WEBVTT - Making Black Brands Mainstream with Delvin Carter 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:07.520 What's her family. It's your girl to meet A. D. Mallory, 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:11.080 it's your boy, my son, the general, and we are 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:15.600 your hosts of street politicians, the place where politics meet. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:20.479 What's going on? I mean, I'm back to work. I 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.920 was on a zero now I'm like on a six. 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.919 Yesterday I was on a five. I'm on a six now. 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.960 I'm trying to get, you know, myself back into the spirit. 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:34.120 I think, you know, I tried to take the vacation time, 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.080 but I realized what I might need or may have needed. 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:41.320 I feel better. It's more of like a sabbatical. It 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:46.120 wasn't so much just the holidays, because then during the holidays, 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:49.880 you're still holiday and you're going shopping, You're meeting people, 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.080 You're you're you're entertaining, you're cooking stuff. I gotta make 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.880 sure my mom and dad have what they need traveling 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.000 in a little bit. This one has a party, that 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.360 one has a party. I almost need to time that 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.400 I just have to sit in the dark if I 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:04.760 want and do nothing. But you know what, right now, 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.840 I'm feeling good. I'm back into it. We're getting you know, 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.560 wrapped up and I think, use me, it's gonna be 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:16.160 a really really good year. Well it better be man sejorgaye. Man, 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:18.959 you know it's execution. Man. I'm glad to see you 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.720 back to work, you know. Uh, but if you need 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:23.680 it's abatico. You might need to take that. You know, 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:26.200 you might need a little dunk room or something, just 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.919 being there for a couple of weeks, not talking. Hide 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.679 the phone, put it down, you know, put it away. 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.120 So you don't have no community, go to like an 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:39.200 homage village. So you have so many suggestions. I will 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:41.520 figure it out for myself. I don't need you to 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:47.280 tell me listen, because I could just stay in my 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:51.200 own house that they ain't gonna work because you're gonna 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.440 grab your own phone. You're going the people in your 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.880 house is gonna knock from downstairs, and but they're not 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.960 going to because they're gonna know, don't bother me. Nobody 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.240 cares about that. When you when you're able to be reached, 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:04.520 people gonna reach you. So I don't know why you 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.280 think that's gonna happen, but you know that's neither hit 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:11.640 on the man. Um A lot has been going on lately. Um. 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:16.959 The other day we had a rally in the Bronx 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.239 you know, young boy, fifteen year old Joe Sway or 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:26.720 take a little Lopez lost his life. And the crazy 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.000 thing about the young boy, he was coming from the 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:33.799 p l M shot and you know he was he 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.800 was on life support for a minute and then they 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:40.640 said then anounced to brained in and didn't. Eventually he 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.600 lost his life. And another young boy who hasn't been named, 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:48.320 who was sixteen, was also shot, but he didn't he survived, 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:55.840 you know, with um with minor wounds and right fifteen 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:57.880 and the other young man who was shot with sixteen. 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:02.360 And the crazy thing about it, you know, Um, we 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.920 were at the pl and we did the rally and 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:08.400 the mother came out, um and she was just so distrought. 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:11.840 It hurt my heart, you know, just seeing her just 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.120 falling down to the ground crying for her son. She 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:19.400 snatched the picture and took him and you know it 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:21.760 was a lot, man, and it's and it never gets 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.760 easier when we watch, you know, mothers lose their children, 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:27.760 know that they have to bury their children, Know that 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:33.000 forever they have this feeling of them losing something that 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.400 was inside of them, they birthed that they pretty much 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:42.160 their organs produced like the the the organs inside the baby. 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.760 It comes from the mother. Literally, this is a second 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.560 version of her, you know, and understanding that it is 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:54.040 just crazy. But what was even more crazy for me 0:03:54.280 --> 0:04:00.240 was so yesterday I went to a funeral for another 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.720 young boy from the community at high Bridge who lost 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:08.200 his life. You know, did call him Jelly, you know, 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:12.960 um he lost his life in a car accident. And 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.280 while I was there to pay my respects, one of 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.640 the people that I know from the community said, Hey, 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.520 I've seen you at the rally. You know, that was 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:24.800 Eileen's son, you know, Eileen, that's his mother, Eileen. And 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.200 I couldn't understand it was Eileen. You know. Eileen used 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.760 to be with Dizzey, who was my sister's best friend, 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:31.479 and she used to be in the house with those 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.719 two boys all the time. And I was like, and 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:37.960 then it clicked into my head and I remember Aileen 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.000 like she was because Dizzey was a good friend of 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.479 mine who I frequented a house all the