1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,719 Speaker 1: Hey guys, my name is Lemio Plumber. I'm the founder 2 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:05,320 Speaker 1: and CEO of the Zeus Network. I'm super excited to 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,639 Speaker 1: be here with the host of this show, Colleen, and 4 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: we're gonna be here talking about what I used to 5 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: eat when I was broke um, which is the name 6 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: of the show, Eating while Broke. So I'm excited to 7 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: be here to talk about my journey and showing you 8 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: guys what I used to eat. So it looks pretty 9 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: simple right now. He has laid out for us some 10 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: peanut butter and jelly, which we are all familiar with, 11 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: so I figured since it's peanut butter and jelly, we 12 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: both can probably make our own sandwiches while you dish 13 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: the goods on your come up story where should I 14 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: say your journey? And I'm I'm guessing had a lot 15 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: of pivots and oh yeah, you know I've gone through 16 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: a lot. But yes, this is this was my go 17 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: to food, right, peanut butter and jelly, uh Ramen noodles. 18 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: But I'm more of a sweet guy, so I like 19 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: the jelly and the peanut butter mixed, you know, and 20 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: not the white bread. And you're a creamy I'm chunky 21 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: for everybody that us to know what we're eating. And 22 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: then uh, let me all decided he was gonna go 23 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: with grape, and I don't discriminate on as long as 24 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: it's sweet. I can do syrup to syrup. Is that's 25 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: really like a real goal too. I should have had 26 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: peanut butter in syrup. Have you bread? I've never had that, 27 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: and I would have been thoroughly impressed with peanut butter 28 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: and syrup. He would have really really Yeah, that's well. 29 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: We could go in the bag and get some syrup. No, no, 30 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: we could stick with the jelly, the jam, whatever we get. Okay, 31 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: so you grab your slices, I'll grab mine. Uh so bad. 32 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: It's kind of hard. Is it the best bread there is? 33 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: Oh it is? It's okay, Yes, here we got the 34 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: production bread. So peanut butter first, peanut. Let's let's go 35 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: on your way to creating the Zeus network. Obviously it 36 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: wasn't an overnight journey. Can you tell us where it started? 37 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: You know? Uh, yeah, I'm moved out. I'm moved to 38 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: l a probably man back in I think I was 39 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: out here, but I can like oh seven, you know, 40 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: and uh, I was very fortunate to Land a job 41 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: as a p A working for a show called Extreme 42 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: Makeover Home Edition, and uh, it was it was interesting experience. 43 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: So you know, I enjoyed myself. I learned a lot 44 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: on the production um and so you know, but prior 45 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: to that, my parents owned like TV networks, so I 46 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: kind of you know, I grew up in the business. 47 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: That was very fortunate and blessed to like learn a 48 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: lot of things that happened behind the scenes and so, um, 49 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: when I moved out here, you know, being a p 50 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: A was was different. It was just completely different for me. 51 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: But you did start as a you didn't start as 52 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: a p A on their networks, No, no, No. I 53 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: was fourteen, like twelve. I was like, you know, I 54 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,119 Speaker 1: was shooting, I was editing, I was doing pretty much, 55 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: you know, whatever I wanted to do. You know. It 56 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: gave me that opportunity to to to just learn about 57 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: every aspect of production. So it was it was great. 58 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: But the thing about my parents network, even though it 59 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: was it was successful, you know, it was it was 60 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: a situation thinking. It was a situation where I wanted 61 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: to move out to l A to you know, do 62 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: a little bit more commercial you know work and do 63 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: more mainstream type of productions because their productions were primarily religious. 64 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: It was religious, but it was also local networks, which 65 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: is great. But you know, moving to Hollywood, I felt 66 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: like would be a completely different experience. And so, you know, 67 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: growing up in Michigan, just the the the whole culture 68 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: there was just obviously different than l A, you know. 69 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: And um, I went to college in Florida full sell 70 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: and then I ended up moving from there to l A. 71 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: And so it was just important for me to to 72 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: to start from scraps, so to speak. So how did 73 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: you land your first p A job on that type 74 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: of network? I mean, that's that's kind of a big jump. 75 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: It was, you know, it was crazy. I was I 76 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: was in college and I saw an ad online. At 77 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: the time, it was like Craigslist. Craigslist was like to 78 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: go to uh to go to website for jobs, and 79 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: so it said they were looking for volunteers and pas 80 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: and all sorts of positions, and so I just, you know, 81 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: I go out there and volunteers, see how it works out. 82 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: One of my sister in law, you know actually at 83 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: the time, brought the opportunity to me and I was like, sure, 84 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: why not. It said, it wasn't paid. So I went 85 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: out there and I kind of there was just like 86 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: like it was so much going on. It was like 87 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: a massive production. You know, you had on one side 88 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,479 Speaker 1: folks for building at home. You had all these production 89 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: vehicles and star wagons and all sorts of things, and 90 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: it was it was, it was massive, and so I 91 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: just wanted to be in the mix. So I just 92 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: started volunteering and I met some of the production folks 93 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: and I was like a volunteer p A for production. 