WEBVTT - Randy Williams Full Interview 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:04.440 Welcome to Money Making Conversations. I am your host, ras 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:07.800 Sean McDonald. I recognized that we all have different definitions 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:11.680 of success. For some exercisable paycheck, mine is helping people 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.200 wake up and inspiring them to accomplish their goals and 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.119 live their very best life. These are my passions, and 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.000 that's what I'm going to do for you. I want 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:21.759 you to stop tripping over small challenges and prepare to 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.080 rise above the bigger obstacles that life will present to you. 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.400 My next guest, Randy Williams, is the president of Tally 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:32.559 and Twine, a company that designs and manufactures luxury watches 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:36.240 and necessaries. Since starting the company of fourteen granted this 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:39.800 game national media attention with Features and Men's Health, Black Enterprise, 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:44.000 Huffing and Post Essence, Levity, New York, New York Magazine, 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:48.239 and Cosmopolitan. The company names comes from an intersection that 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.440 was formerly the center of a notorious, crime ready neighborhood 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.120 in Virginia and reacent. In recent years, the neighborhood has 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:58.360 been completely revitalized and those same families now have the 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.600 opportunity to own place where the dark past now has 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:04.959 a bright future. Tally and Twine represents the future. It's 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.319 not about how you start, it's about how you finish. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.360 Please welcome to money Making Conversations. The Owner, Founder, CEO, 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.120 all the titles to go with the leader of the pack, 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:18.360 my man, Randy Williams, thank you so much for having 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:23.679 me great intro. Submit that you got Stephen A. Smith 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.480 doing your intro. That's legendary. Man. I love that. Hey man. 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.720 The first of all, I love when people recognize his voice. 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.280 That's my man, man, and he lays it as only 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:40.080 Stephen A. Smith concern I'm not broke, that's true. Well, 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:41.720 this is this is what this show is about, talking 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.319 to people who are trying to gain their footh haul 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:48.080 and in the financial community, especially people of color, they 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:49.920 have kind of like been left out over the years. 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.320 We haven't been giving a blueprint or had the necessary 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:55.440 means to figure out figured it out. You know, they 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.160 tell us to go to school, we get an education, 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.200 but that that'sn't a blueprint for success. That's until had 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.680 to become an entrepreneur. Tell us how I got started 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:07.680 for you, Randy, A lot of trial and error, and 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:09.720 you know, like you said, there isn't a blueprint. But 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.040 if you want to become an entrepreneur, you gotta go 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.040 out and try a few different things and kind of 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.560 learned along the way. So you know, fail fail that 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.799 business a lot, and all you need to be right 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:26.160 is one time, right now, be right now. You're an HBCU. Okay, 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:32.399 WHU for your education? Yeah, well it's not a deep 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.160 answer for me. They're the ones who accepted me. You know, 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:39.760 it was close to home. It was affordable. You know, 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.440 as a as a young man being raised by my grandmother, 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.320 can't have a whole lot of money saved up for 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.240 me to attend college. So I was less enough to 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.320 have a decent g p A. And you get into 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.720 Albany State University, man, so I had to. Um. I 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:55.760 was thankful for that opportunity. It gave me a great 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:59.440 cultural experience. You know. Um, I actually didn't recognize the 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:01.920 value of hbc US until I attended one man. But 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.800 it was a great experience. When you said, the value 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:06.960 what does that mean when used the value of an 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.760 HBCU until you attended it. So basically, like I said, 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.760 they let you in. You were thankful you can continue education, 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.840 but usually understand the other things that it brought to 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.160 the table that now you see as a benefit. Yeah, 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:24.600 it was a huge cultural experience. You know, it's a 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:29.720 celebration of blackness, and it's an environment where instructors and 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.160 professors make you feel seen, and that's something that's missing 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.240 in corporate America. It's they're kind of like UM an incubator, 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.320 Like they have business incubators for businesses that kind of 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.320 give you a great push to start. That's what it 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.600 does for Black American man HBCU as an incubator to 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.200 prepare you for the corporate environment that you're gonna face 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.680 after graduation. And now that's called life after college, which 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:53.760 we were talking about now now and one of your 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.680 questions that said you had previous businesses that have failed. 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:59.000 Can you talk about those before we got into the 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:04.600 success story of Alley and Twine. Yeah. Sure. Um. The 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:06.920 biggest filuer I had, I guess in terms of money 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.320 was up you know, trying to get into real estate 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:13.520 right at two thousand seven and two thousand eight, Um, 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.359 right where you are in Atlanta and losing my shirt. 