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Go to 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.480 eyluniversity dot com right now and sign up to become 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:48.919 an earner. 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:51.000 Don't wait, don't hesitate it over there now. 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:58.760 My graduates from my school being false bad drops drop Mike, 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.040 drop back, drop drop. 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.880 All right, guys, welcome back e y L at L Edition. 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.480 It's our second home and every time we come down here, 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.799 we got legendary content that we that we produce. So 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.040 this this was an interview that we actually we're supposed 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:28.919 to do this before. Okay, yeah, scheduling didn't really kind 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:31.880 of work workout, but I'm glad we got a chance 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:33.640 of do it now. It's perfect time and actually what 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:36.799 everything that's going on. So Ryan Wilson is a young 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.560 entrepreneur that's killing the game right now. The Gathering Spot. 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:42.320 If you if you're from Atlanta, I'm pretty sure you've 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:44.639 heard of the Gathering Spot. It's a big deal. And 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:48.519 so now there's actually three locations. One that's just got built, 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:50.720 I believe in d C, one that's being built in 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.400 l A. And uh, the mothership here in Atlanta. So 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.280 the Gathering Spot is kind of a mix between co 0:02:58.360 --> 0:02:59.760 working space, event space? 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.840 Is that give it the title? It's the hub of culture. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:09.079 It has civic engagement and it's a birthplace for entrepreneurism. 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:11.959 Okay, can we go with that. I'll rock with that 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.079 if it works. Yeah, it's like a hub. It's a 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:18.120 hub for creatives to come to work, to build with 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.680 each other, the network, to meet people. It's a whole 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:26.360 cultural experience. And Ryan's thirty years old. He's from Marietta. 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:28.560 I grew up and married it. Yeah, Marietta. And then 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:35.920 he went to George Georgetown, Georgetown, d C. So yeah, 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:40.360 DC roots and he came back home and uh, yeah, 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:42.520 young entrepreneurs just killing the game. So we've got to 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.080 have a very enlightened conversation. We're going to talk about, 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.880 you know, obviously, how COVID nineteen has affected things. You know, 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:51.560 how he started the business, ideas behind the business, monetization, 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.920 all of that stuff. So I'm excited. Thank you for 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:56.160 joining us, first and foremost. 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.640 Hey, it's an honor. I appreciate youall. This is a long, long. 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:01.720 So nothing happens before it's time. 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:04.360 Yeah, for sure, for sure. All right, so let's get 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.600 into it. All right, So how do you how does 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:10.640 this all start? Because obviously you know you're young and 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.920 it's a big idea. So what gives you the vision 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.240 to start this and how did you go about starting it? 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:21.520 Yeah, So it's funny. I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.159 My my parents are entrepreneurs, and growing up I saw 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:28.880 what it took to be in business for yourself every day, 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.520 and my dream was to be a lawyer. So I 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.640 went to Georgetoun for undergrad. I was super focused on 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.200 making sure that I did everything possible to get to 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.720 law school, and so I stayed in DC, went to 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.160 Georgetown Law, and the summer between my first year of 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.360 law school and my second, I was back here working 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.680 at a law firm. It was the same summer as 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:54.240 the Trayvon Martin case, and I'm sure everybody remember George 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.800 Immerman gets acquitted or Trayvon's murder. And I got an 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.680 email from some friends doing some community organizing work in DC, 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.080 and they sent me email on the subject was what 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:07.320 are we going to do? And I sat on it 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.400 for a second, but then I responded back to them 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.520 with this idea that we needed to have a place 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.760 where we could have the conversation I really missed. You 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:17.520 think about like high school and college, like those are 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.640 one of the last environments where you can you could 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:22.840 just have people that are studying different things, people come 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.960 talk about different things, and I missed that. So I 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.440 wrote back to them, this was July of twenty thirteen, 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.919 saying I think we should build a club basically for 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:35.200 black folks in DC where we can get together. And 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:37.000 I couldn't shake that idea, and so from that day 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.520 forward I worked on trying to build TGS. I sent 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:41.719 the plan to one of my roommates from college the 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:46.360 next day, and that was July sixteenth, twenty July sixteen, 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:46.960 twenty thirteen. 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.000 We worked every day after that to try to make 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:49.440 it happen. 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:51.480 So, but you went to school to study law, right, 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.719 so this is like a complete career change. Did you 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:55.520 have to battle with that side of it? Like, Yo, 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:57.640 I went to school, my dream was to be in 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.960 the law field, and now my heart. 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:01.479 Is calling me towards something else. Yeah. 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:03.400 No, I mean it was a real it was a 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:05.120 real thing. I mean I called my parents and I 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:07.240 was like, hey, I don't think I'm going to be 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:10.560 a lawyer. And I mean they're entrepreneurs, but even they 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:15.280 were like, what I mean, I'm on like a fifteen 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.000 year journey to become a lawyer at that point, and 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.440 I'm finally I mean, I finished my first year, I've 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:20.320 got two years. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.880 Left and then I'm there. And I couldn't. 