WEBVTT - Building Beyond Yourself 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.600 Calling all my Sweetish to the forefront. I'm your host, 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.480 christ Rna Hazel and this is the Keep It Positive 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:12.320 Sweetish Show. Welcome to Keep It Positive, Sweetie, the place 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:16.360 where we heal, grow and learn together. Today's episode feels 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:20.320 especially important because we are talking about community purpose and 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:23.560 what it really means to build success without leaving other 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:27.680 people behind, and a world that celebrates individual achievement. Today's 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.840 guest is challenging the idea that any of us truly 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.080 make it alone. Through her work, her business, her book, 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.879 and the communities she continues to build. She's showing what 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.080 it looks like to lead with intention, collective care, and impact. 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.080 I am so happy to be sitting down with doctor 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:51.440 Key Hallmand. Doctor Lakeisha Key Hollman is a transformational entrepreneur, author, speaker, 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:55.760 and founder of the Village Market Enterprises, an ecosystem that 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:59.840 has helped thousands of small businesses grow from village retail 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.760 village books to expanding Our Village United into more than 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:04.600 thirty states. 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:06.440 Doctor Key has built her work. 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.919 Around two core beliefs, no one is truly self made 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:14.080 and support is a verb. This conversation is about leadership, 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:18.600 purpose and community responsibility, Kids, family, please give a very one. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:22.399 Welcome to doctor Key. Hi. How are you doing today? 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.440 I am amazing, Well you look amazing. You're radiating. Thank you. 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:28.280 Yeah, you came in here and we were like, yes, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:30.640 you brought good energy and we love that. 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:32.240 Yeah. 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:34.399 So you are so busy, So thank you for taking 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.280 time to sit with us today. I'm excited, and we're 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:39.240 gonna before we jump into everything that you have going on, 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:40.160 because god, she has. 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:41.319 A lot going on. 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:43.959 I want to play a little game with you. This 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:46.920 game is called it Takes a Village, a little play 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.040 on what you got going on. So the first one 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.160 is I'm gonna give you some scenarios and I want 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.400 you to tell us who or what impacted you. 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:55.559 Oh that's good. 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.800 Yes, So the first one is a teacher who changed 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:01.640 your life. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.640 I'll go with who first came to mind. My third 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:05.920 grade teacher, missus Drake. 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:06.560 Wow. 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:11.720 Phenomenal, phenomenal teacher who I think early on saw me 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.040 and saw my love for reading, and she really nurtured that. 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.200 So shout out to miss Drake. Shout out Miss Rake. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:17.720 It's so funny. 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.600 Mine was my third grade teacher, Miss Sherry Gardner Wow 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:21.760 in Topeka, Kansas. 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:23.800 Yeah, so when you said third grade, I was like, 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:27.519 that was mine too. I love that. A lesson from 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.720 your parents or grandparents. Oh, I would go with. 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.800 A lesson from my parents and made my mother rest 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:41.280 in peace. To always operate in integrity. My mom, my dad. 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.639 My dad still says it that if you operate in integrity, 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:45.600 all would be well. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.320 Yes. And not only did they say it, they also 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.040 modeled it. That's so good. I love that when you 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:52.480 can see it. 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:55.679 We talk about parents and children and how they emulate 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:57.880 what they see. So I love that they modeled that 0:02:57.960 --> 0:02:59.880 for years. Yeah, we see it. We see it in 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:00.320 the fruit. 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.400 Honey. A business lesson you learned the hard way. Oh, 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:05.280 this is tough. 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:10.639 This is today a business lesson I learned a hard way. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:16.720 Likely holding onto people too long, Yeah, I think I've 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:22.520 been an entrepreneur now for ten years, and I think 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:25.480 we see the science early when someone is not a fit, 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.760 and I know early on I will hold onto people 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:32.320 because of the potential of them. I will hold on 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:34.600 to people also because I didn't want to be a 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.120 black woman that other let other black people go. 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:39.240 Or staff go. 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:45.760 But holding on too long it impacts the overall company 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.480 and the mission and the vision. Yeah, and the evolution 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:50.400 absolutely because it will stifle you. 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:55.760 Wow, that's good. Next one, someone who saw your vision early. 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.640 Shout out to my Grandma Josephine and crowd of Mississippi. 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:03.120 My grandmother. 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.240 I remember maybe being nine years old, and I would 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:11.080 tell her all my dreams and one day she looked 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:12.680 at me and she touched my head and she said, 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.800 you are so special. I don't know who you are 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.120 going to become or who you're going to be. 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:20.080 But you are so special. 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:24.320 And she has consistently said this throughout my life, and 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.240 when I call her later this week, she is going 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:30.000 to say the exact same thing. 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.720 Wow. Yeah, that's beautiful. Shout out Grandma Josephine. If you're watching, 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:35.599 which I'm. 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:39.240 Sure you will, she will watch. A wellness habit that 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:40.360 you cannot live without. 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:47.839 A wellness is such central my faith, and my faith 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.400 is a good steward of how well I loved myself. 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:56.919 And I cannot live without my breath work. I cannot 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.920 live without the way that I affirmed myself every day. 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:05.000 I literally anoint my vessel every day with words and 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.640 how I loved myself, so I can be prepared to 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:08.560 go into the world. 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:13.599 That's good. I love that the last one a moment, 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:19.960 community saved you. Ah, that's so good. It's been I 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:22.839 will tell you. As many. 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:29.960 Social entrepreneurs like myself are founders who launched a nonprofit. 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.400 It has been a very interesting time for five oh 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:40.360 one c three organizations and fundraising and last year was 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.760 extremely hard for me and we're still getting out of heart. 