94 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: So you weren't even getting paid. It wasn't getting paid, 95 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: wasn't getting paid. And I'm not gonna lie, you know, 96 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: And at moments I felt like a slave. And I 97 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: say that was thankfully because it was like I was 98 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: working twelve hour days for free, and in that environment, 99 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: it was it was a lot of labor. And as 100 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: I said, it's like it was like your you know, 101 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: it's a lot of dirt. You know builders, you know, 102 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 1: construction workers. You're passing out water bottles in the heat, 103 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: and you know, carrying and pop up tents and coolers 104 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: and all sorts of things. But how are you supporting 105 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: yourself if you're working twelve hours While I was, I was, 106 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: I was off those days. I worked during the weekends 107 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: and so when you know, it was a couple of days, 108 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: and then they asked me to stay so at night 109 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: because it was twenty four hours you know what I mean. 110 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: So Extreme Makeover had twenty four hours shifts because they 111 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: would build a house in like ten days. And so 112 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: I worked the night shift after the weekend, so I 113 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: would go to school, then I work on the show. 114 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: And when did you work work for money? No? But 115 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: so that's what I'm saying. So this is I didn't. 116 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: I had my own you know, situation with my my 117 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: my grandparents and parents took care of the college stuff 118 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: for so I was, I was, I was solid there, 119 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: but um yeah, I just went and volunteered, and my 120 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: dad encouraged me, as I look, stay there, stick it out. 121 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: You haven't done this before, and I did. And at 122 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: the end of production, I never forget this. They said 123 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: I did such a great job as a p A 124 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: that the director and the production manager and the producer 125 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: all came up to me and was like, hey, we 126 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: want to pay you for all the days that you were. 127 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: I started crying. I was like like, as you know, 128 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: because I didn't care. I didn't. I didn't expect that. 129 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: And then they gave me a bunch of equipment, UM, 130 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:26,840 Speaker 1: that they had left behind and they were like, look, 131 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: you guys, can you can keep this do what you 132 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: want with it. And it was it was it was 133 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: an amazing moment. And uh and then from there ended 134 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: up they offered me a job. They said, look, when 135 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: you finished college, you know this is one of our 136 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: this is one of the biggest shows in ABC. We 137 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: love to travel. You know, you out with us, and 138 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: you know we we only have a few pas that 139 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: we traveled with us, and we think you'd be great. 140 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: And a year later, UM, we stayed in touch and 141 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: I moved to l A. A couple of days moving 142 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: from l A, I had the season. I forgot what 143 00:06:57,839 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: season it was, it was like five or six or something, 144 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: and uh, I flew out to Hawaii. That was the 145 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: first That was the first production. And then you know, 146 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: at that point, did you know what you wanted to 147 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: do or were you still like in the I'm trying 148 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: to figure it out. Yeah, I wanted to produce. I 149 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: I was always interested in producing, directing, or editing, any 150 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: of those types of things. I was I wanted to 151 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: do more above the line work. Um, but I knew 152 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: I had to start somewhere, and so I would always 153 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: like shadow and look at what the producers were doing. 154 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: I want to do that guy shot. And so ultimately 155 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: I worked on this show for a couple of years, 156 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: and um, you know, eventually, just you know, after I 157 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: think season two, we ended up just kind of trans 158 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: transitioning out and then I that I'm gonna im gonna 159 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: take a risk and just try to do my own thing, 160 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: and uh and it was difficult, but I landed some 161 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: pretty cool jobs and um, ultimately got to deal with 162 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: BT exactly. And that's where I was. Album. I'm excited 163 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: to get to this part of your story. So I 164 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: told you I'm not really a comedian, so I'm trying, like, no, 165 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: I'm really excited about your story because Harry, you know, 166 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: today I think you're what thirty five you You are 167 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: the I want to say, the only in the first 168 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: full service production company that's uh African American owned and 169 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: you own majority of your company. And I know there's 170 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: like social media influencers like Dave Storm King Batch and 171 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: Amanda that are co owners or yeah, well that Zeus 172 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: is a network the production company that was prior to 173 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: ever working with them. So so I had, you know, 174 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: I had a job at I was an executive producer 175 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: and had an overall deal with BT for about two 176 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: and a half years after Extreme. So I went from PA, 177 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: do you have an amazing opportunity with BT? How did 178 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: you land that deal? Though? Um? You know at the time, 179 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: I'm one of my one of my good friends. His 180 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: name is Brandon T. Jackson. He was an actor. Um, 181 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: he was in a movie called Tropic Thunder. So you know, 182 00:08:56,679 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: so Brandon, you know, we grew up together in Detroit, 183 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: and so he connects did me. We did some projects together, 184 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: we did some deals, um, and then he connected me 185 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: with his manager, and his manager became my manager. And 186 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: then you know, he saw the talent and introduced me 187 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: and my brother and another partner of mine at the 188 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: time to the president of BT, Jason Tibersol's me, LJ 189 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: and Jason, and we met with the president. And this 190 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: is without having a sizzle or anything. He just said him, no, no, no, no. 191 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: We had a bunch of sizzle riels. We had a 192 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 1: bunch of decks that we just put together with like 193 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: we had about probably ten different show ideas that we 194 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,319 Speaker 1: just independently put together ourselves. And then when we went 195 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: to the meeting, it was a general meeting on a Friday, 196 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: like at at night. So we were like, this is 197 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: gonna be a weird meeting, is gonna probably gonna be 198 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: a waste of her time. So we went in the 199 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: meeting just we didn't even we had no expectations. It 200 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: was just like, sure of a general meeting with the 201 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: president's great but it was Brandon at the meeting. No Brandon, 202 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: He just connected me with his his manager at the time, 203 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: his manager with sim Bad's brother, and so he managed 204 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: sim Bad's career, Brandon and a few others. And so 205 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: when he represented us, uh, he just say, look, let 206 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 1: me let me get you guys some general meetings. Um. 207 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: And then we met with the president. In that meeting, 208 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: we showed her a ton of sizzles and she just 209 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: she just kept saying, let me see that one, let 210 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: me see that. And she watched all of our sizzles 211 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,439 Speaker 1: and she sat there and was like, this is interesting. 