Speaker 1: Afrotech is a global gathering where inclusive tech companies meet innovators.
Speaker 2: It's the only tech event you need all year.
Speaker 1: Get ready for Afrotech twenty twenty three in Austin, Texas.
Speaker 2: I n first through the fifth.
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Speaker 1: Whether you're a college student looking for your next internship,
Speaker 1: or if you work in the vention capital looking for
Speaker 1: your next business to invest in, and if you're looking
Speaker 1: for a co founder of people that join your team,
Speaker 1: there's no better place to be. The massive corporate layoffs
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three have affected
Speaker 1: our community in a big way. An Afrotech wants to
Speaker 1: help you get back on your feet with skill development,
Speaker 1: making it easier to switch industries. If that's your well,
Speaker 1: In an afro tech you'll make connections to help you
Speaker 1: get your next opportunity. Visit afrotech dot com Slash conference
Speaker 1: to learn more. I'm with Lucas miss Black Tech, Green Money.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna introduce you to the biggest names, the brightest
Speaker 1: minds and brilliant ideas.
Speaker 2: If you're black in building or.
Speaker 1: Simply using Texas secure your bag, this pockets for you.
Speaker 2: ANGELAEE is a.
Speaker 1: Radio Hall of Fame inductee and multi business entrepreneur who
Speaker 1: runs companies in variety of industries.
Speaker 2: She recently started her own solar radio.
Speaker 1: Show Up with Angela Ye after a long tenure at
Speaker 1: the Breakfast Club. As an entrepreneur with many holdings, I
Speaker 1: asked Angela how she determines what kind of businesses interest her. Definitely,
Speaker 1: she gets pissed all the time on new startups. What
Speaker 1: catches her attention?
Speaker 3: Well, I think for me, the core things that are
Speaker 3: most important to me have to do with nutrition, and
Speaker 3: has to do with education and with finance, and so
Speaker 3: I look at those different fields and if something.
Speaker 4: And a lot of times I actually pursue things that
Speaker 4: are interesting to me.
Speaker 3: So it's not always that someone comes to me, but
Speaker 3: if I see something that I think is interesting or
Speaker 3: that I want to support, then I'll reach out about
Speaker 3: that also. But like I started the Press Juices Company
Speaker 3: on my own with the juice bar, that was my idea.
Speaker 3: With the coffee company, that was an idea that got
Speaker 3: sparked in a meeting, and then with Stellar Fie that
Speaker 3: was something that I had been working with the founder
Speaker 3: le Mean on other things that he was doing, and
Speaker 3: then when that.
Speaker 4: Opportunity came, I was all in.
Speaker 3: So usually it's a combination of relationships with people, but
Speaker 3: I think I make sure that people know what my
Speaker 3: different fields of interests are.
Speaker 1: So we've had a lot of conversations on this podcast
Speaker 1: about you know, black people and people of color period,
Speaker 1: having an opportunity just to be opportunists and so many
Speaker 1: things that we're told. It's like, you know, you should
Speaker 1: lean into things that you've been passionate about for a
Speaker 1: long time, or like what did you grow up wanting
Speaker 1: to do? But we're not told like our counterparts are
Speaker 1: that you can just find an opportunity and jump on it.
Speaker 1: When you think about that, like how do you think
Speaker 1: about the opportunities that do company you? And you're like,
Speaker 1: you know, it could be a bag over there, or
Speaker 1: it could be just something that could be fun. You know,
Speaker 1: how do you think about those types of things.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm great with getting a bag as long as
Speaker 3: I don't feel like I'm compromising anything.
Speaker 4: And so I don't want to get a bag.
Speaker 3: Like promoting a cigarette company or something that I really
Speaker 3: don't believe in, and certain things I feel like aren't realistic, right,
Speaker 3: Like people know I don't eat pork and I don't
Speaker 3: eat seafood, so it wouldn't even make sense. And so
Speaker 3: if it's me endorsing something that everyone knows, hey, she
Speaker 3: doesn't really do that, then that's I wouldn't do it.
Speaker 4: But if it's something that maybe I don't know a
Speaker 4: lot about, but I.
Speaker 3: Feel like, okay, this could be you know, like, for instance,
Speaker 3: one of my friends Topeka, we're working on a project
Speaker 3: together right now, and she has a whole program that's
Speaker 3: based on women who are formerly incarcerated, and so I
Speaker 3: know for people that's like a hot topic right now,
Speaker 3: and it's not something I knew a lot about, but
Speaker 3: after speaking to her, it's something that I did get
Speaker 3: more passionate about. And that's just when my conversations with her,
Speaker 3: and so I feel like we're always expanding and growing.
Speaker 3: But it is hard for me to only be opportunistic
Speaker 3: and see a bag usually I have to have, and
Speaker 3: I know it's not financially the smartest thing. I'm more
Speaker 3: like somebody told me, I'm an emotional financial person because
Speaker 3: I have to feel some type of connection.
Speaker 4: But it has been working for me thus far.
Speaker 3: But I do feel like I could have, you know,
Speaker 3: passed up onto opportunities.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of people who have really
Speaker 1: really great jobs, maybe golden handcuffs, and see like they
Speaker 1: may have to take a leap and not not do
Speaker 1: that anymore and jump into an entrepreneurship.
