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Speaker 1: By recon dot com slash my heart. Welcome to Money

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Speaker 1: Making Conversations. It's the show that she has the secrets

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Speaker 1: of success experience firsthand by marketing and Brandon expert Rashan McDonald.

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Speaker 1: I will know he's given me advice on many occasions,

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Speaker 1: and incason didn't notice. I'm not broke. You know. He'll

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Speaker 1: be interview with celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry decision makers.

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Speaker 1: It's what he likes to do. It's what he likes

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Speaker 1: to share. Now it's time to hear from my man,

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Speaker 1: Rashan McDonald money Making Conversations. Here we come, She said

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Speaker 1: the world traveler Rashan mcdonald' cause I've been all over

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Speaker 1: this country this week. Welcome to Money Making Conversations. I'm

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Speaker 1: your host, Rashan McDonald. Let me tell you about money

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Speaker 1: Making Conversations. Each Money Making Conversations show is about entrepreneurship

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Speaker 1: and entertainment. I provide the consumer and business owner access

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Speaker 1: to celebrities, CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry decision makers. They in

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Speaker 1: turn deliver information about career planning motivation. Financial literacy and

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Speaker 1: how they lead a balanced life. Appearing on the show

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Speaker 1: today is Which Dennis founder of Shade Marshter, founder and

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Speaker 1: chairman of Essence Ventures, which includes Essence Magazine and the

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Speaker 1: Incredible Essence Festival. Lanier Richardson, executive director of the Center

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Speaker 1: for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers Business School,

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Speaker 1: Drew Blesso, retired NFL quarterback and owner a Bled Soul

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Speaker 1: Family Winery. And Melissa Harville Lebron, the first African American

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Speaker 1: female NASCAR team owner. That's a lot, but that's what

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Speaker 1: we do. That's what we do on Moneymaking Conversations. My

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Speaker 1: first guest is the professional practice instructor and executive director

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Speaker 1: of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at

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Speaker 1: Rutgers Business School in Newark, New Jersey. Please work with

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Speaker 1: the Money Making Conversations, Lanier Richardson, Good morning, So as

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Speaker 1: I have a lot to say, don't you do have

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Speaker 1: a lot. I am elated to have the opportunity to

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Speaker 1: talk to you this morning. I appreciate that because what

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Speaker 1: you do is what I'm promoting, what I'm trying to

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Speaker 1: get people to understand the value of entrepreneurship. So off

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Speaker 1: the jump, what is an urban entrepreneur and why are

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Speaker 1: they're important? When when you look at the John of Communications,

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Speaker 1: you're trying to put out there as an instructor at

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Speaker 1: ed Rutgers Business School, what is an urban entrepreneur? So

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Speaker 1: every day I wake up and think about how to

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Speaker 1: make communities better. So when we think about urban entrepreneurship,

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Speaker 1: we think about it that's both place and race actually

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Speaker 1: and being unapologetic about it. So our focus is helping

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Speaker 1: people understand and see value in places where people overlook

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Speaker 1: and you know, cultivate the entrepreneurial thinking, fostering economic development projects,

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Speaker 1: really making the connection between entrepreneurship and the important role

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Speaker 1: that entrepreneurs play in revitalizing communities. And so, you know,

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Speaker 1: we started our center now ten years ago and the

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Speaker 1: focus initially was around what was happening in Newark, New Jersey,

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Speaker 1: around the Rutgers campus in Newark, New Jersey. We you know,

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Speaker 1: creating more entrepreneurs, helping entrepreneurs own property. I spent a

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Speaker 1: lot of time of late focusing on the impact that

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Speaker 1: these entrepreneurs make in terms of hiring people, paying taxes,

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Speaker 1: you know, really being a champion from entrepreneurs because people

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Speaker 1: often overlook them. So we need more people thinking about

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Speaker 1: how to start businesses and grow businesses and own property

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Speaker 1: and employed people and contribute to the Little League team,

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Speaker 1: you know, and be role models. Center for Urban Entrepreneurship

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Speaker 1: and ECONO, I'm development ce U E E D. What

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Speaker 1: exactly is that? So it is I'm happy to just

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Speaker 1: it's the first center of its kind in the nation

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Speaker 1: to really integrate scholarship, academic scholarship with private industry and

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Speaker 1: government and nonprofit sectors with the sole purpose of stimulating

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Speaker 1: economic growth and community revitalization and densely populated areas. So

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Speaker 1: our for our goal is supporting entrepreneurs who want to

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Speaker 1: start businesses and urban environments and try to grow business

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Speaker 1: and urban environments and have some impact on how cities

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Speaker 1: will grow. We spend a lot of time, you know,

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Speaker 1: it's you know, working with aspiring entrepreneurs or small businesses

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Speaker 1: and doing all kinds of programs to help them grow,

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Speaker 1: getting them counsel at the business school. You know, we

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Speaker 1: run a lot of capacity building programs. The goal really

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Speaker 1: is to help business owners grow. Now you're sitting you

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Speaker 1: send the words small business, you send the word entrepreneurship.

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Speaker 1: Now you say the word scholar. So what is difference

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Speaker 1: between you and SCORE and the s B A No,

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Speaker 1: I'm glad you so. Uh. Our Business School is really

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Speaker 1: anchor as an anchor institution in newor and many of

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Speaker 1: the larger universities around the country see themselves and more

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Speaker 1: people are starting to talk about them as anchor institutions.

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Speaker 1: So my goal is to open the door of the

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Speaker 1: anchor institution to help entrepreneurs grow. And it really is

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Speaker 1: then we so if a government official wants to announce

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Speaker 1: a new program, I invite them into the university. If

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Speaker 1: if SCORE wants to consult with and with some entrepreneurs,

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Speaker 1: I can help give them some space in the university

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Speaker 1: to be able to do that a room. So we're

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Speaker 1: sort of Switzerland in some respects to with a clear

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Speaker 1: mission of just helping people grow. And we've worked with

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Speaker 1: all types of entrepreneurs, the folks who are just starting

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Speaker 1: out two companies that are you know, really you know,

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Speaker 1: trying to grow. You know, we had Richie Lou Dennis

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Speaker 1: at our campus about you know, two weeks ago. So

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Speaker 1: we go from you know, the mom and pop startup,

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Speaker 1: who's who's open operating the restaurant down the street or

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Speaker 1: the print shop or the PR firm to you know,

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Speaker 1: some of the billionaire now entrepreneurs are aspiring or close

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Speaker 1: to being billionaire entrepreneurs. Uh that we all know and

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Speaker 1: respect and we try to connect them. That's the whole thing.

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Speaker 1: I just want to break it down a little bit

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Speaker 1: because when you hear the entrepreneur, you hear the word

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Speaker 1: small business, it's almost like a a like a cloud. Okay, okay,

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Speaker 1: cannot because everybody really worked on the cycle that they

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Speaker 1: just want a normal job. They want to come where

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Speaker 1: and when you try, how do you start? You know,

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Speaker 1: they're dreamers. There are people who dream with no plan,

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Speaker 1: which mostly why most businesses failed. They just want to

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Speaker 1: start something without a business plan. What is the first thing?

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Speaker 1: Is the business plan the key to getting the business

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Speaker 1: launched correctly. So you know, it's interesting. I joke now

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Speaker 1: that entrepreneur is now the cool word. So by walking

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Speaker 1: you know, I heard it go. You know, say he's

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Speaker 1: you know, walked into the bar and said I'm an entrepreneur.

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Speaker 1: Or you know some people say if you don't have

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Speaker 1: a job, now you just say I'm an entrepreneur. Right,

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Speaker 1: So I may used entrepreneurs. It's the cool word now,

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Speaker 1: But for me, it's about, you know, having a is

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Speaker 1: solving a problem that can generate a profit. And so

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Speaker 1: I am very specific about this now. They're all types

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Speaker 1: of social entrepreneur. One of my colleagues and the co

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Speaker 1: director of my center, which spends a lot of time

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Speaker 1: on focusing on social entrepreneur and I called myself an

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Speaker 1: social entrepreneur sometimes as well. But really the focus of

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Speaker 1: entrepreneurship is solving a problem. I initially want to see

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Speaker 1: what's the what's the problem you solved, what's the need

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Speaker 1: that you're going to fulfill? And can you do it

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Speaker 1: in a way that can generate profit? Because if you

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Speaker 1: can't generate a process it you won't you know, you

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Speaker 1: won't survive long not long, and it's not repeatable and

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Speaker 1: you can't scale it and you can't raise capital again

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Speaker 1: it against it. So you gotta figure out how either

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Speaker 1: to generate a whole lot of revenue, you know, like

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Speaker 1: all our Amazon or you know, as quickly as possible.