212 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: And then she asked her, so, you guys produced direct edit, 213 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: you pretty much do everything. We said, yeah, And then 214 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 1: at that moment, she said, okay, me, let me, let 215 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: me process this. Hour later, we got a call from Mark. 216 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,199 Speaker 1: We were driving and he said the president called him 217 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: and said she's going to offer us a deal, a 218 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: first look deal and to provide production services in house 219 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: for the network as executive producers. And so so you're 220 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: providing services or she picked up the show and you know, no, no, 221 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: she didn't even pick up a show. She just offered 222 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: us a deal based upon the fact that we could 223 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,959 Speaker 1: do several things and she was trying to save money 224 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: and bring productions in house instead of working with a 225 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: lot of third party companies. And so she felt like 226 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: with us in the reality content that we were doing 227 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:00,840 Speaker 1: at the time, it would be a great fit. And 228 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: so we ended up, yeah, signing the deal. You know, 229 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: we didn't even negotiate. It was just like, let's take 230 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: this opportunity, in this chance, and we didn't. It was 231 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: it was life changing. And then after BT, I I 232 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: felt like there were you know, I wanted to kind 233 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: of do some other things. I wanted to branch off 234 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: on my own and it was a great experience, life changing. 235 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: At BT, didn't worked on several projects from the Monique Show, 236 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: the Family crews and and you guys are full on 237 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: editing this without any outside third party or Yeah, we 238 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 1: kind of managed a lot of that stuff. So we 239 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: we would we would be hands on and we needed 240 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: to be with the editing or whatever. But we were 241 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: executive producers that could wear a lot of hats and so, um, 242 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: you know, if we needed to edit, we would edit. Um, 243 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: we needed to direct, we would direct. If we needed 244 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: to um do anything. We were we were able to 245 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: do that and that saved the network some money. Now, 246 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: who who was making up your team at the time, 247 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: And I know your brother was involved and was your 248 00:11:58,000 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: sister in law involved? No, No No, it was my brother 249 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: and LJ. And then it was Jason Toilbert and we 250 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: were we were production company called Three Sons Productions. Wow, 251 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: and you guys were just over the place. It was. Yeah, 252 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: we had a lot of projects. So after that, yeah, 253 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:16,719 Speaker 1: we you know, I went out it was about two 254 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: and a half years there, and the kind of transitioned 255 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,560 Speaker 1: out and I just said, you know, I recognized that 256 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 1: there are so many of the networks you know that 257 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 1: wanted you know, you know, primarily African American content, and 258 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: so I just said, there's there's another like world out 259 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: there beyond BT and you know, much greater opportunities to grow. 260 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: And so for me, it was starting a full service 261 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: production company and that that was something that I was 262 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:49,199 Speaker 1: was very passionate about. And I said, look, these production 263 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: there aren't any black owned production companies. Most of the 264 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: production companies are predominantly white owned, and they're telling our 265 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: stories and I just that's interesting, don't you think that? Yeah, 266 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: because I mean the thing is the net works trust 267 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: them to facilitate. They feel like a lot of a 268 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: lot of the reason why there aren't a lot of 269 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:10,959 Speaker 1: black production companies is because we don't have the infrastructure 270 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: and you know, in place to really facilitate a massive production. 271 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: And so, uh, there aren't a lot of producers out 272 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: there that can you know, generate millions of dollars from 273 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: a network and say hey, go deliver this you know, 274 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: high quality premium show. And and you know, that was 275 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: something that I was passionate about, and they were like, 276 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: I helped out a few companies that that you know 277 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: in the in the introm before I started and launched 278 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: my own. It was an entertainment one. I helped get 279 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: their reality department and division going, um in the early stages. 280 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: And then there were a few other company called The Bows. 281 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: I've worked with them, and um, just a few others, 282 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: and then I just said, you know what, I want 283 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: to start my own. So I was very blessed to 284 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: have met a guy named Harold Lewis and who owned 285 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: a bunch of McDonald ranchises in Vegas. And then I 286 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: met with he introduced me to Jonathan Rodgers, who was 287 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: the president of who was CEO on president of TV one. 288 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: He was the president of Discovery Networks and CBS for 289 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: a while. And they I told him what I wanted 290 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 1: to do, and they made an investment and then I 291 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: was able to launch my production company with that. And 292 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: so with that investment, and um, they gave me freedom. 293 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: They gave me majority control in the company. And and 294 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: you are still very young at this point. I was 295 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: like four when they now when they made that first 296 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: initial investment. I know, my very first company. I think 297 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: my first investment gave me like sixteen grand, which was 298 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: like a million dollars. What's twenty one year old? That's 299 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,360 Speaker 1: like what I made in a year. Um, were you 300 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: like nervous, because I know for me, I was very 301 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: nervous like, oh my god, did I just cant someone? 