WEBVTT - DETAVIO SAMUELS - Imitate that Omlette 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.960 Welcome to another episode of Eating Whale Broke. Today we 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:08.520 have special guests to Tavio Samuel Ceo Revolt TV, America's 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:12.440 fastest growing black owned media company, and as we all 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.440 already no, Revolt is owned by hip hop mogul Shawn 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.599 Diddy Combs. The Tavio sits at the intersection of culture 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:30.240 and content as one of corporate America's youngest executives. What 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.080 do you have us eating today? Uh So, today we 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:37.000 are eating a dish that my father, who I love dearly, 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.400 passed away in February. Um. I didn't grow up in 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.320 the same house with my father, but every time I 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:44.519 would go there for the summer, he would have a 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:47.000 special meal for me. He knew I loved omelets, and 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:49.400 he knew I love seafood, and so he used to 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.440 make seafood omelets. And so you know, we weren't balling. 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:56.720 So it's imitation crab and uh, I've always been everybody 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.640 got quirks. I have a quirk that's about hot sauce. 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:02.000 I really put hot sauce on everything. So we have 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.119 a seafood um lit with imitation crab. And of course 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:10.319 you gotta have you're not from l a, but you 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:13.080 value hot sauce. Oh yeah, yeah. My father is jare 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:21.080 making Jamaican. My father is you're making. My best friend 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:23.120 is jaremaking when I was telling your brother to Kanye 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.000 West painting. Um, so, anyways, I've been eating hot stuff 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.559 my whole life. Okay, okay, so you like ox tails 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:31.200 and I do like oxtail, but I'm definitely more of 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:37.640 like a jerk chicken jerk Sandman Brown's curry chicken. Okay, okay, 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:41.360 you're speaking my leg right. Maybe we should have made that. Yeah, yeah, no, 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:44.399 I'm pretty sure anything Jamaican doesn't fall into the broke 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.800 Mama's making it. You know, I'm stretching it. Have you? Um? 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.080 We would literally go have you? Have you spent a 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.960 lot of time in Jamaica. I haven't been yet. I'm 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.720 winning from my you know, bank accounts to grow up 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.400 a little bit. One day we'll go we will go 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.920 um to dun Riverfall and go crawfish hunting. We let 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:05.960 it going still again, you could do it, broke. We 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:08.000 go with the little gun that was made of sticks, 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.320 and we capture them with our hands or shoot them 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.880 with crawfish guns, and then come home and cook them. So, yeah, 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.959 you can do Jamaican fruit broke to what's pretty awesome. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.400 So do you want to go ahead and cook off 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:21.919 this thish? Yeah, so I'm gonna do it, but really 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.480 full transparency. We're gonna see how me talking and cooking goes. 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.160 But you know, I think you got My family came 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:32.120 to the States as on that side, on first generation 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.120 American born, and Um, they used to work for white 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:37.959 people right in their houses, cooking and cleaning. I said 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:39.720 all that to say that they were expert cooks. So 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.839 I had great teachers. I probably haven't cooked this dish 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.120 probably twenty years. Do you cook at home? I do not. 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.240 Oh so you're one of those orders. Um, one of 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.280 those orders. I ran out of time. I can tell you. 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:53.959 I used to cook at home all of the time, 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:56.440 and in two thousand and seven I took over the 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.839 Walmart account. I was running a creative agency, took over 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:04.440 the Walmight account. I have not cooked every day since then. Life. 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.400 It's just been too busy and too crazy as an executive. 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:09.520 As an executive, I definitely don't feel like I have 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.200 time to cook. So what are the ingredients for the 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.520 dish today? Okay, so butter just because you gotta make 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.480 sure that the eggs don't stick to the bottom of 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.760 the pan. We got a couple of eggs, and then 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:22.680 we're just gonna throw imitation crab on it. You know, 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.120 people could do salt and pepper and cheese however you 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:26.720 want to do it. But that's what we got today. 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.680 And then we got Louisiana, which you'll be able to use. 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:31.120 I'm not putting it in there. You're gonna be able 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:33.360 to use it. Oh yeah, because I just I just 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.800 recently did an episode with a Haitian person and they 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:42.440 had this stuff called Pickley's and I almost died on 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:47.160 while we were doing it. I couldn't breathe. It's gonna 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.960 be deal With's choice, alright, So this one is this one? Right, 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:58.000 It's totally electric. Put your hand on it. Thank you 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.880 for that. I feel like we're missing some stuff, like 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:05.920 some salt and pepper for you. Yes, you know when 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.640 I what I was really excited about getting you on 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.280 the show. I've been asking about you for about three months, 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:15.240 I want to say three or four months, and uh, 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.200 I was really happy to see that you accepted the 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.200 opportunity to come. But I was a little nervous because 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.080 I was like, oh, he's an executive, he went from Stanford, 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:25.800 you know, he's you know. And then you had your 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.960 request about your question about Starbucks and MACHOs, and I 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:31.560 was like, oh, no, no, no, he's gonna come into 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.359 the studio and you know he's gonna be in for 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.839 brute awakening because you know he may he may have 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.719 arrived and changed or switched up. But you've been nothing 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:43.719 but cool since you came in. So I gotta ask you, 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:48.440 when was the last time you actually ate this dish? Yeah, 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.479 it's been a long time. I had. The answer is 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:52.840 I haven't eaten it since my father cooked it for me. 