WEBVTT - What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: Will Lucas’ New Year Reset 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.040 So thankful that you guys rock with this podcast, that 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:07.320 you have subscribed to this podcast, or that you tell 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:11.400 somebody else about this podcast. Whatever you do and showing 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:13.600 your support for this podcast means so much to me. 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:16.960 And the biggest compliment is when you share with somebody else. 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.680 So thank you for you know, rocking with your boy 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:21.440 and Black Tech, Green Money. What we're trying to do 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:27.960 here is give you insights knowledge on wealth creation and 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.920 this is particularly for people who are either building or 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:39.080 leveraging technology for their wealth and legacy. And so this podcast, 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:41.199 this particular episode is going to be a little bit 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:43.840 more about what's been going on with me in twenty 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.200 twenty four and what I plan for twenty twenty five. 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:52.919 What we tend to do is expect unintentionally. Often I think, 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.480 I don't think it's you know, something that we do 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.080 just maliciously. But what we think, what we tend to 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:02.680 do is assume that because the year has changed, that 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.640 things are just different. And I had this post that 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:07.320 I put up on I think at my threads a 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:10.360 couple of days ago. So just because it's a new year, 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:15.120 if you don't change the operations the way your habits 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.160 work at et cetera. Then your twenty twenty five will 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.160 be actually worse than you're twenty twenty four, and that's 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.600 because the landscape around you is changing. So one of 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.320 the biggest lessons I learned in business was, like, there 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.840 is no stasis, Like there is no flat. What we 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.560 assume is flat is just because the numbers may be 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.199 the same as they were last year. You know, maybe 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.280 we didn't grow, we didn't grow as much as we 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.240 could ever should have, or maybe we're down just slightly. 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.280 All of those things mean you're down because the market 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.240 is continuing to progress, and you being flat means that 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.320 everything else is changing around you and going in a 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:58.240 positive direction while you're stuck where you were. So if 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:04.680 you have not taken the initiative and responsibility of changing 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:09.239 your habits and putting systems in place, changing your operations, 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:12.520 then things will be what they were last year, and 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.600 that means that you will be increasingly behind. And so 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.120 I've already started to feel and then it's a wee 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:23.160 a weekend. I've already started to feel the pressure of 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:25.320 twenty twenty five and the things that are in front 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.320 of me, the things that are on my plate, what 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.000 happened to me in twenty twenty four was by the 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:34.920 end of the year September October was on fumes, like 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.959 legit running on fumes, and it's my own fault. I 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:43.480 will talk more about that. Like I have a few businesses, 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.080 toll Houses. One toll Houses a private social club that 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:49.160 is designed for the city d well and creative and 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:52.799 entrepreneurial class. And so it's in my hometown of toled Ohio. 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.840 We're sitting right on the water. Water's right outside you 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.880 know where I am right now because my Creatio office. 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.240 Creatio is my market company. That office is right here 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.240 inside Toehouse in the front of the building. So toe 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:10.040 House is twenty five thousand square feet that we own. Here. 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.639 There's five bars, there's five lounges. There's a coffee house here. 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.000 There's a jazz club. Jazz and blues is what we're 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.520 doing there. There's a cigar lounge in there, there's a 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.760 pub in the back. There's a coworking space with two boardrooms, 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:28.920 two conference rooms, a work lounge, there's a private dining area. 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.920 All of these different amenities that we offer to our 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.040 members and somebody. These areas are open to the public, 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:36.120 like the coffee house and the jazz club, but everything 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.440 else is for members and their guests. So that's Toll House. 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.920 Then Creatio is a marketing, technology and production agency, so 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:48.760 we do everything from video production, website development, communication, strategy design, 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.800 and more out of Creatio. And that business is a 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:56.960 business I've been running since two thousand and seven, and 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.320 so Creatio and my team is actually next door in 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.600 the office next to me, and so that team is 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:08.800 a growing team, and we are really working to, particularly 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.720 for the region that we're in, is help companies and 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:16.520 organizations reach and engage multicultural and diverse audiences. So we 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:20.599 specifically work with not intentionally, but specifically. Our customers just 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:26.000 tend to be governments, nonprofits, school systems, et cetera. Because 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.320 they are trying to reach and engage multicultural and diverse audiences. 