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Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Coney Witt, and today we have very

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Speaker 1: special guest, Kenneth Monroe, also known as penn Ken in

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Speaker 1: the building. Very excited to have you. Oh, I forgot

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Speaker 1: to introduce guys. He is an author of children's books

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Speaker 1: and many more a long time over twenty years as

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Speaker 1: an entrepreneur. But what caught my eye is your books

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Speaker 1: Legends of Hip Hop dedicated to children. We got Tupac,

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Speaker 1: Queen Latifa, Kid and Play, and we have Biggie And

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Speaker 1: before they started taping day, I was grilling you because

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Speaker 1: he does not have jay Z. And if everyone who

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Speaker 1: knows me knows that I am a huge jay Z

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Speaker 1: fan and I would have loved to see a jay Z.

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Speaker 1: There's next one.

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Speaker 2: It's more they're doing well, so it's more to come.

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Speaker 1: Yes, they're all and that's even better to hair. So

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Speaker 1: before we get started into your story, what are you

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Speaker 1: gonna have me eating today?

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Speaker 3: So what I'm gonna have you eat is a meal

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Speaker 3: that one of my mentors taught me years ago in Oakland, California,

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Speaker 3: five to one over the town. And these are called

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Speaker 3: player potatoes. Player potatoes is something that gets you by.

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Speaker 3: It don't cost a lot, but it's enough ingredients in

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Speaker 3: there to get it's fulfilling. You have your potatoes, you

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Speaker 3: have your cut up garlic, you have your cut up carrots, bell, pepper,

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Speaker 3: and it's something that you can make that you can

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Speaker 3: eat it two three times with one server.

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Speaker 1: So and it's very affordable, extremely affordable because this is

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Speaker 1: like under five dollars in this economy, and you can

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Speaker 1: eat you get survived. Yeah, yeah, you can survive. It

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Speaker 1: will keep you.

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Speaker 3: Bulky absolutely when you loan funds and stuff like that.

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Speaker 3: When you grinding, you can make a part of this

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Speaker 3: and you can eat it twice in one day and

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Speaker 3: still have a little bit left over for the next day.

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Speaker 1: Nice. So how long on average does it take to

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Speaker 1: make this dish?

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Speaker 2: About twenty twenty twenty five minutes.

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Speaker 1: Okay, go ahead, start cooking it.

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Speaker 2: Do it.

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Speaker 1: This will be my I eat cereal in the morning.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm like a little kid. I eat fruity pebbles

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Speaker 1: or Captain crunch. No healthy cereals here. When you have

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Speaker 1: a little kid, you know that you become a little

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Speaker 1: kid again. I did not know that's the thing. When

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Speaker 1: you become an adult and you have kids, you get

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Speaker 1: to become a kid again.

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Speaker 2: That's the fall part, yes, and.

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Speaker 1: One of the things not trying to sidetrack at all,

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Speaker 1: but as becoming a new mom, I did do by

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Speaker 1: a lot of kid books, and I started to realize,

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Speaker 1: like some of the publishers I liked when I was

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Speaker 1: a kid, I was like, why Doctor Zeus was one

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Speaker 1: of them. Ah, I can't do it with these classes

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Speaker 1: talking to me thank you while we're taping. They're like

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Speaker 1: sending me messages and I'm like, oh no, I can't

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Speaker 1: do it. I am terrible. I'm multitasking. But I will

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Speaker 1: say I do read these children's books, and some of

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Speaker 1: them they're either long winded or for Doctor Zeus in

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Speaker 1: the case Doctor Zeus was like too arithmatic. It was like,

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Speaker 1: you're not even making sense. And nowadays so you see

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Speaker 1: these cartoons and they don't really have an underlining. In

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Speaker 1: my opinion, they don't make sense. Like a lion falling

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Speaker 1: in love with.

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Speaker 3: A dear we can't relate to that, we can't resonate with.

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Speaker 3: And that's one of the things where I wanted to

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Speaker 3: do the books because we didn't have nothing for the

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Speaker 3: culture for us. Hip hop is a big part of

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Speaker 3: us in the culture. And when I was doing my

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Speaker 3: research before I started the books, I'm like, when I

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Speaker 3: first sign with my agent, the first thing I told her,

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Speaker 3: I said, I don't want.

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Speaker 2: To do them, no cute bedtime stories.

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Speaker 3: I'm like, if I want to if I'm gonna get

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Speaker 3: into this industry, you have to be books that's going

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Speaker 3: to touch the culture, the kids to parents, something that

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Speaker 3: we all can resonate with that we grew up on.

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Speaker 3: So I'm like, it's nothing touching on music. Music is

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Speaker 3: such a big part of our world and our culture.

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Speaker 3: Why aren't kids learning about our hip hop he ros?

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Speaker 3: When we in school, we learn about presidents all these

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Speaker 3: type of holidays, but we don't learn about hip hop

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Speaker 3: and where it started in the origins of it. So

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Speaker 3: I told my agent, said, I want to do a

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Speaker 3: hip hop series and this is before hip hop fifty.

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Speaker 1: And I love this too because kids are seeing kids

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Speaker 1: that are reflections of themselves, which you know, you have

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Speaker 1: people of color in the book. Obviously it's hip hop,

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Speaker 1: but we don't really have a lot of that going

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Speaker 1: on either.

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Speaker 3: And everything comes back for a circle. Imagine when Wese

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Speaker 3: kids think about it. What was we listening to around

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Speaker 3: the house, the old school, the seventies music. So these

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Speaker 3: kids in this generation, they need to know about the

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Speaker 3: legends that we grew up on exactly.

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Speaker 1: Let's get into Take me back to what was going

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Speaker 1: on during the time of potatoes, and this you said

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Speaker 1: came from your mentors.

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Speaker 2: And they called play a potatoes potatoes.

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Speaker 1: Take me back to what was going on when you

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Speaker 1: got advice to make play of potatoes to survive.

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Speaker 3: So this was a time we experienced different things in

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Speaker 3: our life, different hardships that we have to persevere through,

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Speaker 3: but we always remember our first time experiencing hardship for real.

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Speaker 3: Even if we have different hardships throughout our life, you

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Speaker 3: will never forget the first time you really experience like

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Speaker 3: what it means to be.

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Speaker 2: Low and down.

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Speaker 3: I grew up in EA, Chicago, Indiana, a two parent household,

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Speaker 3: my parents two two jobs, great jobs, my whole like

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Speaker 3: me and my little brother, I didn't struggle growing up.

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Speaker 3: I could not have asked for a better childhood. My

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Speaker 3: mother and father, they just from what they taught us

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Speaker 3: and how they raised us. They just raised us the

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Speaker 3: right way, and we was grateful that they could be

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Speaker 3: able to afford things and do things with us to

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Speaker 3: provide a great childhood for us. I went to school.

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Speaker 3: I went to school in Arizona's where I went to

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Speaker 3: college at and after my second major of communications, and

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Speaker 3: after my second year, I was like, I don't want

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Speaker 3: to go to school no more. I knew I wanted

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Speaker 3: to get into the entertainment. I knew the corporate life

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Speaker 3: wasn't going to be for me. I never worked a

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Speaker 3: corporate job in my life. It was like I fifty, say,

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Speaker 3: get rich of Doe, Tryne. For me, it was entertainment

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Speaker 3: of that trine. So after my second year, I told

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Speaker 3: my parents, I said, I know who I am. I

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Speaker 3: know what I want to be. Some kids just know

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Speaker 3: who they want to be early. I knew in high

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Speaker 3: school what I wanted to be. It was just about

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Speaker 3: waiting for the opportunities.

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Speaker 1: And what did you want to do in high school?

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Speaker 3: In high school? In high school, I was like, one day,

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Speaker 3: I want to go to LA. In high school, go

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Speaker 3: to LA and see what the entertainment industry is about.

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Speaker 3: I was always in high school. I was popular. I

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Speaker 3: was known a lot of my personality of the classes

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Speaker 3: and stuff that I was.

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Speaker 2: In was like communication classes and TV classes.

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Speaker 3: I played sports, so I knew that sitting behind the

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Speaker 3: desk wasn't just gonna be my journey. So after my

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Speaker 3: second year in college, I told my parents. I said,

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Speaker 3: I don't want to waste no more time to do

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Speaker 3: another two years, knowing this is not what I want

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Speaker 3: to do. They teach us to go get your degree,

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Speaker 3: go work for something for thirty years, get your pension.

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Speaker 1: How did your parents take the news.

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Speaker 2: I have some very supportive parents, and that's one thing

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Speaker 2: I've learned through other feings.

