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Speaker 1: Everybody. It's Bill Courtney with an army and normal folks.

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Speaker 1: We continue now a part two of our conversation with

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Speaker 1: Travis Moody, right after these brief messages from our general sponsors.

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Speaker 1: I've got one hundred and forty employees, okay, and I

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Speaker 1: have some guys that work in the office, but I'm

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Speaker 1: in the manufacturing business. Ninety five percent of the people

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Speaker 1: on employee are outside and it's twenty degrees outside right now,

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Speaker 1: all right, they're outside in that working And in Memphis

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Speaker 1: when it gets one hundred and ten and it's eighty

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Speaker 1: six percent humidity, they're outside in that working too. They're

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Speaker 1: working around loud, greasy, dusty equipment on forklifts. They're pulling lump,

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Speaker 1: they're getting splinters in their hand if they're over by

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Speaker 1: the kills. Those things set up to one hundred and

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Speaker 1: sixty degrees and spend out speme if they're at the boiler,

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Speaker 1: same thing. It's hard work, and I appreciate the people

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Speaker 1: work for me, and I really do try to do

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Speaker 1: the best I can by. But the inconvenient reality is this,

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Speaker 1: of a business, profits are a necessary measure of any

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Speaker 1: business's success, and without profits, you ain't gonna have a business,

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Speaker 1: you are not to have any of those jobs. So

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Speaker 1: you might want to pay people a whole lot more money,

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Speaker 1: but you can't because your business has got to be

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Speaker 1: profitable to sustain you, yourself, your employees, and everything else.

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Speaker 1: And so I want to pay people more if I can.

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Speaker 1: But you know, if the market for a forklift driver

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Speaker 1: is fourteen dollars and fifty cents, I might can pay

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Speaker 1: a really good one fifteen or sixteen. But I can't

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Speaker 1: pay them a whole lot more than that because if

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Speaker 1: I did, I can't compete with my competitors. Right, So

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Speaker 1: the reality is there are blue collar workers and there

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Speaker 1: always will be, but they work hard. And any man

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Speaker 1: or woman that shows up and works forty hours a

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Speaker 1: week and any job should not live in poverty. So

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Speaker 1: I want to make sure that I'm always paying my people.

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Speaker 1: Even the newest, lowest paid person that works for me

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Speaker 1: will not make a dollar figure that at the end

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Speaker 1: of the year of they work their forty every week

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Speaker 1: for fifty two weeks, they're going to get two weeks vacation,

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Speaker 1: they're going to get insurance, and they're going to get

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Speaker 1: an income that is at least above the federal poverty level.

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Speaker 1: I think I have a responsibility as a business owner

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Speaker 1: to provide that atmosphere, and I do, and sometimes to

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Speaker 1: my own personal detriment financially, but I do. And then

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Speaker 1: they get a flat tar and they have to decide

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Speaker 1: I do to get this three hundred dollars tire, because

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Speaker 1: if I don't get that tire fixed, I can't get

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Speaker 1: my car and go to work. If I don't go

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Speaker 1: to work, I can't get the lights on, or then

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Speaker 1: they get a sick baby, or then they get in

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Speaker 1: trouble with something their lights go out. And I do,

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Speaker 1: like most businesses, offer to help my employees with loans.

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Speaker 1: I don't charge them a dimond interest, but I cannot

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Speaker 1: allow them to have more than their next week's net.

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Speaker 1: Paycheck them out and then I'll allow them pay it

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Speaker 1: off ten to twenty dollars a week. Right, I do that,

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Speaker 1: and I think most businesses try to do that also.

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Speaker 1: But what happens if they need more than that? They

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Speaker 1: they don't have an outlet, and so they go to

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Speaker 1: payday loans, title, long right cars for cash. All this other.

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Speaker 2: Indidence says now pay cash advance title. Any of those

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Speaker 2: are bad.

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Speaker 1: So that's my perspective. And I can't tell you how

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Speaker 1: many times in the last twenty years I've had people

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Speaker 1: come to me in tears that they were tore up

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Speaker 1: and in trouble. So I'm going to let you tell

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Speaker 1: our listeners how this day pay payday lending title stuff

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Speaker 1: is both predatory, how it crushes people, how it puts

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Speaker 1: them in a place they can never get out of,

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Speaker 1: and how typically these are not ragged folks. These are

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Speaker 1: hard working blue collar people, nurses, police officers exactly that

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Speaker 1: end up literally facing losing their homes because of these places.

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Speaker 1: So I set it up for you. You go.

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Speaker 2: So for the listeners who do not understand what a

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Speaker 2: payday long is, it means that this person didn't have

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Speaker 2: enough money, they couldn't get along, so they are at

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Speaker 2: the am A bank. So they go to a non

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Speaker 2: traditional place. Uh, and they can charge and tennessee up

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Speaker 2: to four hundred and fifty nine percent.

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Speaker 1: So said that again, four hundred and fifty and fifty

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Speaker 1: nine percent, and the state says that's legal.

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Speaker 2: State says that's legal.

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Speaker 1: And these payday loans must have really strong lobbies.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So actually, the lobbyists for payday loans they spend

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Speaker 2: more money in Nashville than FedEx. You know, FedEx is

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Speaker 2: the largest company.

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Speaker 1: Are you kidding me?

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Speaker 2: So they spend a lot of money making sure that

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Speaker 2: these laws stay and exist. That's a whole nother story.

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Speaker 1: That's almost illegal, that feels.

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Speaker 2: And I think what we're doing is creating a pathway,

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Speaker 2: an alternative.

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Speaker 1: To that, because don't even give me the pathway yet.

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Speaker 1: Please let our listeners understand. Tell me some stories of folks,

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Speaker 1: tell us what these these lenders do and how it

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Speaker 1: cripples folks.

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Speaker 2: So, so I'll give you one that came this morning

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Speaker 2: before I got here because hitting this there was a

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Speaker 2: teacher who's are of three thousand dollars. This teacher is

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Speaker 2: paying back four hundred and thirty three dollars a month

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Speaker 2: in fees. So over a year they're going to pay

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Speaker 2: five thousand dollars in fees. They still owe three thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: The principal's not even touched unless they pay over four

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Speaker 2: hundred and thirty three dollars. They're just paying back fees.