302 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: Am I gonna lose all their money? You know, you know, 303 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: in front of them, obviously you're not saying this, but 304 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: in your mind, you're like, I just played I just 305 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: played someone by accident. You know. So what were you 306 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: thinking when you got that first investment in yourself? Yeah? 307 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: I was. I mean it was scary. Like when I 308 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: saw the money hit the account, I was like, oh, 309 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: this is real. Like I was like, and it was 310 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: the first payment was you know, six figures, and then 311 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: another payment was coming and it was another like you know, 312 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: it was it was another six figure pay. So they 313 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: broke it up and I was just like, wow, like 314 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: this I didn't expect that to happen so quickly. And 315 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: and so when it did, it everything just became real 316 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: and you know, it just changed everything. And I hired 317 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: a team, um you know, a small development team, and 318 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: then the first show I ended up selling UM and 319 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: and based only and we got it was straight to 320 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: series as a crazy bidding war. I had a great sizzle, 321 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: real in the deck and we went out pitched I 322 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: had I had recently gotten signed with CIA just because 323 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: of the sizzle, and so we were just from We 324 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: went in there with a it was a senior agent 325 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: at the time, and he was like, I want to 326 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: take this out. Let me represent you. And then we 327 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: went out and it was probably seven networks that wanted 328 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: it straight to series, which which show is this? It's 329 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: called I watched that show. I remember watching that. So 330 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: it was the sizzle was just it was a I 331 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: don't know, five minute sizzle. It had every component in that. 332 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: The cast was amazing. It was they just now, how 333 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: did you how are you able for those people that 334 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: are trying to get into your line work? How are 335 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: you able to shoot a sizzle? Like did you find 336 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: the cast and say, hey, I'm gonna shoot this idea 337 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: around you guys, just take one for the team, or 338 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: did you do like promises or how did you know? 339 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: I just I went about it. I said, look, at first, 340 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: the person who came to be represented some of the pastors. 341 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: So we talked and we started saying, look, let's find 342 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: the cast of people that we can you know, uh, 343 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: work with, that we think is going to be you know, 344 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: loud and provocative and real and you know, and so 345 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: we we ended up finding that cast. First we told them, look, 346 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 1: we believe we can get you guys on mainstream television, 347 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: but there is a step that needs to happen first, 348 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: and we would have to kind of give them a 349 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: visual of your life and kind of give them a glimpse. 350 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,640 Speaker 1: And so at that point we felt like we could 351 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: do that, and so they said, okay, sounds good. Like 352 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: they trusted us. We didn't pay them for it. We 353 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 1: shot with them for a couple of hours in the day, 354 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: maybe maybe a couple hours. For two days each cast member, 355 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 1: we shot them and at church doing that thing, and 356 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: then we shot kind of some of some moments of 357 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,680 Speaker 1: them at home and uh and yeah, when we did that, 358 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,679 Speaker 1: it just you know, we we cut it together, and 359 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: we we put a unique edit together, and then when 360 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,119 Speaker 1: we took it out to the agency, they wanted to 361 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: take it out and we took it out and it 362 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: just it just it was crazy. We had Oxygen who 363 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: put in an offer, Lifetime put in an offer, VH 364 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: one put in an offer, Owned put in an offer. 365 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: Uh BT, all of these places. What do you think 366 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: in the entire time, Like, I can't believe it. I 367 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: couldn't believe I mean, we went and met with all 368 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:57,879 Speaker 1: I mean, I didn't even really have to say anything 369 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 1: in the room, and the sizzle spoke for itself. It 370 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 1: was the sizzle that they were just they just could. 371 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: They were all like, this is crazy. You know, we 372 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: gave them a true inside look into you know, mega 373 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: pastors personalized that they were struggling with showing that they're human, 374 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: showing the flash like they had nice cars like it was. 375 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: So it had controversy to it, but it also had 376 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 1: a human element to it that made it compelling. And 377 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: these were also, you know, very compelling people. I think 378 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: it's interesting that your family came from a more religious 379 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: background and then your first coming out big show was this. 380 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,360 Speaker 1: What were your parents thinking when you first came out 381 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: with that? I got I mean it was for me, 382 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: it was, it was, it was, it was everybody. It 383 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: was a lot of folks concerned because you know, the 384 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: religious world is it's it's it's you got to be 385 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: very careful, right, and so the church community was they 386 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: were they were, they were concerned. You know, they felt 387 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: like this could potentially jeopardize what they've built, showing too 388 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 1: much of their personal lives which people haven't seen before. 389 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 1: Because these pastors you know, uh, you know, we're you're human, 390 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: they're people. People don't. People don't want to imagine a 391 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: pastor being a human, especially the religious community, because they're 392 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: trying to send this message of you know, pureness and 393 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: you know, we're we're technically above sin, but they were 394 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: They're still human and I love that you did that. 395 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: People put them up on a pedestal that they can't 396 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: live on, and so we wanted to humanize them and 397 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: that was the goal, and we did it, and we 398 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: did it very well. And what did your parents think? Though, 399 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: I'm sorry not about listen. No, my parents they were concerned. 