaker 3: there were those that didn't make it then obviously chose

41
00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:08,920
Speaker 3: to go, you know, work in other businesses, other industries,

42
00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:09,320
Speaker 3: et cetera.

43
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,600
Speaker 2: So it it had early on.

44
00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:13,800
Speaker 3: An up or out feel, it did. Be honest with you,

45
00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,639
Speaker 3: I think we had some labeling of that inside. I'm

46
00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,720
Speaker 3: not sure that's always the case or what was the

47
00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:20,840
Speaker 3: case throughout my entire career.

48
00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:22,119
Speaker 2: Matter of fact, I know it was the case about

49
00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:22,720
Speaker 2: my entire career.

50
00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:24,919
Speaker 3: But early on you can't get a feel that there

51
00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,320
Speaker 3: was a lot of encouragement to you know, want to

52
00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:29,400
Speaker 3: get promoted, want to move up, want to accelerate, and

53
00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,680
Speaker 3: so that that created really high performance expectations that quite frankly,

54
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,760
Speaker 3: just stuck with me throughout my entire career. So the

55
00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,000
Speaker 3: bar never ever lowered. The bar, if anything, kept moving

56
00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,600
Speaker 3: up higher and higher and higher. As I took on

57
00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:44,160
Speaker 3: each assignment, I was able to challenge myself. I was

58
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,160
Speaker 3: actually being able to be my hardest critic at the

59
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,560
Speaker 3: same time. So therefore there wasn't a challenge that I

60
00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,680
Speaker 3: wasn't able to sort of mentally emotionally take on and

61
00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:54,520
Speaker 3: try to do my best to beat my best and

62
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,080
Speaker 3: deliver you know, solid outcomes.

63
00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:57,880
Speaker 2: You know.

64
00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,480
Speaker 1: I imagine I've not said an the corporate role is high

65
00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:03,840
Speaker 1: level as yours was, but I imagine this is not like

66
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,760
Speaker 1: rocket science, but it's what does it take then, like

67
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,880
Speaker 1: if it doesn't, if it's not you know, brain surgery

68
00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,280
Speaker 1: or getting you know, a ship spaceship off to the moon.

69
00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,720
Speaker 1: What is it that separates people from who find success

70
00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,400
Speaker 1: at the highest levels to those that don't well.

71
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,919
Speaker 3: I talked about the three rs a lot, Results, relationships,

72
00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,000
Speaker 3: and reputation. I think singularly those pillars in my mind,

73
00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,760
Speaker 3: as I've gone through all my corporate experiences, I would

74
00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:29,840
Speaker 3: use those three pillars as the keys to the success.

75
00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 3: And there's a lot of double clicking that you can

76
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,240
Speaker 3: do on those things, but I think those are the pillars, right.

77
00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,360
Speaker 3: If you're really, really good at all three, you're going

78
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,000
Speaker 3: to achieve the hospital success. If anyone of those are off,

79
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,240
Speaker 3: it may slow you down and stall you. If you're

80
00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:42,920
Speaker 3: only good at one of the three, you're not gonna

81
00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:43,600
Speaker 3: have a good.

82
00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:44,280
Speaker 2: Very short career.

83
00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,200
Speaker 3: Solely in our company and maybe others as well, I

84
00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,080
Speaker 3: would imagine. But I think there's this notion of I

85
00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,040
Speaker 3: look at having one having conviction for what business you're in,

86
00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,720
Speaker 3: Like the business is a tough business. You absolutely have

87
00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:57,080
Speaker 3: to want to be there. You have to want to

88
00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,040
Speaker 3: be there. You have to embrace the challenges of the business.

89
00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,320
Speaker 3: You have to embrace the pressure of getting performance. You

90
00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:04,839
Speaker 3: have to embrace the resiliency and determine all the things

91
00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,120
Speaker 3: that come with that industry in that hyper competitive environment.

92
00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:09,840
Speaker 2: You have to bring that too. You have to bring

93
00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,680
Speaker 2: a sense of ownership, you know, you you have to

94
00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:14,240
Speaker 2: own what happens.

95
00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,560
Speaker 3: You can't you know, shift blame or deflect, you know,

96
00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,159
Speaker 3: on others, things that may not happen, things that might

97
00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,800
Speaker 3: not play out of things you have misses, you have

98
00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:24,600
Speaker 3: to own those just as much you own the wins.

99
00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:26,600
Speaker 3: You have to own the misses too, and the lessons

100
00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:28,719
Speaker 3: that you have to learn and bounce back from, you know.

101
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,680
Speaker 3: So I learned this sort of fail fast mentality because

102
00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,200
Speaker 3: you're gonna have failures along the way. You're not gonna

103
00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,680
Speaker 3: you're not a bat a thousand and everything that you do.

104
00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,040
Speaker 3: But I think failing fast was was solely an important

105
00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,360
Speaker 3: lesson for many of us who were coming through going

106
00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,560
Speaker 3: up through the system. So I look at conviction, I

107
00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,680
Speaker 3: look at ownership, I look at action orientation. You have

108
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,720
Speaker 3: to have a bias for action. You cannot sit back

109
00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,080
Speaker 3: and wait for something to have. You have to go

110
00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,000
Speaker 3: create you have to go create sort of that magic,

111
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,960
Speaker 3: that energy, that competitiveness out in your air, your space,

112
00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,720
Speaker 3: your function, whatever business you're involved with, as a heavy

113
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,320
Speaker 3: degree of action orientation, finding solutions. So as challenges come up,

114
00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,279
Speaker 3: you can't sit back again and just sort of explain,

115
00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:08,159
Speaker 3: you know, I've got all these challenges going on.

116
00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:09,520
Speaker 2: You've got to while you do that, You've got to

117
00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:10,120
Speaker 2: go find.

118
00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,840
Speaker 3: Solutions and create a brilliant atmosphere of action. I look

119
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,400
Speaker 3: at also being very consistent in what you do. You

120
00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:18,800
Speaker 3: don't want to sort of in my mind Bob and

121
00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,400
Speaker 3: weave or be you know, herky jerky in your philosophy

122
00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:23,800
Speaker 3: and your attitude and your mindset.

123
00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,080
Speaker 2: You show up one day, you're coming in on top

124
00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:26,440
Speaker 2: of the world.

125
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:28,440
Speaker 3: The next day you're down. Your energy levels are low.

126
00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:30,960
Speaker 3: So you want to be a very consistent performer. I

127
00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,839
Speaker 3: think when you show up for work every day, not

128
00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,359
Speaker 3: only for yourself, but also for the people around you.

129
00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:37,359
Speaker 2: This might be people that you're leading, might be.

130
00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,520
Speaker 3: People that you're working for, might be peers, and you

131
00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:41,600
Speaker 3: got to show up for the customers because they want

132
00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,400
Speaker 3: to see the energy and commitment from you as well.

133
00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:45,599
Speaker 3: And also I look at hustle man, you've got to

134
00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,440
Speaker 3: move fast, you know, so fast paced. World's a fast

135
00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,520
Speaker 3: paced business you're in. And I look at the people

136
00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,520
Speaker 3: that have a lot of conviction for what they do.

137
00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:55,719
Speaker 3: I look at a lot of people that own their career,

138
00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:57,719
Speaker 3: they own the decisions, they own the whole thing through

139
00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,480
Speaker 3: and through, people who have a bias for action, people

140
00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:02,120
Speaker 3: who are very consistent, people to hustle.