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:50.479 But the way that black women have, they have just 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.200 known to check on me. They have just known to say, Doc, 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.480 let's get on, let's get on a call. I want 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.240 to see how everything is going. I wanted I want 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:03.360 to talk to you about your strategy because while a 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:07.920 lot is happening, you are seen. While a lot is happening, 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.080 you are not forgotten. And so I have felt so 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:15.560 tethered to love in an embrace, in the way that 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:19.680 I give people. It has been so beautiful when I 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.640 needed it to be on the receiving end without ever 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:23.960 having to ask for it. 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.280 That's so good. Shout out to black women. 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.600 Shout out to black women. We will save us, we 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:31.080 will we will save us. 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:36.000 That is so good because some women don't have that testimony. 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:37.680 You know, you hear the opposite. 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:41.080 So many times over, but to hear the positive side 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.720 of that and women who really do rally around each other. 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:46.720 As you said that, it reminded me of our good 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:48.279 sister Kimberly Blackwell. 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:50.320 Absolutely, she literally does that. 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.440 What is going on, what's your strategy, what are you 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:56.560 working on, what do you need? What's missing? She's so 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.200 good at that. So I love that you have women 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.280 around you absolutely will ask those questions and check on 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.160 you and say, hey, we need to have dinner, let's 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.320 sit down as we Overdo you know that's so important? 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:07.880 I love that. 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.680 Yeah, I think that is always going to be central 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.680 for how we survive times but also how we thrive 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:15.680 into the future. 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.520 For sure. Yes, we have to have our champion. Yes, 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:20.320 I love that. 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.960 Well, let's go back to last year. Twenty twenty five 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:25.320 was a huge. 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:25.680 Year for you. 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.040 My goodness you. I don't know if you know this, 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.559 but me and the sweeties are avid readers. I'm always 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.080 letting them know what I'm reading. And you have Village 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.120 Books right here in Atlanta, Georgia. 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.239 Congratulations. I do want to ask you. 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:43.960 What made you know that having a physical space to 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.320 read stories, to buy books, and to have that community 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:48.600 right here in Atlanta. 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.160 Why did you feel like that was important? 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.160 You know, I had to open Village Books beyond it 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:56.440 being the seven year old me dream. Yeah, I wanted 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:58.200 to own a bookstore. That should tell you a lot, 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.240 you know, let me tell you a whole life that 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.920 I wanted a bookstore since I was young. But it's 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:09.040 also at this point we need to build intentionally scene 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.120 Everything that I opened, Crystal, I open with a great intent. 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:16.640 We see that I open spaces for a sense of safety. 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.240 I open spaces for a sense of belonging. I open 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:24.080 spaces for a sense of love. When you walk into 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:28.520 any of my establishments, in particular my bookstore, you will 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.360 feel the warmth of how it feels to walk into 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:34.400 a space and know that you were chosen for it, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:38.120 that it was designed just for you. And I also 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:42.000 want spaces in the bookstore is central because we need 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.319 to be expanded in our knowledge. We're at a time 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:51.000 now where taking time to actually read, to go deep 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.480 into literature, to read opinions that may be different from yours, 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:55.439 that may stretch you. 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:56.760 We need that. 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:59.679 And so I'm everything that I open I look at 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:00.840 as safe houses. 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.079 Yeah, I love it, Like, how. 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:07.200 Can I build in such a way that people can 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.400 come and even if you haven't read a book in years, 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.120 you still know that this bookstore is right on time, 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:16.080 just for you and where you are right now. Yes, 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.960 and I'm in love with authors. I'm in love with writers. 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.880 So I also wanted to open a bookstore by all 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.240 my favorite authors, those who are ancestors and those who 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.400 are present. It's just such a beautiful way to honor 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:33.400 those who are gifted with the pen, yes, and gifted 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.559 to in a way to be able to tell stories. 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.640 So it is literally my honoring of community every single 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:40.320 thing that I do. 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.480 Yes, no, and we see that. Take me back to 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:46.679 seven year old Key. What books were you reading back then? 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:47.160 Oh? 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:53.280 Everything, everything, younger version of me, I still was in love. 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:56.719 I loved fiction, so I was reading like all the children's. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.559 Books as well. But early, early. 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:03.080 On, I was already curious about the Doctor Maya Angelous 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:07.400 of the World, because I started to hear her poetry, 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.280 and so early I wanted to read poetry. 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:11.600 I wanted to. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.720 There's a writer Sharon Draper, who came a little bit later, 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:21.440 but I love Sharing Draper and so reading books that 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:27.000 reflect who I was, books that opened my imagination. I 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.840 always gravitated to and I was always writing as well. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:30.679 So I would read a. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.760 Book, then I would write and then make my mama 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.880 listen to me. And you know, always your first audience, right, Yes, 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.120 but I was just enamored, enamored with books. I could 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:40.200 not get enough of it. 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.360 I love that for me. 