time, and 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:45.720 Eileen used to be in there with these two little boys, 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.680 you know, and they were real younger. And when you 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:52.960 say fifteen, this is around you know, fourteen, fifteen years 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.360 ago when I had first came home from prison, you know, 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:59.960 so knowing that this young little wood who I shared 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.040 spacewood and I played with, took to the store, used 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:05.320 to buy a little you know, toys for them, give 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.159 them money to go to the store, lost his life 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:12.160 and I didn't even realize it. You know, was really 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.040 touched me in a different way. Man. So I want 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.919 to some I love about to the mother, to the 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:21.440 parents of the family and and just say, man, we're 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:23.680 here for you. Man. It just was a lot. Man, 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:27.719 just just see in that situation. Yeah, that mom, that 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:32.719 was so heartbreaking. Wow, fifteen years old. She has a 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:37.360 sixteen year old child. Also she will not deceased, but 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.400 her fifteen year old baby. It was just really sad. 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:42.480 I mean, it's nothing else you can say. We know 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.080 the issues. We could sit here all day and talk 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:47.520 about gun violence and what it does and how it 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:52.280 you know, rips communities and families and all of that. 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:54.719 We already know. And there's a lot of work that's 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:58.119 happening across the country where people are responding. I thought 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:00.560 the one great thing that I would say in a 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.360 it's a terrible situation. There's no way to make light 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:05.560 of it. But one thing I would say that made 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:09.039 me proud is the work that we did so many 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.720 years ago. Um, you know, work that I was directly 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.200 involved in many years ago, more than ten years ago, 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:19.479 has materialized to so many groups showing up and being present. 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.040 So when people say, you know, where's the protests and 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:26.360 where's the organizing around gun violence? You know, I know 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:28.400 a lot of it is trolling and they know that 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.760 the truth and they just say it anyway. But there's 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:32.880 some people who really don't know. And I just encourage 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:36.320 folks get involved with your local grassroots organizations that do 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.200 that work because there are people out here that are 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:44.120 fighting for um life. That's right. You shout out to 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.080 a t shut out to all the organizations who are 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:59.159 out there, guns down, sometimes getting new people. The official 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:04.520 gun violence Czar New York. You know, so everybody who 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:10.000 came out there, man, we appreciate you all. President uh 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:17.600 Gibson was there, Salamanca was there because we were so 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:21.120 everybody that came out man, and in the PL, the 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.360 officials inside the PL were very helpful to us. You know, 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.200 we're looking forward to doing some work, you know, to 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.080 try to curb the violence and just try to bring 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.920 some level awareness, awareness, you know, in the community. So 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.160 black people just can't get a break, and we just 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:40.600 cannot get a break. Sixty five year old woman Betty 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:45.680 Smith was in this store called the um Litterman's Grocery 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:47.800 and she found the fifty out of bill. So she's 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.440 at the counter, fifty out of bill on the floor. 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:53.400 She picks it up, so look, it's my lucky day. 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:57.000 She shows it to the person at the registers. She's like, Oh, 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.440 you're not leaving here with that. You're gonna give me that? 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:01.840 It might be my friends he was here earlier. Now 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:03.640 she's the only one in the store. She looked like, 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.200 I ain't giving you nothing. I don't find this you. 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:08.880 You ain't getting no fifty dollars back from no black woman, 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:13.520 the old black woman behind the register. The person behind 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.240 the register. Yeah, that ship told you're not leaving here 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.160 with that. You're gonna give it to me because it 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.600 could have been my friends. She took. Listen, now, I 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:26.800 wish you do you think I was? She like, I 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:28.880 wish I would. Man. You know how much buddy, these 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:30.880 people that are took for me, you know much money? 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:32.640 I spit it here and I've probably got me a 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.920 little break. You know, this is the because when we 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:36.839 find money, we say the guard that said it to 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:41.600 that's the That's so she tries to leave the store, 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.040 she calls managers everything. They locked the lady in the store, 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.280 snatched the fifty dollar our hand. When she goes to 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.800 try to to get it, put some the choke call, 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.680 she said, they call it all times of all kinds 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.680 of black bitches, this and that, you know it was, 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.040 it's this grace. And then the daughter shows that after 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.320 a while to try to get in there, and they 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:07.200 arrest the daughter. They said she assaulted. And when you 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.600 can see like one of the I guess one of 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:12.000 the people who work in there in the front like 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:13.840 trying to stop the daughter from trying to get in, 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.280 and she like pushes up and the police woke up. 