Speaker 2: But can you talk a little bit about how.
Speaker 1: You think about leveraging your current opportunities to fuel the
Speaker 1: opportunities that you want to pursue and you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: have to quit what you're doing today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like me having the platform that I
Speaker 3: have only amplifies all the other businesses that I'm trying
Speaker 3: to do. And really I'm trying to take advantage of it.
Speaker 4: And so it's.
Speaker 3: Great because I'm on the air every single day and
Speaker 3: I have my social media platforms, but we also have
Speaker 3: partnerships with people who want to endorse different things, and
Speaker 3: if I can cross promote my product with something else,
Speaker 3: then that's an ideal situation for me. If I can,
Speaker 3: you know, get my coffee to be part of a
Speaker 3: program that someone else is doing and now they're paying
Speaker 3: for the coffee and I'm getting free advertising. That's like
Speaker 3: a win win win across the board, and so I
Speaker 3: think I would be remiss not to do that. I
Speaker 3: feel like later on, I don't want to look back
Speaker 3: like we look at some of say a reality television person,
Speaker 3: and some of them have had things that have blown
Speaker 3: up just from being on that show and having something
Speaker 3: to put out. And I think it's silly not to
Speaker 3: have something to promote or to do while you're having
Speaker 3: that platform.
Speaker 1: And you know, you are somebody that's in the public eye.
Speaker 1: But if an entrepreneur or would be entrepreneur comes up
Speaker 1: to you, it's like, you know, I think I got
Speaker 1: to quit my job to go chase this thing. What
Speaker 1: would your advice be for somebody who's not in the
Speaker 1: public eye necessarily that maybe you don't need to quit
Speaker 1: your job, but maybe you need to figure out how
Speaker 1: to do it from five to nine, you know, instead
Speaker 1: of nine to five.
Speaker 3: I always feel like it's important to make sure you plan,
Speaker 3: and that means that you.
Speaker 4: Have to have a business plan.
Speaker 3: You have to have strategically figured out this is how
Speaker 3: I plan to launch. I'm a big fan of starting
Speaker 3: something while I have my little cushion, So starting small
Speaker 3: and then letting something grow.
Speaker 4: So put it out there, launch it do. I love
Speaker 4: a soft launch.
Speaker 3: Because that's a great way to find out what's working,
Speaker 3: what's not working, so that you can fix those things
Speaker 3: before you go full force out to the public. And
Speaker 3: so I would tell them, launch whatever it is that
Speaker 3: you want to do, and make sure that you're saving
Speaker 3: and aggressively saving, because I've had to do that too.
Speaker 3: You know, when I bought my first house, I was
Speaker 3: working NonStop because I had a goal in mine and
Speaker 3: a number that I knew I needed to hit. I
Speaker 3: knew I needed to get to. I think it would
Speaker 3: I could tell you exactly what it was. I had
Speaker 3: to get twenty five percent. I knew I had to
Speaker 3: get to like two hundred and thirty five thousand dollars
Speaker 3: in order to be able to put down the down payment.
Speaker 4: And so for me, that was like two.
Speaker 3: Years of just going really hard and getting money, stacking money,
Speaker 3: doing extracid gigs and everything. So I think stead of
Speaker 3: going set a number and then when you hit that goal,
Speaker 3: it's time to go.
Speaker 4: But in the meantime, launch it.
Speaker 1: And let's take the opposite of approach of that, because
Speaker 1: there are sometimes you do need to take a gamble
Speaker 1: on yourself and you know, possibly give up something that
Speaker 1: other people would see as a really coveted thing.
Speaker 2: So what would you.
Speaker 1: Say to those folks whore like you? Noah, if you
Speaker 1: really believe in yourself and you really are passionate about
Speaker 1: this thing, you might have to give up what other
Speaker 1: people will be like, you're crazy to give that up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and listen, there's times that I've done things spontaneously
Speaker 3: because my gut instinct told me to do it.
Speaker 4: I feel that I trust that.
Speaker 3: It's like I love to gamble, right, and when I
Speaker 3: play blackjack, there's certain times when you have to figure
Speaker 3: out am I gonna hit or am I gonna stay?
Speaker 3: And you have an option because you could go either way.
Speaker 3: You could bust or you could beat the dealer. You
Speaker 3: don't know, and so sometimes you do have to jump
Speaker 3: out there and take that risk. But I also say
Speaker 3: that you have to know a like try to make
Speaker 3: sure that you lessen whatever chance of failure, that there
Speaker 3: is everything that you can to get your ducks in
Speaker 3: a row. If you are going to just leap out
Speaker 3: there and do it and be trust your instinct is
Speaker 3: everything is telling you don't do this, and this happened,
Speaker 3: and then this unfortunate thing happened, and you know, then maybe.
Speaker 4: It's not the right time.
Speaker 3: And I do pay attention to science because it's helped
Speaker 3: me a lot.
Speaker 1: You know, there was an interview I was watching that
Speaker 1: you did and you're talking about, you know, there.
Speaker 2: Was a previous job you had.
Speaker 1: Where you had a bad manager days it yelled at
Speaker 1: you at one point and you were like, you know,
Speaker 1: you were you were doing marketing, I think, and you're like,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm out.