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:44.840 I was the same way I was like Beverly Clearly 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.720 Babysitters Club. I remember sitting in my room at my 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.520 desk and I would just be in the books. My 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:52.080 mam would have to literally say, come on, it's time 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:53.880 to eat dinner, and I'd be like, hold on, like 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.880 And then I fell out of that as I got older, 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:58.720 and then now I'm back into it. And I was 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:02.240 telling Shelley today, I can tell when I've taken time 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:06.520 to really start reading again. Your conversations change, your vocabulary changes, 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.280 and it's words that you knew, but then when you 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.319 put it down, it's like, what was that word I'm 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.880 trying to think of? But when you're constantly reading, those 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.960 words stay with you. So I definitely see a change 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.280 in myself when I'm actively reading, which is something that 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.080 I promote through our platform. I want to ask you 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.560 what role do you think that books play in healing 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:28.800 collectively and with imagination, especially in our community. 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:29.800 Absolutely so. 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.600 What I am so happy to see is that so 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:40.400 many wellness practitioners are writing books now that center us 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:48.320 in multi, multi dimensional ways. I love doctor tama'brien's one 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:53.040 of my favorite spiritual leaders, and to what she wrote 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:57.520 in Homecoming, and even my good sister Tapatha Brown. 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:01.280 And her many books. They're so nurturing. 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:05.520 Yes, so much joy, so much lightness, so much, so 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:09.240 much in the sense that while it feels like all 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.760 is falling apart, you are still whole, even it's just 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.320 even if it's just shattered pieces right now. That is 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.760 why we need books, and not just any books, but 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.600 we also need books that reflect people that look like us. 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.959 Yes, because there's a gentleness in the language. 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.600 There's a sense of even if the nudging is there, 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:33.280 the nudging is not harsh. The nudging is for us 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.920 to know that we have wings and to expand them 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.360 and fly. And so I am grateful that we are 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:46.440 that we have nedra and boundaries. There's just so many 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:51.360 exceptional books. My good friend doctor Joy Sisterhood Heels literally 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:57.000 cradles sisterhood and how to be in loving relationships with 0:12:57.120 --> 0:12:57.680 other women. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.840 We need we need all of that, we do, and we. 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.160 Also need books that name how we feel so we 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:09.240 can feel less alone, because I do think vulnerability is 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:12.920 something that we're still finding as a strength, vulnerability and 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.560 emotions early on. You know, I don't know how you 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.320 was raised, but I was just raised to be strong. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:20.640 you don't really have time for all the feelings and 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:26.360 things like that. And as the great ancestor Bell hooks 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.079 right about and all about love, so much of how 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:32.000 our parents raised us was from a sense of them 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.120 just wanting us to be safe. Yes, but because of that, 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:38.600 we've had to go to root cause analysis that there 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:42.280 is space for our big feelings. There is space for 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.040 having your feelings hurt. It is space where business does 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.559 feel personal and this hurt my feelings. It is space 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.600 for I am emotionally tapped, and I think I am 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:57.400 burnt out. We didn't even have these words. We're literally 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.840 I think just now we're really honoring. Doesn't mean that 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.040 you cannot pour from an empty cup, and it's because 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:07.280 people have named it that your cup has to be 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.040 full in order to continue to pour. Right, That's why 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:13.679 we have to go to the well of reading to 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.920 be to be safe and to be held in such 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.720 a way and also to just be affirmed. 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:20.680 Yeah. 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:23.080 Yeah, so that is why I think we need to 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.560 get back to text. I think we need to also 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.120 get back to beautiful conversations like this is why I'm 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.040 so happy that you launched your podcast. Thank you, because 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.480 listening to you and seeing how well you are in 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.080 these conversations feels like a really good book. 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:39.080 Yeah. 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:43.480 I appreciate that, Thank you, Thank you so much. This 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.600 brings me to you actually being an author. You talk 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.480 about all these other amazing authors, you are one as well, 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.760 and you wrote a book called No One Is Self Made. 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.240 I feel like our culture. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:58.960 Specifically has made self made into this north star, like 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.600 this is what you should to be, like do it yourself. 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:05.840 And anybody who knows me knows that I'm big on team, 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.680 like I can't do this all by myself. And I 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:10.960 love just why. I even love the title like she 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.640 gets it, she gets it. I want to know why 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.520 do you feel like we are so attached that idea 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.280 that we have to do it ourselves? 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:21.120 You know, to even think about any form of an 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.760 attachment of why we aspire for the things we aspire for. 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:31.640 I'm always questioning our pursuit and our ambitions. Are we 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:35.440 striving for something that is inherently inside of us or 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:40.680 have we been conditioned to aspire? And so individualism is 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:46.560 a very American, westernized concept, and self made largely came 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:52.720 from magazines and publications that when we talked about someone 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:56.440 reaching the pinnacle of success, they're called a self made person, 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.800 self made person of the year. So then I wonder 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:08.160 if an entrepreneur or someone in entertainment, I wonder if 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.960 they think the pinnacle requires that, because that is all 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.880 they've been conditioned to believe. We don't have publications that 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:18.000 talk about the village that is propelling that person up 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.200 to even be on the cover of a magazine. So 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.680 I think it's sometimes hard to know when you have 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:29.000 been programmed. My book is a loving deprogramming of the 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:34.080 consciousness of how we talk about success ancestrally. We are 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:39.360 communal people ancestrally and present day. Whatever success that we 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.480 may have, and it may not always come in a 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:42.360 form that we want. 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:44.560 Any great thing. 