1
00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:03,640
Speaker 1: This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank.

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,760
Speaker 1: A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring,

3
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,840
Speaker 1: and sure they definitely can be, but understanding a professionals

4
00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,160
Speaker 1: routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little,

5
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,200
Speaker 1: day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank.

6
00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,480
Speaker 1: It might seem boring to safe plan and make calculated

7
00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,599
Speaker 1: decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is

8
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,960
Speaker 1: what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P

9
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,879
Speaker 1: and C Bank Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly

10
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,600
Speaker 1: Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of

11
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,840
Speaker 1: the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank

12
00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:45,920
Speaker 1: National Association Member FDIC Erness What's Up? You ever walk

13
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,000
Speaker 1: into a small business and everything just works like the

14
00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,200
Speaker 1: checkout is fast, the receipts are digital, tipping is a breeze,

15
00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:55,640
Speaker 1: and you're out the door before the line even builds.

16
00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,160
Speaker 1: Odds are they're using Square? We love supporting business is

17
00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,760
Speaker 1: that run on Square because it just feels seamless. Whether

18
00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,319
Speaker 1: it's a local coffee shop, a vendor at a pop

19
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,560
Speaker 1: up market, or even one of our merch partners. Square

20
00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,000
Speaker 1: makes it easy for them to take payments, manage inventory,

21
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,960
Speaker 1: and run their business with confidence, all from one simple system.

22
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,039
Speaker 1: If you're a business owner or even just thinking about

23
00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,200
Speaker 1: launching something soon, Square is hands down one of the

24
00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,680
Speaker 1: best tools out there to help you start, run, and grow.

25
00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,959
Speaker 1: It's not just about payments, it's about giving you time

26
00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,000
Speaker 1: back so you can focus on what matters most ready.

27
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,399
Speaker 1: To see how Square can transform your business, visit Square

28
00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,000
Speaker 1: dot com backslash, go backslash eyl to learn more that

29
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:45,640
Speaker 1: Square dot com backslash, go backslash eyl. Don't wait, don't hesitate.

30
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,160
Speaker 1: Let's Square handle the back end so you can keep

31
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,960
Speaker 1: pushing your vision forward. I mean, we know the statistics.

32
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:58,200
Speaker 1: We hear about it, the percentages that minority founders you know,

33
00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:00,760
Speaker 1: are able to have access to. What was that like

34
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,280
Speaker 1: for you, obviously being being a woman a founder talk

35
00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:04,720
Speaker 1: about that.

36
00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,800
Speaker 2: I really liked being an outsider in the sense it

37
00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:10,400
Speaker 2: was similar to when I just started to start the

38
00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:12,240
Speaker 2: business from NASA.

39
00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:14,400
Speaker 3: At first, people were.

40
00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,359
Speaker 2: Telling me, Hey, you've got to go with a pitch deck,

41
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:17,760
Speaker 2: go to the valley, go to vcs.

42
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:19,960
Speaker 3: But the vcs weren't trying to rock with me.

43
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,160
Speaker 2: They didn't think that there was a market for what

44
00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 2: I was looking to do.

45
00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:26,680
Speaker 3: Business has been around for ten years.

46
00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,480
Speaker 2: You're wrong, right, So one of the things that I'd

47
00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:31,880
Speaker 2: like to say is stop taking advice from people who

48
00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,480
Speaker 2: haven't done what you're trying to do with LINGO. I'm like, eh,

49
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:37,680
Speaker 2: I don't think I want to raise venture capital.

50
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:39,680
Speaker 3: I know what the stats are. They're terrible.

51
00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:41,720
Speaker 2: How do I look at the model and how do

52
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,040
Speaker 2: I flip the model on its head?

53
00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,000
Speaker 3: Because that's what I do.

54
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:47,960
Speaker 2: And when I looked at it, I said, vcs get

55
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:49,360
Speaker 2: their money from family offices.

56
00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:51,200
Speaker 3: Why don't I try to hit up a couple of

57
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:52,000
Speaker 3: family offices.

58
00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,280
Speaker 2: Now I know why people don't typically hit up family offices,

59
00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,440
Speaker 2: but I was determined once again to try, and I

60
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:01,840
Speaker 2: had the time, and oh, by the way, I had

61
00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,959
Speaker 2: the patience because I'm already running a business that's successful

62
00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:07,160
Speaker 2: that I've had for ten years.

63
00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,959
Speaker 3: So let's try to figure this out. So I made

64
00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:10,480
Speaker 3: a list of.

65
00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:13,160
Speaker 2: Family offices who were in businesses that I thought that

66
00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,840
Speaker 2: could be strategic investors. And the gamble that I made was, well,

67
00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,920
Speaker 2: if I can get a multi billion dollar family who

68
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,200
Speaker 2: has the right investment mindset and is willing to support

69
00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,280
Speaker 2: me and understands the long term of what I'm.

70
00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,680
Speaker 3: Looking to do. Can I also bring in traditional capital?

71
00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:33,240
Speaker 3: And the answer was yes.