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Speaker 1: Parents sound amazing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I have very supportive parents. You got parents that

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Speaker 3: try to hold their kids back from what they want

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Speaker 3: to do. My parents was like, we don't know nothing

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Speaker 3: about Hollywood. My mother was scared to death. She said,

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Speaker 3: but if this is what you want to do, we

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Speaker 3: can hold you back. And so they said, this is

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Speaker 3: what we're gonna do. We're gonna go out here to

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Speaker 3: La We're gonna get your apartment. We ain't gonna get

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Speaker 3: your apartment in the hood and nothing. We're gonna get

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Speaker 3: you apartment, a nice apartment where it's happened in that.

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Speaker 3: We're gonna pay your first year rent. No, absolutely, we

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Speaker 3: don't pay your We don't want you to be in

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Speaker 3: the hood and the sketchy areas, gangs out there, we

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Speaker 3: don't want you to be. We want to put you

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Speaker 3: in the white area where everything happened. And so they

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Speaker 3: put me in the Valley studio city absolutely, so it

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Speaker 3: was like I found the roommate. It said, for this

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Speaker 3: first year, we want you to hustle, we want you

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Speaker 3: to network, we want you to find your way, meet people, this,

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Speaker 3: and that. After the first year, you should be good

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Speaker 3: enough to start hustling and making a couple of dollars

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Speaker 3: to start funding your apartment, whatever you need to do.

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Speaker 3: So that whole first year I did nothing. But I'm

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Speaker 3: a people person. I call myself I'm a master in networking.

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Speaker 3: That's just who I was my whole life growing up.

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Speaker 3: So that first year I was just getting into different

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Speaker 3: things and just I started working for MTV and doing

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Speaker 3: re member of dismissing all them shows. That was back

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Speaker 3: in the day. It was a lot of shows on TV.

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Speaker 3: I started working doing shows for.

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Speaker 1: MTV and you were doing intern level or what No.

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Speaker 2: I was doing TV shows like talent you know what

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Speaker 2: I mean, like.

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Speaker 1: Bucking the talent or I was the talent. Okay, oh

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Speaker 1: you were getting paid and stuff.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I was getting paid back in them days, like

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Speaker 3: the reality shows, they pay you I think five hundred

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Speaker 3: dollars or a few hundred dollars.

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Speaker 2: They want nothing.

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Speaker 3: But I was doing like different shows. And then I

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Speaker 3: started working for a playboy and doing different things. And

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Speaker 3: that whole year, I was just meeting a lot of

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Speaker 3: people and I was just building my network. And long

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Speaker 3: story short, after that first year was over, or around

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Speaker 3: towards the first year, that's when I met my mentor.

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Speaker 3: He had came to my apartment complex. He was he

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Speaker 3: did real estate, He did a lot of the music industry.

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Speaker 3: He is a guy that taught me a lot just

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Speaker 3: about life. And when he met me, he took a

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Speaker 3: liking to me and said, you're really talented.

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Speaker 2: I believe in you. He said, if you ever get

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Speaker 2: in the buying or something like that, just let me know.

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Speaker 3: This guy had I called him pimping because he had

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Speaker 3: so many women he like. When I met him, he

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Speaker 3: was in a drop top baby blue Rolls Royce when

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Speaker 3: he came to the like, he had limos. He was

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Speaker 3: just like but he was a good guy. But he

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Speaker 3: took care of the hood.

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Speaker 2: He was that guy.

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Speaker 3: But he was around a lot of dope heads and

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Speaker 3: drug dealers and alcoholics and just from trying to help

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Speaker 3: people and put people on.

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Speaker 1: So what did he do for work?

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Speaker 2: Real estate?

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Speaker 1: He did real estate, and he did while you go ahead,

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Speaker 1: start cooking.

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Speaker 3: While he did he did real estate, and he did

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Speaker 3: a lot in the music industry.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm good.

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Speaker 3: He did real estate and a lot in the music industry.

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Speaker 3: After the first year, I had met a woman and

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Speaker 3: she had a small daughter. She had a small daughter,

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Speaker 3: she was like two three years old, and she had

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Speaker 3: just got out of a divorce with a big TV producer,

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Speaker 3: and the TV world, it was a lot of long

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Speaker 3: hours and stuff like that. So when I met her,

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Speaker 3: she was fifteen years older than me, and that was

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Speaker 3: my first time dating a older woman. And she had

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Speaker 3: a small kid, and we got really close, and I

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Speaker 3: became really close with the kid. So we started dating

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Speaker 3: and got in a serious relationship. And after that first

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Speaker 3: she was older than fifteen years older than me, had

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Speaker 3: her own money all the time, said I'm a young kid.

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Speaker 3: And and after that first year, I stopped telling my

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Speaker 3: mother and father things because I wanted to show them

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Speaker 3: that I was growing up, and I just didn't want

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Speaker 3: to use them for a crutch every time I needed

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Speaker 3: something or to bail me out.

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Speaker 2: So I went and got a little job at office depot,

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean.

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Speaker 3: Didn't want to do it, but I wanted to show

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Speaker 3: my woman that I got my all money.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna get a few dollars.

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Speaker 3: I'm not about to be taking you out to dinner,

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Speaker 3: panding on my parents' allowance. Like fifteen years old than me.

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Speaker 3: I'm like, I got to grow up at some point.

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Speaker 3: I didn't want that job, but I went and so

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Speaker 3: I was stocking the shelves. I think it was twelve

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Speaker 3: dollars hour.

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Speaker 2: It want nothing. I got a job.

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Speaker 3: After five months, I said, I'm not doing it. I said,

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Speaker 3: this ain't me. I'm not about to force myself to

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Speaker 3: do this. Things start getting hard. I wasn't telling my

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Speaker 3: parents what I was going through. They had called me

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Speaker 3: a check on me and how I'm doing this, and

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Speaker 3: that I was lying the whole time. I'm doing this,

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Speaker 3: I'm doing that. I'm getting some money, but I'm struggling

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Speaker 3: the whole time. I'm behind. I'm behind on my rent.

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Speaker 3: I had a roommate I'm behind on my rent. Things

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Speaker 3: was going on. I got so deep that I got evicted.

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Speaker 1: Oh wow, and you still ain't.

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Speaker 3: I had to at that point because they had to

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Speaker 3: help me bail me out.

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Speaker 1: And was their name on the apartment too?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Oh wow? So you was did they handle that? Did

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Speaker 1: you get in trouble?

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Speaker 3: I didn't get I didn't get like in real trouble.

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Speaker 3: But they gave me a long talk. They gave me

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Speaker 3: a long talk.

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Speaker 2: And I got it. I got evicted.

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Speaker 3: I had just recently, me and my girls together about

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Speaker 3: a year and a half. We had just recently broke

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Speaker 3: up because we was going into two different directions and

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Speaker 3: she wanted to get married again. I'm like twenty one

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Speaker 3: years old. Yeah I'm vib and that's not what I

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Speaker 3: wanted to do. And the thing that hurt me the

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Speaker 3: most is that me and her daughter was very close,

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Speaker 3: and it's like walking out of a kid's life when

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Speaker 3: they three four years old, walking out of kids like

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Speaker 3: when they're three four years old.

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Speaker 2: And that kind of messed me up mentally. That hurt me.

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Speaker 3: My mentor in Oakland, he was like, you either gonna

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Speaker 3: go home or you can come out here until you

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Speaker 3: get on your feet.

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Speaker 1: So he said, come out where to Oakland.

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Speaker 2: He had this big house.

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Speaker 3: He was the only he he was the only black

289
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Speaker 3: person in the hills of Oakland, waterfalls, all his backyard.

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Speaker 3: He was like, like the only black all white people around,

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Speaker 3: the only black person in the hills of Oakland.

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Speaker 2: It was crazy.

293
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Speaker 3: So when I went out there, that was the first

294
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Speaker 3: time when I learned real life. He was like, I

295
00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,079
Speaker 3: ain't gonna I ain't gonna treat you like your mama.

296
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Speaker 3: You're about to grow up. He was like, you've been

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Speaker 3: spoiled too much. He was like, you like you're facing

298
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Speaker 3: hardships and this is what real life is about. And

299
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Speaker 3: he used to like he used to have me around

300
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Speaker 3: a whole bunch of like drug addicts and alcoholics and

301
00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,360
Speaker 3: people that he dealt with, just to show me like

302
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Speaker 3: this could be you if you don't clean up this Hollywood,

303
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Speaker 3: this this California.

304
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Speaker 2: This ain't like backing your hometown.

305
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Speaker 3: If you want to survive and make it out, hear,

306
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Speaker 3: you gotta grow up and you gotta start understanding the game.

307
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Speaker 3: So he when he did that, he used to take

308
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Speaker 3: me around a lot of meetings and stuff. He was like,

309
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Speaker 3: I'm gonna take you around all these meetings with me

310
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Speaker 3: unless you see how you conduct business, how you do things. Now,

311
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Speaker 3: one thing, one valuable thing that he taught me, and

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Speaker 3: I appreciate him to this day. He said, the people

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Speaker 3: that's gonna end up helping you in your life is

314
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Speaker 3: going to be women.

315
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Speaker 2: He said, yeah, shut out to the women.

