WEBVTT - Becoming a Master Marketer w/ Kenny Burns 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:08.399 Afro Tech San Francisco, California. Rodney Williams, co founder and 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:11.600 chief commercial officer at Listener, is giving a lightning talk 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:15.800 on the main stage. Listeners and audio technology company that 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:21.119 transmits data like payment information authentication information over sound waves. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.079 He talks here about the value the black perspective and 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:27.720 now he continues to challenge himself to remain authentic to 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:30.960 who he is in this industry which is infested by 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:36.960 all birds and Patagonia authenticity a virtue. He challenges us 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.120 to also embrace the other message that's really important is 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.199 that even at pn G, I don't think I was myself. 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.200 I started to try to play their game. I wore 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:50.840 slacks and sperris and um sweaters and cardigans. There's nothing 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:53.320 wrong if that's what you do. But I don't do 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.680 that right. I'm you know, I got to too, STAPs, 0:00:55.680 --> 0:01:02.279 so he get it. I did. And you know when 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:03.800 I and I, when I first started the company, I 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:07.560 would also show up a Silicon Valley, not myself. And 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:12.080 something happened. After a long list of people telling me 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.399 they weren't gonna give me money out of the city, 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:18.039 I started to embrace who I was. I started to 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:21.800 remember everything that I always that I've been through. There's 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:23.600 something that I learned with one of my investors and 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:27.240 is while we were talking about Batman. And if you 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:31.000 all watch Batman, remember bang Banis has this mask on. 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:36.640 He's beating up Batman and bang uh. Batman goes, we're 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:40.600 from the same place, and bang says, No, I was 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:48.280 born in it. You adopted it. That's us. Like, it's 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:51.320 not a shield of disgrace. It's not something that we 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:54.000 should be nervous about, Like we should walk in the 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:57.800 room and eat your face like and that's how we 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.800 should all act. So anyway, bracing yourself and bracing who 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.240 you are and being confident in that is extremely important. 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.359 I'm with Lucas and this is Black Tech, Green Money. 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:15.919 I'm gonna introduce you to some of the biggest names, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.840 some of the brightest minds in brilliant ideas. If you're 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.680 black in building or simply using tech to secure your bag, 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:31.080 this podcast is for you. Lifestyle specialist Kenny Burns is 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:35.200 a twenty plus year music and entertainment industry influencers and executive. 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:39.399 He was Senior vice president of brand Development at Combs Enterprises. 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:43.360 The entrepreneurial arm for Sean P. Diddy Combs and launched 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.079 Revolt TV while managing This I Rock and Delhi, a 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.800 tequila brands for Combs as well. I ask Kenny about 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.480 authenticity and the statement he made that he's come to 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:56.120 be known for get paid to be yourself. When I 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.600 first made the statement, um, you know, I think in 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.160 traditional business, across the board, you're expected to be a 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.320 certain way, um, whether you go to wall screen or 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:10.240 you go to the entertainment business. And for me, you know, 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:14.200 there's just certain things, integral things that I'm just not 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:18.560 willing to do to to gain in life. Right Like 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:23.640 I'm uh, you know, I'm I'm I'm firm and who 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.480 I am, I'm firm in the and who I want 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.200 to grow to be. I mean, we all have layers 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.640 to pill off as we assin. But I think, you know, 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.520 when I made that statement, it rained true for so 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.680 many people, man, because you get putting these these boxes, 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.960 and you get putting these circumstantial moments when you apply 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.280 for jobs or attaining jobs, and or you think you 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.280 have to be a certain way going into this particular profession. 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.320 And I just think that you can be you and 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:55.560 if you are yourself long enough authentically yourself, um, and 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.200 show people you know, obviously you have to show people 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.960 doing that that uh, that time that you know you 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.520 have a specific skill set and you can do the 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:06.240 things you say you can do. It's not like you 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:10.240 can just be an asshole and expect to win in life. Um. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.960 But if you are authentically yourself, you have a unique 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.520 skill set. You know, you can create your own blueprint. 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.560 You don't have to follow others in tech. Um, we've 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:24.719 idolized fairly or unfairly, uh, stereotypical Ivy League school drop out, 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:28.920 the hoodie you know where. Um. And it wasn't until 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:34.200 I met Paul Judge about seven years ago that I 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:36.600 realized you didn't have to wear a hoodie in tech 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:41.240 to be successful, right Um. Paul was that representation for me. 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:44.520 And likewise, you on the branding side of the marketing side, 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:49.200 talk to me about what you see our perspective as 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.960 black people that value that that has in an industry 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:57.280 like technology. I just think presentation is everything. I think 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:01.520 you know, you show up how you want to be received. Um. 