400 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: They were like, you know, look, they were happy for me, 401 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: but they were concerned. And because you know, again we 402 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 1: had so many offers, I couldn't turn it down. And 403 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: that was the that was the question. What network did 404 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: I want to go to? I was gonna go with 405 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 1: own because Oprah and her team were aggresively trying to 406 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: pick it up, and uh, Oxygen was really aggressive, and 407 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 1: then BT was aggressive. Everybody out. Everybody else we kind 408 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: of ruled out, and it would just kind of we 409 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,879 Speaker 1: narrowed it down to those three, and Oxygen came in 410 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: with an amazing offer. They said they would let me 411 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: run it my production company, and they weren't gonna attach 412 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: any other third party companies too, you know, manage me 413 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: and my company. It was just like, we're gonna let 414 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,160 Speaker 1: you produce it. We're gonna give you the budget. And 415 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 1: they offered me a deal that you know, I just 416 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: couldn't really turned down. And so, uh, my partner at 417 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: the time, Holly Carter, and I we discussed it, we 418 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: prayed about it. We said, let's go with Oxygen. We 419 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: ended up going with Oxygen. Became the highest rated show 420 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 1: in network history, and we got a second season. We 421 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: franchised it to Atlanta and Detroit, and um, yeah, it was. 422 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,160 Speaker 1: It was a huge success, and that really I think 423 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: helped catapult my career UM in a significant way. And 424 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: so at that point, you know, I had sold several shows, 425 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: um with with my production company, Alpham Media, The Music 426 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: Moguls with Man Jermaine Depris, Stoop Dogg and Jermaine dupris, Um, 427 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: the Westbrooks, you know, Living Funny Two Sides with by 428 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,920 Speaker 1: Olla Davis. Um. I mean, we just we just sold 429 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: a plethora shows and so, um it was a great run. 430 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 1: So on the personal side, professionally, you're doing absolutely amazing. 431 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,880 Speaker 1: But I'm curious to hear about your personal hurdles being 432 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: young and being black. Did you face any of those 433 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: hurdles at all or did you just kind of prieste 434 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: through them? For sure? You know, I look very young, 435 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: so they were like, you know, people would would would 436 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,439 Speaker 1: look at me a certain way and they couldn't believe it. 437 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,200 Speaker 1: You know. I had girl friends and people that I dated. 438 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 1: It was it was hard to balance the two worlds, 439 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: you know, um with with you know, trying to have 440 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: a personal life friends, you know, date, you know, uh, 441 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: and then run a company where you hired over a 442 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: hundred plus people to work for you, and you're trying 443 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 1: to deliver these shows and uh, you know, millions of 444 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,160 Speaker 1: dollars are at stake, you know. So it was it 445 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: was hard and it was very demanding, and um for me, 446 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: I just I got through it. So fast forward to 447 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 1: and we need to put some jelly on the let's go, 448 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,439 Speaker 1: let's put I told you it's serious. It's so serious. 449 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,199 Speaker 1: I was expecting a lot more comedy and some some craziness. 450 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: But um, so how fast forward past all these deals? 451 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 1: You decide, you know what I want to go out? 452 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 1: I want to go out on my own and create 453 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: my own network or did you just see a space 454 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: after Netflix? What Blockbusters asked, like, is that what happened? 455 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: Because I remember when that air came in and that 456 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 1: was the first you know, video on demand takeover. I 457 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 1: was very sad to see Blockbuster go back there, right. No, 458 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: that was crazy. That was a crazy time. Um. You know, 459 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: my production company we was, it was up and running 460 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 1: for several years, you know, good four or five years 461 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: before I kind of made the pivot to launching my 462 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: own network. And to your point, yes, I was very 463 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: much uh impressed in you know, studying the Netflix model 464 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: and I saw I was like, oh, this is the future. 465 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 1: They mean, their model was genius, you know, they were. 466 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: They mean, they've been around for twenty plus years, you know, 467 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: and they've stuck to their their motto, which is convenience 468 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: choice and control. And so convenience choice and control that 469 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: was what they were about. How do we how do 470 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 1: we make it convenient for customers at their choice and 471 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: at their control. And so they started doing it with 472 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:39,199 Speaker 1: to your point, you know, they eliminated people getting out 473 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: of their cars, driving to a location, browsing certain movie 474 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 1: or television titles, paying for it, and driving all the 475 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: way back home. They said, why are people Let's just 476 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: mail in the DVD. Let's set up a digital system, 477 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: a website where they can enter their card, browls online 478 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: and we'll send out some DVDs. And that was convenient 479 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: at the time for a lot of people, and that 480 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: ultimately disrupted Blockbuster and then they I think when when 481 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: as they started to grow and evolve and they became 482 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: available on multiple devices. I don't think people saw them 483 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,520 Speaker 1: coming at all, and that's the key. Don't let them 484 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: see you coming. You can't ever let people see you coming. 485 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 1: And so I think they they were able to really 486 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: master that, and because they kind of came out on 487 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: the scene, it was like whoa, yeah, no, I'll never forget. 488 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: I think when Hollywood first was like, okay, Netflix, we 489 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: were seeing what they're doing. I think when they publicly 490 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: announced Homedy subscribers they add and then then they released um, 491 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 1: Orange is the New Black and House of Cards as 492 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: original original series with a list talent, and then they 493 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 1: kind of like change the game because they it was 494 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,160 Speaker 1: all at once. It was the announced the subscribers, the shows, 495 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,640 Speaker 1: and then they just released all the episodes at once 496 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: people can binge right, and so Hollywood didn't understand it. 497 00:24:57,640 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 1: And then that just generated even more And at the 498 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: time when they made that announcement, they had about thirty 499 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,639 Speaker 1: five million subscribers and they were I don't I think 500 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: they were charging like eight doll I don't remember exactly 501 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: what they were charging, but it was like eight dollars. 502 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 1: Now it's like almost, but there's so at on the 503 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: early stages of Netflix, they had about thirty five million 504 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: subscribers when they kind of really were talking about it, 505 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: and that was like they were bringing like two and 506 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 1: eighty million dollars a month and revenue, so they were 507 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:31,879 Speaker 1: able to invest in original, high quality, premium content and 508 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: really compete with networks and they didn't see him comming. 