Speaker 1: Hey, hey, hey, ba fam. Please follow us on Apple Podcasts
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Speaker 1: not do all that, you know, if you had to Android,
Speaker 1: but you know Apple, that's fine, it's fine. And now
Speaker 1: onto our show. Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black,
Speaker 1: We're brown.
Speaker 2: Welcome Black Mandy, Happy Grand Ambition Wednesday.
Speaker 1: I know, first of all, I'm feeling not as black
Speaker 1: as usual because we have guests they're coming on today
Speaker 1: that know how to do a thing that I never learned,
Speaker 1: but you learned it. I'm jealous of you.
Speaker 2: Does this mean I get to keep my black card temporary?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 2: Y'are always trying to come from my black card. You
Speaker 2: cannot have it. You cannot have it as sot as
Speaker 2: people meet my dad though they're.
Speaker 1: Like yeah, no. Honestly, I was like, oh, Mandy's black Black.
Speaker 1: I love your father. But he was like, I remember Mandy,
Speaker 1: she just loved her some French frog. I said, that
Speaker 1: is a black father right there.
Speaker 2: I don't let the name and the Midwestern accent whatever
Speaker 2: fool you, Okay from this, I'm from Atlanta anyway. Yeah,
Speaker 2: in today's episode is lit. I'm so excited. I don't
Speaker 2: and we've already talked to the couple. They're amazing, Yes,
Speaker 2: and we are so excited to introduce you to all.
Speaker 2: This show is also really special because we don't typically
Speaker 2: have small business owners on the show really talking about
Speaker 2: building their business, let alone how they weathered the storm
Speaker 2: of last year's pandemic and the ongoing pandemics. And this
Speaker 2: is sort of like a This is a free thirty
Speaker 2: minute masterclass in how to become a resilient small business.
Speaker 2: And I love I love the tips and all the
Speaker 2: ups and downs that they share. So tell us, tell
Speaker 2: us about our guest Tiffany.
Speaker 1: So I don't know how to double dutch, but these
Speaker 1: two people do, along with Mandy, and they're all leos,
Speaker 1: which I was like, Okay, it's a lot. Yes, it
Speaker 1: was a lot, but it was awesome. So we are
Speaker 1: interviewing today Michelle Clark and Sean Clark. Michelle Clark is
Speaker 1: a double Dutch world champion. She's been double dutching since
Speaker 1: she was four years old. And I believe she said
Speaker 1: she's one like she does like street double dutch, but
Speaker 1: she all so does like technical skill double dutch, which
Speaker 1: is awesome. And Sean Clark is a master double Dutch
Speaker 1: aerobic instructor and they're their owners of Double Dutch Aerobics,
Speaker 1: which combines double Dutch with an assortment of aerobics exercises
Speaker 1: including jumpin jacks, push ups, mountain climbs, and more inside
Speaker 1: the ropes. And that's not all. They've also included professional
Speaker 1: competition combinations combinations along with street style jumping. And they've
Speaker 1: got certified instructors that are skilled and trained to teach
Speaker 1: anyone how to jump double dutch in less than one minute.
Speaker 1: I improved positive when I met them some years ago.
Speaker 1: Within literally one minute, I was in the rope and
Speaker 1: I was jumping. I mean it wasn't graceful, but I
Speaker 1: was jumping.
Speaker 2: I thought I knew how to double dutch, but now
Speaker 2: I'm sweating. I did not know that was the thing.
Speaker 2: You could become a world champion in you know, I
Speaker 2: just thought I had to be you know, let's Tosha
Speaker 2: down the street from me. But yeah, Sewn and Michelle
Speaker 2: their energy so infectious in their business. Not only did
Speaker 2: they survive the pandemic as small business owners, as parents,
Speaker 2: as spouses with two and a half children they got
Speaker 2: one in the oven number three on the way, but
Speaker 2: they actually opened their first studio in the Atlanta area
Speaker 2: in this past year. So we will talk to them
Speaker 2: about the financial impact as a small business of the
Speaker 2: pandemic and how they really looked under every nook and cranny,
Speaker 2: including every skill set they've ever had. I know Sean
Speaker 2: was on YouTube learning the market. I mean, they they
Speaker 2: seriously looked for ways to bridge that financial gap during
Speaker 2: the pandemic, and they're so inspirational. So we're going to
Speaker 2: get to that in a little bit. But before we do,
Speaker 2: we have a fun announcement. Have we told the folks?
Speaker 1: Have we told the about the new Luke Magie? And
Speaker 1: I are basically mardls y'all about to get into it, Martles,
Speaker 1: So I want you to take a look currently at
Speaker 1: our Brown ambition. Like I guess you can go on
Speaker 1: a logo photo arn't work for Brown ABISSI in the podcast.
Speaker 2: Yes, we'll call it art because Tanetta did do her thing.
Speaker 2: You know, it's twenty fifteen art. Yes, but we have grown,
Speaker 2: we haven't had changed, yes.
Speaker 1: And we have age like fine wine if I do
Speaker 1: say so myself, and I do say so myself. So
Speaker 1: we went back to Tanetta, our sister girl, amazing photographer
Speaker 1: who did our first picture, and we were like, we'd
Speaker 1: like some updated pictures and I'm not gonna lie me
Speaker 1: and Maddie looks so good.
Speaker 2: We look so we look so I don't know, just
Speaker 2: just ah like shiny, glittery, glowing, happy, like fulfilled and
Speaker 2: just like they say, what you know, with age comes wisdom.
Speaker 2: And I think in our eyes six years ago we're
Speaker 2: like this podcast thing, you know, let's just figure this out. Yes,
Speaker 2: but now we know we showed up as you know,
Speaker 2: brown ambition. The show has been such a passion project
Speaker 2: for both of us. And then he brought her full
Speaker 2: beautiful head of hair.
Speaker 4: I was like, yes, Mandy, every follicle, every follicle stood
Speaker 4: two attention, shot up. Its feel so cute and so like,
Speaker 4: I just I'm excited for you guys to see, you know,
Speaker 4: when we roll out these.
Speaker 1: Pictures and so yeah, it'll be exciting. That's our kind
Speaker 1: of like our collective Brown Boost because we really want
Speaker 1: you guys to get into this episode and so enjoy.
Speaker 2: Absolutely without further ado, let's take a quick break and
Speaker 2: we will be right back with our conversation with Sean
Speaker 2: and Michelle from Double Dutch Aerobics. And don't forget to
Speaker 2: go to the show notes because they have links on
Speaker 2: links on links where you guys can find out all
Speaker 2: about how to attend one of their classes in the
Speaker 2: Atlanta area, how to become a Double Dutch certified instructor
Speaker 2: yourselves so you can have your own Double Dutch biz
Speaker 2: maybe and your own neck of the woods. So so excited,
Speaker 2: let's get right into our interview with Shawn and Michelle.
Speaker 2: We're so excited to have Michelle and Sean Clark from
Speaker 2: Double Dutch Aerobics from Atlanta in the house with us.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining Brown And.
Speaker 1: I remember what was the year that? What was the
Speaker 1: Girl Trek year? What year was?
Speaker 5: Because you know, because I was nineteen, Yep, it was
Speaker 5: it was right out Angel.
Speaker 1: So I met Shawanna Michelle in Colorado at the Girl
Speaker 1: Trek conference. Girl Trek is this awesome nonprofit that just
Speaker 1: it helps black women get moving. To say they have
Speaker 1: energy is to say water is wet. And I just
Speaker 1: remember being like, what they people that you never think
Speaker 1: would double I mean, they had people out there eighty
Speaker 1: black white age. Now I didn't grow I don't know
Speaker 1: how to the double dutch. I felt that was like
Speaker 1: my shame I moved away from my black neighborhood just
Speaker 1: to just one year too late before they was teaching her,
Speaker 1: and so I was like, I can't do it, you
Speaker 1: like you can. And so yes, Mandy knows how to
Speaker 1: double dutch. So I'm jealous of her.
Speaker 2: Okay, now that was twenty years ago. I'm so excited
Speaker 2: about y'all's business. I think Tiffany knew y'all first. I
Speaker 2: think I might have slid into y'all's DMS or likewise,
Speaker 2: but we were, we were chatting on IG and y'all
Speaker 2: know I'm from Atlanta and double dutch is just such
Speaker 2: a nostalgic activity for me, you know. When I was
Speaker 2: a little girl, that was just you know, we were
Speaker 2: latchkey kids in the neighborhood with our bikes and a
Speaker 2: couple of pairs of jump ropes and you could not
Speaker 2: tell us nothing.
Speaker 1: We had the.
Speaker 2: Best time, you know, with like the littlest amount of equipment,
Speaker 2: and I just loved the concept of this business. But
Speaker 2: as fun as it is and how you know, all
Speaker 2: the energy and enthusiasm that y'all bring to you know,
Speaker 2: bringing fitness to the Atlanta area, it's also been a
Speaker 2: pandemonium as a pandemic the last year. Right, how have
Speaker 2: y'all been impacted as a business? You know, where was
Speaker 2: your business at when the pandemic hit? Kind of set
Speaker 2: the scene for us. Yeah, where were you at right
Speaker 2: before the pandemic hit? I mean this is a very
Speaker 2: much in person. You're sweating indoors, you know, you know,
Speaker 2: jumping and breathing your heart out. And that was all
Speaker 2: of a sudden not okay, yeah, no, it.
