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Speaker 1: Hey, what's up everybody.

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Speaker 2: I'm Jameel Hill and welcome to politics and I heart

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Speaker 2: podcast and unbothered production.

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Speaker 1: Time to get spolitical.

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Speaker 2: Here's something I never thought i'd be doing, delving into

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Speaker 2: Bill Belichick's personal life. Now one I didn't know someone

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Speaker 2: like Bill Belichick was actually capable of having a personal

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Speaker 2: life because he's this guy.

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Speaker 3: But you think having a thirty.

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Speaker 1: Seven year on a Cincinnati it's nothing about the past,

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Speaker 1: nothing about the futures. Right now, we're praying for Cincinnati.

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Speaker 3: Do you feel like the talent you have here as good?

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Speaker 3: We're getting ready for Cincinnati.

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Speaker 2: To quote Shack, Bill, I was unfamiliar with your game,

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Speaker 2: so I never never, never, ever, ever ever thought i'd

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Speaker 2: see a day. Well, your seventy three year old ass

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Speaker 2: is out here dating a twenty four year old.

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Speaker 1: It's giving.

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Speaker 3: Why would a woman?

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Speaker 4: It's fine if you be Andrews and a big fat, greasy, bloated,

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Speaker 4: stink gelatine ass.

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Speaker 1: Motherfuck I kid, I kid.

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Speaker 2: Now consider that just an excuse to play a little

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Speaker 2: clip from Harlem Knights. Now, we have seen relationships torpedo

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Speaker 2: many a sports career, even coaches. I mean, I'm old

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Speaker 2: enough to remember when former Arkansas hit football coach Bobby

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Speaker 2: Patrino literally crashed out. Now former UFL football coach Bobby

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Speaker 2: Patrino is now off the field after new information comes

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Speaker 2: to light about his recent motorcycle crash in Arkansas.

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Speaker 5: Patrino is now the head football coach at the University

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Speaker 5: of Arkansas, and this morning he's on paid administrative leave.

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Speaker 1: Our Eric King joins US Now with more on this story.

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Speaker 3: Good morning, Eric, Good morning to you.

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Speaker 6: You guys will remember Patrino was in a motorcycle accident

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Speaker 6: Sunday nights near the University of Arkansas. Originally, he said

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Speaker 6: no one was with him at the time of the crash. Well,

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Speaker 6: yesterday a police report confirmed that was not the case.

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Speaker 6: Please say, twenty five year old Jessica Durell was on

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Speaker 6: the bike with him. Darell is a newly hired employee

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Speaker 6: with the football team. Immediately after that report was released,

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Speaker 6: the fifty one year old coach was put on administrative leave.

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Speaker 2: Yo, Bobby was out there, fulan. The woman he was

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Speaker 2: in the accident with was twenty five. Patrino was a

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Speaker 2: married father of four at the time. Now, I know

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Speaker 2: this is going to be hard to believe, but they

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Speaker 2: were more than just friends. Patrino even gave her twenty

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Speaker 2: thousand dollars of the University of Arkansas's money.

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Speaker 1: I that young old love.

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Speaker 5: Now.

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Speaker 2: I don't really like to be all up in somebody

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Speaker 2: else's relationship, but this Bill Belichick situation is pretty hard

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Speaker 2: to avoid. Bill is the greatest NFL coach of the

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Speaker 2: salary cap era. But right now that man needs a

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Speaker 2: pep talk from John Witherspoon.

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Speaker 3: I'm Marcy.

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Speaker 7: I hear a girl doctor got you pussy with whyn't

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Speaker 7: you you first? It don't be pushy's whip whipped that

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Speaker 7: puzzy look.

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Speaker 2: This ladies and gentlemen is full on simping. Bill Belichick

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Speaker 2: was born in nineteen fifty two. That is, are you

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Speaker 2: civil rights in voting rights legislation? He was born basically

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Speaker 2: on the coketails of Jim Crow. That man grew up

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Speaker 2: with a black and white TV. A gallon of milk

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Speaker 2: wasn't even a dollar, gas was twenty three cents a

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Speaker 2: gallon rosa parks hadn't even happened yet. He is civil

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Speaker 2: rights worker years old. He is Cold War years old.

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Speaker 2: He is motherfucker's still getting polio years old. But all

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Speaker 2: jokes aside this relationship is having an impact on Bill's

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Speaker 2: professional life, their reports that Hudson is the real CEO

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Speaker 2: of Bill Belichick. She c seed on emails. He refers

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Speaker 2: to her as his muse in his book. She ain't

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Speaker 2: just some random arm candy. She's out here running shit,

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Speaker 2: and that much was made clear after this awkward exchange.

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Speaker 2: During the sixty minutes Profile on Bill Belichick.

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Speaker 3: Jordan was a constant presence during our interview. You have

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Speaker 3: Jordan right over there. Everybody in the world seems to

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Speaker 3: be following this relationship. They've got an opinion about private life.

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Speaker 3: He's got nothing to do with them, but they're invested

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Speaker 3: in it. How do you deal with that?

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Speaker 1: Never been too worried about what everybody else.

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Speaker 3: Thanks, just to try to do what I feel like

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Speaker 3: is that's for me and what's right? How did you

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Speaker 3: guys meet?

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Speaker 1: Not talking about this?

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Speaker 4: No, No, it's a topic neither one of them is

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Speaker 4: comfortable commenting on.

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Speaker 2: Now, seeing that exchange is why people are not only

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Speaker 2: side ey A'm Bill Belichick, but they're actually concerned about him.

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Speaker 1: People such as Charles Barkley.

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Speaker 3: What is Bill Belichick doing? Well?

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Speaker 5: This is a very slippery subject for me because Bill's

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Speaker 5: one of my really good friends. I don't I'm not

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Speaker 5: sure what's going on. You know, He's been a great

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Speaker 5: friend for me for a long time. We've been Fransance,

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Speaker 5: he coach for the Browns. I think he got to

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Speaker 5: be very careful right now. This is starting to be

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Speaker 5: on a very slippery slope.

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Speaker 1: If Barkley is worried, then we all need to be

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Speaker 1: worried now.

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Speaker 2: While on the face of it, it looks like a

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Speaker 2: class that's a case of old guy getting caught up

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Speaker 2: with a young woman. I'm wondering, though, what his players

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Speaker 2: and even prospects who might be considering going to University

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Speaker 2: of North Carolina are thinking right about now. Is it

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Speaker 2: possible to lose a little bit of respect for someone

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Speaker 2: whose nose appears to be so wide open about someone

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Speaker 2: who is around the same age as his players. But

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Speaker 2: if he likes it, I guess the rest of us

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Speaker 2: just have to love it, Which is the nicest way

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Speaker 2: that I can say. Ay, Bill, you tripping. I'm Jamelle Hill,

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Speaker 2: and I approved this message. I'm so excited about today's

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Speaker 2: show because one of the great joys in life is

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Speaker 2: just putting good people on and not that my guess

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Speaker 2: today needs me, but I pretty much rock his clothing

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Speaker 2: four or five times a week. He has such an

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Speaker 2: incredible story sharing how his NBA career ended just mere

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Speaker 2: weeks before he was about to take his place on

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Speaker 2: the Sacramento Kings. His business is on the rise and

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Speaker 2: is considered to be one of the best clothing brands

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Speaker 2: out there in the nation.

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Speaker 1: And so all I can say is that you guys

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Speaker 1: are going to learn.

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Speaker 2: A ton of gems from the founder of Actively Black.

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Speaker 2: Coming up next on Spolitics, Lanny Smith. So, Lanny, I'm

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Speaker 2: gonna start this episode with the question I ask every

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Speaker 2: guest that appears on Politics, and that is name an

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Speaker 2: athlete or a moment that made you love sports.

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Speaker 4: Oh, Michael Jordan, I'm a Jordan's stand. Uh so, Yeah,

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Speaker 4: when I fell in love with Michael Jordan, that's what

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Speaker 4: made me want to play in the NBA.

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Speaker 3: I was obsessed.

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Speaker 4: I was born in eighty four, so I would say

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Speaker 4: around that first championship, Yeah, it was.

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Speaker 3: It was a rap for me.

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Speaker 4: I'm still walking around waring Jordan's just because of that.

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Speaker 6: That.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, mj Well, you you wore twenty three.

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Speaker 4: As a player, right, Yeah, when I say I was

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Speaker 4: a stand it was. It was like, really, I tried

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Speaker 4: to I was a point guard though, so it was

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Speaker 4: like my game didn't match trying to play like him.

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Speaker 4: But everything from the number too. I would wear legs, leave,

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Speaker 4: I wore a wristband. Yeah, I thought I was MJ

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Speaker 4: in my mind for sure.

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Speaker 2: Now, like a lot of young players, especially like everybody

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Speaker 2: sort of has that dream of I want to make

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Speaker 2: it to the NBA, but you actually did made it there,

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Speaker 2: and then you're a month into your NBA career and

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Speaker 2: you suffered a devastating injury.

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Speaker 1: What happened?

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Speaker 4: Man, I'm guarding pick and roll and practice the two

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Speaker 4: bigs fighting over each other. So I have two six ten,

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Speaker 4: six eleven, two hundred and fifty pound guys that tripped

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Speaker 4: over each other, fell into my left knee, tod the

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Speaker 4: articulate carlage in my left knee, and I had two microfracture.

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Speaker 3: Surgeries, and it was it was, it was over with.

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Speaker 4: And it was When you say devastating, I mean, like

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Speaker 4: this is my my dream.

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Speaker 3: Like it was. It was playing a B and C.

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Speaker 3: I had no backup.

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Speaker 4: Playing Every birthday wish growing up it was to play

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Speaker 4: in the NBA.

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Speaker 3: That was like my singular focus.

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Speaker 4: So to get that opportunity to be blessed to put

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Speaker 4: that jersey on that's got Jerry West on the chest

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Speaker 4: and it's got my name on the back meant everything

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Speaker 4: to me. And then to have it be gone so

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Speaker 4: quickly with something that really really changed a lot of

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Speaker 4: things in my life. And I'd say even now to

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Speaker 4: this day, I still have my moments where I feel

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Speaker 4: the mourning of a dream that I had.

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Speaker 3: But I'm still kind of mourning it a little bit.

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Speaker 2: Does that make it hard for you to watch basketball?

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Speaker 1: Sometimes?

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Speaker 3: It did in the beginning.

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Speaker 4: In the beginning I could, I just couldn't watch it.

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Speaker 4: I was, you know, I played my college ball at

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Speaker 4: the University of Houston. I got asked if I wanted

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Speaker 4: to be an assistant coach, and I was like, I don't

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Speaker 4: even want to be around the game like it was.

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Speaker 3: They was that painful. And then you know.

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Speaker 4: My class it's a little better now because it's only

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Speaker 4: I think two guys in the league form my class.

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Speaker 3: My class is you know, Lebron James, that's you know.

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Speaker 4: We My first time playing against Lebron was in the

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Speaker 4: seventh grade at AU Nationals in Orlando, you know what

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Speaker 4: I mean. And so seeing so many of you know,

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Speaker 4: my peers playing at you know, early on when when

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Speaker 4: it when it ended, was hard. It was hard to

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Speaker 4: see all these guys still in the league knowing that, man,

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Speaker 4: this is this is my dream that I fought for.

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Speaker 4: But that healing process for me came when, you know,

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Speaker 4: God blessed me with some other dreams afterwards, you know,

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Speaker 4: launching active faith and then obviously actively black. Being able

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Speaker 4: to kind of transfer that same passion and work ethic

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Speaker 4: and drive that it took to make it to the league.

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Speaker 4: I've been able to transfer that into that and then

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Speaker 4: the blessing even from that is the NBA for the

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Speaker 4: last I don't know how many years now, you know,

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Speaker 4: they've invited me in to come speak at rookie Transition

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Speaker 4: program the G League, speak to the different teams and

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Speaker 4: talking to guys about transitioning into life after basketball. Because normally,

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Speaker 4: you know, it's a guy from a a previous generation,

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Speaker 4: an older guy, and guys aren't really in tune with that.

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Speaker 4: But when I stand up in front of the fellas

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Speaker 4: and I'm like, the last time you played basketball could

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Speaker 4: be the last time, and You never know when your

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Speaker 4: last time to step on that court will be. They

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Speaker 4: perk up when they see somebody that looks like them

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Speaker 4: and can talk their language, telling them this this, this

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Speaker 4: thing could end at any moment, So at least be

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Speaker 4: preparing your mind for what that life after basketball will be.

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Speaker 2: That's not an easy thing to heal from. So what

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Speaker 2: did what did your healing journey look like after it

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Speaker 2: was clear your career was over in basketball.

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Speaker 3: I'm still on that journey.

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Speaker 4: But I'll say my faith is something that I leaned on,

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Speaker 4: and I leaned on heavily. My mother raised me in

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Speaker 4: the church, and you know, she always would would tell

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Speaker 4: me whatever God has for you is for you. And

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Speaker 4: the fact that I even got to where I was

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Speaker 4: with the Sacramento Kings was already a testament to that

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Speaker 4: because I actually had what they thought was a career

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Speaker 4: in the injury in college. I broke my foot. Had

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Speaker 4: three surgeries on my foot. The last one was to

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Speaker 4: save half my foot from being amputated. They tried to

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Speaker 4: put a screw in to fuse the bone together and

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Speaker 4: it got infected and that infection threatened, you know, the

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Speaker 4: health of my foot.

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Speaker 3: Luckily, they saved the foot.

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Speaker 4: But the doctors told me then that you probably won't

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Speaker 4: be able to play basketball anymore. So I came back

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Speaker 4: from that and still, you know, was able to touch

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Speaker 4: my dream. And so I knew that if God has

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Speaker 4: something for you, it's for you, regardless of what anybody

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Speaker 4: else says, in regardless of the circumstances. So I leaned

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Speaker 4: on that, you know, and faith is evidence of things

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Speaker 4: I've seen. So it's like I couldn't see what my

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Speaker 4: future was going to be after basketball ended. I didn't

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Speaker 4: know what I was going to be doing. But I

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Speaker 4: just relied heavily on prayer, my family. My mother was

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Speaker 4: still very supportive of me.

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Speaker 8: And.

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Speaker 4: I think just grasping the fact that God had a

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Speaker 4: different plan for my life and submitting to that, that's

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Speaker 4: really what helped that healing. How hard was that to accept, though,

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Speaker 4: I mean I went through deep stages of depression. I

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Speaker 4: mean I went through stages where I felt like my

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Speaker 4: life was worthless, you know what I mean, Because like

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Speaker 4: I said, I hadn't it was NBA was playing a

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Speaker 4: B and C and often what happens, and I see

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Speaker 4: this with a lot of athletes, even those who make

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Speaker 4: it and are able to enjoy their careers. At some

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Speaker 4: point that ball stops bouncing and they still have that

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Speaker 4: struggle afterwards. And what I noticed is this, it's this

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Speaker 4: emotional and psychological connection that you start the game early.

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Speaker 4: You start to receive kind of that praise and adoration

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Speaker 4: even at an early age, and I think you start

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Speaker 4: to attach your self worth, your self identity, your self

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Speaker 4: esteem to this thing. It only gets worse as you

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Speaker 4: get older, because you in high school, you're the man

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Speaker 4: in your city, the man in your state. You go

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Speaker 4: to college, and then you make it. The longer you're

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Speaker 4: in it, the more attached your being becomes to this

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Speaker 4: this thing. And when it ends, that identity crisis, I

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Speaker 4: think it happens to everybody. I've talked to guys who

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Speaker 4: played ten fifteen years in the league and they're still

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Speaker 4: dealing with it, like I don't know who I am

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Speaker 4: without this basketball, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 3: And so.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's it's tough. Even when I go

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Speaker 4: talk two kids now, I do not encourage them to

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Speaker 4: go play in the NBA. And I don't say that

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Speaker 4: from a place of discouragement. The truth of the matter is,

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Speaker 4: it's four hundred and fifty jobs in the NBA, and

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Speaker 4: all those jobs don't open up every year. So you're

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Speaker 4: literally talking about lottery ticket chances to play in the NBA.

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Speaker 4: But it's not as easy to just going to the

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Speaker 4: corner store and buying that lottery ticket.

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Speaker 3: You got to dedicate.

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Speaker 4: Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years of your life just to even

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Speaker 4: have the chance for the lottery ticket. And especially for

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Speaker 4: the black community, I feel like so many of us

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Speaker 4: when we're young, we see these opportunities as the only

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Speaker 4: way out.

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Speaker 3: I got to make it to the league.

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Speaker 4: I got to make it rapping these opportunities that are

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Speaker 4: really lottery take chances. So then what happens when you

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Speaker 4: don't win that lottery is you've got to You got a.

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Speaker 3: Ton of a ton of.

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Speaker 4: Unhealed people walking around with that resentment inside that you

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Speaker 4: gave your whole life to something and you didn't get

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Speaker 4: the end result that you were that you were aiming for.

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Speaker 4: And I think that's I think that's dangerous. So one

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Speaker 4: of the things that I try to do is let

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Speaker 4: us know we can be more, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 4: It's cool to have that dream, but we can actually

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Speaker 4: be more, and let's broaden our horizons on what we

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Speaker 4: think we can be.

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Speaker 2: You know, So when did you start to put the

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Speaker 2: pieces together and and really giving some serious thought and

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Speaker 2: putting stuff in motion in terms of like what your

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Speaker 2: life was going to look like without basketball.

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Speaker 4: The injury in college was a wake up call to

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Speaker 4: a certain degree, like wait, a minut like this, you know, well,

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Speaker 4: what am I gonna do if this doesn't work out?

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Speaker 3: You know what I mean.

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Speaker 4: I still don't think I put a lot of thought

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Speaker 4: into it, but I will say it changed my mentality

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Speaker 4: to the point where when I was at rookie transition program,

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Speaker 4: I remember Chris A Chin, who's like the league mama,

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Speaker 4: everybody's mama to everybody. I remember meeting her and I

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Speaker 4: went up after our meeting and I introduced myself.

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Speaker 3: I'm like, my name is Lanny Smith. Pleasure to meet you.

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Speaker 4: I just like to if there's any opportunities in the

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Speaker 4: league office or whatever, I just want to explore those things.

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Speaker 4: And she was so taken back that she was like,

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Speaker 4: let's let's let me take you to dinner tonight, so

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Speaker 4: let's sit down and talk about this. And to this day,

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Speaker 4: like she's a phone call away, and she says every

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Speaker 4: time I remember you being so intentional about introducing yourself

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Speaker 4: to everybody who came to speak, and She's like a

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Speaker 4: lot of players don't even recognize how much those relationships

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Speaker 4: and that networking can help them when the game ends.

