WEBVTT - Jonathan Azu Full Interview 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.080 Listening makes us smarter, more connected people. It makes us 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.240 better partners, parents, and leaders, and there's no better place 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.280 to start listening than Audible. Audible is where so many 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.600 inspiring voices and compelling stories open listeners up to new 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.760 experiences in ways of thinking. Audible members now get more 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.880 than ever before. Members choose three titles every month, one 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:22.000 audiobook plus two Audible originals that you can't hear anywhere else. 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.760 Members also have unlimited access to more than a hundred 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:29.280 audio guided fitness and meditation programs. 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Explore all the ways listening on Audible 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.360 can help improve mind, body, and soul with entertainment, information 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.800 and inspiration. You can get titles from your favorite I 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.000 Heeart talent such as Chelsea Handler, Danny Shapiro, Charlemagne, the God, 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:14.399 and Bobby Bones on Audible. Start listening now with a 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.360 thirty day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.880 Audible originals are free. Visit audible dot com, slash I 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.280 heart or text I Heeart to five hundred five hundred. 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.760 My next guest is Very Successful is the founder and 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.679 CEO of Culture Collective. Culture Collective is the vision of 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.560 former red LFE Management general manager at the years of 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.920 driving success for some of the industry's most iconic artists, 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:42.000 brands and companies. They're now leveraging their knowledge and relationship 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.920 to create a diverse environment that is inclusive and will 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:50.080 develop dynamic managers and powerhouse entertainments entertainers with the initial 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.720 focus of urban genrere clients. Culture Collective and this network 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:59.200 managers and shared service executive will represent creatives who are 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:04.000 redefining the culture while also exemplifying and promoting diverse leadership 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:08.359 and entertainment for the next generation. Please welcome to money 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:14.080 Making Conversations the mastermind behind Culture Collective music executive and 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:19.560 investor Jonathan A. Zoo. Thank you for having me. I 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.880 appreciate it. Well, you know, when I bring people on 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:24.120 the show, I want people to know where they're on 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:28.679 the show. Yes, yes, you know, and well put guess 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.400 what I'll saying? Well put, Well they tell me about 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.600 this because you know your management we are as a 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:38.200 person who's managed talent before and currently still management challenge. 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:39.959 You know when I stop managing Steve Harbor, I thought 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.280 I was done. I said, you know, uh, and then 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.680 all of a sudden I got pulled back in, Jonathan, 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:48.360 I got pulled back in. People people read the bio. 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.040 This can you do? Certainly is a favor. You know. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:52.760 I want to spend a bunch of time because a 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.920 lot of people don't understand boy management. Is that your part? Uh? 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.440 Poor wife, poor friend, park else the port father port. 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.079 You are a lot of things when you manage talent. 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.880 Please tell people your experience. Am I am am? I 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.240 not missing. I am not trying to mislead people when 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:12.920 they're getting into the management game. You have to invest 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:17.959 your time both emotionally and physically into somebody's success. Yeah, 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.519 you you really do. You You give up every aspect 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.399 of who you are, and it's it's a lifestyle business. 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.840 And I've been able to experience that at a very 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.960 high level. Um, you know, with with a variety of 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.400 different managers and artists you know, at every shape and size, 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:38.440 But the one commonality, one denominator, is that it's it 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.000 leads to every aspect of your life. Right. And so 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.120 I always like to say, when you're evaluating whether you 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.560 want to manage an artists, it's it's almost like do 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:52.280 you want to get married? Right at that level, you know, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.240 right where you know you will end up talking with 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.400 that person potentially more than anyone that you in your 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.320 own personal family. Um. Because that's just that's that's just 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:04.440 the nature of the business. And that's why I always 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.080 tell people that, Like when I got to share my 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.560 story so it becomes relatable as to why I got 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.160 on the show. Like when Steve Harvey approached me, I 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:17.680 was successful sitcom writer, very successful in Hollywood in and 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:19.680 he asked me to start managing his career. He had 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:23.240 we had just taped Kings of Comedy and I was 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:25.719 kind of like on the fence. If I was managing 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:29.120 him was very successful, but I didn't really we didn't 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:33.360 really become successful until two thousand and five, when I 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:37.200 decided to really invest one into managing. The reason I 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.880 say that is that if you want somebody to be successful, 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:44.640 you cannot do it part time. You really can't. You 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.480 really can. It's it's impossible, fact to be honest with you. 