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:46.840 That we have done well in life, there have been 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:50.600 prayer partners, there have been a group text of friends. Yes, 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:52.960 There have people that slide you twenty dollars when you 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:56.280 needed it, when you're an undergrad. There are people who 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.680 have affirmed you since you were little, and that that's 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.360 not all. I always come into currency in the way 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.280 that we talk about it, but there is a spiritual 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.760 currency that has continued to propel us forward. To take 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:13.600 on the title of self made erases every one of 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.199 those currencies that have been put into us, and I 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.440 don't believe that is our intent. And so no one 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:24.480 is self made is requiring us to be intentional. But 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.639 how we tell our stories because every single opportunity that 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:32.040 every opportunity that I have, I make sure that my 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:36.560 mother is written into my success, my father is seeded 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:41.120 into my success, my grandparents, my family, my friends, my staff. 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:45.879 Because if I accept self made, then I began to 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.280 erase people who've been very vital to the own fabric 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:50.440 of my existence. 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:52.840 And so no one is. 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:56.159 Self made is to say, be intentional about every single 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.920 thing that you say thank you to, even the titles 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:03.640 that people give you. And I have sat for interviews 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.560 and people have said, doctor Keith, how does it mean 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:10.040 to be a self made woman? And because I know 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.879 that words are prophetic, and I know that words and 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:18.359 have an opportunity to teach. In a moment, I always say, 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.840 but actually, I'm village made, and I begin to name 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.399 all the people and all the places and all churches 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:29.920 that I have seen. Because if we want to shift 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:34.240 how we talk about success, then someone has to be 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.520 a steward of it. We can talk about it, we 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.119 can write about it, or we can do it. And 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:43.119 I think we need more people who get on stages 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:46.080 and lift all the names and all the people. So 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.920 every person aspiring who's watching on television, when they start 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.159 to think about their own success, then they know the 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.879 most powerful thing that they can do is to stand 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:55.760 with their village. 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:56.320 Yeah. 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.920 I love that reframing the psychology of what it takes 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:01.760 to succeed, because you're absolutely right. 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:05.000 When I think about Forbes articles or all. 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:07.560 These wealth magazines that we read, and this is the 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.040 pinnacle of what we're trying to get to, and they've 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:14.440 reset pinnacle, and you do oftentimes see self made, self made, 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.800 and most of those people are standing on a lot 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.320 of people are staying on shoulders and shoulders of different 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.800 people that have helped them get there. That is so 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:27.000 good and also it's profoundly untrue very much. It is 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:31.760 just it's, you know, beyond all the things, it's just 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:33.120 also profoundly untrue. 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:34.120 It definitely is. 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:39.200 But I am always very sensitive when I talk about 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:41.719 this because my book was also sticky. For some people, 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:47.679 it felt like a judgment of their hard work. And 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:51.280 so what I'm very clear of I'm never neglectful for 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.080 the three o'clock hours that it was nobody but you 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:58.640 and God. I'm never neglect for of that, because then 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:00.360 I would be neglect for of my own on three 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.359 o'clock kind of mornings and it was me trying to 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:07.080 figure out. I would never neglect the intestinal fortitude. I 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:11.399 would never neglect that there must be a vessel. Yeah, 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:16.199 there has to be an individual. But I'm also not 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:17.639 neglectful in my knowing. 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:20.160 Yeah, and my knowing is. 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:27.280 Self determination is needed, intestinal fortitude is needed. There must 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:31.640 be an individual. But I also know that there are 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:35.920 so many people tied to that individual that have steward 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:41.560 us throughout life and will continue. Yes, that that is 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:42.200 what's true. 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:45.000 I love that when people read this book, what is 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.240 something that you hope they unlearned? Because even the person 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:50.720 who says it's a little sticky for them. 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:53.080 In my opinion, I would hope they read me like, dang, 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:54.520 you're actually right. 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:56.720 I wouldn't take offense to it and be like, no, 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:59.200 I know it's really hard, but that's actually true. 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:01.680 There's so many other people that helped me. Yeah. 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:03.679 So what is something that you hope people unlearned when 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:04.400 they read this book? 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:04.680 Yeah? 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.520 What I can tell you what people are un learning. 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:10.879 And I'm always so touched when I get you know, 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:14.159 super kindems about you know, doctor key, I ain't know 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:17.240 about this no one and self made things and then 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:22.440 they say to me, you're right. You made me step 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:26.639 back and realize that I'm not alone. I may not 0:21:26.760 --> 0:21:29.520 have everything that I need, but I have some things 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:34.040 and I have some people. And so you know what 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:38.480 I'm hoping And truly, what's been affirmed to me that 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:42.239 no one is self made has really allowed people to 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:46.720 know that you have people and to really be reflective 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.480 over their lives that it may not be the million 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:54.720 dollar investment that you need. Yeah, because they're qualifiers of 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:57.960 what we think support is. Yes, and I'm always going 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:03.440 to be advocates that business owners need investment, primarily black 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:07.400 business owners. We are still deeply underfunded. But if we're 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:10.720 only thinking about support by those who fund us, we're 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:13.720 not seeing the sea of people around us. 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:14.680 Wow. 