Speaker 1: Building the Good Life with John Hope Bryant is brought
Speaker 1: to you by Prudential Financial. John, things are built in stages.
Speaker 1: I mean we we always said in our relationship with Hope.
Speaker 1: You know what we said, we wanted our goal to
Speaker 1: be We weren't necessarily going to be the largest donor, uh,
Speaker 1: but consistent with our purpose of our company now, which
Speaker 1: is to inspire and build better lives and communities. What
Speaker 1: we said is we wanted to be first. We wanted
Speaker 1: to be inspirational. We wanted to do things that people
Speaker 1: could follow. We wanted to be I'd say, a pebble
Speaker 1: in a pond, you know you you said, not whether
Speaker 1: you be a boulder and upon them, but that we
Speaker 1: do things that create ripples. This is John Hope Bryant,
Speaker 1: and this is Building the Good Life. I'm here with
Speaker 1: Bill Rogers, the chairman and chief executive Officer of Truest.
Speaker 1: Truest is last time I checked, sixth largest bank in
Speaker 1: America and growing. Bill Rogers comes with an incredible pedigree.
Speaker 1: He was prior to the as president at Truest as
Speaker 1: a result of a merger. Before that, he was CEO
Speaker 1: of sun Trust Bank here in Atlanta, which is where
Speaker 1: I met him. Bill Rogers and I met in a
Speaker 1: quiet conference room while I was talking to It wasn't
Speaker 1: a quiet with his predecessor, CEO, Jim Wales, who was
Speaker 1: introducing us. And Bill didn't quite know what to make
Speaker 1: of the guy he was meeting, so he just sat
Speaker 1: there quiet and let me run my mouth and figure
Speaker 1: out to see. I's gonna run it myself into a bitch.
Speaker 1: And somehow these two odd fellows became very dear friends.
Speaker 1: And I really consider a Bill today a brother from
Speaker 1: another month. It was just a lot lighter, that's all. Bill.
Speaker 1: What was it? What did you see in that conference room?
Speaker 1: And why didn't you run for the hills with your
Speaker 1: feet on fire when you meet well, John, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you for than for having me here. It's great
Speaker 1: to be with you friend. And we have had a
Speaker 1: we had a long relationship which is fantastic. And you
Speaker 1: described sort of the beginning of that relationship. You know
Speaker 1: part of it, and you've sent this a lot part
Speaker 1: of it. You come with someone's endorsement, right, so Jim
Speaker 1: Will said, Hey, I want you to meet this guy.
Speaker 1: So so it starts there. We all, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: part of the you know, community that we live in
Speaker 1: and the way that we have to build opportunities for
Speaker 1: each other as make you know, make those introductions. And
Speaker 1: then John, I think you know, in Fairnace, all the
Speaker 1: conversation was always looking forward. It was never you know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't backward looking. It was And I want to
Speaker 1: condemn you for doing this, or I want to criticize
Speaker 1: you for doing this, you know and banking, but I
Speaker 1: want to work with you on how we can do
Speaker 1: things moving forward. It wasn't about left or right politically,
Speaker 1: you know, those things weren't important. It's just how do
Speaker 1: we work together and how do we make communities better?
Speaker 1: And you know, quite franking, that's just I mean, I
Speaker 1: just was drawn to that. Uh. And then you know, John,
Speaker 1: I mean you're you've got a little charisma and a
Speaker 1: little you know, a little magic of magic dust about you.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know that that's build over to I'll
Speaker 1: admit that we've got a bit of a man crush
Speaker 1: on each other. At least I'll admit my my part. Uh,
Speaker 1: He's build is really a cool dude, which is really
Speaker 1: interesting thing to say about a banker. Uh and a
Speaker 1: bank CEO. That's maybe the first time and only time
Speaker 1: on mainstream media that Bill Rodgers or any top ten
Speaker 1: CEO has been called a cool dude. But I but
Speaker 1: I will take that. Let me let me underscore that
Speaker 1: that's not just some you know, soft soap statement. We're
Speaker 1: gonna get into some real serious issues here today. And
Speaker 1: I don't want you to understand how to build, which
Speaker 1: means you need to figure out how to get some
Speaker 1: money out of this guy and his bank to invest
Speaker 1: in your your dreams that start a business, to uh
Speaker 1: grow a business, to uh build a home, to build
Speaker 1: a home, a home life to uh to grow your dreams,
Speaker 1: and which means you need to understand how to access
Speaker 1: um all the opportunities and assets that they've got. It
Speaker 1: is institution, so you need to understand how the game
Speaker 1: is played to be uh, to be blunt. So we're
Speaker 1: gonna get into that. But before we get into I
Speaker 1: think you need to understand why I love this guy
Speaker 1: so much. We were a lot of wonderful moments. This
Speaker 1: particular moment I didn't share with him, but I did
Speaker 1: view how he handled it, and I think this says
Speaker 1: everything about Bill Rogers. So, um, I got a call
Speaker 1: one day said, well, we just figured something out and
Speaker 1: we need to figure out what to do about it.
Speaker 1: The legacy bank that they acquired, going back over a
Speaker 1: hundred years ago, uh, maybe even a hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: years look at the numbers, UM was involved in, as
Speaker 1: was almost every bank in that era slavery. In fact,
Speaker 1: there is a bank I won't name the name, it's
Speaker 1: not true, it's uh that actually found out they owned slaves.
Speaker 1: So this is like a hundred and fifty years ago.
Speaker 1: This is just disgusting part of our history. And every
Speaker 1: banker I know who's who has discovered some association with
Speaker 1: that past has run for the hills and tried their
Speaker 1: best to ignore the topic, building run from it. He
Speaker 1: ran into it and dealt with it. Why Bill, and
Speaker 1: what what was it? What was going through your head?
Speaker 1: And I thought your response was really quite honorable for
Speaker 1: my ancestors, said so, thank you on behalf of all
Speaker 1: those who came before me, and how you do But
Speaker 1: what what did you do at that moment? And why? John?
