WEBVTT - Building A Digital Business with Longevity In Mind w/ Natasha Eubanks 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:04.480 This November, more than twenty thousand black techis from all 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.959 over the world will converge on Austin, Texas for afro Techo. 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:13.400 Afro Tech is the largest series of multicultural tech experiences 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:19.560 in the United States, bringing together engineers, venture capitalists, recruiters, technologists, 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:23.040 and cultural enthusiasts from all over the world. It is 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.759 the definitive conference that brings leaders in technology and business 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:31.400 together to exchange ideas and build a strong black tech community. 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.320 In short, afro Tech chase my life and I'm not 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:37.400 the only one. People come to afro Tech and leave 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.080 with jobs at some of the largest tech companies on 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:43.160 the planet. People come to afro Tech and find venture 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:46.239 funding for their startups. People come to afro Tech and 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:50.200 find employees to join them on their company building journey. 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:53.720 People come to afro Tech and find a new boat 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:58.120 who can write some mean code. Anyway, Look, I do 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:00.400 hope to see you at afro Tech twenty one too. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.680 It's our first time as a conference in Austin, Texas 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.000 and he I got some bottom fold were ready to rock. 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:10.480 So you know it's on check out experience dot afro 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:16.319 tech dot kind of learn more. I'm will Lucas and 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.720 this is Black Tech, Green money. I'm gonna enso you 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:21.360 to see to some of the biggest names, some of 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.399 the brightest minds in brilliant ideas. If you're a black 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:26.759 and building or simply using Texas and kick your back, 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:35.520 this podcast is for you. The Tshu Banks is an entrepreneur, 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:38.920 content creator, founder and editor in chief at the YBF, 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:41.160 which is to go to site to learn the scoop 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.800 on your favorite celebrities. Young Black and Fabulous is one 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.600 of the hottest Black celebrity gossip sites on the planet 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:50.120 and millions of readers per month. Sip the tea on 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.240 her platform at afro Tech twenty and the Metaverse. We 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.600 talked him the Tosh about building an imprint that you're 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.800 stay in the test of time, content creation and the 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:04.320 amongst black women. Black women are starting businesses at the 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.160 fastest rate of any racial group, but we are still 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.480 the most underfunded female demographic impair. But the fact that 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.200 over sixty of new businesses are digital based, we've either 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.040 got a black tech crisis on our hands or the 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:21.520 most bomb opportunity to make you successful in your space 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.200 for a very long time. So we're gonna talk about 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.680 ways to ensure your business is legacy aligns with that 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.200 last category. Okay, my name is Nisashi you Bates and 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.120 I'm the host of the Lobby of podcast and the CEO, 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.400 founder and editor in chief of Young Black and Fabulous, 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:39.959 or as you may know it, the Lobby of dot com. 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:42.519 Fifteen years ago, I stepped away from what has become 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:46.440 an eternal right from law school to chase my true passion. 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.000 So that true passion went from mom, I wanna leave 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.440 law school because I want to blog to world. I 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.680 want to become the largest household name in digital media 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.160 that centers on culture, is black owned, and push our 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:03.480 own narratives in non traditional ways. So what I didn't 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.440 know was that this blog would be a disruptor that 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.840 develops into a multimedia platform. Even with having a mass 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:14.239 millions of readers and followers across multiple yb of platforms, 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:16.960 I'm still on my journey and based on what I've 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.560 learned so far, I will always be so. With that said, 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.720 I have fifteen years of experience, successful moves, failures, everything 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:27.680 in between that leads me on this journey. And I've 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.360 built a business from nothing, not a penny of investments 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:34.800 lending or a penny of my own money, and I've 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:37.960 built it into a budding media empire. It's possible a 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:42.040 promise because because I've had the most roller coaster style 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:47.200 on the job training experience imaginable, it's been crazy. I'm 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.920 giving you the keys for you to build your own 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:53.080 legacy while jumping over a few hurdles that would break 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.520 even the most credential entrepreneur. So you're about to find 0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:00.000 out why experience is the cheap code you've been looking 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:03.520 floor and that will get you success. You might say, 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:08.360 I don't have experience to leverage, so leverage someone else's. 