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Speaker 2: That comes out to be about seven hundred percent interest.

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Speaker 1: How is that even legal?

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Speaker 2: It shouldn't be, but it's.

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Speaker 1: So she goes and gets a three thousand dollars loan

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Speaker 1: to get out of right. And what's a teacher in

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Speaker 1: Memphis schools make fifty.

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Speaker 2: Sixty yeah, about five thousand a month.

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Speaker 1: Okay, six thousand dollars a year a living, a decent living.

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Speaker 1: She gets in trouble needs three grand. What is it

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Speaker 1: a title loan or what kind of loan is signature loan?

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Speaker 2: This is a payday loan, so it's paid every two weeks,

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Speaker 2: so every paycheck, every paycheck, she has to go back

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Speaker 2: and basically you restarted every two weeks.

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Speaker 1: And so she spent how much mone four hundred and

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Speaker 1: thirty three a month and not touching the principal.

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Speaker 2: So you never get out of it. And this is

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Speaker 2: a hardworking person, obviously educated because they are are teachers.

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Speaker 2: But think of how it's gonna affect her. How ef

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Speaker 2: fective can she be as a teacher if she's worried

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Speaker 2: about whether she's gonna lose her her place to live.

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Speaker 2: We had a and we see a lot of teachers,

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Speaker 2: a lot of the people who come go to paylon.

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Speaker 2: They're normal people. There are people there again, like you

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Speaker 2: mentioned nurses, they work at fat acts, so they're forklift driver,

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Speaker 2: they're a police officer. But a great number of my teachers,

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Speaker 2: we get probably one out of four or five people

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Speaker 2: that we serve are teachers.

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Speaker 1: What what's a title one?

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Speaker 2: So a title loan is typically based off of a car.

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Speaker 2: So if they are on the car outright, they basically

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Speaker 2: go to a title owned place and say, I want

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Speaker 2: to borrow, you know, money on this car, maybe two

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Speaker 2: thousand dollars. The car's worth eight thousand, and they give

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Speaker 2: the loan of two thousand, but they're charging them a

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Speaker 2: interest rate of maybe two hundred and seventy five percent, So.

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Speaker 1: They hold the title. Yes, so if I got to

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Speaker 1: if I got it paid for two thousand and seven

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Speaker 1: seventeen Ultima, that's worth ten grand. Right, I go to

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Speaker 1: a title store and I hand you my title. I say, now,

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Speaker 1: I'm signing my title over to you as colladoral. You're

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Speaker 1: giving me two thousand dollars and I'm gonna pay you

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Speaker 1: how much I'm gonna pay you three or four hundred

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Speaker 1: dollars a month.

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Speaker 2: So we had a lady who works in a school

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Speaker 2: in North Memphis and she's she's worked a part of the administration.

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Speaker 2: She had a car. Someone in her family passed away.

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Speaker 2: Her mom convinced her to get a title long on

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Speaker 2: her car for two thousand dollars. The mom was gonna

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Speaker 2: pay it off. Well, her mom wasn't making the payments,

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Speaker 2: and so they told they took the car. They came

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Speaker 2: into our house while she was asleep and they picked

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Speaker 2: the car up. Now she can't get to work. She

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Speaker 2: owed them two thousand dollars, and we went to how

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Speaker 2: much has she been paying on it? She was paying, well,

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Speaker 2: she wasn't paying it. She was her mom was supposed

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Speaker 2: to pay it. The feel was yeah, the fee was

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Speaker 2: one hundred and seventy nine every two weeks.

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Speaker 1: So that's that's three hundred and fifty dollars a month.

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Speaker 1: And you ain't touching the prince, right.

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Speaker 2: And so we just thought we needed to do something

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Speaker 2: so that this lady can get to work, and she

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Speaker 2: had all good intentions, so we gave her. We went

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Speaker 2: and bought her title back. You know these places is

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Speaker 2: say get your title back, they're not your friend. And

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Speaker 2: we had to help. Most of the people come to us,

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Speaker 2: it's typically an emergency. It's their cars being repossessed, they're

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Speaker 2: being evicted, or their lights been cut off. It's they

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Speaker 2: don't come to us because they need to go on vacation.

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Speaker 2: It's typically an emergency.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So you're standing in the parking lot of the

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Speaker 1: church saying, these people go in here to pray, they

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Speaker 1: come outside to get prayed on. And you're mad because

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Speaker 1: you see four of these establishments literally from the parking

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Speaker 1: lot of the church in ickri.

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Speaker 2: Hill right right, and two of the best churches in Memphis.

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Speaker 2: And my heart was just out for them. And so

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Speaker 2: we created this collaboration. We were able to partner with

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Speaker 2: churches who outsource their benevolence to us, partner with banks

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Speaker 2: who allowed who provide funding that allows us to provide

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Speaker 2: the capital the people. We can do up to five

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Speaker 2: thousand dollars to people in need, and nonprofit organizations that

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Speaker 2: help us throughout the whole process. So because we're like

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Speaker 2: the emergency room. If somebody gets sick, you know, they

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Speaker 2: want to go to the doctor, but if they're about

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Speaker 2: to die, they go to the emergency room. And that's

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Speaker 2: what that's what we are.

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Speaker 1: We'll be right back. So what Ford Memphis does now

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Speaker 1: is you teach financial literacy and you also provide a

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Speaker 1: backboard for folks who are struggling at a reasonable interest ructure.

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Speaker 2: So what we do is, again we're the emergency room doctor.

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Speaker 2: We go in and quickly assess their situation. We understand,

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Speaker 2: you know, okay, you make four thousand dollars a month,

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Speaker 2: but you're spending sixty five hundred. Even if we paid

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Speaker 2: your rent this month, next month, you're the same situation.

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Speaker 2: So we come up with a sustainable that they can

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Speaker 2: make it without us, and it could be and what

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Speaker 2: we require that this is always what we call skinning

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Speaker 2: the game, like what can the client do to help?