Speaker 1: Thank you? And I think you know, as we were
Speaker 1: thinking about what the country was going through, particularly in
Speaker 1: the aftermath of George Floyd, and you know, being purpose driven,
Speaker 1: we had to think about what's our role. I mean,
Speaker 1: what do what do we want to say? What do
Speaker 1: we want to do not only within the four walls
Speaker 1: of our company, but outside or how do we want
Speaker 1: to represent ourselves and being you know, two financial institutions
Speaker 1: that came together that were born in the South over
Speaker 1: a hundred years ago. I mean we sort of start said,
Speaker 1: you know the place we've got to start. We have
Speaker 1: to acknowledge our history. You know, the benefits that our
Speaker 1: company received, uh, you know, through the efforts of enslaved
Speaker 1: people is just irrefutable. I mean that that just is
Speaker 1: just there. I mean the businesses that we bank, the
Speaker 1: communities that we served. I'm sure you know some of
Speaker 1: the executives that let our companies. I mean just those
Speaker 1: are just real things. And you know, particularly you know,
Speaker 1: we sit here in Black History Month, it's important to
Speaker 1: have that conversation. And we said, well, the first thing
Speaker 1: we have to do is acknowledging. We have to acknowledge
Speaker 1: that to our teammates, we have to acknowledge it to
Speaker 1: our broader community. Uh. And then John, you were nice
Speaker 1: enough to work with a you know, a group of leaders,
Speaker 1: just fantastic leaders. Unbelievable that they would all say yes,
Speaker 1: and we went and help us, help us talk about this,
Speaker 1: and let's make sure we're thinking about things the right
Speaker 1: way and looking forward, but looking forward and acknowledging our past,
Speaker 1: and like everyone should learn from our past. And let's
Speaker 1: aure out how to not make not I'm just not
Speaker 1: gonna make that mistake again. But I don't we not
Speaker 1: make mistakes again? And how do we move forward? And
Speaker 1: as a result of that, you didn't just provide platitudes.
Speaker 1: And by the way, for the listening audience, I don't
Speaker 1: think you've ever heard a top ten banks CEO in
Speaker 1: the history of America without fifteen handlers around them form
Speaker 1: a sentence that had slavery in it and and not flinch.
Speaker 1: That's Bill Rogers, he is um. Look a saint is
Speaker 1: a center that got up. You want to find some
Speaker 1: far with Bill Rogers, Yeah, you'll find it just as
Speaker 1: his wife, who I know. You want to find some
Speaker 1: fat with John Hopebryan, You'll find it as my wife.
Speaker 1: I guarantee you She'll give you you. She'll give you
Speaker 1: plea your father or ask my friends or my you
Speaker 1: know whatever. We're none of us perfect, right. The question
Speaker 1: is not what happens to you, But how did you
Speaker 1: respond to it? And life is ten percent with life
Speaker 1: does to you and nine percent you respond to it.
Speaker 1: I'm always looking for the response because the problems are
Speaker 1: gonna be there. Our history in this country is just messy.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just democracies are messy, capitalism is messy,
Speaker 1: and free enterprise and it's messy. But but freedom of
Speaker 1: opportunities should be assured and build responded with the bank
Speaker 1: by making an incredible commitment to all things I believe
Speaker 1: that matters. And massive investments in HBCUs. I'll let him
Speaker 1: get into that, hopefully. And part of this conversation, massive
Speaker 1: investments in institutions UH, not just a higher learning but
Speaker 1: nonprofits community base who are making a difference around what
Speaker 1: I call social justice to an economic lens in the
Speaker 1: underserved communities. UM. A twenty million dollar investment for somebodys
Speaker 1: I keep wanting to say, forty men, and maybe I'm
Speaker 1: being an aspirational bill. A twenty million dollar investment in
Speaker 1: Operation Hope UM to allow us to exp band the
Speaker 1: Hope inside locations within the truest branch network. UM. We
Speaker 1: will probably end up being half of all in half
Speaker 1: of all truest branches. They have two thousand bank branches.
Speaker 1: That means we'll be into a thousand branches. That's transformational. Um,
Speaker 1: that's game changing, and in many ways, it's a direct
Speaker 1: response from the banking industry to what Abraham Lincoln was
Speaker 1: dreaming about with the Freedman's Bank in eighteen sixty five
Speaker 1: March three, when he created a bank chartered to quote
Speaker 1: to teach free slaves about money and Domassau their savings.
Speaker 1: Now you may not know that history, but it exists.
Speaker 1: It's been lost to history because Lincoln was killed the
Speaker 1: next month. The free The vision for forty acres was
Speaker 1: January eighteen sixty five. Looked that up field, Actually fifteen
Speaker 1: a mule. We worked that lance hard. Secretary of War
Speaker 1: Stanton General Sherman said, my god, there's so industrious day
Speaker 1: African Americans. Give them a mule. It's like saying, invest attractor,
Speaker 1: forty acres in a mule. January February ac five March
Speaker 1: came the Freeman's Bureau Act, which was Hospitals and Institutions
Speaker 1: of Higher Learning, which led to HBC use historically black
Speaker 1: college universities, and the Freeman's Beer also created the Freeman's Bank. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: Abrahem was killed in April the next month, and that mission,
Speaker 1: with that vision was lost for a hundred and fifty years.
Speaker 1: I covered the history in my book The Memo, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna get into a story in a minute. I
Speaker 1: bet that Bill Rogers lost with me, I wondering if
Speaker 1: we were gonna go there. But just the fear is
Speaker 1: that finish this serious coment. They made this investment, just
Speaker 1: in my example, into the Hope and Side network, which
Speaker 1: is raising credit scores, getting people access to capital, letting
Speaker 1: people start business and become homeowners who people look like
Speaker 1: me and others. Uh to give them a hand up
Speaker 1: and not a hand out. I believe in the James
Speaker 1: Brown version of affirmative action. Open the door. I'll get
Speaker 1: it myself. And then they invested also in the one
Speaker 1: Million Black Business Initiatives one m b B, which is
Speaker 1: a lead commitment from Shopify a hundred thirty million dollars.
Speaker 1: They came behind it the Truest and said, let's create
Speaker 1: new black business in America. So I think that this
Speaker 1: is the rainbow after the storm, at least as relates
Speaker 1: to how Truest has stood up. I want to see
Speaker 1: other banks follow uh Bill's lead. Now, Bill, Uh, you
Speaker 1: know I've had moments uh, one of which I don't
Speaker 1: know if you remember. I think you dud jabbed you
Speaker 1: about it. About a month ago. I was in your office. Um,
Speaker 1: you were the first to give me a shot at
Speaker 1: an institution, a major institution, putting hope inside in one
Speaker 1: of your bank breaches. You told me initially not to
Speaker 1: ask you for money, let you control the budget. I
Speaker 1: thought you're being cheap by the way, uh and um
Speaker 1: and you and to trust you. I trusted you. We
Speaker 1: put five or ten locations in your offices, and then
Speaker 1: we went from that to five and now we're looking
Speaker 1: at a thousand. So that bet was right. But I
Speaker 1: remember the first time I actually got some money, I
Speaker 1: mean some real money, A million dollars. Do you remember that, Bill?