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.760 You know, I've got two young children, um, five and one, 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.000 you know, and in a beautiful wife, and and they 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.640 loved the industry that I'm in. And it's great too 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:01.880 because I've opened them up to the and you know, my, my, my, 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.800 my artists and clients, UH know them just as well 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:06.800 as they know me. And it's hard to not have 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:08.840 it that way. You know, some people may see you 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.279 need that separation. But because we live in this lifestyle 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:15.040 business where you know, Thursday's, Friday, Saturday's where most people 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.120 are thinking about the weekend and taking the time and 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:23.560 leaning back and checking out, we're checking in right, There's 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.320 always something going on, right, So it's pretty you know, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:30.400 it's difficult to not really open up your whole life 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.760 to the people that you work with. That's why it 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:34.360 has to work. When I talk about the marriage part, 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.600 That's why it has to be a fit. It can't 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:40.039 be a thing where you're just doing it too to 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.839 get by, or you're just doing it because of the money. 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.280 You know, there has to has to be a fit. 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.839 I've you know, on my career, like you, you get 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:51.720 the phone calls, you get the emails of the text 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.000 from our friend. We you listen to we listen to this, 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.279 you know, you know everything from my my, my daughter, 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:00.280 my daughter. You know, I think my daughter can seeing 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.080 or you take a listen on up to on up 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.480 to you know, the guy at the checkout count of 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.719 the grocery store. You know the nmy Is demo tape. 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.680 I think it's pretty good. So you get the whole gamut. 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:13.000 But at the end of the day, if you're not 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.159 emotionally connected to it and you don't have a vision 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.400 for it, um, it's not worth doing because it really 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.720 does take over, you know, asking for your life. So 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:22.440 it's gonna do that. You gotta be happy. And that's 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.760 why I always tell people they don't really Because I 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:27.640 ran a common clubs, I ran into a lot of 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.040 manager of singing groups, manager of this and and they 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.400 really and everybody wants to be a manager because it's 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.279 so fly, it's so cool to say the word manager. 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.960 But the commitment to time. And I tell people that because, 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.520 like I said, basically, Steve harv and I was kind 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:43.919 of like having dual careers. He was, he was very 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.559 I was still had my foot doing Rashan McDonald's brand, 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.880 doing other TV show development TV shows. And the last 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.599 TV show I did as Rushan McDonald was I did 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.480 the MTV show called The Shop. It's very similar to 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.320 what what the lebron is doing right now. HBO is 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.160 back show. It's the same show and so and I 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:04.000 was doing it and uh, I was shooting it in 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.400 Brooklyn and so and that. And so when I made 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:09.400 the commitment right there, said you know something, We're not 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.000 gonna win if my mind remains split. I have to 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.240 I have to commit to the whole process. And when 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:20.680 I committed the whole process, then guess what. Everything moved 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.320 forward fast, everything my my whole want her to present. 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.200 Commitment allowed me to just think, sleep, eating, drink. Steve Harvey, 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.560 I could tell you his blood pressure. I can tell 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:32.120 you what he didn't like. I can tell his suit. 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:33.880 I can tell his shoes. I can tell you what 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:35.280 time he got up. I can tell you what time 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.760 he went to bed. As a manager, you have to 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:41.280 know all these things. You have to know, uh, catering needs. 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.200 You have to know that the seat they like on 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:45.240 the airplane. You have to know what side of the 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.120 car they like to sit there, what type of cars 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.840 they don't like. A dude like, all that comes into 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.440 if you manage, if you're trying to take somebody from 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:55.280 one level to the next level, these things you need 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.280 to know, and you have to know, and you have 0:07:57.320 --> 0:07:59.400 to take them very seriously or you will not be 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:03.040 managing that very long. Yeah. I always have to say, 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:04.720 you know, you know because I get the question what 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.120 is the manager? I always talk about we were. I 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.920 consider myself more a strategist, right and the stens that 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:13.520 we are positioning positioning the client for success. In order 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.040 to position them for success, there has to be a roadmap, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:17.960 there has to be a strategy, and it has to 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.760 be a long term vision, not a short term vision. Right. Um. 