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:11.080 And after today you can leverage my decade and a 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.000 half's worth of experience owning one of the largest and 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.080 one of the most respected digital entertainment platforms. So I 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.480 mentioned legacy earlier, you might be wondering what that has 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:23.479 to do with starting a business. The key to business 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:27.280 longevity for me is identifying your legacy. So I'm gonna 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.880 tell you six steps to do just that based on 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.800 what I've learned these last lump teen years, and that 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:37.880 will be your blueprint for a successful business. But first 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:41.480 I want to talk about something UH missed opportunities and 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.760 the life lesson and taught me it's at the worst 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:49.200 Category five hurricane in history at that time, Katrina to 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.640 make me realize life is actually bigger than solely following 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:55.240 a plan you set out when you were just a team, 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:57.680 A plan you know will make your parents happy and 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.640 others happy. And people are kind of the way they 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.159 see you based on aspirations and goals you talked about 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:06.839 since forever. So it's hard to kind of change from that, 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.200 and I get that you feel like you're letting people down. 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.480 But learning that a change and plans is not a 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.599 failure unlock something in me. It allowed me to unapologetically 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.680 go towards my goals, but it took a minute. In 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:23.440 that minute definitely cost me some valuable early growth opportunities. 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.640 I feel would I be further along had I known, 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.359 had I taken those opportunities, maybe, But turning down a 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:33.000 book deal because I thought the person offering it must 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.440 be a fraud if they're asking LUO me to come 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:37.400 to a meeting in New York to talk about a 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.320 book deal, spoil alert. She was not a fraud. She's 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.279 actually a broker for the most bomb book deals for 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.440 our faiths like Mr Copeland, and I also didn't follow 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.960 up on offers to create digital based shows within a 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:54.000 network of a then rising star who is now IMM nominated, 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.440 because I just couldn't fathom what I, a blogger, could 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.960 possibly bring to the table, and even the opportunities that 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.359 were a little bit more technical. So like I turned 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.839 down a twelve K offer thirteen years ago from a 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:08.960 domain holder who wanted to sell me a three letter 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:13.040 domain addressed that better represents my business, but I turned 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.240 it down because I didn't trust myself to do a 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.479 deal that was based in an arena that I was 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:21.720 so unfamiliar with. And I killed to have only paid 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:23.880 twelve K for a three letter domain today by what? 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.880 But at years old, I was just still pretty unsure 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.960 with myself, my abilities, my everything. We know, everything is 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.440 about timing, and I definitely missed some opportunities that I 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:39.000 just wasn't mentally and emotionally ready for because I still 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.880 hadn't convinced myself that I deserved them. I still battle 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.159 feeling like a failure and not completing law school versus 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.479 the idea of simply being just a brave entrepreneur. I 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:52.280 didn't look at myself that way until years later, and 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.360 it could be in part because entrepreneurship, which needs to change. 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.640 While there are business owners in my family, it's not 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:01.240 something that was ever put on a pedestal in my 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.360 life as a kid or even within my school. I 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:08.280 was taught that traditional routes of academia lead to amazing 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.920 jobs and that leads to an amazing life. Successful business 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:15.200 owners and entrepreneurs were kind of the outliers, but certainly 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.960 not the rule. It's a reconditioning of my mind that 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:19.880 I had to that had to happen to me for 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.280 me to truly step into my purpose. How do you 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.640 do that though, And that's the tricky part. How do 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.320 we how do we follow our passion and and make 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.560 sure it's that has the longevity that we crave. We 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:37.120 start with what we want our legacy to be. So 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:40.520 let's talk about long life. Should it be your business, 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.880 your product, or you and a longlife. Who are what 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.560 gets the spotlight? It's a tough decision, but your decision 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:51.520 definitely can change based on your needs as your business growth. 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:53.720 So back in two thousand five, when I started the 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.080 ybs dot com, I was a fresh college graduate waiting 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.520 on a law school to start. Facebook had just kind 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:01.200 of come on the scene in my circle, and it 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.360 was still mainly just for college students and alumni at 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.920 that time, and you were really only Facebook friends with 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.560 people you know well, so your classmates or friends or 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.440 family and other people. So when people posted status updates, 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:16.120 it was seen by a small group of people and 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:18.360 you already knew them, so nothing was a shock. It 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.760 definitely felt like people were and you're we're not in 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.880 your business per se, or trying to get things to 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.080 hold against you like they kind of do now. So 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.560 I would post anything in everything, and even on my site, 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.120 I would use it as sort of a personal diary 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.720 in between all of the celebrity news that I was posting. 