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.800 And I'd be shocked if he's cooked it for me 0:04:55.880 --> 0:05:00.360 within the last ten years. So it's definitely been some time. Definitely. 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:04.400 So take me all the way back, because I don't 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:08.200 know how you get to a c suite position of 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:13.320 the old TV coming from brokenness and I'm imagining, like 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.440 I'm gonna be extreme levels of inspired and I'm gonna 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:20.680 talk about you all week, So I want to go 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.680 back to the origination. We could start anywhere around the 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:30.440 point of this dish copy. Um, okay, so let me 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.000 think about it all right. I grew up in Denver, Colorado, 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.880 in the town called mom Bello. Mam Bello isn't all 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.880 black mostly black. I remember my classes where probably they 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:41.960 felt like they were ninety eight percent black and brown. 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.080 There was two white people in my class, and I 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.560 still remember their names, Sarah Cannolson Paula, and I have 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:49.760 a terrible memory, so the fact that I remember them 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.799 just goes to show. It was like two um long 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:58.200 story short. My brother gets ready to graduate from high school. 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.839 He's on his way to college, and I went to 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.400 go visit a friend of mine and on the way home, 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.080 I'm riding my bike. My bike tires pop and I 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:10.279 end up having to walk my bike home. I get 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.200 jumped by a couple of crips on the way home. 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.159 I literally think that they are going to take my life. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:17.200 I remember like a four by four and they're like, 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.360 go get that four by four out out the grass 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:23.920 and I ran and my brother's, uh, my brother's best 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.359 friend was like two blocks down and I run with 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.000 all my might get to the door. I'm knocking and 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.800 knocking waiting for someone to come. No one comes. I 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:32.560 turned around like, oh, it's about to be a no 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:36.880 one is there, and uh, I thank god. I run home. 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.960 I'm in tears. My mom sends me to my father's 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:42.160 house for the summer, and when I come back, I'm 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.880 in the suburbs. Um. Now that I'm in the suburbs, 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.560 my life is completely different. Um. The environment is different, 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.800 the quality of education is different. And that's when I 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:54.839 learned the power of your environment and the power of education. 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.440 And so with that, you know, I'm playing sports. My grades, 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:01.400 I wasn't getting in talented, but my grades were going 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.479 from aids two these two sees two these. Now that 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.280 I'm in the suburbs, I'm back to being in a 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.800 student You don't think it was the fact that you 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.200 were under your dad's rain. You think it was just 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.080 the environment. I'm not trying to take away from mom 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.640 or da with my dad for three months. Man. She 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:18.560 sent me there for three months for the summer, and 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.000 then when I came back, I was in a whole 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.120 different school and a whole different environment. For that, I've 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.560 always given my mom all the credit and all the love, 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.920 because with other sacrifices she made to make that happen 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.160 were the ones that fundamentally changed my life. Um, and 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:34.280 so grateful for her and all that she's ever done, 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.960 and so in that. Now I'm in school in the suburbs. Uh, 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.640 let's see. I end up doing very well on my 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.600 P S A T s UM. With that, I get 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:50.760 into probably twenty schools. Because we were broke, I didn't 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.560 apply to any of them. The only schools I didn't 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:54.480 get into are the ones that made me pay. Who 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.280 made me pay? So I can call him out right now. 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:59.520 Georgetown tried to make me pay. Yep, Nope, that was 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:01.720 a problem. You want to put this in this bowl? Uh? 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.000 Do you see schools? My dream school was, you see 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:07.120 San Diego. I was actually rapping at the time. I 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:08.920 can ramble f y, I said, you just don't have 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.720 to tell me what you're talking O. Um. I was 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.120 rapping at the time. We were recording in Lahoya, California, 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:18.960 and I fell in love with San Diego. To San 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.040 Diego became the school I wanted to go to anyway, 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.440 did you see? Schools wouldn't let me in without paying, 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:25.760 and we didn't have the money to pay, so I 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.760 didn't do it. How do the schools I get into? 