Speaker 1: Season two of the Black Tech Green Money podcast is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Lexus and the December to Remember
Speaker 1: sales event. From graduation parades to birthday parties. This year
Speaker 1: Driveways hosted some new traditions. Here's to celebrating them all.
Speaker 1: Experience Amazing at your Lexus, Dealing Afro Tech World, Gilly
Speaker 1: the King and social media influencer and disrupt Your willow
Speaker 1: To six seven are the host of The Million Dollars
Speaker 1: Worth The Gang Show, a weekly podcast which is the
Speaker 1: perfect blend of discussing music, real life issues, personal experiences,
Speaker 1: honest advice in comedy, and our interview at Afro Tech.
Speaker 1: I ask Gilly histor. Also, how we as black people
Speaker 1: in business can stand confident about our value, our perspective,
Speaker 1: our sauce when it's being challenged or not respected at
Speaker 1: a premium. Number One, you gotta believe in what you're doing.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. That's number one. So if
Speaker 1: you if you being innovative and you being creative, and
Speaker 1: you you know in your mind that this is what
Speaker 1: I feel is gonna be the next ship, you gotta
Speaker 1: roll with that. I would never devalue myself for but
Speaker 1: for nothing you feel what I'm saying. I know what
Speaker 1: I'm worth, even even back when I was doing um
Speaker 1: record deals. Yeah, I flew down the swave house. You
Speaker 1: know Tony Draper, you know the really CEO that I
Speaker 1: ever met in my life. Shout out to Tony Draper.
Speaker 1: But he tried to do the ceo wine and Din
Speaker 1: Rapper shipped to me. We got down there. We well
Speaker 1: up to the gate. I never seen no house like
Speaker 1: this in my life. Gates opened up. He got rained
Speaker 1: fver a viper with the zipper windows and bad leaves,
Speaker 1: all kinds of ship. You know what I mean. I
Speaker 1: go in the drive. We we I'm talking no business.
Speaker 1: I'm down there two old days just I'm meeting superstars.
Speaker 1: I'm playing two and two against Jagget Edge. You I'm
Speaker 1: gonnaiga straight from old Phil Like, yeah, why I like this?
Speaker 1: The artist pulling up, his artist pulling up. That's already
Speaker 1: going eight more pull up here in the big body,
Speaker 1: five hundred fans mt T pull up here in the
Speaker 1: old school. I'm like, God, damn, these niggas doing it
Speaker 1: next day, Yes, they ball pull up here and something different.
Speaker 1: I'm like, damn, when it was time to talk that
Speaker 1: business don't want new the value ain't going on. This
Speaker 1: is what I wanted, he said, I ain't never gave
Speaker 1: a deal out that big in my life. I said, well,
Speaker 1: it was nice meeting your drink, but I'm going back
Speaker 1: to silly and he said, uh, you know what. I
Speaker 1: like that. I like that you got that. So it
Speaker 1: was just me believing in myself. You feel what I'm
Speaker 1: saying and believing it because sometimes you get around these
Speaker 1: companies and the motherfuck have been and played longer than you,
Speaker 1: and they had you doubting yourself. Mh No, I don't
Speaker 1: think it's supposed to go like that, because uh, did
Speaker 1: you doing the same ship since eight one? I'm Will
Speaker 1: Lucas and this is Black Tech, Green Money. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: introduce you to some of the biggest names, some of
Speaker 1: the brightest minds and brilliant ideas. If you're black and
Speaker 1: building or simply using tech to secure your bank, this
Speaker 1: podcast is for you. Ryan Glover is co founder and
Speaker 1: chairman at Greenwood Bank, the new digital bank he's building
Speaker 1: with Michael render A, Ka Rapper Killer Mike Ambassador, Andrew Young,
Speaker 1: and serial tech entrepreneur Paul Judge. Greenwood's mission is to
Speaker 1: help blacks and Latinos take control of the financial destiny
Speaker 1: and build generational wealth. Previous to Greenwood Bank, Ryan was
Speaker 1: in the music business as co founder of Noontime, the
Speaker 1: music publishing and management company, which represented people like Jazz Faye,
Speaker 1: Sierra Grammy, and war When, He producer Brian Michael Cox
Speaker 1: and others. He's also founder of bound TV, the national
Speaker 1: cable network, and the rest of Run in Atlanta Agency.