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Speaker 1: I always tell, especially entrepreneurs a color that we got

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Speaker 1: to figure out how to how to make you know,

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Speaker 1: make a profit. I had a good friend who opened

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Speaker 1: a restaurant recently and I'm very, very uh happy about

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Speaker 1: encouraging him, being sort of a champion for his restaurant.

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Speaker 1: But every day that I talked to him, if I

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Speaker 1: send him a text, I say, be profitable. I hope

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Speaker 1: you're being profitable. Great food, but be profitable. A lot

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Speaker 1: of people coming in, great Facebook and Instagram. Be profitable.

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Speaker 1: I knew exactly what you talk about. I had a

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Speaker 1: comedic glove like that I worked that was lines around

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Speaker 1: the corner. But boy, the profitability was really break even.

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Speaker 1: And that's a really frustrated world. It exists because you go,

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Speaker 1: if I'm packed and I'm not getting money, what am

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Speaker 1: I doing wrong? And I was doing a lot of

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Speaker 1: things wrong. Man, I can't agree with you more so

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Speaker 1: I have. I started my career as a lawyer. My

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Speaker 1: parents were have been entrepreneurs for forty years. I started

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Speaker 1: my career as a lawyer, and I've worked for a

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Speaker 1: few years as a lawyer, and I saved about seventy

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars and I started my own business, and I

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Speaker 1: realized that I was building, I was developing. The real

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Speaker 1: estate in the urban neighbor has always been my passion to,

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Speaker 1: you know, do work in the communities, that you know,

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Speaker 1: I grew up there. And what I remember one day

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Speaker 1: is I had this project that at the beginning it

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Speaker 1: looked like I would generate about four hundred thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: of profit. But at the end it took me about

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Speaker 1: three years to make that in a whole lot of hours.

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Speaker 1: And I remember one day towards the end of the project,

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Speaker 1: I was maybe a Saturday afternoon. I was at my

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Speaker 1: desk and I did the math and I said, Man,

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Speaker 1: you know what, I probably made eight dollars an hour, right,

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Speaker 1: So I'm like, wow, I got to figure out a

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Speaker 1: way to get in high margin, high profitable industries so

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Speaker 1: that I can survive and grow and have the lifestyle

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Speaker 1: that I wanted. Now you lead the Center for Urban

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Speaker 1: Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. It's called the c U E

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Speaker 1: e D at Rutgers University, which is in New Jersey.

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Speaker 1: Now they're going on ten years. Is this any place else?

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Speaker 1: So you know, look, we're excited. Um, we are just

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Speaker 1: starting to do some work in Memphis. I do work

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Speaker 1: in Chicago. I've done working in Milwaukee. Can't any place

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Speaker 1: where there's a community that's looking for how can the

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Speaker 1: university opening doors and support entrepreneurs and and have measurable results. Again,

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Speaker 1: over any percent of our entrepreneurs are people of color,

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Speaker 1: are still in business. Right. You know, there's a national

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Speaker 1: rate that's of small businesses fail. After five years, we

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Speaker 1: had rates that are any percent of these businesses are

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Speaker 1: still surviving, the generating more than a million dollars of

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Speaker 1: revenue to increase profits. You know, they're hiring people and

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Speaker 1: doing deals together. So, you know, our go our first

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Speaker 1: ten years is focused specifically on Newark and New Jersey,

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Speaker 1: but we're hoping that the next ten years of our work,

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Speaker 1: we might partner with another university, maybe an h b

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Speaker 1: c U or another big keen university to you know,

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Speaker 1: expand both our curriculum and our philosophy about how to

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Speaker 1: work with and grow entrepreneurs of color and entrepreneurs in

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Speaker 1: the inner city area that can help it revitalize. Well,

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Speaker 1: you're hitting all the right right buttons with me eighteen

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Speaker 1: and thirty four the Entrepreneurship Generation HBCU schools. You know,

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Speaker 1: I'm considered, uh the mentor for the generation, the voice

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Speaker 1: of that generation because of the fact that I'm reaching

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Speaker 1: out and then I provide a resume that says I'm

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Speaker 1: the real deal. And with that said, I want to

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Speaker 1: I want to let you know the doors open, you know,

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Speaker 1: and that's why I invited you on the show. I

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Speaker 1: heard about the program through Kate Lucas told me about it.

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Speaker 1: I am Melia and my staff jump on and say,

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Speaker 1: we got to bring this guy on because you're paralleling

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Speaker 1: exactly what I want to say. So it has it

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Speaker 1: has to be told to the hbc U campus. That's

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Speaker 1: what I'm so happy that I'm on hbc U x

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Speaker 1: and channel one forty two now, so I'm directly communicating

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Speaker 1: them that my show run twice a week on hbc

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Speaker 1: U account, channel one forty two on x M. Serious.

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Speaker 1: So so know that when you're talking to me, the

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Speaker 1: word is being put out there. So please tell anybody

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Speaker 1: how they can get in touch with you at the

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Speaker 1: website so we can lock this down. And just thought

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Speaker 1: that parade of information absolutely. So the easiest way to

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Speaker 1: get in touch. My email is just linear l y

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Speaker 1: n e I R at gmail dot com. L y

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Speaker 1: n e I R at gmail dot com. I'm at

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Speaker 1: the Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. If

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Speaker 1: just google Rutgers and c U E E d and

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Speaker 1: you'll see all of our programs. I ain't get a

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Speaker 1: chance to mention we have programs for entrepreneurs who are

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Speaker 1: creatives and technolog the entrepreneurs and filmmakers so use Entrepreneurship program.

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Speaker 1: So please, I would love to tell anyone of your

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Speaker 1: listeners more and be helpful. Can Well, that's the key,

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Speaker 1: because of the fact that it is an expansive program,

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Speaker 1: and the word entrepreneurship is such a layer term, and

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Speaker 1: because of the fact that people use it in such

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Speaker 1: a cavalier and bounces between small business and entrepreneurship, and

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Speaker 1: it really is a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle if you choose,

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Speaker 1: and because of technology, it's providing you with such immediate

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Speaker 1: information and the fact that you're doing it ten years

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Speaker 1: and now you start to carry it out to different campuses.

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Speaker 1: Please let me know so I can help promote you

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Speaker 1: and market what you're doing through my social media platforms

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Speaker 1: and my fan club platform which is over three hundred

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Speaker 1: thousand people. Linna, I want to thank you for being

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Speaker 1: on my show. My friend, Hey, I really appreciate the opportunity.

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Speaker 1: I hope to get invited back. You will be your

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Speaker 1: entrepreneurship can come on cut. Thank you, We'll be right

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Speaker 1: back with more from Marsha McDonald and money Making Conversations

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Speaker 1: don't touch that dot. Money Making Conversations continues online at www.

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Speaker 1: Dot money Making Conversations dot com and follow money Making

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Speaker 1: Conversations on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Ladies and gentlemen, it's

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Speaker 1: time you stop thinking about your dreams and put some

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Speaker 1: plans into action. As hosts of money Making Conversations, Rashan

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Speaker 1: McDonald is uniquely positioned to provide a step by step,

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Speaker 1: easy to understand blueprint that drives listeners to realize their

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Speaker 1: dreams and aspirations. Until you do the business plan or

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Speaker 1: incorporate or actually create that product or start selling products,

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Speaker 1: the universe doesn't have to deal with money Making Conversations

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Speaker 1: is an innovative platform that delivers financial literacy to help

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Speaker 1: everyone with their brand success. Good to have a money

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Speaker 1: making conversation with somebody that makes money. Let me tell

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Speaker 1: you about the host of money Making Conversations, Rashaan McDonald.

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Speaker 1: He's a social medi be a influencer. Of his seven

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Speaker 1: hundred thousand plus social media followers are female. He's a

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Speaker 1: two time Emmy Award winner, three time n double A

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Speaker 1: c p Image Award winner, sitcom writer, stand up comic,

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Speaker 1: former IBM executive, and has a degree in mathematics. More importantly,

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Speaker 1: Rashan McDonald will use his business and celebrity relationships. Rashan McDonald.

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Speaker 1: If you're listening to Money Making Conversation, it's time for

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Speaker 1: our next guest. She is the CEO of W. M.

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Speaker 1: Stone Enterprises and the first African American woman licensed to

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Speaker 1: solely own a developmental and multicultural NASCAR team. Please welcome

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Speaker 1: to Money Making Conversation. Melissa Harville Lebron, Good morning, Good morning.

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Speaker 1: You're talking about you're nervous, but listen, how you doing that?

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Speaker 1: Miss nervous? I am fine. I have no We're becoming

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Speaker 1: end up here in New York. One yea, I know it.