141
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,360
Speaker 2: I think that is a really good.

142
00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,960
Speaker 3: Success formula for people to achieve the highest level possible,

143
00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,839
Speaker 3: and then you start transitioning to this delivers results, build

144
00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,560
Speaker 3: war class relationships, and then develop a great strong reputation,

145
00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,400
Speaker 3: which really is your brand. Putting those three together, I

146
00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,440
Speaker 3: think creates a lot of longevity and sustainability and your

147
00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,000
Speaker 3: efforts to be the highest level you want to achieve

148
00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,159
Speaker 3: or be just be the best version of yourself, whether

149
00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:27,680
Speaker 3: you're moving to the top or not.

150
00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,640
Speaker 1: You know, there's this quote I found from you where

151
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,200
Speaker 1: you said, I still draw on the things I learned

152
00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:35,800
Speaker 1: my very first week on the job, Like, talk to

153
00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:37,960
Speaker 1: me about some of those things that were foundational to

154
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:38,680
Speaker 1: you experience.

155
00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, again, go back to that sort of conviction model

156
00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,320
Speaker 3: and conviction ownership, action, consistently and hustle. I was going

157
00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,040
Speaker 3: out in the route and I find that, you know,

158
00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:50,599
Speaker 3: I really have to own. I have to own making

159
00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:52,320
Speaker 3: sure all the products were priced properly. I have to

160
00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:53,720
Speaker 3: own to make sure all the products put in the

161
00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,159
Speaker 3: right flow, have to make sure all the equipment is

162
00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,520
Speaker 3: stocked properly, have to make sure the back rooms are

163
00:06:58,520 --> 00:06:59,920
Speaker 3: clean up, to make sure I'm throwing out my try,

164
00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:02,440
Speaker 3: you know. And there were things along the way in

165
00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:03,840
Speaker 3: the first couple weeks that I was missing on. I

166
00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,599
Speaker 3: didn't necessarily price everything right. I didn't throw all my

167
00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:11,000
Speaker 3: trash away. And I found that all these comments and criticisms.

168
00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:12,680
Speaker 3: Things were coming from all over. They were coming from

169
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,000
Speaker 3: store managers, they would come from backroom personnel, they were

170
00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,280
Speaker 3: coming from customers, they were coming.

171
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,560
Speaker 2: From you know, grocery supervisors.

172
00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:22,240
Speaker 3: So all of a sudden, like it felt like the

173
00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,920
Speaker 3: world sometimes is collapsing on you when you weren't doing

174
00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:26,840
Speaker 3: parts of your job. So I recognize in is that

175
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,480
Speaker 3: attention to detail matters, you know, And then all those

176
00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,240
Speaker 3: other attributes I talked about as well, And so that

177
00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,920
Speaker 3: was a continue that was almost a microcosmo what my

178
00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:38,320
Speaker 3: whole career is going to buy. You're going to have

179
00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,240
Speaker 3: people stakeholders who are involved. At that time, these are

180
00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,280
Speaker 3: people around the store. But as you grow and as

181
00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,200
Speaker 3: you exponentially grow in the company, it's now a big customer,

182
00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,480
Speaker 3: you know, it's now a bigger geography. It's now thousands

183
00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,440
Speaker 3: of people, tens of thousands of people that are your

184
00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:54,440
Speaker 3: responsible for and right.

185
00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,080
Speaker 2: So the stakes just get higher and higher.

186
00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,520
Speaker 3: But that early snapshot on around you know, attention to detail,

187
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,160
Speaker 3: all the understanding, all your stakeholders, you were involved in

188
00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,880
Speaker 3: your journey with you have to be focused on.

189
00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:07,680
Speaker 2: You have to deliver for them as well.

190
00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:09,600
Speaker 3: It's not about just what you do and your time

191
00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:11,680
Speaker 3: and your experience. You also have to make sure they

192
00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,360
Speaker 3: experience people around you that support you also are they're

193
00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:17,800
Speaker 3: enjoying that and it's complementary to what you bring to

194
00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,360
Speaker 3: the table. So I learned early that you know it's

195
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 3: going to take while you have to bring a lot

196
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:23,320
Speaker 3: of the effort and energy to at night, a lot

197
00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:24,320
Speaker 3: of what happens around you.

198
00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:26,920
Speaker 2: It's just more about It's more than about you.

199
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,960
Speaker 3: It's about it's about a team, a team environment, whether

200
00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,640
Speaker 3: inside of the company or outside of the company, and

201
00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,320
Speaker 3: your ability to see that and build that camaraderie and

202
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,440
Speaker 3: build those relationships early, understand the value of those and

203
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,920
Speaker 3: how they contribute to you having the highest level of success.

204
00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:43,360
Speaker 3: I thought was great for me to get at an

205
00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,400
Speaker 3: early stage because then I was able to replicate that again.

206
00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,839
Speaker 3: Stakes get higher, constituents get higher, they're bigger titles around,

207
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,160
Speaker 3: involved in scenarios now. But I didn't really look at

208
00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,080
Speaker 3: that as because of the bigger stage. I didn't didn't

209
00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,319
Speaker 3: make me more nervous to create more anxiety. It just

210
00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,520
Speaker 3: drew me back to, Hey, this is no different than

211
00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:02,079
Speaker 3: when you were in the store. You have people that

212
00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,080
Speaker 3: are important new the success puzzle here. You've got to

213
00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:06,960
Speaker 3: make sure you're bringing all these people along for the ride.

214
00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,520
Speaker 3: But you have to be the catalyst for what happens

215
00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:11,000
Speaker 3: in this in this in this environment.

216
00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:11,720
Speaker 2: This is your house.

217
00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,080
Speaker 3: These people here living with you, supporting you, making this

218
00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,800
Speaker 3: house grow. But you've got to be the catalyst for change,

219
00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,560
Speaker 3: for growth, for vision and bringing these and leading these

220
00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:22,559
Speaker 3: people to success with you.

221
00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,840
Speaker 1: You know, you've managed multiple billion dollar operations there at

222
00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,320
Speaker 1: Pepsi Co. And I wonder what is different about how

223
00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,480
Speaker 1: a company that big thinks about growth and scale that

224
00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,480
Speaker 1: small business owners' startups can learn from.

225
00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:41,880
Speaker 3: Well, I think it all starts with your strategic plan

226
00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,520
Speaker 3: and where you're headed. And so the company was always

227
00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,240
Speaker 3: you know, looking forward. So while we were you know,

228
00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,840
Speaker 3: into the details, into the moments, into the day, the week,

229
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,960
Speaker 3: the periods as we call them, the quarters, there was

230
00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,000
Speaker 3: still obviously a lot of sight to the future and

231
00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,960
Speaker 3: the roadmaps being built out in these different phases, you know,

232
00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,000
Speaker 3: and these are these are you know three years out,

233
00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 3: five years out, seven years out, ten years out, So

234
00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:05,360
Speaker 3: very strategic.

235
00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,000
Speaker 2: Roadmap of where you want to be down the road,

236
00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:07,920
Speaker 2: and how.