Speaker 1: Ryan got his career jop starting at Howard alongside Puff
Speaker 1: Daddy and Cassine Read, who would go on to be
Speaker 1: the Mayor of Atlanta. As a student, Cassine Read compelled
Speaker 1: Ryan to produce a hip hop concert for homecoming weekend.
Speaker 1: Of all the people who could have produced that concert
Speaker 1: would set off his stellar career. I wonder why Ryan
Speaker 1: was recruited, what made him so special all those years ago.
Speaker 1: So I've always been well, I've always been excited about
Speaker 1: the entertainment industry, right, but I can't rap, sing, dance
Speaker 1: my way out of a paperbag, right. So I've always
Speaker 1: been excited about entertainment, but from a business perspective. Um So,
Speaker 1: so back then on the on campus, you know, I
Speaker 1: saw the energy that was being created not just on
Speaker 1: our campus, but the musical energy that existed clearly in
Speaker 1: New York, clearly in California where I was from, where
Speaker 1: I'm from, and Atlanta, and I thought it would be
Speaker 1: an amazing idea will to bring that energy to Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. And to on to Howard's campus, right amidst
Speaker 1: the wonderful culture of the of the go go experience
Speaker 1: that existed in in d C. So it's almost like
Speaker 1: gumbo that was being created right there on on Howard's campus.
Speaker 1: And I tell you this, you know, being all at
Speaker 1: Howard during those times was an incredible education, right. You know,
Speaker 1: not only was I learning, will you know, scholastically, but
Speaker 1: I was also learning um other cultures really Michael, within
Speaker 1: my own culture, from individuals from different parts of the country, right,
Speaker 1: and built relationships um with those individuals from Chicago, from
Speaker 1: New York, from d C, from Texas, And those relationships,
Speaker 1: as I tell my children today, are the relationships that
Speaker 1: have helped me become successful um in life across multiple industries. Right. So,
Speaker 1: as you know, I went to Howard University, graduated from Howard,
Speaker 1: relocated to Atlanta, started a music and publishing company called noontime.
Speaker 1: We made records at noontime from everybody from Mary J.
Speaker 1: Blige to Aaliyah. We made records for puff Uh, we
Speaker 1: signed um Jeezy neon Tempt, we signed Sierra UM. But
Speaker 1: those relationships that we used to build that my first business,
Speaker 1: our first business I garnered on Howard's campus, right, So,
Speaker 1: so it was the relationships that I built, and it
Speaker 1: was also the ability to do business right from with
Speaker 1: the individuals that I that I met at Howard And
Speaker 1: that's really my foundation of of business and how I
Speaker 1: move UM into the future of of of Greenwood. There's
Speaker 1: so many young people who listen to this podcast and
Speaker 1: have dreams about being that front and center performer or
Speaker 1: the athlete or whatever. UM, and you said this, you know,
Speaker 1: I can't grap sing or dance whatever to say in
Speaker 1: my life. UM. In the pursuit of the business side
Speaker 1: of the entertainment industry, that New Times where I met you,
Speaker 1: you know, so many years ago, feels like, UM, what
Speaker 1: did you realize about the economical difference between the performer
Speaker 1: who ultimately gets the bright lights and takes the selfies
Speaker 1: with fans versus the person who may walk into a
Speaker 1: room or go into a crowd undetected or unnoticed. So
Speaker 1: so on on the economic side, um, let me just
Speaker 1: address address that. You know, it's lights, camera action, so
Speaker 1: so saving is always should be always at the forefront
Speaker 1: of anybody in entertainment or any other industries, UH frontal
Speaker 1: low in their thinking right because as we all know,
Speaker 1: in entertainment specifically, but just in life, nothing lasts forever.
Speaker 1: So so once you have that understanding that that you
Speaker 1: mentioned the right lights, at some point those lights will dim.