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:19.680 Yeah, And it has been very, very affirming to see 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:24.919 people have a paradigm shift with how they see their success, 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:28.080 even people who have said doctor key. I took a 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:30.520 moment and I sent an email to all the people 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:33.960 who helped me when I was early on, who volunteered 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:38.000 for me when I literally didn't have it, and people 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:41.480 who have seen me throughout my life. I'm always just 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:48.320 striving for us to have physical representation that there is 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:52.399 a village, there are people, there's a blanket of care 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:56.520 around you, even when it does not feel that. It's 0:22:56.560 --> 0:22:59.760 because I think we all have felt that I wish 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:02.720 I had different relationships, I wish I had this. So 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:05.800 I won't counter that. Yeah, but I want us to 0:23:05.840 --> 0:23:08.359 know that we're not in a deficit, right. We're not 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:11.480 in a deficit maybe at a baseline where there's so 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.800 much opportunity for more, yeah, but you, if you are here, 0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:16.520 you're not in a deficit for sure. 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:19.840 You talked about last year was a really hard year 0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:22.000 for you and something you're still coming out of. 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:25.560 But there's been so much success. Let's talk to. 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:28.720 The person that may be looking from the outside, looking 0:23:28.760 --> 0:23:30.919 in and saying, man, she's got it all going on, 0:23:31.000 --> 0:23:33.639 but not knowing what else you're coming up out of. 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:35.800 I want to speak to that because so many times 0:23:35.840 --> 0:23:37.560 they see where we are, but they don't see the 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:40.280 daily fight and the daily struggle. I want to talk 0:23:40.320 --> 0:23:42.600 to that person who may be thinking like I'm trying 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:44.120 to get there, but they don't know what all comes 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:45.639 along with being where you are. 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:48.280 Absolutely I try. 0:23:48.480 --> 0:23:52.640 I strive my best to be a very transparent entrepreneur 0:23:52.680 --> 0:23:56.359 and founder. So if you look at my socials, it's 0:23:56.440 --> 0:23:59.359 largely about the work, because there's really no highlight reel, 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:05.920 you know, and because two things are often true that 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:11.560 whilst I mean incredible things have happened for my company 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:16.120 and being able to scale. We also in twenty twenty five, 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:20.560 as so many other nonprofit organizations through my organization, our Village, 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:24.000 you name it, we saw the drastic rollback and funding 0:24:25.280 --> 0:24:31.560 and to have so many of our funders say that 0:24:31.600 --> 0:24:34.800 they've gone in a different direction, that they're no longer 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:42.000 focused on small businesses. In this way, every single note, 0:24:42.240 --> 0:24:45.560 for any founder that has to pay payroll, you start 0:24:45.600 --> 0:24:49.239 to calculate numbers you start to think about Because I 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:52.760 am not just the CEO who thinks about what is 0:24:52.800 --> 0:24:53.440 good for me. 0:24:54.280 --> 0:24:55.200 I feel it. 0:24:55.200 --> 0:24:59.000 To be a privilege to be a leader, to have 0:24:59.040 --> 0:25:03.639 an incredible team. So I'm always thinking about all our livelihood. Yes, 0:25:04.240 --> 0:25:12.120 and so last year I was deeply prayerful. I'm always 0:25:12.160 --> 0:25:15.720 clear that God always comes through. Now, that is one 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:19.600 thing that keeps me steady, and that keeps me anchored. 0:25:20.280 --> 0:25:24.600 My spiritual compass is my eye in the storm, and 0:25:24.640 --> 0:25:28.000 so that is why I can stay have a sober 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:29.920 spirit in spite of all things. 0:25:30.560 --> 0:25:33.440 But yeah, last year was hard. 0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:35.639 I mean it was literally and it continues to be 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:42.600 hard because we need those in philanthropy to be bold, yeah, 0:25:42.640 --> 0:25:48.200 to continue to make good on getting organizations the funding 0:25:48.280 --> 0:25:51.080 that they need to do the work that will reach 0:25:51.160 --> 0:25:53.880 to people. When is that ever a bad thing? 0:25:54.119 --> 0:25:54.280 Right? 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:55.000 Yeah? 0:25:55.320 --> 0:25:59.679 So you know, for the founders who or people currently 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:04.280 who may listen to this number one, you are not 0:26:04.359 --> 0:26:08.479 by yourself and largely a lot of the people that 0:26:08.560 --> 0:26:11.840 you admire and look up to who look like they 0:26:11.840 --> 0:26:15.400 have it all together, probably like twice a week, three 0:26:15.480 --> 0:26:16.080 days a week. 0:26:16.119 --> 0:26:17.840 But I can almost. 0:26:17.600 --> 0:26:20.679 Assure you there is two days during the week, at 0:26:20.760 --> 0:26:23.119 least one day during the week that you're going to 0:26:23.200 --> 0:26:26.720 have to sit with yourself and know that where you're 0:26:26.720 --> 0:26:30.320 thinking about your own pivot. I also want a name 0:26:30.359 --> 0:26:35.600 for those entrepreneurs of how normal that is. It will 0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:38.760 not always be easy, but it also will not always 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:43.280 be hard. That is what has been foundationally true for me. 0:26:44.359 --> 0:26:48.080 And I'm always so clear that my heart has a timeline, 0:26:48.560 --> 0:26:52.520 but my good is for it is always our current 0:26:52.640 --> 0:26:55.640 is always running, and so there are moments when those 0:26:55.680 --> 0:26:58.399 trying days feel louder than the good days. 0:26:59.000 --> 0:26:59.760 But the good is. 0:27:02.880 --> 0:27:05.720 If we can shift our mindsets to believe that the 0:27:05.760 --> 0:27:10.400 goodness is omnipresent. That means sweetness is always close to us, 0:27:11.240 --> 0:27:14.840 that the yes is always just so close, even though 0:27:14.880 --> 0:27:18.520 it feels so far. But I know that it is hard. 0:27:18.960 --> 0:27:23.439 I've had to affirm myself so much. I've had to 0:27:23.480 --> 0:27:27.080 tell myself the work is good regardless of the no right, 0:27:27.560 --> 0:27:30.840 and that I must continue to be a good steward 0:27:30.880 --> 0:27:34.439 of the work. When it is overflowing, it is good. 0:27:35.119 --> 0:27:38.080 When it is slowly flowing, it is still good. 0:27:38.440 --> 0:27:40.800 Yeah, it's still good. 0:27:40.920 --> 0:27:46.080 And sometimes we quit too soon, but also sometimes we 0:27:46.160 --> 0:27:51.440 don't pivot soon enough. And I think that just because 0:27:51.480 --> 0:27:55.040 it is your baby, at every gross stage, it requires 0:27:55.080 --> 0:27:58.679 something different of you. I think we have to be 0:27:58.760 --> 0:28:01.320 willing to pivot and our businesses, we have to be 0:28:01.320 --> 0:28:04.960 able to pivot in our visions. So maybe the Valley 0:28:05.080 --> 0:28:08.359 is time for you to do some pivoting. And I 0:28:08.440 --> 0:28:11.200 also know that it has been important for me, Crystal, 0:28:11.280 --> 0:28:14.680 is that I am not reactionary. I am very clear 0:28:14.800 --> 0:28:17.679 when it's a lot happening that it's meant to discombobulate 0:28:17.800 --> 0:28:21.159 my own vision and distort what I believe is true. 0:28:21.600 --> 0:28:24.800 So when it feels like all is falling apart around me, 0:28:26.200 --> 0:28:26.879 I get still. 0:28:27.359 --> 0:28:27.880 That's good. 0:28:28.359 --> 0:28:31.679 I get still because I don't want to react to 0:28:31.800 --> 0:28:34.720 the falling. I want to be a steward of the vision, 0:28:35.240 --> 0:28:38.200 so I need it to fall so my path can 0:28:38.240 --> 0:28:42.480 be clear for the vision. And I think sometimes I 0:28:42.560 --> 0:28:46.640 know it's survival that we have a tendency to be 0:28:46.760 --> 0:28:48.920 so reactionary, because you're simply trying. 0:28:48.680 --> 0:28:50.320 To survive, for sure. 0:28:50.800 --> 0:28:55.960 But sometimes the job is to be still, to be 0:28:56.040 --> 0:29:00.680 still so you can be clear and path your in charge, 0:29:00.680 --> 0:29:03.560 your path forward. Because all while that was going on, 0:29:04.080 --> 0:29:07.040 I was also quietly working on the airport opening. 0:29:06.680 --> 0:29:10.959 For village retail. Yeah, come on, all at the same time, Yes, exactly, 0:29:11.200 --> 0:29:12.160 all at the same time. 0:29:12.560 --> 0:29:16.200 We talked about that before we sat down about it's 0:29:16.200 --> 0:29:18.640 so much going on. Everyone is going through so much, 0:29:18.680 --> 0:29:21.640 but there's still a peace and a calmness where you 0:29:21.680 --> 0:29:25.200 still have the fortitude to push forward or sit still 0:29:25.360 --> 0:29:28.160 to get the direction that you need to move forward. 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:29.440 I absolutely love that. 0:29:29.520 --> 0:29:32.160 And you speak about vision, yeah, And I want to 0:29:32.200 --> 0:29:35.280 know what is the bigger vision of tying all your 0:29:35.360 --> 0:29:38.560 ventures together, because you do have village market enterprises, you 0:29:38.640 --> 0:29:42.120 got books, you got retail, wellness, community education, all the things. 0:29:42.120 --> 0:29:44.320 I want to know, what is that vision that you 0:29:44.400 --> 0:29:48.200 have for all those Yeah. 0:29:46.120 --> 0:29:52.280 I want us to love each other. That's it. Yeah, 0:29:52.520 --> 0:29:52.920 that's it. 0:29:53.040 --> 0:29:56.360 I only build from a place of building a village 0:29:56.440 --> 0:30:00.040 because I know that that is my god assignment, so 0:30:00.280 --> 0:30:04.000 clear that it is. I'm on a divine assignment to 0:30:04.160 --> 0:30:07.600 create spaces that awaken our heart in our mind and 0:30:07.640 --> 0:30:10.200 lift the collective consciousness of how we see each other 0:30:11.320 --> 0:30:14.480 when we shift in how we see each other, all 0:30:14.520 --> 0:30:17.360 the things that we believe that we are fighting against Willows, 0:30:18.080 --> 0:30:20.920 and I am so clear of that. We have to 0:30:21.000 --> 0:30:25.640 train our gaze to see each other and to honoring 0:30:25.720 --> 0:30:26.560 what we're seeing. 