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Speaker 2: And this is part of the teaching process and part

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Speaker 2: of the learning is if we just gave people money,

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Speaker 2: it would not fix the situation. And so it could

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Speaker 2: be as simple as there was a teacher who we coached.

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Speaker 2: She was making five thousand a month, her rent was

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Speaker 2: two thousand, her cardinal was nine hundred. She was not

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Speaker 2: gonna make it. It doesn't matter. You know, she was behind.

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Speaker 2: They were about to repossess the car and she couldn't

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Speaker 2: afford it. So what we offer is, how do we

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Speaker 2: help you get a reliable, safe transportation a cash car

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Speaker 2: for twenty five hundred dollars. You know, now it's up

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Speaker 2: to the client. That was up to the teacher to say,

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Speaker 2: I'm willing to make that change.

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Speaker 1: Do you find at first people are resistant? Why am

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Speaker 1: I gonna give up my nice car, my nice house

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Speaker 1: to do all this?

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Speaker 2: Yes, there's a lot of resistance, and I think people

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Speaker 2: have to What I tell talk to my team about

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Speaker 2: is we have to embrace the pain. The pain of

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Speaker 2: the person's situation is our friend. And sometimes people aren't.

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Speaker 1: Now that's interesting because you can remind them, do you

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Speaker 1: want this nice shiny car or or.

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Speaker 2: You want freedom?

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Speaker 1: Is the freedom?

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Speaker 2: The freedom is not having to worry about how you're

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Speaker 2: gonna whether you're gonna be able to live in this

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Speaker 2: place or not. And we want and.

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Speaker 1: Again weak, but you do become a slave to the death.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and that scripture, the scripture tells you the borrow

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Speaker 2: becomes slave to the lender. And again, our role is

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Speaker 2: to offer a way out, a pathway quite us. Not

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Speaker 2: everybody takes it, and that's okay. Not everybody's ready for freedom.

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Speaker 2: Our job is to provide a pathway, then help those

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Speaker 2: who want to be helped.

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Speaker 1: I read somewhere that there are more payday mending places

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Speaker 1: in Memphis than any other city. Is that right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So Memphis is the payday loan capital.

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Speaker 1: Of the world. Oh well, there's some I guess we

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Speaker 1: need to put that on billboards, Are you kidding?

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Speaker 2: They're more payday loan stores in Memphis per capital than

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Speaker 2: any other city. And so this is a place where

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Speaker 2: it's you know, it's there's a heavy emphasis on these

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Speaker 2: predatory lenders.

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Speaker 1: Well, if that's the case, then it's also the place

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Speaker 1: where help is probably needed the most.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, And I think it's the reason why I

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Speaker 2: mean this this movement is working. We've we've in the

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Speaker 2: last we've been open twenty months and we've helped over

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Speaker 2: six hundred families and saved over eight hundred thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: What in twenty months?

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Speaker 1: What do you mean saved? You mean cut out eight

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Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars in interest.

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Speaker 2: The person who was going to be paying five thousand

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Speaker 2: for US interest would on a twenty five hundred dollars

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Speaker 2: loan is one hundred dollars a year, So instead of

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Speaker 2: paying five thousand, they only pay two hundred dollars. So

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Speaker 2: what we're doing is bottom line, helping people to build

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Speaker 2: to get out of a difficult financial situation.

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Speaker 1: All right, you said, in twenty months, how many families

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Speaker 1: we've helped?

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Speaker 2: Six hundred and sixty.

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Speaker 1: Families and you've saved over eight hundred thousand dollars. That

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Speaker 1: is twelve hundred dollars in fees and interest per family

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Speaker 1: you've wiped out. Yes, I just did the math. That's

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Speaker 1: why I'm asking those numbers. That's phenomenal. That's one hundred

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Speaker 1: dollars a month for a family. That's a whole lot

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Speaker 1: of money for folks that live week to week.

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Speaker 2: And again, most of our clients there are they have

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Speaker 2: about two thousand dollars on average and payday loans, so

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Speaker 2: we're able to help people take steps.

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Speaker 1: Out of that. But if you got two thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: in payday loans, that that doesn't sound like that big

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Speaker 1: amount of money. But what's a big amount of money

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Speaker 1: is a three hundred and fifty a month you're paying

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Speaker 1: to service it where you ain't even touching the principle.

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Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. These people that do this are

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Speaker 1: actually praying on the weakest among us. Right.

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Speaker 2: Well, when you're in financial distress, you're not thinking about

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Speaker 2: the interest. You're thinking about how do I how do I.

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Speaker 1: Pay my rent? How do I get the lights on?

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Speaker 1: How to get the lights on? How do I get

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Speaker 1: my car fix? Or I get towards?

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Speaker 2: And so the fact that this thousand dollars is going

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Speaker 2: to cost you forty five hundred is not on the

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Speaker 2: top of your mind. It's not even communicated to you.

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Speaker 2: You're just thinking, Okay, this is And many people who

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Speaker 2: go to pay they loans, they think this is the answer.

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Speaker 2: They think this is a savior, and really we're trying

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Speaker 2: to help people understand this is a this is crippling you.

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Speaker 1: And if I walked into a payday long place when

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Speaker 1: I leave here today, which I'm actually thinking about doing,

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Speaker 1: I'm probably gonna take off phone miss stuff and wear

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Speaker 1: a ragget shirt. I'm dead serious. Because I got a

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Speaker 1: work truck. I drive around down and it didn't look

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Speaker 1: like much. If I roll in there, am I going

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Speaker 1: to be greeted like.

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Speaker 2: Hey, how are you?

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Speaker 1: How can we help you? Actually? Are they like happy

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Speaker 1: or what? Or was it like Guido back there? No?

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Speaker 2: Actually, they have great customer service, I bet. And we

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Speaker 2: went into one and there was a lady who was

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Speaker 2: a teacher coming out. She was getting a loan and

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Speaker 2: they knew they knew her by name. They asked about her,

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Speaker 2: her children, and when she left, they said, we'll see

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Speaker 2: see you in two weeks. And I thought that is sad.