237
00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:09,640
Speaker 3: Do you sort of start building the bridges of where

238
00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,880
Speaker 3: you are today and to where you want to get to? Uh,

239
00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,120
Speaker 3: what investments required from a brand building standpoint to draw

240
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,520
Speaker 3: the consumer demand, drove consumer demand? What investments are required

241
00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,240
Speaker 3: to drive operational excellence that's obviously do your supply chain

242
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,880
Speaker 3: and your sales organization, you know, what investments require to

243
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:27,920
Speaker 3: help build you know, call it the best place to work,

244
00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:33,520
Speaker 3: having the strongest talent, the best athletes, I would call recruiting, developing,

245
00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,720
Speaker 3: accelerating people's careers, you know. And then also then you

246
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,120
Speaker 3: have a community aspect. How do you ensure that you

247
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,320
Speaker 3: have a operate with purpose. And so if that agenda

248
00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:47,400
Speaker 3: is is sound across those pillars and that framework on

249
00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,200
Speaker 3: a strategic roadmap all the way down into what's in

250
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,760
Speaker 3: the immediate UH and operating planning cycles, it's going to

251
00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,080
Speaker 3: be a business that you know will be built to

252
00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,920
Speaker 3: be successful and you're going to have to pivot and

253
00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,520
Speaker 3: tweak it. Everything doesn't go perfectly, so you have contingencies

254
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,400
Speaker 3: and things like that that you think about. So a

255
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,640
Speaker 3: company that basically stays ahead, always looking at newer trends,

256
00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,120
Speaker 3: trying to understand and react to where the consumer is going,

257
00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:11,800
Speaker 3: not just where the consumer.

258
00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,200
Speaker 2: Is today, I think is also important for smaller businesses

259
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:14,600
Speaker 2: to take on.

260
00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:16,240
Speaker 3: So you got to have one eye on what's going

261
00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,320
Speaker 3: on now, and you got to have one eye on

262
00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:20,800
Speaker 3: what's going to happen later and be prepared for that

263
00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:22,720
Speaker 3: and invest in that so you were able to harvest

264
00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:25,360
Speaker 3: the growth that comes out. If not, you can get

265
00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,000
Speaker 3: left behind and you're playing catch up and you become

266
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,400
Speaker 3: a distant number three, four, five, six player or whatever

267
00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:32,960
Speaker 3: in the space. And now your growth cycle, your growth

268
00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,520
Speaker 3: outlook is really shrunk because you've missed out and didn't

269
00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:39,000
Speaker 3: do the proper due buildings on planning.

270
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, you make me think of this experience I had

271
00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,600
Speaker 1: when I worked in corporate America, just for a very

272
00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,960
Speaker 1: short time. I wasn't suited for it, but I was

273
00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:49,960
Speaker 1: working in the corporate America for this short time and

274
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,840
Speaker 1: I was recruited by this company as an executive fellow.

275
00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,079
Speaker 1: So I was following the CEO around for a period

276
00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,280
Speaker 1: of time, and I was going to those board meetings

277
00:11:58,280 --> 00:11:59,960
Speaker 1: and etc. So I would get a chance to meet

278
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,800
Speaker 1: the board and the directors in the CEA and sometimes

279
00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:04,920
Speaker 1: they would invite me out get to know me. And

280
00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,520
Speaker 1: when I went to my role, I was still developing

281
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,400
Speaker 1: those relationships with the board when I was a fellow,

282
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,880
Speaker 1: And I remember the person who I got sent to

283
00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,480
Speaker 1: work under was like, hey, you got to chill on

284
00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,360
Speaker 1: the board, you know, relationships. And I remember thinking because

285
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,079
Speaker 1: I had also heard this same person talk about another

286
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:28,000
Speaker 1: individual who was remarkable but nobody knew who they were.

287
00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:30,080
Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, if you're not building the relationships,

288
00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,880
Speaker 1: then what you're talking about with that guy over there,

289
00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,439
Speaker 1: that would happen to me. And so I wonder what

290
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,240
Speaker 1: your take is on how to My two love language

291
00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,080
Speaker 1: words are ambition and initiative. So I wonder how you

292
00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,839
Speaker 1: can find that balance between doing good work in your

293
00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,840
Speaker 1: role but still developing the relationships to advocate for yourself.

294
00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:50,920
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I think it's critical.

295
00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,640
Speaker 3: I think again that fits very nicely into my results,

296
00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:58,760
Speaker 3: relationship reputation framework. Right, So, once you establish a performance,

297
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,160
Speaker 3: you know sort of mantra that you can get the

298
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,360
Speaker 3: numbers because performance matters, and doing it the right way,

299
00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,440
Speaker 3: doing it consistently, all that matters.

300
00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:07,960
Speaker 2: That's like to mean the first entry into the.

301
00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:09,599
Speaker 3: Next conversation in the next room, and then all of

302
00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,000
Speaker 3: a sudden, Now, really it is about the sort of

303
00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,120
Speaker 3: construct of how well you collaborate. What's your trust level

304
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,240
Speaker 3: like with people as you go out and engage. Are

305
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,679
Speaker 3: you a win win person or you a win lose person?

306
00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,080
Speaker 3: Right there, there's a way to navigate relationships. Are you

307
00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,080
Speaker 3: just good at managing up? Are you good at just

308
00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:27,760
Speaker 3: managing down? Can you manage across?

309
00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:28,000
Speaker 2: Right?

310
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,800
Speaker 3: And so, really treating relationships as the real foundation of

311
00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,480
Speaker 3: this house was super important me and others who I

312
00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,160
Speaker 3: think saw the highest level of success because you do

313
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,600
Speaker 3: have to know people, people have to know you, and

314
00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,559
Speaker 3: you've really got to establish the real strong fundamentals again

315
00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:47,920
Speaker 3: on trust, collaboration, teamwork, effort, you know, win win, those

316
00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,200
Speaker 3: type of things have to be in play for you

317
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:51,680
Speaker 3: to navigate yourself.

318
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,520
Speaker 2: And then I call reputation is your brand. You know,

319
00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:55,720
Speaker 2: people have to know who you are.

320
00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,679
Speaker 3: They have to see you from a character perspective, they

321
00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,160
Speaker 3: have to see you from the image perspective.

322
00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,160
Speaker 2: You know, how do you show up, how do you communicate?

323
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:01,760
Speaker 2: How do you look?

324
00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,839
Speaker 3: You know, those things all matter quite frankly, and you

325
00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,200
Speaker 3: get judged on those things all the time, and so

326
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,200
Speaker 3: you can't you take a day off and somebody's seeing

327
00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:12,840
Speaker 3: you for the very first time on an off day.

328
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,520
Speaker 3: That could set you back many many many, you know,

329
00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:17,960
Speaker 3: could set you back many cycles on that. So I

330
00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,920
Speaker 3: really tried to preach everybody every day you wake up,

331
00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:22,440
Speaker 3: you've got a body of work to do.

332
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,320
Speaker 2: To execute your job. You need to deliver in that.

333
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,000
Speaker 3: You need to wake up every day and think about

334
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,840
Speaker 3: how do you continue to you know, build established, build strength,

335
00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:35,520
Speaker 3: and reinforce trust, collaboration, communication, amongst the broader peer set

336
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,280
Speaker 3: that you have again above you, below you, beside you,

337
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,360
Speaker 3: that's inside the companies outside of the company are always

338
00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,480
Speaker 3: nurturing relationships when you can.

339
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:43,480
Speaker 2: And then your brand.

340
00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:45,520
Speaker 3: You know, are you showing up to here's your best

341
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,920
Speaker 3: rods yourself? You know, that's whether again, the way you

342
00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,000
Speaker 3: look when you show up, the way you communicating to people,

343
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:52,720
Speaker 3: that's the way you put out material, the way you

344
00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:54,560
Speaker 3: write emails, your slides.