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Speaker 4: So I don't think I had no vision. I had

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Speaker 4: no idea did this is what I would be doing?

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Speaker 4: But I did know that I needed to start at

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Speaker 4: least widening my network outside of just playing basketball. What

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Speaker 4: are the other things that I could possibly be doing?

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Speaker 4: And that's that's proven to be very fruitful for me.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the first step was active faith, that active faith

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Speaker 2: come together.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, jay Z got this line that I quote often.

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Speaker 4: He said, and if they would have told him that

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Speaker 4: whole was sell clothing not in his lifetime, wasn't in

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Speaker 4: my right mind. And I think about that often because

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Speaker 4: there's now a single point in my life that I

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Speaker 4: ever thought this is what I would be doing, and

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Speaker 4: with active faith I was. It was literally after my

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Speaker 4: second microfracture surgery. So microfractic surgery is an eleven and

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Speaker 4: a half eleven and a half month rehab, it's a

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Speaker 4: year of rehab.

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Speaker 3: I had two of them.

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Speaker 4: So when I had the first one and the doctors

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Speaker 4: was like, yes, oh, it's over for you.

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Speaker 3: I was like, yeah, I heard that before, you know,

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Speaker 3: I heard that before. I'm gonna be back.

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Speaker 4: So I went full into the training of trying to

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Speaker 4: come back to play. I wasn't going to give up

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Speaker 4: with my dream that easy. And my knee couldn't handle

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Speaker 4: the training. They had to go back in and redo

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Speaker 4: the microfracture surgery. So then that's a whole nother year.

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Speaker 4: And I knew right. And so after that surgery, I

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Speaker 4: remember praying and I talked to God just like this.

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Speaker 4: I said, God, if this is being taken from me,

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Speaker 4: I'm begging you to show me what you want me

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Speaker 4: to do with my life. I literally said this, like that,

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Speaker 4: whatever you showed me, that's what I'm.

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Speaker 3: Going to do.

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Speaker 4: And it was probably two weeks after I said that prayer,

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Speaker 4: this idea came to me of merging my faith, which

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Speaker 4: was very important to me, and my love for sports.

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Speaker 4: And it was like, how can I merge that in

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Speaker 4: a meaningful way? And it was like I grew up

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Speaker 4: wearing Nike and Adidas and these different brands, but those

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Speaker 4: brands don't speak to this part of me. And I

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Speaker 4: knew from being in fellowship of Christian athletes. I knew

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Speaker 4: from having you know, the friends that I had, like

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Speaker 4: Jeremy Lynn and Steph Curry, whose faith was something that

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Speaker 4: they carried with them. I was like, this means something

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Speaker 4: to a lot of people. Let me create in my mind,

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Speaker 4: which was like the faith based version of Nike.

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Speaker 3: That's what That's how I saw it in my mind.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, I felt very like purpose driven and missions

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Speaker 4: driven with it, that this would be a way to

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Speaker 4: spread the Gospel in a way that would be you know,

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Speaker 4: maybe not in your face, and something that a lot

378
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Speaker 4: of us can relate to that that carry our faith

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Speaker 4: with us wherever we go. That double entendre of being

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Speaker 4: active in your faith and also being an active were

381
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Speaker 4: brand was something that resonated with a lot of people,

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Speaker 4: and so I launched that brand out of my mom's house.

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Speaker 4: Steph and Jeremy Lynn were the first guys that were

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Speaker 4: like wearing the brand. And at the time, Jeremy was

385
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Speaker 4: in the g League. He gets called up and still

386
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Speaker 4: even then, you know, I remember him coming to Houston

387
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Speaker 4: and he's at the end of the bench with the

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Speaker 4: next we met for lunch and I gave him some

389
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Speaker 4: orange wrist bands. I said, active faith in Jesus name

390
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Speaker 4: I play and the guards that were in front of

391
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Speaker 4: him that got hurt. Next thing, you know, he's the

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Speaker 4: starting point guard for the New York Knicks and the

393
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:15,040
Speaker 4: insanity happens. So he's on the cover of Time magazine

394
00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,119
Speaker 4: and Sports Illustrating. He's laying the ball up and you

395
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Speaker 4: see Active Faith on the wrist and like the website

396
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:26,080
Speaker 4: crashed four times. It was just it was crazy. Yeah,

397
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Speaker 4: and then you know, and then obviously Steph becoming who

398
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Speaker 4: he became, and he still doesn't play a game without

399
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,080
Speaker 4: wearing that risk band. It was something that really helped,

400
00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:39,800
Speaker 4: you know, launch the brand. But then I think the

401
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:41,720
Speaker 4: biggest thing that I saw was that it was bigger

402
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Speaker 4: than just another apparel brand. We would get emails from

403
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Speaker 4: customers who would write and say, I just got diagnosed

404
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,240
Speaker 4: with I got diagnosed with cancer and I felt like

405
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,199
Speaker 4: giving up, but I wore my Active Face shirt to

406
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Speaker 4: my chemo treatment and it was just something that reminded

407
00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:57,600
Speaker 4: me to keep fighting and keep the faith. Still getting

408
00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:03,080
Speaker 4: chills I tell that story, but I was like, this

409
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:04,679
Speaker 4: is this is powerful, you know what I mean? This

410
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:06,880
Speaker 4: is not just another hoodie that somebody's wearing. It's something

411
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Speaker 4: that's positively impacting somebody's life.

412
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Speaker 3: And the seed that was planning.

413
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Speaker 4: To me understanding what was being built with that also

414
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Speaker 4: helped me, you know, with Actively Black as well.

415
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Speaker 2: But Active Faith, I mean, as you just mentioned, was

416
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Speaker 2: quite successful, and then you make the decision to change

417
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Speaker 2: the brand and make it and turn it into Actively

418
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Speaker 2: It was.

419
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,080
Speaker 3: Actually two different brands. So I still own that.

420
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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're working on some things to kind

421
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,760
Speaker 4: of relaunch that in a in a different way, but

422
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Speaker 4: it's two separate brands.

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Speaker 3: Okay, gotcha.

424
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Speaker 2: But nevertheless you decided to pivot from that to Actively Black.

425
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Speaker 1: How did that idea come about?

426
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, because it's a much.

427
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Speaker 1: Different statement than Active Faith.

428
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Speaker 4: So you know, my my parents raised me to be

429
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Speaker 4: proud of my culture, proud of who I am, proud

430
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Speaker 4: of my blacks. And one of the things that I

431
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,760
Speaker 4: was doing as Active Faith was rising was I was

432
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Speaker 4: hiding myself from people knowing that I was the founder

433
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,879
Speaker 4: of Active Faith. Like my personal social media was private.

434
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Speaker 4: You couldn't follow me unless I allowed you to follow me.

435
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 4: I was afraid that if the people knew that it

436
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:20,560
Speaker 4: was this young black man, that it would negatively affect

437
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:24,760
Speaker 4: the business. I would say about sixty five percent of

438
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 4: the customers for Active Faith were white Evangelical Christian, which

439
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 4: in this country, unfortunately, can be synonymous with racist. And

440
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,399
Speaker 4: I had several incidents that supported that fear. You know,

441
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Speaker 4: you're a young entrepreneur, You're wearing all the hats, I'm

442
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:44,800
Speaker 4: doing customer service. I'll never forget being on the phone

443
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:46,480
Speaker 4: with a customer He's like, you sound like you're black,

444
00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,120
Speaker 4: and I was like, well, yeah, I am black, immediately

445
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:53,320
Speaker 4: asked for a refund. There was an investment group that

446
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,639
Speaker 4: was writing in over email about investing in Active Faith.

447
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,119
Speaker 4: Went back and forth over email. We set up an

448
00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,840
Speaker 4: in person meeting. I'll never forget walking in that room

449
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:03,760
Speaker 4: and seeing the looks on their face like they didn't

450
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,919
Speaker 4: know it was me, and when they saw it was me,

451
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 4: all of a sudden, those conversations changed really quickly, you

452
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,880
Speaker 4: know what I mean. And so then You've got twenty sixteen,

453
00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:25,320
Speaker 4: Donald Trump's first term and I'm seeing a lot of

454
00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:28,080
Speaker 4: the same people who are big supporters of Active Faith,

455
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,400
Speaker 4: who are on their social brand, you know, talking about

456
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,600
Speaker 4: how great it is to have a brand that represents

457
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:35,440
Speaker 4: you know, their faith and this and that, and then

458
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,800
Speaker 4: I could scroll and see them saying the most racist

459
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:39,560
Speaker 4: thing you.

460
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:40,800
Speaker 3: Know, possible, and I'm just like.

461
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:48,160
Speaker 4: I was internally, I had this internal conflict because here

462
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:50,680
Speaker 4: I am hiding myself from this multi billion dollar brand

463
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,440
Speaker 4: that built out of my mom's house, that is doing

464
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,520
Speaker 4: these great things. But I was hiding myself and the

465
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 4: reasons why it just really bothered me, you know what

466
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 4: I mean.

467
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 3: And so.

468
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,480
Speaker 4: The thought already started creeping into my mind. If I

469
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,680
Speaker 4: can build this type of brand for the faith based community,

470
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,920
Speaker 4: can I do this for the black community? Put the

471
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,160
Speaker 4: idea on the shelf. Twenty eighteen comes in the movie

472
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:19,760
Speaker 4: Black Panther Comes Out, and.

473
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,879
Speaker 3: That movie, just that movie did something to me.

474
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 4: It was like everything from seeing Chadwick Boseman on that

475
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 4: screen and seeing this representation of a black superhero with

476
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:35,000
Speaker 4: skin like mine and hair like mine. We often don't

477
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,919
Speaker 4: see very many positive images of black males, you know,

478
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 4: in media and movies, you know, so outside of athletics

479
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,480
Speaker 4: and things like that, Like to see this superhero on

480
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 4: the screen was was so impactful to me personally. And

481
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 4: then to see the diaspora the way it came together

482
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 4: around that film was so powerful. So I remember walking

483
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 4: out of the theater saying, I want to create a

484
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 4: brand that makes my people feel the way that movie

485
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,680
Speaker 4: made us feel. Put the idea on the shelf again.

486
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,440
Speaker 4: I moved to la maybe six months before the pandemic hit,

487
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 4: and you know, the city was on lockdown, and I

488
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:11,920
Speaker 4: remember saying, I don't want to let this time pass

489
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,879
Speaker 4: without birthing something new. And then we all experienced twenty

490
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 4: twenty from our different vantage points, and I saw after

491
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,639
Speaker 4: the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, all of

492
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:25,119
Speaker 4: these brands coming out making these performative declarations, and it

493
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:26,720
Speaker 4: felt performative to me in the moment.

494
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:28,800
Speaker 3: Now, four or five years later.

495
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,359
Speaker 4: We see that it was, but in a moment, I

496
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 4: called it out for what it was, and that actually

497
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:36,480
Speaker 4: what made me take that idea off the shelf. And

498
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 4: I was like, you know what, it's time for us

499
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 4: to stop asking for a seat at their table and.

500
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:40,919
Speaker 3: Build our own table.

501
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,200
Speaker 4: And that was the mentality and the attitude around actively

502
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 4: black being an athlete growing up wearing Nike and Adidas

503
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,480
Speaker 4: and all these other brands. There are multi billion dollar

504
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 4: brands that have built their brands and have profited billions

505
00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,880
Speaker 4: of dollars off of black culture, black talent, black consumer

506
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 4: and I felt like hadn't adequately given back to the

507
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,879
Speaker 4: black community. And so I was like, like, I said, well,

508
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 4: let's just stop asking for a seat at that table.

509
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,639
Speaker 4: Let's build our own table, and then we can we

510
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,200
Speaker 4: can feed our people in a meaningful way.

511
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 3: So that was that was really what led to it.

512
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 4: And then, you know, just put my head down and yeah,

513
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,960
Speaker 4: it was during COVID Out of my Apartment launch Actively

514
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 4: Black on Black Friday twenty twenty.

515
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 2: You, as I said a moment ago, actively black is

516
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:29,560
Speaker 2: a much different statement.

517
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 1: Immediately.

518
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 2: It is because whenever I wear actively Black, it never fails.

519
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 2: Somebody white asked me about it. They're like actively black

520
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,000
Speaker 2: once that. Yeah, I was like, yeah, don't get it,

521
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:42,879
Speaker 2: but no, I'm just kidding.

522
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:43,399
Speaker 6: No.

523
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 2: But I was like, oh, it's just a it's an

524
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,919
Speaker 2: athletic brand, you know whatever. And I'll give like a

525
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 2: twenty second spill.

526
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:50,640
Speaker 3: Yeah.

527
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,040
Speaker 2: But you know, and this is a debate I know

528
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,680
Speaker 2: that we've always had in our community, and it seems

529
00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,040
Speaker 2: like it pops up every couple months now social media.

530
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 2: Is that saying you're a black owned business and now

531
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,280
Speaker 2: you have a a actively.

532
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:06,200
Speaker 3: Yeah.

533
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:10,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sure some people probably told you maybe that's

534
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 2: not a good idea.

535
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:16,040
Speaker 4: Yeah, not some people, Damn everybody. I mean, I had

536
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,320
Speaker 4: black people telling me that's not going to work, that's

537
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 4: not going to be successful.

538
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:19,480
Speaker 5: You know.

539
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,280
Speaker 3: I was calling around, I was talking.

540
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 4: I was sharing this idea with some different people, just

541
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,639
Speaker 4: trying to get some feedback before I launched it. I

542
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,159
Speaker 4: had x Nike executives that were black that told me

543
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 4: if you put black and his name, it's not going

544
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,520
Speaker 4: to be successful. Do not do that, you know what

545
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,200
Speaker 4: I mean. And I received it in a way where

546
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 4: I was like the fact that so many people are

547
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:45,240
Speaker 4: telling me not to do this actually makes me think

548
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 4: that this is purposeful and that I need to because

549
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 4: I felt like so many people were speaking from a

550
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,960
Speaker 4: place of trauma, speaking from a place of fear. Oftentimes,

551
00:26:55,040 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 4: especially in those corporate environments, people are having to minimize

552
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,240
Speaker 4: who they are in order to be successful. They're having

553
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 4: to minimize their blackness, They're having to code switch, they're

554
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:09,480
Speaker 4: having to do whatever in order to not be seen

555
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,440
Speaker 4: as a threat in order to be successful. Like that's

556
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,359
Speaker 4: where that's coming from, Is that that trauma that fear,

557
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,959
Speaker 4: So I actually need to do this to show you

558
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 4: that it can work, but also so that we can

559
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:28,960
Speaker 4: reclaim and redefine what that means, because I think you're

560
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 4: also taking the definition that everybody else has given you

561
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:33,680
Speaker 4: of what that means to be black and the negative

562
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,920
Speaker 4: connotations that have been associated with it. And then when

563
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 4: you look at when you look at the numbers, Mackenzie

564
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:47,640
Speaker 4: released a report that said Black Americans today are spending

565
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:53,160
Speaker 4: fifty billion annually on apparel and shoes, and by twenty

566
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 4: thirty that number is going to rise to seventy billion

567
00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 4: annually on apparel and shoes. This is just Black America, right,

568
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,680
Speaker 4: So all these people that were telling me, oh, you're

569
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:07,360
Speaker 4: going to alienate so much of the market and it's

570
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 4: going to be too small for you to scale, Nike

571
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,600
Speaker 4: does fifty five billion a year in revenue, and I'm

572
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:18,040
Speaker 4: not saying that that's what we're going to do. But

573
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,040
Speaker 4: what I'm saying is, if my people are spending fifty

574
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 4: to seventy billion annually on apparel and shoes and we

575
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 4: don't have a single multi billion dollar black owned apparel

576
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:29,880
Speaker 4: of brand, that's a problem.

577
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 3: And I'm going to build it. You know, what I mean,

578
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 3: And we've seen in the past.

579
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 4: We see now whatever Black culture creates or becomes cool

580
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 4: to Black culture, the rest of the world adopts.

581
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 3: Anyway.

582
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 4: Hip hop is one of the biggest art forms in

583
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 4: the world right now. That will started by black and

584
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 4: brown kids that weren't necessarily creating something for the entire world.

585
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,600
Speaker 4: They were creating something that was an expression for them,

586
00:28:57,960 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 4: and then the whole world adopted.

587
00:28:59,320 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 3: You know what I mean.

588
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 4: They're doing break dance competitions in the Olympics, even though

589
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 4: I don't think I saw any black people.

590
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 1: Manich was very started.

591
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 3: It was like we kind of create you know what

592
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 3: I'm saying, Fubu.

593
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 4: I remember in Sync and justin Timberlake and Britney Spears

594
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,120
Speaker 4: wearing fubu, you know what I mean, for us by us,

595
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 4: you know what I mean.

596
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,120
Speaker 3: So it's like that's one part of it.

597
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 4: But then the other part I think is also important

598
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 4: to mention is we welcome everybody to buy and we're

599
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 4: actively black.

600
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 3: Right if you support.

601
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 4: The black community and you respect and love black culture,

602
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 4: you could wear actively black and you don't have to

603
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 4: be black to do those.

604
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 3: Things, you know what I mean? And I Liken it too.

605
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,000
Speaker 4: I've never been to a Mexican restaurant where people stood

606
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 4: outside and said, oh, I'm not Mexican, I can't eat here.

607
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 4: Never been to an Italian restaurant where people stood outside like,

608
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,840
Speaker 4: you know, I'm not Italian, I can't eat here. You

609
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,400
Speaker 4: go inside and you enjoy somebody else's culture. You go

610
00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 4: into a Mexican restaurant. They got Mexican music playing, and

611
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 4: they've got some brail rows and everything hanging on the wall.

612
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,680
Speaker 4: You're immersed in Mexican culture and you're eating Mexican food,

613
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:08,480
Speaker 4: and you can still remain who you are. And you

614
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 4: walk out and you still who you are? Why is

615
00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 4: that so taboo and an issue when it comes to

616
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 4: black culture? You can enjoy this if you're respectful and

617
00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:20,160
Speaker 4: honor you know who we are and what this is

618
00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:20,760
Speaker 4: being built for.

619
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 3: Anybody can wear it as you were.

620
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 2: You know, once you've made the decision, as you say,

621
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,400
Speaker 2: to take this off the shelf and launch this, what

622
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 2: would you say was like sort of the first big

623
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,480
Speaker 2: turning point, Like you knew it could work, But what

624
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,240
Speaker 2: was the first turning point where we're like, oh, it's

625
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:38,160
Speaker 2: definitely going to work.