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.160 You know. In in addition to that, you know, part 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.440 of that position, like you just mentioned, is how can 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:30.119 I make this person feel the most comfortable the most 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:34.640 directed for success as possible. And sometimes that is, you know, 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.280 to be very honest with you, what's what's in that 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:40.800 dressing room writer, to make them feel very comfortable going 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.199 to show time? Right, you know, um, you know it's 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.000 and and then and the bigger, bigger pictures. Sometimes it's 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:49.760 it's having a real conversation with them. Where is your 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.960 goal line? What? How do you define success? Success is 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.520 defined by the eye to beholder. So tell me what 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.560 success is to you so I can help you achieve 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.920 it versus just assume that we're just gonna, you know, 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.720 go for the moon and we're not sure right where 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.920 the moon's at, or or or or what size it is. 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:11.840 Always talk about, you know, setting sales towards a continent. 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:13.600 You don't you don't have to tell him what country 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:14.880 you want to go to, but let's at least go 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.840 in the right direction, right right right, And that's really 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.120 that's that's key because of the fact that you have 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:23.120 to be able to have those values like so, now, okay, 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:27.360 I'll stop managing Steve Harvard. Okay, I'm just so I'm 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.680 trying to find Rushawn's voice. Then I get a call 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.040 from a man stephen A. Smith at ESPN. Here we 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.319 should here, we should uh can we sit down and 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:39.320 talk talk about what not? Just talk? Just talk, just talk. 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:41.640 Next thing, you know, I'm managing him. Then I was 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.400 to get a call from a Reva Martin Chee chee 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.280 in the view on my show, just like this, did 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.720 you go? Can we talk? Can we have lunch? Now? 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.280 Managing her? It's just that, it's just it. But I 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:55.720 know that when you manage people, I know, you know, 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:57.600 you know, you learned, and I feel that that's what 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:01.679 you're doing with your business, that you're creating. With Culture Collecting, 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:05.559 you're taking your experience and trying to I try to 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.480 get and let people know. So talk a little bit 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.000 about what you exactly was trying to do with the 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.360 Culture Collected. Yeah. So, you know, I I've had an 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.520 interesting career, you know, in entertainment and it's been pretty dynamic. 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.400 In college, you know, I was the guy that booked 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:21.160 a lot of concerts to come through and went to 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.000 dread University, small school in Iowa. You know, um, you know, 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.440 my story didn't didn't quite scream entertainment, you know, in 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:31.559 the beginning, you know, I went to school with the 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.040 small school sort of booking shows. Got pretty good at it, 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:37.640 you know, at that time I worked with everyone from 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.640 Dave Matthews to One twelve right, so you know, it's 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.679 back in the in the night, late nineties. And when 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.680 I graduated, I thought I was I thought it was 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.719 hot stuff, and I thought that I could easily get 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.080 a job in New York, right because you know, nobody, 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:53.800 nobody was doing it like I was, right, And I 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:55.320 went to I went to New York. I slept with 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:58.240 my parents friends couch, and I hit the payment for 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.200 a couple of weeks, and then I found myself up 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.880 right back uh in St. Louis, which is where I 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.480 grew up on my parents couch at that time, trying 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.600 to figure out what I wanted to do, and I 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.360 gotta but luckily I had interned, and this is what 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:15.720 I always, you know, tell people is important to have internships. 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:19.080 And I had interned for Live Nation, and they had 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.720 directed me towards an opening in radio. And I never 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.560 thought that radio would get me to where I wanted 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.040 to be, because I really wanted to be next to 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:30.800 the artist. And I, out of lack of options, got 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.480 a job in radio low person on the totem pole 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.040 stuffing prize boxes, you know, driving the radio station van 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:39.240 and I did that for about a year and a 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:41.320 half and they had the opportunity to go to New 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.040 York and work for CBS Radio Corporately in the in 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.920 the music Partnerships division. And that's what really really my 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.079 career took off right because I started meeting a lot 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:55.000 of high, UH influential people. UM. I started meeting making 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:56.719 a lot of contact in the music industry, especially on 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:00.080 the on the record label side, UM, which labels are 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:03.079 pretty much in that driver's sipt at that point, and 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.920 UH eventually shifted my career into live events and then 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:12.040 into management and h all the executive sea level positions. 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.520 I ran companies for other people. And after doing that 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.040 for many many years, including the last five years that 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.200 one of the biggest management companies in the world, I 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.440 began to look across the table. I began to look 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:25.320 next to me, and I began to look at those 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:27.640 that were coming up, and no one looked like hold 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:29.319 that thought, we're gonna go to break and we'll come back. 