WEBVTT - James Bronner Full Interview 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.000 This podcast is sponsored by Better Help Online Therapy. I'm 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.760 Michlene Maloof and I'm Nadyadessi licensed therapists and hosts of 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:10.800 Getting Better Stories of Mental Health. Join us for discussions 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.880 with Megan Trainer, Chris Bosh, Rebel Wilson, and more, from 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.840 discussing motherhood to immigrating to general mental health. Our guests 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.720 are awe inspiring. We all struggle with the same things, 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.640 so let's talk about it and de stigmatize them. Find 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.840 our new podcast, Getting Better Stories of Mental Health on 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:32.920 iHeart Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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I recognized that 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.480 we all have different definitions of success. For some, it's 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:14.120 acizable paycheck. Mine is helping people wake up and inspiring 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.960 them to accomplish their goals and live their very best life. 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.319 These are my passions and that's what I'm going to 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:21.039 do for you. As a listener. I want you to 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.080 stop tripping over small challenges and prepare the rise above 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.960 the bigger obstacles that life will present to you. The 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:30.399 Money Making Conversation interviews provide relatable information to the listener 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:35.039 of our career and financial planning, entrepreneurship, motivation, leadership, overcoming 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.840 the arts, and how to live a balance life. My 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.360 next guest serves as the senior vice president of Trade 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.600 show Operation, Director of Technology, and part owner of the 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:48.240 multimillion dollar family owned corporation, Bronner Brothers, Inc. The annual 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:51.040 Bronner Brothers Beauty Show is built as the nation's largest 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:55.440 trade show for multicultural beauty professionals and students. This year, 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.760 the seventy fourth annual brother Brothers International Beauty Show will 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:03.360 be hosted exclusively line Sunday, September twenty seven and Monday 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:07.280 September twenty eight, So get your registration forms together. The 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:11.840 Brothers is not going anywhere September twenty seven, September twenty eight. 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:15.520 You can see the entire presentation online. Please walk with 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.080 the man who who's gonna tell you the truth, because 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.919 he is the truth. Please welcome to the money making Conversations, 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:25.160 my man, James Burner. All right, thank you for having 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:27.679 me on, Rashaan glad to be here with you. First 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:29.160 of all, you know, we all know when the middle 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.880 of a pandemic, and let's be consist to have a 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:35.840 serious conversation. I have a brother who has three barbershops 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:39.600 and one beauty salon in the DC Maryland area, and 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:43.720 so of course you know when the pandemic hit impacted 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.440 and still he's made many many adjustments to try to reopen, 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.720 and of course he's nowhere near where the business uh 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.160 was prior to the pandemic. You are you, You are 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.560 a voice. You are a brand that uh that is 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:00.480 uh kind of like a voice of this industry. Tell 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.280 us about the overall impact of what COVID has had 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:08.239 on the beauty in barber industry for African Americans. It's 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:13.520 had a very heavy impact as you can imagine. Um. 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.960 I talked with one barber not too long ago, and 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:19.720 he was saying that he's had a shop for over 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:23.720 thirty years and it was just demoralizing to him because 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.280 he said, he's always worked, he has a strong work 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:28.520 after he's always gotten up early in the morning and 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.800 worked until late in the evening. And this is the 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.360 first time since he's been a teenager that he was 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.760 not able to use his god given craft and it 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.000 just he just said, this was I mean, it just 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.960 had him literally in tears. He didn't know how to function. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.800 And he said, you know, even he had clients cash 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.000 apping the money just to stay afloat, but he said 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.280 even that that it just wasn't the same because he 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:53.640 wasn't able to do anything. So it's it's really been 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:57.280 hard and it's going to be a long term impact 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:01.160 because estimating at least twenty or cent of these shops 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:05.040 will not be opening back up. So it is a 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:09.280 very difficult situation for a lot of industries, but especially 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.600 our industry. And it's the other unique thing about it 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:17.920 is is you're not able to actually work six ft apart, 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.440 so you know, restaurants, you can keep your distance a 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.400 little bit. But if you're doing someone's hair, whether it's 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.280 barbering or cosmetology, you know you have to be hands 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.280 on with that. But we did produce videos to show 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:33.359 them how to do that in the safest manner. The 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:37.920 good thing is that they did release a report last week. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:42.680 They had a two stylists working together that both tested positive. 