Speaker 1: I don't care if you are on stage or I
Speaker 1: don't care if you are backstage. Right, there is always
Speaker 1: someone who is gonna be a little more talented than
Speaker 1: you are, a little younger than you, a little faster
Speaker 1: than you. So you really have to look at your
Speaker 1: talent and understand will that that it's everything lass in
Speaker 1: chapters and in seasons, So you have to prepare yourself accordingly.
Speaker 1: You know, as a business person, you know I've been
Speaker 1: saying the art of recalibration is what can what allows
Speaker 1: you as a businessman to continue to grow. You know,
Speaker 1: I've been in in music, I've been in television and
Speaker 1: film and out I am in uh in banking services
Speaker 1: and digital banking, services industry, and you know, my recalibration
Speaker 1: has um allowed me to change industries, right, But my
Speaker 1: strategies in the way I operate as a businessman remains consistent,
Speaker 1: and and that really starts with for me, trusting in
Speaker 1: God and putting God first with whatever I do right
Speaker 1: and then also doing the best that I can to
Speaker 1: treat people the way I want to be treated, um,
Speaker 1: whether they are on my side of the negotiating table
Speaker 1: or on the or whether they're on the opposite side
Speaker 1: of the table. A lot of times people will realize,
Speaker 1: you know, truly honesty is really the as policy, whether
Speaker 1: you right, whether whether whether you want to you'd say
Speaker 1: something to somebody that you think that they don't want
Speaker 1: to hear, and they might not want to hear it,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, if you're dealing
Speaker 1: with grown ups, grown ups will understand it and respect it,
Speaker 1: and then that will allow you no matter where your
Speaker 1: professional career journey takes you, will allow you to garner
Speaker 1: that same respect with that earlier individual or with the
Speaker 1: individual that you're currently dealing with in that given time. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, those are my two basic strategies of whatever.
Speaker 1: And listen, if I move to um opening up a
Speaker 1: hot dog stand in front of a a sports arena.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna use the same strategies of the same strategies
Speaker 1: I use in banking. The state use intelligent film, same
Speaker 1: strategies and methodologies are using music. Yeah, and that honestly
Speaker 1: gives them the opportunity to deal with it. However, they
Speaker 1: got to deal with it. But come back to the
Speaker 1: table for everybody's benefit. Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned relationships, and um,
Speaker 1: you know I saw an interview with you where you
Speaker 1: said the best business advice you ever received was never
Speaker 1: give your partner surprises. Um. When I think about that advice,
Speaker 1: I consider how much a business partnership it's like a
Speaker 1: marriage and probably shouldn't be entered into frivolously. Right. And
Speaker 1: if if then we are the culture as in black people,
Speaker 1: If we are the culture that drives all global culture,
Speaker 1: whether you're talking about food, fashion, music, sports, or whatever.
Speaker 1: Then if you put two or three of us together, um,
Speaker 1: we should dominate, right if we're to you know, globally
Speaker 1: and all of these things, and we're not in everything.
Speaker 1: And so I wonder, um, is it because we may
Speaker 1: be misaligned with our partnerships, or is it something else.