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Speaker 1: It's like the fourth major snowstorm. Correct now this is

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Speaker 1: number five one off. I was there last week, so

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Speaker 1: I'm glad I missed it. Now I want to I

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Speaker 1: want to bring up a quote right now. He says

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Speaker 1: that right now, you have the NASCAR. You have a

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Speaker 1: NASCAR team, which is a Wheeland All American Series that

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Speaker 1: runs in the Wheeland All American Series Series Division one.

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Speaker 1: I read your goal is to impact all forms of

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Speaker 1: motorsports worldwide, right now, your NASCAR, that's a big one.

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Speaker 1: Why do you want to do that? That is true?

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Speaker 1: That is true, but we've we've advanced since then. We

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Speaker 1: also are on camping LOLd Truck Series or in the

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Speaker 1: nationals now. Okay, see nobody updating my my information. So

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Speaker 1: all I know is that you're in NASCAR. Now you're

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Speaker 1: in the truck Series. So I'm just because this is

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Speaker 1: the very expensive sport that you're a doing, Melissa. So

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Speaker 1: now you started in NASCAR, what made you want to

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Speaker 1: go into the truck series? Going into the Truck Series

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Speaker 1: is it's like, um, the beginning stages the National Um,

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Speaker 1: it's um, you know, that's where you start to stretch

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Speaker 1: your legs and really start to feel the impact of

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Speaker 1: how expensive the sport is, but also how lucrative the

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Speaker 1: sport is as well. UM. You know, we can only

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Speaker 1: elevate from there, which is going into the Exfinity Series

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Speaker 1: and then up to you know, the grand echelon of

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Speaker 1: UM Monster Energy Series. I'm sorry, right, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: been a bit amazing because I because when I when

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Speaker 1: I went you got booked to the show, I immediately

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Speaker 1: just started doing my homework because you know all because

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Speaker 1: there's so many levels of NASCAR. You know, the Dal

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Speaker 1: l arn Hard and the Jimmy Johns that's NASCAR Cup

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Speaker 1: and uh and so now you're in the Division one series.

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Speaker 1: Like you said, you know, learning the process, getting everything right,

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Speaker 1: but still very very expensive. I want to break everybody.

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Speaker 1: And if you so, you if you elevate your game

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Speaker 1: so much, I'm gonna just talk about the NASCAR team

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Speaker 1: that I was aware of that you started with. Let

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Speaker 1: me see if it's changed. Okay, you start your original

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Speaker 1: NASCAR racing team is the first ever to consist of

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Speaker 1: two brothers from two different ethnicities and minority classes, healing

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Speaker 1: from Northeast and under the age of one. Correct is correct? Well,

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Speaker 1: now there's there. Yeah, you're a little behind in time.

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Speaker 1: I've never been behind the time. I'm gonna whoever I'm

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Speaker 1: whoever book, I'm gonna get on them. Now. Now your

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Speaker 1: your your crew team. You have an active duty marine

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Speaker 1: who's a pit crew has active and disabled veterans. The

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Speaker 1: great thing about that was that when I say about

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Speaker 1: the disabilities, and you know, you really want to give

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Speaker 1: everybody a shot of getting recognized that they can do

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Speaker 1: the job. Too, and that's important to your brand, correct,

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Speaker 1: very much so and uh and then you have you

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Speaker 1: have a you have a first experience and celebrated driver,

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Speaker 1: like I said, with a disability. You're currently developing two

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Speaker 1: female drivers for the developmental series. Okay, why is that important?

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Speaker 1: Female drivers? I know Danna Kapatrick. Well, you know there,

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Speaker 1: you don't see any female drivers in that so we

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Speaker 1: had anaka. Um, you know, I shouldn't say any. You

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Speaker 1: see very few, but you do not see any women

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Speaker 1: of color behind me. And I'm in a very unique

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Speaker 1: position where I'm able to nurture and develop the careers

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Speaker 1: of young women who want to race this as much

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Speaker 1: as everybody else, but they don't know how to get started.

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Speaker 1: So I have been, oh my god, overwhelmed with so

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Speaker 1: many phone calls and you know, just you know, I've

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Speaker 1: always dreamed of racing how it gets started? Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: people thought I was crazy and then I see you

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Speaker 1: and you affirm my beliefs that you know I can

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Speaker 1: do it as well. So we are looking to develop

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Speaker 1: new talent and bring new talent to to the track.

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Speaker 1: And you know, if I'm the second on the segway,

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Speaker 1: you know, God put me on this path for a reason.

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Speaker 1: You know. The interesting thing about it, you know, when

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Speaker 1: they make a mistake, that's a crash. So you know

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Speaker 1: that's that's a that's a difficult part of bringing people

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Speaker 1: along and making because it's about expenses, about skill set.

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Speaker 1: How do you recruit, how do you look at new talent?

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Speaker 1: How does that work in your world? Um? We we're

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Speaker 1: meticulous and in who we align ourselves with. UM. I've

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Speaker 1: had a couple of suggestions, UM, right, should say, recommendations

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Speaker 1: from NASCAR, UM that would you know make our team well?

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Speaker 1: Round it. They were very talented drivers that did not

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Speaker 1: have the opportunity. More so, I believe it was because

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Speaker 1: they didn't truly know how to market them. And as

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Speaker 1: you can see, they're they're having some marketing issues now, UM,

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Speaker 1: trying to relate to our culture. UM. You know, it's

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Speaker 1: just it's it's unfortunate for them, but is wonderful for

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Speaker 1: us because we can communicate to our demographics and you know,

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Speaker 1: I'll show them into the sport easily. UM, because you know,

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Speaker 1: we are a true reflection of our communities that we represent.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's really interesting because I've been I'm a

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Speaker 1: big fan of Nascar. I've been you know, Jeff Gordon,

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Speaker 1: all time fan of Jeff Gordon, and I've been to

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Speaker 1: I've been to the tracks, and I know there has

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Speaker 1: been a pressing need because I'm based in Atlanta, so

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Speaker 1: I know it's always gonna been a pressing need, a

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Speaker 1: desire to get more African Americans, more minorities to attend

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Speaker 1: these events, and and what what how do you help

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Speaker 1: that out? How do you how do you communicate like

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Speaker 1: this is a this is a great form. I'm an

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Speaker 1: African American of my audience is predominantly African American, So

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Speaker 1: people are hearing about your brand, and I want them

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Speaker 1: to get excited. I want them to go to the

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Speaker 1: sport going there other than just to see you. Why

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Speaker 1: would individuals want to attend this for Oh my gosh,

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Speaker 1: Nascar is the most physically exhilarating sport um ever. I

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Speaker 1: tell people all the time, I said, if you don't,

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Speaker 1: They're like, oh, it's just going and around and they

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Speaker 1: have an occasional crash me every time those and that

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Speaker 1: which goes by with that draft, I said, you feel it.

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Speaker 1: It rattles you know, you know it's exciting. You know,

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Speaker 1: you really are waiting there with bated breath, waiting for

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Speaker 1: the next the next go around, to feel the war

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Speaker 1: those engines, I said, you know, and everybody's there for

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Speaker 1: the exact same purpose. It's unity, absolutely, it's really because

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Speaker 1: you know, it's really interesting because if you just look

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Speaker 1: and look at one spot and just watch those cars

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Speaker 1: just come in front of your eyesight and leave your eyesight,

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Speaker 1: it's really a blur. It's really a blur. It's like,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's amazing. You know, you know, we drive

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Speaker 1: around in the streets, you know, thirty five miles and

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Speaker 1: now it might get up to seventy five miles. And

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Speaker 1: now they have no clue to how fast these people

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Speaker 1: are going. And they have to and they got other

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Speaker 1: people right next to them, in front of them, right

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Speaker 1: behind them. That's a skill set that is amazing to me. Right,

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Speaker 1: that's right. You know, you're looking at you know, anywhere

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Speaker 1: from a hundred and eighty five to two hundred miles

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Speaker 1: per hour, and I mean it's about the the space

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Speaker 1: of a hair. Sometimes they're right on top of each other,

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Speaker 1: but it is, I mean, it's an amazing there's a

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Speaker 1: funny thing about it. It's the funny because I'm doing

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Speaker 1: my little research, you know about NASCAR. Now, NASCAR tires

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Speaker 1: don't have treads on them, you know. But but but

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Speaker 1: you know, in the streets they tell us we gotta

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Speaker 1: have treads on our tires. And if they said that,

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Speaker 1: we're not having treads causes the car to grip better.