626
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 3: Day one to launch.

627
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:46,720
Speaker 4: After having the experience with Active Faith and building a

628
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 4: brand from the ground up. Active Faith at about one

629
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:55,280
Speaker 4: hundred thousand revenue the first year. Actively Black did fifty

630
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 4: five thousand in the first day. And the inventory that

631
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:01,520
Speaker 4: I ordered that I thought would last the first three

632
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,200
Speaker 4: months for actively black sold out in the first three weeks.

633
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,960
Speaker 2: So was this was this just like through word like

634
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 2: your marketing, Like what that is a hell of a yeah?

635
00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah. Social media is such an amazing tool. You know,

636
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 4: you use it the right way and all that, It's

637
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,200
Speaker 4: an amazing tool. And so what I learned from Active

638
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 4: Faith and also what I've seen from other startup brands

639
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:27,840
Speaker 4: that have that have really had success over the last

640
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:32,320
Speaker 4: ten years, is the focus on building community and not

641
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 4: just finding somebody to sell a product to.

642
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:35,640
Speaker 6: Right.

643
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 4: So I started the Instagram for Active Black long before

644
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 4: we actually had a product ready, and was everything that

645
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:48,960
Speaker 4: we posted was about what the brand stood for, what

646
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:54,400
Speaker 4: it represented. I would post even product mockups of what

647
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 4: was coming, and I saw the tribe as I called them,

648
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 4: they started gravitating towards to ward it immediately because we

649
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 4: have lacked representation in this industry that, like I said,

650
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,640
Speaker 4: it's profited billions off of us, but what ownership have

651
00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 4: you seen in this industry? So I think there was

652
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 4: already this awakening of our people of understanding that. And

653
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:21,720
Speaker 4: so before we launched, I had ten thousand email addresses collected.

654
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,160
Speaker 4: There's probably about four or five thousand text messages that

655
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 4: were collected. So on launch day, there was already this

656
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:33,400
Speaker 4: anticipation of this brand, and I could tell that the people,

657
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,880
Speaker 4: you know, it was something that they didn't even know

658
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,160
Speaker 4: that they necessarily needed or wanted, but then when they

659
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 4: saw it, they're like, you know what this represents me?

660
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 3: That's that's that's what we need to be.

661
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 4: And so it started this snowball from day one that

662
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 4: we're still trying to catch up to. So you know,

663
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 4: if any of the tribe sees this, I know y'all

664
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 4: frustrated with us being out of stock all the time.

665
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 4: We're trying to catch up to the to the to

666
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:02,440
Speaker 4: the growth. But yeah, the tribe has just been supported

667
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 4: from day one.

668
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 2: As you said, the response, I mean it was so immediate.

669
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,840
Speaker 2: I think Essence had an event and he was in

670
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,960
Speaker 2: the super Bowl the year I want to say the

671
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:14,760
Speaker 2: year the Rams were in it, and I think that's

672
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 2: where I met you and you handed me a bag

673
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 2: of actively Black stuff. Now I can say, you know

674
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,600
Speaker 2: when you, I guess have some level of fame about you.

675
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,480
Speaker 2: People give you free stuff all the time, right, and

676
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,600
Speaker 2: I remember looking through the stuff. I think I might

677
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:29,480
Speaker 2: have looked through it at the event. I was like, man,

678
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 2: this is some kind of dope like and you also,

679
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,920
Speaker 2: thankfully you gave it back to my husband too. And

680
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 2: then ever since that day, it's like, I mean, we

681
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,320
Speaker 2: just love the brand so much, and people ask me,

682
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,640
Speaker 2: you know how often you were actively black every day?

683
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:49,560
Speaker 1: That is in a while, that would be the answer.

684
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,720
Speaker 1: It is by far my favorite thing, you know, to wear.

685
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:56,760
Speaker 2: So and then seeing the response on social media, as

686
00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:58,880
Speaker 2: you said, you built a community around it, which gives

687
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 2: you a much different feel. But nevertheless, for any business,

688
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,520
Speaker 2: but especially for a black business, there's a lot of sort.

689
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 3: Of challenges with that.

690
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 1: Your brand took off super fast, and it said people complain.

691
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,760
Speaker 1: I'll see them on your Instagram page, always complained.

692
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:19,040
Speaker 2: But nevertheless, though you know what were even as you

693
00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,200
Speaker 2: knew you had something, were some of those those challenges.

694
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:26,759
Speaker 4: That faced Yeah, you know, one one important piece that

695
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:28,879
Speaker 4: I think you touched on when you got to see

696
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 4: the gear was I was very intentional about the quality right.

697
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:34,640
Speaker 4: Being an athlete, I was privy to the best of

698
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:39,320
Speaker 4: the best, and I wanted to knock down the stereotype

699
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:40,719
Speaker 4: that if you buy a black own that you got

700
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,319
Speaker 4: to sacrifice quality, because unfortunately, that is the stereotype, and

701
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:47,160
Speaker 4: sometimes there is some there is some truth to it,

702
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:51,799
Speaker 4: but I think that all stems from the the inequalities

703
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,759
Speaker 4: that have existed as far as black founders and black

704
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,719
Speaker 4: businesses getting the access to the resources to be able

705
00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 4: to build their businesses in a certain way. Like the

706
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:04,800
Speaker 4: numbers are insane, less than zero point zero three percent

707
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:08,279
Speaker 4: of all black founders receive venture capital investment, you know

708
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:09,920
Speaker 4: what I mean. And so when you're a lot of

709
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 4: times our people don't understand that difference that some of

710
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 4: these white owned European on brands, the level of resource

711
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:22,359
Speaker 4: that they have to invest in the best quality and

712
00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:24,800
Speaker 4: build out their teams and all that kind of stuff

713
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:27,360
Speaker 4: that changes that customer experience. And so a lot of

714
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:31,400
Speaker 4: us are starting from from nothing or negatives and a

715
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,080
Speaker 4: lot of us are poring our life savings into something

716
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:35,080
Speaker 4: to build from scratch.

717
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 3: So there is this.

718
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:41,520
Speaker 4: There's a space of grace that sometimes we need for

719
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 4: those growing pains until we can get to the point

720
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:47,319
Speaker 4: where we have the resources to truly invest into all

721
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:49,360
Speaker 4: the things that it takes to operate that level.

722
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:54,280
Speaker 3: But I would say some of those challenges were one.

723
00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:00,480
Speaker 4: The racist that started hitting me up was was insane,

724
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,320
Speaker 4: and I mean to this day, they still haven't stopped

725
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:08,399
Speaker 4: my my inbox, my comments, my email, my everything. I mean,

726
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:13,719
Speaker 4: there was a lot of anger from certain folks that

727
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 4: we were building this black owned thing, you know what

728
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 4: I mean, that was so boldly.

729
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:19,280
Speaker 3: And unapologetically black.

730
00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:25,160
Speaker 4: And on the flip side, some of the opposition even

731
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 4: from our own people that didn't understand what we're building

732
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,440
Speaker 4: and why we're building it this way. Even some of

733
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:33,839
Speaker 4: those black people are like, why you got to say

734
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:35,480
Speaker 4: that it's black owned? Why do you know?

735
00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:36,040
Speaker 8: And And.

736
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 3: That's That's been some of the toughest.

737
00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 4: Some of the issues I've had with my own people

738
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,160
Speaker 4: have been some of the toughest because it hurts because

739
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,640
Speaker 4: I look at us like family, right, and your proximity

740
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:54,479
Speaker 4: to somebody affects the level of hurt that you feel.

741
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:58,440
Speaker 4: Whenever there's there's something you know, there's friction. The racist

742
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:00,360
Speaker 4: at the end of the day, they are news, you

743
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:01,840
Speaker 4: know what I'm saying, But they don't hurt my feelings

744
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:06,760
Speaker 4: I expected from them. Anytime black people have decided to

745
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:10,239
Speaker 4: build our own there, it's always been met with backlash

746
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,399
Speaker 4: and opposition. You know, whether you're talking about Black Wall

747
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 4: Street and Rosewood, these these black communities that were built

748
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:20,320
Speaker 4: that was self sufficient, that saw you know, black wealth thriving,

749
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 4: and then they were burnt to the ground and massacred,

750
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. So but outside of that,

751
00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:30,920
Speaker 4: you know, the giants that are in the game, I

752
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 4: didn't think that they would be. I didn't think I'd

753
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 4: be on their radar this soon. So I've had some

754
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:40,239
Speaker 4: issues with some of those bigger brands blocking deals for me.

755
00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:47,000
Speaker 3: You know, our first we.

756
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,200
Speaker 4: Our first NIL deal was Travis Hunter, Shaduor Sanders, and

757
00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:51,680
Speaker 4: Shiloh Sanders when they were at Jackson State. That was

758
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:53,880
Speaker 4: actually our first one was Daja Kelly. We signed a

759
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,680
Speaker 4: black woman first, Daja Kelly, Sho's the point guard at

760
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 4: UNC at the time. And then the second one was

761
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:03,799
Speaker 4: Shaduor Sanders, Shot Santas and Travis Hunner And when they

762
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:08,280
Speaker 4: went to Colorado and Nike got more involved.

763
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 3: They you know, they paid the big they played the

764
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 3: big bank, take a little bank. They played gangsters a little.

765
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:17,800
Speaker 4: Bit, and I received some phone calls like stop posting

766
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 4: these guys on the brand page. I'm like, we have

767
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 4: a signed agreement, in a contract with them. There are

768
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 4: certain assets that we're supposed to be able to do

769
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,720
Speaker 4: this for. And the behind the scenes of that got ugly,

770
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 4: and that that level of opposition is something that I

771
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:38,799
Speaker 4: wasn't prepared for at this early stage. You're talking about

772
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:42,960
Speaker 4: multi billion dollar brand, you know what I mean. And

773
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:48,360
Speaker 4: I want to make sure I clarify like I've remained

774
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,560
Speaker 4: quiet on that one, especially while those guys were still

775
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:53,760
Speaker 4: in college, because I didn't want there to be any issues,

776
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:57,719
Speaker 4: especially publicly with young black men. Make no mistake about it,

777
00:38:57,719 --> 00:38:59,440
Speaker 4: I have no b for a problem with them. I've

778
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,879
Speaker 4: been cheering them on NonStop, So proud of those those

779
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:08,080
Speaker 4: young kings. But what that brand did on the back end,

780
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:14,120
Speaker 4: it was something that, you know, it made me realize

781
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:17,520
Speaker 4: what I'm dealing with stepping into this game.

782
00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:20,239
Speaker 2: I don't know if you looked at it this way,

783
00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:23,360
Speaker 2: but in a strange way, it's actually it should be

784
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:25,839
Speaker 2: flattering because See, they wouldn't do that if they didn't

785
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,920
Speaker 2: consider you threatening, you know what I mean, Like if

786
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 2: you were nobody for them to be concerned about, then

787
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:32,840
Speaker 2: that would be one thing.

788
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 3: But validation.

789
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:37,040
Speaker 2: See, they see that you are somebody. Hey, we need

790
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:38,080
Speaker 2: to worry about this.

791
00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 3: And I'm gonna say this humbly. They do need to

792
00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:42,680
Speaker 3: be worried about us.

793
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:44,840
Speaker 4: And the reason why I say that is people have

794
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:46,319
Speaker 4: asked me, well, how are you going to compete in

795
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,520
Speaker 4: this space with the with the Nikes and Lululemons and

796
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,640
Speaker 4: Adidas of the world. And I said, well, I can't

797
00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:54,560
Speaker 4: compete on R and D. They spend hundreds of millions

798
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 4: in research and developmental product. I can't compete with marketing dollars,

799
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:01,400
Speaker 4: none of that. But the authoruthenticity in which we're.

800
00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:02,240
Speaker 3: Building this brand.

801
00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:06,320
Speaker 4: Nike can spend a billion dollars, they can't out black

802
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:08,399
Speaker 4: actively black. This is who we are twenty four to seven,

803
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:10,760
Speaker 4: three sixty five, not just for a Black History Month collection,

804
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,480
Speaker 4: not just for Juneteenth. This is who we are twenty

805
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 4: four to seven, three sixty five. And as I continue

806
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:20,080
Speaker 4: to see more and more of the tribe and more

807
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:23,520
Speaker 4: and more of my people understand the value in supporting

808
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:26,839
Speaker 4: and wearing and buying something that is black on that

809
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:33,759
Speaker 4: represents you unapologetically. That's the moat that protects us from

810
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:36,800
Speaker 4: having to compete in these other areas. I can't compete

811
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,480
Speaker 4: in those other areas, and I know that. But you know,

812
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:43,400
Speaker 4: I often tell people Nike, Adidas, all these brands, they

813
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:45,319
Speaker 4: want you to be a walking billboard for them. They

814
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,000
Speaker 4: want you to walk around with the swoosh, with the

815
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:48,959
Speaker 4: three stripes whatever on your chest and be a walking

816
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,960
Speaker 4: billboard for the brand. The strength of actively black is

817
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:54,600
Speaker 4: the tribe is wearing the product and they don't feel

818
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:56,040
Speaker 4: like they're walking billboards.

819
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:56,080
Speaker 3: For the brand.

820
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,279
Speaker 4: They feel like the brand is a billboard for them.

821
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:01,480
Speaker 4: They feel like actively black represents who they are, you

822
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,719
Speaker 4: know what I mean. And that's an intrinsic value that

823
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,759
Speaker 4: can't be penetrated by another brand, no matter what they

824
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:15,359
Speaker 4: spend and what they do. So I'm not anti anybody else,

825
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:17,640
Speaker 4: just like I've always said, being pro black doesn't mean

826
00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:20,239
Speaker 4: I'm anti anybody else. It just means I love me

827
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,879
Speaker 4: and I love my people. Same thing here, I'm wearing

828
00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:24,520
Speaker 4: Jordan's right now. You know what I'm saying, I'm not

829
00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:28,080
Speaker 4: anti Nike. I'm not anti Adidas anybody, but I do

830
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,280
Speaker 4: believe it's time for us to build and own something

831
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 4: that the culture owns.

832
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:34,560
Speaker 3: Yeah so.

833
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,640
Speaker 2: But nevertheless, though you have been able to sign some

834
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:41,480
Speaker 2: really big deals and do some great collaborations. I want

835
00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:43,880
Speaker 2: to ask you about that, and in particular, I want

836
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:46,480
Speaker 2: to ask you about a collaboration that seemed to come

837
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:49,920
Speaker 2: about because it's something you ask Ryan Cooler. But we're

838
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,239
Speaker 2: going to take a quick break and we'll be right

839
00:41:52,239 --> 00:42:04,320
Speaker 2: back with more with Landysmith. So, I saw something that

840
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,800
Speaker 2: you posted on your Instagram where it was about Ryan Coopler.

841
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:10,760
Speaker 2: You know, Centers for a lot of people, myself included

842
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:12,719
Speaker 2: best movie I've seen this year, and I've had a

843
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,080
Speaker 2: chance to sit down with Ryan a few times.

844
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:15,839
Speaker 1: Great guy.

845
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,800
Speaker 2: But Ryan was speaking in Los Angeles. Y, he was

846
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:24,919
Speaker 2: speaking in Los Angeles, and you asked him a question, right.

847
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,120
Speaker 4: And what was it that I was asking him about

848
00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:31,040
Speaker 4: how he wrote the character kill Monger and.

849
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:34,680
Speaker 2: Asked him about that, and he had a very thoughtful,

850
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:36,719
Speaker 2: as he often does, a thoughtful answer. So I'm going

851
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:38,720
Speaker 2: to play that clip and then ask you a question

852
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:41,680
Speaker 2: about it after we hear what he said.

853
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:46,880
Speaker 4: And there has been this divide between African Americans and Africans,

854
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,640
Speaker 4: and I saw that being able to have that conversation

855
00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:54,440
Speaker 4: was powerful and how it brought brought us together. So

856
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:59,399
Speaker 4: I wanted to ask you how much of that has

857
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 4: been intention or to make sure that you're telling our

858
00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,879
Speaker 4: story as well as those lost people who are trying

859
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:07,480
Speaker 4: to find our ways, who are trying to connect back

860
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:11,560
Speaker 4: to the continent and know who we are. Yeah, so

861
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,719
Speaker 4: I just wanted to give your followers an askatro right.

862
00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:14,680
Speaker 3: You've been in continent?

863
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:20,279
Speaker 4: Yeah, my bro, Yeah, I'll prioritize getting here if you can.

864
00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:25,400
Speaker 3: You know, because I did it before I made the

865
00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:27,799
Speaker 3: wooie bro. You know what I'm saying. And I came

866
00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:28,520
Speaker 3: away with like.

867
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,800
Speaker 8: A deep senshit healing bro, like like a deep.

868
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:36,000
Speaker 4: Sense of fulfillment, Like it made me a less angry person.

869
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:36,879
Speaker 4: I'll say for.

870
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:38,920
Speaker 8: Sure, you know what I'm saying, Like just just the

871
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:44,520
Speaker 8: experience of being being here and realizing that, like, you know,

872
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:48,120
Speaker 8: the people that enschlaged our ancest right, they didn't have the.

873
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:51,080
Speaker 3: Power and take away from from from us, but I

874
00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:51,719
Speaker 3: thought they did.

875
00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:54,839
Speaker 8: You know, they weren't actually sessed.

876
00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:55,359
Speaker 3: With you talk.

877
00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:59,279
Speaker 1: So he told you to go to Africa. Yeah, yeah, right,

878
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:02,919
Speaker 1: go to Africa if you can, and you did.

879
00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:04,000
Speaker 3: You went to right.

880
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:07,680
Speaker 2: I went to Ghana, Yeah, Ghana as well. So how

881
00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:11,480
Speaker 2: did his advice, How did that change change your life?

882
00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:14,120
Speaker 4: Basically, yeah, I had to tell him he changed my

883
00:44:14,160 --> 00:44:16,800
Speaker 4: life twice because the first movie was really one of

884
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:18,480
Speaker 4: the seeds that was planning for me to even start

885
00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 4: actively black to begin with.

886
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:23,000
Speaker 3: But when he told me that, we booked up.

887
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 4: We booked our flights that that that night we went

888
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:30,440
Speaker 4: in December to Acra and one just just touching the

889
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:31,800
Speaker 4: continent for the first time.

890
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:33,279
Speaker 1: When all the black people left. The rest of those

891
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:34,000
Speaker 1: black people here.

892
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:34,480
Speaker 3: Went that year.

893
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:37,719
Speaker 4: Then you right, Well, actually this was in twenty twenty two,

894
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:40,520
Speaker 4: twenty two, so that first time was in twenty nineteen.