Speaker 1: I wonder what your thoughts are on how to build
Speaker 1: successful business partnerships because you've done so many over your career. Well,
Speaker 1: I should say, yeah, so so building successful partnerships. You know,
Speaker 1: in all candor, oftentimes people look at like myself, they
Speaker 1: only remember the successes, But will I have had multiple
Speaker 1: upon multiple upon multiple failures right to go along with
Speaker 1: those successes, I've actually learned more and appreciated and it
Speaker 1: sounds crazy, more in my failures than my successes, right,
Speaker 1: And in those failures, you know, I learned earned really
Speaker 1: how to treat people and how to um identify not
Speaker 1: just talent but also partnerships. That I went and applied
Speaker 1: those tactics and strategies two businesses that ended up working. Right. So,
Speaker 1: you know, we live in a generation now where everybody
Speaker 1: wants everything micro waverable. You know, you know I you
Speaker 1: mentioned party promotion at Howard. I used to study, go
Speaker 1: to school, study, taking nap at night, wake up at
Speaker 1: twelve am in the morning and go pass out three thousand,
Speaker 1: four thousand flyers hand to hand at an event at
Speaker 1: an upcoming event that I was promoting into the wee
Speaker 1: bit hours and then get up and do it all
Speaker 1: over again weeks on in while at school while promoting, right,
Speaker 1: that's that's the grind now kids a lot of times
Speaker 1: and Riley, So technology is great. I'm thank the Lord
Speaker 1: for technology. But technology is could be a gift and
Speaker 1: a curse at the same time because although you know,
Speaker 1: the younger generation is definitely on the hustle and I
Speaker 1: love it. I love everything that I see, um from
Speaker 1: the the younger generation across multiple industries. But there's something
Speaker 1: to the fact to the art for me of putting
Speaker 1: a flyer on a car, right, yeah, I did that.
Speaker 1: I did that. That that that you just you can't
Speaker 1: duplicate that. That grind hand combat, yeah yeah, and that grind,
Speaker 1: that grind is always in the forefront of my mind
Speaker 1: whatever I do. It's ironic. Man, the the more uh
Speaker 1: the world perceives of my success, uh, the more instable
Speaker 1: in stable I become, right because I'm like, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't I can't. I can't really, I can't really
Speaker 1: process success. I can only process I can't process past success.
Speaker 1: I can only focus on what's in front of me, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not looking backwards, I'm looking forwards, um, because there's
Speaker 1: there's still more work to be be done. There's still
Speaker 1: more good trouble to get into, you know. Um, so
Speaker 1: so so that's that's that's my mindset man. Um. Far
Speaker 1: too many of us in our community have dreams of
Speaker 1: starting companies and don't have adequate business business banking relationships
Speaker 1: right or banking relationships period um. In fact, too many
Speaker 1: of us avoid banks altogether and or just use banks
Speaker 1: for you know, depositing their check and you know debit cards. Right.
Speaker 1: And you said in the previous interview, Uh, this is
Speaker 1: our time speaking about Greenwood to take back control of
Speaker 1: our lives and our financial future. Um, for it would
Speaker 1: be entrepreneur in our community. What does a good banking
Speaker 1: relationship look like? This is a big question, but what
Speaker 1: does a good banking relationship look like? How are we
Speaker 1: supposed to engage with banks? Um, bankers a should say,
Speaker 1: even for services other than just making deposits into an account?
Speaker 1: And what level of bank er should we be talking to? Like,
Speaker 1: so we start with the teller, like what, let's walk
Speaker 1: us through this? Yeah, so so so I believe Speaking
Speaker 1: of technology, we're in a new digital age. So sixty
Speaker 1: of Americans are banking digitally currently. Um. That number is
Speaker 1: kicking up around three per year. And there are really
Speaker 1: no UM authentic digital banking solutions that cater to the
Speaker 1: African American and Latin X community really until Greenwood. So
Speaker 1: we're a fintech nel bank that provides modern digital banking
Speaker 1: services for for the for the culture. Right. So, so
Speaker 1: you know some of our services your full service UH
Speaker 1: bank in your hand, savings and spending the count We
Speaker 1: have Apple and Android pay, peer to peer money transfers,
Speaker 1: mobile deposits globally TM network, UM, no hidden fees and
Speaker 1: one of my favorite features UM today early early path UM.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is there are three
Speaker 1: problems well that we will solve UM. And as a
Speaker 1: reason why we stood, we're standing Greenwood up. UM. One. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, in our communities there are far too many
Speaker 1: predatory banking services that we cater to. We want to
Speaker 1: extinguish those predatory services. Two and oh to Greenwood. We
Speaker 1: want to be a part of the solution of recirculating
Speaker 1: capital back into our communities as once had what was
Speaker 1: happened in the Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: we often hear about Black Wall Street in all of
Speaker 1: the thriving businesses that existed during the twenties and that time.
