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Speaker 1: Wait in the morning Breakfast Club. Morning. Everybody is DJ

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Speaker 1: Envy and Ngula Yee, Charlomagne and the guy. We all

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Speaker 1: the Breakfast Club. We got some special guests in the

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Speaker 1: building from the Gathering Spot. We have Ryan Wilson and T. K. Peterson.

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Speaker 1: Welcome guys, good to be here, Greenwood and the Gathering

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Speaker 1: Spot there. Well, let's let's break it down for people

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Speaker 1: that don't know what is the Gathering Spot. So the

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Speaker 1: Gathering Spot is a private network that we established in

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Speaker 1: Atlanta in twenty sixteen. We're in the community business. We

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Speaker 1: figure out how to connect people. Youngest members twenty one,

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Speaker 1: oldest is ninety. So we spend time building connections, hosting programs,

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Speaker 1: and we have physical clubs across the country. I actually

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Speaker 1: just had Mary J. Blige's um Yes Stan Devon Woman.

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Speaker 1: Their whole entire event was there at the Gathering Spot.

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Speaker 1: So how can people become a member if they wanted

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Speaker 1: to become a member of the Gathering Spot. So you

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Speaker 1: go online, right, we have a process that starts there.

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Speaker 1: You'll get in contact with a person on our membership

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Speaker 1: team and then we interview everybody. Right, It's really important

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Speaker 1: for us to get to know every single member of

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Speaker 1: the community. To make those connections that I was talking about,

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Speaker 1: We've got to spend time really understanding what makes you

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Speaker 1: you and then from there we send out acceptances. So

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Speaker 1: it kind of works like college. You put your application

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Speaker 1: in and then we'll tell you soon after if you're

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Speaker 1: if you're a member. How many members are there? There's

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Speaker 1: twelve thousands of the country across the country that with membership.

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Speaker 1: What does that include? What do I get with the

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Speaker 1: membership and how much is membership feeds? And why would

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Speaker 1: somebody want to do it? Got so the membership includes

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Speaker 1: access to the physical locations we have so in Atlanta

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Speaker 1: we have about twenty five thousand square feet in DC

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Speaker 1: on LA roughly the same size, so physical clubs that

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Speaker 1: have events space, a private restaurant and bar, and a

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Speaker 1: workspace where private offices and conference rooms. That thought being

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Speaker 1: that anything you would need to do in a modern

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Speaker 1: day's worth of work you can do inside of the space,

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Speaker 1: both professional and social. And then we have our own

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Speaker 1: content platform digital platform there and local perks and different benefits.

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Speaker 1: But the biggest attraction to being a part of the

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Speaker 1: community is that one another you're meeting other people who

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Speaker 1: are are like minded and highly driven and see value

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Speaker 1: and being part of something that's larger than themselves. So

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Speaker 1: very similar to college where you're meeting people who are

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Speaker 1: lifelong friends and partners and different things. This is how

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Speaker 1: you keep that connectivity beyond the educational setting and with

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Speaker 1: you for the rest of your life, hopefully. Interestingly enough,

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Speaker 1: you know, when I started at my private label store

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Speaker 1: and Detroit, the meeting that I had with my partner

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Speaker 1: Mikey was at the Gathering Spot. So that's where we

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Speaker 1: actually had our first initial meeting in person to kind

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Speaker 1: of talk about getting things started. So like stories like

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Speaker 1: that or what it's about for us, Like we look

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Speaker 1: now it's been all seven years since TJS open, and

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Speaker 1: there's so many business partners in relationships. We even have

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Speaker 1: TGS babies where people are like I met I met

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Speaker 1: at TGS and now now look at us. That's why

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Speaker 1: we started side Piece at the Gathering Spot. Hey, look

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Speaker 1: there there are a lot of different I say. And

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Speaker 1: that's that's again the one we were talking about this

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Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen. That was the plan. How do we create, yes,

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Speaker 1: a place, but a network where we can build with

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Speaker 1: one another. Right knowing that there's not enough places around

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Speaker 1: the country to be able to do that. So we

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Speaker 1: started in Atlanta, but we're building them all over the country. Now, Now,

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Speaker 1: what is membership fees? How much is it supposed to

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Speaker 1: be a membership? And can I bring in people? Because

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Speaker 1: you know, how does that work? Yeah? Great question. The

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Speaker 1: fees are it's two hundred dollars a month or two

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars for the year to be a member of

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Speaker 1: the gathering spot. And yeah, you're allowed three guests pretty

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Speaker 1: much at any time without giving advanced noise. If you

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Speaker 1: need more than that, we asked that you reach out

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Speaker 1: so we can make sure that there's enough space for

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Speaker 1: your for your guests. What made you decide Atlanta was

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Speaker 1: the right place to start. I think Atlanta is one

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Speaker 1: of the more important cities in the country, right, and

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Speaker 1: we've believed that for a really long time. But you

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Speaker 1: look between the colleges and universities, the big businesses that

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Speaker 1: are there, the small businesses and startups that are there,

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Speaker 1: and then you've got the culture that's coming out of

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Speaker 1: the city, right, that special sauce. We we couldn't pass

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Speaker 1: that up, right, That's what you see inside of the club.