Speaker 2: And the clients you were working.
Speaker 1: With like they going with Angelot, Like they left that
Speaker 1: company and decided to work with you, separate from your
Speaker 1: relationship with that company.
Speaker 2: So can you talk a little bit about knowing your value.
Speaker 1: It's particularly in the world we live in today, to
Speaker 1: where there's so many people who could work freelance and
Speaker 1: work for themselves, but feel like, you know, they need
Speaker 1: that security of an employer.
Speaker 3: You know, at that time, I didn't know my value.
Speaker 3: I had no idea that would happen. That was an
Speaker 3: emotional decision. I never one thing that's like a deal
Speaker 3: breaker for me when it comes to work, when it
Speaker 3: comes to.
Speaker 4: Relationships is don't.
Speaker 3: I don't deal with people speaking to me in a
Speaker 3: disrespectful way or yelling at me, because that's not the
Speaker 3: energy that I give. I know, some people are okay
Speaker 3: with that, and some people, you know, communicate that way.
Speaker 4: That's not me, and I'm very clear about that. And
Speaker 4: so I had been working.
Speaker 3: Really hard and not getting paid a lot and bringing
Speaker 3: in a lot of business.
Speaker 4: And he was just.
Speaker 3: Upset that I was doing these side gigs because I
Speaker 3: wasn't getting paid a lot. But I was honest about it.
Speaker 3: He only knew about it because I told him, and
Speaker 3: he said, that was fine, because you're not paying me
Speaker 3: what I should be making. And so when he blew
Speaker 3: up on me because of the same thing that I
Speaker 3: had been honest about came to him about and that
Speaker 3: he had approved, I just got my stuff and left.
Speaker 3: I already was fed up, and so I just walked out,
Speaker 3: took my laptop because he didn't even have computers for us.
Speaker 4: So I took my laptop.
Speaker 3: It got out of there, and you know, to me,
Speaker 3: I did bring in a lot of the clients, and
Speaker 3: I did write up the whole marketing proposals, and I
Speaker 3: was the person everybody was talking to on a daily basis.
Speaker 3: So when I left, everyone was reaching out to me like, well,
Speaker 3: we really enjoyed working with you. And that was a
Speaker 3: learning lesson from me to know that I could do
Speaker 3: something on my own, because you know, I had always
Speaker 3: worked at a company. So after that, I just started
Speaker 3: freelancing because I had got three good clients from him
Speaker 3: that were paying me a monthly fee, and I had
Speaker 3: gotten two on my own outside of that, so I
Speaker 3: was making a nice amount of money and not having
Speaker 3: to be in the office.
Speaker 1: Wow, yeah, you've been in radio. I think what twenty
Speaker 1: seven years now?
Speaker 2: Are more?
Speaker 4: How long have I? No, I've been in radio for nineteen.
Speaker 1: Years because you did morning shows, afternoons shows, and other
Speaker 1: things like. There's an important part of research that you
Speaker 1: have to do daily to be up on what's happening
Speaker 1: in the world, and it requires you to know a
Speaker 1: lot about a little You know a little about a
Speaker 1: lot of things.
Speaker 2: I should say, you know, how.
Speaker 1: How would you say that research experience that you've had
Speaker 1: has helped you in business? Knowing a little bit about
Speaker 1: a lot of different things.
Speaker 4: It is great.
Speaker 3: Like I had a meeting with somebody the other day
Speaker 3: and we were talking about boxing in the meeting because
Speaker 3: he owns a league, and so I know, you know
Speaker 3: a bit about boxing because I enjoyed the sport, but
Speaker 3: because I've also interviewed a lot of boxers and I
Speaker 3: pay attention to that, and I watch the fights, and
Speaker 3: so you get in certain situations where just being able
Speaker 3: to add to the conversation.
Speaker 4: That's why I tell people.
Speaker 3: When I was younger, I really didn't watch the news
Speaker 3: and pay attention to what was going on. But I
Speaker 3: tell people all the time, just make sure you keep
Speaker 3: up on current events. You don't have to, you know,
Speaker 3: deep dive into everything and know all but be able
Speaker 3: to have a conversation, know what some of the main
Speaker 3: headlines are, because those things really do help when you're
Speaker 3: at a dinner and people are talking and you don't
Speaker 3: want to just be there, have no idea what's going
Speaker 3: on in the world.
Speaker 4: And I used to be like that. I used to
Speaker 4: not have any idea.
Speaker 3: I used to not pay attention to the news when
Speaker 3: I was younger, and when I started doing radio, I
Speaker 3: had to do all kinds of research just to know
Speaker 3: about the current events and the headline topics.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's this quote that I love from Steve Jobs,
Speaker 1: and he says, you can't connect the dots looking forward,
Speaker 1: you can only connect the dots looking backward. And what
Speaker 1: I get from that is you never really know why
Speaker 1: you're doing something in the moment until like later on
Speaker 1: it's like, oh that's you know, had I not done
Speaker 1: this thing, I wouldn't be able to be prepared for
Speaker 1: what I'm doing today. And so if you look back
Speaker 1: on your life with that lens, what were you know,
Speaker 1: one or two critical moments where you were in the
Speaker 1: moment like what the heck am I doing? But then
Speaker 1: you look back and you're like, now it makes sense.