509 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,280 Speaker 1: So not only did they disrupt Blockbuster and put them 510 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: out of business, but they completely disrupted you know, our 511 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: entire industry and allowed people to watch content you know, 512 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:47,360 Speaker 1: um that they're like I said, can being choice in control? 513 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: And would you make that that slogan up? Because it 514 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:56,920 Speaker 1: sounds so good It should be choice And I love that. 515 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: I didn't make it up, and I wish I did, 516 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: you know, uh, but uh yeah, that just really inspired me. 517 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 1: That was like, that was inspiring. And for me, I said, 518 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,679 Speaker 1: I gotta do that. I don't know I'm gonna do it, 519 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,200 Speaker 1: but I gotta do that, and I gotta start moving 520 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: on it. You do you you wear all hats and 521 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: you're the network. So how do you enter that space? 522 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,640 Speaker 1: Is it? I don't even know where you would begin 523 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: to enter. I'm going to create my own network. Yeah, no, 524 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,439 Speaker 1: it was. It was a lot of research. It was 525 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: a lot of decks. There was a lot of I 526 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,960 Speaker 1: put a lot into the presentation. So like my my 527 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,959 Speaker 1: sizzle and like it went. It was on steroids, right, 528 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: So long story short. Um, I just I just felt 529 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: like it was avoid you know, uh with with streaming, 530 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 1: with the streaming space, and so for me, um, I 531 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: just said, look, I gotta I gotta launch my own network. 532 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:48,439 Speaker 1: I felt like at the time, uh, it was a 533 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,679 Speaker 1: lot of undervalued talent, and I said that, you know, 534 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:53,680 Speaker 1: for me, I want to work with these people, give 535 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: them the opportunity, and I wanted my network to be 536 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,720 Speaker 1: about that. I wanted it to really allow them monetize, 537 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: have some creative control, and really give them a platform 538 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: to do some incredible things. And so that's when I said, 539 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: I gotta launch Zeus, and I aggregated a bunch of 540 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: influencers to be on the platform, and then I aggregated, 541 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: you know, a couple of influencers to be equity partners 542 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: to get this thing moving. And I started researching different 543 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 1: tech companies and tech folks to work with, and then 544 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: you know, we just we just came together and we 545 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: made it happen. And so yeah, that's kind of like 546 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,680 Speaker 1: how I launched Zeus and I invested my own money 547 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 1: into it, saved spent a lot of money, and uh 548 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,920 Speaker 1: and and and got the network going. When I see 549 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: you as an entrepreneur, I see some of them doesn't 550 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: play checkers. You definitely played chess. You're you're at a 551 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: different level. I'm guessing that behind the scenes, your business 552 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: planning game is elite. Like you're doing a lot more research. 553 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: It's not more as much flash as it is You're 554 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: you're hitting the books and you're trying to see the 555 00:27:57,359 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: behind the scenes. Correct. How much time do you think 556 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: you spend on that part of your life where it's 557 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: I guess what I would say, behind the desk, from 558 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: behind the computer doing your research. Yeah, I spent I 559 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 1: mean I'm always researching. I'm always you know, studying different 560 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: types of you know, things that are happening. I mean, 561 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: I'm with my company with Zeus, I'm very hands on 562 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: a Boots Underground CEO. Uh and uh it is working 563 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:28,160 Speaker 1: very well. And um, you know for me, uh yeah, 564 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: I just you know, I'm I have so many ideas 565 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 1: and I feel like for me, part of why I'm 566 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: doing what I'm doing is because I feel like economical 567 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: freedom is important for African Americans, being able to go 568 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: direct to consumer, not having to have certain corporations and 569 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: people you know, you know give you money or invest 570 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: in you like, if we could understand how how powerful 571 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: it is to go direct to the consumer, you know, 572 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 1: in this space, it's a powerful it's a powerful thing. 573 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 1: And so we've been able to do that. And so 574 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: I don't have anybody you know, looking over me and 575 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: telling me what I need to do and how I 576 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: need to do it. And so that that that to me, 577 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: that freedom, that creative freedom, that business freedom is important 578 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: and so um it's uh it's great. And so you 579 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: know again we're we're we've been growing and scaling the 580 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: company since we've launched. We've been been experimenting in different ways. 581 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: You know, we have a plethora of shows from Black 582 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: China to Jocelyn with Ray J and Princess Chance, the 583 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: Bad Girls of Natalie None, all sorts of great programming, 584 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: and so, uh, you know, we're just going to continue 585 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: to do that. And you know, we're definitely on this 586 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: road to being valued at over a billion dollars based 587 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 1: upon the revenue that we're bringing in and based upon 588 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: the brand and the profit that we we we uh, 589 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: you know that we're we're generating and and just gross revenue. 590 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: So for me, what we're doing is working. And you know, 591 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: we we are looking to diversify our programming up quite 592 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: a bit with scripted more unscripted programming. And so I 593 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:04,800 Speaker 1: always ask my customers and folks that are out there 594 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 1: who are subscribing to watching just be patient. We're we're 595 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: doing the best we can or what we have, and 596 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: and we are competing. We have disrupted a lot of 597 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: other networks, like the v h ones. I mean, they've 598 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 1: sent me cease into sistem and now I feel like 599 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: that's that's a sign of success. I love I don't 600 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: love him having haters, but I always think it's a 601 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 1: compliment when you have a hater, and so I'm sure 602 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: when you first got sued it was like shocking, but 603 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: it south or what. I'm sorry I didn't get sued. 604 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: They just so it's okay. They just said they just sit, 605 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: cease letters, threatening to suffer things that didn't make sense. 