Speaker 1: I do, John, Yes, And I came in your office
Speaker 1: to get the check. This is back look at Mellon Dolls.
Speaker 1: There's always a lot of money. But this is when
Speaker 1: I've never seen a million dollar check in my life.
Speaker 1: And I was coming to pick my check up for
Speaker 1: operational million dollars. And I'm in Bill's office, and I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm into Bill have a dream. I sounded like Dr
Speaker 1: King Junior Junior junior. I had a dream of fake
Speaker 1: not a very good doctor. I want to do this
Speaker 1: I have do you, Bill? Do you remember what you
Speaker 1: told me your John? You're gonna have to do it
Speaker 1: on your own. Doesn't Bill want cop to this? I'm
Speaker 1: running my mouth. I'm running my mouth, Bill city John
Speaker 1: that we're friends. John, please take yes for an answer,
Speaker 1: take the million dollars and get into my office before
Speaker 1: I changed my mind. Don't talk past the clothes. This
Speaker 1: is a good This is a good lesson for upcoming entrepreneurs.
Speaker 1: Don't talk past the clothes. Get any It was like
Speaker 1: I got another meeting, the checks, the check will clear,
Speaker 1: but you got to leave my office. Why is it
Speaker 1: important for you? Know? We're friends, and it was it
Speaker 1: was joking, But that's actually a very good lesson for people. Bill.
Speaker 1: Why less is less more important in business and in banking? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, John, things are built in stages. I mean
Speaker 1: we we always said in our relationship with Hope. You
Speaker 1: know what we said, we wanted our goal to be
Speaker 1: we weren't necessarily going to be the largest donor, uh,
Speaker 1: but consistent with our purpose of our company now, which
Speaker 1: is to inspire and build better lives and communities. What
Speaker 1: we said is we wanted to be first. We wanted
Speaker 1: to be inspirational. We wanted to do things that people
Speaker 1: could follow. We wanted to be I'd say a pebble
Speaker 1: in a pond, you know you you said not rather
Speaker 1: you'd be a boulder and upon them. But that we
Speaker 1: do things that create ripples and use our company, use
Speaker 1: our relationship to yeah, to get on the edge of
Speaker 1: innovation and to do and look not everything we've done
Speaker 1: is worked perfectly by the way we know that. I
Speaker 1: mean things are done to sort thought, well, I didn't
Speaker 1: work that great. Uh. And then other things that we've started,
Speaker 1: we've learned how to scale together. And that's the that's
Speaker 1: the magic of doing well. As anybody can innovate small,
Speaker 1: that's that's actually not that hard. But innovating at scale
Speaker 1: and innovating for purpose that's really really hard work. And
Speaker 1: so your point of the point was there is don't
Speaker 1: don't sell all the ripples. Let's get the pebble in
Speaker 1: the pond first, and then let's figure out figure out
Speaker 1: what they're doing, what are they creating? Right? And I
Speaker 1: think also if you're an upcoming entrepreneur, a business person,
Speaker 1: a dreamer. You start with selling this dream and you
Speaker 1: you really all you have that moment is your mouth
Speaker 1: and your hustle. That's very valuable. But when you're in
Speaker 1: front of a banker, you have to understand. And they're like,
Speaker 1: can if there's an end of this story, can we
Speaker 1: please start there? I don't use twenty words when two
Speaker 1: will do. You're gonna make the banker nervous. I'm serious,
Speaker 1: like you, you'll you keep talking, you'll free bankers out
Speaker 1: because the entrepreneur is like on going on fire, but
Speaker 1: the banker is conservatives. The banker, you know, the entwinner
Speaker 1: trying to drive down the road, the bankers trying to
Speaker 1: keep you on the road. And if you start talking
Speaker 1: so much and you're you're excited when you're hitting the roof,
Speaker 1: you're you know, you're like you're on a controlled substance
Speaker 1: or an uncontrolled one, you actually might talk yourself out
Speaker 1: of a deal. The banker might actually because it's about
Speaker 1: texture and and and and your you know, are you
Speaker 1: and I only say stable, but are you? Are you grounded?
Speaker 1: Are you gonna leave that office and go buy a Ferrari?
Speaker 1: And A three Bentley's and a and and go and
Speaker 1: get on private jets and lose your mind versus being
Speaker 1: mindful of your business plan. They want you sober, I
Speaker 1: don't mean, I don't mean legally sober. They want you
Speaker 1: to have sort of a straight ahead, unimpeachable, unshakable commitment
Speaker 1: to what you told them you're gonna do with that money. Bill,
Speaker 1: Is that right? I think I think that's right, John May.
Speaker 1: But don't don't throw bankers out, you know completely, and
Speaker 1: that we want to. We want to we want to
Speaker 1: understand what the future is and what the vision is.
Speaker 1: But our jobs also to protect the downside, you know,
Speaker 1: and to understand, you know, how the foundations being built.
Speaker 1: We want to hear what's going to be built on
Speaker 1: the foundation. Absolutely, that's exciting. That's why we're in this business.
Speaker 1: Part fact, that is why I love being a banker.
Speaker 1: But we want to understand how strong the foundation is.
Speaker 1: You know, if you want to build up skyscraper audit,
Speaker 1: then it's got to be pretty darned strong. Uh, And
Speaker 1: we need to understand that. But don't don't, don't throw
Speaker 1: us out of the vision. Yeah, well, you know, but
Speaker 1: Bill is a Bill is a bit of an outline.
Speaker 1: He says that he really does want to hear, as
Speaker 1: you just heard from his own mouth, your dreams. But
Speaker 1: I've met enough of folks who are just they want be,
Speaker 1: They want to be first and second place. They they
Speaker 1: don't want to their capital is for them as a coward.
Speaker 1: They want the safest place to hide. They And you know,
Speaker 1: if if they've never seen an African American, in my case,
Speaker 1: mail come in looking for big figures, big numbers, you know,
Speaker 1: they may be looking at the nuances, the subtleties and
Speaker 1: um and the little things and not just your you know,
Speaker 1: your collateral and your application in front of you. And
Speaker 1: so you've gotta be able to work the the magic
Speaker 1: of what kind of culture you create in their head
Speaker 1: that matches your business plan. And uh, don't just bank
Speaker 1: on the on you're gonna meet a Bill Rodgers. Uh.