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:45.880 They had a hundred and thirty something clients that they 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.760 had done during that time when they were positive. But 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.920 because they followed all of their precautions on both sides 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:55.839 where their mask, uh, they were not one of those 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.760 hundred and thirty something clients that actually got the virus. 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:03.240 So that was good. Knew that it relieved the industry 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:05.880 a little bit. Uh seeing that case study, well you 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:07.800 know it's really important that you say that. So it 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.520 means that I'm assuming that they were masked and the 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:15.160 and the customer wore a mask. Okay, And then like 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:17.680 my brother he's like, put, like this is just him 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:19.880 what he's done in d C. He's put like, you know, 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:24.080 clear shower curtains in between each station to try to 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:29.200 get some symbols of isolation, so you in conversation or whatever, 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.640 you wouldn't pass Uh, he's done things on a reservation 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:38.000 only basis, Uh, not allowing multiple people in the studio 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:39.520 at one time. And the reason we were saying that 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.960 because according to the CDC, African Americans have been dis 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:48.040 supportingly impacted by COVID nirteen and black barbers and styles 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.280 and make up a continent of your show and which 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:55.120 is generally about thirty people attend your show. So that 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.280 being said, what was when you when you start, when 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.160 you start as a business person, I'm just you know, 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.400 you're talking about the business because we all had to pivot, 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:03.840 you know what I'm saying, James, We all have to 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:06.279 things go walk an't do it like that or you 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.560 try to hold in and hope and pray that the 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.560 situation gets better. When you started not to get better? 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.960 What went through your team minding? When did you start 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.240 making the change? We have to go virtual team. We 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:23.479 can't do this live. But first of all, we were 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.440 highly blessed to make it through our last shelf, which 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:34.359 was in February. We were in februwhere and we actually 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:38.039 had about fifteen vendors that Don had already paid that 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:42.159 could not exhibit because they were coming from China. So 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.919 that that was when the travel had just gotten blocked. 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.160 And then we had others that were worried about being 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:50.480 among them, so we were able to calm them down 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:52.640 and say, hey, the Chinese are not able to come 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.520 in because of the travel band, but they felt more 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.400 comfortable coming in. So had it had it been two 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:02.400 or three weeks later, it would have really impacted us then. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.400 So from there we we kind of just looked at 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:10.080 the data from week to week, and when we we 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:14.680 saw it kind of going even through the hotter weeks, 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:20.760 we were really worried that it wouldn't go away, like 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:23.680 the President said when the heat came. So we we 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.880 looked at the data and and and we we knew 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.080 people had to make travel arrangements, so we said we 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:32.400 would rather be on the front end of this thing. 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.080 And if we go virtual, it's not something that we 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.480 have done before. It's gonna take time to make that pivot, 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:43.840 and we had to renegotiate hotel contracts and the conference center, 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.080 so that a lot of moving pieces involved. We have 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:49.160 a lot of partners who set up booze and do 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:51.560 a v and all of that for us, so it 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.720 wasn't just us, but it was a lot of partners, 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.800 a lot of jobs on the line, So we we 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.440 looked at it and then we knew we were being 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:05.200 disproportionately affected. So we didn't want to be a guinea pig, 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:12.560 you know, for how large conventions and gatherings handle this pandemic. 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:15.760 So we made the decision for the long term that 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.880 we want to keep our people safe, and we went 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:22.080 ahead as as early as possible and made that decision 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.680 to go over the virtual So we've been working on 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:29.600 that now, uh for probably six weeks, and we will 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.440 will be open line for registration within the next week. 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.560 When you get that that that registration, please give me 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.559 a banner so I can post it for you, because 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:40.600 that's how that's how we're gonna win here, James. We 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.480 have to win together, you know, we have to be 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.440 able to network, we have to have understand that as 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.440 a community. This is a community interview because of the 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.760 fact that I know I have a brother who's involved. 