Speaker 1: But you know the reason why those businesses flourished is
Speaker 1: because one dollar recirculated thirty six times in that one community,
Speaker 1: and that allowed UM. That allowed the barber, the banks,
Speaker 1: the the grocers, the attorneys, right the the doctors, right
Speaker 1: the bowling alleys, that whatever businesses were in those communities,
Speaker 1: that money recirculated and everybody got a bite at the apple.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately for us, in our community today, one dollar man
Speaker 1: recirculates six hours. So so you know, at Greenwood, through
Speaker 1: our Greenwood Gives Back round Up program, our customers have
Speaker 1: the opportunity to donate their rounded up change to three
Speaker 1: causes we care about um UT one the n double
Speaker 1: a CP to fight civil rights, um to U n
Speaker 1: c F to support education, and three there's a wonderful
Speaker 1: company in Atlanta that feeds um the hungry and homeless
Speaker 1: called good or UM. And our customers have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to donate a portion of their rounded up change to
Speaker 1: either one of those organizations or a combination of the three.
Speaker 1: And then every quarter Greenwood UM we will UM as
Speaker 1: a banking solution, donate and match those funds to those
Speaker 1: to those organizations. The third UM solution, the so third
Speaker 1: problem that we're going to solve is the deployment of
Speaker 1: capital in our communities. Right. So, you know I've started
Speaker 1: a couple of businesses that have done well. None of
Speaker 1: those businesses we're started or stood up with banking capital.
Speaker 1: So you know, we don't have the relationships that our
Speaker 1: counterparts have UM that allows us to create wealth personally
Speaker 1: or professionally like others do UM and and we plan
Speaker 1: on solving that problem UM or being a part of
Speaker 1: the solution to that problem. Uh So, really to answer
Speaker 1: your question, you know, we we are an authentic banking
Speaker 1: solution that knows how to because I am one identify
Speaker 1: small business owners UM that that you know, I have
Speaker 1: great ideas, have wonderful talent, I have a great support system,
Speaker 1: have a marketplace, but just don't have the capital to
Speaker 1: to turn their business from a micro business to a
Speaker 1: major business. And we're we're bullish, We're bullish on that
Speaker 1: um UM as A as A as a company. Season
Speaker 1: two of the Black Tech Green Money Podcast is brought
Speaker 1: to you by Lexus, known for celebrating driveway moments for
Speaker 1: over thirty years. Lexus invites you to create more with
Speaker 1: exclusive offers on the most popular Alexis models at the
Speaker 1: December to Remember Sales event. Experience Amazing at your Alexis dealer.
Speaker 1: This year, I read the book The Color of Money
Speaker 1: by Mercer Barraturan, and she talked about how black people
Speaker 1: have not yet overcome the mindset and systemic oppression of
Speaker 1: being capital to having capital. Ryan's new effort with Green
Speaker 1: Would Bank, it's on the mission to change that for
Speaker 1: many have tried before. How will Green Would make an
Speaker 1: impact on this pervasive issue? Ryan Glover speaks on it, Well,
Speaker 1: we have good reason. You read the book, so you
Speaker 1: understand we have good reason to mistrust banks. So you
Speaker 1: know in eighteen hundreds US a Freeman's bank, that right
Speaker 1: that that actually duped thousands of African Americans out of
Speaker 1: their savings and and those trustees who ran the bank
Speaker 1: UH misappropriated their funds into investments that never panned out.
Speaker 1: They're over three thousand um um um um individuals who
Speaker 1: lost who lost money in that one bank, and that
Speaker 1: actual tread tragedy and travesty. Unfortunately, from a folklore standpoint,
Speaker 1: that story has been told generation to generation and we
Speaker 1: haven't gotten over it as a culture. Um, you know
Speaker 1: there's no there's no mystery or there's no falsehood in
Speaker 1: our grandparents are great grandparents actually using their mattresses as
Speaker 1: their savings and deposits? Right because bank mistrust? And then
Speaker 1: you fast forward word you know all of the the
Speaker 1: the the issues that some traditional banks have had with
Speaker 1: predatory lending, redlining. Um you know of the sort. Uh
Speaker 1: you know, the current community doesn't. We're not we're not
Speaker 1: trusting banks, um curb currently. Right. So you know we
Speaker 1: know also too that we are as a community, uh
Speaker 1: a lot less likely to receive loans than our white counterparts.