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.760 You know. So that was one of the biggest lessons, 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.840 is you know, hopping into stuff without taking the time 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.000 to properly educate yourself. On how to do it. So 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.520 basically you saw an opportunity, didn't do your research, like 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:34.000 you said, and that that that famous year two thousand 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.960 and eight, and when everything went from success to horror, 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:41.120 I mean from a nightmare was find Nobody could explain 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:43.960 it because they they had already the system had already 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.719 had kind of like pushed this limit on loans, pushed 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.799 this limit on corporations and needed bailout. And the stock 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:54.000 market was the bubble burst, and you part of that. 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.880 I was part of America, was part of that. Nobody 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.880 was left, you know, you were by Oprah. However, valued 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.160 just dropped and all these major players in the tech 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:07.200 game started suffering, and all that those those levels of 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.960 income that they thought we're gonna be there forever went 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:13.680 away went away. Tally Entwine, Now, I'm gonna tell you this, 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:15.680 We're I'm not trying to be negative or anything. And 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:20.440 I just I wasn't wearing watches at all. I had 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.920 in my mind. Um, I just didn't where I watched. 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:29.119 I stopped waring to watch probably about in the eighties six, 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.640 I stopped wearing to watch and uh and then um, 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:34.640 because somebodw I can always find the time, you know 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.679 you're having phones you have I'm very good at knowing 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.000 my time where I'm at, and so that's where I 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:43.279 would perceived watches to be time. Now. I look at 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:47.400 watches now as accessories, as as part of the as 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.520 part of your style, part of my culture now. And 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.440 so a friend of mine, uh she executive producer a 0:05:53.480 --> 0:06:00.120 family few as a birthday president president she Christmas, and 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.320 he brought me a watch, and I let it sat 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.919 there that I was determined just to hold true to rushan, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.279 I'm not gonna wear watching I bought all these years 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.760 watched I watching that, and I and I and I 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.960 realized that sometimes you have you have to change goals 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.560 to be successful, you have to change your the way 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.039 you do business. And putting on that watch really changed 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.640 the way I I did business and how I approached 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.640 myself became more flexible. And so I I used that 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.719 as a as a lead into the conversation that sometimes 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.240 people who might say, what does the watch bringing to 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:33.840 the where I did? The where I watched, Where a 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:38.560 watch changed the way I approach life, Randy, And and 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.520 if it allowed me to be flexible, it allowed me 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.440 to be fashionable because I got like three different ones, 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:47.240 you know, and I've just found about your brand. So 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:48.920 I'm about to perch me a couple of your brains. 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:50.559 That's how I've gotten that. You know what I'm saying. 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.880 And uh, and so so let's talk about you heard 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.000 my story and how the impact of who the watch 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.000 can have. It made me. I felt it made me 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.920 made my because I wear suits all the times. Tailor 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.839 made suits, so it made my my my my clothing balanced. 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:09.800 I felt because I didn't have anything, because if you 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:11.760 don't have anything on your wrist, it's just naked there. 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.360 It's just it's just just skin. Now I have this watch, 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.880 and I can't tell you. Sometimes your people see me 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.160 as I like your watch, and I don't even know 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:22.520 because I because I'm a guy who pointed out them 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:25.480 very active with my hands. And then on my other 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.120 I'm a cancer survivor. So I have this little chain 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.360 on my right hand, on my right hand where it 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.680 reminds me and asked me about it. I always tell 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:36.560 them about surviving. And so I have a watch that 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.360 is on my left which talks about my culture, my balance, 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:42.600 and my watch on my right I got a risk 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.520 chain that talks about survival. And so when I when 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.040 I when I when the opportunity came about to interview you, 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.400 I just really wanted to know what was the driving 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.600 legacy of watches for you and the impact it can 0:07:55.640 --> 0:08:00.440 have them a person like me. Yeah, most of our 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:02.920 customers have that same story as you have. Somebody got 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.160 it for him gift as a gift and they weren't 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.800 really into him, but once they started wearing, it's kind 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:09.480 of one of those things where you feel like, man, 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:11.760 I don't want to go out without one now. And 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:16.000 my personal story is during our senior trip in high school, 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.640 went on the cruise, went to the Bahamas. I went 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.280 in to one of these little local shops and they 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:26.200 had uh A fifty dollar guests watching there and I 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.640 had never won a watch before, but buying that, I 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.280 spent my last little money that I had. I bought 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:34.480 that watch and to bring it back home. That was 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.680 the first time I felt like a grown man, you know. 