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.200 I mean, but this idea, I don't really know how 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:27.760 to explain it any better than it just like it 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.080 felt like it needed to exist. And so I told them, 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.039 I was like, look, I'm going to graduate. I will 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:35.520 finish my law degree. And so I was scheduled to 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.560 graduate in twenty fifteen. But every night TK, who's my 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:41.560 business partner, he would come to my apartment and we 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.839 would work that second shift all night long, just working 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.280 on the business, and so between twenty thirteen when I 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:51.160 wrote their initial plan to twenty sixteen we'd actually open. 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.720 Until twenty sixteen, we worked each day. But people thought 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.520 I was nuts. I mean, I'm at a very good 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:01.880 law school and I'm the president of the Black Law 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.440 Students Association. I'm doing all this stuff that was leading 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:07.200 me in the pact like direction of being a lawyer, 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:09.159 and so to come out on the other side of 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:11.000 that and be like, I mean, I was telling people 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:14.200 at graduation like now I'm not going to practice, and 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.560 they would look at me and be like, spend all 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.520 this time and all this money to not practice law? 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:21.920 What kind of law were you studying? 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.840 I went there and it's interesting where this how this 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:27.640 is shifted. But I wanted to be a civil rights attorney. 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:29.400 For me, it was about trying to do something that 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:31.440 was the best way to help people. So that led 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:34.720 to a lot of education kind of related classes in 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.640 law school. But people thought I was crazy. I mean 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.680 all the way to the like the very very I 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:42.800 feel like for some people it didn't start making sense 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.640 until twenty eighteen we had been open, and folks were like, okay, 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:50.840 it actually division, Yeah, Like I could support myself. 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:52.320 By then. 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:54.000 I mean that was another part of this journey that 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:55.880 folks didn't know early on. 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.080 Like we were, we were broke, broke, broke, So how 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.440 did you all? Right? So twenty sixteen you say you 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:03.520 open it? You opened the spot right twenty sist and 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.040 so so you finished law school and then right after 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:07.640 law school you decide to open it. 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.280 So I'm working that whole time, and so I graduate May. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:12.680 What'd you work at? 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:13.040 Well? 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:14.800 I was working at law firms, so I would just 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.840 go bounce between different law firms. But I graduate May 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.320 of twenty fifteen. We moved the next day to Atlanta. 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.120 We got we packed our apartments up. TK was working 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.600 in finance in DC. He quit his job to kind 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:27.960 of time at the same moment. We got in the 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:32.880 car and drove to Atlanta overnight. And from that day, 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:34.520 I mean, it was about just trying to figure out 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.199 how to make this plan we've been writing for two 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:36.800 years happened. 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:39.440 So how'd you so with the brick and mortar businesses, 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:44.000 it's a lot going overhead and expenses with just intnet business, right, 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:45.760 So it's like you got to build out the spot. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.959 I'm assuming it's a lot different things go into it. 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:49.840 So where'd you get the how'd you get the finance 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:50.400 and to do that? 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.200 So that was that was one of the more painful 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:55.199 parts of this whole process. The first number we got 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.320 back was a million dollars and I remember looking at 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:58.720 TK and being. 0:08:58.559 --> 0:08:59.960 Like, oh, I'm about to go practice law. 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:03.719 I don't know where we got to get this moody. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:05.640 I'm like, I don't know what's about to happen. 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.960 And we had a really important conversation with my dad 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.480 and he said something that we still say in TGS. 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.640 He was like, son, small ideas will keep you small, 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.439 and so you have to fight for the best possible 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.960 version of what this business could be. And so we 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:24.760 kept dreaming, we kept pushing, and one million ended up 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.800 becoming two million that we needed. Two million became three 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.880 and we would just go around town trying to pitch 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:37.199 people the concept. We counted though it was ninety seven 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.880 straight people that said no before the first person say yes. 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:43.360 I mean and I'm talking about painful notes. We would 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.920 go to these restaurants and like, I've sat in the 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:49.160 lobby of the Ritz guess what used to be the 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:53.920 writs in Atlanta. Nobody come I've sat at dinners with 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.160 people you pitch for four hours and I kid you not, 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.720 this dude said, so what is it? After four out 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.000 four straight hours? And so we kept going though, and 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:05.680 we would ask people, even when they told us no, 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:08.160 to refer us to people, and so they did and 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.600 kept going and the number kept growing, but kept using 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:14.480 that same advice like small DIDs will keep you small, 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.560 and that's how the I don't know the site kept going. 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.240 So when you're trying to get the finance and my 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.960 mom thinking like, what's that process like? Because you're trying 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.600 to get fine some answer for something that isn't really 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:28.760 here yet, and you're trying to tell people like this 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:30.720 is what it's going to be, So how do you 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:31.280 convince them? 