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:17.760 As soon as you push her. The first thing they 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:19.440 do is grab her. They don't ask you questions, they 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.320 don't say nothing. They grabbed her and arrest her. And 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:25.680 this lady is basically being held hostage for fifty dollars 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.600 that she found. And it's just like, you know, we 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:30.440 just we just can't get a break. Man. I don't 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.560 know what the rules and regulations are for all of this. 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:38.040 But I would imagine, well, first of all, don't tell 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:39.960 anybody if you find money, you just put it in 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:41.960 your pocket and keep it moving. We all know that, 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:44.280 But I don't know if it dry, if it was 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:48.800 found inside of someone's establishment, who owns it, I don't know. 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:51.360 I don't know who is Actually we should ask the 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.320 lawyer about that. Speaking of lawyers, UM, first of all, 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:58.480 I hope that woman is okay, but you know spe 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.960 and her daughter. But speak of lawyers, I am working 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:07.200 on a show for Street politicians where we have different 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.520 attorneys to come together to talk about some of the 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:16.199 legal issues of two um, you know, lawyers from different perspectives. Obviously, 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:21.760 our friend Brian Benjamin was the Lieutenant governor of New 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:26.320 York State. UM. And he also was you know, had 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:29.280 a great re election or any election bid because he 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.920 was appointed to that position. But then it was going 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:36.760 to be elected into the position. And some scandal that 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:43.120 I think was manufactured unfortunately by government officials alongside a 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.880 man who anyways, a long story. People will learn more 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:51.240 about it. Um. They you know, really really try to 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:55.400 ruin Briant's life. And now, of course the case part 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.440 of the case, the most important part of the case, 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:01.600 has been dropped and which is is is unheard of 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.160 with the Feds just dropping cases, which we see in 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:07.040 a lot of that starting to happen, um, And I 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:09.640 wonder what that means in terms of the integrity of 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.360 how the FEDS are working. And by the way, it 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.280 could be the lack of integrity in the past, where 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.920 there is now more integrity because of what we have 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.280 fought for and therefore some of these cases that used 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.720 to be open and shut because of the corruption and 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:28.719 everything else are not open and shut anymore. So that's 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.880 a different way to look at it, right, UM, So 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.200 him you know his case. I want to talk about 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.160 the legal ease and around that would like to hear 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.640 from some folks who understand or who agree with the 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:44.080 Tory Lanes verdict and people who don't you know, other 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.440 I'm talking about legal folks, legal minds, not just people 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.320 who are lawyers that are paid to go out and 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.679 say one thing or the other, but people who really 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:56.240 have opinions that, um, you know, can help us to 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.600 explore all the different sides of these issues. And I 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.800 think we should put on it asking the question if 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.760 your money falls in a store or even in somebody's 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:07.760 house and a person walks by and picks it up. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.440 Who owns it? Somebody's house? And I think that's way different. 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.960 The store might be the same. I think it's only outside. 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:16.880 Well who if something, if money is felt on the 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:22.280 floor inside, Who's to determine that it belongs to? Who? 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.240 I don't know? But we should ask, right, We should 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.680 certainly ask. So that's that's one of the things that 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.280 I think should be on the list. I mean, and 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.400 folks should actually reach out to us and tell us 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:36.520 about issues that you want to hear us cover. Um. 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.200 And you know this this legal analysis moment that we'll 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:44.360 be having with these different attorneys. Actually I wanted to 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.319 do my thought of the day, but it is too extensive. 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.760 But I think that when we come back next week, 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:55.400 we need to really delve into the AP course. I mean, 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.600 we talked about it last week and I had the 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:01.000 perspective and we discussed the perspective on the AP course 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.720 that's been banned in Florida. Um, we talked about it 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:09.280 from a perspective of what we think the real true 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:13.000 reasons are for why they want to ban those that 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.720 course or that that course work right that curriculum. But 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:19.280 then since we had that last week, we were just 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:21.560 talking about what I know white people be doing. White 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:24.640 people ship. So that was last week, this and then 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:27.920 not just white people but racist white people. This week 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.640 we've had the opportunity to look through the curriculum. I've 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:35.160 posted a bunch of stuff. But now that we have 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.000 looked through the curriculum and have more to discuss, I 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:40.360 would like for us to talk about and really kind 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.760 of explore some of the issues that have come up 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.680 with black folks who agree with the band because of 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:48.199 things that they don't like in the curriculum. So today 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.000 is not a good day to talk about it because 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.000 we don't have the time to really get into it. 