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Speaker 1: You'll see people who are wearing suits and tires sitting

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Speaker 1: next to people who are wearing t shirt and jeans, right,

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Speaker 1: and so our goal is to try to figure out

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Speaker 1: how to make them talk to each other. But you

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Speaker 1: have to be in a city that understands and kind

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Speaker 1: of moves in that way already, and so we planted

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta. But we're in the community business, So I mean,

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Speaker 1: we're at this point able to do this work all

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Speaker 1: over the country. Camp in DC, right, So, yeah, DC

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Speaker 1: was the second one, and then we recently opened another

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Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, and that's the physical clubs where we

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Speaker 1: have membership communities. Actually one here in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Charlotte.

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Speaker 1: So they're TGS folks everywhere. Now, I was going to ask,

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Speaker 1: you know, Drake talks about kicking it with Jack Harlowe

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Speaker 1: at the Gatherer Spot. So you have celebrities as well

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Speaker 1: out of members or do you have celebrities that you

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Speaker 1: know come through because they feel safe? Yeah? Yeah, yeah yeah.

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Speaker 1: Terms of brother Man, he is a long time support

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Speaker 1: that showed us a lot of love the whole Grand

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Speaker 1: Hustle team. We're forever thankful for their support very early on.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, we have we have celebrity members. Oftentimes we

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Speaker 1: have a lot of people whom the team around the

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Speaker 1: celebrity is oftentime the member, so they're like manager, they're

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Speaker 1: assist sent their attorney, so the apparatus around them. And

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Speaker 1: then because of that, they're familiar with the space and

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Speaker 1: because it's a private community, they have you know, private

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Speaker 1: get together as regularly. So we're fortunate that we've We've

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Speaker 1: worked with Drake and an Oval team several times over

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Speaker 1: the years. It's always a great time with them. Now,

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Speaker 1: why would you turn somebody down if they wanted to

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Speaker 1: become a member? Why would you turn them down? So

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Speaker 1: we're looking for people who are connectors, right, So if

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Speaker 1: you're one of those people that likes to walk in

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Speaker 1: rooms and just pass out your business card and not

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Speaker 1: say anything and the interaction is really transactional, you're probably

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Speaker 1: not a good fit for TGS. But this is about relationships, right,

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Speaker 1: So if you're not a person that displays interests in

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Speaker 1: building real relationships, this is probably not the best environed

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Speaker 1: for you. I Mean, we ask a lot of questions

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Speaker 1: in our interview, but the main thing that we're asking

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Speaker 1: and the question that everyone gets is what animates you

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Speaker 1: outside of the office, and we like, we really care

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Speaker 1: about the answer to that question, Like you have to

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Speaker 1: talk to us about that other thing that you're passionate about.

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Speaker 1: That's what we ultimately build programs around. So it's important

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Speaker 1: to get to you, like the real you. And if

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Speaker 1: you don't want to bring that to the table again,

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Speaker 1: like this is probably not the best place for you

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Speaker 1: now right now, this always fascinates me. So I want

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Speaker 1: to get to the Greenwood part. When you guys have

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Speaker 1: done this whole partnership. Now, the wording is they did

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Speaker 1: Greenwood acquired the gathering spot, and so as people who

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Speaker 1: have built this up right as a baby from the beginning,

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Speaker 1: what was the decision that what was the thinking behind

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Speaker 1: you making that decision to go into business with Greenwood?

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Speaker 1: So there are a lot of things in this, right,

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Speaker 1: but first and foremost, if you look at what we've

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Speaker 1: been talking about at TJS for years, right, So, the

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Speaker 1: pandemic hits and we had a very vocal campaign called

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Speaker 1: we All We Got and the thing that we were

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Speaker 1: talking about was we've got to support one another and

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Speaker 1: like be radical in that support. That's us talking a

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Speaker 1: lot though about money, right, and so The conversation that

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Speaker 1: was happening a lot in the community is that we

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Speaker 1: just don't have access to the right resources and the

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Speaker 1: right tools to be able to advance our personal and

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Speaker 1: our business interests. So what we're doing with Greenwood is

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Speaker 1: is something that that really is is special. Right. When

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Speaker 1: you hear the term black on black, a lot of

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Speaker 1: times that phrase doesn't end positively, but in this this

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Speaker 1: context it does. Right, This is black on black m

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Speaker 1: and A. And we're working together to build a really

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Speaker 1: really big company. Knowing that we bring the community that

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Speaker 1: we have at TGS now together with the financial tools

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Speaker 1: and resources that Greenwood has. Those those two things together