Speaker 1: So all of that combustion, combustible bad will for decades
Speaker 1: has created a mistrust in banks, right. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: we are attempting to build that trust back, and we're
Speaker 1: coming at an approaching it from a standpoint of I
Speaker 1: am not a banker, but we have hired bankers to
Speaker 1: operate our business. But me not being a physical banker,
Speaker 1: I understand. I believe what the community and the small
Speaker 1: business person and just the everyday African American and Latin
Speaker 1: X customer needs to understand on creating an authentic banking
Speaker 1: solution and we're speaking directly and authentically, UM to to that,
Speaker 1: to that individual, and hopefully over time we will build
Speaker 1: trust back into the community from a banking perspective. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, and yes there are other great African American
Speaker 1: banks that that exists, but I candidly think, you know
Speaker 1: not no of the traditionals or the African American current
Speaker 1: banks are speaking to the generation, UM, that we currently
Speaker 1: exist in the way we organically and authentically can. And
Speaker 1: that's what we're that's what we're going to do of it. Um.
Speaker 1: You've broken into very well, you know, these industries that
Speaker 1: have high bars in a lot of ways to get into,
Speaker 1: you know what, whether it be owning television stations and
Speaker 1: not holding a bank, etcetera. And talk to me like
Speaker 1: number one, like, what what is it that Ryan has
Speaker 1: in his background that says, you know what, we're going
Speaker 1: to give him the keys to this next level of
Speaker 1: success Because a lot of people may go to start
Speaker 1: a television network and can't get it done. A lot
Speaker 1: of people want to start a bank, can't get it done,
Speaker 1: not for like a trying, But what is it? What
Speaker 1: is it that people miss? Here? Here's my secret partner
Speaker 1: with people as smart or smarter than you in those industries. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's where I start. Um. I always start with, whether
Speaker 1: whether it be music, television and film, um now banking services,
Speaker 1: I start with where is the opportunity and that can't
Speaker 1: could be filled? That's not right. In music, we started
Speaker 1: Noontime from the auspices of they're amazed, a ton of
Speaker 1: amazing production companies and record companies that are doing amazing work.
Speaker 1: So so Deaf Bad Boy, Deaf Jam death Row Right
Speaker 1: death Row came a little bit after us, but you
Speaker 1: get my get my point, um. But we at Noontime
Speaker 1: we all knew myself, Chris Hicks and Henry Lead, we
Speaker 1: all knew that neither none of us could wrap singer
Speaker 1: dance away out of a paper bag. But we are
Speaker 1: Angle was being the best business people that we could
Speaker 1: be to support the talent. Right that that led the company.
Speaker 1: We weren't the talent and the other companies that we
Speaker 1: were competing with they were led by talent. Our Angle
Speaker 1: was not to lead by talent, but lead through business
Speaker 1: and business executives. Right, So that was our niche bounce.
Speaker 1: We were the first African, We are the first African
Speaker 1: American broadcast network in existence. Right, we knew, I knew
Speaker 1: that black and brown folks UM, you know, wanted to
Speaker 1: watch compelling, captivating entertainment entertaining television programming. But we all
Speaker 1: don't have dollars to UH enlisted in a cable operator, right,
Speaker 1: So how can we become the first over the air
Speaker 1: network that provided free entertaining UM content to the masses
Speaker 1: over the air broadcast content like an NBC, ABC, Fox.
Speaker 1: And we did it UM and partnered with individuals who
Speaker 1: knew that business like the back of their hands. Same
Speaker 1: thing with with with Greenwood UM. There's an opportunity to
Speaker 1: serve a zero served African American and Latin X community
Speaker 1: from a you know, banking perspective. UM. Partnering with bankers
Speaker 1: UM and individuals of like thinking to grow this business
Speaker 1: is the way we're growing the Greenwood UH banking solution.