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Speaker 1: So I'm trying to figure out, okay, now, why I

425
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,520
Speaker 1: don't have my time to go ball. I gotta change

426
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:08,240
Speaker 1: them industry. Yes, that you want your times to be

427
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,040
Speaker 1: as gummy as possible. That's why you see them zigzag

428
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 1: and they want those sizes up because they need to

429
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 1: be able to grip. You know, there's the physics and

430
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,920
Speaker 1: the aero dynamics are going to keeping that that car,

431
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,919
Speaker 1: that race car at that rate of speed on the track,

432
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 1: on the ground and it's not going airborne. Right now,

433
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:27,800
Speaker 1: here's the thing, okay now, because I think you know

434
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 1: we we were getting in the groove now, Melissa, Okay,

435
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,000
Speaker 1: your first experience, your first sponsor the race was February

436
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 1: walking through the whole process a little bit here and

437
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,280
Speaker 1: the listeners about you know, getting the team there. Where

438
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:46,320
Speaker 1: were you already emotionally and I exhausting? Was you at

439
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 1: the end of the event. Okay, so we have been

440
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,359
Speaker 1: preparing for this for since the year before last, so

441
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 1: it was really just amount of activation. It was sixteen

442
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: days literally from the time I, you know, I met

443
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,880
Speaker 1: the team that would run my race for me, will

444
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 1: run my race with me, to the time we got

445
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: on the track. It was sixteen days. So we were

446
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,640
Speaker 1: prepared to no end. I told I was telling people,

447
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:18,880
Speaker 1: I said, I feel like I'm getting married again, where

448
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 1: I didn't get a chance to enjoy the wedding. I

449
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,560
Speaker 1: was so glad you're the first one over and done with,

450
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,800
Speaker 1: because there was so much preparation and emotionally and physically

451
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,200
Speaker 1: taxing on you, you know, because people are watching and

452
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,280
Speaker 1: even though we didn't do a lot of press for it,

453
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 1: but people that knew that we were coming, and even myself,

454
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,919
Speaker 1: I said, you know, I don't want to publicize it

455
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:45,480
Speaker 1: and then we have mistake. I said, so if we're

456
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:47,920
Speaker 1: gonna make any mistakes, you know, let's do it kind

457
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,880
Speaker 1: of you know, you know, without all the eyes on us,

458
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,000
Speaker 1: and you know, with troubleshoot troubleshoot and then go back

459
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,840
Speaker 1: to it and then really hit it and publicize it,

460
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,480
Speaker 1: you know. But it was a lot. It was from

461
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,720
Speaker 1: getting uniforms, getting the driver's seat done, getting a driver,

462
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,679
Speaker 1: the logistics of it all. It was a lot. It

463
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:13,920
Speaker 1: was a lot. When I tell you, I was exhausted, prey.

464
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,439
Speaker 1: All I could do was play. All I could do

465
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,439
Speaker 1: was pray. But let me ask you this, Melissa, how

466
00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 1: did you get involved? I gotta ask that question because

467
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:29,200
Speaker 1: you know, you know this Nascar. This is not NBA, NFL, Baseball,

468
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 1: This is NASCAR, predominantly white's attended sport. How did you

469
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:38,760
Speaker 1: get excited about it? How did you get engaged overall

470
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,200
Speaker 1: or just for the race day, just just trying to

471
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 1: get the NASCAR team just I want to I want

472
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 1: to end. I want to I want to convent my money.

473
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 1: My original background is in the music industry. I've always

474
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:54,840
Speaker 1: been um. I've always had some type of involvement, from

475
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 1: being an intern to actually working for a music label.

476
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:03,200
Speaker 1: My job was a development I came to NASCAR through

477
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 1: literally an artist development deal. I was back to work

478
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 1: project for an aspiring driver. Was producing an anthem track

479
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:16,679
Speaker 1: for this inspiring driver. Unbeknownst to me, the driver was

480
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:21,919
Speaker 1: having some marketing issues with NASCAR and they needed some assistance.

481
00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:25,480
Speaker 1: We developed a marketing plan that was presented to NASCAR

482
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,159
Speaker 1: at an executive board meeting. So you know that was

483
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,960
Speaker 1: straight to the top um and it really broke down

484
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:38,040
Speaker 1: the value of of having this driver. It broke down

485
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: how to approach a demographic that NASCAR is is um

486
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 1: not represented in at all, and also being able to

487
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,719
Speaker 1: sustain this new demographic. That's amazing. I want to thank you.

488
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 1: Can you come back on my show? Just you're motivating.

489
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,320
Speaker 1: You know that already because your groundbreaker and you keep

490
00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 1: and when you get dig out of that snow, I

491
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:01,120
Speaker 1: want you to text me so we can talk off

492
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: because you're brilliant, fantastic keeping with it. But listen, money

493
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 1: making conversation. Loves you. Now. My next guest, I saw

494
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,240
Speaker 1: him last Thursday. I was in d C. He's being

495
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 1: celebrated and you should celebrate this young man. I have

496
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,320
Speaker 1: on the phone right here because I'm telling you the

497
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: reaction and the uplift and we're gonna talk about that

498
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: to him. It's been amazing. He's the CEO and executive

499
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 1: chairman of Sundal Brands, founder and chairman of Essence Ventures.

500
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:38,520
Speaker 1: Essence Ventures, which includes Essence Magazine and Essence Festival, please

501
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: welcome to Money Making Conversations. Richie LEEU Dennis, good morning.

502
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 1: How you doing that, sir? I am fantastic in yourself. Great.

503
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 1: I know you now, I saw you last week and

504
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 1: I just gotta say this. I was sitting in the

505
00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 1: audience audience that was dominant with females. It was being

506
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 1: put on by Sheila Eldridge, and of course we also

507
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:09,040
Speaker 1: have being honored was Michell Ebanks, who's the president of

508
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 1: Essence Magazine. When you come in a room like that,

509
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: rich emotionally think, you know, people are so proud that

510
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 1: a black person has repurchased Essence Magazine and Essence Festival.

511
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:31,040
Speaker 1: What responsibility that comes with that? Well, you know, the

512
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 1: responsibilities that come with that are are are actually um

513
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 1: challenges that I think we all live with day and

514
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 1: day out. They just become more elevated, right. I think

515
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:49,120
Speaker 1: the biggest challenge is that we are we are in

516
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:54,400
Speaker 1: a battle for our culture, right in a in a

517
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,760
Speaker 1: battle to um own our narrative, in a battle to

518
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 1: a stop miss um ourselves as as entrepreneurs and as

519
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,760
Speaker 1: business leaders, and inasmuch as anybody else uh can be

520
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 1: considered a business leader. So you know, those those pressures,

521
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 1: those challenges, those responsibilities. I think we all uh facing

522
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 1: day and day out, UM, but they become elevated when, um,

523
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 1: you know, when you do it on the national stage.

524
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 1: And so now what we've got to do is make

525
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,959
Speaker 1: sure that we're delivering for our culture, delivering for our people,

526
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 1: and providing a pathway so that our youth can see,

527
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,480
Speaker 1: can see how this journey to is theirs. It was interesting.

528
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 1: What my biggest takeaway from you is that you willing

529
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 1: to share your real community. Guy. It's about the community,

530
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 1: is about family, is about paying it forward. What did that?

531
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 1: What did that? What did those values come from? You know,

532
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 1: I was raised by a single mother, UM, and she

533
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 1: was raised by a single mother. And you know, I

534
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 1: had the good fortune of watching my mother and my

535
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:14,080
Speaker 1: grandmother UM use the communities that we lived in to

536
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:18,800
Speaker 1: raise us, leverage the communities that we come from to

537
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:23,600
Speaker 1: ground us in culture, the groundest in ethics, the groundest

538
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,840
Speaker 1: in mission, and the groundess and purpose. And so that

539
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,920
Speaker 1: was ingrained with me from a very early age. And

540
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 1: I was able to see how as a community, how

541
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 1: investing in ourselves, in in in partnering with each other

542
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: and giving each other opportunities, and I think most importantly

543
00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:45,640
Speaker 1: in trusting each other. Um. She was able to do

544
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,840
Speaker 1: things with us, um that she would not have been

545
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,760
Speaker 1: able to do on our own. And UM, I'm sorry,

546
00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:55,520
Speaker 1: go ahead now. It was really because it was it

547
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:57,760
Speaker 1: was really amazing in the room because when you said,

548
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,080
Speaker 1: you know you was raised by a single mom, it

549
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: was like applause just broke out. Yes, you know, you

550
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 1: know you you're you're delivering so many slices of life

551
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,480
Speaker 1: and so many levels of uplift for so many women

552
00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,080
Speaker 1: that that's what it was like. I'm telling you a man,

553
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:18,760
Speaker 1: watching you command that room and watching people look at you,

554
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,920
Speaker 1: it's really you. You've got something special happening around you.

555
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're aware of that, correct, Yeah, Well, you

556
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:32,400
Speaker 1: know the thing is, it's not um you know now

557
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:38,520
Speaker 1: Fortunately UM many people get to get to experience it because,

558
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,040
Speaker 1: as I said, it's it's much more known, right what

559
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: we're doing now, we've been doing the same thing for

560
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 1: seven years, yeah right right where this guy comes from exactly.