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Speaker 1: are super super powerful. So we decided it was it

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Speaker 1: was better to go with each other than to be

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Speaker 1: trying to build a business separately. Now, black people only

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Speaker 1: allowed at the gathering spot. You just said, Jack Harlowe

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Speaker 1: is there, but I don't know he's a member. He

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Speaker 1: might have came with somebody else that somebody I'm asking

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Speaker 1: both both. No, So look, we are we are specific

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Speaker 1: at TGS and at Greenwood that while everybody is welcome,

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Speaker 1: we are speaking to our commune directly, right, and so

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Speaker 1: that is where we are focused, right, we're talking to

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Speaker 1: black folks and if never mixed words about that. It's

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Speaker 1: important for us to have places you mentioned safety earlier.

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Speaker 1: We have to have places where we are safe and

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Speaker 1: can build and grow with one another. So again, everyone's welcome,

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Speaker 1: but we are definitely specific about where the perspective. I

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Speaker 1: think something that Ryan has said over the years as

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Speaker 1: true is that there's places where we're tolerated or accepted.

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Speaker 1: This is a place that was built for is this

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Speaker 1: is black owned, black man is black operated. This is

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Speaker 1: our platform. Now let me ask you this sale. We

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Speaker 1: talk about working in tandem, right, black on black but

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Speaker 1: in a positive way. So why acquiring and not a partnership?

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Speaker 1: So I mean that really got down to just the

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Speaker 1: way that the best way to construct the deal, right.

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Speaker 1: I mean Greenwood is a big platform, right if you

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Speaker 1: look at just technology companies generally, the way that they're

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Speaker 1: able to scale a little bit different than what we

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Speaker 1: were doing. But the way that this works truly day

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Speaker 1: to day is that we are partnering, right, Like our

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Speaker 1: teams are working with one another. Weird. I think this

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Speaker 1: is an example of like again for other business owners

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Speaker 1: that are out there, it's possible to find arrangements, like

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Speaker 1: we've been working together for a long time. We just

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Speaker 1: have expanded the family and are proud to work with

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Speaker 1: Agreen with team Dane Damp. Now, how difficult was it

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Speaker 1: to get everything together? I meant, you know off saying

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Speaker 1: you want to have a membership club, How difficult was that?

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Speaker 1: Because you need a vision and it has to be

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Speaker 1: a vision of not just one of two people, You

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Speaker 1: need a bunch of people because to join a membership

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Speaker 1: type of club, I can't just as just me and

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Speaker 1: one person like you need numerous people. So how difficult

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Speaker 1: was that? Big difficult? Big difficult. So the hardest thing

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Speaker 1: as always you guys know as entrepreneurs as well as

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Speaker 1: you need capital, which is the first step. So something

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Speaker 1: we talked about is that we got ninety seven knows

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Speaker 1: before we got the first yes when it came to

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Speaker 1: get an investor. And then when you finally make it

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Speaker 1: to the part where you have the capital to build

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Speaker 1: out the location, then you start operating the business. And

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Speaker 1: like you said, we're a private membership club and people

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Speaker 1: want to see it before they sign up, and you

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Speaker 1: wouldn't want to come to a place that doesn't have

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Speaker 1: anyone in there, So it was. It was we say

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Speaker 1: hand to hand combat every day we went out and

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Speaker 1: we were in Atlanta and meeting as many people as possible. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, we're just getting to the place honestly where

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Speaker 1: we can talk about that part of the journey. Um,

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Speaker 1: I mean it was it was like super rough. A

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Speaker 1: lot of people told us no and like not the

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Speaker 1: like no, I'm not interested, polite nose. We were getting

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Speaker 1: like no, like get out of my office, I don't

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Speaker 1: like this. You're gonna fail knows. And you know, it

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Speaker 1: took just us continuing to believe that like the thing

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Speaker 1: that we saw that could really be a thing that

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Speaker 1: we could build. We just had to figure out how

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Speaker 1: to make that happen. That we see this as as

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Speaker 1: like assignment work, right, this is something that we feel

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Speaker 1: uniquely called to do and didn't want that part of

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Speaker 1: the process to stop us. But I mean, when you

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Speaker 1: don't get paid for years, right, it's you know, it's

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Speaker 1: a difficult. Yeah, And we we spent the first several

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Speaker 1: years of the business really trying to figure out one

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Speaker 1: how to make it happen, but then to how to

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Speaker 1: keep it on everybody else that works for you around

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Speaker 1: you cannot pay yourself. At first, all the money goes

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Speaker 1: back into the business. It would be the people that

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Speaker 1: work for you, but they're the ones that are making

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Speaker 1: money while you're Yeah, there were years where it was

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Speaker 1: like everybody in this joint is making more money than us,

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Speaker 1: like truly every we weren't paying ourselves anything. But I

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Speaker 1: mean you you got to see it through. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we we kept going knowing that like there would be