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Speaker 3: Ninety percent of the people that was in his life

317
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Speaker 3: that he was doing business was women. He was like, look,

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Speaker 3: you got charisma, you good looking, you got a good

319
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Speaker 3: head on your shoulders. He said, a lot of guys

320
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Speaker 3: is gonna hate that. A lot of guys that can't

321
00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:20,960
Speaker 3: give you opportunity not going on to get an opportunity.

322
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Speaker 3: A lot of guy's not even going with you around

323
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Speaker 3: a woman, you know what I mean. And at the time,

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Speaker 3: I'm like, what do all this mean? And so he

325
00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,760
Speaker 3: started taking me around all these means and started letting

326
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Speaker 3: me see, like how he was conducting business with women.

327
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Speaker 3: Shark women I'm talking about. He had sharp women, entrepreneur women,

328
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Speaker 3: this and that. So he was like, use your gifts.

329
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Speaker 3: He was like, you have to use your gifts to

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Speaker 3: get ahead in life. He was like, women is more responsible.

331
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Speaker 3: They don't procrastinate like men. He was like, they don't

332
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Speaker 3: have no reason to hate on you. A guy hate

333
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Speaker 3: on you before a woman will in a second. He

334
00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:52,600
Speaker 3: was like, get some sharp woman on your team. He

335
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,200
Speaker 3: was like, I'm not talking about just like on dating.

336
00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:57,520
Speaker 3: He was like, I'm talking about handling business. Learn how

337
00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,360
Speaker 3: to do business with smart business like women, and you're

338
00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:02,920
Speaker 3: gonna see how your life donna change. So I was

339
00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,960
Speaker 3: in Oakland like a year, and after that lesson, when

340
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,240
Speaker 3: I went back to LA, I kept my network the

341
00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,120
Speaker 3: whole time. When I went back to LA.

342
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Speaker 1: Where you were out there for a whole year, year,

343
00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:14,920
Speaker 1: I was out there.

344
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Speaker 2: For a year. I was out there for the year.

345
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Speaker 3: And it was times I was out there I was

346
00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,000
Speaker 3: at my breaking point, but I just said, I'm not

347
00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:21,600
Speaker 3: going to give up.

348
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,360
Speaker 2: I'm not going home. It's not no option.

349
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Speaker 3: And when I went back to LA, I started gathering

350
00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,640
Speaker 3: my network and I started throwing the biggest parties in Hollywood.

351
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Speaker 2: I'm talking about not clubs.

352
00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:38,400
Speaker 3: I'm talking about like Manches, hotels, yachts, like from bel Air,

353
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,720
Speaker 3: Beverly Hills. I was doing it in like Miami, South

354
00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,440
Speaker 3: Beach Vegas. The women I was dealing with used to

355
00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,000
Speaker 3: give me their homes to throw parties in, and they

356
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:48,880
Speaker 3: didn't want no money.

357
00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,040
Speaker 2: They was like, we're gonna give you our house throw

358
00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:52,680
Speaker 2: a party in.

359
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,840
Speaker 3: And that's how like my network started when I started

360
00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,200
Speaker 3: throwing all these big parties. But I wasn't making no

361
00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:00,840
Speaker 3: money at first, because you gotta fake it until you

362
00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:01,160
Speaker 3: make it.

363
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:02,360
Speaker 2: Of course, the type of.

364
00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,840
Speaker 3: Parties, yeah, the type of parties I was throwing was

365
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,160
Speaker 3: they was celebrity parties and high level parties.

366
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,000
Speaker 2: So you can't really asking people.

367
00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,080
Speaker 3: For no money when they're giving you they homes and

368
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,760
Speaker 3: different things to throw parties in. And even the people

369
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,000
Speaker 3: that's coming, you can't really ask them for money. You

370
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:21,880
Speaker 3: gotta do the parties and build your network. So I'm

371
00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,040
Speaker 3: still struggling, but I'm faking until I make it. I

372
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,200
Speaker 3: got all these rich people, Hollywood people in all these rooms,

373
00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:29,840
Speaker 3: but and we party. I'm building my network. But I'm like,

374
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,600
Speaker 3: I'm betting on myself. If they liked me, they're gonna

375
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:34,640
Speaker 3: want to help me down the line. So when my

376
00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:36,440
Speaker 3: mother used to call me and say how you get money?

377
00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,800
Speaker 2: What is you doing? I used to tell my mom

378
00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:39,680
Speaker 2: I had a job.

379
00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:41,640
Speaker 3: I used to always tell her my work for the

380
00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:43,680
Speaker 3: move of companies that help people move out their homes,

381
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,880
Speaker 3: like the moving trucks. I'm lying the whole time, but

382
00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:49,880
Speaker 3: you know how I really was getting money until I

383
00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,720
Speaker 3: was able to make some money. I hate to say it,

384
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,760
Speaker 3: but I'm gonna be real. I was getting money because

385
00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,200
Speaker 3: the drug dealers. I used to have people, but they

386
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,720
Speaker 3: used to come in and serve rich people like to

387
00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,680
Speaker 3: get high. They liked when they party that they liked

388
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,400
Speaker 3: to get high. So I had the drug dealers coming

389
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,960
Speaker 3: in serving ecstssy, cocaine, weed, all that just for the party.

390
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:15,120
Speaker 2: I never touched it. I wasn't driving around the car

391
00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:16,760
Speaker 2: with it because I wasn't taking them type of chances.

392
00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:17,000
Speaker 1: Yeah.

393
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,840
Speaker 3: So they used to come in and supply whatever they

394
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,200
Speaker 3: needed at my parties. And by the end of the night,

395
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:29,120
Speaker 3: I get a bankroll. I get a bank roll, just

396
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:30,840
Speaker 3: hand it to me, put in your pocket.

397
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,120
Speaker 2: I leave. It's three four five thousand dollars.

398
00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,080
Speaker 3: That's how I'm paying rent off drug money, you know,

399
00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,400
Speaker 3: because I wasn't getting paid from the parties at first

400
00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:42,800
Speaker 3: until I started building my name. Yeah, so how I

401
00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:48,000
Speaker 3: was surviving was getting a commission on that's the drugs

402
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,520
Speaker 3: that they was hustling at my party. Yeah, So that's

403
00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:54,240
Speaker 3: how I was. That's how I was getting money at first.

404
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,240
Speaker 3: And then once I started building my network and stuff

405
00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,240
Speaker 3: like that, then I was able to start getting sponsors

406
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,400
Speaker 3: and different things start happening as far as where I

407
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,320
Speaker 3: was able to make money. But that's how I started

408
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,000
Speaker 3: throwing a party, and that's how I was making money

409
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,000
Speaker 3: until I was able to start making the real money.

410
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,560
Speaker 3: Drug money was paying my rent and my survival.

411
00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,000
Speaker 1: You survival instincts, and your mentor sounds like he did

412
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,560
Speaker 1: a very good It sounds like he left a lot

413
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,119
Speaker 1: of golden seeds in your head because even if you

414
00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,280
Speaker 1: think of it about it from a business perspective, if

415
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,439
Speaker 1: you're catering to a certain audience and this is what

416
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,760
Speaker 1: they're into, and you cater to them in total capacity,

417
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,200
Speaker 1: they're going to keep coming back. So you did exactly

418
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,080
Speaker 1: what brilliant. I thought you were gonna say sponsors from

419
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:35,919
Speaker 1: the jump, But you're right, it does take time. So

420
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,160
Speaker 1: after you're throwing these parties, what I'm trying to inch

421
00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:40,919
Speaker 1: all the way to the end to where you're at

422
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,920
Speaker 1: today when it comes to being an author in twenty years,

423
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,000
Speaker 1: being an entrepreneur. So I see you started in your

424
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:47,400
Speaker 1: twenties as an entrepreneur.

425
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:49,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, I moved to LA when I was like nineteen.

426
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,280
Speaker 3: After my second year, cops real young and start throwing

427
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,200
Speaker 3: the parties. My run and the parties from was from

428
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,359
Speaker 3: like twenty one to about thirty one. I had about

429
00:17:57,359 --> 00:17:59,680
Speaker 3: a decade run while I was woll I was really.

430
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,040
Speaker 1: Your dad, amazing. I want to go, but you're done.

431
00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:04,120
Speaker 1: You're not doing it anymore.

432
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,440
Speaker 3: I had my daughter and she got me out the game.

433
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,200
Speaker 3: When I have my daughter, I got off social media.

434
00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,159
Speaker 3: I stopped throwing parties. When I became a father, A

435
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,159
Speaker 3: lot of changed for me. But before I had it,

436
00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,280
Speaker 3: from like twenty one to thirty one, I had a

437
00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:18,000
Speaker 3: decade run where I was throwing the biggest parties in Hollywood, Miami,

438
00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,080
Speaker 3: South Beach, Vegas, New York. Like my network became to

439
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,040
Speaker 3: a certain point where I was throwing parties all around

440
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:24,040
Speaker 3: the country where.