Speaker 1: In fact, hope for the best, expect the worst, and
Speaker 1: condition your mind for whatever happens. You know, Dcorne didn't
Speaker 1: go to the mall and say I have a dream
Speaker 1: that GDP will grow by two percent a year. But
Speaker 1: that is that is what bankers have to hope for.
Speaker 1: And so I think you've You've got to be able
Speaker 1: to understand the role of everybody. And America would not
Speaker 1: be America without banking. You can't grow communities without banking.
Speaker 1: Uh So we need to understand what their criteria is
Speaker 1: and their stresses and uh as you want them to
Speaker 1: understand yours. I'll say this one last thing and we'll
Speaker 1: get back to a couple of things I want to
Speaker 1: share with the audience. But I remember a rapper was
Speaker 1: complaining about, uh oh, this banking do it. It's bad
Speaker 1: to me and you know, foreclosing on my stuff. Wait,
Speaker 1: wait a minute. You weren't upset when you wouldn't got
Speaker 1: the loan when they gave you the loan for the
Speaker 1: mansion and toy gave you the loan for the car,
Speaker 1: you know, But when you lost your money and then
Speaker 1: pay the loan, all of a sudden, now the banker
Speaker 1: is a bad person. Look, you don't pay me back,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be upset with you. So I think that
Speaker 1: we have to understand the delicate role that banking plays
Speaker 1: in society and understand how to make that system work
Speaker 1: for us, which is why it operates. Hope, we're getting
Speaker 1: credit scores up fifty four points working with. That's some
Speaker 1: of the work we're doing together. Bill, by the way,
Speaker 1: and getting in a hundred, it's at fifty four points
Speaker 1: in six months, a hundred twenty points and twenty four months,
Speaker 1: and nothing changes your life more than God or loved
Speaker 1: the movie. Your credit score a hundred twenty points because
Speaker 1: the banker cannot tell you yes for a dream for
Speaker 1: small business below seven hundred credit score generally speaking, because
Speaker 1: it's considered a risky credit. But then never tell you
Speaker 1: that because bankers, you know, might get sued for nine
Speaker 1: thousand things and regulations. But I'm telling you, you've got
Speaker 1: to get to a point where the banker can can
Speaker 1: afford to say yes to you, and truest is trying
Speaker 1: to lean back in to say yes to you. By
Speaker 1: the way, they're not a sponsor to this show them.
Speaker 1: I'm getting nothing out of this. I'm just telling you.
Speaker 1: I believe that they are walking their talk Bill before
Speaker 1: we get into the mission and all that. I have
Speaker 1: to rib you. We had a bet, were you done Mud,
Speaker 1: would you like me to just just do it? John?
Speaker 1: Just yes, I would. Actually, I've got to own the
Speaker 1: fact that I would. I would because of the sixth
Speaker 1: largest I'll own it. So, um, John was telling me
Speaker 1: about this vision of the Freedman's bank. Uh and and
Speaker 1: look in furnace. I had to go look in history
Speaker 1: to the Freedman's back, so you know. But so the
Speaker 1: concept was just fantastic for the Freedman's back. And John,
Speaker 1: you really, um, you know, I had a vision for
Speaker 1: how to talk about this from that concept. So I
Speaker 1: spent a lot of time trying to understand. And uh.
Speaker 1: And then you told me you had this plan that
Speaker 1: you were going to get a building at Treasury named
Speaker 1: after the Freedman's back. Well, I've worked a lot in
Speaker 1: d C. And I know how things work, and I
Speaker 1: know the speed at which things go. And um, and
Speaker 1: you had a timeline up on which you're going to
Speaker 1: do this, and I just told you you couldn't get it,
Speaker 1: and that you really shouldn't go spend your time doing
Speaker 1: some all the things. And you know you're tilting the
Speaker 1: windmills and it is just sadn't gonna be helpful. And
Speaker 1: I bet you a full dollar about I want my dollar.
Speaker 1: I've given you your dollar. And there's two I always
Speaker 1: been uh and uh, not only did it happen, Not
Speaker 1: only did it get named and I and I also
Speaker 1: promised you that if it happened, I would go whatever
Speaker 1: celebration there was, whatever that I that I would that
Speaker 1: I would be there. But I remember not only that
Speaker 1: it happened, that was fantastic, but the meeting that that
Speaker 1: you and I were able to go to UH with,
Speaker 1: you know, to two of my heroes, UM C. Vibian
Speaker 1: and sit there with you know at the time Secretary
Speaker 1: lou and we went all through the formal stuff. But
Speaker 1: the you know, the point you and have on this
Speaker 1: before the PhD class though, that I got at the
Speaker 1: civil rights movement and the only time in my entire
Speaker 1: life I've heard John Bryant not to have a word
Speaker 1: to say was when you and I came back and
Speaker 1: spent time with those two fantastic leaders, and both of
Speaker 1: us just sat back and listened to them, and John
Speaker 1: in terms of, you know, probably the most impactful whatever
Speaker 1: it is, three hours of my life that that might
Speaker 1: have been it right then. So the dollar bet with
Speaker 1: you was interesting. The Freedman Bank part was fantastic, But
Speaker 1: just to have a chance to sit at the you know,
Speaker 1: the cradle of the civil rights movement and understand not
Speaker 1: only what happened, but was what was going to happen
Speaker 1: with the future, was and you know, trying to develop
Speaker 1: some personal ownership and what those rape men got started. Amen,
Speaker 1: and am bashl Young and Guy Risis Soul, Reverend CT Vivian. Uh,
Speaker 1: we're literally right there for the second um reconstruction the
Speaker 1: civil rights movement in this country. I think we're in
Speaker 1: the third reconstruction right now, which I believe is social
Speaker 1: justice to an economic lens. But they were, they were
Speaker 1: part of the architectural framework for this country, and we
Speaker 1: owe them a debt. And thank you for recognizing UM
Speaker 1: their contribution. Bill and what you just said, I think
Speaker 1: it's instructive for listeners on building a family raising children
Speaker 1: because you didn't just pat me on the head and
Speaker 1: give me platitudes. You said what you believe. I don't
Speaker 1: think it's gonna work. You're wasting your time. Love is
Speaker 1: not always pat somebody on the head and telling them
Speaker 1: what they want to hear. Now, you put more fuel
Speaker 1: in my my belly to go get it done. By
Speaker 1: the way, by saying that, so you were actually helpful.
Speaker 1: But we have to understand that I read much rather
Speaker 1: people respect me to learn to like me than like me,
Speaker 1: and never respect me. And that's the role of a parent.