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.279 We do other things. Those just tend to be the 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:36.119 people who have us on retainer. Then beyond that, there's 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:41.200 four other four total real estate properties that we own 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.360 right on the same strip. So I have this building 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.080 that I'm in right now, which is the Toll House 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:50.440 and Creati operation. The next door is a building that 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.880 we bought earlier in twenty twenty four, So that's another 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.640 ten thousand square feet. Then about two blocks down on 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.880 this same street water there's two more buildings that I bought, 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:05.039 I want to say, in twenty twenty three, and in 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.600 twenty twenty two we bought two other buildings. In total, 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.320 there's sixty thousand square feet that we have right in 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:17.880 this same stretch, which is the historic Vistula District in Toledo. 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:22.200 And so I'm committed to this area number one because 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:24.680 I saw the most opportunity here and the most white 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:28.599 space for getting my ideas out into the world. Like 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:33.720 I'm not in a real estate holder from the perspective 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:36.839 of I'm trying to lease out space. I have enough 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.920 ideas of my own and I'm an operator, and so 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:44.440 I am interested in starting my own operations out of 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.320 these properties. Now that that doesn't mean like forever, I 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:51.000 won't lease out or rent out space, but I'm working 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.360 on getting my operations going for the business ideas that 0:05:55.839 --> 0:06:00.760 are very very quickly coming into fruition. So toll House 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:06.400 being the first physical footprinted business that mattered, I guess 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.680 for square footage like Creatio, we didn't don't necessarily need 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:13.760 a place where customers could come but we do intend 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.960 to have more space for creatives to be able to produce. 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.760 And so obviously I do a podcast. I've been podcasting 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.680 for almost a decade, if not a decade, and there 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.360 are many people in our community who want to get 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:33.719 into podcasting, video and or audio, and what we're doing 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:37.440 is creating space for them to be able to have studios. 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.000 And so you'll see more of that kind of thing 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:44.080 come up if you're following along in my business journey. 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.880 But the point in telling you all these things, and 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.120 there's also other things, like there's boards I sit on. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:55.000 I just actually recently turned off of the University of 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.559 Toledo Board of Trustees. I was the chair to board 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:01.400 up until a couple of months ago. And I'm currently 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.880 vice chair of the Casino Control Commission for the State 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:08.240 of Ohio, and I will turn off of that board 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.360 in very short order, just a couple of months. And 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.680 so what's important to me is that I'm doing things 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:22.240 that feed the mission. And so my life's mission is 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.840 to create content and opportunities that helps black people realize 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:30.480 entrepreneurial success beyond their wildness dreams. So everything I do 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:35.040 is intended to do that. What happens is because I'm 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:39.080 involved in so many things and I have a family. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:42.680 Because I have so many things going on, I can 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.680 get bogged down with just a to do list. The 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.480 to do list drives my day. My calendar and my 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:52.280 to do list drive my day. And it's not a 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:54.680 great way to live. It is a way to live, 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:02.360 but the businesses end up unintentionally driving me, or at 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.440 least my intention is not for them to drive me, 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:07.080 but they end up driving me because I'm just doing 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:11.960 so many things. And mind you, I've been doing this 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:15.040 with like a virtual assistant, a remote assistant somebody who 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.120 used to live in Toledo no longer lives in Toledo, 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.880 but helps me now remotely. She mostly manages my calendar 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.960 and my schedule and projects for the Creatio team. But 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:29.480 I have not had an on site assistant in a 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:34.240 long time, or assistant that I'm seeing regularly on site 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:37.280 in a long time. And part of that's my fault 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.959 because I don't I have not found what I work 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:45.240 well with. And Sada, who's my assistant now, is fantastic, 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:50.360 and even though she's remote, there's so much comfort there. 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:54.000 She knows what I like, she knows what I don't like. 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.560 She knows how I like my schedule to be outlined, 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.400 she knows when I don't want to take meetings whatever. 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:05.280 So she's already aware of my proclivity. Is the things 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:10.080 that I like set up in specific ways. But what 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:16.120 happens is when you don't have somebody nearby or you know, 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:20.600 within arms reach, that things just end up coming to you. 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:25.440 And there's like no barrier between me and opportunities. There's 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.360 to vet these opportunities, because not every opportunity is a 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.400 good opportunity, and not every opportunity is for you. But 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:37.840 I am the the blessing and like the I don't 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:39.920 want to say curse, but like the good and bad 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:42.520 thing that I have in equal parts. I am equal 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:46.520 part business and creative. And so that's my superpower. And 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:51.920 so I am really good at operating and really good 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.960 at creativity. And so what happens is because I have ideas, 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:59.600 I can roll and rock out on those ideas very quickly. 