0:30:26.680 --> 0:30:29.000 So, yes, I have my retail stores. 0:30:29.480 --> 0:30:31.840 Yes I have our village NATed and we're working with 0:30:31.880 --> 0:30:36.240 small businesses across the country. Yes, we deployed millions in grants. 0:30:36.640 --> 0:30:40.320 Yes I have my bookstore and all the village market enterprises. 0:30:40.960 --> 0:30:44.520 But every single thing that I build is the deep 0:30:44.600 --> 0:30:47.160 roots are in the ground and the seeds that I 0:30:47.200 --> 0:30:49.880 have planted. And the only thing that I ask God 0:30:50.000 --> 0:30:52.400 for is at the end of this let the light 0:30:52.480 --> 0:30:57.200 be the light of you, and we can hold space 0:30:57.240 --> 0:31:02.160 and whole light that I can see you, and nothing 0:31:02.200 --> 0:31:06.239 inside of me feels that my light was dimmer. I 0:31:06.280 --> 0:31:09.240 see you, and I know that my light is even more, 0:31:09.240 --> 0:31:15.280 ever present, evervescent. And that is the word. 0:31:15.560 --> 0:31:17.000 I love that, that is the word. 0:31:17.200 --> 0:31:20.560 When did you know this was a God appointed assignment? 0:31:21.720 --> 0:31:25.719 Because it was not what I wrote for myself? What 0:31:25.800 --> 0:31:27.840 did you write for yourself if you would have asked me? 0:31:28.880 --> 0:31:30.840 Maybe fifteen twenty years ago. 0:31:32.320 --> 0:31:36.200 My first career path I was an educator, So I 0:31:36.240 --> 0:31:40.520 taught high school tenth through twelfth grade English, and I 0:31:40.560 --> 0:31:43.400 loved it, absolutely loved it. And then at the end 0:31:43.440 --> 0:31:45.840 of my educational career. I worked at a Georgia Department 0:31:45.880 --> 0:31:49.200 of Education and I loved it. Nowhere in there have 0:31:49.280 --> 0:31:50.840 I said anything about a village. 0:31:51.360 --> 0:31:51.719 Nothing. 0:31:52.440 --> 0:31:55.720 And so when I started to get the vision for 0:31:55.920 --> 0:31:59.120 village market my very first company, I was like, Oh, 0:31:59.160 --> 0:32:04.800 that's nothing, because I think it is true. We write 0:32:04.800 --> 0:32:09.000 a vision for ourselves and that's the first draft. Yes, 0:32:10.120 --> 0:32:13.520 the blueprint is the path that God wrote for us. 0:32:14.280 --> 0:32:15.440 And I know that. 0:32:18.360 --> 0:32:21.560 My deep belief that it takes a village and that 0:32:21.640 --> 0:32:24.000 the village will be the only thing that saves us. 0:32:25.360 --> 0:32:28.800 I know that that is something that God put inside 0:32:28.800 --> 0:32:30.440 of me because he knew that I would be a 0:32:30.480 --> 0:32:35.120 worthy steward and I would carry it well. And I 0:32:35.160 --> 0:32:38.440 also know that that is what we need it. Yeah, 0:32:38.480 --> 0:32:40.719 that is what we need it. We need it, We 0:32:40.760 --> 0:32:44.400 need it in a way. Also, what doesn't seem superficial 0:32:45.440 --> 0:32:49.440 because we love We're in a time that when a 0:32:49.520 --> 0:32:52.640 marketing industry know that there is a buzzword like community, 0:32:53.000 --> 0:32:56.920 then we start to manufacture community and so then people 0:32:56.960 --> 0:32:59.680 start performing community rather than being in. 0:32:59.640 --> 0:33:00.600 It being actual. 0:33:01.120 --> 0:33:05.240 Yeah, people perform being sisterly, yes, rather than being a sister. 0:33:05.520 --> 0:33:06.080 Yeah. 0:33:06.120 --> 0:33:12.520 Absolutely, for sure, there's nothing performative about my work. And 0:33:12.600 --> 0:33:14.880 I do believe those of us who have been called 0:33:14.960 --> 0:33:18.240 light workers called at this time to be light workers 0:33:18.800 --> 0:33:22.120 because we don't need more performance. Yeah, we need true 0:33:22.160 --> 0:33:25.880 models and models. That's not perfection because we're all human beings. 0:33:26.560 --> 0:33:28.520 But there needs to be things out there that is 0:33:28.600 --> 0:33:33.120 genuine so people can believe that that love and light 0:33:33.400 --> 0:33:37.360 and care and warmth. Yeah, it is the human existence 0:33:37.680 --> 0:33:39.240 and what we were also created. 0:33:39.520 --> 0:33:42.000 Yeah, No, for sure, for sure. 0:33:42.080 --> 0:33:45.880 I love that everything you do you're intentional about it, absolutely, 0:33:45.920 --> 0:33:48.040 and I can see that in everything and how there's 0:33:48.040 --> 0:33:50.479 so much synergy in between every venture. 0:33:50.880 --> 0:33:55.000 It's so good. You recently just opened a retail store 0:33:55.040 --> 0:33:58.280 and one of the biggest, if not the busiest airport 0:33:58.360 --> 0:34:00.600 in the world, Atlanta harts Feel Airport. 0:34:01.400 --> 0:34:04.120 Tell me about that whole journey, because one, I know 0:34:04.240 --> 0:34:07.200 it's it's not easy to get in that airport. This 0:34:07.360 --> 0:34:11.279 is a big deal. Congratulations versus you, But yeah, take 0:34:11.320 --> 0:34:12.040 us on that journey. 0:34:12.080 --> 0:34:12.920 How this came about. 0:34:13.800 --> 0:34:16.960 I wrote the vision for opening the Village Retail, so 0:34:17.000 --> 0:34:20.120 I have my first location. We're still opening Punt City 0:34:20.160 --> 0:34:23.959 Market on the second floor. Yeah, Village Retail pun City 0:34:24.000 --> 0:34:29.560 Market location would be open six years. In November, five 0:34:29.640 --> 0:34:34.040 years ago is when I was walking on the Beltline 0:34:34.400 --> 0:34:37.120 and I said, I'm going to scale to the airport 0:34:37.480 --> 0:34:43.280 because Atlanta has the world's busiest airport, over one hundred 0:34:43.280 --> 0:34:45.480 and eight million annual visitors. 0:34:45.640 --> 0:34:46.160 Crazy. 0:34:46.840 --> 0:34:55.080 That is that is incredible, a global audience. My that's 0:34:55.120 --> 0:34:56.400 the way I vision cast. 0:34:56.680 --> 0:34:57.120 Yeah. 0:34:57.880 --> 0:35:03.160 I vision casts in such a way that how do 0:35:03.280 --> 0:35:07.440 I create access in the way that it's undeniable for 0:35:07.600 --> 0:35:12.880 the acceleration of my people. There is no airport that 0:35:12.960 --> 0:35:16.920 it's more proficient or better position for it. And so 0:35:17.080 --> 0:35:20.680 but I'm also clear. I'm a quiet builder, and so 0:35:21.560 --> 0:35:23.880 it's almost hard to know what I'm working on because 0:35:23.920 --> 0:35:26.600 I don't work on anything until I don't announce anything 0:35:26.719 --> 0:35:30.520 until the announcement. But I've been working on this for 0:35:30.560 --> 0:35:36.360 five years. I had to ensure that we were prepared 0:35:36.680 --> 0:35:38.960 for where we were going, because I was clear five 0:35:39.040 --> 0:35:40.560 years ago that this is where we were being. 0:35:41.960 --> 0:35:45.759 With no experience of it, by the way, wow, none, none, none. 0:35:46.160 --> 0:35:48.520 But I was so clear. I was so clear that 0:35:48.600 --> 0:35:51.080 we were going to be there. I was so clear 0:35:51.360 --> 0:35:54.759 that my job was to train my staff. My job 0:35:54.960 --> 0:35:58.839 was to ensure that I can prepare entrepreneurs for that 0:35:58.960 --> 0:36:04.520 level of volume, and that is also me being disciplined enough. 0:36:04.800 --> 0:36:06.720 To not scale too fast. 0:36:07.080 --> 0:36:09.879 I intentionally took my time to be prepared for where 0:36:09.920 --> 0:36:12.640 I knew I was going to be. That there was 0:36:12.680 --> 0:36:14.840 never a doubt in my mind that we would not 0:36:14.960 --> 0:36:20.480 be where we are, even the location I chose that 0:36:20.560 --> 0:36:22.760 location word is because. 0:36:22.520 --> 0:36:26.080 Were going to be at the airport. 0:36:24.840 --> 0:36:31.080 Concourse being center, absolutely, and when you all see the location, 0:36:32.080 --> 0:36:35.920 what I want people to understand is that that is 0:36:35.960 --> 0:36:37.239 what I said I was. 0:36:37.280 --> 0:36:40.880 Where we were going to be. That's crazy. I know that. 0:36:44.120 --> 0:36:48.080 Vision casting that it is anointed by the love of God. 0:36:49.440 --> 0:36:53.000 I don't vision cast along. I asked God to anoint 0:36:53.120 --> 0:36:57.400 every one of my visions, so I don't build in fear. 0:36:57.640 --> 0:37:01.439 I build with clarity that it will be every single thing. 0:37:02.120 --> 0:37:04.359 I do not need a lot of people to tell me, 0:37:04.440 --> 0:37:07.560 doctor Key, I believe in you. Yes, I believe in me. 0:37:08.360 --> 0:37:10.759 I am so clear. So I don't need a lot 0:37:10.760 --> 0:37:14.000 of fan fare and all the things that we need. 0:37:14.520 --> 0:37:16.400 I don't need it because. 0:37:16.120 --> 0:37:19.440 I inherently know that every single thing that is chosen 0:37:19.520 --> 0:37:20.879 for me will come to. 0:37:20.880 --> 0:37:21.600 Pass for sure. 0:37:22.000 --> 0:37:28.400 And I knew this while all literally funding was grant 0:37:28.719 --> 0:37:32.360 after grant hour, was like, we're no longer funding. So 0:37:32.480 --> 0:37:35.560 I'm getting nose, and I'm also building for a yes. 0:37:36.400 --> 0:37:40.040 I'm getting nose, and I'm building for my yes because 0:37:40.160 --> 0:37:43.680 we do not have the privilege of not operating in duality. 0:37:44.480 --> 0:37:48.320 We do not have the privilege of there's a no here, 0:37:48.760 --> 0:37:52.160 and that's my final no. That's a no here, and 0:37:52.200 --> 0:37:54.000 I will continue to see my yes. 0:37:54.880 --> 0:37:58.160 And so I just build quietly. 0:37:58.560 --> 0:38:02.560 Yeah, And I told my team to trust me because 0:38:03.120 --> 0:38:06.640 your team also sees what is going on. And I 0:38:06.760 --> 0:38:10.800 affirmed them that there will. 0:38:10.640 --> 0:38:12.080 Be hard days in business. 0:38:12.200 --> 0:38:15.840 Yeah, it's inevitable, and you all would be at a 0:38:15.920 --> 0:38:18.479 ribbon cutting in twenty twenty six. 0:38:18.560 --> 0:38:19.400 I know that's right. 0:38:19.520 --> 0:38:22.520 So every hard day that you have experienced, a celebration 0:38:22.760 --> 0:38:28.759 is coming. And I don't give my team platitudes. I 0:38:28.800 --> 0:38:31.719 give my team evidence of what happens when you are 0:38:31.800 --> 0:38:35.040 clear of your path, because I also want to model 0:38:35.080 --> 0:38:37.759 to them to be clear of their path. And so 0:38:37.960 --> 0:38:41.800 a lot of red tape. To get the airport open, 0:38:43.040 --> 0:38:45.480 I had to learn a whole new industry, but I 0:38:45.520 --> 0:38:47.040 gave myself five years to learn. 0:38:47.120 --> 0:38:48.920 I was going to ask you, like you didn't come 0:38:48.920 --> 0:38:50.360 from this background at all. 0:38:50.440 --> 0:38:51.960 But I was going to ask you, how did you 0:38:52.000 --> 0:38:56.960 prepare for that? Number One? It takes a village. 