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Speaker 2: And this lady had done everything. She had gone to college,

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Speaker 2: gotten a degree, she was working. This particular lady had

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Speaker 2: gone through divorce and just you know, think that that

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Speaker 2: impacted her life. So now she's she's trying to live

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Speaker 2: a life by herself, and that was not help for her.

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Speaker 1: All right. Beg's the question, why not just go to

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Speaker 1: a bank? Why not get a credit cardat good question?

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Speaker 1: So the problem is the average Fyco score in Memphis

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Speaker 1: is six hundred and thirty.

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Speaker 2: Three the median. That means half of the people are

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Speaker 2: above that and half of the people below. You can't

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Speaker 2: get a bank loan for under six seventy. So half

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Speaker 2: of the people in Memphis can't get a bank.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that's true? In Detroit?

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Speaker 2: In Chicago, there was this so there was this article

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Speaker 2: in this Oh gosh, I don't remember the name of

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Speaker 2: this survey that but they they survey and assess the

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Speaker 2: top sixty six largest metropolitan areas and ranked them as

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Speaker 2: for how they manage money. Well, Memphis was a number

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Speaker 2: sixty six so I think we have the bigger opportunity

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Speaker 2: here in Memphis.

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Speaker 1: What was do you remember fifty and the other ones.

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Speaker 1: All I'm saying is what you're doing has got to

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Speaker 1: be scalable in other places. I would think Little Rock, Birmingham,

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Speaker 1: some other places are similar.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think what we're doing here we're going to

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Speaker 2: replicate in other places the way.

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Speaker 1: You can prove it out in the hardest place, Reace

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Speaker 1: everywhere else.

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Speaker 2: Well, and our plan is to scale this up through

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Speaker 2: the whole state of Tennessee. So at some point we

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Speaker 2: again we have to go to Nashville and convince Nashville

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Speaker 2: that this is where this is a good avenue, a

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Speaker 2: good pathway, because.

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Speaker 3: You previously shared with me that there's not really a

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Speaker 3: program like your guys across the country.

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Speaker 2: No, there are different initiatives, but we have a uniqueness.

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Speaker 2: There's a great initiative in Arkansas, but I run in

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Speaker 2: the state of Arkansas. Payday loans are illegal, so there's

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Speaker 2: some states who have outlawed it. I think that's the

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Speaker 2: future for us.

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Speaker 1: I wonder if you get people from West Memphis, Arkansas

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Speaker 1: coming to Memphis could have pay day loans. I guarantee

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Speaker 1: you what we do.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I guarantee you we do.

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Speaker 1: So this hub is praying on a region, not just

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Speaker 1: to Saity.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say the Mitsuth.

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Speaker 1: So okay, so we see the problem. The stories are real.

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Speaker 1: I love your line about people go in to get

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Speaker 1: to pray and come out to get prayed on. So

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Speaker 1: twenty months ago you decided to start for Memphis. Now,

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Speaker 1: how do people find you? How do they come to you?

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Speaker 1: How do you reach out to them? How does all

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Speaker 1: that work?

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Speaker 2: So initially we did a lot of marketing, social media,

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Speaker 2: local news media. What we found is that there's not

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Speaker 2: a shortage of clients. The first first month we had

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Speaker 2: like two hundred people contact us.

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Speaker 1: You didn't know what to do, probably too.

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Speaker 2: We sweetly realized we needed to build a team of

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Speaker 2: of money coaches.

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Speaker 1: And what money coaches?

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Speaker 2: We call them money coaches.

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Speaker 1: I love that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So uh so, again, we learned a lot because

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Speaker 2: we we didn't you know, we were just starting. Fortunately

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Speaker 2: we were able to partner with some great people. We

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Speaker 2: I mean, the banks have been great partners. First Horizon

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Speaker 2: Bank and Truest Bank and Pinnacle. They've come alongside to

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Speaker 2: help us, you know, create this model, and we've we've

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Speaker 2: landed on a really good, really good model.

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Speaker 1: Are these money coaches volunteers?

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Speaker 2: No, No, they're they're they're staff.

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Speaker 1: Their staff, your staff.

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Speaker 2: We we started with we thought we can do volunteers,

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Speaker 2: but we quickly realized that that did that model didn't work.

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Speaker 2: We had to we had to build a team.

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Speaker 1: We'll be right back. So how does four Together get

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Speaker 1: its funding? It's not making money, is it.

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Speaker 2: No. Our funding is through again our partners, and we've

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Speaker 2: been funded through banks, foundations, local foundations, and also through

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Speaker 2: our partnership with churches. So the churches that outsource their

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Speaker 2: benevolence to us, they give us, they pay a fee,

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Speaker 2: so we're.

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Speaker 3: Not because it's interesting.

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Speaker 2: So we're a non profit organization. Eighty percent of our

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Speaker 2: funding has come through foundations that partners who say, you know,

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Speaker 2: this is a cause that we believe in and we

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Speaker 2: could not have done it without them. But we also

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Speaker 2: with our our church partners or anyone United Way, anyone

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Speaker 2: who receives someone coming to them asking for money, basically

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Speaker 2: what they are, they're they're not equipped to provide coaching,

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Speaker 2: and so that's the service that we provide. So we

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Speaker 2: charge them a fee for that, which supports our organization.

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Speaker 1: I'm remember a second second president. Yeah, I remember hearing

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Speaker 1: a little bit about this before I even knew who

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Speaker 1: you were. I don't know, maybe a year and a

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Speaker 1: half ago. So if someone comes to the church and

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Speaker 1: says I'm struggling, they will forward them to you.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, because many times organizations, church or nonprofit organization,

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Speaker 2: who who people are coming to, they aren't equipped to

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Speaker 2: dig into what the situation is.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, it's one thing to say, Okay, here's two

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Speaker 1: hundred bucks to get your lights back on it, but.

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Speaker 2: It may not even be helped, it may not be

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Speaker 2: the right thing to do. And so what we do

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Speaker 2: talk about that. What we do is, again we operate

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Speaker 2: quickly because the people who come to us typically they

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Speaker 2: don't have months to figure this out, it's days, and

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Speaker 2: so we respond within twenty.

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Speaker 1: Four hours, no kidding.

