WEBVTT - Put Yourself In Position To Be Successful 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:03.720 One Lucas Black Tech, Green Money. It's so good to 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:06.560 be with you guys for another week. I am actually 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:09.600 headed to Austin right now. So we have a throwback 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.959 episode of Black Tech Green Money. This is one actually 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:17.520 of the most downloaded episodes of Black Tech Green Money. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.360 This one surpasses almost every other episode that is out there, 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:23.240 so I'm happy to bring it back to you. It 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:26.640 is put yourself in a position to be successful. So 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:31.360 I'm gonna tell you two stories today, and the topic 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:36.440 of this particular podcast episode is something I firmly believe 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.040 it and it's about putting yourself in a position to 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:43.479 be successful. Because so often we want to be successful 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:46.960 and we see success, whether we see it on social 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:50.400 media or we see it in people around us. We 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:54.760 see success, and we don't always believe that that success 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:59.680 is either possible for us. Or we might believe that 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:01.880 it's possible for us, but we don't know what to 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:07.120 do in order to accomplish that success that we so desire. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.600 So I'm going to tell you two stories today, and 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:15.040 this is these are my stories. And hopefully whenever I 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.199 whenever I talk to people, you know, whether it be 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.679 talks at conferences, whether it be keynote speeches or whatever. 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:28.080 I'm really trying to give value. So if I'm telling 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.759 you my story, it's not because my story is so great. 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:34.240 It's because I'm hoping that there's something in my story 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:37.000 that you can take and use for yourself in order 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:42.920 to find your success. So the first story is a 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:47.800 story about how I found at least the first few 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:51.240 steps and do the career that I'm in today. Because 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:55.360 I'm on preface my story with this, there's a quote 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.440 by Steve Jobs, and you've if you're listening to this podcast, 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.880 you've heard let me say this before, and it's a 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.440 quote by Steve Jobs that I firmly believe in. It's 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.440 one of my favorite quotes. I do have a couple 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.280 of favorite quotes, but this one is among like the 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:15.639 top three of my favorite quotes, and it says, you 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:20.920 can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.720 the dots looking backwards. And what that means for me, 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.600 at least I believe I know how he meant it. 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.920 But what I get from. 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:35.000 That quote is this is, if you look back over 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:44.520 your life, you will find clues that dictate your present circumstance. 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:50.640 So if you find yourself doing a particular job and 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.600 you are like really really good at doing that job. 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:59.080 If you look back at whether you were you know, 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.840 a kid, or whether you had a particular job, or 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:07.360 whether you had certain experiences, you will find, if you 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:12.480 look hard enough, certain instances in your life that says 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:16.880 you will be good at this particular thing. And that's 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:20.440 what connecting the dots means. It's not something like, you know, 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:25.040 super highbrow. It's not like, you know, it's not super deep. 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:28.120 It's really a simple thing. If you look backwards, you 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.440 will see things that connect to what you find yourself 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:37.280 doing today. And it's hard to do looking forward, if 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:44.640 not in some cases, very very very difficult. So we 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:47.520 want to do certain things in the future, but we 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.160 don't always know what, like, and I believe in like, 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:53.880 what is the divine plan for you? Like, because if 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.920 I would have told you at you know, sixteen or 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.240 seventeen what I wanted to be doing, it's not what 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:03.000 I'm doing today. But I'm really really happy doing what 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.280 I'm doing today. But it's not something I could have articulated, 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.840 you know, years ago. So anyway, all right, so let's 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:14.080 you know, we've set the stage with that particular quote. 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.839 You can't connect the dots looking forward, You can only 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:22.320 connect the dots retrospectively looking backward. All right, all right, 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.800 So there was a time when I wanted to be 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.440 in the music business. I wanted to be a producer. 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:31.400 I wanted to be a music producer and a songwriter. 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.600 And so I'm from Toledo, Ohio, which is you know, 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.400 if you drive fast, it's like half an hour from Detroit, 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.840 but if you like relatively close to the speed limit, 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:45.559 it's like forty five minutes. It's a little bit south 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:50.000 of Detroit. And you know, you know where it's at. 