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Speaker 1: a day where we'd be able to participate to and

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Speaker 1: we just had to stick around long enough to make

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Speaker 1: that happen. And that's why that's gonna say. That's why

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Speaker 1: we're forever grateful to the founding members of the club,

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Speaker 1: particularly in Atlanta, because they bet on two guys and

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Speaker 1: a and a concept way before there was any proof

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Speaker 1: and to put in. So we have people who signed

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Speaker 1: up in twenty fifteen to become members just because they

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Speaker 1: met us. So they saw they saw a post on Instagram,

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Speaker 1: and they just liked the concept and they wanted to

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Speaker 1: truly support. And that's why, like every time we talk,

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Speaker 1: we always say like first and foremost were we just

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Speaker 1: work here and we're happy to serve and be a

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Speaker 1: part of this organization. But it's member left. It's all

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Speaker 1: about the members and the twelve thousand plus people who

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Speaker 1: have invested, but particularly the people in Atlanta, the founding

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Speaker 1: members there who made it possible. Salute to Mayor dickens

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Speaker 1: In in Atlanta, who's a founding member of the club

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Speaker 1: who recently got elected as a mayor of Atlanta. Like

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Speaker 1: that's how that's how long and deep rooted we are

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Speaker 1: in that community. I was going to ask, So, now,

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Speaker 1: who handles checks and balances? Right, two hundred dollars a month,

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Speaker 1: Sometimes a two hundred dollars gonna get decline? So who

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Speaker 1: calls that person? And if that person decides to come

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Speaker 1: to the gathering spot after they've been declined six times?

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Speaker 1: Who says My grandmother used to say, I ain't talking

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Speaker 1: about anybody, but I'm talking about somebody. Yeah, I mean

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Speaker 1: we have a team, right, So that's actually tek's responsibility

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Speaker 1: inside of the business. So for everybody out there talk

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Speaker 1: to t Yes. But honestly, there hasn't been a huge

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Speaker 1: problem for us. I mean this, there's a lot of

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Speaker 1: things that you get with the TGS membership, and you know, yes,

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Speaker 1: access to the space itself and the programs, but like

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Speaker 1: the people, right and so people don't want to miss

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Speaker 1: out on being able to continue to build those relationships.

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Speaker 1: What about pictures? Can you take pictures in the gathering spot?

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Speaker 1: So you were you were allowed to take pictures of yourself,

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Speaker 1: you were not allowed to take pictures of other people. Right,

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Speaker 1: So no, We've had a lot of special moments to TGS.

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Speaker 1: But I'll knock on wood, but none of those things

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Speaker 1: have have gone out to the public. Right. People take

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Speaker 1: it seriously, honestly, one of the most special moments. We

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Speaker 1: were fortunate that we hosted John Singleton back in twenty sixteen,

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Speaker 1: his last um, his last and speaking engagement before he

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Speaker 1: unfortunately passed, And we're celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of

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Speaker 1: Boys in the Hood. This was brought to us thanks

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Speaker 1: to our brother Shakazoom at DTP. And he was supposed

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Speaker 1: to be like a thirty minute talk and he ends

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Speaker 1: up speaking for like two and a half hours because

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Speaker 1: he's so comfortable and he's trusted in the room, and

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Speaker 1: two is the end. He's like, Hey, I'm gonna show

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Speaker 1: you something I'm working on, like I just got trust y'all,

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Speaker 1: please don't record any of this and don't show anyone

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Speaker 1: And then he shows us like the first fifteen minutes

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Speaker 1: of snowfall didn't leak right because everyone understands it's a community,

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Speaker 1: so you can't you can't violate that trust and so

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Speaker 1: you know we that was I mean, there's many special

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Speaker 1: moments to this point that are like that where people

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Speaker 1: just took seriously the fact that we're there for one another.

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Speaker 1: We've got to we've got to be responsible to one

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Speaker 1: another in that way and now working together as partners.

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Speaker 1: I think it's important to talk about that balance too,

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Speaker 1: because I think a lot of times in business, getting

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Speaker 1: into partnerships with the right people means so much. So

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Speaker 1: what are the skills that you guys bring because I

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Speaker 1: think sometimes I've had experiences where you can't go into

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Speaker 1: business with somebody who you'all both do the same exact thing.

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Speaker 1: It has to be like, this is my responsibility, you

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Speaker 1: said t case responsibility is calling people whose credit cards

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Speaker 1: didn't go through. But what are the ways that you

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Speaker 1: guys work together that makes it happen? Because sometimes we

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Speaker 1: want to do things, we don't want to do it

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Speaker 1: on our own. We want to find the right partner,

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Speaker 1: but it's not easy. Ahead the fortunate things that we

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Speaker 1: have complimentary skill sets. So Ryan is a lawyer by training.