345
00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,720
Speaker 2: You're always, you know, portraying a brand.

346
00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,480
Speaker 3: You always betraying an image and a reputation you want

347
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,120
Speaker 3: to have on the high end of the rain. So

348
00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,280
Speaker 3: it's complimentary to everything else that you do. And then

349
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,960
Speaker 3: that lift, quite frankly, just put you in spaces that

350
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,000
Speaker 3: are going to create massive separations between you and many

351
00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:11,920
Speaker 3: others in your organization.

352
00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:13,760
Speaker 2: Right, So you have to do both.

353
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:16,680
Speaker 3: It's not the it's not the ore, it's the it's

354
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,040
Speaker 3: the and.

355
00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:19,880
Speaker 2: That you're talking about. So you have to do both.

356
00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:21,800
Speaker 3: You can't sort of say I'm gonna play it safe

357
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:23,560
Speaker 3: and just keep my head down and do everything right

358
00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:25,680
Speaker 3: and hope I get noticed that's the way to play it,

359
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:27,800
Speaker 3: or just play this game where I'm just gonna spend

360
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:29,640
Speaker 3: time a lot of people and have all this high

361
00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:33,720
Speaker 3: exposure but have nothing to talk about or nothing tangible with.

362
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:35,320
Speaker 2: That, no substance with it. That's not going to get

363
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:36,040
Speaker 2: you very far. Either.

364
00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,280
Speaker 3: It may feel better because you know people and you

365
00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:39,520
Speaker 3: get to hang around people and get to go to

366
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,720
Speaker 3: some cool places, but at the end of the day,

367
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,120
Speaker 3: you're going to get exposed that you're not delivering anything,

368
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,120
Speaker 3: so you're gonna lose on that in as well.

369
00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,000
Speaker 2: So to me, it's you have to put both together.

370
00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:50,200
Speaker 3: And I think the framework I talk about is very

371
00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,480
Speaker 3: useful for me and others, and it's atainly other ways

372
00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:53,200
Speaker 3: to approach.

373
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,320
Speaker 2: It as well, But it is definitely about the end,

374
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:55,920
Speaker 2: not the ore.

375
00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,280
Speaker 1: What despies you to take on this big days cheese

376
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,320
Speaker 1: steaks as a franchise owner.

377
00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,440
Speaker 3: You know what, I can't find Philadelphia cheese steaks here

378
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:07,960
Speaker 3: in Orlando, so I decided to buy, you know, buy

379
00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,520
Speaker 3: a brand myself. But I grew up loving cheese steaks

380
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,120
Speaker 3: when I was a kid and living in DC.

381
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:13,640
Speaker 2: It was always a treat.

382
00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:15,960
Speaker 3: I didn't get it eat to eat them often because

383
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,040
Speaker 3: you know, it was definitely a more expensive treat in

384
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:19,560
Speaker 3: the family.

385
00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:21,240
Speaker 2: We went out to eat when we had them. They

386
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:22,000
Speaker 2: were really really good.

387
00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,000
Speaker 3: When I started putting money in my pocket, you know,

388
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,280
Speaker 3: cutting grass and doing shores and things like that, I

389
00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,360
Speaker 3: would weekly go get cheese steaks on the weekend. And

390
00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,400
Speaker 3: so it's always became a really important brand of food

391
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,320
Speaker 3: category for me as a child.

392
00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,520
Speaker 2: And therefore that never left me, you know.

393
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,560
Speaker 3: And so when I graduated from college, I go up

394
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,160
Speaker 3: to Philly to see my friends, We go to Atlantic City,

395
00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,480
Speaker 3: we go, you know, hang out, go to an Eagles

396
00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:45,120
Speaker 3: game or something next day, and I always had to

397
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,080
Speaker 3: stop through and pick up cheese steaks on South Street

398
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,120
Speaker 3: or other places in town.

399
00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,440
Speaker 2: So it's been a brand of food that has stuck

400
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:53,640
Speaker 2: with me for many, many years. I moved around a lot,

401
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,000
Speaker 2: and I missed that category lot.

402
00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,080
Speaker 3: When I moved out West, I basically never didn't have

403
00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,680
Speaker 3: a cheese steak for like ten years, maybe unless I

404
00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,000
Speaker 3: came back to town for some reason, but I can't

405
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,320
Speaker 3: even think of when I had one in.

406
00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,679
Speaker 2: The ten years, and so I've always had this craving.

407
00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,600
Speaker 3: I got to meet, obviously, Derek Hayes when my doing

408
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:13,080
Speaker 3: my Pepsy relationship and supported his business when he really

409
00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,360
Speaker 3: started to get his balance, you know, took him under

410
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,040
Speaker 3: my wing, took him out to HPCUS, took him on

411
00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,960
Speaker 3: HPCU tours, did a lot of investment in his brand

412
00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:22,320
Speaker 3: and helped give him a lyft so and I was

413
00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:23,439
Speaker 3: to help navigate through.

414
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:25,240
Speaker 2: Kind of coming through COVID.

415
00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,600
Speaker 3: After COVID obviously, now he has been very, very successful.

416
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,679
Speaker 3: He and I always spoke about one day, you know,

417
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,199
Speaker 3: when I wasn't in the business anymore and he decided

418
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,400
Speaker 3: to franchise, you know, considered me for a store that

419
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,800
Speaker 3: that was one store. He made me sign from more

420
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,199
Speaker 3: to one store to get it. But I'm excited about it.

421
00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,440
Speaker 3: It's a unique brand of food, a very tasty, mouthwatering

422
00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,480
Speaker 3: brand of food that you just can't get in any

423
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,560
Speaker 3: sort of scale in this market. I know consumers love

424
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,520
Speaker 3: regional food brands, so it's an opportunity to create some fund,

425
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,400
Speaker 3: some excitement. And for those who are in the Northeast.

426
00:17:57,480 --> 00:17:59,159
Speaker 3: Is a ton of Northeasterners that live down here, as

427
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,679
Speaker 3: you know, It'll be an opportunity for them to engage

428
00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,520
Speaker 3: and something they may have experienced, you know, back when

429
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,360
Speaker 3: they were home, or something they crave on a routine basis.

430
00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:08,680
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, we want to be

431
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:10,359
Speaker 3: here for that. I'm going to I can need to

432
00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:11,720
Speaker 3: cheese that now if I want to. Three undred and

433
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,080
Speaker 3: sixty five days of a year that's what's most important

434
00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:17,200
Speaker 3: to me. So we're gonna have some fun and launching business.

435
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,240
Speaker 3: I get to add some jobs, create some new excitement

436
00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,160
Speaker 3: for people in town. So it's the whole business proposition,

437
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,800
Speaker 3: you know, spend time investing back in the community. And

438
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,080
Speaker 3: so I look at this as an end in proposition

439
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:29,200
Speaker 3: while we're gonna have fun doing the work.

440
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:34,520
Speaker 1: You know, many executives struggle or just hesitate to get

441
00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,120
Speaker 1: into entrepreneurship, Like, how have you navigated that? And how

442
00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,280
Speaker 1: have you made imagine a change of mindset, you know,

443
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,720
Speaker 1: how you think about attacking you know, business cases. What

444
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,119
Speaker 1: would you what advice would you give those people who

445
00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:47,920
Speaker 1: are considering it.