Speaker 4: Let's see.
Speaker 3: Well, definitely the time when I quit my job and
Speaker 3: there was a I mean, let's see, there's so many
Speaker 3: times that I've just done. There was a time when
Speaker 3: I got offered a job, you know, at Hot ninety seven,
Speaker 3: and I didn't take it. And at the time, I
Speaker 3: really didn't take it for practical reasons. It was less
Speaker 3: than what I was already making. My name wouldn't have
Speaker 3: been on the title for the show, and so it
Speaker 3: was like kind of to me and my head to
Speaker 3: step backwards. But I feel like everyone else was like,
Speaker 3: you're crazy, how could you not take that? An opportunity
Speaker 3: like that never comes. There's people who have been doing
Speaker 3: radio their whole lives and would die for something like that.
Speaker 3: And I made a practical decision, and you know, now
Speaker 3: that I look back, it was the right decision. At
Speaker 3: the time, I was like second guessing myself, And now
Speaker 3: that I look back, I realized that what they offered me,
Speaker 3: it's so much harder to climb out when they start
Speaker 3: you so low, and it shows like how they feel
Speaker 3: about you and what they already think about you. And
Speaker 3: so that wouldn't have been the right way for me
Speaker 3: to embark on a situation when I was leaving a
Speaker 3: place that really wanted me, right, Like, they offered me
Speaker 3: more money to stay, they offered to give me the
Speaker 3: show with my name on it, to name it whatever
Speaker 3: I wanted to. And that's where you want to be,
Speaker 3: someplace where somebody really really wants you, That's where you
Speaker 3: want to be.
Speaker 4: No matter what if it's worked or reship. Yeah, to
Speaker 4: show me you care.
Speaker 3: And then when I left, I'm serious to go to iHeart.
Speaker 3: That was something that everybody was like, Oh my god,
Speaker 3: FM radio is dying.
Speaker 4: Why would you do that?
Speaker 3: You barely get to talk, and I was just ready
Speaker 3: to start something new.
Speaker 4: They were the underdog station.
Speaker 3: You know, if the breakfast club hadn't done well, that
Speaker 3: station was going to flip to a whole nother format.
Speaker 3: And so a lot was writing on that. But I
Speaker 3: feel like that's when you really are the best, when
Speaker 3: you can go with a company that is the underdog
Speaker 3: and come out on top, and then after that the
Speaker 3: sky is the limit. And so for me, that's what
Speaker 3: it was just to be able to go and leave
Speaker 3: a situation that was comfortable, but I just didn't see
Speaker 3: any growth there for me to go in someplace where
Speaker 3: I could be uncomfortable but grow.
Speaker 1: You know, you said something there where you talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, it's really hard to climb out when you
Speaker 1: start somewhere so low. Can you talk a little bit
Speaker 1: more about that and just conceptually talk about that.
Speaker 3: Well, one thing I did learn is that a lot
Speaker 3: of times when we get offered something, people don't negotiate,
Speaker 3: and so it was really important to be able to negotiate.
Speaker 4: And so.
Speaker 3: When you start off, say somebody offers you fifty thousand
Speaker 3: dollars a year and you're like, okay, I'll take it. Well,
Speaker 3: then now next year, when I'm asking for a raise,
Speaker 3: I can't say I want one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 4: That just sounds like wow, you know, how did that happen?
Speaker 3: So now you're like, okay, can I get sixty five thousand?
Speaker 3: And then the next year and so now you're climbing
Speaker 3: out of a situation where when they first offered it
Speaker 3: to you. If somebody offers you fifty thousand, that means
Speaker 3: that they have way more than that.
Speaker 4: You know, That's what I always assume. And so even when.
Speaker 3: Negotiating for bookings for different things, you know, people generally
Speaker 3: tend to start low because they anticipate that you'll come
Speaker 3: back high and that you'll meet somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 3: And so there's times that I've you know, negotiated and
Speaker 3: then they accept it too fast and I was like, damn,
Speaker 3: you know, and then there's sometimes that it's not about
Speaker 3: the money. And so if it's not about the money,
Speaker 3: then cool, But you also want people to know your
Speaker 3: value and worth. You don't want somebody to say, well,
Speaker 3: I offered her, you know, five thousand dollars and she
Speaker 3: took it. Why would you pay her twenty thousand dollars,
Speaker 3: and so it's just important for you because people do
Speaker 3: talk to each other and they.
Speaker 4: Ask each other.
Speaker 1: You know, early in your career, you started out as
Speaker 1: an intern for the Wu Tang clan. Can you first
Speaker 1: talk about how you found yourself in these roles and
Speaker 1: what you feel like was the reason you took that
Speaker 1: role and why they accepted you in that role.
Speaker 3: I think, well, for a lot of it was always
Speaker 3: relationships for me when I was starting out. So one
Speaker 3: of my good friends, Scottie, he actually owns the studio
Speaker 3: engine room where I do my podcast lip Service.
Speaker 4: I knew him when I was in high school.