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:51.400 Look on the map. If you don't know where's at, 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:54.279 Google Google map it. All right. So I'm from Toledo, Ohio, 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.800 not known for like a lot of things other than 0:04:58.040 --> 0:04:59.960 you know, we have i think, one of the top 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.560 rated like minor league baseball teams in the country, and 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:11.680 very rust belt, midwestern, you know, middle class, blue collar 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.359 sort of city, you know, And I wanted to be 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.159 in the music business. So being an ambitious kid, you know, 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:24.159 I've always been super ambitious and always like strategizing about, Okay, 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:26.520 I know what I want to do, how do I 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:30.039 get there? I've always been that way. It's been my 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:34.320 like it's part of my DNA. So I was thinking 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.760 as a youth, like how how can I find my 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:43.039 way to the music business in Toledo? And I found 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.200 myself at a teen summit that at local radio station 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:51.040 was putting on, you know, or at least the program 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.160 director was on a panel at this teen summit that 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:59.560 was happening at a particular library in my hometown. And 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.479 so after the teen some I almost remember what I 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:04.240 was wearing a day, which is like super woild because 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:06.200 I don't remember like a lot of details about like 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:12.040 my childhood and youth, but I remember, like almost verbatim 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.200 what I was wearing today. But it has nothing to 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:16.000 do with the point of this story. Only that is 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:20.400 like a like ad point in my life that obviously 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:25.400 was like super critical to what I'm doing today. So anyway, 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.719 so at this teen something, the local program director for 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.919 the radio station was on a panel at the library 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.800 that I'm in attendance of, and I'm with a friend 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:38.680 of mine that I was going to high school with, 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.320 and we were for some reason, we're at this teen 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.360 summit and we were just there to hear about I 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.279 don't even know what the teen someming was about, but 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:47.040 I guess it was about teen issues because it was 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:51.839 teen something. So the program director is talking, and in 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:54.839 my mind at that teen Summit, I'm sitting like in 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.120 the last row, and I'm thinking, like, yo, I want 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.480 to be in the music business. And so I'm in Toledo. 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:05.440 The closest thing to the music business is the radio station, 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.520 and so this is how my money works, and my 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:10.800 mind has always worked this way. So I'm like putting 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:14.440 together the pieces. And so after the teen Summer is over, 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.800 I go up to the program director, who's like in 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.880 the only he's the program director, program director of the 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:25.040 only hip hop and R and B radio station in town. 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.000 There's only one at this stage, and so I go 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.280 up to him. I say, hey, my name is Will Lucas, 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.840 and I want to be in the music business. And 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.320 so he says, well, the best thing I can tell 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.920 you to do is find an internship somewhere. So matter 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:41.440 of fact, matter of fact, because there was a lot 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.480 of like teenagers like in line because it's tease something. 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.160 There's a lot of teenagers in line waiting to talk 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.680 to him, and so he said, just come out to 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:53.360 the radio station like tomorrow or whatever, and we'll talk 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.000 some more. Because it's a lot of teenagers in line. 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.040 So I go out to the radio station. It had 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:00.760 to be the next day because that's kind of the 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:02.880 kind of guy was. So I go out to the 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:07.720 radio station and he says, again, you know, we're sitting 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.280 like in this I guess, like a little tiny three 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:14.120 thousand watt radio station, like way out of town. Like 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:19.720 it's I mean, I think Midwestern country, like no man's land. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.880 This is like pure flyover. So like the radio station 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:27.360 is like in like places you don't go. So but 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:30.480 for whatever reason, that's where the radio station was. So 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:33.680 I'm out there, and you know, I'm sitting inside the 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.440 radio station, inside the studio. And he says again, So, 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:38.360 the best thing I can tell you to do is 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.640 find an internship somewhere. And so as a matter of fact, 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.640 we need an intern here at the radio station. So 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:49.520 I'm so my internship started that day at the radio station. 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.840 So I would go out there every day after high school. 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.040 Well I should say every day because it was like 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:59.040 three days to the next point of in this story. 