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.000 So I want to get this complete story on how 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:35.480 this whole highly evolved and how you got culture Collective 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:39.719 in the purpose on the phone is this ras Sean 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:42.160 McDonald speaking on the phone is the founder and CEO 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.480 of Culture Collective. Culture Collective is the vision of former 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.200 Red Light Management general manager. At the years of driving 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.800 success for some of the industry's most iconic artists, brands, 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:55.280 and companies. He decided to do it so dude, he 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.920 was the middle of explaining exactly, looking across the table 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:02.679 and realized, you know, I could do this for myself. 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:07.520 Welcome back to the show, Jonathan. Yeah, so, you know, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:12.360 realize if I could do this for myself and most importantly, um, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.200 for reasons bigger than music, I can do it to 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.640 impact the next generation. You know, I'm a kid that 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.040 I'm a kid that was raised with Midwestern values. My 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.800 father was a was an immigrant. He was he was 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:26.040 from Nigeria, brought to the adopted, brought to this country 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:30.040 at the age of sixteen. And I watched him, Um, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:34.320 you know, I watched him grow and struggle but become 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:36.920 successful and I learned so much from him. And I 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:40.280 watched him reached back out to his community, which was 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.560 he St. Louis to work with the people there to 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:46.559 help provide them with the tools resources and knowledge to 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:48.679 live a better life. And I thought to myself as 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:52.559 as as a as a black executive, I'm an interesting crossroads. 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.680 You know. I joke with people that I'm I'm now 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.080 on the on the opposite side of forty you get 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:03.600 side right, And you know, I've had an amazing professional 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.880 career and I can continue to work for other people, 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:11.079 help other people build their brands, or I can decide 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.240 to do it for myself. An architect is the way 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.360 that I'd like to architect it, you know, with the 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:16.880 help of those that have helped me get to where 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:21.200 I'm at right UM, and then open my arms up 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:26.280 and share this knowledge that I have with the next generation. UM. 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:29.640 And really what the the embass of diversity and inclusion 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.160 and making sure that this next generation is giving given 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:37.480 access UM and bestowed knowledge to become great executive, especially 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.720 in management, because we end up having in management is 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:44.680 that because it's not anything you have to be academically 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.520 accredited to do a lot of people, to you the 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.960 point that you made earlier, want to be a manager, 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:52.920 but they have no skill set to be able to 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.520 do it. And a lot of that in my you know, 0:14:56.840 --> 0:15:00.280 what I've seen is because a lot of those future 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.840 managers have trouble getting into this system that we have 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:08.840 called an entertainment um for various reasons, and a lot 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.440 of it could be around the fact that those that 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:15.800 run the companies are the ones that uh give access 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:18.400 to the internships. And if those that run in the 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.400 companies don't look like us, those that are getting the 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.640 internships won't look like us either. It could be the 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:28.080 fact that a lot of the companies and entertainment um 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:32.600 don't pay interns right, and if you don't pay interns, 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:34.880 a lot of people that look like us are from 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.680 our community can't afford to do the internship. So therefore 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.040 it's not even the consideration set that you'll be a manager. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.240 It sometimes happens is that you become friends with the 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:49.040 artists and that artists explodes and you're there next to 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.560 them as their manager, and when that artist gets to 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.200 the level of notoriety, people around them say, hey, you're 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.880 your friends there. He's not really a manager, he's a 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:01.840 furniture and that that man gotta go. We're gonna put 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:03.400 you with somebody that's gonna take care at to the 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:05.600 next level. That person's wefts aside because I just never 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.640 had the right shot. Yeah, he's speaking the truth. Many 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:13.520 times going a room with Steve Harvard and they just 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.880 to be speaking to Steve and then sudden, um, I know, 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:20.320 I know who I am, I know what I was accomplished. 