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:04.680 You know before I always tell that now that people 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:07.240 used to judge me so much by my pictures, right, 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:11.000 Like you see this guy, he's you know, couch surfing, 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.320 he's with you know, celebrities, he's flying private he's just 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.440 then the third. But you don't know the human right 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.960 Like you don't know that my same friends have been 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.360 my friends since the sand box. You don't know that 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.080 I've been married twenty one year since October coming. Um, 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.200 you don't know that I have thousands of men tees. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.320 You don't know. And I think you know that can 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.040 be tricky. You can be judged basically on the way 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.360 you look, you know, the way you But I I 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:42.320 believe if you, you know, show up in business ready 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:47.599 to handle your business, looking smelling, feeling like money, nine 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:49.280 times I'll attend you're gonna get what you came for. 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:51.440 So I don't. I don't get into you know, and 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:53.320 I know in tech, like you know, it's that whole 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:55.839 where flip you know, thunk flip flops and you have 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.160 these creative ideas and you can do whatever. I mean, 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.359 that's cool, And that's some people's thing. I think is 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:05.960 I want to show up, um, you know, dress ready 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.640 to impress. And that's just the way I was, you know, 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:12.080 I was brought up and not impressing like we need validation. 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:14.840 But this is what I love. I love to dress 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.920 and I love, you know, to show up smelling amazing 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:23.119 and people be like, wait, what's that right? You know? So, yeah, 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.520 we use this word culture fit a lot. Is this 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.880 tech buzz word for people who for finding people who 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:31.840 talk like we talk, you know, are interested in a 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.599 lot a lot of the same things. And Um, as 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.760 we make progress black people in tech and in business, 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:42.080 you know, climbing the these ladders inside corporations, starting companies 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.680 and looking for funding, largely for people who don't look 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.960 like us. Um, how do we hold onto that truth 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.400 in those instances? Because again, I see people like that. 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.159 When I met Paul, it was at like a tech 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.479 crunch event. Everybody's in there, it's got a T shirt 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.440 or hoodie on it. He's getta you know, Hugo boss 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.360 suit or whatever. Where he was a weird at the time. Um, 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:06.279 But how do we hold on when that value may 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.279 not always be appreciated when we're trying, when we need 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.600 something from the other folks. Yeah, I mean I think 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.200 it's kind of Um. I think that you have to 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:20.280 have and offering, you know, I think if you're offering 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:25.360 is um special enough, they have no choice. And I, 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.760 you know, I came into a business that I honestly 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.440 didn't like after getting into it, but I was so 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.840 good at connecting pieces and putting pieces together. And then 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.320 when I had, you know, became, I came to my 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.400 wits and I was like, it's over. I don't want 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:43.000 to be in the music business anymore. I pivoted, not 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:47.560 far from what I loved about the creative process or 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:52.040 putting things together. I just tap more into my marketing 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.960 skills set. And then, you know, obviously fashion was a 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.520 part of mine, my offering, so I became a second 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.600 black designer ever in Sactionthato. These were all organic and 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:04.000 authentic steps. It wasn't like I had to step outside 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:07.840 of myself too, you know, to to continue the journey. 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.840 And I think when you do that, that's when you 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.840 lose people. If you are you know, I'm sure you've 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.360 met people in the tech world that has had this 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.160 one idea and they won't let go of this one 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.080 idea until it pops. Now. I don't suggest people do 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.120 that in life, but you know, when you see that person, 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.800 you're gonna hear that pitch. It's gonna be a little 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.760 adapted to justin that has happened since the last But 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:32.840 you know, but but you can respect that. And I 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:37.480 think that ultimately, you know, respect has earned and and 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:41.439 a lot of times, you know, you get overlooked for 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:46.120 being black, for being less talented, for whatever the case. Maybe, Um, 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.520 those are two extremes and not equally yoked in that 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.800 particular h offering. But you know, I just think that 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.120 people if you're good, you're good, they're gonna see it. 