446
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,320
Speaker 2: I mean, look, I would say your corporate experiences prepare

447
00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:51,679
Speaker 2: you for this.

448
00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,240
Speaker 3: You know, I have a again a very strong brand

449
00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,439
Speaker 3: building acumen. I have a very strong operational acumen. I

450
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,960
Speaker 3: have very strong talent management acumen. I have strong community

451
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,560
Speaker 3: relationship acumen. I have strong partnerships acumen. So everything that

452
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:14,000
Speaker 3: I learned in my thirty five years is very transferable. Actually,

453
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,639
Speaker 3: I think it's set me up in many way ways

454
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,959
Speaker 3: to be even more successful being an entrepreneur.

455
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:21,200
Speaker 2: I got to work with a lot of entrepreneurs.

456
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,000
Speaker 3: I got to learn from a lot of people who

457
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:24,720
Speaker 3: were in their own businesses while I was in the

458
00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:27,399
Speaker 3: corporate space, right, So in my mind, a lot of

459
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,600
Speaker 3: those skills are transferable. I think with anything, you have

460
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,399
Speaker 3: to take some risk with this. This is you know,

461
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,879
Speaker 3: certainly it does have associated risk with it. But I

462
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,239
Speaker 3: look at as more of an opportunity area, kind of

463
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:39,600
Speaker 3: like I did throughout my entire career.

464
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,679
Speaker 2: I don't look at what could go wrong. I look

465
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:42,760
Speaker 2: at what all could go right.

466
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:45,360
Speaker 3: So I think a lot of it is just mindset,

467
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,320
Speaker 3: But I think from a skill package, I think most

468
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,280
Speaker 3: corporate executives are built to do this and do it,

469
00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 3: especially if they pick their passions and places they really

470
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,199
Speaker 3: really care about and lean into, I think you know

471
00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,760
Speaker 3: they're going to find themselves to be set up for success.

472
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,680
Speaker 3: Would encourage more people to take a look at hopefully,

473
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:04,119
Speaker 3: you know, people can learn from what I'm doing.

474
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:05,280
Speaker 2: Take a page of my book.

475
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,080
Speaker 3: Now, there are some definitely some learning curve things that

476
00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,679
Speaker 3: I'm going through in terms of you know, things like

477
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:14,120
Speaker 3: construction and real estate and you know, equipment. Now, there's

478
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,280
Speaker 3: some early learnings that I'm gonna have so as I

479
00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,679
Speaker 3: go through the next phase of expansion, I'm gonna be

480
00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,560
Speaker 3: much more well equipped at setting myself up to be

481
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,160
Speaker 3: more efficient in that model. But yeah, there's some early

482
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,359
Speaker 3: learning curve things that that you know I'm gonna I'm

483
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,320
Speaker 3: gonna do better at next time. There are things I'm

484
00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:34,080
Speaker 3: hitting the ground with immediately that are all a benefit

485
00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,680
Speaker 3: and attributed to my corporate career. So you know, there's

486
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,440
Speaker 3: a give and take there, and I look at obviously

487
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,560
Speaker 3: every data goes by learning experience to get better and better.

488
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:44,440
Speaker 2: But I can't wait to get open.

489
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,040
Speaker 3: I'm getting open here in about six weeks inside my

490
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:49,280
Speaker 3: brick and mortar stores. I'm already opened inside the arenas.

491
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,480
Speaker 3: The arenas have done very very well. I'm really proud

492
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:53,480
Speaker 3: of what we'll be able to do inside both the

493
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,200
Speaker 3: Kia Center and Camping World Stadium just a short period

494
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,840
Speaker 3: of time. But now it's time for brick and mortar

495
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,600
Speaker 3: and obviously create more access to the community on a

496
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,160
Speaker 3: three on a sixty five day basis. So I'm looking

497
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,399
Speaker 3: forward to that, you know, opportunity to do that in

498
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,960
Speaker 3: a couple of weeks, and we're opening two stores. That's

499
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,080
Speaker 3: just the way it landed. I didn't necessarily plan it

500
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:13,200
Speaker 3: to be that way. But based on the real estate

501
00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,359
Speaker 3: selection and where these locations are, I'm really pumped up

502
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,040
Speaker 3: about where they are and the communities they operate are

503
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:20,760
Speaker 3: going to be in, and I'm excited to get both

504
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,120
Speaker 3: of them off the ground as soon as possible. Yeah.

505
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,720
Speaker 1: You know, typically when you buy into a franchise, you're

506
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,000
Speaker 1: buying in operation and then you get to, you know,

507
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:34,520
Speaker 1: work out that playbook, right, And it sounds like you

508
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,960
Speaker 1: got in early enough and potentially you're helping design the playbook,

509
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,920
Speaker 1: And I wonder what was the thinking behind that? First

510
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:42,400
Speaker 1: of all, you can correct me if that's not true,

511
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: but first of all, like, I wonder, what is the

512
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,320
Speaker 1: thinking behind doing that versus you know, you're going to

513
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,200
Speaker 1: start Derek's you know, Chiefe States or Derek's you know whatever.

514
00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 3: Well, look, I've got I'm proven. You know, it's proven

515
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,119
Speaker 3: that I know how to scale big brands. I've been

516
00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,359
Speaker 3: doing that my whole life, right, So you give me

517
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,080
Speaker 3: a good brand I know how to and that's that's

518
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:02,480
Speaker 3: kind of how I looked at this. So I wanted

519
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:04,840
Speaker 3: to make sure, you know, certain the things that I

520
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:06,600
Speaker 3: did in my career were transferable to what I do

521
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,600
Speaker 3: in my next chapter. And so yeah, starting my on brand,

522
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 3: you know, I saw the challenges of starting new brands

523
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 3: inside the big company.

524
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,080
Speaker 2: I saw how much money was required.

525
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,280
Speaker 3: There's certainly a higher failure rate than most probably can imagine,

526
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,600
Speaker 3: you know. And that's not a slide on any R

527
00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:24,920
Speaker 3: and D or anybody for that match, just it's just hard,

528
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,439
Speaker 3: Like the business is hard to push new products through,

529
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,640
Speaker 3: and it takes a it takes a lot of resources

530
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 3: to hit, to hit really home runs or hit you know,

531
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,240
Speaker 3: I don't even call it doubles and triples in the business.

532
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,520
Speaker 3: So I wanted to make sure that when I did

533
00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,200
Speaker 3: this one, I was doing something that they had a

534
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:42,800
Speaker 3: lot of growth in front of it. And again, this

535
00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 3: category is not as developed in this market, so it's

536
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,920
Speaker 3: a lot of I call it big white space opportunity. Two,

537
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 3: it's a great brand in terms of a taste profile

538
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,919
Speaker 3: and quality profile, so I give it really hot marks there.

539
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,920
Speaker 3: And so when you look at that and then sort

540
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,119
Speaker 3: of my understanding of the marketplace and you put all

541
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,679
Speaker 3: those factors together, it creates a really nice picture of

542
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,800
Speaker 3: opportunity for.

543
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:05,600
Speaker 2: For the business and what we can go do.

544
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 3: And so I love those type of opportunities where I

545
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:12,000
Speaker 3: can look at scaling up and you know, really having

546
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:13,400
Speaker 3: a great opportunity.

547
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,800
Speaker 2: To create a great run and being new. So yeah,

548
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 2: you're right, we're kind of reshaping.