0:38:57.440 --> 0:39:00.239 I surround myself with people who are far more hard 0:39:00.360 --> 0:39:03.440 and experience. And the thing that I'm not experienced there is. 0:39:04.920 --> 0:39:05.440 I am. 0:39:05.880 --> 0:39:10.160 I'm always confident enough to know that it is a 0:39:10.200 --> 0:39:12.320 gift to sit at the table with brilliant people. 0:39:12.360 --> 0:39:12.759 It is. 0:39:14.440 --> 0:39:18.239 I'm also deeply humble enough to know that it is 0:39:18.280 --> 0:39:22.160 a gift to being's faced with other brilliant people. And 0:39:22.239 --> 0:39:26.719 so I surrounded myself with good people. And then I'm 0:39:26.760 --> 0:39:32.640 a student. I am forever learning. I do not require people. Two, 0:39:34.520 --> 0:39:36.360 it's you know, forever athlete. 0:39:37.640 --> 0:39:41.880 I'm in the gym, yeah, I get up. Yeah yeah. 0:39:42.040 --> 0:39:45.759 And when you have trained yourself to be in the 0:39:45.840 --> 0:39:48.680 gym and to be fit in staying with that analogy, 0:39:49.160 --> 0:39:51.319 the musclim memory. 0:39:50.960 --> 0:39:52.839 It kicks in quick. 0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:56.880 And so I may not have experience of being in 0:39:56.920 --> 0:39:59.919 the world's busiest airport, but I have experience of doing 0:40:00.040 --> 0:40:02.759 big things well yes, yeah. 0:40:02.120 --> 0:40:03.600 And so. 0:40:05.440 --> 0:40:09.320 It was literally me arming my team with what we needed, 0:40:09.719 --> 0:40:14.680 me learning a new industry, like really learning it, having 0:40:14.719 --> 0:40:17.960 dinners with people so I can make the best business 0:40:18.000 --> 0:40:22.279 decisions in the faith that every single gap that I 0:40:22.320 --> 0:40:26.279 may possess, I will find I will attract what I 0:40:26.360 --> 0:40:29.160 need for sure. And I always say one of my 0:40:29.280 --> 0:40:33.759 prayers is that God protect my blind side. If that 0:40:33.920 --> 0:40:38.440 is a prayer, always just protect my blind side, because 0:40:38.800 --> 0:40:39.920 we don't know what we don't know. 0:40:40.120 --> 0:40:42.000 Yeah, we don't. 0:40:41.800 --> 0:40:46.000 Know, especially when it's something new. But I knew, Chris. 0:40:46.040 --> 0:40:49.400 I can't tell you enough that I knew that the 0:40:49.480 --> 0:40:53.120 Village Retail would be at the world's busiest airport. I 0:40:53.200 --> 0:40:55.319 knew that it was going to transform the lives of 0:40:55.360 --> 0:40:58.920 every black business in our store. I knew that it 0:40:59.040 --> 0:41:02.280 was going to put this company on a global stage. 0:41:02.600 --> 0:41:05.120 And I'm also clear that that is our rightful place. 0:41:05.280 --> 0:41:06.000 Absolutely. 0:41:06.160 --> 0:41:09.560 I want take me to the day waking up knowing 0:41:09.600 --> 0:41:12.959 that you are headed to Hartsville Jackson Airport to cut 0:41:12.960 --> 0:41:15.520 that ribbon. Take walk us through that day, because I 0:41:15.560 --> 0:41:17.560 know that had to be a glorious day for you 0:41:17.640 --> 0:41:18.919 from the moment you woke up. 0:41:19.920 --> 0:41:20.160 You know. 0:41:21.680 --> 0:41:25.560 Actually before our ribbon cutting, I was in San Francisco 0:41:25.840 --> 0:41:29.040 speaking at a conference WOW, and I could I can 0:41:29.120 --> 0:41:31.200 only I was only there to speak at the conference, 0:41:31.400 --> 0:41:34.160 and I couldn't stay and I humbly, you know, quietly, 0:41:34.200 --> 0:41:36.640 told people, I got a ribbon cutting in Atlanta tomorrow, 0:41:36.640 --> 0:41:37.560 so I have to get back. 0:41:39.800 --> 0:41:41.840 This is your ownership. 0:41:42.560 --> 0:41:48.160 Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, absolutely, ribbon cutting tomorrow. I 0:41:48.200 --> 0:41:52.280 have to get back to Alan. But I was walking 0:41:53.040 --> 0:41:58.520 through the airport when I landed, and because the store 0:41:58.840 --> 0:41:59.960 was open already, we is. 0:42:00.040 --> 0:42:00.960 Having a big reveal. 0:42:01.920 --> 0:42:05.759 So I walked by the story when I got back 0:42:05.800 --> 0:42:12.279 to Atlanta and I said, tomorrow, tomorrow, God, we did it. 0:42:12.520 --> 0:42:15.560 Wow. Yeah. And so. 0:42:17.560 --> 0:42:20.880 What I felt and what I continue to feel in 0:42:20.960 --> 0:42:25.160 as a massive amount of joy, and I'm so proud 0:42:25.160 --> 0:42:26.959 of myself, my teen. 0:42:27.960 --> 0:42:28.879 But also. 0:42:30.280 --> 0:42:32.440 I also want to be clear that there are moments 0:42:32.440 --> 0:42:34.840 in your life when you know, like God, you really 0:42:34.920 --> 0:42:38.520 rock with me, like you really you really trust me 0:42:38.640 --> 0:42:43.320 with this. And so the only what I what overwhelmed 0:42:43.440 --> 0:42:47.719 my heart is that God, you really trust. 0:42:47.440 --> 0:42:48.000 Me with this. 0:42:49.200 --> 0:42:53.279 And I am always so aware of that because I'm 0:42:53.400 --> 0:42:54.600 only going to be a good. 0:42:54.440 --> 0:42:56.560 Steward of it. 0:42:56.920 --> 0:43:00.719 And I couldn't wait until the businesses saw it. I 0:43:00.760 --> 0:43:05.239 could not wait. And for the businesses being a part 0:43:05.239 --> 0:43:08.160 of the ribbon cutting is a requirement for me. There's 0:43:08.239 --> 0:43:11.440 a lot of red tape to have big reveals at 0:43:11.440 --> 0:43:14.680 the airport, a lot of security, and I fought for 0:43:14.760 --> 0:43:18.359 every single brand to have that opportunity and. 0:43:18.320 --> 0:43:20.839 Tell people as well that you open this so that 0:43:20.960 --> 0:43:23.800 small businesses and owners can come and sell their products 0:43:23.800 --> 0:43:24.480 in your store. 0:43:24.680 --> 0:43:29.400 Absolutely, yes, thank you for naming that, because when I 0:43:29.440 --> 0:43:33.719 open a location of Punt City Market, why I built 0:43:33.760 --> 0:43:37.759 the Village Retail. I built the Village Retail because we 0:43:37.840 --> 0:43:42.960 need spaces that honor and center our products. We need 0:43:42.960 --> 0:43:47.280 a space that is curated beautifully. We need a space, 0:43:47.560 --> 0:43:52.960 and we not just need deserve, We deserve a space 0:43:53.480 --> 0:43:56.279 that people from all over the world, because that's what 0:43:56.320 --> 0:43:59.640 happened in Punt City Market as well, have an opportunity, 0:44:00.520 --> 0:44:03.000 a privilege to take our products back home with y 0:44:04.080 --> 0:44:10.719 and six years ago that was my mission and you 0:44:10.760 --> 0:44:12.880 bring such a You bring me back to a place 0:44:13.719 --> 0:44:17.640 of something that is also very important to me. I 0:44:17.680 --> 0:44:21.000 do not believe in supporting and buying black from a 0:44:21.040 --> 0:44:26.240 place of protest. I don't think that we should only 0:44:27.200 --> 0:44:31.680 patronize black businesses as a response to a boycott. I 0:44:31.719 --> 0:44:35.600 think we condition ourselves that we only choose us when 0:44:35.640 --> 0:44:39.120 we're mad at someone else. And so I opened the 0:44:39.200 --> 0:44:41.800 Village Retail, and it's open seven days a week. To 0:44:41.920 --> 0:44:45.279 six years ago, not in a place of boycott, nothing 0:44:45.440 --> 0:44:46.120 was happening in. 0:44:46.080 --> 0:44:48.240 The world in that sense. 0:44:48.520 --> 0:44:51.960 Or ten years ago when I launched Village Market, I 0:44:52.040 --> 0:44:57.120 literally have opened and created my spaces. It's simply because 0:44:58.000 --> 0:45:00.880 we should choose us every day, and we should have 0:45:00.920 --> 0:45:04.520 a space that has been designed and chosen for us, 0:45:04.640 --> 0:45:08.640 created by us, that we don't have to figure it 0:45:08.680 --> 0:45:14.239 out or one day something may change and there's no 0:45:14.320 --> 0:45:17.440 longer space for me on the shelves. If we build 0:45:17.520 --> 0:45:20.960 and create our things for ourselves, we are not controlled 0:45:21.040 --> 0:45:23.319 by any of the forces that tell you right now, 0:45:23.600 --> 0:45:27.320 at this time, you are not important. The Village Retail 0:45:27.360 --> 0:45:31.920 says you are important every single day. You are worthy 0:45:32.280 --> 0:45:36.760 every single day. You are good enough every single day. 0:45:37.320 --> 0:45:40.520 But let me be clear, we require excellence, yes we do. 0:45:40.760 --> 0:45:43.600 We require excellence in the Village Retail. The back of 0:45:43.640 --> 0:45:49.160 our shirt says excellence is a standard, not perfectionism, but excellence. 0:45:49.680 --> 0:45:56.240 Because I build from the place of I drive for experience, 0:45:56.680 --> 0:46:01.040 from customer service to our bags, everything is in peckably branded, 0:46:01.640 --> 0:46:07.200 and that is by design of excellence. And now the 0:46:07.280 --> 0:46:14.640 Village Retail scaling to the airport. This is placing brands 0:46:14.719 --> 0:46:19.759 on a global stage. Also, it is so hard to 0:46:19.800 --> 0:46:23.359 get in the airport. It is, it is, It is 0:46:23.400 --> 0:46:24.680 so hard to get. 0:46:24.440 --> 0:46:26.440 Into that industry. 0:46:26.520 --> 0:46:30.280 But when you have a village, when you have a village, 0:46:30.840 --> 0:46:32.360 you don't have to go by yourself. 0:46:32.400 --> 0:46:33.240 We go together. 0:46:33.480 --> 0:46:39.160 Yes, and when people have shopped at Village retail and 0:46:39.200 --> 0:46:43.800 they understand that's thirty plus black businesses, that that ribbon 0:46:43.840 --> 0:46:46.800 cutting was yes for my company, but it was symbolic 0:46:46.880 --> 0:46:52.440 of so many other companies that that is my wife 0:46:53.239 --> 0:46:54.320 and I want to shift. 0:46:55.600 --> 0:47:00.200 I want to shift our the way we choose lose 0:47:00.280 --> 0:47:00.600 each other. 0:47:01.520 --> 0:47:06.200 Do not choose me because you're mad, because when the 0:47:06.239 --> 0:47:13.600 emotion sobers, then often we go back to the very place. Yeah, 0:47:14.040 --> 0:47:17.440 they were no longer upset, and then our community is 0:47:17.520 --> 0:47:23.520 left behind. But if we make patronizing black businesses a lifestyle, 0:47:24.200 --> 0:47:27.960 that it becomes the first thought. I am striving that 0:47:28.000 --> 0:47:31.400 we become each other's first thought. If our books are 0:47:31.520 --> 0:47:35.160 coming out, we're each other's first thought. If a podcast 0:47:35.560 --> 0:47:38.280 is being announced, there's an episode, we are each other's 0:47:38.320 --> 0:47:41.440 first thought. That is community to me. 0:47:41.960 --> 0:47:42.680 And I love that. 0:47:43.880 --> 0:47:45.719 When you were opening the store and you saw that 0:47:45.760 --> 0:47:47.759 I had a hair Caroline, so you literally hit me 0:47:47.800 --> 0:47:49.759 and said, Crystal, we need to get your products in 0:47:49.800 --> 0:47:53.160 the stower. The fact that you even reach out and 0:47:53.280 --> 0:47:57.800 you know you spoke our good friend Tabitha Brown. 