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:22.040 I know the reason that meeting was set up was 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.080 because of me. And usually about a week later, I 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:28.600 get that phone call with an apology going up. I 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.240 thought you was just a friend of his. You're gonna 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:34.600 be talking to me because I'm closing these deals, and 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.560 I know I negotiate and that's why, you know, and 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:39.800 I always tell people early on and crew, we didn't 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.800 have an agency, you know, we it was just me 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:44.800 and him, just me and him. And so the benefit 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:46.520 of that, I learned how to do book there is 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:48.520 I knew how to do syndication. I knew how to 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.960 do radio contracts. I knew to do a syndicated contract. 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.680 I knew how to do film, any type of box 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.200 office contract, I knew how to do it. I we 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.040 booked our own tours. I didn't go through an agency 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:01.680 to do a tour. So as a manager, if you 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.600 want to be successful, what he's saying saying, you've got 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.920 to learn the skills and get skills that are respected 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.120 and working with with the cultural collective gives that respect. 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:17.040 That's what I'm That's what I'm hearing in this conversation, correct, Jonathan, Yeah. Absolutely, 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.359 And and the ability for us to to network with 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.680 each other, to pull each other into a standbox and 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.680 share resources, share knowledge base. Um, you know, to your 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.239 point like this is, you know most of us got 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:32.320 to this business because we you know, we've worked in 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.680 at both end of the Absolutely, we really hustled, right, 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:39.880 and and we should. Let's pull those resources together. So 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:43.400 when you're when you're an artist is negotiating that managers 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:47.160 negotiating that contract for an artist, and someone like yourself said, 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.600 you know what, I've done that deal before. Let's share 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.520 that knowledge. Right, Let's create a house. Let's create a home. 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:57.639 We can all to collectively win. Um, one person's win 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.320 doesn't have to be other person's loss. All ships rise. 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:03.119 So how does how does a talented guy like Roshan 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.480 McDonald help out your program? Because your your company, your vision, 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.479 your dream, Because I, oh, man, Le'll tell you something. 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.040 I will die one day and this information gonna be 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.600 with me, so our rather share it and other people 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.040 benefit from it and you win. Like you said, that's 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.360 that's how my life. My life has been about uplifting. 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.119 My life is about paying it forward. So how do 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.840 you take a talented guy like and all this all 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:30.320 this information and help out your your network. Tell us 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.080 how that works? Yeah, well, you're you're doing it now, 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:36.560 you know, I mean, you're example by the platform that 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.679 you have and allowing people myself to to come on 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:43.280 and share a vision and inspire people. Inspire people is 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:45.920 the biggest, the biggest thing, because you know, for me, 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:48.480 I just want to be able to inspire people. And 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.240 I've been lucky and blessing life, and I don't I 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.880 don't want to leave this world looking back and say, 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:55.960 you know what I did really good for myself, but 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.640 I didn't really impact anybody in a way that was meaningful. 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:01.720 And when I say impact people, of course that's clients 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.520 and partners, but that's also that person that just read 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:06.600 that article or heard this podcast and said, you know what, 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:08.520 I can do this myself. I can really do it. 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:14.439 You know, I'm no different than than Jonathan Azoo. I 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:17.879 was you know, you know, raised in the Midwestern example, right, 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:21.800 It wasn't wasn't the child of affluent parents, like you know, 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:25.760 just doing doing your thing, and you know, so you 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:29.320 know you're doing it right now. I thank you, you know, 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.000 because I know that, and I talked to this story. 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:33.560 This is really good. This is really turned into a 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.480 really cool conversation. From the standpoint though, just being able 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:40.160 to let everybody knows it's perception and what people think 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.040 of you can really be a detriment, and so you 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.200 have to be prepared for that. Whenever I would walk 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:47.159 in the room, I knew people thought I was just 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:51.240 his boy. I knew that going in, so that's all right, 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:55.760 but be prepared not to be his boy, oh his girl, 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.520 oh his friend, or his buddy or his part of 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:03.159 his As Lebron said, I don't have a crew. I 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:06.240 don't have a crew. I have producers. I have managers 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:09.560 to have educated people around me. Don't diminish what I've 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.320 accomplished by throwing out a little slang words. And that's why, 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:16.960 that's why Lebron got upset when when Phil Jackson called his, uh, 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:21.520 the Maverick and all those guys he's crew, his crew, 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:23.520 because we knew that was an urban slank for and 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:26.000 it can diminish your value and so know that going 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.200 in so that means that you have to do your homework. 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:30.840 And so it's all right to know that somebody's gonna 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:33.240 disrespect you. If and that's what a lot of people miss. 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.040