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.720 And they don't, that's their loss. But you know, to 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:01.280 stop because someone else doesn't see you, Um, is a 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:06.240 detriment to your your possibilities. Yeah, I got familiar with you. Um, 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.880 I was back in the day on the radio, and um, 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:12.040 Ryan Glover and I were getting close because he was 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.959 supportive of some things I were. I was doing the 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:19.520 radio back in the noontime days, right, yes, yes, And 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.079 you know you had the Ryan Kenney fashion label what 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.960 you just referenced with him, Um, coming up in this game, like, 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.240 there wasn't a lot of technology you could lean on 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.400 to build that brand awareness. And if you think about 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.360 who Kenny Burns is today and if you were to 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.320 have to come up in this type of era, with 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.240 the tools that are available, how would you have how 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:44.520 would you evolve those strategies that you use back then 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.880 to be relevant today? Well, I mean you were there. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.959 Imagine if Kenny Burns had the Internet or social media. 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:57.400 I mean, could you imagine the level of promotion, marketing 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.439 assault that would have happened to the world. I think, 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:01.800 you know again, and it's it's you know, I think 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:05.920 my gift of people would allow me to connect in 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.000 a way where you know, and allows me to connect 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:09.680 in the way where people have to be involved with 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.160 what I'm doing. If you look at like the Kenny 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.280 Burns show, like two days into the quarantine, I lost 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:18.160 two twenty five dollars in events in the next three months, 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.800 and I'm like, wait, I have to figure out how 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:23.440 to get you know what I mean? So, and and 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:26.080 all I did was something I always do, But I 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:28.920 just sat down and did it on my phone, versus 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.880 having direct one on ones or speaking to you know, 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.120 tens of thousands of people through you know, through my 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:38.400 hostings or speaking engagements. And so you know, I wouldn't 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.640 you know, I wouldn't change my approach. I think my 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:45.000 my ability to connect with human beings would be well 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.240 received in the tech space, you know what I mean, 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:51.040 like the just the blueprint of like I'm a person 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:55.440 that I will never let the algorithm take over the feeling. 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:57.720 I am the type of person I will never let 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:01.040 the robot take over the human. And I mean that 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.920 whole hardly because I think there's a certain connection with 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.800 humans and I would just you know, figure out the 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:11.559 way the best do with socially and technology technologically. Yeah, 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:13.200 let me let me dig deep on that. Because I 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.200 was listening to um an interview D Nice did with 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.920 the Breakfast Club, and he was talking about how when 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.200 he's turned on, you know, that first couple of nights 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.400 of him spending on Instagram, you know, he would get 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.080 a couple of thousand here, a few thousand there, and 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.440 then it just one night. It was just magic. And 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:31.440 he said, but he really, I'll tell you what that 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.600 happened and why it was the human connection he had 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.240 he got lit. I don't know, you know, he was 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.119 he was, you know, doing what he does with his playlist, 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:45.720 and you know he was talking like D Nice. You 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.439 hadn't heard him publicly talking like that. He was telling you, 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:53.200 thank you, He was filling the energy from you know whatever, 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.920 And it was such a vulnerable human moment that you 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:00.760 couldn't help but like lock in and and and because 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.439 of that, it was like, yo, we're stuck the word travel, 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:06.400 like where can we go? And just kind of because 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.840 you know, this is like this is unheard of for 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:12.520 our generation. We've never been stuck nowhere, like I mean, 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:14.560 I've never been in the house for four months right 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.920 in my life. Um. And so when you look at 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:21.120 what he did, man, it was the vulnerability that connected 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.240 the dots fan because he was already he was already 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:27.120 the musical maestro, you know what I mean. Like, so 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:28.720 it was it was about it was about let me 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:30.400 get to know you. And that's even when my wife 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.240 told me, she's like, Kenny, like people see your pictures, 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.040 they don't really know you. Like people that come to 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.079 your seminars, people that are loyal listen, want to get 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.440 to know you, know you, he said. But this Internet, 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:43.800 I'm sorry, this social media gives you an opportunity to 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:45.840 be that. I just was never the guy that wanted 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.400 to be like, oh I don't feel good and I'm sad, 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:54.360 and but you know this, this in the controlled way 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:58.320 can do wonders for your business for sure. Yeah, I'm 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:00.280 gonna I'm gonna come back to that point. I think 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:03.679 that's a very salient point. Um. And he mentioned that, 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:08.400 you know, it was thirty years leading up to that moment, right, 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.719 And so I think about when you talk about the 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.760 evolved Kenny Burns in this era coming up. Um. I 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.880 actually even had this conversation with Tombasa on a different episode. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:21.520 He was He's like, you gotta find a way do 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:26.480 you commodified your presence on the internet? Right? And I would, 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.360 I would ask you to go and go in, go 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:32.040 in on your point of um, being the guy all 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:33.959 over social media, et cetera, because there's a lot of 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:37.040 people trying. When the quarantine first hit, everybody was alive 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:41.960 on instan everybody. So how does how do you break 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.360 through without having to go through that thirty year period 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:47.520 like the United with that year period like Kenny Burns 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.959 to be able to break through these days in your mind? Yeah, 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.280 I mean, you know, it's all happens things. I don't 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.960 think that there's any rhyme or reason to it. You know, 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.920 you could have a rant one day. Um, you know, 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:01.800 I don't like the way of treating black women. This 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.240 guy hit the girl in the face, skateboard through the 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.880 girl and trying stand and you can take a stance 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:10.320 that day. Um, that just carries you on a journey 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.200 you never thought you were coming into. But that's the 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.319 the mystery of social media. D Nice didn't plan that 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.960 thirty years of working his I mean, you know, I've 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.480 imagined this thirty years of your life. You go back 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.600 and forth on the journey. You get money, you know, 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.640 you have a nice life, you raise children right, and 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.880 then all of a sudden it changes. It's not because 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.560 it changes right then and there. And it was you know, 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.320 the stars, moon and quasars aligned, and your work, what 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:43.800 you've done all that time. The fact that you were 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.040 able to get Michelle Oban, the fact that you were 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:48.640 able to get these people, that is you know. But 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:53.640 there's no formula for the internet. The internet is smoking mirrors. 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:58.560 Like I could probably go ham Sandwich with all the 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.000 you know what what the blogs a t that I 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:04.480 have on people I know, but I'm not I had 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.479 real great times with these people. They might have shortcomings, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:09.840 but that's not on me to dish. So I think, 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.280 you know, there are people that come to the social 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:16.000 space to tell it all because they you know, that's 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:17.880 all they have to really offer. When you look at 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.920 like how I did it in the quarantine, All I 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.600 did is all I've been doing. Just like with Derek, 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.480 all he did is what he's been doing. I just 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:29.120 became we just became more vulnerable in our offering. When 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:33.560 you listen to me, talk to her. Her is two 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:37.120 years old, and she's been here before. But if you 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.800 don't know anything about life, if you haven't lived enough 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:44.120 life too, you know, tell her about her superpower and 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:46.760 have her tell you about her superpower and have that 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:50.360 mix of gumbo and festive conversation and love fess. But 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:52.320 the person I've never even met in my life. I 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:54.840 knew her manager, but you would have thought I've known 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:59.280 her twenty five years. But but but just like Ludicrous 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.040 or just like Kevin Hard, or just like somebody I 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.000 have known, and you have the same type of conversation. 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.760 It's not about Kenny Burns. It's about culture. It's about 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:14.200 framing cultures, about regurgitating something that you haven't felt, showing 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:16.960 you something about someone like Damon John. I had him 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:20.440 on the day and he was giving you information. I mean, 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:24.240 this is a guy who started in hip hop and fashion, 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.960 went all the way to Shark Tank and got into 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.040 tech and everything else. But he was you know, he 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.800 grew up with the Supreme Team, a notorious gainst the 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.520 drug card telling it. So, my thing is like you 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.880 don't know things you know? With me, you get an 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.480 opportunity to see people in a different realm. I'm probably 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:50.000 the best in our culture of framing culture and repackaging 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:54.280 it and repurposing it back to to the people. I 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.480 love that. Um, I kind of want to dig in on. 0:16:56.600 --> 0:17:00.360 You talked about, you know, showing more of yourself in 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.240 this world, and Steve Jobs had this quote says, you 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.760 can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:09.640 them looking backwards. Um. So when you think about becoming 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.800 a person to influence, what do too many of us 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:16.439 get wrong about the strategy we may use to build 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:20.119 that influence. Um? Well, first of all, I don't know 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.679 if I agree with Steve Jobs. I mean, as brilliant 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.119 as he is, and I know that's that's blasphemous to 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:31.919 saying the test, but you know, looking back, and I 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.720 don't know Steve, never met him in my life, but 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:39.040 you know, watching the movie, um, you know, seeing reading 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:44.080 about him obviously witnessing the creation of of what what 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:49.160 what apple is? Um? You know, the past was detrimental 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.560 for him. The past was painful for him, although it 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.560 might have been a driving force and ultimately you know, 0:17:56.000 --> 0:18:01.800 um creating his own ecosystem. Um, it was very painful. 