895
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:44,120
Speaker 4: I believe everybody went and and so like it was,

896
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:47,879
Speaker 4: it was just powerful that energies I felt just touching

897
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:49,040
Speaker 4: the continent for the first time.

898
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:52,000
Speaker 3: And then I got a chance to visit the slave

899
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:53,280
Speaker 3: castles on the coast.

900
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:57,000
Speaker 4: And you know, Ryan said something in his answer where

901
00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,040
Speaker 4: he said he went and it made him less angry

902
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:02,960
Speaker 4: because he realized that the oppressors didn't take everything from

903
00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:05,000
Speaker 4: us that we thought they had, you know, and when

904
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:07,840
Speaker 4: I asked them about the kill mugger characters, because I

905
00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:12,320
Speaker 4: didn't see him as a villain. I understood that anger

906
00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:15,640
Speaker 4: of feeling lost, we were cut off from our lineage,

907
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:18,960
Speaker 4: and you know, everything from him want to take back

908
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,480
Speaker 4: the artifacts in the museum to all of that. I

909
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:24,160
Speaker 4: was a kill I was a kill mugger fan, you

910
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:24,680
Speaker 4: know what I'm saying.

911
00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:24,960
Speaker 1: And so.

912
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:30,000
Speaker 4: That experience in the slave castles really brought it home

913
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:31,680
Speaker 4: why Ryan said that. So I thought I was going

914
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:33,000
Speaker 4: to be in a rage. I thought I was just

915
00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:35,680
Speaker 4: going to be full of anger. And there were some

916
00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:41,440
Speaker 4: moments where you're standing in these slave dungeons and it's

917
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:46,080
Speaker 4: overwhelming to think that your ancestors, human beings were in

918
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,440
Speaker 4: were being treated the way that they were being treated. There,

919
00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:56,320
Speaker 4: the suffering, the torture, it's just unimaginable. And you're standing

920
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:58,920
Speaker 4: these these these dungeons that are five hundred and six

921
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:02,240
Speaker 4: hundred years old, and then you walk through this archway

922
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:03,840
Speaker 4: that says the point of no return and this is

923
00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:05,720
Speaker 4: where they were loading these enslaves.

924
00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:07,200
Speaker 1: Here archway is so small.

925
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:10,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, because I think they tell you, the guy

926
00:46:10,239 --> 00:46:14,000
Speaker 2: tells you that the archway is that small because they

927
00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:17,160
Speaker 2: feared they might try to escape because you know, obviously

928
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:19,520
Speaker 2: large numbers, and they want to make sure you had

929
00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:21,560
Speaker 2: something small you had to go through so you could

930
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:22,160
Speaker 2: not come back.

931
00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:25,279
Speaker 4: It's how they do cattle, yeah, you know what I mean,

932
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:30,000
Speaker 4: like herring cattle into so and it said the point

933
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,040
Speaker 4: of no return. And so I'm out there and I'm

934
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:33,960
Speaker 4: just kind of taking it all in and then this

935
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:37,320
Speaker 4: epiphany hit me that like, like, I returned, you know

936
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:39,040
Speaker 4: what I mean. So they set the point of no return,

937
00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:42,879
Speaker 4: but I returned. So even if my ancestors didn't, I did.

938
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:46,400
Speaker 4: And the tagline for actively Black is there's greatness in

939
00:46:46,440 --> 00:46:50,399
Speaker 4: our DNA. And in that moment, that tagline became even

940
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:52,440
Speaker 4: more real to me because it was like, Okay, that

941
00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:58,160
Speaker 4: means somebody in my DNA lineage survived. Jim Crow survived

942
00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:00,760
Speaker 4: the three hundred years of slaves were here in America,

943
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,160
Speaker 4: survived that Middle Passage where a lot of people didn't

944
00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:06,360
Speaker 4: even make it on that Middle Passage, and survived those dungeons,

945
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,680
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. And so that gave me

946
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:13,799
Speaker 4: this empowering feeling that man, they couldn't destroy us, all

947
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:15,799
Speaker 4: this stuff, all this suffering that my people have gone

948
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:17,719
Speaker 4: through and like, but I'm standing here, you.

949
00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:18,160
Speaker 3: Know what I mean?

950
00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:22,120
Speaker 4: And it was like, man, Ryan, Ryan told me that night.

951
00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:24,400
Speaker 4: He was like, if you ain't been to the content,

952
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:27,200
Speaker 4: you need to go. And then I felt it, like

953
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:28,080
Speaker 4: why he told me that?

954
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:28,640
Speaker 6: And then.

955
00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:34,120
Speaker 4: And then we go back to the hotel and I'm

956
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:39,160
Speaker 4: wearing the actively black Black Panther Collapse and Letitia Wright

957
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:41,120
Speaker 4: walked into the lobby at the same time when the lobby,

958
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:44,000
Speaker 4: who obviously she ends up playing becoming Black Panther in

959
00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:45,640
Speaker 4: the second film, got a chance to.

960
00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:47,200
Speaker 3: Meet her and talk to her, and I told her like,

961
00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:48,960
Speaker 3: this is crazy meeting you.

962
00:47:49,239 --> 00:47:53,160
Speaker 4: One because I'm a black panther stand But two I'm

963
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:55,600
Speaker 4: only here because Ryan Couger literally told me at a

964
00:47:55,680 --> 00:47:57,960
Speaker 4: fireside chat, bro, you need to go to Africa.

965
00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:00,200
Speaker 3: And here I am, you know, on the other out

966
00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:01,560
Speaker 3: of the world. And I happened to run.

967
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:05,320
Speaker 4: Into the Black Panther in the hotel lobby. Yeah, just

968
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,880
Speaker 4: an incredible, incredible full circle.

969
00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:08,200
Speaker 3: Moment for me.

970
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:09,640
Speaker 1: It really tripped me out.

971
00:48:09,719 --> 00:48:12,160
Speaker 2: When I went I didn't realize there was a church

972
00:48:12,239 --> 00:48:14,400
Speaker 2: on top of the dungeons and I was like, so,

973
00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:15,239
Speaker 2: you mean in.

974
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:16,720
Speaker 1: Church service services.

975
00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:20,160
Speaker 2: They would hear this suffering and still and it just

976
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:25,200
Speaker 2: it really sort of in a way crystallized as we

977
00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:31,799
Speaker 2: discussed earlier about that nefarious relationship that Christianity has had

978
00:48:32,640 --> 00:48:35,960
Speaker 2: with this you know, kind of human indignity that they suffered.

979
00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:39,239
Speaker 2: But yeah, I felt very changed after after going to

980
00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:41,839
Speaker 2: Ghana and it was one of the few places I've been.

981
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:45,120
Speaker 1: We're walking around and You're like, there really are no

982
00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:45,799
Speaker 1: white people here.

983
00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:50,239
Speaker 3: It's really all of us, you know, like, oh wow,

984
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:50,920
Speaker 3: Like this is.

985
00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:54,239
Speaker 2: Very different than what we normally experienced in our day

986
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:58,279
Speaker 2: to day live You brought up the collaboration with Black Panther.

987
00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:02,239
Speaker 2: There's a there's a Wakanda line, Yeah, is that you

988
00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:06,000
Speaker 2: have with Actively Black? So how did how were you

989
00:49:06,120 --> 00:49:09,239
Speaker 2: able to get that partnership because getting in partnership with

990
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:11,120
Speaker 2: Marvel is not easy at.

991
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:12,600
Speaker 3: All at all? Yeah, at all.

992
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:17,759
Speaker 4: So all all growing from that first movie being such

993
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:22,120
Speaker 4: an inspiration for me. When I launched Actively Black, I

994
00:49:22,200 --> 00:49:25,239
Speaker 4: actually created a deck of what an Actively Black Black

995
00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:30,920
Speaker 4: Panther collab would look like. And at the time, at

996
00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:34,560
Speaker 4: the time, you know, Chadwick had passed rest in peace

997
00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:38,040
Speaker 4: and we didn't even know if there was going to

998
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:40,120
Speaker 4: be another film at the time when when this deck

999
00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:43,960
Speaker 4: was created and shout out to Jordan Jackson, black designer

1000
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:47,840
Speaker 4: that I worked with to bring this deck to Fruition.

1001
00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,800
Speaker 4: And so Damon John, founder Fubu, reached out and he

1002
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:53,680
Speaker 4: was like, I love what you've been on Actively Black.

1003
00:49:53,719 --> 00:49:55,400
Speaker 4: It reminds me of what we were doing we were

1004
00:49:55,400 --> 00:49:58,360
Speaker 4: building Fubu. I'd love to talk about a Fubuo Actively

1005
00:49:58,440 --> 00:49:59,000
Speaker 4: Black collab.

1006
00:49:59,560 --> 00:50:02,360
Speaker 3: So he come la. I walked into the meeting and

1007
00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:03,719
Speaker 3: Damon John is wearing.

1008
00:50:03,520 --> 00:50:06,560
Speaker 4: An actively black hoodie and I'm just like, like, I'm

1009
00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:08,479
Speaker 4: having to keep my cool in the meeting because growing

1010
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:11,480
Speaker 4: up wearing fooboos everything to me, you know, to see

1011
00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:14,000
Speaker 4: these these four black men being the faces of this

1012
00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:16,480
Speaker 4: brand and what it meant for.

1013
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:18,920
Speaker 3: Us by us, So to see Damon John wearing actively

1014
00:50:18,960 --> 00:50:21,520
Speaker 3: black hoodie was just it was crazy.

1015
00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:24,799
Speaker 4: So I'm keeping my cool in the meeting and talk

1016
00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:26,759
Speaker 4: about the Footboo collab and he asked, well, what else

1017
00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:29,279
Speaker 4: are you working on? And I almost didn't show it

1018
00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:33,160
Speaker 4: to him because obviously Damon John is also you know,

1019
00:50:33,239 --> 00:50:35,640
Speaker 4: on Shark Tank and I've seen them. You know, when

1020
00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:38,200
Speaker 4: somebody gives an idea, but they don't have anything behind it.

1021
00:50:38,239 --> 00:50:39,840
Speaker 4: They're like, well, this is just idea, so you know,

1022
00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:41,800
Speaker 4: I almost didn't show it to him, but I was like,

1023
00:50:42,719 --> 00:50:44,719
Speaker 4: put out my laptop. I showed him the deck that

1024
00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:47,480
Speaker 4: was created for the Black Panther actively Black.

1025
00:50:47,239 --> 00:50:48,000
Speaker 3: Collab and.

1026
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:51,920
Speaker 4: Damon John in the middle of the meeting, picks up

1027
00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:53,680
Speaker 4: the phone and he calls the head of licensing from

1028
00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:54,480
Speaker 4: Marvel and Disney.

1029
00:50:56,960 --> 00:50:58,160
Speaker 3: A man get.

1030
00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:00,479
Speaker 4: Emotional again, saying this man, last time I told the story,

1031
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:13,560
Speaker 4: I got emotional. There's often a lot of a lot

1032
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:19,359
Speaker 4: of trauma based responses when things happen when black people

1033
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:24,080
Speaker 4: are unable to work together on things right. There's been

1034
00:51:24,120 --> 00:51:28,840
Speaker 4: a purposeful plan to keep us divided. And in that moment,

1035
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:31,360
Speaker 4: this black man did something that he did not have

1036
00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:34,279
Speaker 4: to do. He picked up the phone for me in

1037
00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:39,880
Speaker 4: the middle of his meeting and he called Marvel and Disney.

1038
00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:41,919
Speaker 4: He's like, you need to see exactly what I just saw.

1039
00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:44,880
Speaker 4: And it was probably three days later, I'm in a

1040
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:48,080
Speaker 4: meeting with Marvel and Disney pitching this deck and they

1041
00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:52,319
Speaker 4: were blown away. And when the announcement for Wakanda Forever

1042
00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:56,800
Speaker 4: came out, they they they pushed this thing through, Like

1043
00:51:57,120 --> 00:52:01,040
Speaker 4: I didn't even go through the normal journey of what

1044
00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:03,920
Speaker 4: it takes to get that licensing deal, which is very cumbersome,

1045
00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:05,359
Speaker 4: it's really really tough.

1046
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:06,400
Speaker 3: They pushed it.

1047
00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:09,640
Speaker 4: They pushed it through on behalf of Damon John's co

1048
00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:12,400
Speaker 4: sign and them loving the work that was done. And

1049
00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:16,320
Speaker 4: so yeah, we had the official collaboration for Wakanda Forever.

1050
00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:21,800
Speaker 4: And that really legitimized us in a certain way because

1051
00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:24,560
Speaker 4: even my own audience that at one point.

1052
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:27,200
Speaker 3: Was still kind of questioning, like Okay, what is this really?

1053
00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:29,600
Speaker 3: Is this real? And then they're like, okay, well, for

1054
00:52:29,800 --> 00:52:34,600
Speaker 3: Marvel to do this official collaboration for this movie means something.

1055
00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:36,719
Speaker 3: And that opened the floodgates.

1056
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:40,319
Speaker 4: I mean, Lani Ali, Muhammad Ali's wife, she found out

1057
00:52:40,320 --> 00:52:43,439
Speaker 4: about us because of that collaboration and she reached out

1058
00:52:43,600 --> 00:52:46,560
Speaker 4: and wanted us to do the collab with Muhammad Ali,

1059
00:52:46,719 --> 00:52:50,800
Speaker 4: which I mean, some of the stuff still feels surreal,

1060
00:52:51,120 --> 00:52:55,279
Speaker 4: it's crazy. And then you know Malcolm X, Martin Luther

1061
00:52:55,360 --> 00:53:00,920
Speaker 4: King the Tupaca State and Michael Jackson the State, John Carlos,

1062
00:53:02,920 --> 00:53:07,480
Speaker 4: It's it's sometimes it's unbelievable, you know what I mean,

1063
00:53:07,560 --> 00:53:09,480
Speaker 4: But it really opened the floodgates. And then what I

1064
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:12,560
Speaker 4: saw was the thing that everybody was telling me in

1065
00:53:12,640 --> 00:53:15,200
Speaker 4: the beginning that if you name it actively Black and

1066
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:17,719
Speaker 4: you make it focus on black culture, it won't be successful.

1067
00:53:18,320 --> 00:53:21,480
Speaker 4: That's actually what has been the strongest point for me

1068
00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:24,920
Speaker 4: now because you know, Lani I Lee told me to

1069
00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:28,080
Speaker 4: my face, she said, We've done collaborations with a ton

1070
00:53:28,160 --> 00:53:30,360
Speaker 4: of brands and they all focus on float like a

1071
00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:32,640
Speaker 4: butterflyes thing like a beat. But my husband's still for

1072
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:35,120
Speaker 4: so much more than what he just did inside of

1073
00:53:35,160 --> 00:53:40,560
Speaker 4: that ring. Actively Black can tell that story authentically. So

1074
00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:48,000
Speaker 4: you know, us standing ten toes down on being who

1075
00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:51,440
Speaker 4: we are unapologetically is actually now the strength of who

1076
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:54,839
Speaker 4: we are, and it's actually attracting a lot of these opportunities.

1077
00:53:55,200 --> 00:53:57,960
Speaker 1: It's like it's your superpower basically.

1078
00:53:58,040 --> 00:54:00,000
Speaker 2: And sometimes that's the way it works, is like people,

1079
00:54:00,040 --> 00:54:04,400
Speaker 2: well people's perceived weaknesses becomes the strongest, uh, kind of

1080
00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:08,000
Speaker 2: the strongest thing about you. Now, we know for a

1081
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:11,560
Speaker 2: lot of businesses, given these trade wars, these errors, this

1082
00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:14,799
Speaker 2: is a bit of an unpredictable and volatile time.

1083
00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:19,799
Speaker 1: How has that How has that impacted Actively Black?

1084
00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:22,680
Speaker 2: Because you send out some emails, I get one letting

1085
00:54:22,719 --> 00:54:25,560
Speaker 2: people know, hey, you might see some price changes. So

1086
00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:27,920
Speaker 2: how what's been the impact on your business?

1087
00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:30,520
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say ninety five percent of all of

1088
00:54:30,560 --> 00:54:33,759
Speaker 4: our product up to this point is made in China,

1089
00:54:34,360 --> 00:54:37,279
Speaker 4: so one hundred and forty five percent tariff, and then

1090
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:38,799
Speaker 4: I think he went up to two hundred and back

1091
00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:39,839
Speaker 4: to one hundred and forty five.

1092
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:47,760
Speaker 3: That's crippling to a small business like ours.

1093
00:54:47,560 --> 00:54:49,920
Speaker 1: You know, so you still consider yourself a small a

1094
00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:50,839
Speaker 1: small one.

1095
00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:54,040
Speaker 3: Thousand thousand percent just from from one.

1096
00:54:54,120 --> 00:54:57,000
Speaker 4: We're nowhere near the vision that I was given for

1097
00:54:57,080 --> 00:54:59,520
Speaker 4: this brand, you know, and when I think about, you know,

1098
00:54:59,560 --> 00:55:02,400
Speaker 4: we out their team Nigeria and the Summer Olympics last summer,

1099
00:55:02,520 --> 00:55:05,160
Speaker 4: and that was like a taste of what I wanted

1100
00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:06,960
Speaker 4: the world to see, Like, I'm not just building this

1101
00:55:07,040 --> 00:55:09,400
Speaker 4: for Black Americans. I'm builing this for the diaspora. And

1102
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:11,799
Speaker 4: when you understand how big the diaspora is and if

1103
00:55:11,840 --> 00:55:14,880
Speaker 4: we can ever unify, that's a whole other level of

1104
00:55:15,239 --> 00:55:19,279
Speaker 4: of of of power and unity there. And so we're

1105
00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:22,440
Speaker 4: just we're nowhere near there. We've got three full time employees, myself,

1106
00:55:22,560 --> 00:55:26,240
Speaker 4: my co founder, the black woman behind Actively Black, Bianca Winslow,

1107
00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:28,759
Speaker 4: and my mom, you know, that's the three full time

1108
00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:30,359
Speaker 4: employees for Actively Black.

1109
00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:32,760
Speaker 3: So yes, we're still small business.

1110
00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:36,160
Speaker 4: And when you think about like the Nikes of the

1111
00:55:36,200 --> 00:55:40,600
Speaker 4: world that profit billions, they have at least.

1112
00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:46,120
Speaker 3: Some padding where they can withstand.

1113
00:55:45,719 --> 00:55:48,360
Speaker 4: Some of these changes, even if that means, you know,

1114
00:55:48,640 --> 00:55:51,480
Speaker 4: some of their profit margin is is eating into But

1115
00:55:52,480 --> 00:55:54,920
Speaker 4: the worst for them will be their their stock prices

1116
00:55:54,960 --> 00:55:55,319
Speaker 4: get hit.