Speaker 1: So all all of the businesses that have all ever
Speaker 1: started always has started with the mission and then a
Speaker 1: devout commitment to create UH compelling content that I believe
Speaker 1: resonate with our consumers UM and then do it consistently UM.
Speaker 1: And that has just grown and I believe, you know,
Speaker 1: going back to trust, will you know, based on my
Speaker 1: past successes and failures that folks don't talk about. I
Speaker 1: have built trust as an executive and that is carried
Speaker 1: over and from music to television and film and now
Speaker 1: the banking and in that trust is resonating in the
Speaker 1: community with our mission at Greenwood. UM. Speaking of what
Speaker 1: you were appointed to the Martyr board back and I
Speaker 1: think seen um, which to me indicates like that you
Speaker 1: see the correlations between like political power or influence and
Speaker 1: a true opportunity to serve the community and make it better. UM.
Speaker 1: So many business people avoid getting involved in government or politics,
Speaker 1: and so many government types either avoided don't have the
Speaker 1: jobs to succeed in an enterprise. UM. For those of
Speaker 1: us out there who are growing companies but also are
Speaker 1: getting called on to serve, how do you recommend we
Speaker 1: or they? UM, both think about their responsibility and their
Speaker 1: overall legacy and ability to create chase for the community
Speaker 1: and for you know, their lineage. So here's how I'll
Speaker 1: answer that and kind of be around the block, but
Speaker 1: I'll get to my point. So I have five children
Speaker 1: from the ages of twenty one uh to seven, and
Speaker 1: I believe in that the more time you invest time
Speaker 1: that you invest into your children, the more successful they
Speaker 1: will become, and the the the more valuable from an
Speaker 1: economic standpoint they will become for themselves. Okay, soh so
Speaker 1: that time that I invest into my children may be
Speaker 1: perceived or directly a time suck for me that is
Speaker 1: not registering to a dollar earned. Right, what I understand
Speaker 1: that that investment that I don't reap a monetary benefit from,
Speaker 1: will harvest itself in my children's life generationally, that will
Speaker 1: provide for generational wealth down the world. Okay, UM, here's
Speaker 1: the analogy. The more you lend your talents and your services,
Speaker 1: two causes and organizations that span outside of where you
Speaker 1: directly earn a living, too, will build and harvest relationships
Speaker 1: and value. Right, that right that you will benefit from, um,
Speaker 1: And you might not benefit from it directly or the
Speaker 1: next day or the next week, but inevitably you will
Speaker 1: benefit directly or you know, or you will be the
Speaker 1: benefactor or you will allow someone else to benefit from
Speaker 1: the from the knowledge that you provide to them, which
Speaker 1: is the value. Right. So you know, I often I
Speaker 1: get asked to do favors often, and a lot of
Speaker 1: times UM individuals say hey, well, if you can do this,
Speaker 1: for me. I will do that this for you. I
Speaker 1: will never do favors looking for a direct return, right
Speaker 1: because I know and I've been living long enough to
Speaker 1: know that that return will come in a different form
Speaker 1: and fashion. Um, maybe not even directly back to me,
Speaker 1: but someone that I have a relationship with or get this,
Speaker 1: I may need that same favor of the person in
Speaker 1: ten years of the person that asked me for the
Speaker 1: favor ten years previous. So I like to bank my favors,
Speaker 1: no pun intendon. That's good. That's good, man, That's really
Speaker 1: really good. That was heavy right there. Season two of
Speaker 1: the Black Tech Green Money Podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Lexus, who's been celebrating driveway moments for over thirty
Speaker 1: years with a Lexus December to Remember sales event when
Speaker 1: you can find exclusive offers on the most popular lex models.