0:47:57.960 --> 0:48:00.879 Yes, I still love her. When I launched this line. 0:48:00.920 --> 0:48:03.440 She also has her own hair cair line. She text 0:48:03.480 --> 0:48:05.279 me and said, I'm so proud of you. If you 0:48:05.360 --> 0:48:09.120 need anything or help navigating different spaces, you call me. 0:48:09.560 --> 0:48:11.360 And I just want to say thank you, tab because 0:48:11.560 --> 0:48:14.200 she is just a diamond in the rough. 0:48:14.280 --> 0:48:16.440 She's a true gem that we should all cherish. 0:48:16.840 --> 0:48:20.320 But it's the dms like that and the text messages 0:48:20.760 --> 0:48:23.480 that means so much from women that see we see 0:48:23.520 --> 0:48:26.000 each other, you know, and even if we are navigating 0:48:26.040 --> 0:48:29.040 the same space, I'm letting you know there's room for you. 0:48:29.040 --> 0:48:31.000 You know there's room for us. 0:48:31.280 --> 0:48:36.759 Yes, the elevator, the elevation of consciousness is that the 0:48:36.800 --> 0:48:38.919 sun shines on you and I at the same time. 0:48:39.760 --> 0:48:44.560 Come on, and neither one of us is is we're 0:48:45.120 --> 0:48:49.480 we are not without it's warmth. So if there is 0:48:49.600 --> 0:48:51.920 enough space for the sun to shine on both you 0:48:51.960 --> 0:48:54.600 and I at the same time, let's put that in 0:48:54.640 --> 0:48:58.879 practice in our lives. There is room. There is room 0:48:59.000 --> 0:49:04.720 in the lane, there is space. Scarcity is another conditioning 0:49:06.120 --> 0:49:08.920 to make us feel that if Krystal has a product, 0:49:09.520 --> 0:49:11.440 then and the way I can support her, because it's 0:49:11.440 --> 0:49:14.359 going to take away from me. That is the conditioning 0:49:14.520 --> 0:49:20.640 of scarcity. And there are opportunities that you do feel 0:49:20.719 --> 0:49:24.400 that it is competition, but we also have been conditioned 0:49:24.440 --> 0:49:28.040 to believe that we are meant to be each other's competitors, 0:49:28.520 --> 0:49:34.640 then each other's sisters, and each other's collaborators. That is 0:49:34.680 --> 0:49:39.359 why words matter and really doing the root cause analysis 0:49:39.400 --> 0:49:41.920 of why we think the way that we think, and 0:49:41.960 --> 0:49:44.640 if we go deep into the roots, a lot of 0:49:44.680 --> 0:49:50.279 this is environmental conditioning that we have been programmed. There 0:49:50.400 --> 0:49:53.399 is space. I want every single person to hear this. 0:49:54.480 --> 0:49:58.920 There is room for all of us and even the 0:49:58.960 --> 0:50:01.440 goodness that we see and other people on how we 0:50:01.520 --> 0:50:06.920 may see them doing. Yeah, that is still bread crumbs 0:50:07.480 --> 0:50:12.120 by those who do not look like us. Yeah, that 0:50:12.920 --> 0:50:14.240 it is mere bread crumbs. 0:50:14.280 --> 0:50:14.520 Yeah. 0:50:15.160 --> 0:50:20.880 Imagine if we decide to elevate our consciousness and to 0:50:21.040 --> 0:50:24.560 know that I require there be a room, I require 0:50:24.600 --> 0:50:30.840 there be space. I require that I require collaboration. My 0:50:31.000 --> 0:50:33.560 reaching out to you is like absolutely, I have a 0:50:33.600 --> 0:50:37.480 retail story. Come on, let's do this, And I think 0:50:37.600 --> 0:50:43.120 that is I'm a girl's girl anyway. Yeah, but I 0:50:43.200 --> 0:50:45.239 also think we have to live the things that we 0:50:45.280 --> 0:50:45.800 talk about. 0:50:46.640 --> 0:50:49.719 For sure. That's what tab does. She does. Yeah. 0:50:49.800 --> 0:50:54.359 No, my sister has helped me down. Tabithan Brown is 0:50:55.120 --> 0:50:58.600 all that people think she is and all that people 0:50:58.680 --> 0:50:59.080 have no. 0:50:59.120 --> 0:51:00.480 Idea that she is. 0:51:01.320 --> 0:51:05.120 Listen, she is one of the most genuine people I. 0:51:05.040 --> 0:51:06.799 Have ever met him. She really is. 0:51:07.239 --> 0:51:10.759 Yeah, I'm so grateful to know her. I met her 0:51:10.760 --> 0:51:12.680 for the first time at the White House when Trail 0:51:12.719 --> 0:51:15.680 did the Black Experts question in DC, and She's like, 0:51:15.960 --> 0:51:17.560 me and my husband watch you all the time. I 0:51:17.560 --> 0:51:19.040 got to get a picture so I can send it 0:51:19.080 --> 0:51:20.640 to him, and I was like, oh, thank you. Then 0:51:20.640 --> 0:51:23.200 we end up exchanging information and then end up doing 0:51:23.200 --> 0:51:26.080 a movie together last year, and we have just been 0:51:26.160 --> 0:51:28.279 locked in and I just love her because she is 0:51:28.280 --> 0:51:30.400 one of those people that are randomly text you and 0:51:30.480 --> 0:51:32.600 let you know that she loves you and I'm thinking. 0:51:32.360 --> 0:51:36.080 About you, and that goes so far. You know. 0:51:36.160 --> 0:51:37.799 It's because a lot of times people are just so 0:51:37.840 --> 0:51:40.160 coughing their lives that we don't take a moment to 0:51:40.239 --> 0:51:42.840 just check in you know, so, I just love that 0:51:42.880 --> 0:51:43.120 and I. 0:51:43.080 --> 0:51:46.520 Love everything you are doing. It's just it's impactful. 0:51:46.719 --> 0:51:51.320 It is necessary, especially for our community Atlanta, a largely 0:51:51.680 --> 0:51:55.319 African American community, to have someone like you right here 0:51:55.360 --> 0:51:58.319 at home to show us, Hey, guys, we got what 0:51:58.360 --> 0:51:58.640 we need. 0:51:58.680 --> 0:52:01.279 We just need to support each other. I absolutely love it. 0:52:01.560 --> 0:52:03.719 Do you have anything else that's coming up that we 0:52:03.719 --> 0:52:06.160 can be on the lookout for? We know, concourse be 0:52:06.360 --> 0:52:09.400 at Atlanta Hartsville. We're going there for sure. Right across 0:52:09.400 --> 0:52:10.480 in the Dell's a lounge. 0:52:10.640 --> 0:52:11.160 We got that. 0:52:11.239 --> 0:52:12.600 Is there anything else that we can be on the 0:52:12.600 --> 0:52:15.200 lookout for or other places we can support you in? 0:52:15.440 --> 0:52:19.080 Yes, of course, always go by the book No One 0:52:19.120 --> 0:52:22.920 is Self Made. Yes, stop by my bookstore, Village Books. 0:52:23.040 --> 0:52:25.279 If you're in Atlanta. What you're waiting on when you're 0:52:25.280 --> 0:52:28.680 flying to Atlanta, add us a part of your destination. 0:52:29.120 --> 0:52:32.319 And if you are a small business owner and you 0:52:32.360 --> 0:52:34.879 are just looking for a village and your people, check 0:52:34.960 --> 0:52:39.600 out our Village United dot org. We built something so 0:52:39.640 --> 0:52:45.839 special with the organization. But I will say this, one 0:52:45.880 --> 0:52:49.120 of the greatest ways that you can support my work 0:52:49.239 --> 0:52:53.239 is by loving yourself. The greatest ways that we can 0:52:54.040 --> 0:52:57.560 support each other, it's by doing our own individual work. 0:52:58.719 --> 0:53:01.600 Because when we do our INDI visual work, we will 0:53:01.640 --> 0:53:05.760 put the weapons down and we will train our eyes 0:53:05.800 --> 0:53:09.200 to see each other and not be intimidated by what 0:53:09.280 --> 0:53:12.920 we see, but see it from a gaze of love. 0:53:13.840 --> 0:53:17.440 When we get to this place of deep healing, when 0:53:17.480 --> 0:53:20.719 we get to this place of deep knowing that it's 0:53:20.760 --> 0:53:25.880 not by any accident. We were created by such divine 0:53:26.120 --> 0:53:29.680 loving hands, and that it's not by accident that we 0:53:29.719 --> 0:53:33.360 share time together, that we were chosen for such a 0:53:33.400 --> 0:53:37.520 time as this. If you ever want, if you ever 0:53:37.640 --> 0:53:43.240 want to love and support doctor Key, do your work. 0:53:43.760 --> 0:53:46.400 I'm going to do my work and we will be 0:53:46.480 --> 0:53:48.360 well and do great things together. 0:53:48.719 --> 0:53:52.000 I love that, Dot Keith, thank you so so much. 0:53:52.080 --> 0:53:54.880 And closing, I do want to ask our theme this 0:53:55.000 --> 0:53:59.440 season is unapologetic. We are walking through life unapologetically. I 0:53:59.480 --> 0:54:03.000 want to know what is doctor Key unapologetic about in 0:54:03.120 --> 0:54:04.440 this season of her life? 0:54:04.920 --> 0:54:08.680 Chris, I'm so clear and unapologetic about who I am. Yes, 0:54:09.239 --> 0:54:17.520 I am so clear. I'm grateful that I still my 0:54:17.600 --> 0:54:22.840 feet are anchored so deeply enjoy I'm unapologetic about my joy. 0:54:23.000 --> 0:54:29.560 I am unapologetic about my clarity about this divine mission 0:54:29.640 --> 0:54:35.080 that we're on. And I'm also unapologetic that I will 0:54:35.120 --> 0:54:39.839 say the things that needs to be said out loud, affirmingly, 0:54:40.080 --> 0:54:43.960 still with love. But I am wavering and what I 0:54:44.040 --> 0:54:47.200 believe the light at the end of the tunnel is 0:54:47.239 --> 0:54:49.960 for us. Yeah, I love that, doctor Keith. 0:54:50.000 --> 0:54:50.920 Thank you so much. 0:54:51.239 --> 0:54:53.040 I know you got a crazy schedule. Thank you for 0:54:53.080 --> 0:54:55.560 sitting down with us. I know this blessed me, so 0:54:55.600 --> 0:54:57.839 I know it's gonna bless our listeners. Thank you, Thank 0:54:57.880 --> 0:55:06.680 you absolutely, thank you good. What I appreciate most about 0:55:06.680 --> 0:55:10.000 this conversation is that it reminds us that success means 0:55:10.160 --> 0:55:12.680 very little if it only benefits us individually. 0:55:13.280 --> 0:55:14.319 Doctor Key's work is. 0:55:14.280 --> 0:55:18.239 So powerful because she's not just building businesses, she's building community, 0:55:18.440 --> 0:55:21.799 access and systems of care. In a time where so 0:55:21.880 --> 0:55:26.520 many people feel disconnected, overwhelmed, or isolated, this conversation reminds 0:55:26.600 --> 0:55:29.200 us that we are never meant to do life alone. 0:55:29.480 --> 0:55:32.920 Thank you, doctor Keith for your wisdom, your intentionality, and 0:55:32.960 --> 0:55:36.480 for reminding us the power of collective care and community. 0:55:36.960 --> 0:55:39.200 Be sure to grab your copy of No One Is 0:55:39.280 --> 0:55:41.920 Self Made where books are sold. Thank you all for 0:55:41.960 --> 0:55:44.920 tuning in to another episode of Keep It Positive. Sweetie, 0:55:45.000 --> 0:55:48.080 don't forget to download the season eleven Kip's Reflection Guide 0:55:48.320 --> 0:55:50.120 at Christineheesa dot com. 0:55:50.360 --> 0:55:53.440 Subscribe and share this episode with someone who could use 0:55:53.440 --> 0:55:54.480 a little positivity. 0:55:54.800 --> 0:55:57.320 And if you want advice, positivity, or just want to 0:55:57.360 --> 0:55:59.560 share what you're going through, email us at keep it 0:55:59.600 --> 0:56:03.440 Positive dotcoms at gmail dot com. As always, stay blessed, 0:56:03.760 --> 0:56:05.720 stay encouraged, and keep it positive. 0:56:05.719 --> 0:56:07.279 Sweetly, I'll see you guys next time.