Speaker 3: Slapped us in the face.
Speaker 5: It's very scary for us.
Speaker 3: It was very scary. So it was February.
Speaker 5: It was February.
Speaker 6: Well first, we've been in business for seven years, right,
Speaker 6: And it's funny because twenty twenty it was our best year,
Speaker 6: Like it was starting off amazing.
Speaker 5: Michelle and I we were like, oh, we finally.
Speaker 6: Hit those were going to the top.
Speaker 2: Yes, New Year's Resolution time, I mean not as it.
Speaker 3: Was becoming our biggest year for sure as a business.
Speaker 6: So so in the beginning, you know, we were booking
Speaker 6: a lot of events for the summer. So we were
Speaker 6: booked for the summer because we also do so outside
Speaker 6: of teaching our normal classes, we do events like girl
Speaker 6: Track and essence fests and prisons. We teach at federal
Speaker 6: prisons across the country. We do tours, we do you know,
Speaker 6: we do a lot of things, and everything was booked.
Speaker 6: We had our certification weekend that was sold out. It
Speaker 6: sold out in like two weeks.
Speaker 3: So what certification weekend is where we certify instructors to
Speaker 3: teach our program in their city or their state. Right,
Speaker 3: so we were completely sold out and it sold out
Speaker 3: what in like five days. It was like we're fast, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: And that was in February. We had complete the South
Speaker 3: and it was going to be in April. Yes, and
Speaker 3: we hadn't done one in a year because we had
Speaker 3: a little human and so we had took a year off.
Speaker 3: We took a year off from certification, not from work.
Speaker 3: So this was our year back into certification and the
Speaker 3: fact that it sold out so fast It's like we
Speaker 3: were finding our groop.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we were in a groove and then.
Speaker 3: Well, y'all, y'all here, and then the world said stop
Speaker 3: wait a minute. And at first we were like, you ain't.
Speaker 3: I don't care about no pandem and you're not going
Speaker 3: to stop us.
Speaker 6: We're still doing it. We were still still going. You know, right,
Speaker 6: let's just keep going.
Speaker 3: Keep going, stop us until they put us to like
Speaker 3: lock the doors. You tell us that you cannot leave
Speaker 3: your house until.
Speaker 2: Keisha Land's bottom shows up at the door, to get
Speaker 2: till Keisha Land's bottom shows up in person at the door.
Speaker 3: Door. I was like what, I was devastated. I was
Speaker 3: devastated because.
Speaker 2: What did it mean for y'all financially? Like paint the picture,
Speaker 2: I mean, did y'all have reserves? We talk a lot about,
Speaker 2: you know, personal financial rainy day funds, but for small
Speaker 2: business owners, I mean, seven years in is still early.
Speaker 2: How were you guys financially?
Speaker 6: So we we we had a we had a little
Speaker 6: we had a little little reserves, a smitch sitch, but
Speaker 6: you know we had to eventually we had to get alan.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that got us through it.
Speaker 6: And then during the pandemic, I learned the stock market,
Speaker 6: so it was actually a blessing because you know, everything
Speaker 6: was shut down. I had nothing else to do, and
Speaker 6: at the time during the pandemic, it was actually the
Speaker 6: best time to invest. So that actually helped us out
Speaker 6: a lot, you know, investing in the stock market. I
Speaker 6: would literally like study every day. Yeah, I study every day.
Speaker 6: And so we we we we, we did okay with that.
Speaker 6: That that got us through.
Speaker 3: That was helping us.
Speaker 6: And then out here in Atlanta they opened that kind
Speaker 6: of early. So like when did they shut us down
Speaker 6: in March and the beginning of March, so by like
Speaker 6: the middle of May, we start.
Speaker 5: We started. We started class again outside outside because.
Speaker 3: The studios that we were renting were completely closed and
Speaker 3: the schools where we were working, everything was completely closed,
Speaker 3: as you know. So we started classes every Saturday nine am.
Speaker 3: And God was on our side. It didn't rain one
Speaker 3: Saturday that entire the high summer from May till September.
Speaker 3: It didn't rain one time at our time Monday and
Speaker 3: every Saturday. So we were pushing it. So we had
Speaker 3: classes outside that helped us out. I also started to
Speaker 3: dive more into I suffered from fibruarys before having children,
Speaker 3: and I healed myself naturally, and I was helping women
Speaker 3: a little bit, but I started to dive into that
Speaker 3: even more.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 3: I was doing lives once a week, and so I
Speaker 3: started to coach women for money. And then I was
Speaker 3: also selling my ebook. So we just started to like, we've.
Speaker 1: Just you know, I suffered from I suffered from vibor.
Speaker 3: So we started just dive into that more. And that's
Speaker 3: also another passion of mine, so that, you know, you
Speaker 3: just start to to push. I also started to in
Speaker 3: terms of mentality, Shawn's a little better than me. I was.
Speaker 3: I was like, oh my god, this is it, This
Speaker 3: is it. Life is over, you know, like it's over.
Speaker 3: And so I had to get out of that because
Speaker 3: I was sean someone we know passed away. It started
Speaker 3: to get more real, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: And I think I think that was the biggest part
Speaker 6: for me. So, you know, we you know, we lost
Speaker 6: a lot of money. We weren't making money obviously, because
Speaker 6: we're in the fitness business. We were we were selling
Speaker 6: more ropes and and then okay, so I'm all over.
Speaker 5: Let me go back.
Speaker 6: First of all, I gotta I gotta shout out our
Speaker 6: double Dutch community. So like we have so during for
Speaker 6: we have memberships, so we have lifetime members, we have
Speaker 6: yearly memberships, we have monthly membership. Our lifetime members stuck
Speaker 6: it out. They came to class every week. They were
Speaker 6: supporting us, they were bringing people to class, so they
Speaker 6: were really really helping us. So I just want to
Speaker 6: I just want to. I want to say that things. Yes,
Speaker 6: I want I want to thank them for that because
Speaker 6: our community is growing and it's super supportive because Michelle
Speaker 6: and I we give one hundred percent of us to
Speaker 6: this business, to this brand, and they feel it and
Speaker 6: they know it, you know, So it's all love, you know.
Speaker 3: Because our classes did very well outside during the pandemic,
Speaker 3: which was like, oh okay.
Speaker 2: It was probably it sounds like the it sounds like dang.
Speaker 2: I wish I had been in Atlanta to weather that's
Speaker 2: out because what I mean, it probably just helps you
Speaker 2: meet the endorphins alone, but also just is there anything
Speaker 2: more joyful right and double Dutch to be doing outdoors
Speaker 2: during a pandemic.
Speaker 3: It's like for that moment everything was okay and that
Speaker 3: time being, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: And then second to that, I think most importantly like oh,
Speaker 6: like I was saying before, So we were losing a lot.
Speaker 6: But what was really important to me, like I said before,
Speaker 6: was our health.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 6: So you know, I'm worried about my mother in New York,
Speaker 6: my sister, like my brother, all of them have pre
Speaker 6: existing ILK conditions. And so I started a Zoom Fitness
Speaker 6: class online and it was really just family and friends
Speaker 6: because in my mind I'm getting emotional hold let me,
Speaker 6: let me calm down. In my mind, I had to
Speaker 6: make sure everyone was okay. So for me, I was like,
Speaker 6: all right, every day we're gonna work out, We're gonna
Speaker 6: eat right, we're gonna juice, we're gonna you know, we're
Speaker 6: gonna do whatever we have to do to get through
Speaker 6: this pandemic, you know.
Speaker 3: So and then Sean and I will work it out
Speaker 3: like crazy, because at first you're like, oh, first sure, upset,
Speaker 3: it's so many emotions happened. First, upset that everything is
Speaker 3: shut down. Then you're like, okay, well I have to
Speaker 3: be home. Let me take advantage of being home. And
Speaker 3: so I was doing what to a day workout. We
Speaker 3: were having the kids when it was my turn to
Speaker 3: work out, you know, thank god for YouTube. Put the
Speaker 3: kids on YouTube to work out downstairs. Then we will
Speaker 3: work out outside. I was getting a little fit and
Speaker 3: then I mean more fit. Then it's like, wait a minute,
Speaker 3: we really tried. Wait are we really tripped? Wait this
Speaker 3: is not going to end like in a month, wait
Speaker 3: in two months. So now I don't want to work
Speaker 3: out no more. Now I'm suppressed. Now I'm eating like
Speaker 3: a crazy person.
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 3: The motivation went away. And then we started to hear
Speaker 3: about people dying, and it's like, my mom, I just
Speaker 3: I just felt down.
Speaker 5: It was just one after the other.
Speaker 3: It was just one after the other. It was like,
Speaker 3: oh my god, this is is this the end of
Speaker 3: the world? Wait a minute, is this how happened?
Speaker 1: You know, like like you know how your grandma said
Speaker 1: it's the last day. It's always it's always the last days.