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:32.120 What's the conversation? 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:33.600 Like it was, it was. 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:36.400 A crazy Chicken or the egg problem because you needed 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.000 investors in order to get a building, but you needed 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:39.880 a building. 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:40.280 To get investors. 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.320 Because you would go to people and be like, yo, 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:43.480 so I have this idea and they'd be like, well 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:44.840 where is it. You'd be like, well, if you give 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:47.280 me some money, I'll find out where it is. So 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:49.199 we were we got to a point where we kind 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.360 of like talked about both things happening at the same 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.520 time where we would like we had found a spot 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:59.040 where we are now, and we just kept like believing 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.600 that we would have the money necessary by the time 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:02.920 we needed to. And they were kind of all these 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:05.320 different dates where you had to have different amounts of 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:10.520 cash and fortunate enough that like those those numbers came in, 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:14.200 I mean, and they were they were big numbers that 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:16.640 we needed. I mean it was half a million or another 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:20.640 half a million to make different deposits. But that was 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:23.839 that ninety seven, just like all over town pitching people 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.040 like just I mean, I was talking to anybody that 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:27.920 I could about Tjes. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.960 I read that your slogan became, hey, you got anybody 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.079 else that can tell us no, We're looking for more people. 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:34.760 Yeah, truly, like. 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:36.800 It was not a personal thing when you told us no, 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.440 because I believed I believe then and now that like 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.040 if I talked to you and you didn't get it, 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:45.400 that that was actually a sign that we were headed 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.760 in the right direction, because I'm like, anything that's disruptive, 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:52.160 like you're not supposed to understand. And that's how we 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.280 It wasn't personal. Folks would say no, and I'd be 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:55.920 like all right, cool, like you have another friend that 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:57.839 would say no, and a lot of times they did. 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.320 So you had to raise three million dollars roughly. Yeah, 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:03.360 So who was your first big break that was like, 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:07.040 all right, I involve invest in this. It was a 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.760 guy that nobody uh knows knows here, Yeah, just like 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:14.599 a low key businessman. It made some money in the 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:18.320 stock market. I guess we bugged him enough and he 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.199 was like, I'll give you twenty thousand in Our first 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:22.800 check was twenty thousand. So was it is it like 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:24.440 a shark tank? Are you giving up equity? 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.240 Like yeah, yeah, so yeah, no, yeah, there's no debt 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.760 in the business at all. It was all equity and 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:33.040 so yeah, we were selling parts of the company to 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:34.400 get the money. 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:36.800 And how long did it take you to get the 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:37.600 full hmount? 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.880 Nine months of like when since like from the time 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:44.839 we moved back here, it was nine months. 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.640 Until we had it like fully funded. 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.960 And even that is kind of strange because like it 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.440 truly wasn't like you read these stories where it'll be 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.360 like we got all the money and then we started. 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.760 That wasn't what we were doing, Like we would get 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.960 some money in and like sometimes y'all, I didn't even 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.760 have the cash for I don't even know if it 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.559 like officially hit our bank account because I'm telling you 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:11.319 that money we'd be gone, so we'd be on the 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.760 phone with the bank, like, look, I wrote a check, 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.079 and so there's some money that's about to hit our account. 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.559 I need you to clear the check that we deposited 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:25.240 because it's like it's coming out the same dayady, yeah, Like, 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:28.840 I mean, we learned all the different ways that you 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:33.240 can develop relationships with banks and really try to like 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.559 speed up the process because we weren't funded, like how 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.120 folks talk about doing stuff where you just have millions 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.959 and sitting on cash. Like I remember this article came 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:45.000 out that was like Ryan Wilson opens three million dollar 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.000 private club, and it was it almost made me want 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.120 to cry because like we had no money when that 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.640 article came out, and we were truly I used to 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:55.240 call TK on Mondays and be like, y'all, how much 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:57.360 money do we need to make to make it to Friday? 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.959 And that was that was really how we lived and 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:03.120 how do you make it to writing? 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.120 So all right, so you raise the money, you open 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:11.880 a spot, but that's only half the battle because now 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.360 I'm assuming now you got to have staff, you got 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.600 to start to pay back the investors on a certain level, 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.440 or just have some revenue come in period. So now 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.440 what's the next step after that to actually build it 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:25.080 out and generate revenue. Was it to bring people in 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:26.160 as members first? 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:28.800 Or events? What would you do first? So there's three 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.640 parts of our business. So yeah, members are kind of 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.560 the core part of it, and then we have a 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.360 restaurant and bar, we have events, and so we still 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.800 do those three things to this day, but early on 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:40.800 it was trying to get good at all of those 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.720 things really fast, Like we didn't have any time to 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:48.600 sit and like this time was very painful, but it 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:50.760 taught us the fundamentals of the business in a way 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:53.400 that like nothing else can teach you. 