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Speaker 2: We will sign a coach. The coach, they provide their

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Speaker 2: bank statements, their check stubs, and so we quickly assess

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Speaker 2: how much they make and where the money is going.

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Speaker 1: And it sounds like basic budgeting to me.

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Speaker 2: It is, but again, most people don't operate in with

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Speaker 2: basic money management, and especially now a lot there are

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Speaker 2: a lot of issues with there's so many ways to

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Speaker 2: spend money. There's all of these after pay programs, or

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Speaker 2: you get the money, you get the service, and then

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Speaker 2: you pay later. These squad pay a firm pay this

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Speaker 2: cash cash after so many ways of spending money that

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Speaker 2: it has actually made it more difficult for people to

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Speaker 2: understand how much is coming in and where it's going.

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Speaker 1: It's down to education, financial literacy, access understanding all of it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and and obviously and growing in mindset. A lot

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Speaker 2: of what we're doing is helping people to see money

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Speaker 2: in a different way, different options. Because the teacher who

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Speaker 2: had the nine hundred dollars car payment that was normal

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Speaker 2: for her, she didn't see there was another option, you know,

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Speaker 2: having paying two thousand dollars in rent was normal for her,

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00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,080
Speaker 2: and she said, well, where am I going to live?

440
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:29,879
Speaker 2: And not, you know, explain. I said, well, I have

441
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:34,560
Speaker 2: three of my adult kids live in Memphis in homes

442
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:36,840
Speaker 2: that they've purchased, and if I added all of their

443
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 2: mortgages up and were not equal to two thousand dollars

444
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,119
Speaker 2: and they these are places that I wouldn't feel I

445
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,359
Speaker 2: wouldn't put my have my family living in places I

446
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,600
Speaker 2: wouldn't feel safe. My grandkids live there and just helping

447
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 2: them to see that. That's a different mindset.

448
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: What about savings Do we talk about savings too?

449
00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,200
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, So again in the emergency room there there's

450
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,639
Speaker 2: no savings, right, I get it. So we want to

451
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 2: get them there, but the initial thing is how do

452
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,240
Speaker 2: we how do we patch the hole so they don't die.

453
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,680
Speaker 1: And then you stick with them long term about a

454
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:11,560
Speaker 1: long term deal.

455
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,360
Speaker 2: Now, we partner with other organizations who coach long term.

456
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,320
Speaker 2: So we partner with Rise Foundation and Operation Hope and

457
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,639
Speaker 2: Greater Memphis Financial Environment to do We're again we're like

458
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 2: passing them off to the primary doctor.

459
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:23,840
Speaker 1: I get it.

460
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,160
Speaker 2: We're just the emergency room. We typically deal with clients

461
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:27,600
Speaker 2: for about a.

462
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 1: Week and you get them over the hump, try to

463
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,400
Speaker 1: get them straightened out, and then you patch them onto

464
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:33,840
Speaker 1: somebody who the long n yes stuff.

465
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,960
Speaker 2: So we have partners that can help them with savings.

466
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,960
Speaker 2: Rise has a great match savings program, and Operation Hope

467
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,159
Speaker 2: has a program for home ownership. There's lots of different

468
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,359
Speaker 2: places that we can we pass them off to. But again,

469
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,119
Speaker 2: when they're in our place, we just want to make

470
00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:52,920
Speaker 2: sure they can get to work, they have a place

471
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:55,560
Speaker 2: to live, the lights are cut on and have food det.

472
00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:03,080
Speaker 1: So we've heard just as her stories tell us how

473
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 1: this works. Give me a story of a family that

474
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:12,120
Speaker 1: you've recently helped and what it's translated to. Yeah.

475
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:16,920
Speaker 2: So, so the young lady who had gotten the title loan,

476
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 2: So we got the title and gave her a loan.

477
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,520
Speaker 2: She's been paying it back. Instead of one hundred and

478
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 2: seventy nine dollars every two weeks, her payment to us

479
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:30,600
Speaker 2: is like sixty eight dollars a month.

480
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:31,400
Speaker 1: Wow.

481
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,119
Speaker 2: But she's she's done well and she's we stayed in

482
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:38,600
Speaker 2: contact whether she she actually moved into another apartment and

483
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 2: she's doing fine. She had saved over a thousand dollars.

484
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 2: She's doing great.

485
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,080
Speaker 1: And did she get all of that from y'all? Did

486
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: you get that plan?

487
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 2: Yes, we gave her plan and she it's been a relationship,

488
00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:58,240
Speaker 2: you know when it's interesting enough. She when she had

489
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 2: to miss work once being you know, terrible situation she was.

490
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 2: She had gotten robbed and had gotten shot.

491
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:06,400
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, and at.

492
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 2: A gas station. It was on the news. I didn't

493
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,680
Speaker 2: know about it, but she she contacted. Well, we didn't

494
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 2: get our payment. I was thought, oh, that's odd. We

495
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,440
Speaker 2: we always get a payment from her. She contacted us

496
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 2: and said, listen, I've been in rehab, I'm going back

497
00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:27,000
Speaker 2: to work. Here's my next payment. And she values our partnership.

498
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,159
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you about that. How do

499
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 1: you have collateral for the money you put up? What

500
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,440
Speaker 1: do you do to ensure that you do get paid back?

501
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,400
Speaker 2: So we have a high default rate again, the people

502
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 2: that we're helping, it's it's it's higher than normal. This

503
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 2: is the reason why, you know, the banks can't typically

504
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 2: serve them. So our default rate is around thirty percent.

505
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,320
Speaker 1: All right, the bank's default rate is probably one.

506
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:01,800
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's definitely single digits.

507
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 1: Yeah.

508
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 2: And but what we've what we've built into this is

509
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:10,920
Speaker 2: a plan because again a family who contacted us yesterday,

510
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 2: we had help, they defaulted, and now they need help again.

511
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 1: So I don't think it's stuck with them the first time.

512
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 2: So again that's the that's the the motivation is.

513
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 1: So what do you do with that? That's interesting. You

514
00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 1: helped a family, they didn't pay you back. Now they're

515
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 1: in trouble again, which means they didn't take your advice

516
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 1: the first time. They didn't pay you back the first time.