549
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,959
Speaker 3: We're enhancing the playbook as it goes along because he's

550
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 3: a obviously going to be looking to stretch more and

551
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 3: more geographies. Obviously, being the first franchise e creates a

552
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,600
Speaker 3: really good template that we can now disseminate and use

553
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 3: as a bit of a model going forward.

554
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:32,960
Speaker 2: Not that this won't be twiggable as well.

555
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:34,399
Speaker 3: There's gonna be other learnings that we're gonna have, at

556
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,679
Speaker 3: least in terms of starting in new markets. This is

557
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 3: the first sort of go, hit the butting and go,

558
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,680
Speaker 3: and I'm excited about what we're going to learn. Also,

559
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,159
Speaker 3: we're going to deliver and create traction for for the

560
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:47,760
Speaker 3: future for Derek's brand and you know, many many other

561
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:48,960
Speaker 3: geographies around the country.

562
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,760
Speaker 1: You know, there's something you said in that you can't

563
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 1: be what you can't see. So having a diverse executive

564
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,720
Speaker 1: team is critical to provide women and minority employees with

565
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,919
Speaker 1: role models and mentals and show that it's possible for

566
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 1: them to become leaders within the company. You know, I

567
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:09,200
Speaker 1: wonder how did seeing black leadership in your PEPSI code

568
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,520
Speaker 1: days or otherwise, you know, how did that have an

569
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,120
Speaker 1: impact on your personal aspirations?

570
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:16,600
Speaker 2: Oh, it had a huge impact.

571
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 3: Again, I'm a really good historian of the PEPSI history

572
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 3: of the African American culture. You know, going back to

573
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,680
Speaker 3: the nineteen forties. Matter of fact, you know, the first

574
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 3: black two black interms of corporate America were hired by

575
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 3: PEPSI in the early nineteen forties. Alan mc keller junior,

576
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,440
Speaker 3: who went to South Carolina State and Jeanette Mound who

577
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,399
Speaker 3: went to Hampton University Hamping Institute at the time, but

578
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,520
Speaker 3: Hampting University where I went. And so they were the

579
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,520
Speaker 3: first to hiring corporate by PEPSI as part of an

580
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,160
Speaker 3: essay contest. Subsequently, there the first black salesforce was hired

581
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 3: a few years later by PEPSI because they identified the

582
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,879
Speaker 3: black cohort as being an important business case item from

583
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,160
Speaker 3: the US. They wanted to make sure they can penetrate

584
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,520
Speaker 3: that market to drive sales and drive growth for their franchisees.

585
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 3: And they saw that that group was basically being untapped.

586
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,679
Speaker 3: Someone else was investing in that cohort. So they decided

587
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,000
Speaker 3: to do that and leaning that way, and obviously to

588
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,520
Speaker 3: do that, you've got to sort of be able to

589
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,679
Speaker 3: walk to talk, and not only on the outside, but

590
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,040
Speaker 3: also on the inside. And so they started that journey

591
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 3: back in the forties, and that obviously was carried through

592
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 3: even up to today. And so when I was obviously

593
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,159
Speaker 3: being recruited, I knew that history understood history. So they

594
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:19,840
Speaker 3: understood a lot better as I've been in the company

595
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 3: and got a chance to even have a relationship with

596
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,119
Speaker 3: Alan mckelisay, can you imagine a younger executive like me

597
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 3: that's rising up has a relationship with the first block

598
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,200
Speaker 3: you know, intern and sales leader or salesperson individual hired

599
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 3: in Corporate America in the forties.

600
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 2: Can you imagine the nuggets that he gave me.

601
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 3: For about a ten year window up until he passed

602
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,280
Speaker 3: away in twenty eighteen, I was getting some real nuggets

603
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:45,880
Speaker 3: from him, and it was a pleasure. I go see

604
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 3: him every year in Saint Louis and he would, you know,

605
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,120
Speaker 3: just share a lot of wisdom and.

606
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:52,359
Speaker 2: Inspiration with me.

607
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,719
Speaker 3: And really I understood the playbook, I understood the mission,

608
00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,919
Speaker 3: I understood what was expectedunderstood that I had to need

609
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 3: to have a lot of courage like he and his

610
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 3: comrades did. They had to have a lot more courage

611
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 3: than I did. And so if they were able to

612
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,520
Speaker 3: do what they did back in the forties and fifties

613
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 3: and sixties to get things started for many of us

614
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 3: around corporate America, I can do my.

615
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,080
Speaker 2: Part to carry forward and pay it forward. And so

616
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 2: that was beautiful.

617
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,800
Speaker 3: So I was always inspired by the company's mission on this,

618
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 3: and my role was to sort of keep, you know,

619
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,440
Speaker 3: paying it off and make sure we're handing the torches

620
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 3: off to the next group so that they can keep running.

621
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 3: That they keep running that race, race of progression, excellence,

622
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,439
Speaker 3: you know, and high achievement. And that's that's what I

623
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:35,359
Speaker 3: believe they intend to do.

624
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,480
Speaker 1: You know, we talked often on this podcast about how

625
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 1: you know, diversity is not just the right thing to do,

626
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,960
Speaker 1: but it actually yields business success.

627
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:44,199
Speaker 2: Right.

628
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 1: Can you talk about in your experience is how you've

629
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,400
Speaker 1: seen diversity actually impact the bottom line?

630
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 3: Absolutely, there's no doubt. It's always it's a business case.

631
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:54,760
Speaker 3: I mean this, the company made that decision back in

632
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,440
Speaker 3: the forties. Aways it always started with the business case.

633
00:26:57,800 --> 00:26:59,200
Speaker 2: Now, the fact that you know.

634
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 3: It was also orally right and really as the social

635
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:04,560
Speaker 3: norm started to change and move, it.

636
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:05,879
Speaker 2: Was the right thing to do as well.

637
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,400
Speaker 3: So now you've got this business case where it's driving

638
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 3: revenue and profit and you're also helping society improve and uh,

639
00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,560
Speaker 3: and it's in terms of its shape and scope, it's

640
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 3: it's the gift that keeps some of us the best

641
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 3: of both worlds. And I think today, you know, what's

642
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 3: missing in some of these conversations filling recently has been

643
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,879
Speaker 3: we've gotten off of the business case, right, Uh, nobody.

644
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:28,920
Speaker 3: You know, people are saying, well, we're walking away from

645
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:31,320
Speaker 3: a certain programming element or in our business.

646
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 2: Well, you know, absolite of talking about what you're doing. It.

647
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,479
Speaker 3: To me, that creates a big void in terms of

648
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:39,840
Speaker 3: where you're walking away from an inside perspective or you

649
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,320
Speaker 3: walk away from the outside perspective. Because the last time

650
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,640
Speaker 3: I checked any business that you want you want growth

651
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,119
Speaker 3: from all cohorts, right, you want the minority cohort, you

652
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 3: want the female cohort, you want the white non uh,

653
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 3: you know, diverse cohort.

654
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,120
Speaker 2: You want everybody's money, right in terms of your business.

655
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 3: I think that's the way most certainly big businesses approach

656
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,480
Speaker 3: their growth strategy, and so in my mind, if you

657
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 3: stay consistent with that and look at that as the

658
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 3: lens in which you approach this whole thing as a triangle,

659
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 3: there's a consumer need that we're going to continue to

660
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 3: focus on because that drives and pays the bills and

661
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:11,480
Speaker 3: delivers the shareholder returns for.