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.240 But certainly next week, and in fact, I go as 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.480 far as saying that perhaps we need to, um, you know, 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.000 at some point pull in some professionals that could really 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.880 talk about this whole issue. With that said, let's get 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:06.600 to our guests. I'm excited about this guest because you know, 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:08.840 he's supposed to be the hot hot So let's go 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:16.000 see what he what he what he got hot? So 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.840 today we have a special guest in the in the 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:21.320 spirit of Black History Month. You know, I've been on 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:27.640 all black businesses supporting black um business owners, shoe brands 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.520 in particular, and this has come to be one of 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.640 my favorites. You know, his the quality, the style, everything 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:40.280 about his brand is just amazing. We have the the 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:44.280 Great Devil and Carter the owner of Side Collective, which 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.320 stands for somewhere in America. How you doing today, King, 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.680 I'm doing good. How you doing? Um Man, I'm blessed 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.640 and holly favorite. You know, it is Black History Mom, 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:55.840 so we want to we want to really spread this 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:00.000 black owned businesses and support our own. You know, um 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.320 you were one of the main people when I decided 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:05.960 this campaign that I wasn't buying the more Nikes. Your 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.840 brand was the first person in my inbox. Everybody's like, 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.080 you gotta get side, you gotta get sided. And it's 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.080 from you know, people that I really respected, and I 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.040 must say many they definitely didn't steer me wrong, man, 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.640 So I definitely wanted to say I appreciate especially the 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:24.080 quality and you know, and the uniqueness is you know, 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.480 it's a lot of different brands, and there's a lot 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.320 of black owned businesses, but there's a level of quality 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.520 and you have your own unique style that I just 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.320 want to appreciate. Man, So, so what made you start 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:40.080 doing this? How long have you been doing it? Okay? 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:44.520 So um I started doing I started with sneaker customizing. 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.440 So when I was nineteen, I went to Queensboro Community 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:50.960 College in Queens, New York, and I met a dude 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:53.480 that was painting his Jordan's and he showed me how 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:55.920 to like paint my Jordan's different colors. He wasn't telling 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.600 nobody else. So I used to just walk around with 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.400 my Jordan's painted different colors, and people like when you 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:02.960 get black and yellow doing from And I used to 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.040 always use this line because my sister was in the army. 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:06.960 It's like my sisters in the army in Germany, they 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.200 just get different colors than us. Because the Internet wasn't 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.280 popping like it was. You know, we talked and uh 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:15.280 so that's how it started. And then a few years later, 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.040 other people started figuring out and painting their Jay's. So 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.160 then I was like, I gotta do something that they 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:22.280 can't do. So I was like, my mom always was 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.600 the seamstress, she always made clothes. I was like, what 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.120 if I used my talent and like my gift for 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.600 being able to pick fabrics and start putting fabrics on shoes, 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.040 and that's what I started doing. In like two thousand, 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.080 two thousand and one, I started doing a lot of 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.240 rappers videos, doing the Gucci Air Force ones and all 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.200 of those type of things. And that's when I started 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.960 making enough money where I had then got into owning 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.040 my own barbershop. Did that for about ten years, and 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.720 then at twenty five, I just said, you know what, 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.400 I didn't make it rich in fashion like I told 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.000 my sister I would, so I said I would give 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.280 the military a try. So in two thousand and three, 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.760 I joined the United States Coast Guard. I did that 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:03.240 for eleven years, and just in my last year. You know, 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.960 I have kids, I'm moving around every four years, and 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:08.399 I'm not with my kids mom. So then I have 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.640 to live in New York and their mom's living in California, 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:13.840 and I'm just like, nah, this is not how I 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.280 pictured fatherhood to be. So I said, Instagram is out. 