561
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,040
Speaker 1: But but what we now have the good fortune of

562
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 1: this is scale, right, and and and visibility and the

563
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 1: a platform so that we can now that we can

564
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:12,560
Speaker 1: now share this from UM and an audience that is

565
00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 1: now UM engaged in and and and is acknowledging uh

566
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 1: the journey that we're on. And so now our job

567
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,080
Speaker 1: is to is to bring more and more people into

568
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,799
Speaker 1: this journey and and to spread the message so that

569
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:31,879
Speaker 1: so that they too can can figure out what their

570
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,400
Speaker 1: role is because there's a role here for all of us,

571
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:36,960
Speaker 1: right and and and and not only is there a

572
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,399
Speaker 1: role for all of us, we all must play a role.

573
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 1: You know, you're playing a role. I'm playing a role.

574
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 1: We all must play a role. Because if we don't

575
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:47,520
Speaker 1: do that, then where we care as a community. If

576
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,440
Speaker 1: we play a role, and if we step up and

577
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 1: and and and and shoulder the responsibilities for each other,

578
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,400
Speaker 1: then we now have an opportunity to go out and

579
00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,400
Speaker 1: compete and to win and to use each other to

580
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:03,360
Speaker 1: create the ecosystem that will allow us to win. You know,

581
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 1: right now we're all doing it independently. We you know,

582
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 1: it's really time and is everything Because I get the

583
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,160
Speaker 1: weekly I get I'm on the essence UM mailer, I

584
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:16,920
Speaker 1: get the emails and updates and all that stuff. And

585
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:21,080
Speaker 1: when and when when you purchased it, it was like

586
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:23,520
Speaker 1: it had people it felt like the the email was

587
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:28,680
Speaker 1: dancing and celebrate, you know, like email was like, yeah, yeah, yeah,

588
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,880
Speaker 1: we're back, We're back, We're back, We're black, We're back.

589
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,320
Speaker 1: You know. It was like really it really was and

590
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:38,440
Speaker 1: in time and everything, did you come right on to

591
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,600
Speaker 1: that black path? Or run? You know what I'm saying.

592
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,280
Speaker 1: And I know that's a lot of you know, police

593
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:45,560
Speaker 1: issues that we have out the industry that we're trying

594
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,360
Speaker 1: to deal with. We were protesting, but to see to

595
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:50,799
Speaker 1: celebrate what you guys are doing, to see that we

596
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:55,000
Speaker 1: can achieve this level of success and positivity. Nor you

597
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:58,399
Speaker 1: have this strong digital presence with essence, Nor you got

598
00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,520
Speaker 1: you know this one part six million I believe monthly

599
00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:06,400
Speaker 1: subscribers to the magazine, that platform, the social media platform.

600
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 1: You have arrived in a in a place that I'm

601
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,560
Speaker 1: sure kind of did it take you back? The reaction

602
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 1: because everything that you know, what you were buying, but

603
00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,840
Speaker 1: the emotional uplift to this, to this country and to

604
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,920
Speaker 1: the to the female populace was amazing. Man. I have

605
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,560
Speaker 1: to say that I didn't expect it when it When

606
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,040
Speaker 1: you made the deal, I was impressed. I was said,

607
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: go for it. But the but the emotional reaction has

608
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: been amazing. Sir. Yeah, I think I think you know,

609
00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 1: you're you can never you can never underestimate the power

610
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 1: of freedom, right and the power of liberation. And that's

611
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,520
Speaker 1: what that's what we saw and that's what we experienced.

612
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:56,319
Speaker 1: We saw. We saw women celebrating, um, their voices just

613
00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:03,239
Speaker 1: being liberated, their platform being liberated. They're um uh, they're

614
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:07,880
Speaker 1: calling now um being front and center by them and

615
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,279
Speaker 1: for them, and so you know, yeah, it was it

616
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:15,279
Speaker 1: was really really exciting congratulation and I think, yeah, thank you,

617
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 1: and I think, but I think what's important now is

618
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 1: that we don't stop at the celebration there you go,

619
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,759
Speaker 1: you know, felt the celebration was just was just the

620
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,440
Speaker 1: ticket for admissions. And then I got there from you

621
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 1: though you you're not a guy. You know, you're not

622
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: a celebrator. You know, you're like, okay, let's okay, let's

623
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,759
Speaker 1: put down the champagne glasses. We got work to do,

624
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:39,520
Speaker 1: exactly a lot of work to do, because you vision

625
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:42,400
Speaker 1: a visionary. Before I go into front, I want to

626
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:44,239
Speaker 1: talk about a couple of days they really caught my

627
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,080
Speaker 1: eye by my ear when I was watching you speak

628
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,760
Speaker 1: in d C. It was a program called New Voices

629
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,920
Speaker 1: for Women of Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Women of Color. Can

630
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:58,120
Speaker 1: you expound on that. Yeah. So, one of the one

631
00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:01,520
Speaker 1: of the things that we've UM found as we've been

632
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:06,080
Speaker 1: building UH the Sundial business has been and you know

633
00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:09,200
Speaker 1: this as well as probably every single one of your listeners,

634
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 1: the challenges that we have as entrepreneurs of color in

635
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 1: raising capital and the disparity within which UM we have

636
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:24,680
Speaker 1: access to capital. And so as we've become more and

637
00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 1: more UM, as we've grown more and more and they

638
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,600
Speaker 1: become more and more successful, our model has been what

639
00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:34,880
Speaker 1: we call community commerce, and that is reinvesting your profits

640
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:38,440
Speaker 1: where you make your profits. So we make our profits

641
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:42,640
Speaker 1: in in in in UH in black communities around the globe.

642
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:46,000
Speaker 1: And so what we do is we invest back in

643
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:51,080
Speaker 1: those communities, UH with with with with with the profits

644
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:55,400
Speaker 1: that we make, and so UM understanding the challenges of

645
00:38:55,560 --> 00:39:00,719
Speaker 1: building a business, uh just being an entrepreneur, and understanding

646
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:04,920
Speaker 1: the challenges of being a black entrepreneurs, understanding the challenges

647
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,480
Speaker 1: that go beyond that for for for women of color

648
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:13,399
Speaker 1: entrepreneurs who have even less access to capital. UM, we

649
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:17,280
Speaker 1: decided that we would we would put a fund together,

650
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,880
Speaker 1: UM partners with the Unity here on this put a

651
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,080
Speaker 1: fund together. I'm a million dollars fund to invest in

652
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 1: women of color entrepreneurs because we're never going to have

653
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:32,000
Speaker 1: the economic stability that we need in our communities when

654
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:35,840
Speaker 1: the women in our communities aren't economically independent now, and

655
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,799
Speaker 1: so we want to I'm sorry. And when I would

656
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:40,719
Speaker 1: say that the first thing that people gonna go this

657
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,680
Speaker 1: is gonna be a shock tank type participation, how does

658
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,680
Speaker 1: one and it maybe early in the stage of conversation here,

659
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:53,800
Speaker 1: how would one be able to become a participant? Yeah, so, um,

660
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 1: it is early. UM. But what we're now doing is saying,

661
00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:02,800
Speaker 1: go to the New Voice Fund, the New Voices Fund

662
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:08,240
Speaker 1: dot com and you can submit your information there. UM.

663
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:12,600
Speaker 1: We're gathering that information now. People are submitting their their

664
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:17,600
Speaker 1: their business plans there um uh there their pit stet

665
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:21,920
Speaker 1: and then those men get reviewed. Um. We have not

666
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:27,239
Speaker 1: officially um launched the launched yet, but it's good to

667
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,799
Speaker 1: to to get uh your information and ahead of time, um,

668
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:34,600
Speaker 1: and then we'll start evaluating those and reaching out um

669
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:39,360
Speaker 1: to those to those that have presented plans that are interesting.

670
00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 1: You know, our key focus is is your business um,

671
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:48,719
Speaker 1: going to be a profitable business, right um? And then

672
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 1: so you start there, but also what is this contribution

673
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,600
Speaker 1: back to our communities? What is this contribution back to

674
00:40:55,680 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 1: our society as it moving? How's the moving us forward? Right?

675
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,839
Speaker 1: Because it's not just about being able to create a

676
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:07,760
Speaker 1: business that enriches oneself, it's about being able to create

677
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 1: a business and enriches our community. Sometimes you told me

678
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:13,279
Speaker 1: like he was talking to me personally and d S

679
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:17,799
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but you were talking about growing the community

680
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:22,040
Speaker 1: in Africa. You know the above their poverty line. You

681
00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:25,279
Speaker 1: know what is the gold there? And and we all

682
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:28,160
Speaker 1: know that you have a poverty line living below that,

683
00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:30,839
Speaker 1: that's my name living. So what is the mission there?