662
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 2: Us inside the company.

663
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:15,880
Speaker 3: That connects to the culture of the company because we

664
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,479
Speaker 3: want to basically look like the market that one we

665
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 3: sell to. We're pursuing on some level, we want to

666
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,639
Speaker 3: look like that market. So therefore it is a recruitment effort,

667
00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,840
Speaker 3: a development effort, and an acceleration of that that should

668
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 3: occur organically with that as you continue to pursue these

669
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:35,320
Speaker 3: consumers outside and growth these consumers, knowing that demographic ships

670
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 3: are going to keep changing and leaning in to where

671
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,400
Speaker 3: there's more buying power coming from those cohorts. And then

672
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 3: there's a community element where you know you're obligated to

673
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:46,680
Speaker 3: as you make profit and you're doing the right thing

674
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,920
Speaker 3: with your culture to now help continue to stand up

675
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:54,400
Speaker 3: areas where your people work, eat, play, and lift.

676
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,320
Speaker 2: Your consumers and you and your socials in the company.

677
00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 2: It's your obligation to do that.

678
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 3: So in my mind, if we if we stay within

679
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,920
Speaker 3: the triangle and still focus on that, yes we can

680
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,080
Speaker 3: rename it, we can rebrand it, we can involve it.

681
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,160
Speaker 2: We should evolve it from where it was, no doubt

682
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:08,640
Speaker 2: about it.

683
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:10,920
Speaker 3: But just to say I'm walking away from it, not

684
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,920
Speaker 3: and not doing anything else, what does that really mean?

685
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,200
Speaker 2: Are you? Are you walking away from the consumer part too?

686
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,240
Speaker 3: Because if you, how do you do that when you

687
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,120
Speaker 3: So that's a to me. This is a big leadership moment,

688
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 3: and I think leaders need to stand up and defend

689
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,720
Speaker 3: their position around the business case and how that connects

690
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 3: inside the company and it connects outside the company.

691
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:34,600
Speaker 2: And Yeah, I don't like I don't like the word

692
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 2: carve out. I don't like the word mandates.

693
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,560
Speaker 3: I don't I think those things are detrimental to a culture.

694
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,440
Speaker 3: I think those things are absolutely things that should not

695
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,880
Speaker 3: be in play anymore. Things that might have been necessary

696
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,440
Speaker 3: in more turbulent times, extremely turbulent times where laws are

697
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 3: being broken all the time. I think we're in a

698
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 3: different era now. There's still a lot of challenges out there,

699
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 3: no doubt about it. But if you stay true to

700
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,960
Speaker 3: that model, you're going to be doing the right thing

701
00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 3: and you're going to be making the money the business decisions.

702
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 3: You're gonna do the right thing for your associates across

703
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 3: all cohorts. Everybody can win, everybody truly can win, and

704
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:08,840
Speaker 3: you're gonna do the right thing. From the community activation standpoint,

705
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 3: the places are in the most need, you're gonna stand

706
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,360
Speaker 3: those up. And again, all cohorts should be involved in

707
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 3: that in terms of impact. So nobody should get left behind,

708
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 3: nobody should be excluded, nobody should be isolated.

709
00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,400
Speaker 2: And I think that delivers a win with profit.

710
00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 3: A win with culture, and a win with sort of

711
00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 3: standing up the places we work, live, eat, play in,

712
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 3: and value the most is our communities.

713
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:33,840
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna make this my last one, respectful of

714
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,640
Speaker 1: your time, but I'm super interested in you go into

715
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 1: a little level deeper on that because I remember there

716
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 1: was about twelve conversations that I had in the middle

717
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,760
Speaker 1: of the George Floyd COVID you know time period where

718
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 1: we were talking about all the commitments being made to

719
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 1: our people and my interviews, like it's at least twelve

720
00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,720
Speaker 1: interviews where I'm like, I was asking how long is

721
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 1: this window going to be open? And out of those conversations,

722
00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 1: we were like, you know, three years, maybe four years,

723
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 1: and surprise, we're at three four years. You know, since

724
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 1: that to where we're starting to see some of this

725
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,880
Speaker 1: stuff be rolled back. But there's a reality on the

726
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 1: field where you're you're an entrepreneur working with some of

727
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 1: these brands or if you're working with somebody's companies that

728
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,440
Speaker 1: you have to live with, how should we be thinking

729
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 1: about Okay, maybe the corporate you know, sentiment will be

730
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 1: reset to where they actually figure out to your point

731
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,200
Speaker 1: that okay, you got to feel that void with something,

732
00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 1: But I got to live today, like I got to

733
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 1: figure out how to navigate this particular situation I'm in.

734
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,080
Speaker 1: How should we be thinking about that, both as entrepreneurs

735
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 1: and as executives or career people.

736
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:40,479
Speaker 3: Yeah, I had, I had to, I mean also had

737
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,479
Speaker 3: to deal with this real time. And I do think

738
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 3: there was an environment and I mentioned this on the

739
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,240
Speaker 3: calls on the other day, that there was also an atmosphere.

740
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 3: While there were a lot of there was a lot

741
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 3: of pleasuing of commitments and spending and you know they're

742
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,440
Speaker 3: they're true. Let's let's face it, there were committed carve

743
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 3: outs were committed, and people would actually approach me outside

744
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 3: around almost with an entitlement mindset, and I think that

745
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,760
Speaker 3: was that wrong. And I think, you know, looking back

746
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:06,960
Speaker 3: on that, in some of those conversations I would have

747
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,680
Speaker 3: with some of these organizations who were just basically saying,

748
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,360
Speaker 3: I saw your company made a statement. I'm calling you

749
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,680
Speaker 3: to engage in conversation around I want to participate.

750
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 4: I want to participate, you know, and I'm going to

751
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,280
Speaker 4: participate based off of what participate, off of who you are,

752
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,400
Speaker 4: where you look, like like like sort of talking to

753
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,920
Speaker 4: me about capability, talking about competency, talking.

754
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,680
Speaker 3: About ROI, you know, like you need to get sort

755
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,040
Speaker 3: of your act together, like like I want to help you,

756
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:36,720
Speaker 3: but you got to first help yourself.

757
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:37,960
Speaker 2: And so the first thing I would say to a lot.

758
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 3: Of business and this wasn't everybody, but there were a

759
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 3: fair amount a significant amount of businesses who just expected

760
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,600
Speaker 3: to get handouts because it was that it was a

761
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 3: time and they read a statement on social media or

762
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 3: somewhere in the media.

763
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,920
Speaker 2: And my whole perspective is and right now, especially more.

764
00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 3: Importantly, is it's all to me about you demonstrating your

765
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,680
Speaker 3: ability to have owner capabilities stronger competencies. You're a good

766
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,600
Speaker 3: to understand your organization's language of who you want to

767
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 3: work with and working with them and understanding how to

768
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,440
Speaker 3: make connections inside those spaces is going to be difference

769
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:13,200
Speaker 3: between you getting the business and not getting the business

770
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:15,320
Speaker 3: won't be because of who you are, where you look like,

771
00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:17,360
Speaker 3: and everything else. And so I think taking care of

772
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 3: yourself and leveling up your self is a starting point.

773
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,000
Speaker 3: I think for a message to all businesses, don't expect

774
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 3: carve outs.

775
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 2: You shouldn't have expected anyway.