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:39.440 That's technically what blogging means, right, online journalize. So I 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:43.680 was giving detailed updates within celebrity news, post on moving 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.840 back to New Orleans for Loyola Law and was stressful 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:50.240 a f I would include in the post about what 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.800 I was personally watching and loving, and I would talk 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:57.640 about partying and school and Marty Gras And I was 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:02.160 the sole person posting on this site, so it wasn't 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:04.439 even a business yet anyway, So I thought I could 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.320 get away with it. So I thought, in my head 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.880 it was my small number of loyal readers, college roommates, 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.160 a couple of family members who were reading the site, 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.640 and that's it, and that is who I was talking 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.240 to and divulging things to. In my head had already 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.120 decided that I wanted the website to be the star 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.480 if it ever grew into anything. So I never posted 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.520 pictures of myself, never did interviews, and was totally just 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.800 the girl who was obsessed with celebrity tabloid gossip, just 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.800 like every other person my age that I knew. And 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:38.560 after all that, started to site solely because the Perez 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:41.599 Hilton's and pincause of new blogs and people magazines of 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:45.120 the world not talking about black celebs outside of a 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.040 Beyonce mentioned here and there. So I decided to teach 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.080 myself the basic the basics of coding and how to 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.079 read other people's page source code in order to create 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.040 a blog spot page, remember those of freeings, so I 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:01.400 could eventually become like they're super of successful pages. I 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.960 was just a fan scouring the internet and every tabloid 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:08.040 for any type of info or any pick involving any 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.880 black celebrity, and I would compel everything I found into 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:14.080 this one huge, endless post, and I just couldn't get enough. 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:18.240 My opinions were front and center, unfiltered, reckless, often borderline 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.480 slanderous in defamatory. But I wanted the site to be 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:24.360 a star, so I hid myself because I didn't fit 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.320 the aspirational vibe. I hadn't even set for the site. 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:29.800 Who wants to see a curvy black chick who's broke 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:33.240 and in school? Anyway? The site was my hobby, so 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.480 why wouldn't I post about the fantasy life we all 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.640 would want? Red carpets, hot bodies, hot celebrity relationships, tons 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:43.480 of money, mega mansions and drama for days. I too 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.480 was aspiring to have that life, so I didn't actually 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:50.000 have it, though who did The editors that People magazine didn't, 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.080 and but they were allowed to write about celebrity life 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.760 without someone questioning why they had audacity to do it. 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.320 Never did I think I had to live the life 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:02.000 of something I spoke about in adding racially curi curiosity. 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.040 So then things changed as the site grew, which I 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.680 wasn't even truly noticing myself, yet so did my audience 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.560 and on multiple platforms too, So Facebook had opened up 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.959 to anyone and everybody that wanted to do acroless of 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:17.480 academic status, and I started to see random people requesting 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:20.360 to be my friend in plenty and they have polity 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:22.920 to say about my personal life that I was sharing. 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:25.720 So I started to see pushback from readers, likely the 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:29.599 new ones, who criticized the way I wrote my opinions, 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.120 my audacity to even talk about things like this luxury 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.839 life and things like that. Who was I to do this? 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.760 I mean, there was no other digital only celebrity gossip 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.560 site out at the time sitting around black people, and 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.360 there wasn't for another year or two. So out of 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.200 all the horrific things said and even having my life threatened, 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.520 at one point, someone belived me and my taste and 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.120 TV shows, and that's where I drew the line. It 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.280 was hurtful, and it made me kind of withdraw even 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.640 speaking about myself, and my skin just wasn't as sick yet. 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.560 So it seemed like making a site the star was 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:05.040 going to be a little bit harder than I thought, 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.000 but I noticed it's star potential when I quit for 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:11.800 a few weeks. Katrina had come after everybody's life up 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.920 ruined our first couple of weeks of law school, and 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:19.480 I hated everyone and everything, especially our government for the 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:22.400 horrible response to my city, the people who were black 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.120 like me, who were being obviously treated the worst. And 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:28.160 I was fed up, so I stepped away from everything 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:29.959 while trying to figure out what to do next about 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:35.240 school and life. Then something happened, the outpouring of emails 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:37.960 and messages and comments and pleading to know if I 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:42.640 was safe during this whole, big, huge flood in Katrina craziness. 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:45.200 My regular readers have formed a bond with me that 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.679 actually was real, and despite me saying f everybody because 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.320 of a few critical apples in a bunch, their love 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:55.240 and support brought me back. Maybe the site was a 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.280 star in the making even with all that bad inch happening. 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.520 Maybe I started back blogging as Katrina up ending my 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.920 life and forced me into attending schools mandated and a 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.959 whole another city in Houston, as if you're one al 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.400 year isn't impossible enough as is, And after completing my 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.080 first year, I said, you know, and basically being in 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.840 a depression, I said, you know, I'm just not gonna return. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.640 I saw value and what I was building for myself, 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.719 and it was only growing even with me giving a 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:28.840 fraction of time to it. That's when I saw an 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:32.679 opportunity to become the face of my business and still 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.360 didn't take it, fear thinking in my head, if I 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.199 failed at my goal of completing law school, I would 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.520 feel at everything else in life. Those few critical bad 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.320 apples will grow into a million who would just I 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.800 just knew would hate me. So here I am scared 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.800 to put myself out front again. I don't deserve the 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:55.160 shine or attention. So I passed up multiple opportunities that 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.679 were Natasha focused, taking only about two that I can 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.600 even recall, one a multi page spread and Bob vit 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.680 and magazine chronically my nightlife and this one woman show 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:08.680 blogging business. My face, my voice, my body. Me was 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.360 out there for the very first time in that way. 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.480 And oh the opinions, and they happened to be I mean, 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:16.640 they happened at an even more furious rate. And I 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.760 was already met with you know, all the craziness from before, 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:22.640 and here are other people saying, you know what, if 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:24.680 you condition to celebs, you have to take it to 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.480 really okay. So after a few public fights with celebs 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.800 at that time and being upset about things they were 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:34.760 being up. They were upset about things that I posted 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.240 and fights that were orchestrated by someone I thought was 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.920 actually my friend. In this business, I lost hold in 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.400 myself and this business. It felt like it was me 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.320 versus the world every day, in a business that had 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.720 no blueprint already. And why am I being criticized for 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.680 not looking like an aimless actress when I'm still just 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:55.360 that regular girl, just like y'all, just like anybody walking 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:57.800 down the street who like celebrity gossip. And I was 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.320 in school and I just stopped by town boys and 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.400 I love celebrity culture. Why am I held to a 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:05.360 different standard. I truly believe the way that I viewed 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:08.560 myself in the way that some people viewed me, painted 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:12.400 askew picture of what was real, but actually what was important. 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.680 It's why I backed away from amazing growth opportunities and 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.960 TV appearances in a book deal all at twenty five. 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.520 I didn't feel like I deserved them. Deep down, I 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.480 didn't see anybody who looked like me taking this exact path, 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.280 so I didn't think I should either. I shouldn't be 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.600 in the spotlight. But the fact of the matter is 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.400 I had way more love than hate and way more 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.240 people relating to me in my journey than not, and 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.200 I couldn't bring myself to realize that until the light 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.960 went off. A pivot is not a failure. That's what 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:45.120 I had to tell myself. Pivoting to follow a passion 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.680 that I had a strong convictional work is the definition 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:52.520 of not failing. It's winning. Pivoting within your business is 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.960 the definition of not failing. You're adjusting to stay alive. 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:58.920 Even today, it's still a balance and that for me. 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.520 Over the years, without a manager or publicist or agent 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.880 or anything, I've become a correspondent for a nationally syndicated 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.360 TV show in the room I enter development deals. I 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.040 have done countless appearances on shows like Extra, and became 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.640 the correspondent for four years on a nationally syndicated great 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.640 radio show, Big Boys Morning Show. Became a brand ambassador, 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:20.800 which obviously takes a lot more, showing yourself to the 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.320 world for amazing companies like Samsung, Gate through Seven, all 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.000 while still pulling back a little bit on what I 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.160 give and what I show myself. It's still always in 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:32.320 the back of my mind to this day, all the hate, 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.240 all the critiques. The critiques hit a little bit differently though, 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.200 when youre getting paid to do this showing off and 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:41.080 this organic stuff, so you're not just doing it for likes. 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.760 And I will say that helps. But what I've learned 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.440 is it takes both. It takes a dose of you 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.200 and a dose of your business, both sharing the limelight. 