Speaker 1: When they get old, you're like, well, why I couldn't
Speaker 1: do the last days when you were five? You're talking
Speaker 1: about the last days now? But like, if we if
Speaker 1: we dial back, a little bit came. I mean for
Speaker 1: those who are not familiar with double double Dutch aerobics,
Speaker 1: like what how what? Like what made you say this
Speaker 1: is what I want to do? Like because it's such
Speaker 1: a unique business. I would love to know some of
Speaker 1: the origin story.
Speaker 3: Okay, So I went to acting school. I did musical theater,
Speaker 3: so I you known of musical theater people. We do
Speaker 3: waitressing and bartending and we teach. I was a spin teacher,
Speaker 3: so I was teaching everything in the world. I told
Speaker 3: everything you could imagine. I can't even swim, but I
Speaker 3: was teaching water arobics. So during that time, Sean was
Speaker 3: my boyfriend at the time, and I've been jumping double
Speaker 3: unince I was four, so I always told him I
Speaker 3: was good, but everybody from New York says they're good,
Speaker 3: so he thought I was good, like regular good, you know.
Speaker 3: And so I also was a world champion, so I
Speaker 3: did street style jumping and competitor style jumping. So we
Speaker 3: were at an event for the YMCA where I was
Speaker 3: teaching spin class. So I was teaching five thirty am
Speaker 3: spin class. Sean only came to one of my class,
Speaker 3: but that's a different story anyway, So we he he
Speaker 3: saw me teaching and jumping, and he was like, oh,
Speaker 3: I knew you were good, but I didn't know you
Speaker 3: were like that good. And so when I told him
Speaker 3: this idea he was like, oh, you have to start
Speaker 3: next week, like you have to start, and so I said, okay,
Speaker 3: and then I started the next week.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we literally started the next week. Literally.
Speaker 2: Now what were you doing at the time, oh, Sean. Yeah,
Speaker 2: What was Sean doing while he was telling you to
Speaker 2: start a business?
Speaker 5: Well, I owned a film company. So I was a
Speaker 5: videographer and editor.
Speaker 6: So my best friend and I we started making movies
Speaker 6: when we were like eighteen and nineteen. We would do
Speaker 6: like one hour shorts and you know, we you know,
Speaker 6: we just for years we were doing it. And so
Speaker 6: I went from filming movies into like film doing like
Speaker 6: corporate events.
Speaker 5: And weddings and things of that nature.
Speaker 6: And then I moved from that and I started a
Speaker 6: teleprompter company, so I was prompting. I was doing like
Speaker 6: television shows, and I worked with like Michelle Obama Beyonce
Speaker 6: like excuse, let me tell you, gool.
Speaker 5: Let me tell you now. So I mean I did it.
Speaker 5: I did it for ten years.
Speaker 6: So I worked with literally anybody you can think of,
Speaker 6: I probably worked with them. And so I was doing
Speaker 6: that for a while and then, like you know, I've
Speaker 6: always been like an entrepreneur that was young you know,
Speaker 6: my my family and now we opened a record store.
Speaker 6: When I was twenty years old. You know, we had
Speaker 6: a record label. It was the nineties, you know, we
Speaker 6: had a record label. We managed groups. I started promoting
Speaker 6: part parties when I was eighteen.
Speaker 3: And actually how I met Sean was he was I
Speaker 3: was bartending and he made a movie called this thing
Speaker 3: called Love. And I was like, oh, they made a
Speaker 3: movie by themselves. That's dope. So I'm trying to get
Speaker 3: me to buy it. But I don't buy stuff at
Speaker 3: work because that's kind of productive.
Speaker 2: You came in with like the box of DVDs to
Speaker 2: sell your movie.
Speaker 5: I love it.
Speaker 6: So my best friend I at the time, I worked
Speaker 6: for the Border Bed briefly, and my best friend I
Speaker 6: my best friend and I we literally quit our jobs.
Speaker 5: We made this movie, put the did the DVDs.
Speaker 6: We went out, we went out in the streets and
Speaker 6: we were selling them and we did very well out
Speaker 6: in the streets, out in those streets. And so my
Speaker 6: friend invited me to this event she was having. She
Speaker 6: was like, you know, Sean, come on out, you know
Speaker 6: you can promote your movie. And I was like, back,
Speaker 6: I'm coming. So when I got there, my best friend
Speaker 6: and I we both had on the same shirts.
Speaker 3: And wrong people with the same shirt like, what's you'll
Speaker 3: be in the same shirt for I was like, it
Speaker 3: looks a little crazy, you know what I'm saying. So
Speaker 3: I wanted to read his shirt. So I asked him
Speaker 3: to come over and read his shirt. And he doesn't drink,
Speaker 3: so I wasn't selling him a drink, right, So he
Speaker 3: he said I could have the movie only if I
Speaker 3: promised to give my honest review. And so, being a
Speaker 3: theater major at the time, and I was in circling
Speaker 3: the square, I thought I have to watch it, and
Speaker 3: I thought it was so good. And they made it
Speaker 3: with three hundred dollars, so I was thoroughly impressed. And
Speaker 3: then I called to tell him my review of the movie.
Speaker 6: And then every day literally been talking every single day.
Speaker 1: So how long How many years ago is that?
Speaker 5: That was twelve years ago?
Speaker 2: Wow?
Speaker 1: Look at him and completely tell the saints.
Speaker 3: But getting back in the way. So he was my boyfriend,
Speaker 3: ave Pa. He was still doing, he was doing. He
Speaker 3: was an entrepreneur at the time. I was teaching spend.
Speaker 3: I was bought. I was doing everything that theater people
Speaker 3: do right, and so he saw that I was good.
Speaker 3: He told me to start the class. I started the
Speaker 3: class that next week and the person who I was
Speaker 3: teaching I was teaching with different teammates off and on,
Speaker 3: but they couldn't stay consistent, which was understandable because this
Speaker 3: was my you know what I mean, this was my passion.
Speaker 3: So Sean was like, well, man, sure, you have to
Speaker 3: continue to teach me everything. And I was like, okay. Now,
Speaker 3: Sean's one of those people, like we have the studio now, guys.
Speaker 3: He put in the lights, he done, did the what
Speaker 3: do you call those things? He put up the designs
Speaker 3: in here. He's a YouTube learner, right, so he learns
Speaker 3: things really fast. So I was able to teach him
Speaker 3: everything and then he enjoyed. Well, you can say what
Speaker 3: you enjoyed. He actually began to enjoy.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: So so that I did was to get the business
Speaker 6: off the ground, get it rolling, and then I would
Speaker 6: jump out like no pun intended.
Speaker 5: But what happened. What happened was I started enjoying it.
Speaker 6: Because it's like, so if you ever took one of
Speaker 6: our classes, it's bigger than double Dutch. So it's like,
Speaker 6: like I said, we build communities in here, it's like
Speaker 6: we're trying to build like little love pockets around the world.
Speaker 5: Like when you come to our class, there's no judgment.
Speaker 6: You know, it's high energy, it's all love, and that's
Speaker 6: what people get, you know. So I started enjoying that
Speaker 6: because that's like, that's my ultimate goal in life, you know, Like,
Speaker 6: I know it sounds corny, but to change the world
Speaker 6: through love.
Speaker 5: I know it's corny, but I get a chance to
Speaker 5: do that here.
Speaker 6: And then couple with the fact that I get to
Speaker 6: be with my wife twenty four hours a day. He
Speaker 6: likes me, which is done Like that doesn't work for
Speaker 6: a lot of people, I guess, but that's that's really
Speaker 6: the biggest thing Michelle and I have in common is
Speaker 6: that we like to be around each other all the time.
Speaker 6: Like we like to be around each other all the time.
Speaker 6: And this gives us the opportunity to do that. Because
Speaker 6: when I was younger, you know, I always knew I
Speaker 6: wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn't. I didn't
Speaker 6: want to work hard enough to where I didn't have
Speaker 6: enough time for my family. Because it's for me, it's
Speaker 6: family first always, because that's what makes me the most happiest.
Speaker 6: So this this gave but this gave me the opportunity.
Speaker 6: I was like, oh wow, we could like be together
Speaker 6: and build and rock out and you know, like show
Speaker 6: the world with love is like and you know, like
Speaker 6: this is this is amazing.
Speaker 3: And then the classes, the classes were going really well.
Speaker 3: And then after we got married in twenty thirteen, we
Speaker 3: both we didn't really have a conversation, but we both
Speaker 3: were like, Okay, well we'll be gone because we're not
Speaker 3: staying here exactly. We knew we didn't want to be
Speaker 3: in New York anymore. So our members when we decided
Speaker 3: to move, first it was La Then we decided to
Speaker 3: move to Atlanta, and so our members were like, well
Speaker 3: where are you going? And so like like what are
Speaker 3: we going to do? And so that's when we created Certification.
Speaker 3: And part of the reason Certification is so successful because
Speaker 3: Sean and I coming from different different perspectives. During certification,
Speaker 3: I've been jumping my whole life, so I don't really
Speaker 3: remember what it's like not to know how to jump.