441
00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:25,959
Speaker 2: Like it was, but I got caught up.

442
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:27,680
Speaker 3: It was a lifestyle that I would never go back

443
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:29,879
Speaker 3: to because I definitely got caught up. And you spending

444
00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,000
Speaker 3: as fast as you're getting it, and you're seeing a

445
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,240
Speaker 3: lot is happening at there's parties, and you can't keep

446
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,080
Speaker 3: a relationship like that as well. So it was cause

447
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:38,040
Speaker 3: of issues with my relationships.

448
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,720
Speaker 1: And you mean like your personal relationship.

449
00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,639
Speaker 3: Absolutely, because my parties was like eighty percent women my parties.

450
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:45,800
Speaker 3: You walk one of my parties. I was doing parties,

451
00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,800
Speaker 3: Playboy Mansion I was doing. It was like eighty percent women,

452
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,320
Speaker 3: all the parties I was doing. Because that's when my

453
00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:54,000
Speaker 3: mentor taught me, get the women on your team. That's

454
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:54,920
Speaker 3: how you're gonna get money.

455
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:56,879
Speaker 1: That's why he's nicknamed.

456
00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,199
Speaker 2: I name him that because that's how i'm him.

457
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:01,600
Speaker 1: Is he still around.

458
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:04,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, I haven't talked to him, and I haven't talked

459
00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:05,800
Speaker 3: to him in a while. We lost touch a little

460
00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:07,400
Speaker 3: bit throughout the years when I had my daughter, when

461
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,680
Speaker 3: I became a dad. But he's about he about eighty

462
00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:10,120
Speaker 3: years old.

463
00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,879
Speaker 1: Now, wow, he's still doing the lifestyle that he was

464
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:14,560
Speaker 1: when you met him.

465
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:15,920
Speaker 2: No, you can't be doing that at that age.

466
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,000
Speaker 1: It's not an eighty I'm just saying, I don't know

467
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 1: if he's just a retired pick.

468
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,360
Speaker 3: No, he's still gonna beat him. He's still gonna get

469
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,359
Speaker 3: money with women. But he didn't slowed down from that

470
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:25,919
Speaker 3: lifestyle because he eighty Now.

471
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,359
Speaker 1: Okay, did he ever settle down and have kids or

472
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:29,000
Speaker 1: not trying to do.

473
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:31,680
Speaker 2: He do have a kid, He do have a kid

474
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:32,600
Speaker 2: that I was really close with.

475
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,760
Speaker 3: But his lifestyle was just always he wasn't selling down

476
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:36,320
Speaker 3: Mary type.

477
00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:36,720
Speaker 1: God.

478
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:39,320
Speaker 3: He always had women around him like all the time

479
00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,720
Speaker 3: ever since I known him, So that that won his personality.

480
00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:47,000
Speaker 1: Now, all right, so what happens at thirty one where

481
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,440
Speaker 1: you start to take another pivot?

482
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,000
Speaker 2: Thirty one? That changed my life because.

483
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 1: You did that. You did the party scene for thirty

484
00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,480
Speaker 1: or for ten years, right, Yeah, so then what happens

485
00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,640
Speaker 1: for Yeah, tell me what happens at thirty one?

486
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,520
Speaker 3: I was with my girlfriend that held me down. She

487
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:04,280
Speaker 3: she was like seven years older than me, and all

488
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,399
Speaker 3: throughout the Yeah, no, she held me down. She was

489
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 3: somebody that my journey wouldn't be my journey without the

490
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:13,080
Speaker 3: role that she played in my life.

491
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,159
Speaker 2: I'm talking about Ride or Die.

492
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,120
Speaker 3: And we were together for years throughout the whole party scene.

493
00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:23,640
Speaker 3: We had separated and broke up, and when we had separated,

494
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,560
Speaker 3: I mess someone else and she got pregnant fast and

495
00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:29,480
Speaker 3: I had a daughter and.

496
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:30,400
Speaker 2: I had a kid.

497
00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,119
Speaker 3: So when that happened, we were still maybe talking about

498
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,840
Speaker 3: getting back together and whatnot. But once I knew I

499
00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,000
Speaker 3: had a kid on the way, that was over. I

500
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,359
Speaker 3: had to leave La move to Chicago because she was

501
00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 3: from Chicago, and she was like, I don't want to

502
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,160
Speaker 3: get a birth in La.

503
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:46,240
Speaker 1: Oh the girl that you hooked up with.

504
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 2: My daughter's mom.

505
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,119
Speaker 3: Great girl, great family. I appreciate like her family, like

506
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 3: we're still close today. Great person, great family. And I

507
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,520
Speaker 3: come from a father that was in my life. So

508
00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,520
Speaker 3: I wanted about to do no raising, no child long distance.

509
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,800
Speaker 3: I moved to Chicago. I was depressed for a while

510
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:05,640
Speaker 3: because I got a baby on the way. I don't

511
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,560
Speaker 3: know what that's I'm leaving in La, I'm leaving my network,

512
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,120
Speaker 3: I'm leaving my lifestyle, and I'm coming out to Chicago

513
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 3: for the unknown. But thank god for family, thank god

514
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,040
Speaker 3: for family support, because I never knew how hard it

515
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:17,520
Speaker 3: was to have a child as far as just like

516
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,879
Speaker 3: babysitting and just raising a child.

517
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:20,760
Speaker 2: I just never knew.

518
00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:22,200
Speaker 1: So it's like a culture shock.

519
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a culture shock. So it's a.

520
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,280
Speaker 1: It's like jumping into a cold water plunge. You like, wait,

521
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,200
Speaker 1: what differ, don't you?

522
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:31,520
Speaker 2: Yeah?

523
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,879
Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely. It was a culture shock to me. So

524
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 3: when I when she was pregnant. I was at every

525
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:40,439
Speaker 3: doctor visitor, I was involved the whole thing. And I

526
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:42,280
Speaker 3: said to myself, I said, bro, you got to change

527
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:43,720
Speaker 3: your ways. I said, you're about to become a dead

528
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,800
Speaker 3: just the lifestyle that you've had the past ten years.

529
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:48,800
Speaker 3: You can't do that no more. Your father now I

530
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,199
Speaker 3: had to become responsible from a mindset perspective. That was

531
00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,720
Speaker 3: when she told me she was pregnant. A couple months later,

532
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,199
Speaker 3: that's when I got on social media. I ain't been

533
00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 3: on social media in a decade. And I know what

534
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 3: you're gonna say. People always asking how do you do

535
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 3: what you're doing not being on social media when the

536
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:05,640
Speaker 3: whole world is about social media?

537
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,160
Speaker 1: You know what You're right, because I think I did

538
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,359
Speaker 1: try to look you up on social I know I

539
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:10,640
Speaker 1: found you on LinkedIn.

540
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 3: I don't call that social media like a business profile,

541
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 3: but TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

542
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 2: I got off that about close about ten years ago.

543
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 3: And people ask me all the time, how do you

544
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,080
Speaker 3: do everything you're doing and know the people are doing

545
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:25,640
Speaker 3: what you're doing and you're not on social media?

546
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 2: And that's the way the world works.

547
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 3: And I tell people all the time, if you knew

548
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,920
Speaker 3: how to hustle and get money and do your thing

549
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,280
Speaker 3: before social media, you can do it now. Life is

550
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:37,119
Speaker 3: about relationship.

551
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,199
Speaker 1: Really, ten years is a long time of relationships that

552
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 1: are solid.

553
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 3: My relationships is strong, and that's why I tell people

554
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,000
Speaker 3: I don't need to be on social media because my

555
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,160
Speaker 3: relationships I'm talking about twenty years in the game.

556
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:48,000
Speaker 2: People.

557
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:49,680
Speaker 3: A lot of people that's on social media, they force

558
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:50,959
Speaker 3: themselves to be on social media.

559
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 2: If you really think about.

560
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 1: Me, we do. You're watching this.

561
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 3: Clip absolutely, but you don't need social media because if

562
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,879
Speaker 3: your relationship. That's why I tell people I don't cross people.

563
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 3: I don't cross people for no money. I don't cross

564
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 3: I do everything with good intention, of good character in

565
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,359
Speaker 3: my karma good because everything every business, when I do

566
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,080
Speaker 3: business is all good intention. I do things the right way.

567
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 3: So I got relationships that I've had fifteen twenty years ago.

568
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,119
Speaker 3: We still getting money, We're still doing things. So social

569
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,960
Speaker 3: media is not needed for me because people hitting my

570
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 3: line out the time.

571
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:20,280
Speaker 2: It's all referral.

572
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,640
Speaker 3: So I'm the type of person that I know that

573
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 3: if I don't have no money, my phone gonna ring.

574
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,159
Speaker 3: Like you gotta have that mindset it's the work that

575
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:31,440
Speaker 3: you've put in throughout the years.