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:40.160 I felt like I have become a man, and now 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:42.800 I can go on to college and face the world. 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:46.560 And that kind of was coinciding with me going to college. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.800 At the same time I got my first watch, and 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.480 so that it became important to me for that reason, 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.720 you know. So again, just like you, I was a 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.720 business major and we wore a lot of suits, and 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.400 I felt like that watch really in hand and sad 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:02.800 and gave me that professional police that I was looking for. 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.080 And um, how did you get in the watch business? 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:10.480 You know? Like I said, you know, people, could you 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:14.320 know that doesn't the first African American? Okay, and you 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.240 you're getting into the watch business and talk about that 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.240 step because of course, you know, it's just natural conversation 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:24.120 to you. We're don't money making conversations. So I'm trying 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.640 to walk people through the steps of how you can 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.199 get to your dream. And it's not normal because you 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:31.640 just can't go to the next door and just talk 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:33.000 to somebody. I want to start. I want to get 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:34.480 in to watch it. They look at you like, okay, 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:37.880 now you talk about the Bahama trip. Okay, that's a 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.040 long way from what We're a long ways from Bahama 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.800 because of the fact that you know Tally and Twine. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.280 We talked about how that is from from a street 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:49.160 name in the neighborhood. Like my business is thirty fifteen media, 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.600 thirty and fifteen media. The number three fifteen is from 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.360 the home that I was born in that was in 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:58.400 the hood and uh and it was six bed room, 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.520 it was what it was there with six six sisters 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.000 and two brothers, my both my parents who lived in 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.760 a two bedroom shotgun house. So when I read that 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:08.840 talent and trying, it's a lot of thing that you're 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.360 doing in your life that's very relatable to what I 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:13.760 do and what I what I stand for. And that's 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:15.240 why I feel that I always want to keep you 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.800 in my life because I feel that we have a 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:22.080 certain kinship. But again, you young man, wanted to do 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.199 go into the watch business? How just want to get 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:28.439 into the watch business? Yeah? Through um so, through a 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.160 lot of trial and error and other businesses, you realize 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.600 that in order for a business to be successful, you 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.960 have to fulfill a need, fulfill a gap. So there's 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.760 something missing or there's a market that's not being served 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.920 that could benefit from what you have to offer. And so, 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.200 as a consumer of watches, and I think a lot 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:48.120 of our people should really take note of that is 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.640 a lot of things that you consume um represent an 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.040 opportunity for you. And so I was collecting a lot 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.680 of watches, but I figured out something most of the 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.640 brands that were affordable meeting under a thousand dollars, they 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:05.920 were just mimicking the more expensive brand. So it was 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.400 a lot of repetition in the market, and I wanted 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.840 to wear something different, you know. I said, if I 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:13.880 had to watch, I would change this, I would change that, 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:16.360 my band would look like this. And after while, I 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.800 realized that that represented a huge opportunity for me to 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:23.360 get into business and designed my own watch. Now how 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.520 I was gonna do that, I had no idea, and 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.560 so that's when I went to YouTube and Google University 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.240 and kind of figured out the steps to step by step. 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.600 I started with a sketch and then I eventually contacted 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.000 the manufacturer. UH. They helped me bring that to life, 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:41.120 order some samples, and once I got the samples the 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.160 way that I wanted them, you know, over the course 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.960 of about a year year and a half, that's when 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.760 I decided to launch, and we launched via the crowdfunding 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:54.440 site kickstarter to raise money for our first shipment. So 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.320 you went out there. I've heard people say kick started, 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:01.200 what what engaged people wanna tribute to your brain? What 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.800 did you do? What was it? What was your platform? 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:05.880 What was your what made them want to go, wow, 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:07.600 I want to I want to contribute to this. And 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.520 how does kicks Started work when someone contributes to it? 