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.640 So I would go out after school for the next 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.800 several days directly out to the radio station in my 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:11.000 Buick rivie. I would drive out there and I would 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:14.240 see about like what he wanted me to do. So 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.400 three days into my internship, which I really wasn't like 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.640 doing anything, I was just watching him do radio. I 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.520 was watching him b and on air personality. And so 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.000 three days in he put me on the air with 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.520 him during the five o'clock traffic jam. So mind you, 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:34.600 he works from three pm to eight pm, like afternoon Drive, 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:38.200 which is like beyond the morning show is the number 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.800 one radio slot for radio personalities. Morning show is like 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.880 the King of the Hill. Afternoon Drive is the next 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:50.960 biggest time slot for radio personalities. So I go out there, 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.720 I hang out with him during his shift. After I 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:56.559 get out of school obviously, so I probably make it 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:59.320 out there like three thirty four o'clock, and he puts 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.040 me on the a with him during the five o'clock 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:06.240 traffic jam. My third day into my internship, and so 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:09.440 he did this five o'clock traffic jam, which is like 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.520 when they do this, you know mix and you know, 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.160 I'm will Lucas. I'm like, I don't know what to 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:17.520 do is but I'm just like hanging out with him 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.920 on the air, you know, from five to eight pm 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:24.120 when his shift is over. So I did that for 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:27.080 a couple of days, and we found some sort of 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:31.000 chemistry obviously, because he let me continue to be on 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.920 the air with him every day after five o'clock and 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:41.120 so he signs my phone and so three days into 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.800 it going to air, did that every day. I went 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.280 through like it's so crazy to think about. I went 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:51.440 through multiple you know, like radio names, like I like, 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:53.520 because I was trying to find like, what was my 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:55.480 name going to be for the radio. His name was 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.720 Charlie Mack, and I'm like, okay, I gotta find a 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:00.640 name for myself. So my name's Will Lukea. And so 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.320 we was just like messing around with a bunch of names. So, 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.400 you know, at one point in my you know, early 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.360 early early, like the early weeks of my radio career, 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.280 my name was like night Train for whatever reason, I 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.440 have no idea. So then then there was a point 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:20.440 where I remember being in the production room with him 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.400 and we were talking about, Okay, what is my radio 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:28.680 name going to be? And so he was like after 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.560 we like probably threw out ten fifteen names, it's like 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.160 the room is tiny. It's like a four by six room. 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:38.480 It's like super duper tight. So I remember he was like, well, 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:41.240 whenever you figure out, let me know brother, and I 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:47.319 heard him say Butter. He said brother, but I heard Butter. 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:50.760 So my first radio name, my first official radio name, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.680 was butter because when he said whenever you figured out, 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.840 let me know better, I heard butter. He said brother. 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.640 So Buttera it was so my name on the radio. 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:02.839 My first name on the radio was Butta, and that's 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.160 what they call me for years in my radio career. 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:10.320 So six months after doing the five o'clock traffic jam 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.800 with him, he put me in this Saturday I gave. 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.240 I got a Saturday night show. I was eighteen years 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.880 old doing radio on a Saturday night in my hometown 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:23.680 six to ten every Saturday night. And I had the 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.880 number one radio show in the city on Saturday nights 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:32.080 in Toledo. And mind you, this particular radio station, and 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:34.960 this for some of you guys like this will mean nothing, 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:36.720 so I'll try to make it like parallel to something 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:38.800 that will make sense to you. Is this is a 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:42.840 three thousand watt radio station. The biggest radio stations in 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:47.720 town have one hundred thousand watts or more. So think 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.920 of you know like this. Let's say we're talking about cars, 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:56.720 and so I am driving a Nova, like a Honda Civic, 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.200 like a Prius. I am driving one of those the 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.120 biggest dogs in town. The biggest radio stations have like 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:09.160 Dodge Rams, F one fifties or you get. So we 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:13.600 are in the tiniest situation in town, the bottom of 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.200 the totem pole with regards to the power of the 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:23.160 radio radio tower that this particular radio station has. So anyway, 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:25.960 I'm doing these Saturday night shows, but I have the 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:29.000 number one show in the city. I'm like eighteen years old, 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:33.400 and so he remember he was on the afternoon drive. 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.320 Six months after I had the Saturday day night show, 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:42.560 they moved him to the morning show and I got 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.760 his afternoon drive show. So I was eighteen, just about 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.240 to turn nineteen, and I'm doing drive time radio in 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:52.000 my hometown three to eight. And so by this time 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:55.880 I had graduated. So I'm doing three o'clock to apm 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.520 Monday through Friday. And so I had the number one 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.400 show in my demographic because I was My job was 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.200 to target eighteen to twenty four, eighteen to twenty four 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.800 years old, people who are in the listening audience, because 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.240 that was a coveted demographic of people who listened to 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:13.760 the radio because they spend money, so advertisers want to 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:18.120 target that demographic. And so I'm doing that. And so 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:22.600 suffice it to say, like all of those skills that 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.120 I learned, again, I didn't want to do rap. I 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.160 never wanted to do radio. Like, don't forget that point 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:32.440 in the story. I happened to be good at something. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:36.960 I learned very quickly. How to be engaging. I learned 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:40.600 very quickly. How to build production skills. I learned very quickly, 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:45.000 you know, how to make things sound a particular way 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:47.520 to make people want to listen to it, and just 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.840 creating engaging content. And so I did this very early 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.240 in my career with the intent of finding my way 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.800 into the music business. And so story number one, the 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:03.320 whole like crux of this conversation is talking about how 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:07.960 I thought I was doing this particular thing to get 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:11.040 to what I wanted, But there was another plan for 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:14.440 my life, and so I found if you look at 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:16.760 what I'm doing today, I have a podcast that's her 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.960 all around the world, and I'm able to do this. 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.360 I produce this podcast, I do the booking for this podcast. 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.560 I obviously record myself. I'm in my basement right now 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.600 recording this podcast. And I'm doing all of these things 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.240 with the skills I learned at seventeen and eighteen years old, 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.760 having taken an internship with the intent of being a 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:43.440 music producer and songwriter. I couldn't have scripted this. I 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.080 could not have scripted this because I was doing it 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.200 with a particular intent. But I did it well because 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.200 I knew if I did it well, it would put 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.560 me in position. It's just a different position than I 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.080 thought I would be in. But I'm living a dream today. 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.120 I'm living a dream that I didn't know I had. 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:02.640 But it's a better dream than the one I thought 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:08.960 I had. Story number one, Story number two, let's talk 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:14.000 about it. So afrotech and so I'm doing podcasts. So oh, 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:18.360 I got this thing about podcasts. Man, I've slipped into 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:22.760 the podcast game. So I've talked about this, maybe not 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:24.800 on this podcast, but the one I'm about to tell 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.760 you about. So a couple of years ago had to 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:33.520 be what like five years ago. Now this is before 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.320 this is pre me being involved with afrotech. So I'm 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.080 talking to a friend of mine. He's an advisor. He's 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.960 a white guy. He's an advisor to a startup that 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:47.440 I'm founding. I'm trying to get going at this particular stage. 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.760 And he comes to me and he says, you know, 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:53.720 what would it take you Remember, he's a white guy. 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:55.440 He says, what would it take to get more black 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.440 kids interested in tech? And I said, well, they need 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:02.440 to see a black Mark Zuckerberg, like somebody who looks 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:06.800 like them and is realizing success. And because that's what 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.320 I believed in that moment. And at the end of 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:12.719 that conversation, I kicked myself because I'm like, yo, like, 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.240 we have super successful black people in tech, we just 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.200 don't know who they are. And so I went and 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:23.640 after that podcast, after that conversation, I went, and I'm 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:26.439 thinking to myself, like, what can I do to be 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.159 a part of the conversation of elevating the names of 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:33.240 black technologists? What can I do to be a part 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:38.120 of the conversation of making sure that we have representation? 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.800 So I said, Yo, I did radio for all these years. 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:43.840 I did radio on teleto, I did radio in Detroit. 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.560 I know how to do this, and so I'm like, 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.119 I'm gonna put together I'm gonna do a podcast and 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.359 it's called Today. I mean, I'm kind of jumping ahead 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.920 in the story, but I'm just for to save time. 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.879 I did this podcast. It's called of ten Podcasts. It 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.600 was white. I was only gonna do ten episodes. That's 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.520 why it's called of ten podcasts. One of ten, two 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.000 of ten, three of ten. You guys are smart. Thank 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.879 you for following on. So I did this podcast called 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:12.360 of ten Podcasts. It's still in iTunes, you can find 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:17.560 it today. And the point was to highlight these super 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.359 successful black people in tech, and I wanted to share 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:25.280 their stories, and so I did this podcast. I was 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.439 only intending to do ten episodes. Again, it's called of 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.240 ten Podcasts, and that was gonna be it. And so 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:34.600 I did these ten episodes. I had like fantastic people 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.159 on there. I mean like Krim de La Crim, people 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.679 who were at the top of the game in this 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:45.879 podcast and in this season of Black Technology. So I'm like, 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.360 the first episode was like my guy who's a friend 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:50.399 of mine, Mack and Day at the EGBO. He was 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:53.840 like one of the lead engineers at Facebook, friends with 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:58.479 Mark Zuckerberg. I mean, this guy's he's fantastic and he's 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:05.399 actually founder of dev Color. He's founder of dev Color. 