576
00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,119
Speaker 2: It's then people still gonna ring your phone.

577
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. So you and just you and this

578
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,080
Speaker 1: young lady, do you guys settle down officially as like

579
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:40,680
Speaker 1: a family.

580
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,879
Speaker 3: We did, and unfortunately we broke up when she was

581
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 3: like four years old. But we do a great job

582
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,120
Speaker 3: of co parenting, and it took me a long time

583
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,800
Speaker 3: to She has a new boyfriend that she's been with

584
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 3: for a few years, and as a father, you don't

585
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,320
Speaker 3: want no man around your child, around your daughter. So

586
00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 3: he's a great guy. He treats my daughter with nothing

587
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,880
Speaker 3: but love. So it's something that I had to get

588
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 3: over and accept. But we do a great job of

589
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,439
Speaker 3: co parenting. And but my daughter's the one that changed

590
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,600
Speaker 3: my mindset while I got off social media the way

591
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,919
Speaker 3: I need to start moving and doing things differently. And

592
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,200
Speaker 3: she the one that inspired me to get into children's books.

593
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,320
Speaker 1: And now the backtrack, the getting off social media, why

594
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,720
Speaker 1: was it so crucial for your growth?

595
00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:18,800
Speaker 2: I had to.

596
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:20,880
Speaker 3: I had no choice. I was in the party scene

597
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,959
Speaker 3: so tough. I had so many girls that if you're

598
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,720
Speaker 3: trying to settle down and have a kid and be

599
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,120
Speaker 3: a father, you got to get out the spotlight. I'm

600
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 3: not gonna I'm like, I'm not gonna say names are

601
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,119
Speaker 3: going to I don't do that. But it was getting

602
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,080
Speaker 3: It was to a point where I was having relationships

603
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,720
Speaker 3: with a lot of celebrity women, high level executive whatever

604
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 3: was coming to my parties. I'm talking about full on relationships.

605
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,440
Speaker 3: And my lifestyle was real wild around the time, full.

606
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,480
Speaker 1: On relationships as in like on the personal side, Oh

607
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:48,199
Speaker 1: so you was.

608
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,040
Speaker 3: He was really a lot of sexual relationships with a

609
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,720
Speaker 3: lot of celebrity women and influencer women and socialites.

610
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 2: I mean they was coming to my parties. And it

611
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:00,600
Speaker 2: got to a point where like I was and demand

612
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 2: and you know how it go.

613
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,119
Speaker 3: So I had to get off social media because that

614
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 3: won the lifestyle that I needed coming to Yeah tonight.

615
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 1: I would imagine you go into your phone and three,

616
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,560
Speaker 1: four or five ten messages from hey you want to

617
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,240
Speaker 1: and you're like trying to turn your life around.

618
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's why my relationships didn't work out when I

619
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,919
Speaker 3: was in a party scene, because like it got to

620
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,560
Speaker 3: a point where it just the lifestyle I was living.

621
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 3: You can't have a relationship and have a family doing that.

622
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:26,719
Speaker 3: It's never gonna work. So that's why I got off

623
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,320
Speaker 3: social media because I want to focus on being a father.

624
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:34,879
Speaker 1: So you become this dad and you're reading children's story,

625
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,679
Speaker 1: I would pay me the scene of how you know,

626
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:42,160
Speaker 1: becoming a dad morphs into a children's author per se

627
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 1: without skipping a beat. So if I'm moving too fast,

628
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 1: slow me account.

629
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 3: So I give the whole story to run down. So

630
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,080
Speaker 3: what was the biggest thing to have happened in our

631
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:53,400
Speaker 3: life these last few years?

632
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 2: I'm talking about the whole world? What changed the whole

633
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:56,160
Speaker 2: world a few years ago?

634
00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:57,680
Speaker 1: Pandemic.

635
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,879
Speaker 3: When that came, nobody a lot of people stopped making money.

636
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 3: Productions were shut down. You couldn't go nowhere. So the

637
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 3: pandemic came. And the person that's now my agent and

638
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 3: my business partner for the books, we was talking about

639
00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 3: some business, some toy business, a toy deal for one

640
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 3: of my clients at the time.

641
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 1: And well clients at the time, what were you doing

642
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:19,720
Speaker 1: at the time.

643
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 3: I was doing a lot of different music stuff, sports stuff.

644
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:26,320
Speaker 3: And one of my clients at the time, she was

645
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 3: like fifteen years old. Once she's one of the biggest

646
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,200
Speaker 3: shout out Brooklyn Queen. She's one of the biggest influences

647
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:32,720
Speaker 3: on TikTok and stuff like that. But she had a

648
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,919
Speaker 3: massive following and we was talking about doing different business

649
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,760
Speaker 3: with her. So that transpired into have you ever thought

650
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:43,239
Speaker 3: about she's an author, she's an agent, she's a very

651
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,159
Speaker 3: successful person in the publishing industry. She said, with your

652
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,720
Speaker 3: resume and your background, have you ever thought about doing books?

653
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 3: Because you just had a daughter at the time, My

654
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 3: daughter was three years old, have you ever thought about

655
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 3: doing children's books? I'm like, not really, I ain't never

656
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,160
Speaker 3: thought about doing anything for children of books in my life.

657
00:26:58,280 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 2: Unless you have a kid, you ain't.

658
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,800
Speaker 3: Really thinking about children's But she was like, you know what,

659
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,440
Speaker 3: that's a big industry. That's something you need to think about.

660
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,119
Speaker 3: You have the network, you have to create the vision

661
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:08,240
Speaker 3: to create your writer.

662
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 2: She was like, think about it.

663
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,679
Speaker 3: So I'm like, she was like, ah, you can make

664
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,359
Speaker 3: some money during the pandemic when ain't nobody making the

665
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 3: money right now? Yeah. Shout out Karen Kilpatrick. Thank you

666
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,439
Speaker 3: for everything you did for me. I wouldn't be in

667
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 3: this book industry without her. She taught me the game.

668
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,920
Speaker 3: She taught me everything I need to know. My success

669
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:28,800
Speaker 3: in publishing is because of her, and I think her

670
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:30,199
Speaker 3: for it all the time, because it changed my life.

671
00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 2: It took me, these books took me around the world.

672
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,640
Speaker 1: These books are just so you know, for all the listeners,

673
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 1: these books are so beautiful, like the animation the Professionals.

674
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 1: It's distributed published by HarperCollins, which is a bit. That

675
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 1: was another reason why I wanted you on the show

676
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 1: to like walk me to how do you get this?

677
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,720
Speaker 1: But I see how it's working. Okay, okay, you got

678
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,000
Speaker 1: this long resume.

679
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 2: Yeah. So she was like, let's start creating.

680
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 3: So I told her, I said, you know what, if

681
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 3: I get into this game, I don't want to do

682
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,439
Speaker 3: the cute bedtime stories. I don't want to do stories

683
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 3: that don't mean nothing. I want to do stories that

684
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:03,840
Speaker 3: I think is cool and I think that kids and

685
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,160
Speaker 3: their parents think it's cool. So I started doing my research.

686
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 3: I said, you know what, I see all these books

687
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:11,960
Speaker 3: and stories, but I don't see nothing that's talking about

688
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 3: hip hop. Now keep in mind, this is before Hip

689
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,399
Speaker 3: Hop fifty. I signed my deals already when I had

690
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 3: even before I even knew Hip Hop fifty fifty was coming.

691
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:20,919
Speaker 2: It just fell in line and the books released doing

692
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:21,639
Speaker 2: hip Hop fifty.

693
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 3: So I said, I'm gonna create a hip hop series

694
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,719
Speaker 3: that's going to teach kids about the legends and the

695
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 3: history of hip hop, but through education. So once I

696
00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:37,639
Speaker 3: started creating it, I said, she said, you got to

697
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:42,040
Speaker 3: create it where like the education part is very fluid,

698
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:43,640
Speaker 3: you know what I mean. Through it's books, teaching you

699
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 3: how to count, teaching your numbers, Biggie as the opposites.

700
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 3: So we're teaching them about these hip hop legends lives.

701
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 3: But while they're learning how to count and the alphabets

702
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 3: and opposites and whatnot. We created the Tupac first, and

703
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,880
Speaker 3: shout out to Luana Or she's my publisher. She's my

704
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,800
Speaker 3: editor at HarperCollins. She did Lebron James book, she did

705
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,280
Speaker 3: Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle you and book, big time editor there.

706
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,680
Speaker 3: We created Park first and she loved it. She loved

707
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,960
Speaker 3: a poc one. She was like, I love this. It's

708
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 3: nothing on the market for this. This can be big.

709
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,200
Speaker 3: I give you a deal for four, I give you

710
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:15,240
Speaker 3: a I give you a series.

711
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 2: Wow.

712
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,400
Speaker 1: And now didn't now you you at this point are

713
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,720
Speaker 1: you pitching the actual book or are you pitching the concept?