1117
00:55:55,440 --> 00:55:56,640
Speaker 3: For us, it's.

1118
00:55:56,600 --> 00:55:58,719
Speaker 4: Literally the cash flow that we need to get the

1119
00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:02,920
Speaker 4: inventory to this audience. One hundred and forty five percent

1120
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:06,800
Speaker 4: tariff means the tariff actually now makes that product cost

1121
00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:08,279
Speaker 4: me more than the product costs.

1122
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:11,400
Speaker 3: So I'm either just.

1123
00:56:11,440 --> 00:56:13,879
Speaker 4: Gonna lose money on every product sold, or I'm gonna

1124
00:56:13,880 --> 00:56:16,040
Speaker 4: have to raise my prices on those products in order

1125
00:56:16,120 --> 00:56:20,239
Speaker 4: to even turn a profit to survive. And the thing

1126
00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:23,080
Speaker 4: that I try to make sure that our audience knows

1127
00:56:23,360 --> 00:56:26,040
Speaker 4: is when I'm saying profit, I'm just I'm not talking

1128
00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:28,960
Speaker 4: about what goes into my personal pocket, and I'm not

1129
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:31,839
Speaker 4: even talking about just what goes into the actively Black

1130
00:56:31,960 --> 00:56:35,719
Speaker 4: bank account because we give back so much to our community.

1131
00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:38,359
Speaker 3: You know, we're donating real money.

1132
00:56:38,520 --> 00:56:41,520
Speaker 4: Like when we did five million two years ago, we

1133
00:56:41,600 --> 00:56:44,120
Speaker 4: donated five hundred thousand that's ten percent of our revenue.

1134
00:56:44,520 --> 00:56:46,600
Speaker 4: You go check the percentages of what some of these

1135
00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:49,920
Speaker 4: companies are are donating and giving. You're talking about less

1136
00:56:49,960 --> 00:56:52,840
Speaker 4: than one percent of their revenue that they're actually donateing.

1137
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:56,360
Speaker 4: We're donating ten percent of our revenue. So that margin

1138
00:56:57,040 --> 00:57:01,399
Speaker 4: is a is not eating up and it does make

1139
00:57:01,440 --> 00:57:05,040
Speaker 4: some things difficult. But we were already working on some

1140
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:10,359
Speaker 4: pivots even before this tear of stuff happened. We had

1141
00:57:10,440 --> 00:57:12,600
Speaker 4: some of the uniforms and some of the outfits Fortem

1142
00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:17,240
Speaker 4: Nigeria actually made in Legos, Nigeria. I wanted that authenticity

1143
00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:20,240
Speaker 4: to be there for that team, you know, competing at

1144
00:57:20,240 --> 00:57:23,760
Speaker 4: the Olympics, and so that relationship with that factory in

1145
00:57:23,840 --> 00:57:27,680
Speaker 4: Legos is now one where we're looking at shifting some

1146
00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:30,040
Speaker 4: of our production to the continent, you know what I mean.

1147
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:32,000
Speaker 4: And that was a big picture of vision for my

1148
00:57:32,120 --> 00:57:35,880
Speaker 4: anyway that when this gets to where it's going to be,

1149
00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:38,320
Speaker 4: the bulk of the production is going to be on

1150
00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:41,760
Speaker 4: the continent. So it's speeding up what we're having to

1151
00:57:41,840 --> 00:57:44,200
Speaker 4: do to make that pivot. But that's part of the plan,

1152
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:47,280
Speaker 4: is changing where we're getting some of these products made.

1153
00:57:47,320 --> 00:57:49,680
Speaker 4: Even if we have to import those fabrics from China,

1154
00:57:50,920 --> 00:57:54,959
Speaker 4: and just for everybody to know making things in China

1155
00:57:55,040 --> 00:58:00,080
Speaker 4: is not just because of the cost being cheaper. The

1156
00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:03,680
Speaker 4: level of expertise that they have in making these products

1157
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:06,840
Speaker 4: is not matched anywhere in the world. So even if

1158
00:58:06,880 --> 00:58:08,760
Speaker 4: you're talking about trying to bring that here and make

1159
00:58:08,840 --> 00:58:11,800
Speaker 4: it here. One, those premium ath Leisure were fabrics that

1160
00:58:11,880 --> 00:58:15,360
Speaker 4: you love from Lolulemon and Nike and actively Black that

1161
00:58:15,520 --> 00:58:17,720
Speaker 4: feel how they feel. You're not going to find them

1162
00:58:18,360 --> 00:58:21,400
Speaker 4: all over the world. And then two, the level of

1163
00:58:21,480 --> 00:58:25,560
Speaker 4: craftsmanship to be able to make the flat seene six

1164
00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:28,640
Speaker 4: needles stitching that is a premium stitch that you'll find

1165
00:58:28,840 --> 00:58:32,200
Speaker 4: on those hot premium level of products. It takes a

1166
00:58:32,240 --> 00:58:34,040
Speaker 4: certain skill set to be able to even use the

1167
00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:36,960
Speaker 4: machines to do that. So a lot of people don't

1168
00:58:36,960 --> 00:58:42,000
Speaker 4: even understand, like just the skill that a lot of

1169
00:58:42,120 --> 00:58:45,680
Speaker 4: their workers have to make this stuff. But the other

1170
00:58:45,840 --> 00:58:49,080
Speaker 4: pivot that we're making that I'm super excited about is

1171
00:58:49,720 --> 00:58:54,240
Speaker 4: the first collection actually drop Juneteenth. We're working with some

1172
00:58:54,400 --> 00:58:58,000
Speaker 4: black farmers in North Carolina that own the land that

1173
00:58:58,120 --> 00:59:00,640
Speaker 4: they grow this cotton front And.

1174
00:59:00,840 --> 00:59:03,600
Speaker 1: Because I saw you said announced me coming soon and

1175
00:59:04,680 --> 00:59:04,960
Speaker 1: I'm like.

1176
00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:08,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, is what is happening. Yeah, I'm so excited about

1177
00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:09,960
Speaker 3: this because.

1178
00:59:11,680 --> 00:59:13,919
Speaker 4: For this particular collection, it will expand on it after

1179
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:17,120
Speaker 4: the launch, but for this collection, the entire supply chain

1180
00:59:17,240 --> 00:59:19,680
Speaker 4: is black owned, from the dirt to the shirt. You know,

1181
00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:21,720
Speaker 4: this is these are black farmers who own the land

1182
00:59:21,760 --> 00:59:30,120
Speaker 4: who will shirt. And the power in that is like

1183
00:59:31,400 --> 00:59:33,920
Speaker 4: this level of black ownership is not just the brand

1184
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:38,000
Speaker 4: being black owned, but also the raw materials that's being

1185
00:59:38,120 --> 00:59:40,360
Speaker 4: used to make the shirt, that's being used to make

1186
00:59:40,440 --> 00:59:42,880
Speaker 4: the product that then our audience is going to wear.

1187
00:59:43,360 --> 00:59:46,840
Speaker 3: I feel like there's a the symbolism in that is

1188
00:59:46,960 --> 00:59:49,520
Speaker 3: so powerful. But then also you know your.

1189
00:59:49,440 --> 00:59:52,880
Speaker 4: Purchase is supporting these black farmers who historically have been

1190
00:59:52,920 --> 00:59:56,080
Speaker 4: discriminated against from the banks to get what they need

1191
00:59:56,240 --> 00:59:57,720
Speaker 4: to do what they do. I think I just I

1192
00:59:57,840 --> 01:00:00,280
Speaker 4: just read something the other day. In the last twenty

1193
01:00:00,360 --> 01:00:06,120
Speaker 4: years the black ownership Black farmers have lost over ninety

1194
01:00:06,160 --> 01:00:11,439
Speaker 4: percent of ownership of their land. And us being able

1195
01:00:11,480 --> 01:00:14,360
Speaker 4: to do something where we're supporting these black farmers while

1196
01:00:14,440 --> 01:00:17,400
Speaker 4: growing a black owned business while providing this high quality

1197
01:00:17,440 --> 01:00:19,560
Speaker 4: product to our audience is.

1198
01:00:21,320 --> 01:00:23,680
Speaker 3: Super powerful. So I'm looking forward to that.

1199
01:00:24,200 --> 01:00:28,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I know with the trade wars. It's like

1200
01:00:28,800 --> 01:00:29,720
Speaker 1: that has.

1201
01:00:31,120 --> 01:00:34,160
Speaker 2: That has the potential to just destroy a lot of

1202
01:00:34,280 --> 01:00:38,360
Speaker 2: black businesses. It's hard enough already, as you very well know,

1203
01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:41,200
Speaker 2: for black business owners to thrive, but that is something

1204
01:00:41,280 --> 01:00:45,120
Speaker 2: that is a real threat to all of all of

1205
01:00:45,200 --> 01:00:46,320
Speaker 2: black businesses, and.

1206
01:00:46,320 --> 01:00:47,200
Speaker 3: It's happening already.

1207
01:00:47,280 --> 01:00:51,080
Speaker 4: Sadly, it's happening already, and it's not even just black

1208
01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:52,520
Speaker 4: owned business all small.

1209
01:00:52,720 --> 01:00:54,120
Speaker 3: Businesses in general.

1210
01:00:54,200 --> 01:00:54,400
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1211
01:00:54,440 --> 01:00:55,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're not sitting on.

1212
01:00:55,360 --> 01:00:58,960
Speaker 4: The capital that these corporations have, and a lot of

1213
01:00:59,160 --> 01:01:02,280
Speaker 4: small businesses you're having to reinvest everything you make just

1214
01:01:02,320 --> 01:01:05,240
Speaker 4: to keep the thing growing and growing. So when your

1215
01:01:05,400 --> 01:01:09,600
Speaker 4: costs changed that dramatically, there's no contingency plan for that,

1216
01:01:10,240 --> 01:01:13,800
Speaker 4: there's no backup for that. And for those who aren't

1217
01:01:13,800 --> 01:01:16,919
Speaker 4: able to diversify their supply chain, it's almost a death

1218
01:01:16,960 --> 01:01:20,640
Speaker 4: sentence that this administration is writing for a LOGI small

1219
01:01:20,880 --> 01:01:23,400
Speaker 4: and black owned businesses I see.

1220
01:01:23,480 --> 01:01:25,760
Speaker 2: I feel like in the years since I met you,

1221
01:01:25,840 --> 01:01:28,840
Speaker 2: I now see actively black everywhere. Has there been a

1222
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:31,840
Speaker 2: celebrity that's warned that really caught you off guard? Like, wow,

1223
01:01:32,080 --> 01:01:35,400
Speaker 2: I had no idea along the lines of like you

1224
01:01:35,520 --> 01:01:37,600
Speaker 2: never know who's a fan or you never know who's watching.

1225
01:01:37,680 --> 01:01:38,120
Speaker 6: But have you.

1226
01:01:39,600 --> 01:01:41,760
Speaker 2: Seen someone wearing it that you were just like, I

1227
01:01:41,920 --> 01:01:44,960
Speaker 2: had no idea that this person was even you know,

1228
01:01:45,120 --> 01:01:45,800
Speaker 2: had the apparel.

1229
01:01:45,960 --> 01:01:47,880
Speaker 3: It's honestly been so many.

1230
01:01:49,880 --> 01:01:55,400
Speaker 4: I would say, I'll say President Obama, you know, and

1231
01:01:55,680 --> 01:01:59,560
Speaker 4: and the Queen Michelle Obama wearing a brand is something

1232
01:01:59,640 --> 01:02:00,720
Speaker 4: that I want to get.

1233
01:02:00,640 --> 01:02:02,560
Speaker 1: That Obama collab. But actively black.

1234
01:02:05,280 --> 01:02:06,000
Speaker 6: Oh what.

1235
01:02:08,840 --> 01:02:09,680
Speaker 1: Did I break some news?

1236
01:02:09,880 --> 01:02:09,920
Speaker 8: No?

1237
01:02:11,160 --> 01:02:16,520
Speaker 3: Not not, yeah, we'll ed the best part. Well, well

1238
01:02:17,120 --> 01:02:19,320
Speaker 3: we're working on something, that's all I said. That's all

1239
01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:19,800
Speaker 3: I said.

1240
01:02:20,400 --> 01:02:21,640
Speaker 1: If you want to break some news, you can.

1241
01:02:21,760 --> 01:02:29,360
Speaker 4: But okay, but you know, when when President Obama, when

1242
01:02:29,400 --> 01:02:31,240
Speaker 4: he when he sent me the letter that that him

1243
01:02:31,280 --> 01:02:34,480
Speaker 4: and Michelle wrote, uh, just talking about how much they

1244
01:02:34,520 --> 01:02:35,920
Speaker 4: love the brand and what it's still for.

1245
01:02:37,400 --> 01:02:40,440
Speaker 3: That meant. That meant a lot to me obviously.

1246
01:02:41,280 --> 01:02:44,800
Speaker 4: But the funny thing about it is whether it's a celebrity,

1247
01:02:44,880 --> 01:02:47,920
Speaker 4: whether it's an NBA player, whether it's a you know,

1248
01:02:48,320 --> 01:02:52,400
Speaker 4: whoever it is, I get. I get very similar joy

1249
01:02:52,840 --> 01:02:55,800
Speaker 4: seeing a random person in the in the airport weren't

1250
01:02:55,800 --> 01:03:00,400
Speaker 4: actively black. And you know, y'all forgive me. I turned

1251
01:03:00,400 --> 01:03:02,480
Speaker 4: into a creep, you know what I mean? I run

1252
01:03:02,600 --> 01:03:03,560
Speaker 4: up you know, I'm trying to take a.

1253
01:03:03,600 --> 01:03:04,040
Speaker 5: Picture of it.

1254
01:03:04,120 --> 01:03:07,080
Speaker 3: I'm like, yo, somebody's were actively black, because it's.

1255
01:03:08,800 --> 01:03:12,160
Speaker 4: One we launched during the pandemic, and we built this

1256
01:03:12,280 --> 01:03:14,920
Speaker 4: thing online first, and we were, you know, on lockdown.

1257
01:03:15,120 --> 01:03:18,400
Speaker 4: So there's so much of this that we're still adjusting

1258
01:03:18,480 --> 01:03:21,160
Speaker 4: to because we're looking at this from the inside out.

1259
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:23,720
Speaker 4: So I'm putting out the fires. I'm putting out every day.

1260
01:03:24,240 --> 01:03:26,720
Speaker 4: I don't sleep, you know, I'm up till four am

1261
01:03:26,800 --> 01:03:29,720
Speaker 4: with my manufacturers every night. I can't see what the

1262
01:03:29,800 --> 01:03:32,720
Speaker 4: brand looks like from the outside looking at and so

1263
01:03:33,800 --> 01:03:35,919
Speaker 4: when I'm out in public and I'm seeing people where

1264
01:03:35,960 --> 01:03:37,360
Speaker 4: it's still a shock to me.

1265
01:03:37,520 --> 01:03:38,160
Speaker 3: You know, seeing it.

1266
01:03:38,600 --> 01:03:41,400
Speaker 4: Seeing people posting it on Instagram is dope, don't get

1267
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:43,680
Speaker 4: me wrong, But it's different when you seeing it in person.

1268
01:03:44,320 --> 01:03:47,680
Speaker 4: And so celebrity or not, anybody who's part of the

1269
01:03:47,760 --> 01:03:49,920
Speaker 4: tribe wearing it means so much to me.

1270
01:03:50,560 --> 01:03:54,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, as I said a moment ago, you know, black

1271
01:03:54,120 --> 01:03:58,560
Speaker 2: businesses face unique challenges. But now that you are a

1272
01:03:58,640 --> 01:04:01,160
Speaker 2: business owner, and I'm sure you get an opportunity to

1273
01:04:01,240 --> 01:04:04,400
Speaker 2: be in community with other black business owners, why do

1274
01:04:04,600 --> 01:04:07,400
Speaker 2: so many black businesses fail?

1275
01:04:08,000 --> 01:04:11,040
Speaker 3: Yeah? Oh man, great question. Mac, Mom'm so glad you

1276
01:04:11,080 --> 01:04:11,680
Speaker 3: asked this question.

1277
01:04:12,720 --> 01:04:16,920
Speaker 4: One that lack of access to the startup capital that

1278
01:04:17,080 --> 01:04:22,200
Speaker 4: other businesses get is a huge reason because all businesses,

1279
01:04:22,280 --> 01:04:25,680
Speaker 4: I think the numbers are like, it's like eighty percent

1280
01:04:25,760 --> 01:04:27,680
Speaker 4: of startups failed within the first two years.

1281
01:04:28,800 --> 01:04:30,080
Speaker 3: So that's all businesses, right.

1282
01:04:30,200 --> 01:04:33,480
Speaker 4: So then if you you know, you filter that down

1283
01:04:33,560 --> 01:04:36,480
Speaker 4: to black businesses who normally don't get the startup capital

1284
01:04:36,520 --> 01:04:38,240
Speaker 4: that other businesses get. You got to think even some

1285
01:04:38,360 --> 01:04:43,680
Speaker 4: of the biggest businesses. Uber was running at a loss

1286
01:04:43,680 --> 01:04:45,800
Speaker 4: for fourteen years. They didn't start turning a profit until

1287
01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:48,800
Speaker 4: year fifteen, but they were able to continue raising money

1288
01:04:49,440 --> 01:04:52,040
Speaker 4: and you know, billions and billions of dollars every round

1289
01:04:52,120 --> 01:04:54,840
Speaker 4: to grow their business until it got to the point

1290
01:04:54,840 --> 01:04:58,080
Speaker 4: where they could then turn a profit. Black founders and

1291
01:04:58,120 --> 01:05:02,680
Speaker 4: black owned businesses don't have that, uh, that privilege of

1292
01:05:03,040 --> 01:05:05,840
Speaker 4: being able to continue to receive investment to grow the

1293
01:05:05,960 --> 01:05:09,360
Speaker 4: thing and have the learnings and the pivots to get

1294
01:05:09,400 --> 01:05:12,400
Speaker 4: it to be profitable. You're normally putting in whatever you

1295
01:05:12,520 --> 01:05:15,760
Speaker 4: have and then there's no outside support from that from

1296
01:05:15,800 --> 01:05:18,320
Speaker 4: a from a capital investment standpoint. So that's one, two

1297
01:05:20,960 --> 01:05:25,320
Speaker 4: and and And I say this with grace for my people.

1298
01:05:26,000 --> 01:05:29,760
Speaker 4: I need us to have more grace for our black founders.