Speaker 3: And I also know how to transfer street jumpers into
Speaker 3: to teach them double Dutch aerobic style double Dutch because
Speaker 3: I know where they're coming from Sean is coming from
Speaker 3: not learning since he was a kid, so his perspective
Speaker 3: is different in terms of how we teach those people.
Speaker 3: So combined, we're really able to relate to anybody that
Speaker 3: comes into our classroom or into certification weekend. Now, to
Speaker 3: get back to the whole pandemic, So sorry, we'd been
Speaker 3: going to a million tangents, but to get back to
Speaker 3: the whole pandemic life after, yeah, I was getting I
Speaker 3: was getting a little depressed after you know the excitement
Speaker 3: of Okay, we're home, let's take advantage of that. I
Speaker 3: was getting kind of like I don't know when this
Speaker 3: is really going to be over, Like I couldn't see
Speaker 3: the ending, and so that put me in a sad place.
Speaker 3: And being Sean's wife, I hate being that like downer
Speaker 3: because he's mister happy, so it feels like, oh, I'm
Speaker 3: being too sad for him. And he actually lost someone
Speaker 3: really close to him. So then I had guilt about
Speaker 3: being so down because he's the one that lost someone
Speaker 3: really close to him, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 3: I was like, Michelle, you got to pick yourself up
Speaker 3: to be there for yourself and for your kids and
Speaker 3: for your partner. So then I started to meditate. I
Speaker 3: did the abundance meditation. I started to journal more. I
Speaker 3: had to like look outside of myself to get some
Speaker 3: kind of you know what I mean, some kind of
Speaker 3: hope or just out of the slump. And so what
Speaker 3: happened after you mindus meditation, I like to relate to
Speaker 3: mindes meditation. We got we got the thing from Bill Gates.
Speaker 5: We got to do well before that. So so that
Speaker 5: was October.
Speaker 6: So before that, the summer was ending, right and I
Speaker 6: was like, you know, Michelle, obviously it's you know, it's
Speaker 6: gonna get cold. We can't continue to have classes. We
Speaker 6: need a studio. The thing was, how do we get a.
Speaker 3: Studio and how does the bank account?
Speaker 6: And because the way our bank account is said, I
Speaker 6: don't know, I don't know if that's gonna work, but
Speaker 6: you don't, you know, It's it's like we always say,
Speaker 6: you don't have to know the how, you just got
Speaker 6: to know what you want.
Speaker 5: And so I went online every single day.
Speaker 6: I was online for hours, right hours, looking at places.
Speaker 6: I was like, okay, this, you know, because for us,
Speaker 6: a studio is very specific. You know, we need we
Speaker 6: need a lot, we need super high ceilings.
Speaker 5: We need, you know, the space to be a certain side.
Speaker 6: It's like it's just a whole lot because and then
Speaker 6: the floors, we can't turn on any floor, so it's
Speaker 6: just it's a whole lot.
Speaker 3: And while he's looking for the studio, mind you, this
Speaker 3: is what I learned after being with him for twelve years.
Speaker 3: We call Sean the visionary. Sometimes he sees things and
Speaker 3: I'm like, what the mother, what are you talking about?
Speaker 3: How we gonna get a studio? What are you talking about?
Speaker 3: But I learned being his partner, not to do that
Speaker 3: anymore because some of the things he sees has come
Speaker 3: into fruition. Even when I didn't believe, right, just let
Speaker 3: me go, let me go.
Speaker 5: Put me in.
Speaker 3: Coach's writing in my diary like my husband is crazy.
Speaker 3: But bab I got you back like a jacket. You're
Speaker 3: looking at a studio. Okay, we're gonna get it. So
Speaker 3: we're gonna get it.
Speaker 6: So we actually looked at maybe two other studios before
Speaker 6: this one actually went around the corner from where we
Speaker 6: are now. And then I came to this studio that
Speaker 6: we're at now by myself. The minute I walked in,
Speaker 6: I said, oh, this is it, and Michelle is gonna
Speaker 6: like it.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 6: That's very important because Michelle and I we don't agree
Speaker 6: on a lot of things.
Speaker 3: No, we don't.
Speaker 6: I mean we we agree on a lot. We agree
Speaker 6: on most things, but there are there are things like
Speaker 6: a studio.
Speaker 3: And he's still a leo, so he's stubborn.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but with both leos.
Speaker 1: So I know he didn't. You know, he's like, he said,
Speaker 1: you tried it, because we're both the same, right.
Speaker 6: So I walked into the studio. I was like, Oh,
Speaker 6: Michelle is gonna love it. I literally, I drove home,
Speaker 6: picked up, I called that s Michelle. I found the studio.
Speaker 6: I know you're gonna like it. Here's the price, this
Speaker 6: is what it is. I'm coming to get you. I
Speaker 6: got Michelle. She walked into the studio.
Speaker 5: She was like, that's it. We're both like immediately.
Speaker 3: And here's here's where faith comes in. Because after doing
Speaker 3: the medicine, sometimes meditations and journalis helps you see the
Speaker 3: clear picture. Like if you're still living, there's always hoping,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, And sometime if you let
Speaker 3: things get you down, you'll start to lose that perspective.
Speaker 3: So you gotta straighten yourself out. So I was starting
Speaker 3: to have faith again, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 3: so we looked at the studio. We met the landlord,
Speaker 3: and this is where crazy stuff is crazy. We had
Speaker 3: looked at some hood spots, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: because we were just looking and they was asking for
Speaker 3: every bit of paperwork. I'm talking about what I did
Speaker 3: when I was two, you know, like just paper, paper, paper, paper, paper, security. Right,
Speaker 3: So we made this amazing landlord.
Speaker 5: We literally have the best lamb and he.
Speaker 3: Was like, what's your name? Did he ask? I don't
Speaker 3: even know, like you guys. Yeah, It's like, okay, well
Speaker 3: we like you, all right, let's sign the papers.
Speaker 6: He didn't look at any financial no, no financials.
Speaker 1: Is this when you guys did that? I know you
Speaker 1: did a kickstartunu oh.
Speaker 6: Yeah, wend oh we're about to mention that.
Speaker 5: Wait a minute, old inspired.
Speaker 3: By Molly Moore because I was like, listen a bunch
Speaker 3: of honing And I even asked you I had d
Speaker 3: m D and asked you were like, because I knew
Speaker 3: you staid you don't do nothing by the fly, you know, you.
Speaker 1: Know, I had study for like three months before.
Speaker 3: When you said that, I was like, Sean we have
Speaker 3: to like, well, because Sean didn't want to do a kicks.
Speaker 6: Well, the thing was so my cousin he's a filmmaker
Speaker 6: and he he does like gofund mes all the time.
Speaker 5: And I thought about it, but I was like, nah,
Speaker 5: I can't do it. I don't. I don't have it
Speaker 5: in me to ask people. I can't. I can't.
Speaker 6: I can't do it. And there's nothing wrong with me.
Speaker 6: But it's it's nothing. I'm sorry, there's nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 6: It's just that with anything in life, I always try
Speaker 6: to find a way to figure it out. Like I'm like,
Speaker 6: all right, if we don't have it, let me figure
Speaker 6: out a way to do it.
Speaker 5: But that was the way to do it.
Speaker 3: And this is where his wife comes in. His wife said,
Speaker 3: all right, Dade, okay, you got to you got to
Speaker 3: be a little more realistic. Let's ask our community. You
Speaker 3: know what I mean, A pandemic happened. It's not like
Speaker 3: we were irresponsible, you know what I mean. Like, it's it's.
Speaker 2: Different now, just to just to jump in really quick,
Speaker 2: it's hurt y'all. Y'all are like a conversational double Dutch.
Speaker 2: And I was just like when when am I supposed
Speaker 2: to anyway. But y'all mention, So the kickstarter, y'all did
Speaker 2: this to raise money for the business.
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Is that right?
Speaker 3: Okay? Already wait has a question I have.
Speaker 2: I so I want to know about the kickstarter, but
Speaker 2: I also want to know we're y'all able to get
Speaker 2: any of the government fundings. I know there was so
Speaker 2: much drama and confusion for small business owners around the
Speaker 2: paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Disaster Relief program. Did
Speaker 2: any of that come in handy for y'all or was
Speaker 2: it immediately that y'all knew you had to, you know,
Speaker 2: do a kickstarter to get money your own way.
Speaker 3: We filled out every of those yo, Michelle, check this out?
Speaker 3: Oh check this out?
Speaker 2: Yo?
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, not you guys, No no, no,
Speaker 3: really okay, any of them and we filled out how.
Speaker 5: Many you did the work? I did the work?
Speaker 3: God, we didn't get none of them. So we had
Speaker 3: gotten the space and he everything worked out, the paperwork,
Speaker 3: Everything was perfect. But mind, it was just a space, right,
Speaker 3: so we needed we needed more to make the space
Speaker 3: double Dutch aerobics, you know what I mean. And so
Speaker 3: that's when at first Sean was saying no, and I
Speaker 3: was like, let's let's do this, and finally he said yes,
Speaker 3: and then to me, he put together the best video.
Speaker 3: I thought it was fabulous, so no, it was good.