72
00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,000
Speaker 2: So I did a founder led seed round where I

73
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,960
Speaker 2: brought in a million and a half from a family office,

74
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:40,760
Speaker 2: and then I went to the other vseas and said,

75
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,080
Speaker 2: do you want to play?

76
00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:43,960
Speaker 4: How did that work out?

77
00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,920
Speaker 2: It worked out well because if I've already brought in

78
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,160
Speaker 2: a million and a half and you're going to sip

79
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:50,720
Speaker 2: in one hundred thousand dollars, that million and a half

80
00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,120
Speaker 2: is going to help your hundred thousand dollars.

81
00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,840
Speaker 3: So I basically de risked the round for you. And

82
00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:55,480
Speaker 3: that's one of the.

83
00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,000
Speaker 2: Areas that I've been big on telling other minorities to

84
00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,000
Speaker 2: pursue was what I call friendly patient capital. I call

85
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,040
Speaker 2: my investors like they're my dad. I'm like, hey, what

86
00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,400
Speaker 2: do you guys doing. Here's what I'm working on. And

87
00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,839
Speaker 2: part of the things that were not, you know, non

88
00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,120
Speaker 2: negotiable for this family was that you were going to

89
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:17,520
Speaker 2: do good and you were going to do well right.

90
00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,800
Speaker 3: It's not just the dollar, It's about the legacy.

91
00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,080
Speaker 2: And so when I tell them that kids in Ghana

92
00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,000
Speaker 2: are doing our kids have the video, love it They're like,

93
00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,440
Speaker 2: that's what you're supposed to do, right, go out and

94
00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,120
Speaker 2: make that impact, whereas some people who have you know,

95
00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,360
Speaker 2: domestic vcs are not necessarily as lucky to have people

96
00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,080
Speaker 2: who think in that way.

97
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,880
Speaker 4: So, okay, so you raise the money that helps you

98
00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,120
Speaker 4: with infrastructure and employees. I'm assuming, So are you raising

99
00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:46,360
Speaker 4: more money? What's the goal?

100
00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,520
Speaker 3: Yes, you can definitely hit me up if.

101
00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,720
Speaker 2: You want to send a check. Check.

102
00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:53,479
Speaker 4: How much are you trying to raise?

103
00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:59,039
Speaker 2: I would like to raise about a million more and

104
00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:01,840
Speaker 2: pot path to our Series A.

105
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,640
Speaker 3: And I'll tell you why.

106
00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:08,200
Speaker 2: Some of our clients are big firms.

107
00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:10,360
Speaker 3: Talking Siemens General Dynamics.

108
00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,800
Speaker 2: General Dynamics has been a customer's ours for the last

109
00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:13,440
Speaker 2: three years.

110
00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,159
Speaker 3: Microsoft buys from us. Right, we have big companies who

111
00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:18,800
Speaker 3: have engineers who buy from US.

112
00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,640
Speaker 4: What do they buy the software?

113
00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,920
Speaker 3: They buy the kids so they can teach employees, They have.

114
00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,480
Speaker 2: Their employees go into the schools, or they provide it

115
00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,520
Speaker 2: as capacity building for the schools that they sponsor. And

116
00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:34,599
Speaker 2: as I started to do this, we started talking to

117
00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,479
Speaker 2: school districts. Shout out to Syracuse School District. And I'm

118
00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,239
Speaker 2: realizing that this mission and this need is even bigger

119
00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:42,880
Speaker 2: than I knew.

120
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,400
Speaker 3: Like when I thought about it, I was like, oh,

121
00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:45,440
Speaker 3: we're just going to ship out.

122
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,640
Speaker 2: Some kids, But it's really become about how can we

123
00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,719
Speaker 2: help make a district better?

124
00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,960
Speaker 3: And that is a problem of a much larger.

125
00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,080
Speaker 2: Magnitude and it takes more time. And we're also now

126
00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,960
Speaker 2: building custom kits, like we're about to drop three holes

127
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,279
Speaker 2: space lessons. We got a climate satellite, we got a

128
00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:05,880
Speaker 2: buggy coming out. That buggy's a moon rubber, and we

129
00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,280
Speaker 2: also have a rocket launch. And in building all all

130
00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,080
Speaker 2: this content, I'm like, you know what, bo, we take

131
00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,800
Speaker 2: a little bit more capital, take our time, and really

132
00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,480
Speaker 2: do something that is going to move the needle.

133
00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,720
Speaker 1: How many lessons are inside these kids? Because I'm thinking,

134
00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,160
Speaker 1: and this was an elementary middle school and obviously high

135
00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,599
Speaker 1: school probably different, but it felt like they were just

136
00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,800
Speaker 1: for semesters, and so there was a semester with the

137
00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:31,640
Speaker 1: lessons and there was a new set of kids. So

138
00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:37,240
Speaker 1: forth semesters of kids in the grade every year. How

139
00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,440
Speaker 1: many lessons are inside of your kids right now?

140
00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,040
Speaker 3: So it depends on what you want.