714
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,960
Speaker 3: I'm pitching the concept. I'm pitching the concept. But she

715
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 3: was like, this concept is so big. She was like,

716
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 3: this is not a one off. She's like, this is

717
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 3: a series. She was like, if the Tupac one is

718
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,000
Speaker 3: good the manuscript, I give you a deal for four.

719
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:37,800
Speaker 3: We turned into Tupac one.

720
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:38,240
Speaker 2: She saw.

721
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 3: She said, we want to sign the deal for four.

722
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:42,920
Speaker 3: Pick what other three three you want now?

723
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:44,480
Speaker 1: And you didn't pick jay Z. Just want to point

724
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: that out one more time.

725
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 2: But I had the pie.

726
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 1: I know, I know. Why explain to the listeners why

727
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,560
Speaker 1: you did not go with jay Z because I think

728
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,200
Speaker 1: your explanation was made a lot of sense, even though

729
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:54,960
Speaker 1: I'm a hater because you don't have jay Z. But

730
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,240
Speaker 1: go ahead, explain to everyone why you chose who you

731
00:29:57,320 --> 00:29:58,120
Speaker 1: chose for the books.

732
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,240
Speaker 3: Okay, So I chose pacbecause Pocket is my favorite hip

733
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 3: hop artist of all time. He always won't be number

734
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,280
Speaker 3: one for me, just from his music, from his movies,

735
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 3: just his personality, who he was.

736
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 2: It's just who he was. He was just like the

737
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:11,160
Speaker 2: realist rapper ever.

738
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 3: So I chose Pac them Mama my favorite song of

739
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:16,680
Speaker 3: all time. When I chose Pac, I said, I have

740
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,160
Speaker 3: to choose Biggie because their lives go together. You can't

741
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,640
Speaker 3: talk about Pac without talking about Biggie as far as

742
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:24,840
Speaker 3: what they went through on the street level and the music.

743
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 3: So that's why I picked Biggie because they go together.

744
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,160
Speaker 3: I'm like, if you have Pac, you can't tell the

745
00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 3: story of Tupac and don't tell the story of Biggie

746
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 3: the kids because their lives go together.

747
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 2: So I picked them too.

748
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 3: And then they was like, you gotta pick a woman

749
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 3: because we need a woman and enough women in pot

750
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 3: and I'm like, of course. So they gave me different

751
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,360
Speaker 3: options to choose. They gave me Queen Latifa, they gave

752
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,760
Speaker 3: me Missy Elliott, they gave me em c Light, Laurren Hill,

753
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,680
Speaker 3: Salt and Pepper shout out to Sartin Pepper my Homegirl

754
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 3: Mannered Salt, and they want to do a book too.

755
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,120
Speaker 1: But wait the books, dybody.

756
00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I picked Queen Latifah because Miss Queen Latifah

757
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 3: Unity is my favor a female empowerment.

758
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:01,960
Speaker 2: Record of all time.

759
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 3: And then they was like for the last one, I'm like,

760
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:06,120
Speaker 3: for the last one, I want to pick a group.

761
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 3: I'm like, kidd and plays my favorite group of all time,

762
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 3: House Party so I said, yeah, that comes out later

763
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,640
Speaker 3: this year, the Kid and Play joint. Now, keep in mind,

764
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 3: I'm the story, the story about to get even. But

765
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,240
Speaker 3: at the same time, I'm working with one of the

766
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,080
Speaker 3: top female music artists in Africa. I'm working with one

767
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 3: of the top female music artists in the Caribbean. Her

768
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,720
Speaker 3: grandfather created the music genre Soaka. Rod Shorty created the

769
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,520
Speaker 3: music genre Soaka Nola black Men. It's his granddaughter and

770
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,680
Speaker 3: ms V was my music artist in Africa. I said,

771
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 3: there's never been no mainstream children's book talking about Soaka

772
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:45,120
Speaker 3: and Carnival. There's never been no mainstream children's book with

773
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 3: a deal from a music arts in Africa.

774
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:49,239
Speaker 2: So I said, I want to bring them in and

775
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:50,880
Speaker 2: get them deals. So mss V.

776
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 3: She has a big song called natural Girl. It's about

777
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 3: teaching black girls how to embrace theirself in their natural

778
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:58,040
Speaker 3: skin and who they are.

779
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 2: So I created the book title.

780
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,880
Speaker 3: Natural Me, Me and My Partner, and it's a spin

781
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 3: off of her song.

782
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,440
Speaker 2: And that's what HarperCollins as well.

783
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 3: Nyla Blackman's book is about Carnival and Soca called Love

784
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,240
Speaker 3: La La, where he's teaching her the sights and sounds

785
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 3: of Carnival. Why he's teaching her Soca all this was

786
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 3: going on doing my hip hop series. I got all

787
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,080
Speaker 3: them deals within the same month.

788
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:28,040
Speaker 1: Wow. And then just curious for all listeners out there

789
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,320
Speaker 1: that are wanting to get into becoming an author. When

790
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:33,640
Speaker 1: you're doing a book on a tupole of Queen Latifa,

791
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 1: is there some kind of clearing of rights? How does

792
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:37,400
Speaker 1: that whole part of the deal work?

793
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 3: Thankfully, when you sign to them big companies, the legal

794
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,760
Speaker 3: department take you all that. I'm not responsible for any

795
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 3: of that. They legal team get all those rights and

796
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,280
Speaker 3: whatever needs to be done legally. That's the pros of

797
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 3: working with a big publisher. Wow, they do all of that.

798
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,080
Speaker 1: When you got your publishing deal off concept, what did

799
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:54,600
Speaker 1: that moment feel like for you?

800
00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:57,240
Speaker 3: It was a crazy moment for me, as I never forget.

801
00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,560
Speaker 3: It was April twenty twenty one and I had got

802
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,120
Speaker 3: six book deals within the same week. We had been

803
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 3: pitching them since like January, and when the deals all

804
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 3: came in, they all came in at the same time.

805
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,440
Speaker 3: I got six book deals. My agent called me within

806
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:14,400
Speaker 3: the same week.

807
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 1: How did you backtrack? How did you have an agent

808
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 1: to begin with?

809
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:19,800
Speaker 2: My partner. I was telling you about Kara Patrick.

810
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:21,480
Speaker 1: She was your partner agent.

811
00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, she's a big agent in the publishing industry, so

812
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 3: she's my agent.

813
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:26,600
Speaker 1: But she was the one that also pitched you to

814
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:28,320
Speaker 1: write books. So what were you doing to have an

815
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 1: agent prior?

816
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:32,520
Speaker 2: Oh, you mean to have her?

817
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 3: No, she just she asked me if I wanted to

818
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,360
Speaker 3: get into the children's books and what I thought about it,

819
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 3: and she and I said, she said, we're gonna need

820
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,360
Speaker 3: an agent. She said, I'll represent you because she's a

821
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:42,520
Speaker 3: big agent and represent a lot of authors.

822
00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 1: So she was like a friend slash partners.

823
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,640
Speaker 2: No, she won friend we had at the time. Obviously

824
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:48,360
Speaker 2: she's a friend now.

825
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:49,760
Speaker 3: But at the time we had met and it was

826
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,800
Speaker 3: like like business from the about the books?

827
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:58,320
Speaker 1: So were you pitching her the books? Because I'm missing something, Okay,

828
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,160
Speaker 1: So she was. She was on the phone with you

829
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 1: and she was like, have you ever thought about publishing?

830
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:06,960
Speaker 1: What were you guys doing for her or even what

831
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:07,920
Speaker 1: kind of business were you doing.

832
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:08,920
Speaker 2: We had met on LinkedIn.

833
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 3: We had met on LinkedIn and when we met on LinkedIn,

834
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 3: it was about the toy business for one of my

835
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:16,239
Speaker 3: for one of my clients at the time because she

836
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:17,959
Speaker 3: had she was a she used to be a VP

837
00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:20,960
Speaker 3: at a big toy company, so she was That's when

838
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:22,760
Speaker 3: she was like, have you ever thought about doing books?

839
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:25,040
Speaker 1: But you keep saying your client at the time, what

840
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,000
Speaker 1: were you doing to have these types of clients?

841
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:31,360
Speaker 3: Oh, just music, sports. I was doing a lot of

842
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:32,480
Speaker 3: stuff came for my parties.

843
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 1: But that's what I'm saying. What were you doing for

844
00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,400
Speaker 1: these people for them to be your clients? Were you

845
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:36,960
Speaker 1: managing them?

846
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,439
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, I was producing music, I was managing them.

847
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,799
Speaker 3: I was doing pr from them. I was doing a

848
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,800
Speaker 3: lot of different things. So for the client of the time, Brooklyn,

849
00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,160
Speaker 3: I was producing music own her. I was doing PR

850
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:50,719
Speaker 3: WAE for different networks and companies and stuff like that.