684
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 1: And what is the plan that we talked about the voting?

685
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,080
Speaker 1: The new voices program here that you you're developing with

686
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:39,440
Speaker 1: a hundred million is at the early stages. But you

687
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,719
Speaker 1: can't go to the website and start feeling out your applications.

688
00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:48,440
Speaker 1: What about this new this program that you're developing over there. Yeah.

689
00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,839
Speaker 1: So so, as I said earlier, our business model is

690
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 1: called community commerce right, and it's the philosophy that you

691
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:59,560
Speaker 1: invest your process where you make your profits, Sir, are

692
00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,400
Speaker 1: are uh one of our you know, shape Better is

693
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,920
Speaker 1: a big, big part of our of our brand. It

694
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:10,399
Speaker 1: is the brand and uh it is it is harvested

695
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:14,920
Speaker 1: by by very very poor women in Africa. And so

696
00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:19,360
Speaker 1: when we started this this this uh this business, UM,

697
00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:23,239
Speaker 1: my grandmother was one of those women um uh that

698
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:28,400
Speaker 1: was harvesting local produce and turning them into the products.

699
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:30,239
Speaker 1: And so what we wanted to do is to move

700
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:34,080
Speaker 1: women like my grandmother up the value change so that

701
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:38,279
Speaker 1: they're not just gathering nuts and selling nuts for pennies, um,

702
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,600
Speaker 1: but that they're actually able to create products out of

703
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:45,279
Speaker 1: that that can sell out a higher dollar value which

704
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 1: then help them rise above the um the poverty cycles

705
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:55,560
Speaker 1: that persist in those in those communities. And by the way, um,

706
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,240
Speaker 1: I always want to point out to people that even

707
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:03,000
Speaker 1: though we live in the wealthiest country on the planet,

708
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 1: there are still there are still millions of young children

709
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,200
Speaker 1: in this country that go to bed hungry every night

710
00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:15,600
Speaker 1: for the school hungry every day. Right, So, so poverty

711
00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:20,880
Speaker 1: is not limited to UH to Africa alone. In our communities,

712
00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:24,879
Speaker 1: we have poverty right here and so so that we're

713
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,200
Speaker 1: trying to solve those problems holistically with the new Voice

714
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:33,920
Speaker 1: is fund to create uh, generational wealth or women of

715
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:37,680
Speaker 1: color here, but then also with UM with our community

716
00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:42,360
Speaker 1: commerce programs in Africa, to provide those women an opportunity

717
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:46,479
Speaker 1: to create value added products that we can then sell

718
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:51,200
Speaker 1: here and reinvest back into them so that they too

719
00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:54,319
Speaker 1: can rise above poverty. So what we now have is

720
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:58,520
Speaker 1: about sixteen thousand women that are currently impacted by this

721
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 1: by this effort, and we're looking to scale that to

722
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:07,440
Speaker 1: two hundred thousands of the next year. Yeah, congratulations, m

723
00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:10,200
Speaker 1: thank you man, thank you. But you know, it's also

724
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:13,320
Speaker 1: congratulations to your listeners. They're the ones that buy our products.

725
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,520
Speaker 1: They're the ones that enable us to make these investments,

726
00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:19,480
Speaker 1: and they're the ones that I think need to hold

727
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:23,799
Speaker 1: other companies accountable so that they're investing their profits back

728
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,319
Speaker 1: where they're making their profits right, and they're making their

729
00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:30,160
Speaker 1: profits in our community. So UM. So that's that's that's

730
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:33,799
Speaker 1: what the community Commerce program is. And it's amazing thing

731
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:37,680
Speaker 1: about this rich is that you keep everything as a team.

732
00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:40,239
Speaker 1: You know, uh, you know, I make a product, you

733
00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:43,840
Speaker 1: buy the product, I reinvest. That's a team effort exactly.

734
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,640
Speaker 1: That's that's a three sixty plan and that's why you

735
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:48,840
Speaker 1: win exactly. You know you you got a three sixty

736
00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:51,640
Speaker 1: plan with Ess magazine. You got a three sixty plan

737
00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:54,400
Speaker 1: with Sens Festival or five dred thousand people attend that

738
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:57,160
Speaker 1: every year. You know you have a three sixty plan

739
00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:00,920
Speaker 1: with Sundown brands. You keep giving back. Man one, thank

740
00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:04,319
Speaker 1: you for coming on my show. Well, thank thank you

741
00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:06,719
Speaker 1: for having and we have to stay in touch. Ch

742
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:09,399
Speaker 1: we gotta stay in touch, my man. Let's do it man.

743
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:14,200
Speaker 1: As host of Money Making Conversations, Rashan McDonald is uniquely

744
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:17,360
Speaker 1: positioned to provide a step by step, easy to understand

745
00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:20,960
Speaker 1: blueprint that drives listeners to realize their dreams and aspirations.

746
00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:24,800
Speaker 1: Until you do the business plan or incorporate or actually

747
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,479
Speaker 1: create that product or start selling products, the universe doesn't

748
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:31,240
Speaker 1: have to deal with Money Making Conversations is an innovative

749
00:45:31,239 --> 00:45:34,640
Speaker 1: platform that delivers financial literacy to help everyone with their

750
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:37,440
Speaker 1: brand success. You're good to have a money making conversation

751
00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:40,960
Speaker 1: with somebody that makes money. Let me tell you about

752
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:44,440
Speaker 1: the host of Money Making Conversations, Rashaan McDonald. He's a

753
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:48,600
Speaker 1: social media influencer. Of his seven hundred thousand plus social

754
00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:51,760
Speaker 1: media followers are female. He's a two time Emmy Award winner,

755
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:54,320
Speaker 1: three time n Double a c P Image Award winner,

756
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:58,600
Speaker 1: sitcom writer, stand up comic, former IBM executive, and has

757
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:02,279
Speaker 1: a degree in mathematics. More importantly, Rashane McDonald will use

758
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:05,880
Speaker 1: his business and celebrity relationships to empower small businesses with

759
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:11,759
Speaker 1: information to succeed. Hi this Rashane McDonald. You're listening to

760
00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:15,480
Speaker 1: money making conversation. He is on the phone. I know

761
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:18,000
Speaker 1: because we just cracked jokes together. My next guest had

762
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,880
Speaker 1: a had a fourteen year NFL career as a quarterback

763
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:24,080
Speaker 1: and a very good Pro Bowl quarterback by He was

764
00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:26,480
Speaker 1: an one pick in the NFL draft and you know,

765
00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:31,200
Speaker 1: number one. Since retirement, he is the founder Bledsoe Capital

766
00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:34,360
Speaker 1: Group and co founder of Double Back Winery and Walla

767
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,319
Speaker 1: Walla Vala in the state of Washington. Please working the

768
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:41,920
Speaker 1: money making conversations, Drew bless So, Good morning, rash How

769
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:43,839
Speaker 1: are you man? Drew? You got that man? You got?

770
00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:51,120
Speaker 1: That's that's that cold voice, Drew man' uh it's not

771
00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:54,200
Speaker 1: really here. We got in really late last night from

772
00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:57,040
Speaker 1: us bring break trip of the family. So I released,

773
00:46:57,080 --> 00:46:58,759
Speaker 1: I got my coffee going, but I don't know. I

774
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:00,400
Speaker 1: kind of liked the morning voice. Know you're on the

775
00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:07,839
Speaker 1: on the radio voice from you sometimes you Hey Jue.

776
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 1: Before we get started, man, I would looking at your bayo.

777
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:12,200
Speaker 1: I know you're a big name, but I gotta give

778
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:14,799
Speaker 1: some props to your wife. Uh. You know she she

779
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:17,439
Speaker 1: plays a major role in the winery. Could you tell

780
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:22,200
Speaker 1: my listeners exactly the role she plays in the business. Yeah,

781
00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:24,719
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's really enjoyable for us to be

782
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:26,640
Speaker 1: able to work together on this project. You know, when

783
00:47:26,719 --> 00:47:28,719
Speaker 1: when I was playing football, it was all about me

784
00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:31,200
Speaker 1: and Van and for us after I retire, we were

785
00:47:31,239 --> 00:47:34,400
Speaker 1: able to do this together. She has a huge, huge

786
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:37,760
Speaker 1: impact on our business in multiple ways. She's she serves

787
00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 1: as a as a you know, a board member, helps

788
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:43,520
Speaker 1: us direct what we're doing, both from what we're making,

789
00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:46,799
Speaker 1: how we're selling, you know, how we're gonna market uh

790
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:48,759
Speaker 1: and then the other thing she does that that's that's

791
00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:51,279
Speaker 1: hugely important. She's got a great palette. So when we

792
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:53,920
Speaker 1: do our blending trials to figure out what's ultimately going

793
00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:57,279
Speaker 1: to go into a bottle of line, she final she

794
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,399
Speaker 1: gets the final vote, um, and so far she's she's

795
00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:03,759
Speaker 1: done a great job. So so that I don't want

796
00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:06,000
Speaker 1: to slay everybody down because you know some you come

797
00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:08,520
Speaker 1: from that audience, a beer drinkers. That's your fan base.