Speaker 3: He went to Howard University and he was really good
Speaker 3: friends with my boyfriend at the time, and so that's
Speaker 3: how we met. Now, mind you that guy, you know,
Speaker 3: I don't talk to him at all anymore, but Scott
Speaker 3: and I kept in touch, and when I was in college,
Speaker 3: he was like, Hey, my friend worked at Wu Tang
Speaker 3: for Wu Tang Management and they're looking for an intern
Speaker 3: and I recommended you, So I think you should.
Speaker 4: Go, you know, go do that.
Speaker 3: And so I was a little nervous because Wu Tang
Speaker 3: didn't have the best reputation at the time. I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: they're kind of wild. I don't know if that's the
Speaker 3: environment I should be in. And so I went and
Speaker 3: then he called me. He was like, did you call
Speaker 3: my guy? And I was like, no, I haven't called
Speaker 3: him yet. He was like, Angela, please just call you know,
Speaker 3: at least do the interview. I told him you were coming,
Speaker 3: So I was like okay. So I went on the
Speaker 3: interview and as soon as I walked in and we
Speaker 3: had the conversation, there were like other people waiting. They
Speaker 3: hired me on the spot and so I don't know
Speaker 3: what it was about me, but they just hired me
Speaker 3: on the spot and that was that.
Speaker 4: And then I started working there.
Speaker 3: So it was a relationship that I had from somebody
Speaker 3: who thought that I would be good. And then afterwards
Speaker 3: when I graduate, they actually tried to get me to
Speaker 3: not finish college and come work there. It was my
Speaker 3: last It was the junior year before my senior year,
Speaker 3: and they wanted me to just work there, just come
Speaker 3: and not go to my last year. And I was like, no,
Speaker 3: I think I'm in finished. I only have one year left.
Speaker 3: And then when I graduated, I ended up working there.
Speaker 1: Wow, what made you take that when so many other
Speaker 1: people would be like, okay, they want me full time.
Speaker 1: This is a music business. It's hard to get into
Speaker 1: any way. What gave you that said, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: going to finish school.
Speaker 3: My parents would have never wait for that. They would
Speaker 3: have never had the love that to happened. And you know,
Speaker 3: even like that was my first job, and I know
Speaker 3: people weren't making that much money there, and I was like,
Speaker 3: they're not gonna pay me enough for me to feel
Speaker 3: like I could survive on my own. And then I
Speaker 3: also felt like I'm the type of person I like
Speaker 3: to finish something if I started, and so I have
Speaker 3: one year left, and I was like, this isn't gonna,
Speaker 3: you know, go anywhere.
Speaker 4: And I knew that I had other things.
Speaker 3: I had interned at MTV, I had interned at a
Speaker 3: record label. So I didn't think that that was all
Speaker 3: I would ever be able to do. So I was
Speaker 3: I was just like, let me just get my degree.
Speaker 4: I came this.
Speaker 1: Farre Afrotech is a global gathering where inclusive tech companies
Speaker 1: meet innovators.
Speaker 2: It's the only tech event you need all year.
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Speaker 1: looking for your next business to invest in, and if
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Speaker 1: there's no better place to be. The massive corporate layoffs
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Speaker 1: our community in a big way. An Afrotech wants to
Speaker 1: help you get back on your feet with skill development,
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Speaker 2: If that's your route.
Speaker 1: In an afro tech you'll make connections to help you
Speaker 1: get your next opportunity. Visit afrotech dot com Slash conference
Speaker 1: to learn more. People in the public spotlight like an angelinee,
Speaker 1: as you can imagine, often get asked to be a
Speaker 1: mentor to up in commerce. Angela takes the things though
Speaker 1: that you should bring something to the table as a
Speaker 1: prospective mentee. If you want someone to mentor, you consider
Speaker 1: what you have to offer, not just what you want
Speaker 1: Angela speaks on it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, being a mentor is work.
Speaker 3: It's a job, you know, because now you have a responsibility.
Speaker 4: It's like having to, you know, show somebody the ropes.
Speaker 3: Even when you hire somebody new, say as an assistant,
Speaker 3: that's a lot of work because now you're showing somebody
Speaker 3: how to do something in order for them to be
Speaker 3: And you have to be patient because everybody doesn't work
Speaker 3: the way that you work.
Speaker 4: And it's a time consuming thing too.
Speaker 3: And you know, as we get busier and busier, as
Speaker 3: you get more and more successful.
Speaker 4: Time is really valuable. You know.
Speaker 3: Time is money, they say. And so for me, it's
Speaker 3: like I don't have a lot of free time. I
Speaker 3: don't even have time to do things for myself, Like
Speaker 3: my nails will be raggedy because I don't even have
Speaker 3: time to go get a manicure, you know, I might
Speaker 3: get a facial like once every four months, because I
Speaker 3: just honestly for my own self care. I never have
Speaker 3: time to do the things that I want to do
Speaker 3: for myself. And so if somebody can come to me
Speaker 3: and want to be mentored, but they can also show
Speaker 3: me what they bring to the table because they've done
Speaker 3: the work I also need to know that you'll take
Speaker 3: it seriously. Some people just want to hang around and
Speaker 3: see some fun things and meet people and be able
Speaker 3: to go back and post pictures on social media and
Speaker 3: say that they were here and they did this. But
Speaker 3: I need to see how serious you are, because I
Speaker 3: also don't want to invest my time in someone that
Speaker 3: is just doing this for fun and for a look.