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Speaker 1: He went to Georgetown Law all that good stuff, and

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Speaker 1: I studied financing accounting. I was a portfolio manager before

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Speaker 1: I started doing this. UM. So we have defined lanes

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Speaker 1: and I think that is that is a critical um

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Speaker 1: part of it, and I don't I don't want to

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Speaker 1: downplay the friendship part. That is important because there's a

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Speaker 1: level of trust that has to occur for a partnership

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Speaker 1: to work properly. Like there's there's no one I speak

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Speaker 1: to more often than Ryan. There's there's no move that

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Speaker 1: I make that he's not aware of, because everything we

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Speaker 1: do impacts the other person and impacts the business. So, UM,

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Speaker 1: if we weren't friends, I WoT I wouldn't be sure

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Speaker 1: how long it take to develop that like level of like, hey,

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Speaker 1: I'm about to go do this, so I'm going to

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Speaker 1: visit my mom. I will do that. UM. And they're

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Speaker 1: like having defined areas where it's like if it's something

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Speaker 1: with marking or our strategy, like that's Ryan's lane, We're

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Speaker 1: gonna do that. If it's like I want to move

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Speaker 1: to this accounting platform, I want to set up this

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Speaker 1: type of payment process system, it's like okay, like TK

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Speaker 1: said it, let's do that. And having having your areas

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Speaker 1: and spears. I think our core parts of being able

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Speaker 1: to operate as as a partnership and be friends and

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Speaker 1: then understanding that like the truth is like the dynamic

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Speaker 1: of our friendship has changed because we're business partners and

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Speaker 1: like we were at his family's house on Sunday and

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Speaker 1: we still end up talking about work because like that's

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Speaker 1: that's that's what. We just have a drink. I mean,

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Speaker 1: but we're honest with each other. We have been the

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Speaker 1: entire time. Like we don't we don't mix words with

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Speaker 1: each other. We hold each other super accountable. So if

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Speaker 1: I dropped the ball, he tells me he drops the ball,

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Speaker 1: I tell him, right, And we've tried to keep ego

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Speaker 1: out of this, right, I mean even now working with

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Speaker 1: new partners, we have the same sort of energy right

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Speaker 1: where we're just trying to get the thing done, like

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Speaker 1: what is the best way to get there? And if

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Speaker 1: you got the skill set to do it, then like

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Speaker 1: go in the game, like shoot the shot, right. We

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Speaker 1: we we've always tried to keep the mission ahead of

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Speaker 1: any of the personal stuff because some people's friendships get

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Speaker 1: damaged over working together too. And so that's why I

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Speaker 1: think that's important because we've seen that happen a lot

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Speaker 1: where people fall out with each other. So when y'all

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Speaker 1: don't agree on things, what happens. So we set ground rules.

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Speaker 1: So I'll say this first, we set ground rules at

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Speaker 1: the beginning of this process, and we we planned out

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Speaker 1: when we had those, like when we have these moments,

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Speaker 1: how are we going to get through them? Right? And

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Speaker 1: so it's in our operating documents. It's a part of

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Speaker 1: how we have like understood how we're going to talk

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Speaker 1: to each other. And that's helped, right because when a

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Speaker 1: thing happens, we go back to that playbook and are

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Speaker 1: able to march through. Okay, so this is the decision.

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Speaker 1: And again we like we have different twim lanes. So

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Speaker 1: if it's something that ultimately is in his lane, he's

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Speaker 1: got to be the person that that that it's you,

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Speaker 1: it's on you. Yeah, and he respects the same thing

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Speaker 1: when when it's something that's in my universe. So like

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Speaker 1: one hundred, like it would be like Ryan would be like, hey,

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Speaker 1: I want to like I want to do this activation,

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Speaker 1: I want to invest in this, and I'm like, ah,

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure if I want to do it to

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Speaker 1: that level. And it's like sometimes it's okay, bet, like

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Speaker 1: we can we can kill downs. Other times it's like no,

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Speaker 1: like it's really a point that we do this. So

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Speaker 1: I'm like, if we're gonna shift some budget over there

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Speaker 1: a better hit, I mean, I'll give I'll give you

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Speaker 1: an example. So a year ago I went to Ticke

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Speaker 1: and I was like, hey, look, we're opening the club

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Speaker 1: in DC and I want to fly private plane with

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Speaker 1: all of the members to the club. And he was like, cool,

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Speaker 1: we'll get like you know, ten twelve seed or something.

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Speaker 1: And I was like no, no no, no, like we need

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Speaker 1: to fly like over one hundred people like and he

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Speaker 1: was like like, I don't what you mean on a

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Speaker 1: hundred people? How are we gonna do that. I'm like,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, man, Like like you got to figure

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Speaker 1: that part out. But like we got to figure out

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Speaker 1: how to get our folks up to DC. And you know,

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Speaker 1: you know, I did my part of the work, he

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Speaker 1: did his part, and we flew the plane up and

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Speaker 1: it was seven It was a seven thirty seven thirty

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Speaker 1: seven to thirty seven. But yeah, it was a beautiful

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Speaker 1: experience all the members from Atlanta that wanted to go.