798
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:13,840
Speaker 1: And now you're in the wine business. Is that is

799
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:17,200
Speaker 1: that something that's part of your your history or something

800
00:48:17,239 --> 00:48:19,879
Speaker 1: that you got into as you were playing football looking

801
00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:21,440
Speaker 1: at the next step of your life. Can you give

802
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:23,239
Speaker 1: us a little background on why you are in the

803
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:27,080
Speaker 1: winery business? Yeah, yeah, you know, because you're right. So

804
00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:29,320
Speaker 1: I grew up and I grew up in in wheat

805
00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:31,400
Speaker 1: farming country and then I went to school at Washington

806
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,880
Speaker 1: State University. I mean, this is this beer drinking country

807
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:38,040
Speaker 1: and it's it's it's uh, you know, and the same

808
00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:39,440
Speaker 1: thing you know with the with the fan base in

809
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,160
Speaker 1: the NFL. But uh, the thing that that happened when

810
00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:44,960
Speaker 1: when when I got into the league and uh, is

811
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:47,600
Speaker 1: that I discovered that there were a lot of a

812
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:49,759
Speaker 1: lot of guys on my team, especially early on with

813
00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:52,400
Speaker 1: the Patriots, that really wanted to try something different. And

814
00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:54,440
Speaker 1: so we started drinking wine and talking about it and

815
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:57,040
Speaker 1: the and the thing that would surprise most people is

816
00:48:57,040 --> 00:49:00,319
Speaker 1: the guys that that got into it the most with me,

817
00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:03,440
Speaker 1: we're linebackers, you know, Teddy Bruce Ky and Ted Johnson

818
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:06,440
Speaker 1: and Mike Brable and and then my a couple of

819
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:12,480
Speaker 1: my lineman Bruce Armstrong, big wine guy, and love those guys. Man, well,

820
00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:15,080
Speaker 1: Bruce Armstrong should be in the profitt Ball Hall of Fame.

821
00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:18,000
Speaker 1: But that's another subject front at the time. Um, but

822
00:49:18,040 --> 00:49:20,080
Speaker 1: you'd be kind of surprised that we would get together

823
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:22,720
Speaker 1: and I would tell those guys to bring over a

824
00:49:22,719 --> 00:49:24,880
Speaker 1: fancy bottle of wine. I would bring something from my

825
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:27,560
Speaker 1: little hometown out here in Walla, Walla, and we would

826
00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:29,719
Speaker 1: put them in paper bags and we would blind taste them,

827
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:32,320
Speaker 1: you know, just being complete you know, wine dorks and

828
00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:35,680
Speaker 1: and uh and we would just be tough football player.

829
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:39,560
Speaker 1: Absolutely you would, yeah, you would. You did you know

830
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:42,839
Speaker 1: lat backers they move forward, they don't move back. And

831
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:44,319
Speaker 1: but then all of a sudden you got one of

832
00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:46,520
Speaker 1: these big tough guys with his little pinky finger out

833
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:50,000
Speaker 1: swirling wine and a white pass it. But the cool

834
00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:51,680
Speaker 1: thing when we did that, I would bring some wine

835
00:49:51,719 --> 00:49:53,520
Speaker 1: from my hometown and we would put them in paper

836
00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:55,479
Speaker 1: bags and we would win, you know, but I would

837
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,680
Speaker 1: bring these these wines that that nobody had ever heard of,

838
00:49:57,760 --> 00:50:00,440
Speaker 1: and we would win the competition. Set I got my

839
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:02,560
Speaker 1: mind working and thinking maybe that would be that would

840
00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:05,719
Speaker 1: be a potential career after I was done. Now that's

841
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:08,160
Speaker 1: you hanging out with the fellas. Now when did you

842
00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:11,279
Speaker 1: move your wife into saying okay, I think we may

843
00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:14,719
Speaker 1: have something was was shed to you know, because I'm

844
00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:17,160
Speaker 1: marriage so I know the role that a wife can

845
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:19,879
Speaker 1: play because there's sometimes the light bulb wa go off

846
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:22,960
Speaker 1: faster with them than with me sometimes, you know. So,

847
00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:25,600
Speaker 1: how how did she come into play? Because, like you said,

848
00:50:25,640 --> 00:50:28,400
Speaker 1: when it comes to running the business, the board, the palette,

849
00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:32,600
Speaker 1: how does she play a role in the next step? Well, uh,

850
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:35,120
Speaker 1: you know, the biggest, the biggest thing. And she and

851
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:38,319
Speaker 1: I both had this the same fear because we had

852
00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:41,160
Speaker 1: seen people as they've made that transition out of professional

853
00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:44,040
Speaker 1: sports and into the rest of their life. Um, there

854
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:45,759
Speaker 1: are a lot of guys that really struggled with that.

855
00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:49,080
Speaker 1: And when I when I looked at h at that

856
00:50:49,200 --> 00:50:51,080
Speaker 1: it was it was scary. You know, I was in

857
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:53,279
Speaker 1: the middle of my career and you know, but you know,

858
00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:55,960
Speaker 1: you're playing professional sports. I mean, it's it's the coolest

859
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:58,640
Speaker 1: thing you could ever possibly do. I loved every I

860
00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:00,560
Speaker 1: loved every second of it. And go back and do

861
00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:03,160
Speaker 1: it all over again. But one of the hard parts

862
00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:05,359
Speaker 1: is that that that if you're really really fortunate, which

863
00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:07,280
Speaker 1: I was, you get to play into your mid thirties

864
00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:09,239
Speaker 1: and then they show you the door and and you

865
00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:10,560
Speaker 1: you've got to figure out what to do with the

866
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:13,040
Speaker 1: rest of your life. You know, we're both both afraid

867
00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:15,040
Speaker 1: of that. And she when I when I first of all,

868
00:51:15,040 --> 00:51:17,479
Speaker 1: when I retired from football, she challenged me really hard

869
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:20,480
Speaker 1: as to whether I was ready to retire, when I

870
00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:23,560
Speaker 1: was ready to not do that anymore. She pushed back

871
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:25,879
Speaker 1: on me really hard. But then once I did, um,

872
00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:28,920
Speaker 1: you know, I think we both knew that that I

873
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:31,319
Speaker 1: was going to need to be um, you know, I

874
00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:32,839
Speaker 1: was going to need to be productive. I was gonna

875
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:35,120
Speaker 1: need to have something that that was engaging to me,

876
00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:38,840
Speaker 1: you know. And uh, and so she was entirely supportive

877
00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:41,720
Speaker 1: of of of you know, this wine business, and plus

878
00:51:41,719 --> 00:51:43,560
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's enjoyable and something that she was

879
00:51:43,560 --> 00:51:46,839
Speaker 1: passionate about as well. So it worked out really well.

880
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:49,239
Speaker 1: And any the other part is that she she just

881
00:51:49,440 --> 00:51:50,680
Speaker 1: she knew I was gonna be have to be out

882
00:51:50,719 --> 00:51:52,600
Speaker 1: of the house where she was gonna kill me. But

883
00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:55,480
Speaker 1: I was around too. If I was around too much.