1299
01:05:30,120 --> 01:05:33,360
Speaker 4: It's a very lonely space, right. You're fighting in a

1300
01:05:33,440 --> 01:05:35,960
Speaker 4: system that doesn't want you to succeed anyway because you're

1301
01:05:35,960 --> 01:05:36,600
Speaker 4: a black founder.

1302
01:05:36,720 --> 01:05:40,320
Speaker 3: That's one. You're not getting access to the same resources.

1303
01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:40,800
Speaker 3: That's two.

1304
01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:46,720
Speaker 4: But then we're normally building something from zero, which means

1305
01:05:49,400 --> 01:05:51,480
Speaker 4: if you if you've seen, if you've seen the beginning

1306
01:05:51,560 --> 01:05:55,120
Speaker 4: of of a skyscraper, right, they dig so deep down

1307
01:05:55,200 --> 01:05:59,160
Speaker 4: into the ground and start building underneath that ground for

1308
01:05:59,240 --> 01:06:01,560
Speaker 4: a while before the breaks ground, and then they build up.

1309
01:06:02,120 --> 01:06:05,840
Speaker 4: Most black founders, we're down there building so you can't

1310
01:06:05,880 --> 01:06:08,480
Speaker 4: see the shiny thing that is polished, that is that

1311
01:06:08,680 --> 01:06:10,040
Speaker 4: that the world can see and.

1312
01:06:11,520 --> 01:06:11,919
Speaker 3: Is ready.

1313
01:06:11,960 --> 01:06:14,440
Speaker 4: In that way, we're building from underneath the ground, and

1314
01:06:14,480 --> 01:06:16,840
Speaker 4: a lot of times our people give up on us

1315
01:06:16,840 --> 01:06:17,680
Speaker 4: before we even.

1316
01:06:17,680 --> 01:06:18,440
Speaker 3: Break the surface.

1317
01:06:19,160 --> 01:06:23,120
Speaker 4: And so yes, I understand there's times where customer service

1318
01:06:23,200 --> 01:06:26,160
Speaker 4: may not be up to par where you needed to go.

1319
01:06:26,320 --> 01:06:29,680
Speaker 4: Also understand there's likely a black business owner behind behind

1320
01:06:29,720 --> 01:06:32,960
Speaker 4: that customer service that is wearing every single hat imaginable

1321
01:06:33,000 --> 01:06:35,360
Speaker 4: and they're already stretched thin to the max and they're

1322
01:06:35,440 --> 01:06:37,960
Speaker 4: trying to hold it together, and they're trying to pay

1323
01:06:38,000 --> 01:06:40,680
Speaker 4: their bills and they're trying to you know, they're they're

1324
01:06:40,760 --> 01:06:41,360
Speaker 4: they're trying to.

1325
01:06:41,400 --> 01:06:42,640
Speaker 3: Make something out of nothing.

1326
01:06:43,360 --> 01:06:47,600
Speaker 4: And so when you don't have outside investment, the only

1327
01:06:48,840 --> 01:06:52,360
Speaker 4: capital injection you're really getting is the support of your customers.

1328
01:06:52,760 --> 01:06:54,720
Speaker 4: That's the only capital injection that you're getting.

1329
01:06:54,720 --> 01:06:58,040
Speaker 3: And so you need that over and over again.

1330
01:06:58,080 --> 01:07:00,040
Speaker 4: You need the return customers, You need your custom and

1331
01:07:00,160 --> 01:07:02,760
Speaker 4: then go tell somebody else, hey, go support this brand

1332
01:07:03,040 --> 01:07:05,560
Speaker 4: because we also normally don't have the marketing dollars to

1333
01:07:05,920 --> 01:07:09,240
Speaker 4: run the commercials to get our businesses out there. And

1334
01:07:09,360 --> 01:07:13,120
Speaker 4: then there's this tough space that talking with a lot

1335
01:07:13,120 --> 01:07:16,560
Speaker 4: of black founders, there is a struggle, Like the founders

1336
01:07:16,560 --> 01:07:21,920
Speaker 4: of Mael are friends of ours, and you see no

1337
01:07:22,200 --> 01:07:25,000
Speaker 4: safe space because if you're too small and you're not

1338
01:07:25,120 --> 01:07:28,000
Speaker 4: able to service the demand, then your audience is mad

1339
01:07:28,040 --> 01:07:30,040
Speaker 4: at you because it's like, man, your costumer service ain't there?

1340
01:07:30,040 --> 01:07:31,640
Speaker 3: Your product that ain't there? This and that, this and that.

1341
01:07:31,800 --> 01:07:36,440
Speaker 4: Then if you accept the bigger investment or the acquisition

1342
01:07:36,560 --> 01:07:38,720
Speaker 4: from a larger company, which then allows you to be

1343
01:07:38,800 --> 01:07:41,479
Speaker 4: in a position where you can services, then you people

1344
01:07:41,520 --> 01:07:44,400
Speaker 4: are like, y'all ain't Black owed no more and you

1345
01:07:44,560 --> 01:07:48,120
Speaker 4: sold out? Where do you want us to be? There

1346
01:07:48,240 --> 01:07:51,040
Speaker 4: is no like you're either in a constant struggle of

1347
01:07:51,200 --> 01:07:53,000
Speaker 4: how am I going to cover these expenses? How am

1348
01:07:53,000 --> 01:07:55,000
Speaker 4: I going to make payroll? How am I going to

1349
01:07:55,400 --> 01:07:58,000
Speaker 4: increase my inventory so I can meet the growing demand?

1350
01:07:58,600 --> 01:08:01,960
Speaker 4: And if there's nothing else outside support for that, that's

1351
01:08:02,040 --> 01:08:04,880
Speaker 4: just on me of that constant grind. And when people

1352
01:08:04,960 --> 01:08:08,320
Speaker 4: see the valuations and they see their revenue, they think

1353
01:08:08,400 --> 01:08:11,320
Speaker 4: that's what's in black Founder's pockets. That ain't what's in

1354
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:14,120
Speaker 4: my bank account. When you see actively Black value at

1355
01:08:14,120 --> 01:08:17,280
Speaker 4: sixty million dollars, I don't have sixty million dollars in

1356
01:08:17,320 --> 01:08:18,840
Speaker 4: my bank account. I just want you all to know that,

1357
01:08:18,960 --> 01:08:20,920
Speaker 4: because they'll see that and they'll be like, oh, well,

1358
01:08:20,960 --> 01:08:23,280
Speaker 4: you can sponsor this event for one hundred thousand, and

1359
01:08:23,400 --> 01:08:26,200
Speaker 4: I'm asking you for this, And we're flooded with everybody

1360
01:08:26,360 --> 01:08:28,040
Speaker 4: asking for something not knowing.

1361
01:08:28,479 --> 01:08:30,639
Speaker 3: Yo, I'm still building. I'm still I'm.

1362
01:08:30,520 --> 01:08:32,880
Speaker 4: Really still in this building process, and I have to

1363
01:08:32,960 --> 01:08:35,320
Speaker 4: reinvest everything that I have back into this so that

1364
01:08:35,439 --> 01:08:39,559
Speaker 4: it can exist. So it can still exist. That lack

1365
01:08:39,640 --> 01:08:44,679
Speaker 4: of understanding sometimes from our own audience is another barrier

1366
01:08:44,800 --> 01:08:49,880
Speaker 4: that we are often fighting, and the reason why so

1367
01:08:50,000 --> 01:08:53,960
Speaker 4: many fail is you're fighting on both fronts. You're fighting

1368
01:08:54,120 --> 01:08:56,639
Speaker 4: this that's trying to keep you for climbing. You're fighting

1369
01:08:56,720 --> 01:09:01,439
Speaker 4: this that's holding you back, and God forbid you do

1370
01:09:01,640 --> 01:09:04,439
Speaker 4: something like what Male's founders did and allowed themselves not

1371
01:09:04,560 --> 01:09:08,080
Speaker 4: only the financial freedom of the reward for working.

1372
01:09:08,560 --> 01:09:11,040
Speaker 3: Y'alln't understand these people.

1373
01:09:12,920 --> 01:09:16,479
Speaker 4: Invest their lives into trying to build something for us,

1374
01:09:16,800 --> 01:09:20,560
Speaker 4: right That financial reward doesn't come from the sales. It

1375
01:09:20,680 --> 01:09:23,599
Speaker 4: often only comes if there's an acquisition or you go public.

1376
01:09:23,960 --> 01:09:25,560
Speaker 4: How many black on brands you know that are on

1377
01:09:25,600 --> 01:09:28,120
Speaker 4: the stock exchange that are going public? So if you're

1378
01:09:28,160 --> 01:09:30,160
Speaker 4: not supporting them all the way to them going public,

1379
01:09:30,240 --> 01:09:33,280
Speaker 4: their only option is to be acquired or to accept

1380
01:09:33,320 --> 01:09:37,200
Speaker 4: an investment that's large enough to change the structure of

1381
01:09:37,240 --> 01:09:39,519
Speaker 4: the business and so that they're not being that safe

1382
01:09:39,560 --> 01:09:41,240
Speaker 4: space for founders is.

1383
01:09:42,800 --> 01:09:43,320
Speaker 3: A tough thing.

1384
01:09:43,720 --> 01:09:44,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I.

1385
01:09:46,680 --> 01:09:46,840
Speaker 6: Like you.

1386
01:09:46,920 --> 01:09:49,720
Speaker 2: I mean, I seeing that sometimes how people respond on

1387
01:09:49,760 --> 01:09:52,080
Speaker 2: your social media pages, Like I think it was one

1388
01:09:52,160 --> 01:09:54,600
Speaker 2: where you I don't know how it came up, but

1389
01:09:54,840 --> 01:09:57,400
Speaker 2: it was a post you made, and I remember seeing

1390
01:09:57,439 --> 01:09:59,680
Speaker 2: people in the comments like, well, why don't you get

1391
01:09:59,720 --> 01:10:03,719
Speaker 2: this athlete or this celebrity to do actively black.

1392
01:10:03,760 --> 01:10:05,479
Speaker 1: And I'm like, do y'all know how much that costs?

1393
01:10:06,200 --> 01:10:06,320
Speaker 3: Yo?

1394
01:10:06,520 --> 01:10:10,720
Speaker 2: Let me, that is an exorbitant fee to get you know,

1395
01:10:11,080 --> 01:10:13,760
Speaker 2: somebody of notoriety.

1396
01:10:13,479 --> 01:10:15,200
Speaker 3: Right to where your brand where your brand.

1397
01:10:15,280 --> 01:10:16,240
Speaker 1: It costs a lot of money.

1398
01:10:16,280 --> 01:10:18,400
Speaker 3: They get paid millions of dollars to do this.

1399
01:10:18,680 --> 01:10:21,840
Speaker 4: And once again, if you don't have access to the resources,

1400
01:10:22,160 --> 01:10:25,160
Speaker 4: you can't just go sign these professional athletes to these deals.

1401
01:10:25,880 --> 01:10:28,920
Speaker 3: And oftentimes, and a lot of people don't even notice.

1402
01:10:29,000 --> 01:10:29,799
Speaker 3: A lot of times, those.

1403
01:10:29,720 --> 01:10:32,400
Speaker 4: Bigger brands, they don't even see a return on that,

1404
01:10:33,080 --> 01:10:36,240
Speaker 4: but they've got so much money. That's a marketing spend

1405
01:10:36,320 --> 01:10:38,200
Speaker 4: for them. And like this at least keeps us in

1406
01:10:39,320 --> 01:10:41,760
Speaker 4: front of the audience that we're trying to reach, even

1407
01:10:41,760 --> 01:10:44,080
Speaker 4: if we don't make a return on that specific investment.

1408
01:10:44,600 --> 01:10:47,439
Speaker 3: For small businesses, for black owned businesses, we have to receive.

1409
01:10:47,520 --> 01:10:49,360
Speaker 4: We have to see a return on what we invest

1410
01:10:49,479 --> 01:10:51,600
Speaker 4: in because we're not sitting on a bunch of a

1411
01:10:51,640 --> 01:10:53,840
Speaker 4: bunch of cash. And so yeah, I think there's this,

1412
01:10:53,960 --> 01:10:56,479
Speaker 4: there's and and this is the grace that I hold.

1413
01:10:56,800 --> 01:11:01,040
Speaker 4: There is a lack of education and standing on what

1414
01:11:01,240 --> 01:11:03,719
Speaker 4: it actually means to build a brand in this space.

1415
01:11:05,080 --> 01:11:07,080
Speaker 4: You know from the endorsement deals that people think, hey,

1416
01:11:07,200 --> 01:11:08,559
Speaker 4: just go get such a such the way your brand,

1417
01:11:08,600 --> 01:11:12,960
Speaker 4: and it don't work that way. And even like for

1418
01:11:13,080 --> 01:11:18,320
Speaker 4: the inventory, right is if I if I buy let's

1419
01:11:18,320 --> 01:11:21,479
Speaker 4: say a shirt costs me five dollars and I sell

1420
01:11:21,520 --> 01:11:24,200
Speaker 4: it for ten and I sell that, now I can

1421
01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:26,240
Speaker 4: go buy two shirts with what I just sold that, right,

1422
01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:30,800
Speaker 4: But what if when I sold that shirt and it

1423
01:11:30,960 --> 01:11:33,240
Speaker 4: was shared on social media and one hundred people now

1424
01:11:33,320 --> 01:11:36,160
Speaker 4: want that shirt the profit that I made from that shirt,

1425
01:11:36,200 --> 01:11:38,000
Speaker 4: I can still only go buy two shirts and now

1426
01:11:38,120 --> 01:11:40,639
Speaker 4: go serve two people, even though one hundred people want

1427
01:11:40,680 --> 01:11:44,160
Speaker 4: that shirt. Right, So, even if I'm reinvesting everything that

1428
01:11:44,200 --> 01:11:47,000
Speaker 4: I'm making, it's hard to catch up to the demand

1429
01:11:47,120 --> 01:11:49,320
Speaker 4: as it grows in that way. And then it's like, okay,

1430
01:11:49,439 --> 01:11:52,160
Speaker 4: now what about if I want to hire employees, where

1431
01:11:52,200 --> 01:11:54,760
Speaker 4: does that cast come from? If I want to you know,

1432
01:11:55,320 --> 01:11:57,559
Speaker 4: you want customer service people who can be their answer

1433
01:11:57,600 --> 01:11:59,040
Speaker 4: the phone, I got to pay them, you know what

1434
01:11:59,080 --> 01:12:02,599
Speaker 4: I mean? Like all of the op X, the operating

1435
01:12:02,680 --> 01:12:04,880
Speaker 4: expenses to run a business like this that I don't

1436
01:12:04,880 --> 01:12:08,240
Speaker 4: think people calculate when they're making those comments on you know,

1437
01:12:08,400 --> 01:12:09,479
Speaker 4: on on social media.

1438
01:12:09,600 --> 01:12:13,040
Speaker 1: So yeah, have you have you thought about that yourself?

1439
01:12:13,680 --> 01:12:17,240
Speaker 2: Like you talked about Mala and we saw this happened

1440
01:12:17,280 --> 01:12:21,200
Speaker 2: with a few other products that where some big investor

1441
01:12:21,680 --> 01:12:23,759
Speaker 2: in and just they say, hey, I'll.

1442
01:12:23,560 --> 01:12:26,519
Speaker 1: Give you one hundred million or you know to buy

1443
01:12:26,560 --> 01:12:27,040
Speaker 1: the product.

1444
01:12:27,400 --> 01:12:29,479
Speaker 2: Have you thought or how much have you thought about

1445
01:12:29,560 --> 01:12:33,080
Speaker 2: what you would do if a non black owned brand, yeah,

1446
01:12:34,080 --> 01:12:36,960
Speaker 2: or business you know venture came to you and said,

1447
01:12:37,439 --> 01:12:39,320
Speaker 2: here's one hundred mil for Actively Black.

1448
01:12:39,439 --> 01:12:44,599
Speaker 4: No, they answered me, no, No, I've I've turned down

1449
01:12:44,640 --> 01:12:52,000
Speaker 4: millions already. Actively Black is not a This wasn't a

1450
01:12:52,080 --> 01:12:53,600
Speaker 4: thing where it's like, man, how do I think of

1451
01:12:53,640 --> 01:12:55,280
Speaker 4: a business venture? I can make a bunch of money.

1452
01:12:55,960 --> 01:12:58,240
Speaker 4: This is very purpose driven and mission driven to me,

1453
01:12:58,600 --> 01:13:01,880
Speaker 4: and there are certain things I'm just not going to

1454
01:13:01,920 --> 01:13:03,280
Speaker 4: compromise on, you know what I mean.

1455
01:13:03,360 --> 01:13:03,640
Speaker 5: And so.

1456
01:13:06,439 --> 01:13:10,000
Speaker 4: If it's a situation where there's I can ensure that

1457
01:13:10,200 --> 01:13:14,920
Speaker 4: the essence of what Actively Black is, the purpose and

1458
01:13:15,000 --> 01:13:18,840
Speaker 4: the mission and all that doesn't change. You know, you

1459
01:13:18,920 --> 01:13:21,439
Speaker 4: sit down and you have that discussion. But from what

1460
01:13:21,560 --> 01:13:25,240
Speaker 4: I've seen, that hasn't necessarily been the case. And so

1461
01:13:26,439 --> 01:13:27,639
Speaker 4: Phil Knight didn't sell Nike.

1462
01:13:28,439 --> 01:13:28,960
Speaker 3: You know what I mean.

1463
01:13:29,080 --> 01:13:31,840
Speaker 4: He started selling shoes out the back of a trunk

1464
01:13:32,120 --> 01:13:35,760
Speaker 4: at track meets. And Phil Knight did not sell Nike.