776
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:29,880
Speaker 3: And if you were in that mindset of expecting things

777
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 3: just because you were, you know, quote unquote, there were

778
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:37,440
Speaker 3: there were carve outs allocated to minornial businesses, and you're

779
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 3: having to jump in line. You're having to jump in

780
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,520
Speaker 3: the queue and get and get, you know, get programs,

781
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:42,600
Speaker 3: get commitments from that.

782
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:44,440
Speaker 2: Hey, more power to you.

783
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,080
Speaker 3: But that was going to be short lived and now

784
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,680
Speaker 3: we're here, and so how do you stand up in

785
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 3: your own merit. It's the same thing for associates, right,

786
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,000
Speaker 3: So leadership has to solve for the consumer, the culture,

787
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,080
Speaker 3: and the community park That challenge needs to be absolutely

788
00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:03,320
Speaker 3: pushed an associate, how do you what I would say,

789
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 3: how do you want better on yourself? How do you

790
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,080
Speaker 3: believe in yourself and how do you be yourself? And

791
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 3: what does that best version of self model look like

792
00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 3: for you? As an individual inside a company. Now, your

793
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,440
Speaker 3: selection criteria may change. You may look at companies now

794
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,000
Speaker 3: differently based on them while we're going to opt out

795
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:20,759
Speaker 3: or we're going to opt in or you know you

796
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:22,440
Speaker 3: to me should always take a step back from that

797
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,919
Speaker 3: anyway and look at the companies that do the best

798
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,360
Speaker 3: job of the triangulation because their companies out there to

799
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:30,879
Speaker 3: do a good job of triangulation and articulate that. They're

800
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,120
Speaker 3: companies that don't do a good job of article. They

801
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 3: might be doing triangulation, but they don't articulate try and language.

802
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,480
Speaker 3: And then those companies that just aren't doing triangulation whatsoever,

803
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,400
Speaker 3: they're not paying tentionial ll they're basically focused on the

804
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:44,000
Speaker 3: top and the bottom line. But in terms of community,

805
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,120
Speaker 3: in terms of culture, you know, hands off on that.

806
00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:49,680
Speaker 3: And so use individual need to do your homework and

807
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:53,759
Speaker 3: research on those companies that have those different sort of

808
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,520
Speaker 3: you know, tiers of their engagement in this, and then

809
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,799
Speaker 3: you have to decide as you're doing those companies you're

810
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 3: going have to find ways for you to level yourself up.

811
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,400
Speaker 3: You're not gonna again look up and expect them to

812
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,720
Speaker 3: do that for you. Now, as you start to get tractions,

813
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:09,840
Speaker 3: you start delivering an ROI for them that shows that

814
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:13,760
Speaker 3: you are a high caliber player, You're a high caliber athlete.

815
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:16,480
Speaker 3: You're going to get the investment, you're going to get

816
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,160
Speaker 3: the time, you're going to get the opportunities. And so

817
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 3: I'm trying to, you know, in this new chapter, empower people,

818
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,600
Speaker 3: Equip people with the knowledge and the playbooks they need

819
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,560
Speaker 3: to be their best version themselves. And therefore you have

820
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,319
Speaker 3: a better control of your own destiny than sort of

821
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,759
Speaker 3: relying on a lot of infrastructure to sort of help

822
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,239
Speaker 3: you get there, because that for at least right now

823
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,000
Speaker 3: will be very rocky and very turbulent. You're not going

824
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,000
Speaker 3: to have it, certainly, it's not gonna be very transparent

825
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 3: of what that is if it's there. So you have

826
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,120
Speaker 3: to now find ways to really bounce yourself up to

827
00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:51,400
Speaker 3: navigate through that until we can get back to the

828
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:55,960
Speaker 3: leadership model, can get back to some stability and a

829
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,080
Speaker 3: good articulation of what.

830
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,239
Speaker 2: The new DEI journey really is. How's it branded? What

831
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:01,880
Speaker 2: does it look like.

832
00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:04,439
Speaker 3: How's it affected three that the trianglet I talked about,

833
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:06,799
Speaker 3: how do we create something that wins for everybody? How's

834
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:10,319
Speaker 3: it more comprehensive, How's it more collaborative, and how's it

835
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 3: more compassionate.

836
00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:13,520
Speaker 2: That's what I call the next.

837
00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,799
Speaker 3: Set of three seas need to be and leaders need

838
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:16,600
Speaker 3: to go figure that out.

839
00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:18,480
Speaker 2: We don't need one leader now like we.

840
00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:20,920
Speaker 3: Did many many decades ago, or that one leader is

841
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:23,279
Speaker 3: not not in place anymore now. It to me is

842
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,360
Speaker 3: in common around community by community. This could be city

843
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:28,880
Speaker 3: by city, it could be state by state. But leaders

844
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,239
Speaker 3: need to come together try to create these frameworks that

845
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:36,080
Speaker 3: they can then take into big business, they can take

846
00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:38,840
Speaker 3: into education, they can take into government. You know, they

847
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:43,279
Speaker 3: socialize these things to now help move this along in

848
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 3: a progress aggressive productive manner, not a man of where

849
00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:49,680
Speaker 3: we're all going to be fighting uphill or talking about

850
00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:52,239
Speaker 3: things that create a lot of ten boycotts and things

851
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:52,560
Speaker 3: like that.

852
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:54,959
Speaker 2: Those things are in my mind against short sighted.

853
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 3: I want to play the long game, not the short game,

854
00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,080
Speaker 3: because I think we're better equip if we can set

855
00:36:59,120 --> 00:36:59,640
Speaker 3: up the future.

856
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:01,719
Speaker 2: Trying to set the future up right now. If we're

857
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:03,600
Speaker 2: not setting up the future. What are we doing?

858
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:06,040
Speaker 3: We're still trying to get it ourselves. It's not about

859
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 3: us anymore. It's about the next generation. We got to

860
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 3: set the next generations up for success. And that mind

861
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 3: really will now require a new leadership challenge with some

862
00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:20,480
Speaker 3: different thinking and a thing that's comprehensive, collaborative and compassionate.

863
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:21,920
Speaker 3: And I think we can get there. I know we'll

864
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 3: get there. It's gonna take some time.

865
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,000
Speaker 2: But this is a lockdown leadership moment, not a retreat.

866
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:29,000
Speaker 3: Not to fight each other, not to condemn each other,

867
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,680
Speaker 3: how to criticize each other. It's a time to really

868
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:34,440
Speaker 3: lock and load and really focus on what's out in

869
00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 3: front of us for the next five, ten, fifteen, twenty years,

870
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:40,399
Speaker 3: not what's happening to me in this short period of time.

871
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,840
Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money is a production to Blavity Afro

872
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,840
Speaker 1: Tech in the Black Effect podcast Networking Night hire Immedia,

873
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,840
Speaker 1: and it's produced by Morgan DeVaughn and me Well Lucas,

874
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 1: with the digital production support by Kate McDonald s, Hurriget

875
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:55,800
Speaker 1: and Jada McGee. Special thank you to Michael Davis and

876
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 1: Love Beach. Learn more about my guess of the tech

877
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:01,280
Speaker 1: this up is an Innovatives afrotech dot com. The video

878
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,680
Speaker 1: version this episode will drop to Black Tech Green Money

879
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 1: on YouTube. Don't tap in, enjoy your black Tech crea money,

880
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:11,319
Speaker 1: share it to somebody. Go get your money, get some love,