Speaker 1: Your kids may not like you, that's okay. They may
Speaker 1: not like what you're saying to them, that's okay. You're
Speaker 1: doing it for their best entriest. You're giving them the
Speaker 1: tools they need to succeed in society. And Bill gave
Speaker 1: me good instructions on what he thought. And by the way,
Speaker 1: he was right on how Washington works. So I went
Speaker 1: into Washington knowing that all odds were against me, and
Speaker 1: knowing I couldn't go to the front door write letters
Speaker 1: and do a petition, and all of a sudden, I
Speaker 1: had to find another business plan to become the only
Speaker 1: person in American history to rename a building in the
Speaker 1: White House campus. And so even in Bill telling me
Speaker 1: that I couldn't do it, he was being a friend
Speaker 1: and being a mentor and being an advisor. So don't
Speaker 1: I learned to take no for vitamins, That is what
Speaker 1: I'm telling Also, John told you I'd be there if
Speaker 1: you got it, dun and you and you kept your commitment,
Speaker 1: and you showed up and I got a free I
Speaker 1: got a free ride in the jet. Me and me
Speaker 1: and Red bashelor young and c in ct in ct
Speaker 1: VV and we all had a wonderful time. Listen, A
Speaker 1: lot of what I think Bill your character comes from
Speaker 1: comes from your parents. And if I remember right, your
Speaker 1: grandparents and people. This perception that old Bill is a
Speaker 1: c old is big, one of the largest banks in
Speaker 1: the world. He's wealthy, he's never had a problem in
Speaker 1: the world. That's just not true, isn't right? But Billy,
Speaker 1: your your grandfather was I think of either are pharmacists
Speaker 1: or at a shopkeeper in Atlanta? Is that right? Well? Actually, uh,
Speaker 1: John in North Carolina, North Carolina, Okay, I grew up
Speaker 1: in I grew up in Durham and actually only knew
Speaker 1: one grandparent. My mother's parents passed before before I was born,
Speaker 1: and my grandfather actually died when my father was ten.
Speaker 1: But I know I got to see and John, you
Speaker 1: asked me about this. I'm not always comfortable talking about
Speaker 1: my own personal history because this is all about teams
Speaker 1: and not about one person. But I when my father
Speaker 1: passed away, um a little while ago, and I got
Speaker 1: to I got to look him through. I knew the
Speaker 1: history and I knew, you know, how hard he worked
Speaker 1: and you know, having lost his father ten years old.
Speaker 1: But but he gave me a picture album and it
Speaker 1: just brought it home to me as I saw this
Speaker 1: flipping through these pictures. And you know, before he passed away,
Speaker 1: he married. When he was older, he was w War
Speaker 1: one veteran, very successful pharmacists. They you know, they were
Speaker 1: the local pharmacist. That was the big deal in town.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, all the pictures of beaches and
Speaker 1: parties and you know, trips, and then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden they just stopped and there wasn't another picture. Uh,
Speaker 1: And that was just a you know, an awakening that
Speaker 1: in the you know, in your concept of building the
Speaker 1: good life, there wasn't There wasn't planning. There wasn't financial planning,
Speaker 1: there wasn't by sell agreements there well, they didn't do
Speaker 1: insurance and all that stuff. So they went from living
Speaker 1: a really good life. My father and his and his
Speaker 1: two sisters too, you know, they had nothing. Yeah. My
Speaker 1: grandmother was a emergency room nurse and um at the
Speaker 1: VA hospital and they took in borders and everybody got
Speaker 1: a job and you know, life changed. And you know
Speaker 1: this is the message that you know, John an Operation
Speaker 1: to Hope has been talking about is it's not it's
Speaker 1: not about having the good life. That's building the good life.
Speaker 1: And then there's a second sequel which is protecting the
Speaker 1: good life, right, you know. And that was just a
Speaker 1: strong visual for me that that's an important part of
Speaker 1: this part of this context. And and clearly this is
Speaker 1: about teams that truest and what you do this way,
Speaker 1: you role, what I understand that you you I can't
Speaker 1: find anything where you've been out front taking credit for
Speaker 1: anything is going to drag you, gonna drag you to
Speaker 1: the spotlight because I think the world needs to see
Speaker 1: people like you. It always frustrates me billing all the
Speaker 1: all the loud people are idiots. I mean not all
Speaker 1: of them, but I mean all the all the mean, nasty,
Speaker 1: mean spirit, angry lead so called leaders. They're allowed and
Speaker 1: they're good in marketing. And then all of the great
Speaker 1: guys and ladies they're sort of meek and understated and
Speaker 1: they want to the way to see them. And and
Speaker 1: I think, I really think we need to flip the
Speaker 1: script here. We need need some good guys and ladies
Speaker 1: who take the point and say, no, look, here's another
Speaker 1: business plan of what works, hope wins and rainbows follow storms,
Speaker 1: and the universe is backing hope and love and compassion
Speaker 1: and empathy and and joy and belief hope. I mean,
Speaker 1: the universe is backing that. And your story. Granted, Dad
Speaker 1: had um hit a wall, the family had to pivot,
Speaker 1: but you you, you, you believed in the universe, backed
Speaker 1: that belief and you ended up okay. And I think
Speaker 1: you have empathy and compassion for others because of that.
Speaker 1: Am I right about that? Well? Yeah, John, But I
Speaker 1: also recognized they also worked denied access to anything, you know,
Speaker 1: so you know, so you know it was tough. But
Speaker 1: by the way, know the color of their skin, the
Speaker 1: places they were helped, you know, so they were able
Speaker 1: to get an education, They weren't deny a job, they
Speaker 1: weren't denied access to something. So you also have to
Speaker 1: recognize that too. I think these this, you know, it
Speaker 1: goes together. There's a lot of learning and everything. I hope,
Speaker 1: I hope the listeners can play back. I hope you.
Speaker 1: First of all, he swerved off the road when they
Speaker 1: just hurt this very prominent man acknowledge his privilege. Um,
Speaker 1: he didn't say it in that way, but that's this
Speaker 1: is this, this is what he said, is being Caucasian
Speaker 1: helped his family? It was, it was it was a
Speaker 1: credit card and a credit line that was articulated. Whereas
Speaker 1: if you're black or your brown, or your woman or whatever,
Speaker 1: the struggle was harder. The struggle is real, you know,
Speaker 1: And he's acknowledging that that's also part of leadership, This
Speaker 1: sense of decency. How important is that for your how
Speaker 1: you lead? Bill? I mean, John, I think the whole
Speaker 1: concept of you know, for us leading a leading a purpose,
Speaker 1: lead company. You know, we we use the words trustworthy,
Speaker 1: we use the words care, we use the words one team.