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.720 I decided my top four where Seaton Hall More House, 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.480 Emory and Duke. Never went to Seaton Hall, crossed that 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.439 off the list. UM went to see Emery, went to 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.440 see more House, and then when I stepped on Duke, 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:43.800 it was like, Yeah, the skies opened up. The sunshine 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.200 guy said this is where you're supposed to be. UM. 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.760 So I ended up going to Duke University. Best decision 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.040 I could have ever made in my life. Do you 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:55.760 think that is what made your trajectory to where you're 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.720 at now? Without question? I didn't know at the time 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:01.360 the Duke was as good of a school as it was. UM. 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.920 Neither one of my parents stressed me about college school. 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:06.680 They knew I was gonna go. I was a good student, 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.560 and so they just kind of let me be. When 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.199 I get in the Duke, the first month US news 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:14.520 and reports come out with the number three school in 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.120 the nation, I'm blown away. I'm like, how on earth 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.400 the number three school in the nations? UM, with that 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.120 probably make the next second best decision I've ever made, 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:25.640 The next best decision ever made, which is I decide 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.000 the pleasure of fraternity cap out aside and one. I'm 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.240 a huge believer in Kappa as an organization, but there's 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:35.080 something that is so special about the chapter of men 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:38.679 that I became fraternal with, and they become they became 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:42.640 my brothers, my coaches, my mentors, my advisors, and so 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.360 through them, you know, none of my parents had done business, 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:47.360 none of my parents had done anything that I'm doing. 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.840 But through Kappa, I now have people who maybe five 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:52.600 years ahead of me, but they can guide me and 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.719 coach me. Um. So anyways, have a phenomenal run a 0:09:55.880 --> 0:10:01.560 duke mostly party and step shows. Uh uh, enjoying life 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:04.400 and let's see what's the next big moment that happens. 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.480 The next big moment for me a second semester senior year, 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:13.760 two big things happened in my life. Um. One, I 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.880 take a marketing course, and throughout all of my time, 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.600 I was always relatively good at school. Um Honestly, even 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.680 if dude like I never bought books, I could show 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:25.520 up at class. I only went to school on like 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:27.760 Tuesdays and Thursdays and get a B plus right left 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.319 with the three three, but did very little work. Again, party, 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:33.840 step shows, all those things. So you're like a fast learner. Yeah, 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:35.800 you can say. I used to say I'm not smart, 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.240 but I'm bright, Like I could pick things up relatively quickly, 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.439 sit in the classroom and listen to the teacher. Pick 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.160 it up and be good. When I took this marketing course, 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.440 it was the first time, like my soul had ever 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:48.240 been lit on fire for a subject. I wanted to 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:52.280 know everything about marketing. The mental acrobatics it takes to 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.600 get someone to want something by something that they didn't 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:58.719 know they wanted was so intriguing to me. I discovered 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.760 this career called advert rising. Um. So, anyways, at that 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:03.960 point in time, I decide I want to be a CMO. 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:08.640 Most cmos. CMO is a chief marketing officer, thank you. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:13.880 Chief marketing officer most cmos UM went to business school 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.200 and had NBA's and so I started saying, oh, I 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.760 gotta go get my m b A. So let me 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:22.800 pause there really quickly before Let's see January of that 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.079 same year. So this is while I'm in that class, 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:30.160 we get in this massive fight Mr. Kappa's versus Alpha's. 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:32.280 Me and my boy kind of get into it with 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:34.960 some guys in the party. It turns out to be 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.400 this massive fight all across Dukes what's what's called West 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.560 Campus their main campus. UM, I don't know what it 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.520 was thirty on thirty it was crazy. Cops come from everywhere, 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:50.720 maze it was horrible again. Um on the way home, 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.000 I'm so frustrated with the way the police had handled 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:58.160 the situation. I was the president of n PHC, which 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.199 is the National Paneltic Group, meaning all the lot of 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.199 Greek organizations. I was frustrated that they had led a 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.560 group that the issue wasn't the ouphice on my campus, 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.720 if the alpice came from another campus. I was frustrated 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:10.680 that they had let this happen with these people and 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:12.840 that they were taking it out on us. So I 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:14.800 go and I have one of my line brothers take 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.319 me to the police station. I go into the police 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.520 station and say, look, it's my senior year. I don't 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.760 want any beef. I just want to put something on 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:23.880 record so that me and the police get into it again. 