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.000 And that's not always a great thing. It is good 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:04.880 to be able to move fast, but that doesn't mean 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:06.840 you always should move fast, because if you've heard the 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.040 old adage, you know, if you want to go fast, 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.040 go alone. If you want to go far, go together. 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:13.960 I am learning that and living that in real time 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:18.400 because I've put myself in positions that require me to 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:22.880 continue to go fast, and I'm paying for that in 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.360 many ways because I've not always brought people along, and 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.120 so I've had to learn as an entrepreneur and as 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:33.320 a CEO that you know, you can't just always you 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:36.480 can't always turn on a dime. It's great to be flexible, 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.000 and it's great to be agile, but you will burn 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:43.560 yourself out if you continue to turn on dimes at 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.120 one hundred miles an hour. And so at the end 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:50.120 of last year again, you know, September October somewhere around there, 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:54.559 which is gassed like even an afro Tech and even 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.200 I mean actually probably not Afrotech, because I like, I 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:04.160 was rested up for afro Tech, but globally just exhausted. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:08.560 And I've learned how to operate exhausted. But it's not 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.480 good to operate exhausted. Like I'm not bragging. I'm not 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:14.800 saying that, yo, this is the way to live grind time. 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.040 I'm not saying that at all, cause it's not great 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.720 to live that way. But I'm coming out of the 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:24.120 season of living that way, and that means putting in 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.560 position and putting in place operations and systems that allow 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:32.200 me to have more space in my life. And so 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:36.719 if you don't have space, the things that would come 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:40.000 to you can't even find an opportunity to get to you, Like, 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.120 if you don't have space in your life, you will 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:47.240 miss out on other things. And so what I found 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:51.080 is as it's equally as important to build the operation 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.959 as it is to have great ideas. Everybody's got an idea. 0:11:55.040 --> 0:12:00.240 Everybody's got, you know, things that they believe that they 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.400 will start as a business. Everybody's got great ideas, even 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.480 though I'm sure you I'm sure somebody you know has 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:12.439 ideas that will never come into being, because it's not 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.240 just about having the idea. It's about also putting in 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:20.720 together the systems and executing on those ideas inappropriate ways. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.040 And I have not always I've always executed, but I 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:28.280 have not always executed in appropriate ways, and therefore it's 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:33.120 caused strain and stress in areas of my life. And 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:34.960 I'm just like, I can't continue to live like this, 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:39.040 and so I've been fixing those things, and I dug 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.200 myself so deep into so many of these respects that 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:46.160 it's like now it's an opportunity to come out and 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:52.000 coming out of that hole that I've dug so long, 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.400 for so long that you don't just jump out of 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:57.640 the hole. You have to climb out of the hole. 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:01.800 And I've been finding myself with opportunities to climb out 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.240 of the hole. And so it's been a process and 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:06.680 it is a process that I will continue to do 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:10.640 for the rest of my life, because as you get 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.319 one thing going, other things again coming to play. And 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:15.959 there are other businesses that will be launching this year 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:20.360 that will change the landscape once again. But the important 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.560 thing is to not make those same mistakes again. And 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:29.960 so I'm looking forward to sharing more about this particular journey, 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:34.000 but I want to talk about today how I'm using 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.520 the things that I've learned over last year, over this 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:44.199 past year for my twenty twenty five and so particularly 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:48.719 as it relates to me my professional journey and toe 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:53.480 housing creatio. So we've been leaning very heavily into AI, 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.400 as you should be. If you're not, what are you 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.560 doing well? Just in some very simple ways and some 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.800 very in depth ways, But the very simple stuff like 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.439 we have again a jazz club here at Toehouse and 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.760 Lucille's Jazz Lounge. So if you look it up onlines, 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.880 just Lucille's Jazz Lounges dot com. That's my jazz club. 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:15.840 And I was because I do podcasting and I do 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:22.000 voice stuff, I was doing all the intros for our performers, 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:26.320 and so what I would find is I would always 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.480 be left with a batch of intros to go record, 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:33.720 and that's just another thing to do. So like none 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.440 of the things that found their way onto my to 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:41.040 do list were like super complex things. It was just 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:46.960 another thing. And like big problems aren't made always of 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.960 big issues, like big problems are made of small issues. 