Speaker 1: I mean, those are all synonymous for decency. Is you know,
Speaker 1: you've got to be a good citizen of the world
Speaker 1: as sort of a starting point. I mean, you can't
Speaker 1: you can't. You know, you can't affect change if you
Speaker 1: don't come at it from a you know, a core
Speaker 1: value system. We had our company, John, I mean, we
Speaker 1: ask everybody to articulate their own personal purpose. You know,
Speaker 1: we have a company, we have a company purpose, which
Speaker 1: inspired Bill better lives and communities. But we asked everybody
Speaker 1: to talk about their own purpose. Why are they here?
Speaker 1: What's their why? What? Why? What are they trying to accomplish,
Speaker 1: and you know you'll always find in the in the
Speaker 1: then diagrams you know that overlap each other. There will
Speaker 1: be a connection with your personal purpose and the company's purpose.
Speaker 1: That's when it really comes alive. That's when the engine
Speaker 1: really starts going. But it's just equal, it's equally important.
Speaker 1: And we think for everybody to recognize for us and
Speaker 1: we have individuals, they all have a you know, a
Speaker 1: personal purpose, a why of some type, and for them
Speaker 1: to be able to share that with each other, you know,
Speaker 1: share that with their teammates, share that with their clients, uh,
Speaker 1: and then articulate how it fits in terms of what
Speaker 1: the overall companies can be trying to accomplish. I think
Speaker 1: that's when everybody realizes, you know, the purpose of their
Speaker 1: work and the purpose of their lives, and that's what
Speaker 1: matters at the end of the day, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the when we you know, when the proverbial you know,
Speaker 1: obituary has written. You know, we wanted to be about
Speaker 1: the purpose of our lives, not the job that we did.
Speaker 1: And when they can come together, which we think we
Speaker 1: can accomplish the truest, that's the that's the magic for us.
Speaker 1: Building the good life is brought to you by Prudential Financial.
Speaker 1: For over one and forty five years, millions of people
Speaker 1: have counted on Prudential to help solve for life's most
Speaker 1: important financial needs because at Prudential they live their purpose
Speaker 1: to make life better by solving for the financial challenges
Speaker 1: of our changing world. Prudentials Who's Your Rock campaign is
Speaker 1: also about helping people reach new heights and providing a
Speaker 1: platform for people to reach their financial goals. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: the rubber meet met the road a couple of times
Speaker 1: I saw in that regard. Recently, you guys joined Financial
Speaker 1: Literacy for All getting coachaired by me, the CEO of
Speaker 1: Walmart Millan, and um, you guys said it to your associates,
Speaker 1: if you go through this financial wellness program and leave,
Speaker 1: you guys call it on up movement, that we will
Speaker 1: the company invest in your financial will being. And I
Speaker 1: think it was something like seven d dollars give or
Speaker 1: take her. Individual who went through this programming, you set
Speaker 1: up an account for them basically a rainy day acount,
Speaker 1: a rainy day fund for you know, in case they
Speaker 1: stumbled like everybody else does. And this is important because
Speaker 1: Americans pre pre pandemic did not have forty dollars for
Speaker 1: an unplanned event. That's a big deal. Did I get
Speaker 1: that number right now? Seventary bucks? Yeah, well, you're you're
Speaker 1: you're right, ghn, You're right at it. And you know,
Speaker 1: we we had this view that we wanted to do
Speaker 1: this for our communities. We've got all these statistics, all
Speaker 1: the things that you talked about those who don't have enough,
Speaker 1: say for an emergency, and those things have the ripple effect.
Speaker 1: That's it. You know, I can't fix my car, I
Speaker 1: can't go to my job, I get to lose my job.
Speaker 1: I can't fix my car, I can't go to class
Speaker 1: on time, I drop out of school. I mean, these
Speaker 1: people think it's these big events as small events that
Speaker 1: that that's the opposite effect of the ripple effect we
Speaker 1: talked about. That's the pebble that can create the ripples
Speaker 1: that can destroy someone's life. And we just you know,
Speaker 1: and the mistakes that c e O s make, you know,
Speaker 1: I presume that you know, we would be different with
Speaker 1: our you know, with our teammates, and you know, we
Speaker 1: did a lot of study, and they runder the same
Speaker 1: financial stress. And that's just logical. That's not surprising. That's
Speaker 1: not you know, meant to condemn them. It's meant to
Speaker 1: support them that that yes, they're inder the same kind
Speaker 1: of financial stress. So we started this for our own company, uh,
Speaker 1: and then you know, joining with with you and Doug
Speaker 1: was great because we started this with with other companies
Speaker 1: as well, and we've got all over three companies that
Speaker 1: we work with them and provide you know, basically at
Speaker 1: cost of me. You know, this same opportunity for them
Speaker 1: to do that for you know, for their employees and
Speaker 1: and you know, great chances to partner with with you
Speaker 1: and with other organizations and trying to trying to try
Speaker 1: to do this. I think this concept of employer well
Speaker 1: being you know, sort of tie the paycheck and the
Speaker 1: education together. I think it's really really powerful. I think
Speaker 1: this is an important I think financial literacy is a
Speaker 1: civil rights issue of our of our generation. Um, we
Speaker 1: got to reaffirm the right to vote, of course, but
Speaker 1: it is I think the color is not black or white,
Speaker 1: or red or blue. It's green, as in the color
Speaker 1: U s currency. And we need more of We need
Speaker 1: more of it, and we they need need to understand
Speaker 1: how to use it versus having it use them and uh.
Speaker 1: And this financial lunacy for all movement is I think
Speaker 1: part of that. I think this is what healthcare was
Speaker 1: years ago. Financial well being in the in the workplace,
Speaker 1: and then going into schools and so on and so forth,
Speaker 1: all of which you and I have talked about on
Speaker 1: the on the occasion of Black History Month, but also
Speaker 1: extending throughout the year because this evergreen people will be
Speaker 1: continuing to listen to this story. Um, I think Bill,
Speaker 1: we're sitting in a moment in history right now. Challenge
Speaker 1: me on this. I think that this is a one
Speaker 1: in one year opportunity we have right now to create
Speaker 1: a change in this country and by extension, to change
Speaker 1: in the world. I think of the new movements in
Speaker 1: the suites, not just the streets. Civil rights, as you know,
Speaker 1: I call it, not civil rights, not just civil rights.