Speaker 3: I need to know that you are actually going hard
Speaker 3: for yourself.
Speaker 1: I'm interested in your coffee shop. I have a coffee
Speaker 1: shop also, and I'm wondering, like when you were building yours,
Speaker 1: what did you feel like you would bring uniquely to
Speaker 1: a coffee shop experience. You know there's a million.
Speaker 2: Coffee shops out there. What did you feel like you
Speaker 2: could uniquely bring to an experience?
Speaker 3: Well, I love our coffee shop, but part of what
Speaker 3: we did was we really paid attention to the origins
Speaker 3: of our coffee and matching that up with the food
Speaker 3: and what we serve inside and even the music and
Speaker 3: the decor, and so we are.
Speaker 4: It's in Betsy.
Speaker 3: It's a beautiful location, brand new building on the corner,
Speaker 3: outdoor seating, but we also have things in there, like
Speaker 3: we have patties you're not going to find that at
Speaker 3: a typical coffee shop.
Speaker 4: We have a lot of vegan options.
Speaker 3: We have like a plant based BLT sandwich, we have
Speaker 3: a bun and cheese sandwich. It's a lot of Caribbean
Speaker 3: and African inspired items on the menu, and we also
Speaker 3: serve like eighty percent black and brown owned products in there.
Speaker 3: So it is a way because it is coffee, uplifts people.
Speaker 3: And at the same time that we're doing what we're
Speaker 3: doing with the coffee, we also want to uplift people
Speaker 3: who have their own businesses as well. And so before
Speaker 3: we open the coffee shop, we were doing these pop
Speaker 3: ups at another location.
Speaker 4: We were calling them pop uplifts.
Speaker 3: And so we were just highlighting other small owned businesses
Speaker 3: and letting them come in for the day, sell their products,
Speaker 3: promoting it and it did really well, and so we
Speaker 3: kind of wanted to go with that theme of all
Speaker 3: offering a space for these other vendors to come in
Speaker 3: and highlighting them. And then we have an amazing chef
Speaker 3: that's in there, and the quality of what it is
Speaker 3: that we do, from the avocado toes to the yogurt
Speaker 3: parfait is like top notch, and so That's basically what
Speaker 3: I wanted to do. Make it a really high end
Speaker 3: experience for us, but also have things in there that
Speaker 3: wouldn't typically be in a coffee shop.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1: You talked about what the franchise eventually, and like, you know,
Speaker 1: when you think about there being so many out there,
Speaker 1: how how do you know when you're ready to take
Speaker 1: that leap and what will make it desirable regionally or
Speaker 1: nationally this coffee house.
Speaker 3: So what I want to do is because it's also
Speaker 3: a coffee company, So we're in Whole Foods in the
Speaker 3: New York area and some other stores and in some restaurants.
Speaker 3: So for me, the way I'm attacking it is, you know,
Speaker 3: getting into some of these major retailers so that the
Speaker 3: brand recognition is there, so that when we open the
Speaker 3: coffee shop, you've already seen us in stores, maybe you've
Speaker 3: ordered it, maybe you've made it at home home already,
Speaker 3: maybe you've had it at a restaurant.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: We have our coffee in Tatiana's, which is Chef Kwame's
Speaker 3: restaurant in Lincoln Center. We're in mcgrill in Brooklyn, We're
Speaker 3: in black Swan in Maryland, so there's a few different
Speaker 3: locations that we're actually kind of more hand picking where
Speaker 3: we want to be at first before we Like I said,
Speaker 3: I'm a big fan of slow growth. We haven't had
Speaker 3: that company that long and so I'm not trying to
Speaker 3: do too much too fast, and so I feel like
Speaker 3: branding myself in that way, making it something that people
Speaker 3: get familiar with the name. We've done a partnership with
Speaker 3: do say also for an espresso martini with them with
Speaker 3: their exo, and so I'm just trying to do these
Speaker 3: things so that people get familiar with it so that
Speaker 3: when it's time to open, because you know, people will
Speaker 3: say there's a lot of coffee shops, but there's a
Speaker 3: reason for that, because people love going to coffee shops. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and so I don't feel like it's something that and
Speaker 3: it's location.
Speaker 4: You know, if you can get a.
Speaker 3: Great location, then that matters a lot too. And the
Speaker 3: opportunity and so you know, we have a lot of
Speaker 3: great part and partnerships. I think with the coffee, the
Speaker 3: partnerships and the collapse are going to be what really
Speaker 3: drives us to and makes us unique.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm listening to you talk and I think I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about something we've been talking about so much and
Speaker 1: just mainstream, not even just in tech recently, and that's AI.
Speaker 1: And you've probably heard like these computer generated Kendrick Lamar records.
Speaker 1: And I'm wondering you may not have an answer to this,
Speaker 1: but because I'm know how deeply you thought about it,
Speaker 1: But I'm warnering, like what you think about personalities like
Speaker 1: yourself and the future of computer generated you know, angelaees.
Speaker 4: I wish I had one right now.
Speaker 2: But is that something you think about often? Well, increasing.
Speaker 3: No, But you know what it is really crazy like
Speaker 3: to see even not even just that, but also seeing
Speaker 3: people like in the metaverse and being able to go
Speaker 3: and do that. But I mean, you know, we see
Speaker 3: so many things happening where it feels like, first of all,
Speaker 3: it feels like humans maybe we aren't going to be
Speaker 3: necessary for a lot of reasons, you know, just like money.