141
00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:45,160
Speaker 2: And this is the beauty of it, because we designed

142
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,240
Speaker 2: this to be flexible. You can have two to three

143
00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:51,400
Speaker 2: semesters worth in your kid if you want.

144
00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:52,880
Speaker 3: It's all about what you ask us for.

145
00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,839
Speaker 2: So we developed content for every lesson for the classroom,

146
00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,960
Speaker 2: and you could teach that over semester.

147
00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:01,880
Speaker 3: You could teach it over too.

148
00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,720
Speaker 4: So school districts aren't really buying it for you. For

149
00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:07,960
Speaker 4: the most part. Is corporations as buying it.

150
00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:09,560
Speaker 3: It's mostly been corporations.

151
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,400
Speaker 2: If you're out in the district, yeah, I mean, I

152
00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,560
Speaker 2: think the challenge right is there's a lot going on

153
00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,720
Speaker 2: in the district environment, and we've got some good connections

154
00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,000
Speaker 2: and we're making progress. But this is where I'm not

155
00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,600
Speaker 2: ashamed to say I need help. The people who purchase

156
00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,080
Speaker 2: from us, they love us. But I started to realize

157
00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:31,920
Speaker 2: what we were really up against when it comes to

158
00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,160
Speaker 2: ads and marketing and all that stuff. And that's really

159
00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:36,880
Speaker 2: why I was like, I got to go back to

160
00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,520
Speaker 2: the drawing board and raise more money because I did

161
00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,440
Speaker 2: not know how expensive it was to really advertise.

162
00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:44,000
Speaker 3: And read some of these people.

163
00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,640
Speaker 1: Is it a price point issue? Because I feel like

164
00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,960
Speaker 1: schools wet so much money on some of the most

165
00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,120
Speaker 1: ridiculous things, and they do it repetibly every single year,

166
00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:58,160
Speaker 1: And so when you're approaching schools or school districts. Are

167
00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,840
Speaker 1: they saying, well, it's the price point, we don't have

168
00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,840
Speaker 1: it in the budget this year. What is the resistance

169
00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:05,760
Speaker 1: you feel? Because every school has them, so I'm just

170
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:07,240
Speaker 1: trying to fig what would be the resistance.

171
00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,960
Speaker 2: So we actually do not see resistance once we get

172
00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,520
Speaker 2: in front of the right person. What I see is

173
00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,880
Speaker 2: the amount of money that I have to invest to

174
00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:22,400
Speaker 2: have somebody reach out, form the relationship, do the presentation,

175
00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:25,120
Speaker 2: put the proposal in front of whoever has to make

176
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,520
Speaker 2: the decision, close the deal, and then get paid. Can

177
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,640
Speaker 2: be roughly six to eight months, and that's really where

178
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,360
Speaker 2: we have to support the operation until they can close

179
00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,760
Speaker 2: the deal. And so the challenge in my mind is

180
00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:38,960
Speaker 2: how can we do more of these deals and shorten

181
00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:39,360
Speaker 2: the time.

182
00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,160
Speaker 4: So what's the ultimate vision for the company.

183
00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:48,320
Speaker 2: My vision for Lingo would be to not only be

184
00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,199
Speaker 2: a global provider of immersive STEM experiences like I would

185
00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:53,960
Speaker 2: like to get to the point where some of our

186
00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,880
Speaker 2: boxes interact with Oculus, but to combine that with the

187
00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,400
Speaker 2: entrepreneurship thing. Because when I teach the Lingo Box in

188
00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,600
Speaker 2: the Bahamas, and I've had this camp for nearly ten years,

189
00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,080
Speaker 2: I couple it with entrepreneurship, and then I give kids

190
00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,160
Speaker 2: money to go out and try to run their business

191
00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,600
Speaker 2: because I believe that you don't have to have a

192
00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,600
Speaker 2: college degree to be a multi millionaire. You just need

193
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,320
Speaker 2: to have entrepreneurship skills.

194
00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:22,520
Speaker 3: And it's like a muscle.

195
00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,520
Speaker 2: The more that you exercise it, the stronger that you're

196
00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,200
Speaker 2: gonna get. So I want students trying to build their

197
00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,000
Speaker 2: first startup when they're twelve or their thirteen, because by

198
00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,200
Speaker 2: the time they're twenty, they're going to be beasts.

199
00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,120
Speaker 5: An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child

200
00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,959
Speaker 5: in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador

201
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,320
Speaker 5: accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with

202
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,280
Speaker 5: filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just

203
00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,160
Speaker 5: some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President

204
00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,720
Speaker 5: Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christin Noman, the United States

205
00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:00,600
Speaker 5: Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted legal border

206
00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:04,160
Speaker 5: crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over

207
00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,440
Speaker 5: one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you

208
00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,360
Speaker 5: are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly

209
00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,480
Speaker 5: one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will

210
00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,160
Speaker 5: never return. But if you register using our CBP home

211
00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,560
Speaker 5: app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.

212
00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:27,679
Speaker 5: Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump America's laws,

213
00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,320
Speaker 5: border and families will be protected.

214
00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:32,520
Speaker 3: Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,