517
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 1: I would say, see, that makes me a little angry.

518
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 1: I would say, we'll give some the gall to come

519
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 1: back and ask for more when they didn't even meet

520
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 1: you halfway the first time. So what do you do

521
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:49,320
Speaker 1: with that?

522
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 2: What we do is we take them back through the process. Really,

523
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 2: let's look and see what happened. Let's see why.

524
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: Get mad at that?

525
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,040
Speaker 2: Obviously we get mad a lot, but that doesn't help

526
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:01,640
Speaker 2: the situation.

527
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:02,040
Speaker 1: Well.

528
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 2: We we want to do is we want to help

529
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 2: people move forward and and so people can come back

530
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,800
Speaker 2: to us. Doesn't mean that we're gonna give them money again,

531
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 2: but we are still a resource. We're still we are

532
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 2: still the emergency room if you're if you need the

533
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 2: emerging room, you come back as many times as you

534
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 2: need it.

535
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 1: So even if someone is defaulted, not met you halfway

536
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: done the yes, we're gonna do it, We're gonna do it,

537
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 1: and then not, they're still welcome back in yes for

538
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 1: your coachure sling. And if maybe they make up on

539
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,880
Speaker 1: the thing they defaulted on, you might.

540
00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,240
Speaker 2: Every situation is different. Again, we're here to make sure

541
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:44,120
Speaker 2: people don't die financially, and anybody who's struggling, we want

542
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 2: them to feel that they have an advocate and one

543
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 2: of my friends, and I think you met him. He

544
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 2: I think he was on one of your shows. U

545
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:57,320
Speaker 2: Joe Carson, you remember doctor Joe Carson. But when we

546
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 2: win it, yeah, when he uh, he told me when

547
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,480
Speaker 2: I went into this, said Travis. He said, Uh, I'm

548
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,680
Speaker 2: gonna tell you what somebody told me. If you're expecting

549
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,920
Speaker 2: to be a bridge over the gap here in Memphis,

550
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 2: you better be expecting to be walked on m You're

551
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 2: not gonna win them all some people. Sometimes you're gonna

552
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,760
Speaker 2: be abused. You gotta be okay with that. You're gonna

553
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 2: lose some of them. So we again that prepared us

554
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:29,160
Speaker 2: with the mentality of our goal is a lot like

555
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,800
Speaker 2: baseball versus basketball. If you got a three hundred bad average,

556
00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 2: you're an All star.

557
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 1: That's how If you're shooting thirty percent from the field,

558
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 1: you're on the bench.

559
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:43,320
Speaker 2: You're on the bench. We're baseball. That's true, and we're

560
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,160
Speaker 2: not gonna win them all. Again, that's not the nature

561
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 2: of the people that we serve. We gotta be okay

562
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:54,080
Speaker 2: at with a three hundred percent and feel like we're superstars.

563
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:59,239
Speaker 1: Well, the truth is, even if it's if you if

564
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,920
Speaker 1: you if you had fifty fault rate, it's the fifty

565
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 1: percent you helped that would not have had help other.

566
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, we think now that we've learned, we think that

567
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,240
Speaker 2: we can have a default rate under fifteen.

568
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:13,440
Speaker 1: That wouldn't be incredible.

569
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:14,000
Speaker 2: We think we can.

570
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:18,600
Speaker 1: We mean, you're dealing with the most at high risk

571
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 1: lend Y's on the face of the planet. You're going

572
00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 1: to have a higher default rate.

573
00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've learned some things. The first year, again, we

574
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 2: were bombarded with so many people and we didn't have

575
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,640
Speaker 2: the data to say, you know, to determine whether they

576
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:38,080
Speaker 2: would repay. We didn't have the data. Now that we've

577
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 2: had twenty months, we've we've learned a lot, got a

578
00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 2: better process, and I think we can we have something,

579
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,080
Speaker 2: We've landed on, a good model that we think can

580
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:55,000
Speaker 2: change how money is distributed for help in Tennessee.

581
00:32:56,400 --> 00:33:08,880
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. Do you look at yourself in

582
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:14,840
Speaker 1: the mirror sometimes and think Georgia Tech du Seattle And

583
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:22,680
Speaker 1: it all led to my own awakening about money. And

584
00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 1: here I am in my back back at home in

585
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,680
Speaker 1: my city, trying to teach folks from my own lessons.

586
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,880
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think all of that added to where we are,

587
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:35,680
Speaker 2: where I am now. And again I told you I

588
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:39,480
Speaker 2: think Andy Young was was was molding me the whole time.

589
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,240
Speaker 2: But I remember one of my like one of my

590
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:46,360
Speaker 2: favorite Doctor King quotes was and I may be tearing

591
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,120
Speaker 2: it up, but it was he said, true compassion is

592
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 2: not just flipping a coin to a beggar, but it

593
00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 2: comes to to believe that the edifice which which produces

594
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 2: beggars needs restructuring. And to me, I think what we're

595
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,440
Speaker 2: doing is not just feeling sorry for people who are

596
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:11,080
Speaker 2: in bast situation. But how do we change Memphis the

597
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:14,440
Speaker 2: systems that are causing are creating poverty. How do we

598
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,520
Speaker 2: change that? I think that's what we're doing here.

599
00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:23,360
Speaker 1: You know, I have this argument, not this argument, I

600
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:27,880
Speaker 1: have this thing I say that I think we're called

601
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:31,880
Speaker 1: it's just human beings when we are blessed by some

602
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,760
Speaker 1: level of success to try to help elevate the most

603
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:39,840
Speaker 1: needy among us. I do believe that with every fiber

604
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:46,720
Speaker 1: of my being. But let's just say you don't subscribe

605
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,760
Speaker 1: to that level of idealism, because there are people that don't. Okay,

606
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 1: so let's talk pragmatically. Okay, what happens to your city?