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:54.800 People don't buy merchandise and don't consume content and dependent 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.200 of who is selling it to them or who is 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.840 creating that content. Remember that and finally, healthy balance that 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:05.560 works for both you and your business. Evolution, staying true 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.359 to your purpose while constantly evolving is probably the biggest 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.640 hurdle entrepreneurship, except nothing less than what you actually need 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.000 in order for you to flourish, in order for you 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.400 to stay in the note in your business. So when 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.400 it comes to running a business, you should have multiple 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.200 partners to help you keep on top of the next 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.159 big thing. Your business evolves when you bring in the 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.360 right components to make it evolved. Keeping your company fresh 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:31.480 and nimbless key. So every partner you have demand to 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.160 have a dedicated account manager who access a direct liaison 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.960 between you and that partner company. This account manager should 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.040 have weekly or bi weekly check ins with you, telling 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.080 me what their company is doing and how will how 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.680 will it benefit your business. You partner with these people 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:47.560 because they know more than you in a certain area 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.880 and their experts and set area. So make sure you're 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.400 getting all the value you can from that partnership because 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.439 they're getting paid in one way or another from you. 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.080 I work with experienced partners and who have been around 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.040 for longer than five years. And you don't have to 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:02.920 be a tech genius to be in the tech game. 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.240 You just have to hire one. So I hired a 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:09.040 mobile website development company because of their cutting edge technology 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.880 that basically optimizes us for everything that we will need 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.879 to day now that over people are accessing content Solio Mobile. 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.439 I partner with companies like with with cutting edge advertising 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:25.600 technology to optimize our revenue model, and developers and server 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:29.359 text and people who put foundational aspects of our business first. 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:33.040 Since it's your company's home, you should always know always 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:35.960 next in your field, and using these account managers like 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:39.679 members of your personal board of directors is keeping. They 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.880 should see you as a value client too, though, so 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.199 they may be willing to bend some rules or some 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.400 fees when necessary to keep you on board. If are 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:49.400 you what you need client for them and you have 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.359 you shown them that, or do you have a unique 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.560 audience or or something some type of unique goals, So 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.520 offer that perspective to them if they're unaware there's something 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:00.560 that they you have something of value they can use 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.399 as well. For while we have three point oh It's coming, 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:07.080 we are working with the powerhouse development company crowd Favorite 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.359 because they are the best of what they do and 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.000 it's more than just them designing a new site for us. 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.080 They are invested in actually seeing as succeed. We have 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:17.600 established a true partnership over the last year or so, 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:22.399 so that includes business advice from one business to another, connections, introductions, 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.240 and partnering together on things outside of this one project. 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:30.160 And partnerships like that are gold plus. They get to 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.000 work with a unique client like us. We're a small business. 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.600 We're not their Disney client, but we also have a 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.520 big digital presence and the super hands on CEO and 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.400 a diverse demo. It's like having relationships, you know, and 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:44.440 for me, like having a man. You want a man 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:47.200 to bring some benefit to the table and bring something 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:49.919 that I can't go get anywhere else, just like I 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:52.840 bring a benefit to the table for them. Same thing, guys, 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:56.760 same thing. With that said, hiring can be tricky. Knowing 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:59.160 how to do everything at least at the basic level, 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.119 but still out source what you can is important. You 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.560 can't hire properly if you don't even know the basics 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:08.840 of the job yourself. Another way, evolution in business manifest 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:11.800 itself is where you fit in with your business. I 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.240 learned very early, but I could be a machine. I 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:16.040 used to stay up thirty six hours at a time, 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.800 often just to figure out coding myself before I could 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:22.080 afford a team for that. I have this instatial appetite 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.240 for discovering things. And this was all fine and good 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:28.040 when I was twenty five and had time and energy. Now, 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:31.200 with the business that has like ten platforms to maintain 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:35.520 and growing and a small but dynamic team of employees freelancers, partners, 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:40.040 correspondence everybody to manage, I simply can't be the machine anymore, 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:42.280 at least not at all times. So like you think 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.680 you're being the energized or bunny, the quality of your 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:48.600 work false because you're actually exhausted trust me, you miss 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:51.240 out on major growth opportunities because you're too busy working 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.680 in your business and you don't see the bigger picture 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.000 from the outside. You're only thinking how much bean with 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.680 you have to give, and you can't make that growth 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.320 happy with that small amount of bandwidth, So start wating 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.240 the benefits of expanding your team. The difference between self 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.680 employed and entrepreneur is self employed, you're working in your 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:11.520 business and out, but you can only grow so much 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.639 as you only have so much bandwidth. But as an entrepreneur, 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:18.040 you know when to pull yourself out. You work on 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:21.439