Speaker 3: I feel like at some point, like having cash is
Speaker 3: going to be worthless, you know, because people don't No
Speaker 3: one ever has cash on them anymore.
Speaker 2: That's a fact.
Speaker 3: And so yeah, so it's just a and I know
Speaker 3: a lot of people fight progress and fight like what's
Speaker 3: going to happen? In the future, chure, but you have
Speaker 3: to figure out what it is and how you can
Speaker 3: actually you know, benefit from it. And so let me
Speaker 3: go ahead and do some research on that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 4: Figure out how I can benefit from it.
Speaker 1: And I mean to that end, what do you think
Speaker 1: how do you manage content ownership in your world? Because
Speaker 1: I imagine because I don't know what your contracts are,
Speaker 1: Like I imagine when you do radio, you don't own that
Speaker 1: asset at the end of the day, but maybe your
Speaker 1: podcast you might. And so I wonder, like how you
Speaker 1: think about ownership of content at the level of the
Speaker 1: game that you're playing.
Speaker 3: I own my podcast and so the deal I have
Speaker 3: a deal with iHeart right now for my podcast, but
Speaker 3: all the content is mine and so there's but anything
Speaker 3: I do on iHeart like that I created while I'm there,
Speaker 3: they own. And so I had the service before that.
Speaker 3: I have that all you know, taken care of and
Speaker 3: they didn't even try to make me give up my
Speaker 3: rights to that, even like my Facebook page and all
Speaker 3: of that, Like I own all of those things. I
Speaker 3: know some people sell those, but I have like I think,
Speaker 3: like four million followers on Facebook.
Speaker 4: Wow, And so that does really well for me also.
Speaker 2: I believe it. I believe it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And it's.
Speaker 3: Great because a lot of the content that I do,
Speaker 3: you know, it is kind of a way of me
Speaker 3: documenting my whole journey too, because interviews and things that
Speaker 3: I've done that's all on my Facebook page.
Speaker 4: And so for me, it's.
Speaker 3: Valuable in that way too, for me to be able
Speaker 3: to be like, oh, look when I did this interview
Speaker 3: and have those moments circulating.
Speaker 1: Always one of the moreporant things when you're starting a
Speaker 1: business is good credit, and often even more than having
Speaker 1: the cash, having good credit is super duper important. What
Speaker 1: did you learn about this when you were starting out
Speaker 1: investing in buying houses and starting businesses? And you might
Speaker 1: have had the cash you talked about that two hundred
Speaker 1: something thousand dollars, but what did you have to learn
Speaker 1: about even the credit side of this game?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, if you don't have good credit,
Speaker 3: you're gonna end up paying for it, you know, So
Speaker 3: either you won't be able to get a mortgage, or
Speaker 3: your interest rate will be so high that you'll be
Speaker 3: paying all this extra money that you shouldn't have to.
Speaker 3: And so I didn't even attempt to buy a house
Speaker 3: until I had good credit, and that meant a journey
Speaker 3: of me fixing my credit. So even if you're thinking
Speaker 3: right now, I don't have the money to buy a house,
Speaker 3: start working on your credit.
Speaker 4: You could start working on that today. You know, figure
Speaker 4: out what it is that you need, and you could
Speaker 4: do it yourself. You don't have to hire anybody to
Speaker 4: do it.
Speaker 3: These are things that you can figure out on your
Speaker 3: own and letters that you can write. You can find
Speaker 3: that online. If you need to contact any any of
Speaker 3: the negative reports on your credit score, you need to
Speaker 3: go ahead and do that. And so for me, I
Speaker 3: fortunately started working on my credit way before I knew
Speaker 3: I wanted to buy a house, for like two years
Speaker 3: before I even attempted to do it, because like I said,
Speaker 3: I had to save the money up. But then I
Speaker 3: also was looking and I was getting prepared for that,
Speaker 3: but I had to fix my credit. And I think
Speaker 3: people will tell you, like, oh, what do you need
Speaker 3: credit for if you have the cash, But why would
Speaker 3: you want to use all your cash?
Speaker 1: I mean, why is this something that Angelie you care
Speaker 1: so much about, to the extent of you know, partnering
Speaker 1: to start a company around I mean I've heard you
Speaker 1: talk about financial literacy for a long time entrepreneurship because.
Speaker 3: It's all things that I didn't know, and it can
Speaker 3: be really crippling. Like some people can't get an apartment
Speaker 3: unless they have someone co sign for it, and that's
Speaker 3: something that is like really difficult, because who wants to
Speaker 3: co sign for somebody? You know how hard that is
Speaker 3: to find. A lot of people can't co sign for somebody,
Speaker 3: and a lot of people won't because everyone will tell
Speaker 3: you not to do that. And so if you can't
Speaker 3: go out like an adult and do thing for yourself,
Speaker 3: that can be really, you know, mentally exhaustive, and it
Speaker 3: can also just physically be such a hinderance to you.
Speaker 3: And so that's why it's important to me. I even
Speaker 3: look at members of my own family who have bad credit,
Speaker 3: and you know how hard it is for them, and sometimes,
Speaker 3: like for me, I wouldn't even open my bills.