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.439 I'm seeing all these guys customer sneakers and making a 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:22.000 lot of money. I was doing it for one fifty 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.120 getting a thousand, So I said, you know, what, I'm 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.240 gonna just put all my time into showing them I'm 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:29.000 really that guy can really do dope customs. So I 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.719 just started doing new customs every day, taking shoes fully apart, 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.080 remaking up with snakeskin, alligate, all that cool stuff. And 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.359 I started making more money at doing that than my 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.000 military salary. So I said, you know what, I'm gonna 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:42.080 get out and I'm actually gonna go to fashion school 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.480 and really be you know that that that thing to 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.720 my daughters when I say, yo, you can do whatever 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:50.359 you want if you put your mind to it. But 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:52.840 if I never been the dad that go and give 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.399 up a whole career nine years short of retirement and 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.320 trying it, then I feel like I would be a 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.600 hypocrite telling them to chase their dreams if I never 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:03.040 chase line. So I got out of the Coast Guard 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:05.399 and I went to the Fashion Institute of San Francisco, 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.840 graduated with honors, and from there open my own boutique. 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.399 The pandemic causes to close that down, and I just 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:17.200 went direct to consumer. Wow. Wow, So I'm hearing so 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:21.840 many amazing things from you as a black man. It 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.840 makes me, as a black woman, just feel so full 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:29.680 just to hear you talk about you know, ownership of course, 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:33.560 you know, entrepreneurship. Then whatever was necessary. If you needed 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:35.520 to go to the coast Guard and get a job, 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:37.720 you had to go do that, which means you meant 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:42.159 you also served our country. Um. Then you talked about 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.960 you know, fashion schools, so every step of the way 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.760 you were very intentional about this moment that you're in 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:54.480 right now. So many of our young people think they 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:58.800 can just pop up a shop and start selling things. 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.000 And it's not just young, it's a lot of people 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.280 that do not understand the brind and the hustle and 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.240 the steps and the fact that you had to go 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.320 in different directions to come to the place here in 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.880 now and with an ultimate goal of being a stable 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:18.800 father who had access to being you know, with his 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:22.359 children at all times. I think it's an incredible story. 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.960 And you know I have heard um, you know, over 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:29.560 and over from people, you know when we're when you know, 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:31.480 folks always come to me like why has my song 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.480 throwing out all his sneakers? Everything he does? The people 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.040 call me and you know talk about him and ask 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.000 me what you think can you stop him? Like tell 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:42.480 him he you know, they always do that, and um, 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:46.119 you know you always come up, Sia, the brand comes 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.240 up all the time as being like the hot brand. 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:54.160 So you know, congratulations on that. Tell us the steps 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:56.600 in terms of not not you know, I know, the 0:19:56.640 --> 0:20:00.320 career steps, but in terms of how you actually your 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.560 brand front and center. What was that like? Okay, So 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:07.359 when um, when I had got out of when I 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:11.360 graduated college, then um, I'm a I'm a super homebody, 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:13.720 you know, like I don't all of that nightlife stuff 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:15.440 and all of that. It just doesn't do it for me. 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.360 It's like it's my kids and my passion. That's my 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:20.719 day to day. So when I wanted to start, sayah, 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.439 a meme was going around on Instagram and it was 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:28.400 Steve Jobs, um, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, all of these 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.560 guys started their company in their garage and they grew 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.719 to be multimillion dollar and their multibillion dollar companies. So 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:37.800 when I seen that meme, I I screenshot at it 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.360 and I told my kids, I said, look, you see 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:43.000 these guys they started in their garage. Watch I'm gonna 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:46.320 build a multimillion dollar company from our garage and the 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:48.760 garage that where I lived at I was paying rent. 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:51.639 I wasn't a homeowner yet. So and I built. We 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:54.080 stopped parking our cars in the garage. I built all 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:56.600 the shelves, the computer, the system and everything. And I said, 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:00.000 I'm gonna start a brand that's literally Director Consumer because 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.840 us I learned in school that Director Consumer was going 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.160 to be what the market was going to start changing into. 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:07.760 And this is before the pandemic, and the pandemic just 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.560 really just jet said it that forward. So I said, 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:12.280 if I could build the straight to consumer, what I 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:15.320 can then do is I can give higher quality being 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:17.480 that I don't have a whole seller and I don't 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.120 have to pay somebody else to sell my stuff if 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:22.159 I'm ready to put the work in and do the 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.280 work myself. As of now, we've made over fifty million 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:29.199 dollars and I haven't paid for one advertisement yet. Like, 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:31.800 I just wanted to build something organically. And I knew 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.000