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.760 Do they are they part owners? They have a little 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:17.080 percentage of your brand? How does that work? M hm um? Well, 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:20.079 my platform was just what I told you, So here's 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.600 something new for the market. Here's something that is not 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:26.320 going to be a replica of all the other watches 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.120 that are out. So that was my main platform. And 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:33.000 then also I started with the interchangeable band, So I 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.880 have these canvas bands that we can change. You can 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.960 give your watch a completely different looks. So those are 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.560 my two platforms. And then the way kick Started works 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:47.439 is it's basically a pre order system. So in order 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:53.080 to get your products early, people will pay um ahead 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.800 of time and they'll get a discount off of the 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.400 retail price. Right. So let's say my goal was the 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:03.040 raised five thousand and so I knew I needed I 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.920 think maybe a hundred a hundred and fifty backers to 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.720 pre order the watch, who believe in what we were doing, 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.240 who believed that we would be able to get the 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.319 main manufacturing process done to go ahead and pre order 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:16.240 and an exchange they were able to get a steep 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:18.640 discount off of the initial watch. But no, they are 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.960 not part owners, so they just they basically we just 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:26.000 ordering their product at a discount. Yes, sir, there are 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.480 some crowdfunding platforms that work like that where you do 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:32.000 get ownership. But I didn't do that. Absolutely, you didn't 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:39.920 be thankful for it, aren't you? You know, because we 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.520 all have dreams. And the thing about when the dream 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.120 that comes successful and then people look around going tapping 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.120 you on the show talking about what my chick it's 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.560 about a hundred and fifty of them? Ready? That that 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:54.080 gets pretty ugly real fast man, Well, hut where my 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.120 check at? You know? Look, man, look let me give 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:01.600 you back in two Okay, you can go about your 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.280 business all right. Sorry, no, no, no, that's not what 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:07.680 my contracts say. My contracts say I owned some of 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.319 this and I want my share. Man. You're here for 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.400 screaming up and down. Now when I'm looking at these bands, man, 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:17.200 you know because on your site, right and the different 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:21.600 look it's what you know, the large face is they're 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:27.000 very clean. Your you're watches, uh don't have numbers on them? 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:31.080 Was what that was? That the look that you were seeking. Yeah, 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:33.000 that's the look that I was seeking, because again I 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:36.080 wanted to do something that wasn't traditional. And you said 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.440 it earlier. We don't really use our watches for telling 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.520 time now, it's more of a fashion accessor, and so 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.600 I wanted to give it a unique look. So we 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.120 only have the number seven on all of our watching 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:52.080 And why is that? Well, the number seven represents completion. 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:54.640 So I told myself when I started Italian Twine, I 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.600 was gonna finish what I started. You know, you know 0:14:57.640 --> 0:14:59.840 a lot of times with entrepreneurs, we started stuff and 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:01.800 be sitting around the house and thinking of he be 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.400 thinking of stuff, though I love you boy. Number seven 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:07.400 you know, you know, seven days in the week. You 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.440 know what I'm saying, You got to complete your problems, 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.240 that's right. And then there's also something very recognizable. Man. 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.400 I imagine people being out in the store looking over 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.880 at somebody's wrists and seeing that seven and saying, hey, 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:23.440 is that Italians one? So you know it's entrepreneurs. They 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.520 go why just or creature conversation, you know, or as 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:31.160 a conversation piece, exactly what type of watches? Because that 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:33.560 in the end, man, that's really all you're trying to create, 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:36.320 like I said, you know, people trying to create ice breakers. 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:38.680 And first of all, it's a beautiful watch. And then 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:41.920 that number seven on it. You know if somebody wise 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:43.680 it's just or seven, then you explain it. Then you 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.200 get to a conversation with somebody and now all of 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.360 a sudden there's a great ice breaker. But the but 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:51.800 the look in the fashion is really so this is 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.680 really I think a very timely watch. So we went 0:15:55.760 --> 0:16:00.200 the official launch date for this watching Randy we un 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:05.360 in November two thousand four, November, right before Christmas. Smart 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:12.000 move right, Okay, so everything's online, correct, Yes, sir, We 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:16.240 sell direct the consumer. Um, we don't do any retail 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:21.400 right now. Okay, So COVID hit, the pandemic hits, the 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.040 country shuts down. What does that do for your brain? 