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:56.480 It's like, you know, when I was growing up, I 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.600 had learned that, you know, you don't just go from 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:04.560 a well running vehicle to needing new rotors, like you 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.840 go from a well running vehicle to brake pads that 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.400 need to be changed. And if you don't fix the 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:14.360 brake pads, that becomes a different problem. And if you 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.000 don't fix that problem, that becomes a different problem, and 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.640 the problems compound, Like so what could have been a 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.080 thirty dollars forty dollars fifty dollars fix now is a 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.960 couple hundred dollars fix or thousands of dollars fixed, depending 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:27.760 on what kind of car you got, because you didn't 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:32.840 get the small thing resolved. So the point I'm making 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.960 in that is what I have found is on my 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:38.800 to do list, there's a lot of little things that 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.480 just need to get done. And that doesn't mean they 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.400 need to get done by me, though, And that's always 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.680 been our problem is I've known that other people could 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:50.480 probably do this thing, but I knew I could do 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.160 it faster, and I knew I need to pay somebody 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:54.760 else due to so I can just get it done 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.920 and be over and done with. And it's not a 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.840 great way to run a business that you play to grow. 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:06.080 And so what happens to too many businesses like ours 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:12.320 ours is that we end up having single, you know, 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.080 one person on the payroll. Some of us don't even 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.080 have real payroll. We just take money out the business. 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:23.240 But for general purposes, most of our businesses don't have 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:28.040 more than one employee, and so to house, there's twenty 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.720 two people here on staff. And so what I've had 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:35.680 to learn how to do is not continue to dig 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.680 myself in these holes that I had previously dug in 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:43.040 other businesses, where I had painted myself in the corners 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.400 because I was the only person doing things, which means 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.600 I was the only person who knew how and why 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:52.400 we did things certain ways, because all the institutional knowledge 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.760 was in my head. And so what's been important for 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:02.479 me is to allow other people, people and systems technologies 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:06.200 even to take over some of this stuff. So particularly 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:08.160 again back to Lucille's. I know that was a long 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:10.480 way back to Lucille's, but with Lucille's even I was 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:14.320 doing all these voiceovers. So now we're using AI and 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.199 I'm just typing in, Hey, here's the artists we have, 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:22.159 here's our typical intros. Create these voiceovers. So now I 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:27.000 use eleven Labs for this. So eleven Labs just creates 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.639 all of our voiceovers for all of these shows, and 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:32.119 so it doesn't need to be my voice that's introducing 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.240 people to these acts who perform at Lucille. So that's 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:41.040 one way that we're using these technologies to be able 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.879 to just relieve things from my play, and soon there 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:45.680 will be somebody else who just does it and I 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:47.960 don't even got to be involved in it anymore. But 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:51.919 today it's just me going to the website, inputting the 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.480 artists and spitting it out, and then I send the 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.720 MP three to my guy. Soon again there will be 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.800 somebody else who says, Okay, there's an act coming up, 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:03.520 make sure we have this voiceover for the intro, and 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.520 I won't even be involved anymore. But again it comes 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.320 as a process of working myself out of the whole 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.440 that I dug myself into. How else are we using 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.720 AI here at Tohouse? So another way we've been using 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.600 AI here at Toll House is just working on our 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:24.560 events calendar. And so because we have all this member 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:29.200 data and data for people who even just visit as guests, 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:34.600 we've built this database of interests in, database of profiles, 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:40.959 and database of demographics that we can then build programming around. 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.639 So our two words of the year for twenty twenty 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.919 five are partnership and program development here at Toll House. 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:51.840 So partnership was also our word of the year for 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.080 twenty twenty four. And what that means was it wasn't 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:58.440 necessarily that we built Toll House to be the sole 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.120 producers of all of our program I mean, we wanted 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.879 our members to take the front seat on the types 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:09.480 of programs they wanted to see us do. So members 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:13.399 became the faces the influencers of the programs that we 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:16.879 developed here. For twenty twenty five, we're keeping that same 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:20.879 sentiment alive, but we're also adding in professional development because 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:24.800 so many of our members, if not a third close 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:28.760 to it, are on corporate memberships. So that means that 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.200 they come here to work. They come here during the day, 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.159 they come here to have meetings, they come here to 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.960 