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Speaker 1: Who sit in the Who's in the back? Like, how

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Speaker 1: do you you about to get into? Now? I remember

404
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Speaker 1: you remember who get that first class? Who back? Even

405
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Speaker 1: though it's a plane. Look, somebody's sitting in the front.

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Speaker 1: Somebody sitting, but you would be in the back because

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Speaker 1: I've been to the gathering spot and you haven't. Oh no,

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Speaker 1: that's fair. I'll put it like I would just walk.

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Speaker 1: I was a road thirty two eight. I'll put it

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Speaker 1: like that. We were walking. Look, we had that problem.

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Speaker 1: We're walking on It was like, oh oh it's first come,

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Speaker 1: first sir. Everybody has Like we weren't going to set

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Speaker 1: up front, so we had to we had to just

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Speaker 1: yeah where you we flew? We were. Now, well, how

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Speaker 1: does things change now we're green with right? What are

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Speaker 1: some of the added benefits that members get? So a

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00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:35,560
Speaker 1: couple of things, right, and there's there's things now and

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Speaker 1: things that are coming. The things now So members have

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Speaker 1: the ability to to join the platform, right, you have

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Speaker 1: access to the tool, you can get the card um immediately,

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Speaker 1: and we'll continue to see new products built and developed

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00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,239
Speaker 1: for the entire community. Right. And so again we've been

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Speaker 1: talking about money for a really long time at TGS,

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Speaker 1: our money just simply does not circulate enough times in

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Speaker 1: the community. And so the work that we're going to

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Speaker 1: be doing together it's about trying to disrupt that, right.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we were looking at a statu here recently,

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Speaker 1: ninety seven percent of black folks income it's spent outside

429
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,760
Speaker 1: of the community, and our dollar doesn't even circulate one time.

430
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,920
Speaker 1: So the real work between TGS and Greenwood is getting

431
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,000
Speaker 1: specific about that, right that we're going to We're gonna

432
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,520
Speaker 1: highlight businesses, we're gonna highlight people, and we're gonna get

433
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,080
Speaker 1: them the tools necessary to be successful all right financially,

434
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,960
Speaker 1: which is a tool that we didn't have in our toolkit. Wow, Well,

435
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:30,520
Speaker 1: how can people become a member? If they want to

436
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:32,280
Speaker 1: try to become a member? How do they become a member?

437
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,199
Speaker 1: So you could you could join us, go to the

438
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,280
Speaker 1: gathering spot, dot club or go to Bank Greenwood. Right,

439
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:39,959
Speaker 1: we would love for you to be a member of

440
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,919
Speaker 1: both communities. It's a it's a really easy process on

441
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 1: both fronts, and you can find us on social too.

442
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,560
Speaker 1: Can you interview Envy right now? Can I interview? Can

443
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:56,080
Speaker 1: I interviewership? Okay, let's do this around. Okay, we're getting serious. Okay,

444
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:57,760
Speaker 1: So I mean we've got to start off with the basis.

445
00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,239
Speaker 1: So like, what what's your name? What do you do? Hi?

446
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:08,640
Speaker 1: My name is Sean Casey. Sean Casey, and I'm an entrepreneur. Okay,

447
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:10,840
Speaker 1: And how long have you been doing that work? All

448
00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,960
Speaker 1: my life? Since I was sixteen years old? Why do

449
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,320
Speaker 1: you like doing it? Um? Well, I love money, but

450
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,160
Speaker 1: other than that, I like to help people as well.

451
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:23,240
Speaker 1: I try to make sure I encourage younger individuals to

452
00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,600
Speaker 1: do the right thing. See, growing up in Queens, I

453
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,280
Speaker 1: tell everybody this story all the time. I seem clue

454
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,080
Speaker 1: who was my neighbor And if it wasn't for him,

455
00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:31,439
Speaker 1: I don't know what I would do. He encouraged me

456
00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,000
Speaker 1: to be a DJ, to follow you know, his heart

457
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,360
Speaker 1: and not be a drug dealer or do anything illegal.

458
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,280
Speaker 1: So I followed him and that's the reason I'm a DJ,

459
00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 1: and I like to really encourage people to do the same.

460
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,640
Speaker 1: I'm taking those What other ways do you get back

461
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:46,600
Speaker 1: to the community, now, How do you like to stay involved?

462
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,240
Speaker 1: I'm in there's many different ways. I mean, we conduct

463
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,120
Speaker 1: seminars which we teach minorities black and brown people, how

464
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:57,720
Speaker 1: to invest, whether it's my real estate, or it's anything financially,

465
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 1: whether it's opening up their own business, opening their own store.

466
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,320
Speaker 1: And of course we do the typical turkey drives toys

467
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:04,800
Speaker 1: for times and things like that that I feel like

468
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:06,879
Speaker 1: everybody does. But we do that too. To the communities.