Speaker 1: I think that this is about social justice through an
Speaker 1: economic lens. So, if that is the question, if you
Speaker 1: don't totally disagree with it, what are some of the
Speaker 1: things that you and true as are doing right now
Speaker 1: and in the future to affect social justice through economic lens? Well,
Speaker 1: I do agree, John, And you know, we talked about
Speaker 1: core core issues like voting rights and critical, but the
Speaker 1: financial education and financial uh, you know, competency are the
Speaker 1: table stakes and the currency to participate, you know, in
Speaker 1: this economy. And you know we we have you know,
Speaker 1: we have a strength in the economy, but the ability
Speaker 1: to do it where it is more inclusive. If just
Speaker 1: a few of us win, you know, that's not winning. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, when it's got to be an environment where
Speaker 1: we're all focused on the denominator, not the numerator of
Speaker 1: this equation. You know, the goal is to expand the
Speaker 1: you know, to expand as as many people as possible
Speaker 1: that can participate, uh, in this lat American dream and
Speaker 1: this you know, John, you talk a lot of its
Speaker 1: only life, but the core foundational elements of that are
Speaker 1: just you know, grounded in in you know, in in
Speaker 1: financial education and expanding that to be financial inclusion. I
Speaker 1: think I think we got to take the topic a
Speaker 1: little bit further because I think the same financial education
Speaker 1: alone might be a little bit of a cop out, right,
Speaker 1: So I think so as I started thinking about it
Speaker 1: and talk about it, it's just a lot more about
Speaker 1: financial inclusion and making sure that more people are participated
Speaker 1: in this process. And part of what we do through
Speaker 1: truist momentum is uh is I think you know a
Speaker 1: big part of that, you know that what we do
Speaker 1: and and you know, part of our part of our merger,
Speaker 1: I mean part of our merger was creating a sixty
Speaker 1: billion dollar community benefits plan. And on the surface that
Speaker 1: sounded like a really big number. And but but to
Speaker 1: be able to you know, create affordable housing, to be
Speaker 1: able to you know, to to operate in open locations
Speaker 1: and communities that need US mode to provide digital access,
Speaker 1: to the communities that need US mode to provide broadband
Speaker 1: uh for you know, locations, and people to to experience,
Speaker 1: you know, all this digital revolution that's happening not only
Speaker 1: in their classroom but in their bank. Um. Those are
Speaker 1: all parts of that, parts of that component, and trying
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're providing the poor skills, capabilities,
Speaker 1: access and inclusion to everything that is part of this
Speaker 1: you know, fantastic American dream that we all want to
Speaker 1: benefit from. You've brought You've also brought people of color
Speaker 1: into your executive ranks, Dante Wilson being one of them
Speaker 1: to get his title. But it annoy easing the c
Speaker 1: suite there um and um and women. So also your
Speaker 1: your your board and your management team. I know this
Speaker 1: person is a black female on your board of directors. Uh,
Speaker 1: there's a blackmail on your board directors, I believe as well.
Speaker 1: So you sort of living living your truth? What as
Speaker 1: we wrap up here two things? What um do you
Speaker 1: want the audience to know listeners to know about what
Speaker 1: Truest is doing? And by the way, I was wrong
Speaker 1: on the name. I told you I thought this name stuck.
Speaker 1: I said, I don't know why you picked it. I
Speaker 1: don't know why you change the name from the name,
Speaker 1: Why you pick sun Trust? It was a great name,
Speaker 1: legacy name. This is ridiculous. What's this up with this color?
Speaker 1: I was wrong about it all The color is cool,
Speaker 1: it's sexy without being overwhelming. The Truest is unique. It
Speaker 1: builds on the word trust. In my view, I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know that if your fact, but
Speaker 1: I know I know that's what I think about I think,
Speaker 1: so just full acknowledgement. You you acknowledge one. I'll take
Speaker 1: one of the chin I would wrong. Bill, you're right.
Speaker 1: So what do you want the audience to know about
Speaker 1: what's coming? What you're doing? Yeah? Okay, John, I think
Speaker 1: that this whole concept of being you know, purpose led company,
Speaker 1: it has to impact the decisions that you make, It
Speaker 1: has to impact who you hire. John, we have a
Speaker 1: very diverse board. You've given us a narrow definition. We've
Speaker 1: got a very diverse leadership team. We committed to uh,
Speaker 1: you know, being in excess of fift of our senior
Speaker 1: leaders of being being diverse in three years. We did
Speaker 1: it in two years. And I made the kind of
Speaker 1: that's just like the beginning, that's just like the table stakes.
Speaker 1: I mean, you just have to start there is creating
Speaker 1: the momentum to create an environment. So, you know, a
Speaker 1: couple of things that want people to know about us
Speaker 1: is one as we're a fantastic place to work, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, we're a company that you can come and
Speaker 1: be your whole self. You can you don't have to
Speaker 1: be somebody different. We want your we want your you know,
Speaker 1: diverse you know opinions. We want to be a company
Speaker 1: that's inclusive and people gonna have a fantastic career and
Speaker 1: grow here. And uh, you know, the only the only
Speaker 1: you know, the thing that's going to get in their
Speaker 1: way as their own performance, you know, their own ability
Speaker 1: to you know, to deliver and do it in a
Speaker 1: doing in a purposeful way. Uh. And we want to
Speaker 1: have that same view with what we're doing in the
Speaker 1: in the community. We made a decision recently that I
Speaker 1: think was totally aligned with purpose. Uh. And it's a
Speaker 1: product called truest One, which is everybody can say, well,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna have an overdraft product. That's that's a
Speaker 1: simple way to say that. But remember if you know,
Speaker 1: if you're not, if you don't have overdrafts, that means
Speaker 1: the check where the payments getting returned. People sort of
Speaker 1: lose that as a concept. So we said, well, look,
Speaker 1: let's actually look at what's really important to clients. Uh.
Speaker 1: And but by the way, but listen this define the
Speaker 1: overdraft means literally, yeah, I overdrew my account. I had
Speaker 1: a hundred dollars in and I wrote on her fifty
Speaker 1: dollar check you know I just got you, or or
Speaker 1: a digital payment, um. And and so we sort of
Speaker 1: thought about what to our earlier concept. People are, you know,
Speaker 1: on the cutting things close and what's most important to them.