606 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: And so for me, it was just like, yeah, they 607 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: approached me. You know, when you have the highest level 608 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: at Viacom reach out to you, you know, and you 609 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 1: have multiple calls that yeah, it's it was, and we 610 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: have very respectful calls. I have nothing but respect for 611 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: Viacom and their team and their executive staff. But yeah, 612 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 1: they were very concerned about certain things, and you know, 613 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: and I didn't know we were that much on their radar, 614 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: are but I guess we were, and I guess we are. 615 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: And so to the point where there networks like v 616 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: H one and others were concerned about how we're operating 617 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: and what we're doing. And so we're not doing anything wrong, 618 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,680 Speaker 1: we're not doing anything illegal, and so we're just doing 619 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: our thing, and so I didn't think that. I don't 620 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: think they saw us coming. But it's not really about competing, 621 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: like I don't have. My vision is not to disrupt. 622 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,600 Speaker 1: I'm always looking to be an extender, not a disruptor. 623 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: So whatever I can do to help extend other networks 624 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: of the companies, I'm all about that. Do you feel 625 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: like there's a negative? I love disruptors. I love disruptors. 626 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: To me, they're like the badasses. Uh there's you know. 627 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: I think Starry Internet is a new new Internet company. 628 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: There disruptor Steve Jobs was a distruct I love disruptors. 629 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: Please disrupt every flashion. But when you say you're not 630 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: a disruptor, you're an extender, what do you mean by that? Exactly? 631 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: I'm not going in intentionally trying to disrupt anybody's business. 632 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: I'm not like, hey, let's let's focus on how we 633 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,560 Speaker 1: can disrupt and bring this company down. Like I'm not. 634 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: I'm not doing that. I'm not even thinking about these people. 635 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: So I'm thinking about doing a great job, giving people 636 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: jobs and opportunities, giving content creators the ability to monetize. 637 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 1: I mean, that's my bottom line is is providing jobs, 638 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: is putting out great programming, being black owned, being an inspiration. 639 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: So for me, I'm never looking to intentionally disrupt extender Like, look, 640 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: you guys are powerful machine, Like, how can we collaborate. 641 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 1: That's where my mind goes. Let's be extenders, you know, 642 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,280 Speaker 1: Let's figure out strategic partnerships. Let's figure out ways to 643 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: work together. Let's figure out ways to diversify things like 644 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,600 Speaker 1: on urine, like we're black owned, like a lot of 645 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: your networks are white owned companies, you know. You know, 646 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: let's let's give some of our folks opportunity. Let's really 647 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: do so you guys are bringing in billions of dollars. 648 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 1: You guys have hundreds of billions of dollars a year 649 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,280 Speaker 1: and budgets to invest in certain programming, to invest in 650 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: people in staff. Let's like really give folks to fair share. 651 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: And so that's that's where I'm like, I want to 652 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: look if we're going to talk, let's really talk. Yeah, 653 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. So I'm looking to always 654 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: extend and take myself out of it. And you're playing chess. 655 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:13,880 Speaker 1: You always playing chess. I have a final question. I 656 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: know we're running close on time, and I would love 657 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,560 Speaker 1: to have you back and just chop it up with you. Uh, 658 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: when you look at money, I feel like we as 659 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: African Americans, when we look at money, you know, we 660 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: haven't had it, so the first thing we want to 661 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,000 Speaker 1: do is buy flashy stuff. And a lot of the 662 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: guests on Eating all broke, I know. It's the way 663 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: they look at money, in the way consumers look at 664 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,719 Speaker 1: money as a whole is. You know, they're like, well, 665 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: let's see how we can leverage this dollar. Now, I 666 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,880 Speaker 1: know you play chess, not checkers. I'm curious to see 667 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 1: what you did when you first got those first checks. 668 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 1: I bought some chains. Um no, you know when Honestly, 669 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,080 Speaker 1: for me, I'm I'm a pretty concerned guy. I mean, look, 670 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 1: I do I like nice things, sure, Like even my 671 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: car is a very nice cars my car person. Yeah, 672 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: Like I like, for instance, I got and I'm not 673 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: saying this to Bolster, like I got a couple of 674 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 1: Aston Martin's, the new ones, you know, and the DBX 675 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,040 Speaker 1: and the Advantage, But could I have gone gotten a 676 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: Ferrari And I'm like, I think those are louder vehicles. 677 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: I mean, the brands are great. I'm not saying that 678 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 1: Aston Martin isn't loud, but it's like it's a little 679 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:24,320 Speaker 1: bit more subtle, and you know, it's it's not as flashy. 680 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:28,000 Speaker 1: So for me, like if I'm doing that, I'm gonna 681 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: roll a little bit more so. But I think, you know, 682 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,520 Speaker 1: I have a beautiful home. Yes, I'm very comfortable. I 683 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: have a great you know, uh situation. But I'm also 684 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:42,719 Speaker 1: a guy that is is very you know much you know, 685 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: thinking about others. I'm thinking about how do I provide 686 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: more jobs, you know, how do I invest in more people, 687 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,480 Speaker 1: invest in shows. Predominantly most of my money goes into that, 688 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 1: you know, and then just my pockets. So it's just 689 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,920 Speaker 1: important for me again, I'm carrying the flag of economical freedom. 690 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: That to me is important. Like we as black people, 691 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: you know, we were we haven't been in a place 692 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,879 Speaker 1: where we've had economical freedom like that, and so it's 693 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: important that we boss up. It's important that you know, 694 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,240 Speaker 1: we understand how to save money, how to generate money, 695 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 1: how to play the money game. It is a game, 696 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: it is a business, and and and it's important to 697 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:26,320 Speaker 1: understand how that works, how companies are valued. You know, uh, 698 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 1: you know what to do when you are you know, 699 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,839 Speaker 1: generating X amount of dollars. So for me, I think 700 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,759 Speaker 1: that you know, it is economical freedom is probably one 701 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 1: of the most important things for me, And and and 702 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,359 Speaker 1: the fact that we are we have put so many 703 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: content creators in a position like, for instance, I'll just 704 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,399 Speaker 