851
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,400
Speaker 3: So we were doing a lot same thing. For Nyla

852
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,319
Speaker 3: and ms V, I was producing music. We was doing

853
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 3: a lot of different things. So I was like, what

854
00:34:57,200 --> 00:34:58,360
Speaker 3: you think about children's books?

855
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,440
Speaker 1: So this makes a lot more sense going back to

856
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:03,760
Speaker 1: why you got off social media. No matter what, clients

857
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 1: were always hitting your phone or opportunities were always coming

858
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:06,919
Speaker 1: to you.

859
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 2: All the time. Almost done cooking, I'm almost done.

860
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:10,880
Speaker 1: We got we're gonna, We're gonna We're gonna end the

861
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,680
Speaker 1: episode with absolutely shout outs to pin Bin for this mail.

862
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:20,359
Speaker 1: So now that So go back to April twenty first,

863
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:25,320
Speaker 1: you said, yeah, you have six published book deals, and

864
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 1: why did you choose a publishing offers? Why did you

865
00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:32,640
Speaker 1: choose Harper Collins and don't you could obviously it could

866
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 1: also be the money, but why did you choose them?

867
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 3: I chose them and then my other one through Penguin

868
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,760
Speaker 3: Random House. I chose HarperCollins because.

869
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: Oh, you have two publishing deals at the same time,

870
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,280
Speaker 1: House and HarperCollins. Would you tell them up front?

871
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:48,879
Speaker 3: So when the offers came in, we decided, like who

872
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,239
Speaker 3: we want to go with and HarperCollins. So Luana that

873
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 3: gave me my deal for that. She comes from producing

874
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:58,440
Speaker 3: Lebron James children's book Wayne, all these big children's books

875
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,120
Speaker 3: about the culture. So I'm like, for hip hop series,

876
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:03,279
Speaker 3: this is the right this is the right one to

877
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:04,960
Speaker 3: go and then shout out Sackston More.

878
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,040
Speaker 2: He is the illustrator of Legends of.

879
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,880
Speaker 1: Hip Hop Amazing, illustration amazing, three time.

880
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 3: Three time Emmy director from Nickelodeon Cartoon That with.

881
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:15,240
Speaker 1: The Guys Amazing, his first book.

882
00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:18,360
Speaker 2: He's been doing things.

883
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:24,040
Speaker 1: His artwork is absolutely stunning. Continue sorry, continue with your story.

884
00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:27,279
Speaker 1: So why did you choose Random House? What publishing deals

885
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 1: does Random House have with you?

886
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:31,560
Speaker 3: The love La La not a Blackman's book because the

887
00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,080
Speaker 3: editor that gave me that deal is big in the

888
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 3: Caribbean culture, and I wanted the book to I wanted

889
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:38,839
Speaker 3: the book to be authentic. So I remember one day,

890
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,000
Speaker 3: me and my business partner, we was writing it. We

891
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,320
Speaker 3: was sitting up all night thinking of like their language.

892
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,280
Speaker 3: We was like looking at the dictionary like in Trinidad

893
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:49,839
Speaker 3: and Soka's it is different language. So we wanted our

894
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,000
Speaker 3: books are very authentic and that's why they're doing well,

895
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:53,960
Speaker 3: Like however they talk in their country.

896
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,040
Speaker 2: That's how the children's books are. So we had to

897
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:56,759
Speaker 2: study all of that.

898
00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:58,719
Speaker 3: Like I'm a real nerd when it comes to being

899
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 3: great and having a vision and doing something like I

900
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:01,719
Speaker 3: really study this.

901
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,000
Speaker 1: Now. What did your daughter say when she first saw

902
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:05,560
Speaker 1: your bucks?

903
00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 3: She couldn't believe it was me. She she couldn't believe it.

904
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,880
Speaker 3: She was like, you wrote these. She was like, I

905
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,759
Speaker 3: inspired you to get into this. I said, babe, you

906
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:14,880
Speaker 3: inspire you changed my life. You inspired me to and

907
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:18,280
Speaker 3: shout out to my daughter's birthday today. Happy ninth birthday

908
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 3: to my daughter Gianna.

909
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 2: But she was shocked. She couldn't believe that I had

910
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,080
Speaker 2: did that. And for her to learn.

911
00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:24,719
Speaker 3: About people that we grew up off of that was

912
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:25,920
Speaker 3: pretty pretty different from me.

913
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 1: Now, just this is sidebar. Since you had your internship

914
00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:33,719
Speaker 1: opportunity with pimping.

915
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:35,640
Speaker 2: And oak play potatoes with these.

916
00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 1: Play potatoes, I am genuinely curious here burme. Does it

917
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,600
Speaker 1: make you look at women differently when you are dating

918
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,520
Speaker 1: them versus like just dating for looks or cuteness or

919
00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:47,719
Speaker 1: what have you. I don't know why I have so

920
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 1: many on my plate. Hold on, hold up, I'm already.

921
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:52,959
Speaker 1: I'm already big. You're gonna eat somebody.

922
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,840
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, okay, come see.

923
00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:56,880
Speaker 1: It, watch it taste great?

924
00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:58,399
Speaker 2: Oh huh, you may need some of this. Now.

925
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,640
Speaker 1: Let's see why you didn't put seasons on. I did.

926
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:02,960
Speaker 2: I did love it more.

927
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 1: All right, guys, pull a chair up or pretty much

928
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:08,879
Speaker 1: at the end of the episode, which kind of sucks

929
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,879
Speaker 1: because I have so much more. So turn off that stove.

930
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:13,960
Speaker 1: You you don't cook at home, do you?

931
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:14,399
Speaker 2: I don't.

932
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:19,359
Speaker 1: Okay, come closer, come closer. This will be your mic. Okay,

933
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 1: so let's try. Oh did you answer my question? Do

934
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,400
Speaker 1: you look at women differently since no one pimping?

935
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 2: Absolutely?

936
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,040
Speaker 1: So like where you date? Do you date for more

937
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:30,840
Speaker 1: than just looks?

938
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:32,880
Speaker 2: And absolutely?

939
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:35,880
Speaker 3: And I like dating just educated women and women that

940
00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,080
Speaker 3: have goals and it's always bigger than looks for me.

941
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,719
Speaker 1: Oh no, I'm good on the potato right there.

942
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it gotta you gotta have. You gotta have goals,

943
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,040
Speaker 3: you gotta have morals, you gotta have just a mindset

944
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:50,400
Speaker 3: that that you want to be great and you're looking

945
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,319
Speaker 3: for more. He taught me that shark women. I love

946
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,280
Speaker 3: shark women. Nothing is sexy than a shark woman. Yes,

947
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:59,120
Speaker 3: I don't date women that look for dudes.

948
00:38:59,040 --> 00:38:59,720
Speaker 2: To be tricks.

949
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,400
Speaker 3: And I don't associate with the type of women women

950
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:05,400
Speaker 3: that's looking for dudes for come ups and tricks and

951
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,680
Speaker 3: dudes flying girls around around the country and taking them shopping.

952
00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 3: And some type of girls can't get my attention on whatsoever?

953
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:13,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, whatsoever?

954
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:18,360
Speaker 1: Let's see what pimping? Do you lived on this in Oakland?

955
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:24,840
Speaker 1: I'm guessing yes, Yes, it's a great dish. It's a

956
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,840
Speaker 1: great dish. And mm hmm, I love that it's colorful.

957
00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:36,120
Speaker 1: Shout outs to pimping for trajectory of your life. I

958
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:38,359
Speaker 1: love that this mentor played such a pivotal role, and

959
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 1: just to see where you are at today. And I

960
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,320
Speaker 1: love that you came from a two parent household, because

961
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:45,600
Speaker 1: I think the assumption on the show can be if

962
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:49,600
Speaker 1: you didn't come from nothing, But no, your pivotal journey

963
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:51,160
Speaker 1: started right there in the middle, and your parents did

964
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 1: a great job. Shout outs to your daughter for leading

965
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:58,680
Speaker 1: us to legends of hip hop the series. And when

966
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:02,480
Speaker 1: you get your jay Z version, Yes, yes, yes, Can

967
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,879
Speaker 1: I at least get the first text or email like Hey,

968
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:08,839
Speaker 1: what's happening? Or can I get like some input? Can

969
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,839
Speaker 1: I see one of the drafts? But i'd be allowed

970
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:14,799
Speaker 1: to see like a draft like before you send it

971
00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:15,839
Speaker 1: to your agent.

972
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:18,640
Speaker 3: Like absolutely, so I could be like, oh, let's do it,

973
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 3: let's get one on whole.

974
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,959
Speaker 1: But this right here is spectacular.

975
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 2: Thank you.

976
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,560
Speaker 3: I eat this from time to time just just to reflect.