Speaker 3: So he put together a video and it made us
Speaker 3: very emotional because watching people support us when we know
Speaker 3: that everyone was having a hard time. Am I just
Speaker 3: like the needs to said, Tiffany, you Tiffany right. We studied,
Speaker 3: so Sean said. We started to watch all the videos.
Speaker 5: I watched a thousand videos.
Speaker 3: How long should it be? How much you asked for?
Speaker 3: We looked at zillions of zillions of kickstarter campaigns.
Speaker 5: Like what shouldn't be in it? You know what you.
Speaker 3: Should put in your bio? It took us. We pulled
Speaker 3: all nighters. Yes, we pulled all nighters doing it. And
Speaker 3: then we put it up and we prayed, and we
Speaker 3: send it out to our We send it out to people,
Speaker 3: and it was very emotional because overwhelming. He didn't expect
Speaker 3: as much love as we got, and it was like, oh,
Speaker 3: people really care about us.
Speaker 6: I mean I mean like, oh my god, I mean
Speaker 6: even the people who never met us before ever enlightened, right,
Speaker 6: they were donating to our kickstarter and I was just
Speaker 6: it really was emotional.
Speaker 3: It really was emotional at that moment.
Speaker 2: Especially it sounds like Sean, you had a little bit
Speaker 2: of trouble getting over having to ask for help in
Speaker 2: the first place. Yeah, just I relate to that in
Speaker 2: a big way. And I think it's that moment when
Speaker 2: you you're you're just afraid that it might it might
Speaker 2: not happen, and it's it's it must be humbling when
Speaker 2: you finally get that, when you see that you will
Speaker 2: get it in return. You know what you've been giving
Speaker 2: for so long.
Speaker 5: So what was it?
Speaker 1: What was the outcome? Did you guys make?
Speaker 3: Man?
Speaker 1: I know you made it, but like much more than
Speaker 1: you asked for?
Speaker 3: What was we doubles?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 6: Yes, ten? So you initially we asked for ten and
Speaker 6: then what happened?
Speaker 3: Twenty thousand?
Speaker 6: Yeah, we got twenty I think it was twenty one
Speaker 6: thousand over twenty one one.
Speaker 2: Four hundred dollars. I'm on the Patriot now from two
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty five two hundred and eighty five backers.
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
Speaker 3: That was so much.
Speaker 2: So that gave you the money that you needed to
Speaker 2: put up the big mirror, get the ropes, like, yeah,
Speaker 2: all this stuff, okay, Yes, and the mirrors are not
Speaker 2: those mirrors are not cheap.
Speaker 5: I was looking for lie.
Speaker 1: I was looking just for like.
Speaker 2: A tiny one for my little peloton, you know, nook
Speaker 2: and uh yeah, it was thousands of dollars.
Speaker 3: And now yes, And what's so fun is so we
Speaker 3: opened in September and we weren't going to wait, so
Speaker 3: we did the studio because hello, the pandemic still knocked
Speaker 3: us out right, So we started with the studio white,
Speaker 3: and we used to say, so, this is where the
Speaker 3: mirror is gonna be.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we would tell we would tell our students that
Speaker 6: face the imaginary mirror.
Speaker 3: And so what's so fun is that they got to
Speaker 3: watch us grow from like a white studio to what
Speaker 3: the studio is now and it's still and it's still growing.
Speaker 3: Like we just got our nice little bitch was so cute, y'all.
Speaker 3: You know, the studio was painting. Now, we got the
Speaker 3: words up, we got signs, we got our desks, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean. So it's fun because when they
Speaker 3: come and they're like, oh, so they get to actually
Speaker 3: watch us and process just.
Speaker 6: To watch, like, you know, new people come in and
Speaker 6: they're blown away by the studio. They really love the
Speaker 6: studio because outside of teaching our classes, we rent out
Speaker 6: our studio.
Speaker 5: That's to other people. They love this studio, they love it, and.
Speaker 6: So and that and that, and that's important to us
Speaker 6: because I felt like we had a responsibility. You know,
Speaker 6: you guys gave us twenty one thousand dollars. Right, No,
Speaker 6: this is going to be the best studio in Atlanta.
Speaker 3: Yes, you know, because trusted you.
Speaker 1: Yes, I mean, let me ask this, what is the
Speaker 1: what is your like ten twenty year plan, like what
Speaker 1: you know, what's your big bull dream for Double Dutch Robus.
Speaker 1: What can you see it becoming?
Speaker 6: Well, so they're a couple of things, right, we definitely
Speaker 6: want other studios in other cities. So we already have
Speaker 6: the cities in mind that we that we want, yeah,
Speaker 6: you know Double Dutcherobics like you know, Chicago and DC.
Speaker 6: And then also to grow out, like to certify more
Speaker 6: people across the country.
Speaker 3: So that Double Dutch Robus is accessible in every state.
Speaker 3: So it's not just you don't have to travel to
Speaker 3: get to us, right or to get to a Double
Speaker 3: Dutch Robics class. It's like as available as spind classes, Okay,
Speaker 3: or you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, so just really create like as far as
Speaker 6: like certification too, I just wanted to add that Double
Speaker 6: Dutch Aerobics is a formatic class, right, so it's kind
Speaker 6: of like uh Bill grim yoga with the twenty six
Speaker 6: twenty six postures. So there's like eleven steps to our program. Yes,
Speaker 6: that we do every single day, every single class. And
Speaker 6: so that's what we teach in our certification. And so basically,
Speaker 6: like Michelle said, if you're in DC, the class is
Speaker 6: going to be exactly like the class in New York
Speaker 6: or Atlanta or Detroit, you know some of the places
Speaker 6: where we want Double Dutch Aerobics to be. And so
Speaker 6: that's that's the goal, to to certify more people.
Speaker 3: And it's funny, you know, this whole subject was like
Speaker 3: how did we survive on our pandemic? And we're still
Speaker 3: recovering from the pandemic right right, so where but it
Speaker 3: feels like the other side is is we're on the
Speaker 3: you know, we're getting over the hump, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean. And now it's like when I think about
Speaker 3: when I was thinking, oh my god, this is over,
Speaker 3: I think the thing that got us through is that
Speaker 3: we kept hope and that we kept moving. So now
Speaker 3: on the other side, I feel like we're gonna be
Speaker 3: even bigger than we were because we have a space
Speaker 3: now that gives us access to do more than we
Speaker 3: were doing in the beginning of twenty twenty. And it's
Speaker 3: like that was our biggest year. But now through the
Speaker 3: sadness and through all the you know, the knockout that happened,
Speaker 3: we're gonna be bigger. On the other side of it
Speaker 3: was we kept pushing through.
Speaker 6: And then also just simply getting through a pandemic. Being
Speaker 6: a fitness brand makes you a whole lot stronger, so
Speaker 6: everything else seems like a breeze. I mean, you got
Speaker 6: through a pandemic, and then you know, at the top
Speaker 6: of the year, Michelle gets a commercial.
Speaker 3: Right, oh, I did that on my this meditation again,
Speaker 3: so matter because I'd be like, I told you we
Speaker 3: bringing magic, right, where.
Speaker 1: Can we find this meditation? It's like, you know, what's
Speaker 1: them prayer to get you around?
Speaker 3: So abundance meditation. The first time we did it, we
Speaker 3: got a random call. First shown said, no, we're supposed
Speaker 3: to a favor for We're supposed to a favor for somebody.
Speaker 3: My mother. He was like, miche, I don't know if
Speaker 3: we could film it yet, right, we're supposed to film
Speaker 3: some audition video. We was like, okay, we'll film it.
Speaker 3: We filmed. We didn't know what it was for.
Speaker 5: We had no idea, idea.
Speaker 3: Then they're like, you're chosen. Wait, chosen for what? What
Speaker 3: do you mean chosen for what?
Speaker 5: They just like we didn't We didn't know what it
Speaker 5: was for.
Speaker 3: Then they were like, we gotta fly you to New York.
Speaker 3: I said, I'm not bringing these to heres to New York.
Speaker 5: I'm tired.
Speaker 3: We're not going to So then they said, okay, well
Speaker 3: we'll come to you.
Speaker 2: Well, okay, what and you still don't know who's coming?
Speaker 3: And we still don't know.
Speaker 5: This is the question.
Speaker 1: Sorry, no, no, we didn't know who comes you. So
Speaker 1: when you said we're not going to New York, they
Speaker 1: still didn't tell you who was coming. No, like what
Speaker 1: it was for.
Speaker 5: Okay, wow, okay.
Speaker 3: Because we had to we have we have a four
Speaker 3: well he was three at the time for three year
Speaker 3: old and.
Speaker 5: Uh, did you see like that were production?
Speaker 6: If you when you when you auditioned it for like
Speaker 6: television shows and movies, you never really know like the
Speaker 6: real title of the movie because they probably don't even
Speaker 6: have it yet.
Speaker 5: But so yeah, that's that, that's what was happening.
Speaker 3: That's what was happening.
Speaker 5: You didn't know what we were auditioning.
Speaker 3: What we were auditioning for, and so they said, we'll
Speaker 3: come to you. So I'm gonna say, Okay, well, we
Speaker 3: gotta deal. And then we didn't find out who it
Speaker 3: was a couple of days before the shoot, uh huh.