469
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,720
Speaker 1: Sounded good to me. You sounded like a gamber here

470
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,080
Speaker 1: with my thoughts are what are the right flags? I'm interested?

471
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,400
Speaker 1: All right? So the fact that he led with he

472
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 1: loves money, and then he also said that he has

473
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 1: the seminars that he does. It feels like he's coming

474
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 1: to just get stuff. Yeah, I've been honest, That's what

475
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,159
Speaker 1: I'm being honest. Then he also did some name dropping.

476
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,399
Speaker 1: He mentioned Clue being his neighbor. No one asked that.

477
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:31,119
Speaker 1: And so I just feel like, I don't know if

478
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:35,040
Speaker 1: we want to groupie in the gathering side, Well your groupie.

479
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,440
Speaker 1: These are just my thoughts. You guys need me as

480
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 1: part of the INTERVIEWW Yeah, I'm sorry, sir. You know what,

481
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,840
Speaker 1: in a year you can let's say, now we just said, okay,

482
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to decline his membership. Can he reapply

483
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,280
Speaker 1: like a year from Wow, well you know, you know

484
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,440
Speaker 1: that's how Lamborghini was created, when the guy from Lamborghini

485
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,440
Speaker 1: wanted to get a Ferrari and fraud. So you're gonna

486
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:07,200
Speaker 1: go start your own. That's another Let's talk about trademark

487
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:09,520
Speaker 1: for a second. So you know, the gathering spot is

488
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,680
Speaker 1: a protecting mark, um, but us serious is like the

489
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 1: point for us at TGS is not trying to keep

490
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,800
Speaker 1: everybody out right, like we do more things to have

491
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 1: folks come in than anything, right, So it's a community

492
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 1: based business. So while there are memberships that are part

493
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 1: of the whole thing, the doors of the club are open.

494
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,760
Speaker 1: I mean we we opened our doors for the first

495
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,960
Speaker 1: time in twenty twenty to any activists or organizer in

496
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,919
Speaker 1: the city. They needed a place to organize, whether you

497
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,400
Speaker 1: remember or not, right, And so it's stuff like that

498
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,119
Speaker 1: that is it's serious work for us, like we have

499
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:42,639
Speaker 1: to have places where we can build genuinely. And again,

500
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 1: the same thing exists on the Greenwood side right now.

501
00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: Like if you are currently not banked, underbanked, or just

502
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,240
Speaker 1: need a banking relationship where the institution has been built

503
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,240
Speaker 1: for you, Greenwood is that platform. And seriously with the

504
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,040
Speaker 1: gathering spot, when I launched my Fresh Juice business, which

505
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,560
Speaker 1: is back during Fresh Juice, I did an event there

506
00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:05,680
Speaker 1: that you guys open the doors for me to come

507
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 1: in and bring the juices in and make some cocktails

508
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 1: with these press juices, and it was amazing for me

509
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: to even be able to tap into that network of

510
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 1: people that you guys have access to. Well, it's what

511
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,360
Speaker 1: we're here for. If you have a business, who we're

512
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,120
Speaker 1: here to be supportive. We've got to be specific about that. True,

513
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,480
Speaker 1: and it's not just entrepreneurs if you if you don't

514
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 1: have a business, it is still a great place for

515
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,560
Speaker 1: you to come in and meet people and do social adventure.

516
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: And you know this edification is happening all the time.

517
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,280
Speaker 1: It's really just about being connected like that is that's

518
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,600
Speaker 1: the biggest thing. It's about connection and collaboration and seeing

519
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 1: value because you can start to get stifled if you

520
00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:42,760
Speaker 1: if you just work in your one area. That's one

521
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,919
Speaker 1: of the big drivers for us. Like I worked in finance.

522
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,359
Speaker 1: Ryan was in the legal field, and I started to

523
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,000
Speaker 1: feel like the only people I was meeting were people

524
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,320
Speaker 1: who worked in my specific type of finance, like I

525
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,199
Speaker 1: worked in mortgage backed securities, and people who did that

526
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 1: with that mortgage backed securities. You know, he'll go ahead.

527
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,040
Speaker 1: I know he's going to try to tap you after this.

528
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 1: I'm not. And that's that's a good thing though. That's

529
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,200
Speaker 1: that is how we advance ourselves by learning about someone.

530
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:09,959
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, you know I do electrical work. Conside's like, oh,

531
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 1: I I was wondering about this project I had in

532
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 1: my house, and now you have that resource. And that's

533
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 1: what that's about. It like resource building and by knowing

534
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 1: who's in your community, and like that's that's my favorite

535
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 1: part of the work that we do. It's like, if

536
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 1: you have an idea or a concept or anything you

537
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 1: want to share, like, let's figure out how we can

538
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,760
Speaker 1: there's there's enough for everyone. Let's figure out how we

539
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:31,959
Speaker 1: can all platform one another. You could do a real

540
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:37,680
Speaker 1: estate event there have done many, right, Yeah, because no,

541
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's truly built for that. And so

542
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,919
Speaker 1: now like the second iteration of the business is we

543
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,280
Speaker 1: can now have the right financial instruments to now be

544
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,760
Speaker 1: able to start to supply the right resources to one another.