Speaker 1: Experience amazing at you, alexis dealing. What kind of benefit
Speaker 1: did going digital all digital have for you in Greenwood? Like,
Speaker 1: could you have achieved your mission of building wealth? You know,
Speaker 1: money circulation in the black community and generational wealth transfer
Speaker 1: with brick and mortar. And Here's what I'm getting out
Speaker 1: before you answer it. What is different about the opportunity
Speaker 1: and doing business today at scale versus a teen years
Speaker 1: ago or fifteen years ago. Yeah, So brick and mortar no, um,
Speaker 1: because my our message can resonate in California, it can
Speaker 1: resonate in Chicago, it can resonate in Atlanta, it can
Speaker 1: resonate in Savannah, it can resonate in d C. It
Speaker 1: can resonate in Newark, it can resonate in Compton. It
Speaker 1: can resonate um currently domestically, it's going to resonate internationally
Speaker 1: as well. Um. We could not stand up um brick
Speaker 1: and mortar banks fast enough right in order to I believe,
Speaker 1: keep up with the demand of the service that we
Speaker 1: are going to provide. Two, I believe that those brick
Speaker 1: and mortar costs are not necessarily archaic in having to
Speaker 1: do but don't serve the customer as well as a
Speaker 1: digital offering will because at some point the customer pays
Speaker 1: for that brick and mortar spind, it trickles down in
Speaker 1: some way, shape or form. Okay, we nor any other
Speaker 1: bank or charities, So we will make money, but we
Speaker 1: hope to make our customers UH a lot more money
Speaker 1: as well than they're currently making as well. So so
Speaker 1: that's our philosophy on on brick and mortar. No, and finally, Ryan, Um,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take us back to the beginning because I
Speaker 1: want to end on this, which I think is a
Speaker 1: really powerful thing. So, Um, you graduated with a degree
Speaker 1: in accounting and after a while I read the story said,
Speaker 1: after a while of working in the field, Um, you
Speaker 1: called to tell your mom that you hated working in
Speaker 1: the county and she cursed you out for about thirty
Speaker 1: straight minutes, and afterwards gave you your blessing to go
Speaker 1: and do your thing in music. And so the chapters
Speaker 1: of your career looks something like, you know, accounting the music,
Speaker 1: to fashion with Ryan Kinney, to TV and now to banking.
Speaker 1: For people who today might feel that some cost of
Speaker 1: spending so much time pursuing something, or so much time
Speaker 1: in an industry that may not feel them, Um, I
Speaker 1: mean keeps them switching gears. What do you hope your
Speaker 1: story inspires in them? Be brave, right, Um, Trust God
Speaker 1: and be brave Um. And thirdly, Uh, you've got to
Speaker 1: be more in line with your passion then the money
Speaker 1: that you think you'll make. The harder you chase a dollar,
Speaker 1: the faster that dollar will run away from you. You
Speaker 1: follow your passion, you follow your heart, and you follow
Speaker 1: your talent. All right, Listen, I want to play second
Speaker 1: base for the Atlanta Braves right now, right at fifty,
Speaker 1: I still think I can turn a mean double play. Um,
Speaker 1: but I'm fifty and I can't turn a mean double
Speaker 1: play like a guy a team right nineteen twenty that's
Speaker 1: been right, that's in the maize, right. So I'm passionate
Speaker 1: about baseball. I love the sport, but my talent isn't there.
Speaker 1: So you gotta marry. You gotta marry being brave, with
Speaker 1: with passion, with for me, faith in God, and talent
Speaker 1: right and a lot of times when I say talent,
Speaker 1: it may not be personal talent that you own, but
Speaker 1: you have to be intelligent enough to partner with individuals
Speaker 1: who have that talent that you need, that can work
Speaker 1: with the talent that you have in order to make
Speaker 1: your vision growth. So so that is that that would
Speaker 1: be my three of for keys to success. Black Tech
Speaker 1: Green Money is a production to Black of the Afro
Speaker 1: Tech is produced by Morgan Dubon and me Well Lucas,
Speaker 1: with additional production support by Love Beach and Ray Veneer
Speaker 1: Bort Special thank you to Michael Davis is the cars
Speaker 1: of Von Yarn you know, like the wine and yes
Speaker 1: that's his real name. Learn more about my guests and
Speaker 1: other tech disrupt does It innovators at afro tech dot com.
Speaker 1: Don't get your money. He's in love.