Speaker 4: It was really stressful. Like I thought about it a lot.
Speaker 4: We all have been in.
Speaker 3: That situation when we all haven't but but in that
Speaker 3: situation where we know these creditors are calling our phone,
Speaker 3: we don't even want to answer the phone. It's embarrassing
Speaker 3: and it's also like, uh, you know, it's just so stressful,
Speaker 3: and then maybe you answer the phone by accident one
Speaker 3: time and then they're like, hi.
Speaker 4: We're calling from Like oh my god. You know, but
Speaker 4: it's terrible.
Speaker 3: It's not a good feeling, and so I think it's
Speaker 3: just important to face it and to work through it
Speaker 3: and to make it happen, because you know, it's just
Speaker 3: like the calmness that comes knowing that, like, okay, I
Speaker 3: have and if there's an opportunity, you're not going to
Speaker 3: be able to take advantage of it because you don't
Speaker 3: have good credit. Even the building that I'm trying to
Speaker 3: buy right now, the only reason I'm able to do
Speaker 3: it is because my credit is good, you know, And
Speaker 3: if it wasn't, then I'll miss out on that opportunity
Speaker 3: to buy a thirty unit building where I'll have this
Speaker 3: income coming in and that can help make me wealthy
Speaker 3: because I don't have the credit to be able to
Speaker 3: get the loan from the bank.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, because you've talked so much about financial
Speaker 1: literacy over the years, and increasingly about entrepreneurship, what is
Speaker 1: the difference in your mind between being broke and being poor.
Speaker 4: Well being broke.
Speaker 3: I always broke a long time, but I still had
Speaker 3: a good time while I was broke. You know, being
Speaker 3: broke is like I still was going out and eating
Speaker 3: because I'll go to all these events with free food
Speaker 3: and free drinks and you know, figuring it out and
Speaker 3: me and all my friends are broke. Yeah, being poor,
Speaker 3: I think, feels more like a mindset of I'll never
Speaker 3: get out of this, I'll never have any money, I
Speaker 3: can't do anything, and it can be like it feels
Speaker 3: like people look at that as more permanent. Being broken
Speaker 3: is like a temporary thing. You know, you don't have
Speaker 3: to ever be poor. You can be broke temporarily and
Speaker 3: then you can get yourself out of it.
Speaker 1: I hate the term serial entrepreneur, but you know, for
Speaker 1: somebody who's just an entrepreneur, you have different businesses in
Speaker 1: different industries, you know, for people who have a lot
Speaker 1: of ideas and are really passionate about getting those ideas
Speaker 1: out into the world, like you have. What's some of
Speaker 1: the best advice you've gotten or you have for people
Speaker 1: who want to do two, three, four different things in
Speaker 1: different verticals. What have you learned about that in order
Speaker 1: to do it well or to stop from doing it
Speaker 1: at all. You know, what do you say to that.
Speaker 3: I would say, you have to prioritize at different times.
Speaker 3: And so when I'm starting a business, I make sure
Speaker 3: that's my main priority.
Speaker 4: That is my like twenty four to seven.
Speaker 3: You know, this takes priority over everything right now, way
Speaker 3: up within is the priority. So everything else has to
Speaker 3: work around that. So whatever time I have, if I
Speaker 3: have to be on the air, if I have to
Speaker 3: do this for my show, that's the most important thing.
Speaker 3: And then everything else, the coffee, everything has to be
Speaker 3: scheduled around that. I still do it, but it's not
Speaker 3: the number one priority. When I first opened the Juice bar,
Speaker 3: that was the number one priority. I was at work
Speaker 3: and every single day I was there making sure whatever
Speaker 3: it had to be delivered was happening. I was working
Speaker 3: with the contractors, I was, you know, in there every
Speaker 3: single day, working with the employees, and so that was
Speaker 3: the first priority.
Speaker 4: For me at that time.
Speaker 3: So I think when you're a serial entrepreneur and you're
Speaker 3: trying to juggle different businesses, being able to prioritize is
Speaker 3: one of the most important things that you can do.
Speaker 3: And then I think along with that is also having
Speaker 3: a schedule and sticking to it because you really have
Speaker 3: to a lot time for each thing and make sure
Speaker 3: that you're like, okay, and I literally set my alarm,
Speaker 3: like I know, from twelve to one, I have to
Speaker 3: do this one o'clock.
Speaker 4: Okay, one to two thirty. I'm working on.
Speaker 3: This, set my alarm, and I give myself ample time
Speaker 3: to travel or do what I have to do in
Speaker 3: between things. But it's all about just scheduling your time
Speaker 3: and prioritizing and taking care of yourself because you.
Speaker 4: Have to get into.
Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money is a production of Blavity Afrotech
Speaker 1: from the Black Effect podcast Networking Night Heart Media. It's
Speaker 1: produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with additional
Speaker 1: production support by Sarah Eric and Rose McLucas. Special thanking
Speaker 1: to Michael Davis and Vanessa Serrano. Learn more about my guests,
Speaker 1: other tech diswelics and innovatives at afrotech dot com.
Speaker 2: Enjoy your Black Tech Green Money, Share this with somebody,
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