you know as their hybrid or remote office, and so 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.879 they're getting work done here. And so how about we 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.840 lean into that and provide them professional development opportunities to 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.399 where they're hearing a talk, or they're listening to a 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:49.600 fireside chat, or they're engaging in a seminar to help 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.840 them be better at what it is that they're aiming at. So, 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:56.560 whether they're working somewhere or whether they're starting a business, 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.200 they're going to find the programming that they need here 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.800 to help them be better. As a matter of fact, 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:08.359 I'm doing a talk coming up on prompting for AI 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.600 that's specific for small businesses. How to prompt AI to 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:14.000 help get you the information that you need to grow 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:16.919 your small business. So that's one of the things. We 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.280 also have other talks on things that are not necessarily 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:22.600 just business related, but things about the kind of foods 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:26.320 you eat. So there's people in our membership database who 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:31.080 are very interested in more holistic foods. But the point 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:35.280 is we used AI. We just dumped all this information, 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.959 all the characteristic information about our members, and you know, 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:42.800 we use that to analyze what types of programming might 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.240 be of interest to people in this population. And so 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:51.000 I've been using a lot of chat sheept's muscle to 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.400 build out our programming calendar and come up with ideas 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:57.760 that otherwise we wouldn't have thought of if I've even 0:20:57.760 --> 0:20:59.560 done it for Lucille. It's like, one of the interesting 0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:03.000 things Seals is it's a jazz club. Jazz and blues 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:07.399 is what we're doing there. And it's constantly like booking 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:13.760 an act for a show. And we have a fickle market, 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:16.800 and so people don't always want to see the artists 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:19.439 that you think is fire or that may work in 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:22.960 other communities and other markets. Just because they working in 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.720 the market doesn't mean they're gonna work here in Toledo. 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:29.680 And so I've been using chat GPT just to provide 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:32.600 guidance on how I should think about our programming and 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:36.199 lou seals our talent roster, and it came up with 0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:41.000 this idea going back and forth with it of alternative 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:43.520 types of shows, and so what we're doing actually is 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:46.160 the show coming up. I think it's in February where 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:49.560 we're doing an album show to where there will be 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:53.719 an mc R host who will be on stage and 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:57.600 members of the audience can bring an album with them, 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:01.160 actual vinyl twelve inch vinyl with them or forty five 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:06.520 with them of a song that means something to them. 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:08.840 They get an opportunity to tell the story of that 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:14.320 album or song, and the audience gets an opportunity to 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:18.520 enjoy that song alongside them. And so that's an idea 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:20.760 I would not have come up with otherwise. But we 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:26.199 were going through this analysis with chat GPT of how 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:32.280 to think about our location and that stage differently, like 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:35.560 what can we do other than just booking talent on 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:40.719 that stage, And through that process came up with this 0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:45.520 really creative idea of having an album party an album show. 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:49.120 So I'm super excited about that one because I have 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:52.440 a very big record collection and I never really get 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:58.200 an opportunity anymore to share those songs with other people. 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:00.000 And so you might have people over to your house, 0:23:00.200 --> 0:23:02.840 so you might have you know, maybe you're a DJ 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:06.560 who still spins with wax, but just to have these 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:10.240 old records that sit up in your grandmother's you know, 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:13.760 attic or wherever they are, you know, having an opportunity 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:15.919 to pull those out, dust them off, and bring them 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:18.680 to a jazz club and blues club and play them 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:21.320 for people, and then get an opportunity to tell the 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:24.320 story behind why it means so much to you. I 0:23:24.320 --> 0:23:28.720 think it's super duper special. On the creatio side, how 0:23:28.720 --> 0:23:34.200 we're using AI is you know, for number one, very 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:42.680 surface level action is to just help us with emails. 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:46.159 I want to respond to emails in specific ways. Just 0:23:46.280 --> 0:23:50.040 train a particular GPT on this is how I respond 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:55.080 to emails, will just spit out a response. We use 0:23:55.240 --> 0:23:58.640 AI a lot for writing scripts, and so we get 0:23:58.760 --> 0:24:03.040 from clients this is the goal of this particular effort, 0:24:03.160 --> 0:24:05.960 whether it's a commercial, whether it's a documentary or whatever. 0:24:07.000 --> 0:24:13.639 It's often putting together that shot list, the script and 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:16.000 all of those things. The creative treatments we're doing a 0:24:16.040 --> 0:24:21.000 lot of that stuff with chat gpt now writing blog 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:26.080 posts for just putting thought leadership, and so I may 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:30.120 have ideas on particular things that are happening in the marketplace, 0:24:30.480 --> 0:24:32.560 things that are happening in our community, things that are 0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:37.160 happening globally that would be good to distribute on creatios 0:24:37.240 --> 0:24:41.119 platforms on social media. And I don't always need to 0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:44.520 spend an hour or two hours or half an hour 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:46.840