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:28.240 We have a record that there's been previous interactions. They 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:32.440 never take my report. They end up delivering a bunch 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.280 of paperwork which ends up being felonies and missing was 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:40.120 inciting a riot, resisting arrest, refusing to disperse. Right, So, 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.400 my senior year, the two things that are happening is 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.679 I have both found something that has set my soul 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:47.880 on fire and I want to do And I'm at 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.560 the same time fighting for my life in my career 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:54.360 while at Duke because of the citations they gave me. 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:56.160 I'm not only finding it at Duke, but I'm fighting 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.720 it in Durham. So I end up fighting to stay 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.640 at Duke so I can graduate. Um. The reason I 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:03.800 graduated and was able to do that is because again 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:08.280 my chapter Kareem Cook Um big Bros. Came in, talked 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.120 to the police, work with Duke, and ended up saving 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:13.880 my career. So I ended up graduating from Duke and 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:15.760 at the same time I couldn't do the same thing 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:17.960 on the Duham side. Did you want to put that 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:19.800 up before you put it? I don't really know what 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.040 you're thinking. I think you should. I'm trying. I'm trying 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.560 to cook and talk. You know, I ain't never had 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:31.640 to cook, talk and beyond camera. And it's a long story. 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:33.959 I can cut this story short. I tell you I 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.520 can ramble long story short. Um. They saved me. UM. 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.160 I end up pleading no contest at that and Dunham, 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.880 and so I end up getting like a hundred hours 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:45.320 of community service UM and get out of it. The 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.240 key piece there's I'm applying to jobs with the record 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.600 um in two thousand and two, which was like a recession, 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:56.600 which made it incredibly difficult to get work, incredibly difficult 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.160 to get a job. Um My whole time I was 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.920 at Duke, I worked at Fuqual School of Business. That's 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.480 an incredible black woman, Liz Riley, who was the head 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.079 of admissions there, Sharon Thompson her number two. They give 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:09.920 me a job and a career management center. So my 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:11.959 first job by the college is working at the career 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:20.080 management center. Just go ahead, sorry, but I'm just curious. 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:24.760 When all this was going on with with the with 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.480 them putting felonies and all this stuff, was there a 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.960 part of you that felt like quitting or were you emotional? 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:33.880 Like I would love to know what your state of 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:37.000 being was. Yeah, it was incredibly difficult. But and I'm 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:38.960 not gonna tell somebody else's story, but it just so 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.320 happened that one of my other fraternity brothers, who was 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.720 one of my best friends, was also in trouble with 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:45.840 the police, and so we were going through it at 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.280 the same time, and we were roommates, and so the 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.640 benefit that I had was that I was not doing 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.720 it on my own. It was he and I were 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:54.880 both fighting for our lives at the same time, which 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.080 is one of the reasons why we are as close 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.640 as we are today. Do you feel like, and I 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:02.400 don't want to get too far off, but do you 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.920 feel like it makes you look at the police a 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.600 certain way or do you have an emotional side to that, 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:14.400 because that could have that could have you know, transitioned 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.320 your life into a completely different direction, like they didn't 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:19.360 even realize the damage that they were about to cause 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:23.760 for something that's going to Duke, you know, sure, Um, yes, 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:25.280 but I don't know if there's any different than what 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:28.680 I think any other you know, black male, black female 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:30.160 kind of deals with you know what I mean. I 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:32.840 think we all so many of us have our own stories, 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.160 you know what I mean? Um, but yeah, of course, 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.800 Um it was impactful and impactful for the rest of 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.640 my life. Um. How's that looking now that you don't 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:44.040 have to cut it up? And that looks good? I'm 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:50.120 trying to help you. You know what, though, So you 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:54.760 you graduate from Duke, graduate from Duke, you you continue 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.000 on at Stanford. Well, I end up working at the 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:02.000 Career Management Center Duke for two years, apply to business school, 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.720 end up getting in the Stanford, which is a blessing. 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.440 Did you have to pay for it? Yeah? Yeah, Stanford 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.200 was two years, a hundred and twenty five dollars. You 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.080 still all the money? Yeah? When I graduated from Duke 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:16.840 and Stanford collectively over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.440 and student loan debt. Do you think it was worth that? 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:21.240 I have to ask do you think it was worth 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.920 the every penning? Okay? And why do you say it 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:25.560 was worth every pang? When I was working in a 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.160 career management center Duke, I was making twenty nine thousand 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.080 dollars a year. When I come out of Stanford working 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.080 at Johnson and Johnson, I'm making nine and that's your start. 