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.760 We saw increase in sales, you know, because people were 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:33.200 at home. Um. And unfortunately, the social unrest also added 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.680 a boost to our business, you know, as people begin 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.880 to seek out black owned businesses, you know. So you know, 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.720 it kind of validated my thinking from the beginning was 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:45.160 that you know, eventually traditional retails gonna continue to continue 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.040 to slow down and people gonna want to owner their 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:49.560 products online. They're not gonna want to put up with 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:52.400 the higher prices at retail. They're not gonna put up 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:56.040 with the bad customer service they get at retail. UM 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:58.840 And so I kind of pushed off my chip to 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.000 the table to be saying that we're gonna do direct 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.960 consumer and sell online only. We actually turn out some 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.359 some major contracts from some traditional retailers to keep our 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.600 brand intact. When you say that, what do you mean 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:13.880 you to keep your brand intact? What does that mean? Yeah, 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:18.639 meming UM, Let's say we we got a um A 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:22.680 purchase order from from North from rely and we chose 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:26.240 not to do it. Because when you shop at North 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:29.560 from your North froom's customer, they control the social they 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:31.960 control the customer service, They can talk to you how 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.360 they want to, they can ship in whatever time frame 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:38.200 they want to, and ultimately you become their customer. As 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:42.200 a directed consumer business, you maintain the connection with all 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.879 of your customers. So I can say, hey, Mr Williams, 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.040 thank you for your purchase last month. You want to 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.359 know if you'll be interested in one of our leather 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:53.119 bands to accompany the watch that you purchase, or I 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.199 can send you a card on your birthday, or I 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:58.280 can send you a free gift in the mail prior 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:02.719 to the holiday. And ultimately, the value in today's market 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:05.200 is having that customer base. There's no need to give 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.400 it away to somebody just because you know their name 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.040 and they've been around for a while, because you're ultimately 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.360 providing the value. Wow, I'm talking to Randy Williams. He's 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:18.639 the president of Italian Twine, accompanying designs and manufacturer luxury 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:23.639 watches and accessories. He's started November fourteen. And you're really 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:27.080 good at getting um media to look at your brand. 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:29.919 How you're accomplishing that task, because that's the number one 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.000 talk that people talk, right Man, I can I can 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.040 I get promotion I can get from I can get 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:35.840 all the cole written on my product first of all 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.000 around to have a good looking product. But you're you 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.120 when I look when I when I'm doing this interview, 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:44.159 you have a very interesting personality. What interesting meaning? It 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.000 is good because you have a plan, you have a conversation, 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.320 you know, you're you're you have all the right things 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.800 to say about who you are and why you're doing this. 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:56.439 You know, like that number seven is really slick, you know, 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:00.320 interchangeable watches. You know. I know when I was Markeny 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.160 Steve Harvey's first book, they always put out a little 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:06.119 phrases out of the book so you can when you 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.879 go to an interview. These are buzzwords and people jump 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.880 on them. So what is your degree in, Randy Mark? 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.720 My degree of that marketing? So all this, this is 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.960 all part of the big plan. Really, you know what 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:22.280 I'm saying, part of the big plan because everything you 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:25.160 do and it's like not I won't say marketing one 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:27.680 on one, but guess what, you have all the right 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.600 little layers and buzzes and statements to be able to say, 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:33.760 I'm an interesting guy. You can put me on TV, 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.360 I can talk if you write about me. Guess where 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.520 I got stuff to put in print? And it all 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:42.640 comes back to a product that looks outstanding. Man, Thank 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:45.360 you man. I'll tell you what it's like this, Um, 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:50.120 I think I like it to I attributed to self awareness. 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:52.280 So it's just like when you go from being a 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:54.760 young man to an older man, you understand who you 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:58.080 are more and you understand why you're doing what you're doing. 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:00.240 You're not just doing something to make money or He's 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.560 not just doing something for attention. And I wanted Italians 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:05.560 wanting to be a brand like that that understood it, 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:08.760 so that had these principles and these values that were 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.400 built into the brand, and we weren't kind of following 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.640 the trends and following what was popular. And so that's 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:16.520 how I think about it. And to answer your question 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:19.760 about how we got the media, I have no idea. 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:22.880 We have never had a pr agency. We don't reach 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:26.639 out to media outlets. Somehow we get UH coverage and 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:29.360 I just consider it a blessing. I just say that 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:33.080 that's God's grace. And I really don't have a strategy 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.840 for that one. But I go to the website, I 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:39.919 see everybody. You know what I'm saying. I see I 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:42.399 see the strategy. You know, from the marketing standpoint, I 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:47.280 see Men's Help, Black Enterprise. He posts Blavity Bashable, they 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:51.160 not New York cost Bollom ebony. That right there, let 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:54.719 everybody know we're brand is being recognized by all the 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:57.760 top media outlets. That means that you are you're very 0:20:57.840 --> 0:20:59.879 much aware of who you are and the story you 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.159