607
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:05,280
Speaker 1: And your municipality. If you don't have property buying, tax

608
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 1: paying citizens contributing to your community. What happens when you

609
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 1: have more people in a situation that they cannot contribute

610
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:27,240
Speaker 1: to the tax base of Listen, most cities get their

611
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:32,240
Speaker 1: revenue from property taxes and maybe a little sales tax,

612
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,400
Speaker 1: but the vast majority is property tax. Well, if you

613
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:40,160
Speaker 1: don't have people financially literal enough to buy homes, to

614
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,040
Speaker 1: build businesses, and to pay into that tax base. Pragmatically,

615
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,760
Speaker 1: what happens to that municipality. What happens to its police

616
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,360
Speaker 1: department's fire department, it's city services, its ability to provide

617
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 1: basic necessities for citizenry. I'll tell you what happens. It

618
00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 1: looks like Gary, Indiana.

619
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,359
Speaker 2: I'm not for me, garynas Well.

620
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:05,880
Speaker 1: Gary Indiana is where the water got everybody sick because

621
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 1: they ran out of money. That's there is definitely an

622
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,799
Speaker 1: ideal side to this that I subscribe to and believe in,

623
00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:18,520
Speaker 1: and anybody who listens to the show knows that, because

624
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,840
Speaker 1: that's why I do the show. Okay, But there's also

625
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:25,320
Speaker 1: a pragmatic thing here that if we don't do better

626
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,440
Speaker 1: for the people who don't understand how to manage money

627
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,960
Speaker 1: and get them out of these predatory places. If this

628
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,239
Speaker 1: thing continues to snowball, you end up not having enough

629
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,360
Speaker 1: revenue in your munssipality to even operate.

630
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:43,120
Speaker 2: The thing about poverty, it impacts everybody, Yes, it does.

631
00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:47,000
Speaker 2: It's I mean, you know FedEx and your company. You

632
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:50,080
Speaker 2: want to have people at work. Well, if people are

633
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,319
Speaker 2: struggling financially, it's going to affect your ability to get

634
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:58,760
Speaker 2: people to work. Poverty impacts education, it impacts crime. Poverty

635
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 2: doesn't know that you live in. It impacts the cost

636
00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:05,279
Speaker 2: of health. Right, So it's it's it's really something upon

637
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,480
Speaker 2: all of us to figure out how do we improve

638
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:08,840
Speaker 2: the financial health of our city.

639
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 1: So Ford Memphis is about helping the teacher, the family

640
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 1: who don't have the financial literacy and fallen victim to

641
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:24,000
Speaker 1: predatory lending. But it's also a spoke in the will

642
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,239
Speaker 1: of a greater of a of a greater approach toward

643
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 1: improving the entire city's health.

644
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 2: Yes, and and we just have one part. We understand

645
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,439
Speaker 2: that we we're filling one gap. We're the emergency room

646
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 2: for people who need emergency financial assistance.

647
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:40,080
Speaker 1: That's our place.

648
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,839
Speaker 2: That was the gap that we saw why people went

649
00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:46,720
Speaker 2: to predatory lending. That's that's our part.

650
00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,240
Speaker 1: To play in this. I bet the predatory lending people

651
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:50,040
Speaker 1: hate you, bro.

652
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,319
Speaker 2: If not now they will, I love that.

653
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:56,759
Speaker 1: I hope they do. I hope they hate your guts. Yeah,

654
00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:57,800
Speaker 1: what's next?

655
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:00,800
Speaker 2: Well, part of what we have to do is to

656
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,239
Speaker 2: scale this up across the whole state. That's right now.

657
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:07,879
Speaker 2: We've been just in Shelby County and and there's still

658
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,839
Speaker 2: opportunities to grow here in Shelby County. We have right

659
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,600
Speaker 2: now we have twenty seven partners, coaching partners, churches, United Way,

660
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:20,440
Speaker 2: a god Bade, nonprofit organizations. We think we're going to

661
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,880
Speaker 2: scale up. We want to want to partner with the

662
00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:25,280
Speaker 2: schools ship Shelby County Schools.

663
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,120
Speaker 1: I swear I was. I was going to say, why

664
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:32,280
Speaker 1: couldn't we teach a basic financial economics class in school

665
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 1: so kids get it before they even get their hands

666
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:35,240
Speaker 1: on money.

667
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:39,040
Speaker 2: Well that and really, when I say partner is we

668
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,360
Speaker 2: want we don't want teachers struggling to pay their bills.

669
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,000
Speaker 1: And again, well, if teachers know they'll teach kids I

670
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:45,800
Speaker 1: guess right.

671
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:50,160
Speaker 2: And their parents, we want to partner. And when again,

672
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,560
Speaker 2: if the teachers are struggling financially, which many of them are,

673
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,560
Speaker 2: especially the ones who are single. We want to have

674
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,640
Speaker 2: we want to be a resource for them. So that's

675
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,239
Speaker 2: what we mean by partner and letting parents know in

676
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:06,800
Speaker 2: their schools that again there if you've been evicted, cars

677
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,080
Speaker 2: being repossessed, your light's being cut off, there's a resource

678
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,440
Speaker 2: for you. And so that's what's next for us. We

679
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,000
Speaker 2: want to grow. We think we can grow to probably

680
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:17,880
Speaker 2: double our partners this year.

681
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,799
Speaker 1: Here in Memphis. Here in Memphis, and so we think next.

682
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:25,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, well we'll go across the state.

683
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:29,440
Speaker 1: So and then if it keeps going, could you not

684
00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 1: be regional national? I mean it seems like it's scalable

685
00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:34,160
Speaker 1: for every minute. Yea.

686
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,880
Speaker 2: So our coaching is virtual. So we have one of

687
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:41,439
Speaker 2: our coaches is lives in Chattanooga, so we we look,

688
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:43,680
Speaker 2: we think this is something we'll have to scale across

689
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 2: the whole state. Eventually, we'll probably have an office in

690
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,600
Speaker 2: Nashville and have a plan to communicate with our legislation

691
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 2: on value what we do.

692
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,320
Speaker 3: Here's something nationally. This is obviously not just a Memphis problem.

693
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 3: There's twenty three thousand and payday lenders in the US

694
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:05,960
Speaker 3: twice the number of McDonald's and Starbucks locations, So it's

695
00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:09,120
Speaker 3: not just a Memphis problem. We might have the highest concentration.