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.199 I'm African Americans. I know the African American I know 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.760 I have to mask up. I'm not listening to these 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:59.080 people out here talking about not wearing a mask. You know, 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.880 we are being vertly affected when the when the CDC 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:04.640 came out in April. Eight out of ten people who 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.920 had coronavirus in Atlanta were African Americans. That's right, that's right, 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:11.080 and that information is not being put out there, and 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.480 so you have to deal with that, juggle with with 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:19.480 with an audience that's being suffering financially and then being misinformed. 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.360 And then I love this quote that you I got 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.319 I pulled off your website, James. I want to say 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.360 that you Barber's and Stylus do more than cut and 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:31.720 style our hair. They are trusted advisors, friends and entrepreneurs, 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:35.480 our extended family. Their shops also offer a safe haven 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:37.840 and a hub for our community in the midst of 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:43.400 this unpredictable feminine They deserve our support. Wow. Yeah yeah. 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:47.480 And along with that, we started a beauty UH and 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.320 barber release funds and we did get with some of 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.160 our partners and raise money for them, and those checks 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.560 are gone out now, so we had a lot of 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.000 people to apply that would give them five hundred to 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.640 a thousand dollars of extra stimulus. So that's another thing 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:05.520 that we did beside the training video, and we also 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.640 began to try to help them source of this ppe 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.599 material because that's that was another thing like when the 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.959 hand sanitizer ran out, you know, how are you gonna 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.200 help your clients when you can't even sanitize your hands 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:23.200 and sanitize their hands coming in. So we actually when 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:25.680 this thing first hit, the other pivot we had to do. 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:29.360 You know a lot of the beautyum and barber stores 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.880 were closed, so our products sales dropped in half as 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.840 a company. So you know, we hire, we employed over 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:39.640 a hundred people are pretty much all African Americans, so 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:43.679 that was another internal impact for the community. So in 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.319 order to keep those jobs going. Yeah, we we looked 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:48.200 at what we had and what we could do, and 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.120 we did have alcohol from some of our products like 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.960 Pump it Up, So we began to take those alcohol 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.480 tanks and went in the lab and and created hand 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.760 sanitizer that was moisturizing and again to send that out 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.160 to the stylusts and the barber's as well. You're selling online, 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:09.040 James said, yes, yeah, you can get that at Brunner 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.920 Brothers dot com as well as the virtual show as well, 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:15.400 and that the product is called Journalists. So we yeah, 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.760 we have two versions. We've got a jail and then 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:23.679 we also have a four rex formula that has four functions. 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.760 So because in the shops they have to spray down 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.160 not only clean their hands, but they have to clean 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.480 the equipment and the chairs and the door handles, so 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.800 they can spray their equipment and the mirrors and the chairs. 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.640 So that's a spray formula. So that we've got we've 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.679 got two versions there. Wow. Well you know you gotta 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:44.880 went to Georgia Tech. You know, scholarship you know, and 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.400 degreed engineer. My degree is in mathematics, so so you 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.199 ain a path now beauty and barbera. But you then 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.480 you just spilled all that chemical chemistry information in front 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.480 of just you know, just let me know, I'm talking 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.760 to an engineer here. Did you you know that knowledge? 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:01.920 You know? I always tell people, man, you know that 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:03.839 you know you could always be on the journey. It 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:05.560 iss not saying that you know, we just do one 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.719 on any opportunity that's given to you. That's what that's 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.320 that's a firm belief in my DNA. And when I 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:15.120 when I looked through your resume, it was throughout the 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:17.880 whole thing that you basically have been a serial entrepreneurs 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.680 as a young kid and then to go to college 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.760 and we all know Georgia Tech. You you best be 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:27.040 on your on your best academic behavior up at Georgia Tech. 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.960 Talk about that journey and then then coming into the business, 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.280 the brother brother business which has been aroused is what 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:40.000 in eighteen four seven? That's correct? Okay, So my father 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:46.000 he vision father, Okay, yeah, yeah. So so he had 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.760 he had kind of a three pronged priority system that 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.240 he ran his life by and that was God first, 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:56.880 family second, and business third. And that was very instrumental 0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:00.560 in our organization because he put his family above the business. 