545
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,480
Speaker 1: Because like we would have the conversation about real estate,

546
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 1: but then a lot of folks would would be talking

547
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: about well, like, well, who do I partner with? And

548
00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 1: to actually get this deal done, We're about to be

549
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,159
Speaker 1: able to answer that question in a railway like we

550
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,879
Speaker 1: can be We don't have to ask anybody for partnership.

551
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,240
Speaker 1: We can ask ourselves, right like, and we have the

552
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 1: tools and the resources to do that ourselves without asking anybody.

553
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,000
Speaker 1: That's what TJS and Greenwood is is about. What about

554
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:17,920
Speaker 1: buying the land where your locations are? And then, yeah,

555
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,240
Speaker 1: it's important, but I mean, and we know firsthand how

556
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,399
Speaker 1: difficult it is to do that. Mean, we started this

557
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 1: journey when we were twenty four and forget buying anything.

558
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,639
Speaker 1: People weren't willing to even lease us space. Sat in

559
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,920
Speaker 1: an office and watched a major landlord in town tell us,

560
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: I will not lease you this space, no matter how

561
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:41,919
Speaker 1: well capitalized you are, like quote unquote, And so it

562
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,360
Speaker 1: is important to us to like, we've got to encourage

563
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,119
Speaker 1: not only ourselves, but everybody, got it. We've got to

564
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,400
Speaker 1: own own as much as we possibly can. I can't

565
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 1: wait to write my book and talk about him in

566
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,080
Speaker 1: my book, because I mean, what's the rationale behind that?

567
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 1: Just I don't I can't speak to the rational I

568
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,040
Speaker 1: can just say that there are there are a lot

569
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 1: of industries where, including banking, right where we have been

570
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 1: consistently just pushed out of the process. And it is

571
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,800
Speaker 1: it is like way over time that we own those

572
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 1: businesses and those industries and are starting to do the

573
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: stuff ourselves. Right. This this is not about and can

574
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,919
Speaker 1: save as the sounds. We are not trying to be

575
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 1: invited to anybody's table anymore. Right. Work we're trying to

576
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:30,160
Speaker 1: do is and the work that we're doing is about

577
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 1: building our own tables. Sincerely, because we we witnessed for

578
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:38,400
Speaker 1: years asking and getting kicked out the office, not being

579
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:40,480
Speaker 1: able to get a deal done right, and so I

580
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,199
Speaker 1: don't want that experience for anybody else. It almost truly

581
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:51,400
Speaker 1: took us off of our path. I thank you guys.

582
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 1: It's so inspirational to me just the way, because I

583
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,080
Speaker 1: remember when the gathering Spot first started, my good friends

584
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 1: Jane Yes always been like, if we have to go

585
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,480
Speaker 1: to the gathering Spot, and so just to see, you

586
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,199
Speaker 1: know just how far you guys have come in this

587
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 1: period of time. And I know it definitely wasn't easy.

588
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 1: Some people probably felt like it wouldn't ever get done

589
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 1: the way that it has. I congratulate you, because it's

590
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: a huge deal. And I think people watching this should

591
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 1: all say, how can I be a member? How can

592
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,879
Speaker 1: I join the community? Even if you're not in Atlanta, DCLA,

593
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,000
Speaker 1: Like you said, there are communities in Chicago and Detroit

594
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,160
Speaker 1: and New York and other spaces where they can also

595
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:27,680
Speaker 1: be a member in support. Yeah, please please come join

596
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,159
Speaker 1: us and be a part of this collective. It's a

597
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,639
Speaker 1: it's a really special time for us as as a company.

598
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,359
Speaker 1: And you know, to tk's a point earlier, we're just

599
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,160
Speaker 1: extremely we can't We're just grateful. People are like jee like,

600
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:42,959
Speaker 1: like shaka like like. The only reason we made it

601
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 1: was because the community decided that they weren't going to

602
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 1: let the business go under, even folks that y'all seeing here,

603
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 1: I mean Doctor Key of the Village Market, Pinky Slutty Vegan,

604
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,480
Speaker 1: And we've been a part of this tribe together, really

605
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 1: growing together, and that that that is something that we

606
00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,400
Speaker 1: don't take lightly. And so anybody that's interested in joining

607
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,960
Speaker 1: the work, we'd love to have have you at TGS

608
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: or agree with all right, Well, thank you guys for

609
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 1: joining us, and make sure check out the gathering spot

610
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 1: and it's the Breakfast Club, Good morning,