Speaker 3: And so what happened was called it was called meal
Speaker 3: time conversations. Uh. Bill Gates was interviewing families to see
Speaker 3: how they were over meal time. So we ended up
Speaker 3: having a meal with my parents. They filmed it in
Speaker 3: their house and then they just told our story of
Speaker 3: the pandemic and they paid us, which help, right, And
Speaker 3: it was so random.
Speaker 1: So it was with bi you had like virtual dinner
Speaker 1: with Bill Gates.
Speaker 3: No, No, we filmed. They filmed and it was for
Speaker 3: their their foundation like it was they did. It was
Speaker 3: really interesting families around the world.
Speaker 5: So we represented the United States, we represented wow, okay,
Speaker 5: uh huh.
Speaker 6: And so they had yeah, they have people, you know,
Speaker 6: from families from other countries and everybody told their story,
Speaker 6: you know, from the pandemic, from the the pandemic.
Speaker 2: Yes, is this your the Walker and Clark families?
Speaker 5: Yes, yes, cute.
Speaker 2: Okay, you know I'm here on the Googles, just in
Speaker 2: the background, getting on the links ready. Well, just to
Speaker 2: round out the conversation, I wanted to just from my
Speaker 2: you know, listening to y'all story, it's so inspirational and
Speaker 2: I think so universal. You know, not everybody owns a
Speaker 2: double Dutch studio. Sounds like y'all are the only ones,
Speaker 2: but everybody, you know, if you're still standing today, you
Speaker 2: had to make it through the pandemic in some way
Speaker 2: or fashion. And the one thing that I've been like
Speaker 2: hearing in y'all story is how many different streams of
Speaker 2: income y'all, y'all have managed to squeeze out of this business,
Speaker 2: which I think is so smart and probably a huge
Speaker 2: reason why you've been able to survive. You know, I'm
Speaker 2: counting like, I don't know how many, at least five.
Speaker 2: It seems like you got the ropes that you're selling
Speaker 2: the classes themselves, outdoor classes, teaching certifications. It sounds like
Speaker 2: you're still on your grind when it comes to the
Speaker 2: entertainment opportunities. That's I mean, can you talk about you know,
Speaker 2: beyond that diversification, just that you know what what reflecting
Speaker 2: besides the abundance meditation on what made y'all such a
Speaker 2: resilient business in the face of such a huge challenge.
Speaker 5: Well, I think I think it was.
Speaker 6: It was even before the pandemic, we knew the potential
Speaker 6: of the business. I think that's what made us so
Speaker 6: excited in the beginning because we were like, oh, we
Speaker 6: could do this.
Speaker 5: We could Oh, we could teach the school programs and
Speaker 5: you know, summer camps. Oh man, we could do team
Speaker 5: building events, we could do corporate events.
Speaker 6: Like we just kept going and going, and there were
Speaker 6: so many possibilities.
Speaker 5: And then even during.
Speaker 6: Class, like after class, people will come to us with ideas, right,
Speaker 6: they're like, you know what, you guys should that happens
Speaker 6: all the time. And when you talk about like stream
Speaker 6: of revenue, right, it's like this, it's a good problem.
Speaker 6: But there's so many different avenues we can take with
Speaker 6: double Dutch aerobics.
Speaker 3: And we even started two things we also did this
Speaker 3: year we got pregnant. I don't know how that happened,
Speaker 3: but we got pregnant number three.
Speaker 2: Yeah, wow, Oh my goodness, congratulations, Thank you.
Speaker 3: So we actually got uh commercial the Apple commercial. Another source. Now,
Speaker 3: something that we do too is so you ever see
Speaker 3: big long lines and people they're not doing anything, but
Speaker 3: it's just on their phones. So Sludy began was having
Speaker 3: a what was it. It wasn't a grand opening, it
Speaker 3: was an event. They were given out free Yeah, someone
Speaker 3: sponsored her and they were giving out free burgers during
Speaker 3: the pandemic to everybody. So all you had to do
Speaker 3: was get online. The line was eight million years long,
Speaker 3: and so Sean was like, let's go and turn and
Speaker 3: so we end up turning there meeting everybody, and it's
Speaker 3: just like we realized how much joy even in just
Speaker 3: all those environments, how much joy because we can teach
Speaker 3: anyone in less than a minute, how much joy that
Speaker 3: brings everywhere. And what was cool about that is Pinky
Speaker 3: got to see us do that, and then she recently
Speaker 3: referred us for the Shakeshack event and it was a success.
Speaker 3: They are meaning sometimes we see things like a grand
Speaker 3: openings that what whatever, people are just I guess standing
Speaker 3: just gathered time. Robus is also good to have because
Speaker 3: it allows people to a communicate while they're standing. So
Speaker 3: people are they start talking, right, we start, it's just.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so yeah, I mean and so yeah, just just
Speaker 6: going back to basically, we knew before the potential busines
Speaker 6: business had yes, and so when it was time to
Speaker 6: activate it, right you know, i e. The pandemic, we
Speaker 6: were like, all right, so now we could do this.
Speaker 6: Oh we can't we can't teach out. I mean, we
Speaker 6: can't teach at an event, but we could sell ropes
Speaker 6: because people at home, you know, we could sell I
Speaker 6: mean the ropes were flying off the shelf.
Speaker 5: Yes, you know. So it was like, all right, let
Speaker 5: me learn the stock market.
Speaker 6: Like we just we just I don't know, we just
Speaker 6: knew what we can do, and we just, like I said,
Speaker 6: we just activated it.
Speaker 5: That's what you know, That's what we did.
Speaker 3: And then also something that Sean and I do, we're
Speaker 3: constantly looking for inspiration. Like even Tiffany, I always watch
Speaker 3: your lives and you're you're you're so inspirational or just
Speaker 3: how even like I was just telling my mother how
Speaker 3: you said you had to go back home and you
Speaker 3: were in your middle middle school room and you were like,
Speaker 3: this is not you know what I mean, I have
Speaker 3: more money when I was in middle school, meaning even
Speaker 3: in a down time. It's just like what I realized
Speaker 3: with people who are successful is it's not the environment
Speaker 3: or it's not what happens to them, it's who they are. Right,
Speaker 3: So even through going through that, you found your way
Speaker 3: out of it into major success. And if you hear
Speaker 3: we constantly watch people's success stories, yes, because the one
Speaker 3: thing that's always true is that they're successful. Right. So
Speaker 3: they may have a time of being down, but it's
Speaker 3: like that can't define you. You have to still. It's
Speaker 3: like a winner always wins.
Speaker 5: I don't know you said it, so it's it's it's
Speaker 5: the person.
Speaker 6: It's like, if you took all the Bill Gates money today,
Speaker 6: he would make a billion dollars again next month, Yes,
Speaker 6: because he just he can do it.
Speaker 5: Same thing with tip.
Speaker 6: You know, if if if if we, if we took
Speaker 6: all your money today right right right.
Speaker 5: To it, don't make it today.
Speaker 6: You you now have the tools to get it right
Speaker 6: back to you. It's yeah, Michelle and I we talk
Speaker 6: about that. We talk about this all the time. Actually
Speaker 6: it's you, it's the person, and it's not right. So
Speaker 6: that's why I was biggest. My biggest thing is it's
Speaker 6: not only the meditation, but it's making sure that.
Speaker 3: While bad things happen, I still have to be up,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: Right, because you can't you can't control the events that
Speaker 6: happened in your life. You can and control the way
Speaker 6: you deal with it. And so that's that's the biggest
Speaker 6: out of it, That's what you're saying.
Speaker 3: It's being resourceful so that we can The reason why
Speaker 3: we can make double ut your role bits successful is
Speaker 3: because our goal is to become resourceful, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean. The reason the reason you can make budgeting,
Speaker 3: so you know what I mean, the budgetista, is because
Speaker 3: you are a resourceful person. And so once you are resourceful,
Speaker 3: you can turn almost anything you love into success. You understand.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I always think that, Like, like the weekend
Speaker 1: before last, I told my sister come drive with me
Speaker 1: through some of these fancy neighborhoods where every house is
Speaker 1: a million dollars plus. I said, because within five years
Speaker 1: I'll be in one of these. And you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: like I could be in one now, but I don't
Speaker 1: want a mortgage. I'm talking about in it, like here's
Speaker 1: the money boom. It's nothing, you know. And so because
Speaker 1: one of the things I learned and this is just
Speaker 1: for anyone listening, is that it's like it's this this
Speaker 1: thing that almost every like African parent tells their kid.
Speaker 1: When you bring home a B and you tell them
Speaker 1: that somebody else in class got an A, he said, ah,
Speaker 1: so does she have two heads?
Speaker 3: Meaning like if.
Speaker 1: A's were being given, why don't you have one? The
Speaker 1: only explanation that you could have for not getting an
Speaker 1: A when someone else is able to get an A
Speaker 1: is that person must have two heads, therefore two brains. Therefore, okay,
Speaker 1: she got you on that. But so I drive, I
Speaker 1: drive through those neighborhoods because I am resetting my expectation
Speaker 1: of like, yo, there's not one house here, two houses.