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.040 I Mean, when you truly have. 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.600 People to your point, like on payroll and you're looking 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.400 at them and you're thinking about rent and growth trees 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:02.800 and like they're counting on you to figure out how 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.680 to make sure that every check clears, you start to 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.800 figure out ways to make money. And that was that 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:11.480 was our promise to one another. T K and I 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.840 were like, yo, if we can get the place built out, 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.400 we will do everything at that point to make sure 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.440 that we're successful. So like that that won't be the 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.680 reason why this doesn't work if we can just get open. 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.760 So once the door's open, that was game time to me. 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:29.520 And we talking to everybody. I mean I've been every 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.680 every building and office in the city. If you know 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.040 them in they're in the culture, I probably knocked on 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:38.800 their door at some point trying to figure out what 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.680 we could do corporations, events, anything we could do. 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.680 Is that the marketing plan, right, So obviously you have 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:46.520 to get members now, So the marketing plan is like, yo, 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:48.640 let's go knock on as many doors of people that 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:50.640 we know in the culture that's trying to do things 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.120 for people, or like, is there something else that you're doing. 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.480 I mean, we didn't have any money for ads or 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.640 any of that early on, so yeah, it was we 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.040 were talking I mean and whole stuff. So we would 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:05.200 be like, come to TGS and let's talk about you know, X, 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.360 Y and Z, and from there meet people and then 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.320 the same thing we did with the investors, do you 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.920 have anybody else that we should meet? And a lot 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:13.400 of son's supposed to be like yeah, you should meet 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.600 my man knows doing this and doing that, and I'd 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.000 be perfect, cool, what's that number, I'll call him? 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:19.080 And we did. 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.320 I mean it was like there was no money for 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:26.360 we weren't on radio, there was no I mean, we 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:30.160 were talking to people and posting whatever content. We didn't 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:36.640 run our first marketing anything until two years plus, and 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.720 by then people knew about the gathering spot. So there 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:43.320 wasn't any entrepreneurs that talk like that. But they're always like, 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.000 you know, I need money so I can get marketing, 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:50.360 and like, I hear you on one level, but you 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:52.480 can you can get your own stuff out if you 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.320 have to, depending on what it is. And that's the 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:55.880 first we took. 0:16:56.160 --> 0:17:01.040 So as far as the membership, and so correct me 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:02.840 if I'm wrong. The membership for people that it's like 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.000 a coworking space. That's the people that pay memberships, right. 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.520 So in part, so you have access to the workspace, 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.800 to the restaurant and bar, and then we program a lot. 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:16.080 We host like thirty events a month that are specifically 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.439 for members of the club. What you are more getting 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.679 as a member is access to the network of other members. 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.119 And yeah, sure the ability to work, and sure the 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:28.600 ability to eat, but more of like the combined network. 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:31.159 I mean, the youngest member is twenty one, the oldest 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.280 is eighty eight. There's people that work for some of 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.199 the biggest companies in the city and people that are 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.720 starting their own businesses dope creatives, right, So, like, if 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:40.560 you think about it, if you're an entrepreneur and you're 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.160 trying to figure out how to be successful, meeting other 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:46.520 entrepreneurs is great, but like meeting some creatives is even better. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.240 A lot of times meeting some people that work for 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.200 a lot of the other companies in town that could 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:50.679 be helpful. 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.760 So we're building that more than we're building like workspace. 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.040 So it's like a secret society exclusive. 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.439 Yeah, I mean there's there's exclusivity to it, but it 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:02.959 for us is more about trying to make sure we 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.040 know everybody that's there so that I can introduce you 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:08.720 to whatever it is that you're looking for. So my 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.159 goal is when you come to our bar, that the 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.280 person on your left and your right are people that 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.520 you want to meet for some reason, whether that you 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.200 can do business with them or you just want to 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:19.760 know them socially. That's what our team is trying to build. 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:21.399 Towards each day, Like, how do I make sure no 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.040 matter when you pull up, both of the people are 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:27.600 folks that you want to talk to, and that's what 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:29.600 people are really like joining more than anything. 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:31.240 So how did you You said you didn't run ads 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:34.200 for the first two years and you've built a reputation 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.720 because I've heard about it in New York so obviously 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.159 you've done a good job with branding and you know, 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.040 so how did you do that? Like what was the 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.120 marketing plan if you wasn't spending any money on. 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:48.320 Ads putting out content? We were just social media, yeah, 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.440 I mean not paid stuff, but we would do stuff. 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:52.199