696
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:13,200
Speaker 1: Twenty three thousand. There's twice the number of payday loan

697
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,160
Speaker 1: places in the United States, and there is McDonald's and Starbucks.

698
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,960
Speaker 2: McDonald's, there's a lot of McDonald's and Starbucks.

699
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,360
Speaker 1: But just think about it. You literally see a McDonald's

700
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,799
Speaker 1: and Starbucks on almost every block that you are in

701
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,919
Speaker 1: any municipality, and there's two times of me payday loans.

702
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:33,960
Speaker 1: Of the things is the place I hang out with.

703
00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,120
Speaker 1: I see the McDonald's and Starbucks, but I don't see

704
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:36,919
Speaker 1: the payday loan right.

705
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:40,880
Speaker 2: Because they're concentrated. They're concentrated in the most distressed parts

706
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:42,080
Speaker 2: of the community.

707
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:46,360
Speaker 1: Which is because you played largely African American and Latino necesary.

708
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:47,800
Speaker 2: It is African American Latino.

709
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:54,480
Speaker 1: Wow. Wow, you're doing God's work. Man. You were fighting

710
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:57,919
Speaker 1: an evil foe. You really are, aren't you. Yeah.

711
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,960
Speaker 2: What we're doing is again like the quote from Doctor

712
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:02,320
Speaker 2: King is we're fighting a system.

713
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,759
Speaker 1: And but this isn't a governmental system. And this is

714
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:15,279
Speaker 1: and this also really isn't a predominant social system. This

715
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:20,480
Speaker 1: is almost a kind of an under the radar system

716
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:22,480
Speaker 1: that I just don't think a whole lot of people

717
00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:26,400
Speaker 1: really understand. Right, It's a system, but kind of a

718
00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,000
Speaker 1: quiet dark system, you know what I mean. I mean,

719
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:34,160
Speaker 1: this isn't a blatant thing exactly. Yeah.

720
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,720
Speaker 2: I was sharing with one of when we were starting

721
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 2: this and trying to raise some funding, and I was

722
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:44,360
Speaker 2: meeting with a financial leader here, a guy who owns

723
00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:48,080
Speaker 2: a big financial company, and he thought, well, I don't

724
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:50,120
Speaker 2: know why you would charge ten percent. That seems like

725
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:54,239
Speaker 2: a lot. And obviously he had never heard of a

726
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:54,839
Speaker 2: payday law.

727
00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:00,239
Speaker 1: That's also that's also coming from a place have a

728
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,879
Speaker 1: little bit of privilege. As big as his heart is.

729
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:05,640
Speaker 2: Tim said, you can I think you can cut that.

730
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:10,200
Speaker 2: I was like, man, they're they're paying four Yeah, he

731
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,200
Speaker 2: couldn't phantom that. It's like that.

732
00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:14,000
Speaker 1: I bet he supports you now though.

733
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,440
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he's biggest support of course.

734
00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:20,359
Speaker 1: That makes perfect sense. That's awesome, Travis. It has been

735
00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:24,239
Speaker 1: an absolute pleasure to hear your story to uh, to

736
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:29,160
Speaker 1: hear your personal story frankly, and also a story about

737
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:32,880
Speaker 1: how you got where you got and Ford Memphis, What

738
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:37,799
Speaker 1: what a what a phenomenal initiative that does seek to

739
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:41,160
Speaker 1: serve those who need it the most. It Scott's work, brother,

740
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:45,400
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see where it goes next.

741
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:48,560
Speaker 1: I appreciate it if people want to hear more about

742
00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:52,560
Speaker 1: Ford Memphis or you know, we have people all over

743
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:54,680
Speaker 1: the country. I mean, this is a big show. Lots

744
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,920
Speaker 1: of those folks listen, uh in some other part of

745
00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 1: the world that really thinks, you know, I'd like to

746
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:03,879
Speaker 1: engage in that in my community. How do they find

747
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:05,600
Speaker 1: Ford Memphis and how do people find you?

748
00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:07,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, we would love to talk with anybody who has

749
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 2: an interest in connecting with us, and they can contact

750
00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:15,360
Speaker 2: us at Forward Memphis dot com. So f r WRD

751
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 2: Memphis dot com.

752
00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:20,200
Speaker 1: Somebody wants to support you financially, they can do that too.

753
00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:22,000
Speaker 1: If somebody just wants to ask you a question, Caul,

754
00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:22,880
Speaker 1: they email you somewhere.

755
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,359
Speaker 2: Yes, they can email me as well at Travis at

756
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:26,439
Speaker 2: Ford Memphis dot com.

757
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 1: Travis at Ford Memphis dot com. All right, brother, I

758
00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:31,799
Speaker 1: guess you need to go out and beat up some

759
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:34,400
Speaker 1: predatory lending guys this the rest of the day.

760
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:36,120
Speaker 2: I appreciate you having me here.

761
00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:43,040
Speaker 1: I appreciate you being here, and thank you for joining

762
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:46,640
Speaker 1: us this week. If Travis Moody or other guests have

763
00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:50,240
Speaker 1: inspired you in general, or better yet, to take action

764
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:54,440
Speaker 1: by telling folks about Ford Memphis, trying to start something

765
00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:59,240
Speaker 1: like it in your community, donating to them, teaching folks

766
00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:03,840
Speaker 1: about predators, lending, or something else entirely, please let me

767
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:06,919
Speaker 1: know I'd love to hear about it. You can write

768
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:11,279
Speaker 1: me anytime at Bill at normalfolks dot us, and I

769
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:14,400
Speaker 1: promise you'll hear back from me. And if you enjoyed

770
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:18,680
Speaker 1: this episode, please share with friends and on social subscribe

771
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 1: to the podcast, rate it, review it, Join the Army

772
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:26,319
Speaker 1: at normalfolks dot us, consider becoming a premium member There

773
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,359
Speaker 1: any and all of these things that can help us

774
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:33,360
Speaker 1: grow an army of normal folks. Thanks to our producer,

775
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 1: Iron Like Labs, I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do

776
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:38,080
Speaker 1: what you can