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.840 I tripled my salary in two years, okay, um, And 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.920 then it's just the symbols, right. So as I'm applying 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:42.960 for jobs to get out of Stanford, people are saying 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.040 to me, it's just different. You know, if you don't 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:46.840 know what it's like until you're on the other side. 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:49.560 But people are saying, from the top banks and from 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:52.600 the top consulting companies, clearly you can do the job. 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:54.880 We just need to make sure your cultural fit. I 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.280 couldn't do the job I've been working in a career management. 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:03.440 What are they basing it on the name symbols? Symbols 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.800 opened up so many doors for me and continue to 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.200 open up doors for me. So because of that, without question, 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:12.000 is worth it. Yeah, I always feel like when when 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.960 at least, I mean, I'm a college dropout, but I 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.240 used to always I'm not I'm not saying it's a 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:22.240 good thing, but but I used to always say that 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.879 if I went to school, I would only want to 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:27.840 go to an Ivy League school because I knew that 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:30.440 my peers that went to that school came from one 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.200 economic different economic background, and I knew that their roller 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:38.280 decks alone in that relationship alone would help me get 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:41.199 to where I want to be. Unfortunately, you know, I 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:45.359 didn't have like the academia to support it, but you 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:47.560 know it was, you know, in my next lifetime, like 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.040 that would be a dream of mine, but I I 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:51.919 didn't get to get the opportunity. So it's cool to 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:56.000 see here you say that that played a huge role, 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.760 didn't help you in any way get to some of 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:03.000 your more I would say, you're like when you were 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.760 at I one, then you were the president. You were 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:08.760 the president? Correct? Did any of those relationships help you 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.119 get there? Or was it just the Stanford? So what 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.119 I say is, so I'm at I'm gonna go the 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:16.720 job before I won. So I'm at Johnson and Johnson 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:20.040 doing global marketing, I decide I want to do advertising. 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.560 It just so happens that one of my fraternity brothers 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:26.840 from Duke works at the number one black owned multicultural 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:29.880 agency in the nation, and they were looking for someone 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.359 who had an MBA in my skill set. And so 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:34.439 the whole reason I get my next job at Global 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.480 HU is because I went to undergrad. Literally the guy 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:39.960 pledged me um and so that's how I end up 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:43.160 getting the job. While I'm there, I get promoted every 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:47.160 year for probably six seven years in a row um. 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.000 And so that's how kind of my ascent really happens 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:52.320 kind of quickly. So by the time I meet Cathy 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.000 Hughes and Alfred liggn Is an interactive one, I was 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.479 already a president, and so they hired me on as 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.439 a president. You're young at that point, why don't you 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:03.320 like it? Became my first president at thirty, I probably 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:06.240 became president of thirty and then I went to work 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.080 for Cathy Hughes, I think when I was thirty three, 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:10.600 And if you don't mind me asking, like what would 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:13.159 a salary of a president be at that age? Like 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.399 your thirty year you done me to tell people that 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.120 I was making Okay, I mean I'm trying to We're 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:22.399 trying to get the skinny you know, inspirers, inspir Okay. 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.200 So um, I came out of Stanford making ninety five 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.040 By the time I left Global Hue, I was making 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.199 four and twenty five thousand dollars in salary. You hit 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:35.760 that I need to were policy to broken up college 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:39.880 degree right now. It's hard to get into Stanford after 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:41.840 Like if I wanted to go right now, I couldn't, 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.840 right because there's like too much real world experience, right, Yeah, 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:46.760 you have to do more of like an executive program. 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.879 Yeah yeah, yeah, I heard about that because I remember 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:52.120 one time I tried to get into Harvard. Like don't 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.680 ask me why I tried, but hey, I wasn't gonna 0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:56.439 shume my shot. But they had said, like if you 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:59.000 were an entrepreneur for a certain amount of years, you 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:02.280 could only get into the executive program. Yeah, like the 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:04.760 daytime program is usually for people who have been out 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:07.080 of school four years, like four years of the average, 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:09.240 so call it to the six So as long as 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:10.960 you've been working more than six and you probably, but 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:14.320 it doesn't give you the same credibility as someone like you, right, 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:16.600 I think it gives you the credibility. I think what 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:19.000