884
00:51:55,480 --> 00:51:58,600
Speaker 1: It was not gonna work very well. So um, but no,

885
00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:01,360
Speaker 1: it was really a thing that we that we designed

886
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:04,000
Speaker 1: and built and grew together and now we have a

887
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:06,200
Speaker 1: lot of fun with it. Okay, great, Before we go

888
00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 1: in front, I wanna talk. I read this big old

889
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:10,920
Speaker 1: article on uh it was on ESPN dot com. It

890
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:15,200
Speaker 1: was talking about NBA players how they have an affection

891
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:18,520
Speaker 1: for wine, and it was really and and to hear

892
00:52:18,560 --> 00:52:20,920
Speaker 1: you talk, so it's really I I like bringing that

893
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:24,360
Speaker 1: up because athletes in general have this certain vision of

894
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:27,560
Speaker 1: being tough, for being a guy that you know, you're

895
00:52:27,600 --> 00:52:30,400
Speaker 1: the words man's man. And when you hear wine, you know,

896
00:52:30,680 --> 00:52:32,880
Speaker 1: my wife is a big wine drinker. You know, I

897
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:35,680
Speaker 1: got you know, she she she, she looks at it

898
00:52:35,719 --> 00:52:38,600
Speaker 1: from a certain different a different angle. And when I

899
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:41,239
Speaker 1: when you hear when I got excited about the whole

900
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:44,440
Speaker 1: prospect though you know you're talking about Lebron, James, Chris, Paul,

901
00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:47,840
Speaker 1: all these are big time wine drinkers. When you don't know,

902
00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:50,360
Speaker 1: if you're familiar with that story, does that when you

903
00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:52,640
Speaker 1: hear stories like they get out, that doesn't help your

904
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,360
Speaker 1: your brand, doesn't help your industry. And how do you

905
00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:58,040
Speaker 1: use that the like market. Can't you use that to

906
00:52:58,120 --> 00:53:02,560
Speaker 1: market your your brand on and we encourage you know

907
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:04,760
Speaker 1: now you know one of the one of the reasons

908
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:07,480
Speaker 1: you know that that guys are are are going that

909
00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:10,440
Speaker 1: direction because it's it's it's healthier, it's it's actually good

910
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:12,120
Speaker 1: for you. And there's some studies out there. I mean,

911
00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:16,040
Speaker 1: there's a there's a recent study that that needs to

912
00:53:16,040 --> 00:53:18,239
Speaker 1: be shared everywhere that if you drink more wine, you

913
00:53:18,280 --> 00:53:22,320
Speaker 1: live longer. Um and uh so, uh so, so I

914
00:53:22,360 --> 00:53:25,680
Speaker 1: need I need to catch up with my wife absolutely

915
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:28,000
Speaker 1: other you know, you don't want her, you don't want

916
00:53:28,040 --> 00:53:31,359
Speaker 1: her to be lonely. So you've got to live as

917
00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:32,880
Speaker 1: long as she does. That you're gonna drink a lot

918
00:53:32,880 --> 00:53:35,080
Speaker 1: of wine, housing money that you gonna have some money.

919
00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:38,600
Speaker 1: That's a sampoint And I am officially gonna start sampling

920
00:53:38,600 --> 00:53:40,680
Speaker 1: with her from now there you go. I love it.

921
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:44,000
Speaker 1: I love it, but no, it's it's extremely helpful for

922
00:53:44,040 --> 00:53:47,239
Speaker 1: our business. A matter of fact, lebron took took great

923
00:53:47,239 --> 00:53:49,120
Speaker 1: care of me. At what a year and a half ago,

924
00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:52,960
Speaker 1: during the playoffs there was the NFL. It was NBC

925
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:55,760
Speaker 1: did a little, uh a little blur about our winery

926
00:53:55,760 --> 00:53:58,560
Speaker 1: and Lebron sent sent a tweet asking me for some

927
00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:02,000
Speaker 1: wine and and that that that that certainly certainly helps

928
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:04,400
Speaker 1: him sales, so obviously set him off a couple of

929
00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:08,160
Speaker 1: bottles to try. And but yeah, it's no definitely beneficial

930
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:11,000
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, it's just it's a it's an

931
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:13,600
Speaker 1: interesting beverage. It's different, you know, at least to me,

932
00:54:13,640 --> 00:54:16,919
Speaker 1: it's different from uh from beer whiskey. It's just it's

933
00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:21,400
Speaker 1: it's got a complexity and some interesting aspects to it,

934
00:54:21,440 --> 00:54:23,759
Speaker 1: and it just really really elevates some meal when you

935
00:54:23,920 --> 00:54:27,640
Speaker 1: sit down. I know, I know you in Washington, which

936
00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:30,880
Speaker 1: is the northwest part of the country. Uh CJ. McCullen,

937
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:34,640
Speaker 1: Port Latreille Direct Blaze is a big wine drinker. And

938
00:54:34,719 --> 00:54:37,359
Speaker 1: uh Damian Leonard there was in that same article. So

939
00:54:37,719 --> 00:54:40,600
Speaker 1: just letting you know, Lebron will in Cleveland, So there's

940
00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:42,680
Speaker 1: some boards right there in Oregon. You might want to

941
00:54:42,760 --> 00:54:44,360
Speaker 1: drop a couple of bottle of wine because there's a

942
00:54:44,360 --> 00:54:46,920
Speaker 1: big wine drink. Because I know, it's all about relationship.

943
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:49,680
Speaker 1: That social media is so powerful. You can take those

944
00:54:49,719 --> 00:54:52,040
Speaker 1: screenshots and just share them and all that good stuff.

945
00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:54,280
Speaker 1: So that's a that's a big move by Lebron because

946
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:58,120
Speaker 1: he is by far the most powerful athlete in the world,

947
00:54:58,160 --> 00:55:00,040
Speaker 1: in the in the in the sport of football, on

948
00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:02,880
Speaker 1: the sport of basketball, on the sport of baseball that

949
00:55:02,960 --> 00:55:05,839
Speaker 1: America has to offer. So let's talk about your your

950
00:55:06,000 --> 00:55:09,200
Speaker 1: your vineyars, my friend you and UH and you launched

951
00:55:09,200 --> 00:55:12,160
Speaker 1: a double back and the state focused winder that produces

952
00:55:12,239 --> 00:55:16,600
Speaker 1: world class UH cabinet from the Walla Walla Valley. So

953
00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:20,200
Speaker 1: is it about the soil? Because I was doing my research,

954
00:55:20,239 --> 00:55:21,960
Speaker 1: I was I was trying to get ready for you, Drew.

955
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:24,200
Speaker 1: I would try to get ready for you, man. Yeah, No,

956
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:26,880
Speaker 1: it's it. It's it's about two things. It's about your

957
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:29,400
Speaker 1: soil and about your weather and our climate we're in

958
00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:32,319
Speaker 1: We're in a high desert climate. Um, and so what

959
00:55:32,440 --> 00:55:34,719
Speaker 1: we get to these long hot summer days, we get

960
00:55:34,719 --> 00:55:37,200
Speaker 1: really cool nights, and we've got this deep, poorest soil

961
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:40,880
Speaker 1: with you know, with rainfall it only happens in the

962
00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:43,160
Speaker 1: winter and the summertime we can control it. And so

963
00:55:43,239 --> 00:55:47,120
Speaker 1: you just have this confluence of events that allows us

964
00:55:47,520 --> 00:55:49,120
Speaker 1: to grow some of the best wine groups in the

965
00:55:49,239 --> 00:55:52,680
Speaker 1: entire world. I'm gonna tell you this. A McDonald name

966
00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:55,239
Speaker 1: is gonna pop up on your wine club. I'm not

967
00:55:55,280 --> 00:55:58,080
Speaker 1: gonna say her first name, but it's gonna pop up,

968
00:55:58,360 --> 00:56:03,040
Speaker 1: gonna help McDonald. That will be wife, sir. And so

969
00:56:03,040 --> 00:56:04,960
Speaker 1: so when you see that McDonald, you said, this is

970
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:10,400
Speaker 1: Rahan's wife. Here some wine because she loves it. I like,

971
00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:12,840
Speaker 1: I said, uh this, I know she's gonna tease me

972
00:56:12,840 --> 00:56:15,440
Speaker 1: about this interview because of the fact that I just

973
00:56:15,440 --> 00:56:18,120
Speaker 1: tried to bring attention to people who are doing successful things.

974
00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:20,960
Speaker 1: You're You're a great family man. I followed your career,

975
00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:23,880
Speaker 1: been a big fan you. You know, uh, just just

976
00:56:24,040 --> 00:56:27,080
Speaker 1: just seeing you make this transition and and and and

977
00:56:27,120 --> 00:56:30,160
Speaker 1: building the business, building the brand, and a legacy for

978
00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:34,160
Speaker 1: your kids is not tied to athletics. That's amazing, my friend. Well,

979
00:56:34,200 --> 00:56:37,640
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. You know, I had great role models.

980
00:56:37,680 --> 00:56:40,120
Speaker 1: None of us, you know, there's nobody out there that's

981
00:56:40,160 --> 00:56:42,080
Speaker 1: successful to gets thrown there. And I had great role

982
00:56:42,080 --> 00:56:44,920
Speaker 1: models and my parents and some great coaches and and uh.

983
00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:47,040
Speaker 1: And then since I one of the things that I've

984
00:56:47,120 --> 00:56:51,520
Speaker 1: encouraged other athletes to do that's been so amazingly helpful

985
00:56:51,560 --> 00:56:53,560
Speaker 1: to me is that I've got a group of business

986
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:56,240
Speaker 1: mentors now and everything that I do in our business.

987
00:56:56,239 --> 00:56:59,120
Speaker 1: I have, um, you know, eight or nine guys that

988
00:56:59,160 --> 00:57:09,000
Speaker 1: I can go to. You need to check out the

989
00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:12,719
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990
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991
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992
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993
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994
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995
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