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.199 I was about to google it, so sorry for the 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:09.879 falls there. I was about to google it, but it 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.280 just came to me. He's founder of dev Color, like 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:16.720 a black kind of cohort or collective of black engineers 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.800 in Silicon Valley. So my guy back back and day 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:23.520 add Yegro. So he was the first episode that I had, 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:27.960 and I had like a run of ten episodes. Phenomenal 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:30.560 people who were in this podcast that I did. And 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:32.520 I'm gonna know about Like I'm a guy in Toledo 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.760 in his basement doing his podcast, and people are saying, yes, 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:39.639 I will do your show. And so I'll save another 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:41.760 day to talk about how to get great people for 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:44.520 your podcast, but for tonight we'll talk about, you know, 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.800 putting yourself in the position to be successful. So did 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:53.000 this podcast called up ten podcasts, fantastic series of highly 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:57.760 successful black technologies. Put it out, and you know Twitter 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.480 is like yo, people on Twitter, not Twitter, not actual Twitter. 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:06.760 People on Twitter were like yo, fantastic run episode six. 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:09.960 I love that episode fire. Remember when he said this 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.679 episode like seven. She said that, and I was like, bars, 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.520 So it was like, it's fantastic run. When is your 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:20.760 next season? And I'm like, there is no next season, 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.760 Like this is it? Like I'm working on other things. 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.280 I did this to contribute to the conversation. Like I 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:31.360 wasn't intending to do several several seasons, but I did it, 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.520 and like this is like a gift to the world. 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.560 I didn't even have any sponsors for this, Like I 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.119 did it because I wanted to contribute to the conversation. 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:45.720 So like we're five we were five seasons in. I'm 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:47.640 kind of jumping ahead of the story, but we did 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:51.880 more seasons. But the point is, after that first season 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:57.119 of ten podcasts, I heard about this thing called afro 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.119 Tech and I'm like, how did I not know? Oh, 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:02.000 it was the first year of Afrotech, and I'm like, 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:06.440 how did I not know that this conference happened? Because 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:11.400 half the people I interviewed on the up ten podcast 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:16.280 podcast were on the stage of the first afro Tech 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:19.720 and I said, I'm never going to miss another afro Tech. 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:23.520 I'm never going to miss another one. And so I 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:25.760 knew then, like I was sold, Like I didn't I 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:28.840 had I didn't go to the conference that year because 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.119 I didn't know about it, but I saw pictures and 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.399 I'm like, yep, this is my thing. I'm never going 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.520 to miss another one. I'm here until they stopped doing it. 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:40.280 I knew that the first moment I heard about Afrotech. 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:45.359 So obviously I go to the second year of Afrotech 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:51.000 and I knew. I absolutely knew I was going to 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:55.119 have a life changing experience. I don't know why I 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:58.120 knew it, I just knew it. And so again, I'm 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.240 a content creator, so I said, you know what, I know, 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:05.480 I'm gonna have fantastic experience. I'm gonna vlog every day 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:09.240 of this conference. So I'm taking my camera and I'm 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:14.000 gonna record, not with the intent of like putting out, 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:16.480 you know, like a bunch of content, but I'm just 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:20.000 gonna record. Put a bookmark there because we're gonna come 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:24.280 back to that. I'm planned on doing a video, and 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:26.480 I said, I'm gonna put out a video about my 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:30.400 experience going to the first to my first Afrotech, which 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:34.280 is the second Afrotech that ever happened. And so I 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:35.560 was no, I was gonna have a good time. So 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:37.959 I did it, So I took my camera recorded everything 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:40.600 about my trip that getting on the airplane, I'm matter 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:42.240 of fact, getting in the car, on the ways to 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:45.360 the airport, getting to the airport, sitting in the airport, 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:49.760 landing in San Francisco, first day, vibes like the whole situation. 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:55.600 And I said, and remember I did this Upten podcast, 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:57.800 so I was still doing the podcast at this moment. 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:01.000 So I'm so I took and I come from radio, 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:04.400 so I'm telling you the dots are connected. I come 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:08.800 from radio, and I have this podcast that is called 0:23:08.800 --> 0:23:12.320 the of ten podcast, which is a tech based podcast. 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:15.680 At this time, so coming from radio, I'm a DJ. 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:18.760 I do club nights. So I said, I'm gonna print 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:24.439 flyers to take with me to AFRO Tech and on 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:28.400 these flyers is not a club night, it is promoting 0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.439 my podcast. So everybody, because I saw who was going 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:35.840 to be speaking on stage because it was on the website, 0:23:35.880 --> 0:23:39.280 so I said, everybody who's going to be speaking on stage, 0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:43.760