Speaker 1: There's like fifty houses in just this one neighborhood, and
Speaker 1: then another fifty, another neighborhood another, meaning yo, there are
Speaker 1: people who make enough to make this life happen. What's
Speaker 1: so special about them? What is so special? And this
Speaker 1: is nothing exactly and it's not a little bit of
Speaker 1: people were talking about just this one neighborhood here, and
Speaker 1: then you go another town over, and then another town
Speaker 1: in another state and another There are so many people
Speaker 1: that are successful. Why not you do they have two heads. No, No,
Speaker 1: they figured it out. Now you gotta do to your children,
Speaker 1: they'd be like, Sean ju is gonna be like, I
Speaker 1: gotta be a b Would anybody get a do that?
Speaker 1: Do that have to head for? It's a very African
Speaker 1: thing to say, but I say that to say that
Speaker 1: basically that you are human. Therefore, what is accessible to
Speaker 1: to one human is there is great potential for it
Speaker 1: to also be accessible to you. And we all understand
Speaker 1: that there are limitations and racism and and and and sexism,
Speaker 1: and we know that, but you know, we also know
Speaker 1: that people find a way. And if one person has
Speaker 1: found a way, that is that is cause for celebration
Speaker 1: because that means the way has been found. You know,
Speaker 1: you too can have access to that. So once you
Speaker 1: start to understand that, then there's nothing. I mean, we're
Speaker 1: not talking to about you go into the moon for
Speaker 1: the first time. Those people have to figure it out
Speaker 1: from scratch, you know, we're not talking about that. Like
Speaker 1: when people say, oh, I don't know how to invest,
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, people don't figured it out and
Speaker 1: wrote books and do YouTube videos about it.
Speaker 3: YouTube you know right now?
Speaker 1: Yes, Like you know, you know people have successful businesses.
Speaker 1: You know, people have podcasts at work and you know,
Speaker 1: so there are folks that have figured it out. And
Speaker 1: so I'm so glad that you came on today because
Speaker 1: it's I think it's important for our audience to hear
Speaker 1: that there are so many ways to express success in business.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure people thought a business based upon
Speaker 1: double Dutch, how's that going to work? And now you're
Speaker 1: over here laying it. It can work, you know, like
Speaker 1: a business based upon budgeting what and now here we
Speaker 1: are and so like I hope those of you who
Speaker 1: are you know ba Faan that's listening you get to
Speaker 1: see that it is possible to grow a business from
Speaker 1: just about any idea. It's possible to do so while
Speaker 1: still having this amazing family. You hear the joy they
Speaker 1: have speaking with each other and connecting and staying connected.
Speaker 1: It is possible to do so with children because how
Speaker 1: old is your oldest baby?
Speaker 3: Four? Five?
Speaker 1: Four child? Cheez? You know, like because I know people like,
Speaker 1: well I got a baby, okay, you know, it is
Speaker 1: possible to do those things. IM not gonna say it's easy,
Speaker 1: because I know it's not easy.
Speaker 5: No, you know, we're talking about.
Speaker 1: Possible I'm talking about possible but not easy. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so we just want to thank you for, like you know,
Speaker 1: illustrating like even the hard like you still here to
Speaker 1: join you guys's voice. I love that that, like you know,
Speaker 1: these lessons taught you some valuable lessons that you learn
Speaker 1: to be resourceful, just like as you said, Michelle, and
Speaker 1: you learn that like to pivot. I think that was
Speaker 1: a huge lesson learned here. And you learn to also
Speaker 1: that if you really believe in your idea, you'll find
Speaker 1: a way and it doesn't mean that you might not
Speaker 1: take a step back. And also too, you learn to
Speaker 1: ask for help. Yeah, and so all those things combine,
Speaker 1: you know, and consistency and not giving up resulting where
Speaker 1: you are now and now that we're coming out on
Speaker 1: the other side, it's only bigger, bigger and better for y'all.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited for y'all.
Speaker 3: And that's consistency. I just want to stay warm. Thing.
Speaker 3: Just as a reminder, is there when we first started,
Speaker 3: we had empty classes and Sean would look at me
Speaker 3: and be like because I'd be like, maybe it's not
Speaker 3: going to work.
Speaker 5: And I would be like, isn't this amazing? Isn't this
Speaker 5: an amazing idea.
Speaker 6: This is gonna work because the thing is, I realized
Speaker 6: that it's not because we didn't have a good idea.
Speaker 6: It's just we're not promoting it right. So we just
Speaker 6: have to fix it.
Speaker 1: I was going to call that illustrating your Oprah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but for real, when I used to like, is
Speaker 3: it a good idea, yeah, I would be No.
Speaker 1: I was like, no, no, this is a good idea.
Speaker 1: If someone doesn't want to pay me, I have not
Speaker 1: illustrated my opera. Meaning if Oprah, if we got a
Speaker 1: call right now and Oprah said, I will do a
Speaker 1: one on one with y'all, but I need ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: You have ten ten hours to come up with it,
Speaker 1: we will come up with that money so fast because
Speaker 1: we're like child is Oprah. Because Oprah's value is so
Speaker 1: clear that we will find the funds. And so if
Speaker 1: someone's not willing to pay me just yet, I have
Speaker 1: not illustrated my value. So and definitely that they will
Speaker 1: find the funds because now I've illustrated my Oprah. So
Speaker 1: when I tell somebody, oh no, no, no, my keynote is
Speaker 1: forty thousand, they find the funds, you know, And so
Speaker 1: I think that too, because it's very easy to say, well,
Speaker 1: my idea is not good or it's not the right
Speaker 1: market or time. No, it's l likely you just have
Speaker 1: not illustrated your oprah.
Speaker 5: And that's okay, Yes it is, Yes, that's right, Yes,
Speaker 5: you know exactly.
Speaker 1: Just got to figure it out. How do you make
Speaker 1: it that your value is so clear that people will
Speaker 1: find the funds just to have you in the room because.
Speaker 5: It took took it took them a little while to
Speaker 5: respect us.
Speaker 3: I got cursed out charging people for double Dutch. This
Speaker 3: man cursed me out. He wanted us to come out
Speaker 3: to his event. Oh he cursed me out. What is
Speaker 3: that I'm taking advantage? I said, certain, you could have
Speaker 3: ropes there. I didn't say you couldn't have. If you
Speaker 3: want me to physically show up and show my expertise,
Speaker 3: If you want me and my husband to show up
Speaker 3: her specific time and date and to literally do what
Speaker 3: we do, you have to pay us. I didn't exclude
Speaker 3: you from double dupe. But you want us there because
Speaker 3: you saw what we do.
Speaker 6: And I was Michelle was a little bothered by him.
Speaker 6: I was crying after I got out there. But but
Speaker 6: but I was upset that she was upset. I was thinking,
Speaker 6: why why are you letting this stranger get you so upset?
Speaker 6: We know, we know our worst, our wors, we know
Speaker 6: our value, and that's it.
Speaker 3: It's like you think Kevin Hard to come and tell jokes,
Speaker 3: but your cousin can tell jokes at the party, stopped jokes.
Speaker 3: If you want Kevin Hart to come and tell you jokes.
Speaker 6: But the thing is, though, like like I get it,
Speaker 6: I get why.
Speaker 5: Because you know, double Dutch has been free for one
Speaker 5: hundred years. You know, people you.
Speaker 6: Know, stop the telephone truck, got the wires, you know,
Speaker 6: and jumped outside to the till the street lights came on.
Speaker 5: I get it.
Speaker 3: But I'm a world champion.
Speaker 6: But the thing is, when Michelle and I come to
Speaker 6: your event, if there's a million people at your event,
Speaker 6: a million people will be jumping, which is different, you know.
Speaker 6: So it's like we because we could teach anybody how
Speaker 6: to jump. So that's the thing. So like if you know,
Speaker 6: if you want our expertise, then you have to pay us.
Speaker 6: But it's it was really simple for me. I couldn't
Speaker 6: even understand why she was so because it's.
Speaker 1: Hard because you know, you feel you don't want you
Speaker 1: feel like, wow, am I what does that say about me?
Speaker 1: We know we tend to internal why with people, but
Speaker 1: it's not. It just means I'm okay now because I
Speaker 1: you know, it took me a while too, because Mitchelle,
Speaker 1: I would have cried like, oh my goodness, am I right?
Speaker 1: Because mean if they could google budget and I said,
Speaker 1: well then why don't they like even now what it
Speaker 1: took me? A girl, it's like year twelve for me.
Speaker 1: I not bothered. I'm sorry when someone hits me back
Speaker 1: and says that's too expensive, I'm like, oh, okay, okay
Speaker 1: for you because I just got paid that last week.
Speaker 1: But okay, and that's okay. And here's the thing. I
Speaker 1: give a lot away for free. You could. I do lives,
Speaker 1: I have social posts, We've got emails, We've got you can.
Speaker 1: You can partake in all the free because I do
Speaker 1: believe in, you know, providing service to my community. But
Speaker 1: you know, if you're wanting, you know, a specific service
Speaker 1: that I charge for, that's for the cost. And if
Speaker 1: you don't have the budget, and that's okay, it just
Speaker 1: me you have to find somebody that fits within that budget.