1465
01:13:35,760 --> 01:13:37,519
Speaker 4: He built it to the point where it could go public,

1466
01:13:37,680 --> 01:13:40,640
Speaker 4: and then then you're able to generate the capital you

1467
01:13:40,760 --> 01:13:44,160
Speaker 4: need from it going public. So my dream of all

1468
01:13:44,280 --> 01:13:46,920
Speaker 4: dreams would be to build Actively Black to the point

1469
01:13:46,920 --> 01:13:48,600
Speaker 4: where it can go public and then I don't have

1470
01:13:48,760 --> 01:13:51,320
Speaker 4: to sell it to another company. I don't have to

1471
01:13:51,360 --> 01:13:54,479
Speaker 4: get acquired by somebody else. That's how investors can get

1472
01:13:54,520 --> 01:13:56,320
Speaker 4: their return on there, on their money. That's how Actively

1473
01:13:56,360 --> 01:13:58,599
Speaker 4: Black can raise the capital we need to keep expanding

1474
01:13:58,640 --> 01:14:07,200
Speaker 4: and growing. Nobody asked those founders to sell their brands

1475
01:14:07,439 --> 01:14:09,800
Speaker 4: that they're able to grow and keep it growing to

1476
01:14:09,880 --> 01:14:14,799
Speaker 4: the point where they can do that. And I stand

1477
01:14:14,880 --> 01:14:17,960
Speaker 4: on this. I'll say this, I'll share this here. We

1478
01:14:18,200 --> 01:14:20,760
Speaker 4: turned out to deal with Peloton that we had. We

1479
01:14:20,840 --> 01:14:22,760
Speaker 4: had to deal with Peloton on the table, and not

1480
01:14:22,960 --> 01:14:23,679
Speaker 4: not just on the table.

1481
01:14:23,920 --> 01:14:25,519
Speaker 3: It was in motion, and.

1482
01:14:27,439 --> 01:14:29,679
Speaker 4: They wanted to do a Black History Month collection, which

1483
01:14:30,000 --> 01:14:32,240
Speaker 4: made me a little leery, but I was like, okay,

1484
01:14:32,360 --> 01:14:36,880
Speaker 4: we started moving forward with it. They presented me the

1485
01:14:37,000 --> 01:14:40,240
Speaker 4: collection that they wanted to move forward with.

1486
01:14:40,400 --> 01:14:40,720
Speaker 2: And they.

1487
01:14:42,200 --> 01:14:43,760
Speaker 3: Put our logos on the stuff.

1488
01:14:43,479 --> 01:14:44,720
Speaker 4: And put what they wanted to put on stuff, but

1489
01:14:44,720 --> 01:14:47,559
Speaker 4: they did not include us in any of the design process.

1490
01:14:48,200 --> 01:14:52,440
Speaker 4: And I'm like, that's already showing that you're not respecting

1491
01:14:53,040 --> 01:14:55,040
Speaker 4: you know, what we're building and why we're building it.

1492
01:14:55,120 --> 01:14:56,600
Speaker 4: And then when you looked at the design, it was

1493
01:14:56,680 --> 01:14:59,479
Speaker 4: all the typical corporate Black History Month stuff together in

1494
01:14:59,560 --> 01:15:03,479
Speaker 4: this the peace and I was like, Nah, that's the

1495
01:15:03,560 --> 01:15:06,000
Speaker 4: message for the oppressors. That message don't need to go

1496
01:15:06,040 --> 01:15:08,320
Speaker 4: to my people. My people have been the one fighting

1497
01:15:08,320 --> 01:15:10,519
Speaker 4: against this stuff. So why is it that in Black

1498
01:15:10,600 --> 01:15:12,760
Speaker 4: History Month you want to preach to us togetherness and

1499
01:15:12,880 --> 01:15:16,120
Speaker 4: unity and peace. Preach that to the people. That is

1500
01:15:16,200 --> 01:15:18,080
Speaker 4: the reason why we have to have Black History Month,

1501
01:15:18,120 --> 01:15:19,920
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. And I was like, Nah,

1502
01:15:20,200 --> 01:15:21,840
Speaker 4: this doesn't reflect what our brand does.

1503
01:15:21,960 --> 01:15:22,600
Speaker 3: Let's change this.

1504
01:15:22,760 --> 01:15:24,040
Speaker 4: And they were like, nah, this is what we want

1505
01:15:24,080 --> 01:15:25,559
Speaker 4: to go to market with. And I said, well, if

1506
01:15:25,600 --> 01:15:28,120
Speaker 4: that's if that's what you want to do, we're not

1507
01:15:28,320 --> 01:15:31,400
Speaker 4: moving forward with this. And you know, I'll never forget

1508
01:15:31,479 --> 01:15:33,920
Speaker 4: having that meeting and having that call. And I think

1509
01:15:34,000 --> 01:15:35,519
Speaker 4: it was the founder's wife who was like, well, we

1510
01:15:35,640 --> 01:15:37,880
Speaker 4: asked some black employees and they said, yeah, this is cool.

1511
01:15:38,439 --> 01:15:41,200
Speaker 1: I was like, Yo, did she just give you the

1512
01:15:41,920 --> 01:15:42,880
Speaker 1: We got some black friends?

1513
01:15:43,400 --> 01:15:45,720
Speaker 4: That's exactly That's exactly what it felt like. Well, I

1514
01:15:45,800 --> 01:15:47,240
Speaker 4: got black friends, you know what I mean. And so

1515
01:15:48,439 --> 01:15:51,920
Speaker 4: my integrity on what I'm building is something that I

1516
01:15:52,000 --> 01:15:54,400
Speaker 4: won't compromise. And so no matter how much money was

1517
01:15:54,439 --> 01:15:56,920
Speaker 4: on the table with that, I have to stay true

1518
01:15:57,000 --> 01:15:58,880
Speaker 4: to why I started this. I have to stay true

1519
01:15:58,920 --> 01:16:02,120
Speaker 4: to this tribe that truck me. They trust actively Black

1520
01:16:02,200 --> 01:16:08,400
Speaker 4: to be authentic, and to me, selling out is even

1521
01:16:08,400 --> 01:16:11,040
Speaker 4: when you start to compromise who you are and compromise

1522
01:16:11,439 --> 01:16:16,880
Speaker 4: your integrity for that dollar. Muhammad Ali, you know, is

1523
01:16:17,000 --> 01:16:19,519
Speaker 4: somebody that I have always looked up to as a hero,

1524
01:16:19,720 --> 01:16:23,240
Speaker 4: and he was somebody who was willing to sacrifice what

1525
01:16:23,360 --> 01:16:25,280
Speaker 4: it meant for his bank account to stand up for

1526
01:16:25,400 --> 01:16:28,519
Speaker 4: what he was about. It's not too many of us

1527
01:16:28,560 --> 01:16:30,160
Speaker 4: that's willing to really do that. You know a lot

1528
01:16:30,200 --> 01:16:31,960
Speaker 4: of times when that money gets thrown in front of us,

1529
01:16:32,000 --> 01:16:33,799
Speaker 4: we change our value.

1530
01:16:33,920 --> 01:16:35,479
Speaker 3: So that's not where actively Black is.

1531
01:16:37,200 --> 01:16:40,639
Speaker 1: I'm sure you probably talked to aspiring entrepreneurs all the time.

1532
01:16:41,040 --> 01:16:43,080
Speaker 2: You've dropped a lot of gems that they can certainly

1533
01:16:43,160 --> 01:16:48,400
Speaker 2: learn from just in our conversation, But was there an

1534
01:16:48,520 --> 01:16:52,880
Speaker 2: area or that you wish you knew better when you

1535
01:16:53,000 --> 01:16:55,000
Speaker 2: started this that would have been helpful. I'm sure it

1536
01:16:55,040 --> 01:16:57,360
Speaker 2: was a lot, but like, yeah, what is it? As

1537
01:16:57,439 --> 01:17:00,479
Speaker 2: you were starting you wish you would have known that.

1538
01:17:00,600 --> 01:17:03,920
Speaker 2: You hope you know aspiring entrepreneurs that they understand.

1539
01:17:04,800 --> 01:17:08,560
Speaker 4: One like making sure that you get you know, the

1540
01:17:08,920 --> 01:17:12,759
Speaker 4: right accountant and understanding the accounting side of the business.

1541
01:17:12,800 --> 01:17:16,320
Speaker 4: I think for a lot of entrepreneurs, including myself, you

1542
01:17:16,840 --> 01:17:21,240
Speaker 4: get excited about the the product or the brand and

1543
01:17:21,320 --> 01:17:24,120
Speaker 4: all the forward facing things and as you should be,

1544
01:17:24,640 --> 01:17:27,840
Speaker 4: but like that internal structure of your finances and the

1545
01:17:27,960 --> 01:17:30,439
Speaker 4: financials and understanding what the P and L is, your

1546
01:17:30,479 --> 01:17:33,240
Speaker 4: profit and law statement, your balance sheet, like those are

1547
01:17:33,280 --> 01:17:35,040
Speaker 4: things that you know.

1548
01:17:35,080 --> 01:17:36,720
Speaker 3: For me, I didn't go to business school, you know

1549
01:17:36,720 --> 01:17:37,000
Speaker 3: what I mean?

1550
01:17:37,080 --> 01:17:38,880
Speaker 4: Like I joke all the time, I tell people I

1551
01:17:38,920 --> 01:17:42,120
Speaker 4: went to YouTube University because I didn't even know how

1552
01:17:42,160 --> 01:17:43,240
Speaker 4: to come up with a company name.

1553
01:17:43,280 --> 01:17:44,280
Speaker 3: I googled that, you know.

1554
01:17:44,479 --> 01:17:47,479
Speaker 4: I spent hours on YouTube learning how to cold my

1555
01:17:47,520 --> 01:17:49,800
Speaker 4: own website because I didn't have the money to pay

1556
01:17:49,880 --> 01:17:52,080
Speaker 4: the thirty thousand dollars that somebody called me to build

1557
01:17:52,080 --> 01:17:54,639
Speaker 4: a website. So I self taught myself all these things,

1558
01:17:54,760 --> 01:17:59,800
Speaker 4: but the understanding of the financial side, the taxes, all

1559
01:17:59,840 --> 01:18:04,560
Speaker 4: that goes into it. Make sure that you're spending the

1560
01:18:04,680 --> 01:18:08,759
Speaker 4: time either learning that yourself or that you got somebody

1561
01:18:08,880 --> 01:18:10,840
Speaker 4: with you or on your team, that that's what their

1562
01:18:10,920 --> 01:18:13,880
Speaker 4: focus is, because a lot of times, as we get

1563
01:18:13,920 --> 01:18:17,840
Speaker 4: excited to build the thing, that foundation isn't solid and

1564
01:18:18,040 --> 01:18:21,280
Speaker 4: that's what ends up causing it to crumble from the

1565
01:18:21,360 --> 01:18:25,960
Speaker 4: financial side. And then also I would say for those entrepreneurs,

1566
01:18:27,800 --> 01:18:32,880
Speaker 4: man run your race. And I know it's tough in

1567
01:18:32,960 --> 01:18:36,720
Speaker 4: this era of social media to not compare yourself to

1568
01:18:36,800 --> 01:18:41,680
Speaker 4: what's happening to somebody else's thing. But everybody's story is

1569
01:18:41,720 --> 01:18:43,840
Speaker 4: so unique and the journey is so unique that I

1570
01:18:43,880 --> 01:18:46,080
Speaker 4: could literally tell you every single thing that I did

1571
01:18:46,760 --> 01:18:48,439
Speaker 4: and you can try to follow that to the t

1572
01:18:49,320 --> 01:18:51,960
Speaker 4: and it doesn't ensure success, you know. I mean, there's

1573
01:18:52,000 --> 01:18:55,280
Speaker 4: so many parts of this that one I feel like

1574
01:18:56,240 --> 01:19:00,720
Speaker 4: God opened some doors that I just can't explain. It

1575
01:19:00,800 --> 01:19:03,599
Speaker 4: wasn't part of my business plan and what I had

1576
01:19:03,640 --> 01:19:10,559
Speaker 4: written down. If you're led by passion for something, if

1577
01:19:10,600 --> 01:19:13,000
Speaker 4: you're led by a purpose for something. That's what's going

1578
01:19:13,080 --> 01:19:16,080
Speaker 4: to sustain you. If it's just the money and the

1579
01:19:16,320 --> 01:19:20,760
Speaker 4: flashing stuff and the trips and all that, I promise you,

1580
01:19:22,240 --> 01:19:25,160
Speaker 4: you're setting yourself up for failure because even with all

1581
01:19:25,200 --> 01:19:28,800
Speaker 4: the success we had we've had, I've received way more

1582
01:19:28,880 --> 01:19:33,000
Speaker 4: knows than yes's. I've received way more rejection than acceptance.

1583
01:19:33,160 --> 01:19:36,240
Speaker 4: And there are those moments where that thing that's going

1584
01:19:36,320 --> 01:19:37,600
Speaker 4: to pick you up or get you up in the

1585
01:19:37,680 --> 01:19:41,200
Speaker 4: morning after you've suffered this loss or you've got this rejection,

1586
01:19:41,800 --> 01:19:43,920
Speaker 4: it's going to be the why of why you're doing

1587
01:19:44,000 --> 01:19:46,880
Speaker 4: what you're doing. Find that first, and that's going to

1588
01:19:46,960 --> 01:19:49,360
Speaker 4: lead you and guide you, you know, on on your

1589
01:19:49,479 --> 01:19:50,320
Speaker 4: entrepreneurial journey.

1590
01:19:50,720 --> 01:19:52,000
Speaker 2: All right, now, you know I was gonna let you

1591
01:19:52,120 --> 01:19:55,360
Speaker 2: escape what I'm talking about your Houston basketball team.

1592
01:19:56,960 --> 01:19:58,840
Speaker 3: And I think which one the rockets of the Cougar.

1593
01:19:59,200 --> 01:19:59,519
Speaker 1: The Cougar.

1594
01:20:00,840 --> 01:20:03,479
Speaker 3: Okay, what's been in the e lad day?

1595
01:20:03,920 --> 01:20:07,639
Speaker 2: Like four times in the last seven eight years, final

1596
01:20:07,720 --> 01:20:10,760
Speaker 2: four twice? Make sure you make a national title game,

1597
01:20:11,200 --> 01:20:15,400
Speaker 2: tough loss to Florida for it all. Are you happy

1598
01:20:15,479 --> 01:20:18,519
Speaker 2: with the consistency or more disappointed that you guys haven't

1599
01:20:18,520 --> 01:20:19,080
Speaker 2: won the title?

1600
01:20:19,160 --> 01:20:24,720
Speaker 4: Yet honestly, I'm so happy with the program that coach

1601
01:20:24,720 --> 01:20:27,400
Speaker 4: Sampson has built for a couple of reasons.

1602
01:20:27,479 --> 01:20:30,840
Speaker 3: One, there's a huge gap in that consistency.

1603
01:20:31,000 --> 01:20:33,639
Speaker 4: Right, So you're talking about a keem olajuw and Clyde Drexler,

1604
01:20:33,720 --> 01:20:39,960
Speaker 4: Fox Slammon Jama, Ricky Winslow. You know, Fianca's father played

1605
01:20:40,000 --> 01:20:44,280
Speaker 4: on those five Slamon Jama teams at University of Houston, where.

1606
01:20:44,640 --> 01:20:47,160
Speaker 3: It was expected for us to compete at that level.

1607
01:20:47,200 --> 01:20:49,360
Speaker 4: You're talking about three final fours and four years and

1608
01:20:49,400 --> 01:20:51,759
Speaker 4: then there was this huge, huge gap where we weren't

1609
01:20:51,800 --> 01:20:56,040
Speaker 4: on that national stage. I was one of the last

1610
01:20:56,360 --> 01:20:58,639
Speaker 4: Houston and Texas player of the year to actually stay

1611
01:20:58,680 --> 01:21:00,519
Speaker 4: home and play at the Universe. Houston now recruited all

1612
01:21:00,560 --> 01:21:03,599
Speaker 4: over the country, but I stayed home in a long time.

1613
01:21:03,720 --> 01:21:08,600
Speaker 4: So seeing that drought, I'm actually very proud of just

1614
01:21:08,720 --> 01:21:11,240
Speaker 4: the program that Coach Sampson has built to the point

1615
01:21:11,280 --> 01:21:13,880
Speaker 4: where you can be disappointed in not winning the national championship.

1616
01:21:13,960 --> 01:21:15,559
Speaker 4: There's a lot of teams that's fighting just to get

1617
01:21:15,560 --> 01:21:18,200
Speaker 4: to the tournament. The tournament is like, that's a given.

1618
01:21:18,280 --> 01:21:20,560
Speaker 4: Every year, that's a given. Let's win this chip and

1619
01:21:20,640 --> 01:21:23,280
Speaker 4: so I think what he's built is this culture that

1620
01:21:24,040 --> 01:21:25,840
Speaker 4: is now attracting you know, I think we've got two

1621
01:21:25,840 --> 01:21:28,960
Speaker 4: million dollars all Americans coming in, the number two recruiting

1622
01:21:28,960 --> 01:21:30,800
Speaker 4: class in the country coming in for next year. So

1623
01:21:30,920 --> 01:21:33,720
Speaker 4: he's built this culture that's now attracting top talent in

1624
01:21:33,800 --> 01:21:35,479
Speaker 4: the country. I think it's just I think it's just

1625
01:21:35,560 --> 01:21:36,200
Speaker 4: a matter of time.

1626
01:21:36,360 --> 01:21:36,880
Speaker 3: We'll be back.

1627
01:21:37,080 --> 01:21:40,120
Speaker 2: That must have been brutal to watch this year because

1628
01:21:40,120 --> 01:21:41,880
Speaker 2: I think with that last possession, you guys didn't get

1629
01:21:41,880 --> 01:21:42,360
Speaker 2: a shot off.

1630
01:21:42,520 --> 01:21:45,920
Speaker 4: Didn't get a shot off, and just the roller coaster

1631
01:21:46,080 --> 01:21:48,439
Speaker 4: of the previous game, we kind of did the reverse

1632
01:21:48,520 --> 01:21:52,439
Speaker 4: to do they had the game won, and we kept fighting,

1633
01:21:52,520 --> 01:21:54,400
Speaker 4: didn't give up, and we came back and won that game.

1634
01:21:54,840 --> 01:21:57,600
Speaker 4: And we saw those Duke fans just stunned, like not

1635
01:21:57,760 --> 01:22:00,200
Speaker 4: knowing how to process what they thought was all yeah,

1636
01:22:00,200 --> 01:22:01,600
Speaker 4: we had a tompership game and then it's over with

1637
01:22:01,960 --> 01:22:04,240
Speaker 4: and then we were in the same boat. But I'm

1638
01:22:04,240 --> 01:22:06,680
Speaker 4: proud of those guys, man. They represented the city and

1639
01:22:06,760 --> 01:22:07,920
Speaker 4: the university very well.

1640
01:22:08,040 --> 01:22:11,240
Speaker 2: So yeah, all right, I end each podcast with what

1641
01:22:11,320 --> 01:22:14,120
Speaker 2: I call a messy question. All right, this is where

1642
01:22:14,840 --> 01:22:18,920
Speaker 2: you make the headlines. We make the blog because there's

1643
01:22:18,960 --> 01:22:22,600
Speaker 2: something you said. All the messy question is this, you

1644
01:22:22,800 --> 01:22:26,439
Speaker 2: are a self proclaimed Jordan's stand You have on Jordan's

1645
01:22:26,640 --> 01:22:27,439
Speaker 2: right now, right now?