977
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:28,640
Speaker 3: Time to time, I'll still I'm not a cooker. I

978
00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:31,120
Speaker 3: don't cook, but from time to time I'll still do

979
00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,239
Speaker 3: this just to remember, like where I came from and

980
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,520
Speaker 3: the struggle in the journey and persevering and life lessons

981
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:38,160
Speaker 3: that I learned while I was eating this dish.

982
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 1: This dish is really great, really great seasoning did a

983
00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:43,040
Speaker 1: good job.

984
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:44,000
Speaker 2: I appreciate it.

985
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,000
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for responding to me, and you

986
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:49,000
Speaker 1: were right. But when it comes to your network, I

987
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,640
Speaker 1: saw you on LinkedIn. I was very like, Wow, this

988
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:55,759
Speaker 1: is amazing, legends of hip hop, unique black author. It's

989
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:58,920
Speaker 1: nice to see people of color in different industries. But

990
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:00,960
Speaker 1: I did, of course reach out to some other people.

991
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,040
Speaker 1: I try to see who you knew, and everyone came

992
00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 1: back saying really great stuff about you that I did.

993
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,279
Speaker 1: I always have to. I'm like, I literally picked up

994
00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 1: the phone call someone I hadn't talked to like almost

995
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:15,319
Speaker 1: a year, Oh wow, and asked about you and there's

996
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:17,160
Speaker 1: great things and they were like, yeah, you'd be great

997
00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:18,319
Speaker 1: if you could get them on the show. And I

998
00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:21,919
Speaker 1: was like, that's when I hit you up. So yes,

999
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:25,040
Speaker 1: and I rarely checked my LinkedIn right it was Haley.

1000
00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:27,560
Speaker 3: Shout out to Haley.

1001
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,879
Speaker 1: Yeah, she has been on the show. She has her

1002
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:33,600
Speaker 1: hair care products in all Walmarts. And I did ask

1003
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:35,160
Speaker 1: her about like d I and how all that was

1004
00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:35,879
Speaker 1: affected her.

1005
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:38,080
Speaker 2: They're doing great and her daughter that they're great.

1006
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 1: They're great when it comes to your book sales. I

1007
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:42,000
Speaker 1: just have a couple of last questions. Is there any

1008
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 1: pressure to sell a certain quantity or market a certain quantity.

1009
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:47,640
Speaker 2: No, it's not pressure.

1010
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:49,799
Speaker 3: You know, when you sign deals with the publishers, they

1011
00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:51,879
Speaker 3: give you a real nice advance to do your thing,

1012
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:55,160
Speaker 3: and there's no pressure because when they signed you because

1013
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,120
Speaker 3: they love the product, and the books have been performing well,

1014
00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:00,320
Speaker 3: so I'm thankful for that they perform a real well.

1015
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:02,799
Speaker 3: A lot of celebrities been doing things with them. One

1016
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:04,439
Speaker 3: of the things that took me back about this book

1017
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,840
Speaker 3: is when Ludacris shout out to Luda he's my favorite,

1018
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,160
Speaker 3: one of my favorites all time.

1019
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,120
Speaker 2: And when he did it, when he.

1020
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,400
Speaker 3: Was talking about him and taking photos and stuff with him,

1021
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:16,920
Speaker 3: that did it for me because he was He's like

1022
00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:19,480
Speaker 3: top three all time for me. So a lot of

1023
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:22,640
Speaker 3: celebrities been taking pictures with the books, buying the books

1024
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:25,279
Speaker 3: for their kids. It's been these books been circulating a

1025
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:26,160
Speaker 3: lot in the celebrity world.

1026
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:29,920
Speaker 1: So it's humbling and now we know a lot of

1027
00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:32,080
Speaker 1: what you've shared, a lot of the knowledge that really

1028
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:35,279
Speaker 1: helps you grow outside of that knowledge. For people like

1029
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:37,600
Speaker 1: I have a girlfriend and I told you that's trying

1030
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:40,960
Speaker 1: to get into writing children's books. What kind of advice

1031
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:44,359
Speaker 1: would you give that person? You could say, right into that.

1032
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:49,560
Speaker 3: Camera, advice for getting to the children's book industry. Create

1033
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:52,279
Speaker 3: Always make sure your story has depth to it. Have

1034
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:55,720
Speaker 3: a beginning, have a middle, half an end, Have something

1035
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,520
Speaker 3: that the character has to persevere through, have to learn from,

1036
00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:01,640
Speaker 3: and that that's what agents look for, that's what publishers

1037
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,280
Speaker 3: look for. It's not just about writing a cool story,

1038
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:06,880
Speaker 3: but your story has to have depth to it. It

1039
00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:08,960
Speaker 3: has to have something that a challenge that they're trying

1040
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 3: to get over, because that's how kids relate because life

1041
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:13,839
Speaker 3: is not perfect. So if you write a children's book

1042
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,799
Speaker 3: that it's just like all cool, but it's no lesson

1043
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:17,080
Speaker 3: in it.

1044
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:18,160
Speaker 2: It's just like these books.

1045
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:19,920
Speaker 3: It's yeah, we're teaching you about hip hop, but what

1046
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:21,440
Speaker 3: else are we teaching you how to learn how to

1047
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,279
Speaker 3: counter opposites? We teaching you things that you're going to

1048
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,200
Speaker 3: learn in school, you know. So always start with a

1049
00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:28,520
Speaker 3: great story that has to beginning, a middle or end.

1050
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:30,960
Speaker 3: You know, you have to have an agent if you

1051
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:33,520
Speaker 3: want to get into the big publishers because theyre the

1052
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:35,320
Speaker 3: ones that negotiates you get you the best deals.

1053
00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 2: You can't do this alone at all.

1054
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:40,120
Speaker 3: So it's create a great story, get an agent, and

1055
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:41,759
Speaker 3: really just you know, put your foot on the gas.

1056
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:43,279
Speaker 3: You got a network, You got to hustle. If you

1057
00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:45,560
Speaker 3: really want to get into the children's book industry, let

1058
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:46,040
Speaker 3: it be known.

1059
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:49,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, let it be known. And then just from one parent,

1060
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:50,920
Speaker 1: I don't know how you feel about when you read

1061
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:54,520
Speaker 1: children's stories. After I had my daughter, I didn't. I'm

1062
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:58,880
Speaker 1: very picky when it comes to children's books now. The

1063
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:01,840
Speaker 1: books that have the most words like drive me nuts,

1064
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:04,440
Speaker 1: especially at bed time. I love that you balance that

1065
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:06,920
Speaker 1: in the book because there are people that will write

1066
00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:09,680
Speaker 1: like a whole novel and I'm like, lady, we're trying

1067
00:44:09,719 --> 00:44:11,600
Speaker 1: to get through bedtime. I don't want to have to

1068
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:13,680
Speaker 1: just start making up the story because I don't want

1069
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 1: to read these words in the semi dark, trying to

1070
00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:17,000
Speaker 1: set this mood right.

1071
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:18,319
Speaker 2: Keep it simple, keep it simple.

1072
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:19,960
Speaker 1: And you did a really good job about that. And

1073
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:21,719
Speaker 1: that's the only thing I would say. If you're gonna

1074
00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:25,360
Speaker 1: get into children's books, please not only have a great story,

1075
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:27,319
Speaker 1: but please don't do too much with the work.

1076
00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:29,160
Speaker 3: And then when you're doing like I did a lot

1077
00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:31,920
Speaker 3: of tours, like all over the country. So when you're

1078
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,160
Speaker 3: doing stuff at libraries and schools and things like that,

1079
00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:36,719
Speaker 3: you want to keep it simple because the classrooms only

1080
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:38,279
Speaker 3: have so much time before they got to get to

1081
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:39,839
Speaker 3: the next one. So you want something that the kids

1082
00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:42,720
Speaker 3: can gather real quick when you're doing like tours especially helps.

1083
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:46,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you so much. Penn can in the building

1084
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,080
Speaker 1: appreciate you. Thank you so much for fitting us in

1085
00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:52,280
Speaker 1: your schedule. Shout outs to your baby girl. Happy birthday.

1086
00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:56,799
Speaker 3: Yes, happy birthday, Gianna Kennedy Monroe. And once again, this

1087
00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:59,400
Speaker 3: is the dish that I was eating while I was

1088
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:01,600
Speaker 3: bro From time to time I still come back to

1089
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:02,480
Speaker 3: just to reflecting.

1090
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:04,560
Speaker 1: It's a great dish. I would eat this on a

1091
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,560
Speaker 1: This will be a staple. And if you're a mom

1092
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:08,520
Speaker 1: at Homi, you want to make something under twenty minutes

1093
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:11,360
Speaker 1: that's hardy and feeling. This is absolutely superb and you

1094
00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:13,400
Speaker 1: can throw it with some chicken in your gut. Absolutely

1095
00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:21,880
Speaker 1: shout out to that, Yes, he's out, guys later for

1096
00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:25,000
Speaker 1: more eating while broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect,

1097
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:28,759
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you listen

1098
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:30,759
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.