Speaker 1: Because it's so funny when you know when you first start,
Speaker 1: nobody wants to, you know, like nobody wants to take
Speaker 1: you on the moment you blow up. Now you want
Speaker 1: to you want to pay me the first starting budget,
Speaker 1: like you you called me for a reason, right, you
Speaker 1: know you hit me up because you saw the New
Speaker 1: York Times bestseller?
Speaker 3: Did you think that was that?
Speaker 1: Did you think that was gonna come for nothing? So yeah,
Speaker 1: but we can talk for everybody, Mandy, any any final
Speaker 1: things you want to see with our Yes, this is.
Speaker 2: Just thank you. Yeah, thirty minutes ago, I bought the
Speaker 2: Ropes website. I can't wait, and I'm gonna go. I
Speaker 2: didn't even not I didn't even know double dutch was
Speaker 2: a thing you could become a world champion in. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a sport.
Speaker 5: I love it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So thank y'all, Thank you, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for sharing your story and sharing your energy and your
Speaker 2: your truth because y'all were honest about the ups and downs,
Speaker 2: and we appreciate that. I think our I hope our
Speaker 2: audience loves this conversation as much as as much as
Speaker 2: I did.
Speaker 5: I thank you, Oh, thank you. People.
Speaker 2: Find y'all ware. Now, where's the best place to find
Speaker 2: everything people need to know about Double Dutch.
Speaker 3: Find on Instagram, Double Dutch Arobics, Facebook, Double Dutch your Arobics.
Speaker 3: If you forget everything, you can google Double Dutch Aerobics
Speaker 3: and find us everywhere.
Speaker 2: I got that SEO game on point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, very good to know.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, thank y'all so so much. We can't wait
Speaker 2: to hear more from Double Dutch Aerobics. Thank y'all, Sean
Speaker 2: and Michelle for joining us.
Speaker 5: Thank you appreciate it, Thank you.
Speaker 2: It's amazing. I feel so warm and fuzzy.
Speaker 1: And now weak back for a booster breaker, booster booster break.
Speaker 1: I always feel like I'm, like, you know, doing I
Speaker 1: don't know, like an orchestra, like you know, I feel pretty.
Speaker 2: Really good jazz. You know, you never know. It kind
Speaker 2: of sounds like it's not all gonna go together, but
Speaker 2: somehow you just tie together at the end. Yes, six
Speaker 2: years of listening to your little jingles.
Speaker 1: I love so a'll we gonna well, I know, we
Speaker 1: both agree we're gonna do a boost.
Speaker 2: We're only boosting today. Ye, no breaks allowed, and they've
Speaker 2: got to be a small biz boost. So this is
Speaker 2: a special in light of our small business themed episode today.
Speaker 2: And again, wasn't that interview with Shawn and Michelle amazing?
Speaker 2: I already bought their ropes. They were only like twenty bucks.
Speaker 2: I got the ropes. I cannot wait. I think I
Speaker 2: can still double Dutch. We'll find out. But I love
Speaker 2: that conversation and I.
Speaker 1: Want to do this often enough.
Speaker 2: But let's I wanted to highlight minority owned businesses, just
Speaker 2: a couple that we find inspirational right now and use
Speaker 2: our boost to kind of highlight the work that they're doing.
Speaker 2: So I got to shout out my little brother real quick, Alex.
Speaker 2: I know you're listening, my little brother who is a
Speaker 2: multi hyphen it and you know, I ever really know
Speaker 2: what it is that he's got going on. He's always
Speaker 2: got something going on. He's a property owner. The man
Speaker 2: just bought land in Atlanta to build a house on.
Speaker 2: I'm so proud of him, and he on the side.
Speaker 2: Even though he's in sales in Atlanta, he and his
Speaker 2: business partners, they have a production company called Pineapple Cut Productions.
Speaker 2: So this is like a double boost for them. But
Speaker 2: he's the one who turned me onto this small business
Speaker 2: owner because through Pineapple Cut his production company, they actually
Speaker 2: do a lot of like vignettes for small businesses, and
Speaker 2: he specifically focuses on black and brown owned businesses in
Speaker 2: Atlanta and he'll tell their stories through video. And he
Speaker 2: highlighted this one business which was founded by a man
Speaker 2: named David Walker, who's an attorney, and it was just
Speaker 2: so unique and interesting that I thought, why not talk
Speaker 2: about it here. So David's company is called star Walker Industries.
Speaker 2: So the purpose of star Walker Industries is to reduce
Speaker 2: the amount of plastic being dumped in landfills and to
Speaker 2: build a sustainable clothes, closed loop bottled water recycling plant
Speaker 2: right in Atlanta. And I know, especially you know, Flint
Speaker 2: feels like it was just yesterday, but it's been a
Speaker 2: few years now since the Flint water crisis. And to
Speaker 2: think that a black man in Atlanta is really creating this,
Speaker 2: you know, all in one bottled water business where Atlanta
Speaker 2: owns its own you know, water supply from bottled water,
Speaker 2: I just think it's awesome, and not only that, it's
Speaker 2: good for the environment too. So it's a minority owned
Speaker 2: company fled by an engineer and a corporate attorney that's David,
Speaker 2: and they offer fully integrated bottle water solutions including manufacturing, distributing,
Speaker 2: and reclaiming and recycling the very bottles that they produce.
Speaker 2: So when they say closed loop, it's like they create
Speaker 2: the bottle and Alex don't yell let me if I
Speaker 2: mess this up. They create the bottle, They find the
Speaker 2: water from wherever they get it from. I hope not linklineer.
Speaker 2: If you're in Atlanta, you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2: They get the water, they fill the bottle with the water,
Speaker 2: you drink it, you bring the bottle back, they take
Speaker 2: it back and it all goes back into the system
Speaker 2: versus into landfill. So thank you David for your amazing work.
Speaker 2: And I'll put a link to his business star Walker
Speaker 2: Industries dot com and the show notes and check him out.
Speaker 1: I love it. Yes, well, my boost is going to
Speaker 1: be a gentleman. Really, it's a family. But his name
Speaker 1: in particular is caer Gains. That's k I E R
Speaker 1: g A I n e S. And that's his Instagram
Speaker 1: as well. But he is a husband, a girl, dad,
Speaker 1: and a therapist. So what I love is that I
Speaker 1: want to say maybe last year is when I was
Speaker 1: introduced to him because I kept seeing this like young
Speaker 1: brother that you know, would be walking and talking, but
Speaker 1: helping to really normalize what therapy and therapeutic healing look
Speaker 1: like for black men, and you know, making it okay
Speaker 1: for men to seek help and to say that they
Speaker 1: don't know and to say that they feel vulnerable. And
Speaker 1: he's just doing amazing, amazing, amazing work. And so I
Speaker 1: just want to shout him out that, like it's ker
Speaker 1: again gaines k I E R g A I.
Speaker 3: N E s.
Speaker 1: If you're not following him already. He doesn't just talk
Speaker 1: about therapy for for for men, but I especially think
Speaker 1: because the way he talks about therapy and and actually
Speaker 1: helps you with solutions, you know, this might be the
Speaker 1: first time your guy ever heard about someone talking about
Speaker 1: you know, hey, like he used, for example, it was
Speaker 1: on his ig earlier. He used Martin and Gina a
Speaker 1: fight that they were having on Martin you know, the show,
Speaker 1: and he used it to explain what he calls, oh
Speaker 1: what is it called? He called it like it's like
Speaker 1: some therapy, like a something about like a non winnable
Speaker 1: fights or something like that. And and the reason why
Speaker 1: you fight in that way is because you have suppressed
Speaker 1: anger and emotions from from maybe some from childhood or
Speaker 1: even just previous fights with your partner, but he explains
Speaker 1: how to navigate that. I just it's it's so healthy
Speaker 1: to see people that look like you talking about things
Speaker 1: that might not be familiar to you but ought to be.
Speaker 1: And so go ahead and check out here and his
Speaker 1: wife and their beautiful daughter. They're pretty awesome.
Speaker 2: I love it all right. Well, and we'll put the
Speaker 2: link to both those businesses in our show notes. If
Speaker 2: y'all have any businesses that y'all think will be worth highlighting,
Speaker 2: or just want to share the story of how you
Speaker 2: have dealt with the pandemic the past year as a
Speaker 2: small business owner. There's people who've just launched businesses during
Speaker 2: the pandemic because you know, they need to be scrappy
Speaker 2: and find a way to put food on the table.
Speaker 2: And those stories are so inspiring and we'd love to
Speaker 2: feature some of those on the show someday. So leave
Speaker 2: us a note. You can reach you on Instagram. You
Speaker 2: can email us Briandambission Podcast at gmail dot com, or
Speaker 2: check our ig page and check the show notes for
Speaker 2: the number where you can actually call us and leave
Speaker 2: a voicemail for us with your story or your questions.
Speaker 2: We'd love to hear from y'all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we would all really well.
Speaker 2: Happy Brand Ambition, a very happy Brown Ambition Wednesday, to you,
Speaker 2: miss Tiffany.
Speaker 1: And to you as well.
Speaker 2: All right, we will see y'all next week
Speaker 1: Al right, next week