1: give you Johnson Hernandez. You know, she told me she's 705 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 1: made more money from Zeus in less than a year 706 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,160 Speaker 1: than she's made her entire time working for v H 707 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,719 Speaker 1: one on the show multi like three plus years working 708 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,839 Speaker 1: on this. And so for me, that is important. That 709 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: makes me feel good, like, look, we're sharing, we are, 710 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: we are real content partners. We are like you're understanding 711 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,640 Speaker 1: your value, you know what I'm saying, Like, and that 712 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 1: to me is the most important thing. You know, people 713 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:18,360 Speaker 1: are are overlooked from so many different things, from perceived 714 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 1: thoughts and and age or appearance, and so you know, 715 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:27,239 Speaker 1: it's like, I just hate that the Hollywood system undervalues 716 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 1: so many people, folks behind the scenes who you know, 717 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,320 Speaker 1: should be generating in more money or talented you know, editors, 718 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:37,839 Speaker 1: camera operators, producer, directors. I mean, there's so much money 719 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:41,319 Speaker 1: out there and so talent produce all of it. And 720 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:43,839 Speaker 1: so for me, I'm just saying, look, you're valuable. Let's 721 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,280 Speaker 1: try to get you to a place where you're generating 722 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,400 Speaker 1: as much revenue as you can so you can do 723 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,280 Speaker 1: some incredible. Nay, So you can make your own investments, 724 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:51,879 Speaker 1: because that's how people are gonna be able to invest 725 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 1: in themselves. They can't invest in themselves if they're not 726 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 1: making any real money. And so the more money we make, 727 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: we're putting out there to our parters, to our staff, 728 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,960 Speaker 1: et cetera. So that's my goal. I love it. I 729 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 1: love it. I love everything you're about, your very your 730 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,200 Speaker 1: inspiration you, um, and I love that you're young. You know. 731 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:13,239 Speaker 1: I think when we're young, and we got to take 732 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,960 Speaker 1: a bite of these PB and j's Um, when you're young, 733 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: you know, a lot of us say, well there's this hurdle, 734 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:20,160 Speaker 1: in this hurdle, in this hurdle. And I feel like 735 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,719 Speaker 1: you looked at all hurdles and just said move out 736 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:24,880 Speaker 1: the way, you know, and you didn't give them an 737 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 1: excuse to live. You know. Um, what advice would you 738 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: give closing out to anyone trying to be in your 739 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:33,799 Speaker 1: position or even get it on the ZEUS network. Yeah no, 740 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,799 Speaker 1: I mean, look, I'm all I for me, there were 741 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,680 Speaker 1: there were two things that really shifted and changed my mind, 742 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 1: you know, um, from a spiritual standpoint, I listened to 743 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 1: every day, especially when I was at p A listened 744 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:48,919 Speaker 1: to Joel Osten. He was amazing. I don't know why 745 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: he impacted my life so much. I mean he was 746 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:55,919 Speaker 1: he just felt so genuine and also he his whole 747 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: brand and everything he was about was about hope and 748 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:02,200 Speaker 1: and just change your perspective on life. And so that 749 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,959 Speaker 1: was that was that I needed that at a certain time. 750 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,840 Speaker 1: And then I think for me, the other thing was 751 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,799 Speaker 1: reading a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, And that 752 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:14,600 Speaker 1: was that changed my whole mind and you know about 753 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: you know, uh, you know how rich people think and 754 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,719 Speaker 1: poor people think. You know. It was you know, you know, 755 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,279 Speaker 1: poor people work for money. Rich people allow money to 756 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:24,799 Speaker 1: work for them. And I don't know why that just 757 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,000 Speaker 1: stuck with me, but that was like that was like 758 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:29,600 Speaker 1: something that impacted me. And I think that, you know, 759 00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:32,160 Speaker 1: I say that to say, like, you know, be a 760 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,239 Speaker 1: risk taker, you know, take risk on yourself, you know, um, 761 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,960 Speaker 1: you know, really do some research, find out exactly what 762 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:40,840 Speaker 1: it is that you want to do. You know, people 763 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,480 Speaker 1: try to do so many different things. Be great at 764 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:47,040 Speaker 1: one thing. Let that thing open up doors for you, 765 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:50,160 Speaker 1: you know, uh, and and for me, you know, get 766 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 1: as much knowledge as you can from you know, certain 767 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: certain certain folks books, um, research online. I mean, the 768 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,880 Speaker 1: information is there. It's like a veil litle to us 769 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,360 Speaker 1: like that. So I think people just have to change 770 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:06,239 Speaker 1: their mind and their perspective. And I think that, you know, 771 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:09,240 Speaker 1: once they do that, those seeds will start to plant, 772 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,800 Speaker 1: you know, um in their minds and then ultimately in 773 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:16,239 Speaker 1: real life. And I think that I think people will 774 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,200 Speaker 1: actually live a life that they you know, dreamed of 775 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:21,839 Speaker 1: and that they really want to you know, really want 776 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:24,440 Speaker 1: to live. And so for me, I just encourage everybody 777 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:26,960 Speaker 1: to do whatever it is that they can to generate 778 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:29,759 Speaker 1: as much knowledge and information to find that thing that 779 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:33,320 Speaker 1: you want to do and do it and take that risk. Awesome. Awesome, 780 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:36,560 Speaker 1: Well I will definitely be taking your advice. Um. Now 781 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:40,320 Speaker 1: let's take up. There's the sub peanut butter and jelly. 782 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:46,399 Speaker 1: There we go, m hmm, no, like this every week. 783 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 1: So I'm not even gonna pretend like I'm still not 784 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:52,120 Speaker 1: eating peanut butter and jelly samwiches. This was when was 785 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,279 Speaker 1: the last time you ate this meal? Uh? Now it's 786 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:56,719 Speaker 1: been a couple of years, Um, I hope not a 787 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,000 Speaker 1: couple of years. Come on, probably a couple of months ago, 788 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:01,640 Speaker 1: probably I'm manage something now. In the middle of night, 789 00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:06,440 Speaker 1: you were like, all right, right, exactly, all right. Well, 790 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,120 Speaker 1: thank you to another great episode of Eating Wall Broke. 791 00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:13,480 Speaker 1: We're extremely happy to have you here and hopefully you 792 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:17,080 Speaker 1: can get to all those miscalls you MS good. Thank 793 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:21,319 Speaker 1: you guys. For more Eating Wall Broke from I Heart 794 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,399 Speaker 1: Radio and The Black Effect, visit the I Heart Radio app, 795 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:27,600 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.