1646
01:22:27,760 --> 01:22:28,040
Speaker 1: Okay.

1647
01:22:28,880 --> 01:22:31,920
Speaker 2: If you had a choice of doing a actively black

1648
01:22:31,960 --> 01:22:35,639
Speaker 2: collab with Jordan or Lebron, who you choosing?

1649
01:22:38,479 --> 01:22:49,800
Speaker 4: Ooh, okay, man, If it's anybody else, that answer would

1650
01:22:49,800 --> 01:22:55,120
Speaker 4: have been Jordan, No hesitation. The reason why I really

1651
01:22:55,200 --> 01:22:58,120
Speaker 4: have to pause and think about this is because I

1652
01:22:58,240 --> 01:23:04,000
Speaker 4: respect what Lebron James has and built so much. One

1653
01:23:04,080 --> 01:23:06,760
Speaker 4: from a standpoint of being in the same class and

1654
01:23:06,800 --> 01:23:10,120
Speaker 4: playing against him in the seventh grade and seeing this

1655
01:23:10,320 --> 01:23:12,960
Speaker 4: kid go from nobody knowing him to then I think

1656
01:23:13,000 --> 01:23:14,600
Speaker 4: two years later in the ninth grade, he's on the

1657
01:23:14,640 --> 01:23:17,400
Speaker 4: cover Sports Illustrated as the Chosen One. The level of

1658
01:23:17,560 --> 01:23:23,799
Speaker 4: expectation and pressure and eyeballs on him from being fifteen

1659
01:23:23,880 --> 01:23:27,040
Speaker 4: years old, it's something I don't think we've ever seen before,

1660
01:23:27,120 --> 01:23:32,080
Speaker 4: right So to meet that and exceed that expectation is

1661
01:23:32,200 --> 01:23:36,719
Speaker 4: dope in itself. I love that he's got this black

1662
01:23:36,800 --> 01:23:40,960
Speaker 4: wife and these beautiful black children. That's I love that.

1663
01:23:41,320 --> 01:23:46,080
Speaker 4: I love that he empowered others around him, you know

1664
01:23:46,080 --> 01:23:49,479
Speaker 4: what I mean, other young black men that were able

1665
01:23:49,600 --> 01:23:53,080
Speaker 4: to grow with him and now are building their own things,

1666
01:23:53,080 --> 01:23:54,919
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. So that sense of empowerment

1667
01:23:55,040 --> 01:23:59,559
Speaker 4: is him building the school. You know, There's so many

1668
01:23:59,640 --> 01:24:03,840
Speaker 4: things about that that give me just a certain level

1669
01:24:03,880 --> 01:24:06,720
Speaker 4: of respect for Lebron that exists beyond the greatness that

1670
01:24:06,840 --> 01:24:09,080
Speaker 4: he's that he's that he's exhibited on the court. And

1671
01:24:09,200 --> 01:24:10,560
Speaker 4: I will say, and I do have to say this

1672
01:24:10,640 --> 01:24:13,920
Speaker 4: because a lot of people get this misconstrued, Michael Jordan

1673
01:24:13,960 --> 01:24:16,240
Speaker 4: does a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people

1674
01:24:16,360 --> 01:24:18,320
Speaker 4: just don't know about, you know what I mean, for

1675
01:24:18,640 --> 01:24:21,040
Speaker 4: the black community, I'm gonna make sure I be clear

1676
01:24:21,080 --> 01:24:23,960
Speaker 4: about that one. When he was the owner Charlote Bobcats

1677
01:24:24,040 --> 01:24:26,640
Speaker 4: had the most Black people in the front office in

1678
01:24:26,720 --> 01:24:31,439
Speaker 4: the entire NBA. You know, what he does quietly is

1679
01:24:31,840 --> 01:24:35,720
Speaker 4: something that I almost wish he put it out there

1680
01:24:35,760 --> 01:24:36,919
Speaker 4: more so people could understand.

1681
01:24:37,800 --> 01:24:47,840
Speaker 1: But just go ahead and say it. Damn.

1682
01:24:48,240 --> 01:24:54,519
Speaker 3: I'm yeah, yo, I'm really, I'm really stumped. I'm really

1683
01:24:54,560 --> 01:24:55,400
Speaker 3: really stumped.

1684
01:24:55,080 --> 01:24:58,400
Speaker 4: Because there's everything I know why I would say Michael Jordan,

1685
01:24:58,479 --> 01:24:59,759
Speaker 4: I know why I would say Lebron.

1686
01:25:01,200 --> 01:25:03,120
Speaker 3: I mean, the projects got the lifetime deal with Nike,

1687
01:25:03,320 --> 01:25:03,479
Speaker 3: so I.

1688
01:25:03,560 --> 01:25:05,640
Speaker 4: Know, I mean, neither one of them, I know, is

1689
01:25:06,520 --> 01:25:13,240
Speaker 4: a real option, but I'm there's something even about with Bronnie.

1690
01:25:13,360 --> 01:25:17,600
Speaker 4: It's like there's greatness in our DNA. That tagline is

1691
01:25:17,720 --> 01:25:20,880
Speaker 4: literally greatness in his DNA. So I'm gonna go bron

1692
01:25:20,960 --> 01:25:22,439
Speaker 4: on that. M j don't get mad at me.

1693
01:25:23,640 --> 01:25:27,799
Speaker 2: I love you, man, enjoyed the limits of your stand.

1694
01:25:28,200 --> 01:25:32,240
Speaker 2: Your standum, there are limits. Let that be the headline.

1695
01:25:32,720 --> 01:25:36,280
Speaker 2: He's picking lebron over Michael Jordan's.

1696
01:25:37,960 --> 01:25:38,240
Speaker 6: Lenny.

1697
01:25:38,240 --> 01:25:39,840
Speaker 2: I want to thank you so much for spending this

1698
01:25:39,920 --> 01:25:42,280
Speaker 2: time with me, and I just think your origin story

1699
01:25:42,439 --> 01:25:45,719
Speaker 2: is really really amazing and the way that you pivoted

1700
01:25:45,880 --> 01:25:48,879
Speaker 2: into something you never saw coming and so much success

1701
01:25:49,040 --> 01:25:52,000
Speaker 2: to you, to Bianca, to the brand.

1702
01:25:53,840 --> 01:25:56,200
Speaker 1: I can't wait till you guys are publicly traded. I'm

1703
01:25:56,280 --> 01:25:56,800
Speaker 1: mind stock.

1704
01:25:57,400 --> 01:26:01,720
Speaker 3: I mean speak existence there you go. All right, thank you,

1705
01:26:01,920 --> 01:26:02,160
Speaker 3: thank you.

1706
01:26:02,720 --> 01:26:05,519
Speaker 2: All right, y'all know what's coming up next, final segment

1707
01:26:05,640 --> 01:26:08,160
Speaker 2: of politics that's on the way in just a moment.

1708
01:26:17,600 --> 01:26:19,479
Speaker 2: As you all know, I'd like to answer your questions,

1709
01:26:19,520 --> 01:26:22,120
Speaker 2: But in lieu of answering your questions this week, I

1710
01:26:22,240 --> 01:26:24,320
Speaker 2: instead want to give a tip of the cap to

1711
01:26:24,439 --> 01:26:28,400
Speaker 2: former San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich, and it feels

1712
01:26:28,479 --> 01:26:31,360
Speaker 2: really weird to call him former since most of us

1713
01:26:31,400 --> 01:26:34,679
Speaker 2: are accustomed to an NBA where Greg Popovich is coaching.

1714
01:26:35,160 --> 01:26:37,680
Speaker 2: But this week, Papovich announced he is stepping down from

1715
01:26:37,760 --> 01:26:41,519
Speaker 2: his coaching duties with the Spurs and instead transitioning to

1716
01:26:41,640 --> 01:26:45,559
Speaker 2: being the Spurs President of basketball Operations. Though I'm happy

1717
01:26:45,600 --> 01:26:47,840
Speaker 2: that Pop is still connected to the game, it was

1718
01:26:47,880 --> 01:26:50,599
Speaker 2: still a little sad seeing how pop is physically still

1719
01:26:50,680 --> 01:26:53,479
Speaker 2: dealing with the effects of the stroke that he suffered

1720
01:26:53,560 --> 01:26:57,120
Speaker 2: last November. At the press conference where he announced his

1721
01:26:57,280 --> 01:27:00,160
Speaker 2: move to the front office, Papovich was escorted by his

1722
01:27:00,240 --> 01:27:03,640
Speaker 2: former players Tim Duncan and Mynu Genobili. Now, when it

1723
01:27:03,720 --> 01:27:06,200
Speaker 2: comes to professional sports, very few people are able to

1724
01:27:06,280 --> 01:27:08,920
Speaker 2: retire on their own terms, and it would have been

1725
01:27:09,040 --> 01:27:13,800
Speaker 2: phenomenal to see Popovich guid Victor Womenjana's career the same

1726
01:27:13,880 --> 01:27:17,640
Speaker 2: way that he did with Tim Duncan's. Nevertheless, Popovich is

1727
01:27:17,800 --> 01:27:21,599
Speaker 2: arguably the best coach in NBA history. No coach has

1728
01:27:21,680 --> 01:27:25,000
Speaker 2: won more games than him, and pop was able to

1729
01:27:25,080 --> 01:27:28,320
Speaker 2: win championships in both the Shaq and Kobe era, and

1730
01:27:28,560 --> 01:27:32,000
Speaker 2: during the Miami Heatos era, his first teams were able

1731
01:27:32,080 --> 01:27:36,400
Speaker 2: to Dethrone essentially what were super teams. But as much

1732
01:27:36,400 --> 01:27:39,240
Speaker 2: as I will remember Pop's success, I'll also remember how

1733
01:27:39,280 --> 01:27:41,000
Speaker 2: he treated me as a young reporter.

1734
01:27:41,520 --> 01:27:43,439
Speaker 1: In two thousand and four, I was assigned to cover

1735
01:27:43,520 --> 01:27:44,759
Speaker 1: the Summer Olympics in Greece.

1736
01:27:45,320 --> 01:27:48,519
Speaker 2: Now, one of my responsibilities was covering the men's national

1737
01:27:48,600 --> 01:27:52,840
Speaker 2: basketball team, which included a young Lebron, a young Carmelo,

1738
01:27:53,160 --> 01:27:56,879
Speaker 2: and a young d Wade. They also had Duncan Allen Iverson,

1739
01:27:57,040 --> 01:28:01,080
Speaker 2: Carlos Boozer, Lamar Odom, and Shawn Marion on others. Now,

1740
01:28:01,120 --> 01:28:03,799
Speaker 2: as you might recall, that team got smoked in the Olympics.

1741
01:28:04,000 --> 01:28:06,120
Speaker 2: I was there when they lost to Puerto Rico. I

1742
01:28:06,240 --> 01:28:09,920
Speaker 2: sent it, but before Team USA finished with the Brons,

1743
01:28:10,400 --> 01:28:12,599
Speaker 2: I was working on a piece about whether head coach

1744
01:28:12,680 --> 01:28:15,719
Speaker 2: Larry Brown was the right fit for these young players,

1745
01:28:15,760 --> 01:28:19,160
Speaker 2: since Larry had a rep of not really liking the youngins.

1746
01:28:19,800 --> 01:28:24,200
Speaker 2: Lebron on that team only averaged about eleven minutes per game,

1747
01:28:24,320 --> 01:28:27,040
Speaker 2: if you can believe it. Anyway, I asked Pop, an

1748
01:28:27,080 --> 01:28:29,439
Speaker 2: assistant with Team USA, and if I could talk to

1749
01:28:29,560 --> 01:28:33,200
Speaker 2: him about his friend Larry Brown. He said sure, And me,

1750
01:28:33,360 --> 01:28:38,519
Speaker 2: being somewhat inexperienced as a reporter kinda asked him.

1751
01:28:38,960 --> 01:28:42,080
Speaker 1: A shitty question. Rather, I framed the question in a

1752
01:28:42,120 --> 01:28:42,639
Speaker 1: shitty way.

1753
01:28:43,240 --> 01:28:45,880
Speaker 2: Think I might have hit him with the people are

1754
01:28:46,000 --> 01:28:49,280
Speaker 2: saying Larry Brown maybe isn't the right fit to coach

1755
01:28:49,360 --> 01:28:53,360
Speaker 2: this team, and Pop basically said, what people now kind

1756
01:28:53,360 --> 01:28:56,760
Speaker 2: of stammered out an answer because the people that were

1757
01:28:56,800 --> 01:28:59,559
Speaker 2: talking was really the media. It's not like I could say, well,

1758
01:28:59,600 --> 01:29:02,120
Speaker 2: it was at the corner bar, and that's kind of

1759
01:29:02,160 --> 01:29:03,400
Speaker 2: a bullshit way to.

1760
01:29:03,479 --> 01:29:07,439
Speaker 1: Ask a question. Anyway, the old people are saying anyway.

1761
01:29:07,560 --> 01:29:11,000
Speaker 2: After posting me up verbally, Pop said, whoever said Larry

1762
01:29:11,040 --> 01:29:13,519
Speaker 2: Brown wasn't a good coach is full of shit and

1763
01:29:13,640 --> 01:29:16,240
Speaker 2: he walked away from me. So a day or so later,

1764
01:29:16,520 --> 01:29:18,760
Speaker 2: I saw Pop at another game. He was scouting another

1765
01:29:18,840 --> 01:29:21,559
Speaker 2: country that the USA was going to face. Can't remember

1766
01:29:21,640 --> 01:29:23,960
Speaker 2: which team it was. And when I saw him, he

1767
01:29:24,080 --> 01:29:27,599
Speaker 2: called me over and I was thinking, oh, brother, here

1768
01:29:27,680 --> 01:29:30,040
Speaker 2: we go again. He about to let me have it

1769
01:29:30,320 --> 01:29:34,200
Speaker 2: just one mogain, just for posterity. He told me to

1770
01:29:34,280 --> 01:29:37,120
Speaker 2: sit down and watch the game with him, and during

1771
01:29:37,160 --> 01:29:39,800
Speaker 2: the game he said, Okay, here's the answer to your question,

1772
01:29:40,080 --> 01:29:43,040
Speaker 2: and he gave me a very eloquent response.

1773
01:29:42,680 --> 01:29:44,320
Speaker 1: With no cuss words involved.

1774
01:29:44,960 --> 01:29:47,240
Speaker 2: I actually said to him that I was sorry about

1775
01:29:47,280 --> 01:29:49,639
Speaker 2: the way that I asked that question about Larry Brown.

1776
01:29:50,240 --> 01:29:52,439
Speaker 2: And then we started to talk about basketball, and I

1777
01:29:52,520 --> 01:29:54,760
Speaker 2: asked him a question about what he was looking for

1778
01:29:55,439 --> 01:29:59,560
Speaker 2: by scouting that particular team. Now, I never forgot that,

1779
01:30:00,200 --> 01:30:03,800
Speaker 2: And people who cover Popovich on a regular basis, they'll

1780
01:30:03,840 --> 01:30:07,719
Speaker 2: all tell you that while his sideline interviews often showed

1781
01:30:07,800 --> 01:30:11,200
Speaker 2: him as cranky, as a curmudgeon who hated the media,

1782
01:30:11,600 --> 01:30:14,600
Speaker 2: the folks that covered him all the time paint a

1783
01:30:14,840 --> 01:30:18,920
Speaker 2: much different picture of him. He does sometimes challenge the media,

1784
01:30:19,200 --> 01:30:21,559
Speaker 2: but in a way that makes us better at our jobs.

1785
01:30:22,240 --> 01:30:25,559
Speaker 2: Pop also has been one of the most outspoken sports

1786
01:30:25,600 --> 01:30:29,639
Speaker 2: figures when it comes to speaking about injustice and social issues,

1787
01:30:30,040 --> 01:30:32,679
Speaker 2: and he has taken a hatchet to Donald Trump.

1788
01:30:33,000 --> 01:30:34,479
Speaker 1: Many many times.

1789
01:30:35,080 --> 01:30:36,840
Speaker 2: Now, as much as I'm going to miss seeing him

1790
01:30:36,960 --> 01:30:40,479
Speaker 2: out there coaching, I have no doubt he will continue

1791
01:30:40,640 --> 01:30:43,000
Speaker 2: to speak boldly about the things.

1792
01:30:42,720 --> 01:30:46,000
Speaker 1: That really matter. Now, if you have a question for me,

1793
01:30:46,200 --> 01:30:48,719
Speaker 1: you can hit me up on social media or email.

1794
01:30:48,960 --> 01:30:53,719
Speaker 2: I'm at Jamel Hill across all social media platforms, Twitter, Instagram,

1795
01:30:53,880 --> 01:30:57,680
Speaker 2: fan based, Blue Sky, and threads. Please use the hashtags

1796
01:30:57,720 --> 01:31:00,320
Speaker 2: politics you also have the option of email telling me

1797
01:31:00,479 --> 01:31:04,360
Speaker 2: at Spolitics twenty twenty four at gmail dot com. You

1798
01:31:04,439 --> 01:31:06,960
Speaker 2: can also send me a video of your question, but

1799
01:31:07,120 --> 01:31:10,280
Speaker 2: please make sure that video is thirty seconds or less.

1800
01:31:10,760 --> 01:31:14,599
Speaker 2: Don't forget to follow Spolitics on TikTok and across other

1801
01:31:14,720 --> 01:31:19,280
Speaker 2: social media platforms. Also don't forget to follow and subscribe

1802
01:31:19,360 --> 01:31:23,360
Speaker 2: to Spolitics on iHeart. A new episode of politics drops

1803
01:31:23,400 --> 01:31:27,440
Speaker 2: every Thursday on iHeart podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

1804
01:31:27,960 --> 01:31:31,080
Speaker 2: This is politics where sports and politics don't just mix,

1805
01:31:31,680 --> 01:31:38,000
Speaker 2: they matter. Politics is the production of iHeart Podcasts and

1806
01:31:38,080 --> 01:31:42,679
Speaker 2: the Unbothered Network. I'm your host Jamel Hill. Executive producer

1807
01:31:42,840 --> 01:31:45,800
Speaker 2: is Taylor Shakoigne. Lucas Hymen is head of audio and

1808
01:31:45,920 --> 01:31:50,519
Speaker 2: executive producer. Original music for Spolitics provided by Kyle VISs

1809
01:31:50,760 --> 01:31:51,920
Speaker 2: from wiz Fx