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:06.080 And I I actually doing COVID, got a chance to 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.280 peel back some of the layers on my childhood trauma 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.320 from the things I saw at a very young age 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.520 and had to go through. Um. You know, I was 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:17.199 taught to compartmentalize, put it away, compart, you know, but 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:21.160 you had to because you know, when you think seeing 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.760 people do drugs is normal, or living this type of 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.720 life is normal, you become a little off. UM. So 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.520 I wouldn't say go back. What I would suggest, though, 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:34.080 is that own who you are, own what you what 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.239 you saw, and who your people are like. You know. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.000 The thing I never I never did, no matter no 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:43.879 matter the dysfunction. I never like rope my people off. 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.760 You know, even now in culture, I don't you could 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:48.720 have done something to me bad and business. I'm not 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:51.080 gonna write you off. I'm gonna hold you accountable, but 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:53.840 I'm not gonna write you off. Because what I feel 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:59.399 is to ultimately grow and be whole as a human being, 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.760 you have to accept all of your gifts as well 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:06.040 as all of your faults. And it's not about, you know, 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:07.879 the past. This is one thing. Like my wife and 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:13.239 now you know, I made sure that the disappointments in 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:16.800 her life from men, right, I would I would not 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:21.720 repeat those things, and she could be she could count 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:26.320 on me to not, like, you know, be a reflection 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:27.680 of that, you know, I mean, so we wouldn't have 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:29.640 to live in that space because you know, we all 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:32.119 often here like sometimes you go forward in life and 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:35.760 you meet somebody like somebody and then you stuff you know, 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.439 or you or you go into business you work with 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:40.240 people in this space and you're go in this space 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:42.239 and you deal with the same type of people. You 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:44.520 have to be willing to let that ship go because 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:48.399 carrying it into each relationship ends up mirroring to me 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.159 um the possibilities of it arise and they get all 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.600 those people being the same. No, that's that's fair. That's fair. 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:56.760 And I think what I took from that quote was 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:00.840 you it's only looking backwards that you can see why 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:04.760 things made sense instead of looking out in the future 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:09.160 and trying to make it happen. But oftentimes a lot 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.960 of people aren't that thoughtful or smart. Um and and 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:15.960 and we don't this is this is not a we're 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.600 not fingerpoint. We're just you know, it's just like somebody 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:20.760 when when the primaries were here in Georgia, I gave 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.240 a list of people to you know, vote for, because 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:25.400 some people go and look for a black last name. 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:28.520 Some people go and and guests or just do all 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:31.159 Democrats when there's multiple options and you should know the 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:36.600 best options. So but you know, again tomato tomato. Um. 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.040 But yeah, very good, very good. Um. How do you 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.720 think about monetizing your personal brand? So what is the 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:46.639 strategy people should be thinking about if they've got a 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:50.239 thousand followers on Instagram five thousand, twenty thousand followers. So 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:53.080 it's not just y'all look at that twenty thou followers, 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:56.320 but it actually means something. What are you doing with 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.120 that twenty thousand followers? Like what would you as a marketer? 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:03.000 How do you think about Okay, let's actually make this meaningful, 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:06.240 no question. I mean if you have a thousand followers 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:09.320 and those thousand followers move when you say move it's 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:11.959 better than having a million followers that you get a 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.320 thousand followers to move. Um. And I think a lot 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:19.560 of times, you know, we look at numbers like you know, oh, 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:22.280 you know, Kenny has two hundred and fifty thousand followers 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:25.080 and he's it's easy. No, No, that's not that's not 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.240 necessarily the truth. UM. I have a great you know, 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:31.960 support system in my community, that the ecosystem that I've created. 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:34.439 But you know, you should be able to move the 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:36.400 way you move. I mean you can look at engagement 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:39.600 with someone with a thousand followers that gets eight hundred 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:44.159 likes and that's you know, engagement. So you know, I 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:48.760 never I want people to always remember it's not about 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:51.920 what everybody else is doing. It's about what you're doing 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:55.880 and how well you're doing it. You know, we all 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:59.240 have been guilty of UM. You know, when I was 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:01.920 coming up, it's like, you know, puff did this by 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:04.080 this age. I gotta do this by this age. And 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:06.240 then it got to the point where I wasn't keeping up, 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:08.639 and then I was like wait, But then it was 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:11.679 nothing wrong with that because that man's journeys his journey. 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:14.359