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:04.280 And that made a difference in the longevity. When I 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.960 counsel entrepreneurs sometimes and they asked me about, you know, 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:11.040 how we did you know, seventy something years, and you know, 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:12.480 I would tell him, if you want to have a 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:16.920 successful business for you know, ten, the twenty years, and 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.000 you need to have a great product of service, But 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.600 if you want to go fifty, seventy a hundred years, 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.600 you need a great and strong family because you're only 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:27.760 going to be able worker for so long. So if 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:31.640 you want multigenerational you you do have to focus on 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.160 that next generation and train them. And that was the 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.559 mindset that my father was in. I remember another entrepreneur 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.000 asked him when he was approaching eighty. He was like, 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:45.120 you know, what, what would happen to Brunner brothers if 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.440 you die one day? And he thought about it, he said, 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.600 what do you mean if he's I'm gonna die one day? 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.760 So he understood that. He began to train us from 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:58.199 an early age, and uh, we started in business. Actually 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.640 I started that five years old with the paper rock. 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.000 So he wanted us. He didn't want us to just 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.520 start in the office and skip a lot of the steps. 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.679 Started at five or the paper rot. Before I knew 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:12.000 how to ride a bicycle, I had to walk it 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.080 before school in the morning. Then when we started in 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.480 the company, he started us on the lowest levels, sweeping 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.120 the floors, to putting stick us on the cap, to 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:25.040 the selling jars. And he worked us all the way through. 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.520 So I worked in the counting one summer, the lab 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:32.000 one summer, shipping one summer, with the salesman one summer. 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:35.640 So he gave us a range of experience throughout the 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.840 business so we would understand each department. We would appreciate 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:43.600 the employees and and really know what they're doing. So 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.040 that was kind of our upbringing. He never gave us 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:49.720 an allowance, so we had to earn everything. So so 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:53.160 that gave us an appreciation for money. UM he would 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.680 teach us to invest that money to help it grow. 0:14:57.320 --> 0:14:59.640 So so that's that was kind of our upbringing. And 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.880 that's so that gave me a good work ethic in school. 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.600 I went to Benjamin Elijah Maize Middle School, I mean 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:11.040 high school rather UM, which is all black school here 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:14.160 in Atlanta. That work ethic from the business helped me 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.480 to graduate as the top black mail in my class. 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:21.240 And that helps with a scholarship at Georgia Tech and UM, 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.400 I was able to use that UM that degree within 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:28.040 computer engineering, so I brought that into the business. Computer 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.320 You're gonna brag even more. You know you're gonna work 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:35.880 not just engineering though, Jan computer engineer. See see my 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.240 degree in mathematics. I was in that engineering course. I'm 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:43.840 gonna Jane, but physics took me out. Physics took me. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.400 So if you ever see me, you always say, my boy, 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.400 you couldn't have that physics. So I have to tell 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:54.440 you it's finally here the season of celebration, and no 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.480 matter how you celebrate with family and friends. Whether you're 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.320 preparing for rays magos or Karamu lighting the Manura, are 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:04.480 going to midnight mass, Coals has just what you need 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:08.160 to make those traditions special. Plus you'll find gifts for 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:13.120 all your loved ones. Send warm wishes with cozy fleeces, sweaters, loungeware, 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:17.040 blankets and throws. 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Whether your event needed one room or an 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:52.920 entire conference, under Hoppin has revolutionized the way people come together. 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.440 With Hoppin, you can host a fully fledged digital meet up, 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:59.680 complete with one on one meetings, hands on sessions, and 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.560 at spo booths. And because everything is hosted in a 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:05.320 single easy to use platform. It can be as big 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.199 or small as you want, remain convenient for anyone who 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.919 wants to attend, and give you access to data you 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.240 never would have known otherwise. Visit hopen dot com to 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.560 learn more and get started. Still living in and manually 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.359 taking notes start the new year with auto dot ai 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.080 to generate automatic notes for meetings, interviews, or lectures. With 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.480 auto dot ai, you can search the meeting notes, insert images, 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.399 playback the audio, and share them with your friends or coworkers. 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.720 You can capture action items, remember meeting details, and keep 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.040 everyone informed. Auto dot ai works for in person or 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:41.520 virtual meetings like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google meet. Sign 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.000 up for free at auto dit ai or download the 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.480 app for free auto dot ai. That's O T T 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:49.760 E R dot ai. All right, James, you know you 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.240 told about several weeks ago, about six weeks ago, you 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.800 guys say, hey, we're gonna pivot, We're gonna go virtual. 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:59.320 What was the early planning stages? Because virtual sounds simple. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:04.119 You still had exhibitors, right, and you know it's a 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:08.320 lot going on for for for for this event to 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:12.080 go online. So the team, let's talk about that team chemistry. 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.400 You just have to pull together because it's a difference 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:16.720 in having a physical event. You go where the booth 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:18.880 go there, the boot go there, people come through this door. 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.120 You've about the ticket, so now you have to sell 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.640 it a different way. That's right, that's right. So it's 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.879 definitely been a learning experience and a shifting experience for 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:33.760 the entire team because because computers and technology was my 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.680 native field, that actually worked to my advantage. So we're 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.000 about the only show out that that had a director 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.320 that actless field was in computer So I worked that 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.680 out even though that know, you know who I was 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:48.960 going to need it, and the feutres beautiful, I didn't 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.240 know such a time as this was comment but so 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.040 that that came in handy. So the first stage was 0:18:55.080 --> 0:19:00.359 really finding the technology platform and partner that would be 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:02.919 to support us in the virtual world to try to 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.600 mimic as close to possible the physical world. For the 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.000 first thing I had to do was look at all 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:13.320 of the platforms out there and stam technology and you 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:18.320 go all stream y'all. Went through probably the thirty to 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:22.439 forty platforms myself, and then because I had a vision 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:24.159 of what I wanted, I didn't want them to just 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.440 have an experience like Zoom, but I actually wanted them 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.399 to have something that they hadn't seen before that was 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:34.760 a more three D because we're a visual industry. So actually, 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.720 so we're creating something that's gonna look like the sims 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:41.760 or You'll have these avatars and we even paid extra 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:44.199 to have them our skin tones so we could be 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:48.160 reflected accurately and with clothes and everything, so we would 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:50.760 be to make it look like our people. I feel 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.480 like our show from our building, we're normally end So 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.960 you'll be to walk in with this little avatar, and 0:19:58.000 --> 0:19:59.840 then you'll be to choose where you want to go, 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:05.359 whether it be the exhibit hall, classes, competitions, and and 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.080 and and once you go in the exhibit home, you'll 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:12.640 have these three D bulls represented from each exhibitor. Let's 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:14.480 let's go down, James, So I want I want to 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:16.560 break it down because you know, you know, you know 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:18.840 what you're doing, you know, And so the first part 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:22.000 is let you tell everybody breaking it all down. So 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:24.280 I can't let you just you know, just slide through 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:26.600 like you're talking to the staff, all of experts. Okay, 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:28.760 I've got a lot of people in this call here, bro, 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:33.359 don't know what you're talking about. Okay, So you know 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:35.920 he is the beauty of you know, because I feel 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:38.680 you know, I've I've come since the money making conversation 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:41.760 that I've become like a pandemic expert. And one of 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:45.000 the blessings out of it for African American has been 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.840 the use of technology. Okay, we have had to accept 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:53.159 the responsibility of educating ourselves and learning that this was 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:56.200 a tool we probably should have been doing all along. 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:59.119 And the reason reason I say that is that you know, 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:03.080 you've had two physical events annually ever since I've been 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:07.280 knowing you. Now you got this virtual event. This almost 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.880 feels like it's gonna be two plus a virtual every 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:15.200 year moving forward. Correct. That's that's where we got to see. 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:17.560 So we because we've never done it, We're gonna see 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.080 how this turns out. If it turns out really well 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.000 and people want it, yeah, we will add a virtue. Yeah, 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:24.879 because you know, because now you know that could be 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:27.359 like because in that shop. Reason to say that is 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:29.959 that it may not be as massive as this, but 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.399 you know that heavy shopping and that November December time 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.760 frame could be a beautiful thing. If this works out 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:39.080 the way you're gonna do it, because once the pandemic 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:42.600 comes down, we're gonna go back to the physical exhibits. 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:44.560 That's the beauty of the car. If you've never been 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:46.639 to a Brother Brothers, that's the beauty of going to 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:48.760 a Brother Brothers, just going up and down the aisle 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:51.919 and sending this activity and that big old stage and 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.520 all this stuff that's going on. But now we're going virtual. 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:57.320 I went to the website and at the at the 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:00.320 on the front of the US a slider and I 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:02.520 wrote down each one of the sliders I want to 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:04.760