Speaker 1: So instead of saying just not over draft fees, which
Speaker 1: we've said this will save clients three hundred million dollars
Speaker 1: a year, which is fantastic. Over the course is all
Speaker 1: this is all, this is gets underway, But we also
Speaker 1: created a hundred dollar buffer the sos Okay, no matter
Speaker 1: what happens, you sort of get a hundred dollar buffer
Speaker 1: and the opportunity to have back to our seven or
Speaker 1: fifty dollars in terms of emergency to have a seven
Speaker 1: d fifty dollars of emergency credit lot. So it's not
Speaker 1: only that I'm not getting charged for the overdraft. That's
Speaker 1: an important components. But my check is not getting returned,
Speaker 1: my rent check, my grocery bill, my school bill, whatever
Speaker 1: it is. Is. So I think the concepts of not
Speaker 1: that it's one product or one thing, but as a company,
Speaker 1: we're trying to make decisions from a purposeful perspective. You know,
Speaker 1: do do they do they make a difference? Are they meaningful? Uh?
Speaker 1: And and the whole concept of you know, you know,
Speaker 1: doing well by doing good. We're fundamental believers of that.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're all you know, we're a for profit company,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt about that. But that doesn't mean we
Speaker 1: can't generate you know, activity by being fantastic citizens of
Speaker 1: the communities. Amen, Amen, Amen, as we wrap this up,
Speaker 1: and this has been a fantastic conversation with Bill Roger's
Speaker 1: CEO and chairman of Truist six starters bank in Americas.
Speaker 1: We wrapped this up. Buildings list of leaders who are
Speaker 1: you've now we spoke, We've now spoken to want to
Speaker 1: be builders, I'm building, want gonna build. We spoken to
Speaker 1: family builders, a lot of different categories here. Drivers. There's
Speaker 1: some leaders listening to this Bill as the last question.
Speaker 1: There there's some leaders listening to big companies. They want
Speaker 1: to know how do I in bed purpose in my
Speaker 1: business plan? Can I do well and do good? Or
Speaker 1: is this just a old Rogers thing? What do you
Speaker 1: have to say to them? In closing? Well, I mean
Speaker 1: they're you know, lots of fantastic leaders, and I think
Speaker 1: the first place to start is just start with your
Speaker 1: own personal why you know, why why am I doing this?
Speaker 1: What what am I here for? Uh? Then start with
Speaker 1: then you know, translate that into then what's the company's why?
Speaker 1: You know? Why? Why why are we doing this? We're
Speaker 1: not selling manufacturing and selling widgets? What is it that
Speaker 1: the widgets do? What are the widgets support? How do
Speaker 1: they make a difference? So do you know, what do
Speaker 1: they create that that provides value somewhere down the line,
Speaker 1: and try to make those connections. Uh. And then once
Speaker 1: those connections are made, and if they're not made by
Speaker 1: the way, then go make them. So right, So if
Speaker 1: they're not made, to make them because maybe maybe maybe
Speaker 1: that you know, you've got an opportunity to expand your
Speaker 1: product line or your capability or service line to to
Speaker 1: to to do that. Um. And then and then once
Speaker 1: that happens, is create the momentum around that and communicate
Speaker 1: around that. And I think that's what I think. I
Speaker 1: think fundamentally, people want to work for companies that want
Speaker 1: to stand that stand for something people want to do.
Speaker 1: People want to do business with companies that want to
Speaker 1: stand for something. You know, people want to do business
Speaker 1: with a company that's you know, they're somebody's shoulder to
Speaker 1: shoulder with them in the community. When they look around
Speaker 1: and see who's you know, uh, you know, handing or
Speaker 1: in the line, you know, dispensing something, and they look
Speaker 1: and so, oh, that's a purple Truest sweatshirt. Oh wow,
Speaker 1: that's pretty cool. They're right here with me, We're doing
Speaker 1: this together. So I think I think it's just building
Speaker 1: all that and then just making it. Making it not
Speaker 1: if it's a slogan or a marketing item, you've lost
Speaker 1: your way. You know. If it's how we make decisions,
Speaker 1: is are we always asking that question? Then I think
Speaker 1: we're on the path and we're all on the journey
Speaker 1: by the way. I mean, I feel like I'm rounding
Speaker 1: first base in this purpose journey, you know. I mean
Speaker 1: I just think I'm just think I'm just getting started
Speaker 1: and learning from others and uh, you know, seeking out
Speaker 1: leaders and others who are who are leaving purposeful organizations.
Speaker 1: John your one, I saw you know what you do
Speaker 1: in your businesses, for example, your businesses that aren't hope
Speaker 1: you know, you're racing business, and your home preservation businesses.
Speaker 1: They all have broader context. You know. It's it's not
Speaker 1: about racing, you know, it's about it's about creating an
Speaker 1: inclusive environment. It's just just so happens to be something
Speaker 1: you're interested in. But it's so, you know, you exemplified,
Speaker 1: is building why around whatever it is you're doing. I
Speaker 1: think I think maybe it's like an encapsulated Maybe it's
Speaker 1: that simple. This is uh, been a great forty minutes
Speaker 1: with one of the signature leaders in banking and financial
Speaker 1: services in the world, because America is the large economy
Speaker 1: in the world, the soul superpower still in the world.
Speaker 1: So when you say he's the sixth largest bank in America,
Speaker 1: you're saying something about his place in the world. And
Speaker 1: so what he does here and what the truest family
Speaker 1: does here can um amplify around the world like in
Speaker 1: like step. And I am proud to call Bill Rogers
Speaker 1: my friend. Um he's not perfect, but he's perfectly my friend.
Speaker 1: And what what you can count on is what what
Speaker 1: he means. What he says, he says what he means,
Speaker 1: and he will never lead you astray. And by the way,
Speaker 1: if you didn't catch that, they're hiring. So if you
Speaker 1: need a job, but JLB, head over and get yourself
Speaker 1: an application. They are hiring. And I'm let me tell
Speaker 1: you them. They are paying what we call a living wage.
Speaker 1: So go join the middle class. Okay, you just heard
Speaker 1: building the Good Life with Bill Rogers, chairman and CEO
Speaker 1: of the sixth largest bank in America. Truists. Uh, and
Speaker 1: my friend, and this is the master class. And what
Speaker 1: he told you and what you should have learned from
Speaker 1: that is that we're actually is actually somewhat spiritual. We're
Speaker 1: not human beings having a spiritual experience. We're spiritual beings
Speaker 1: having a human experience. And we're all living our childhoods.
Speaker 1: No matter where you are, wherever you come from, your
Speaker 1: influenced by how you grew up. And then then look
Speaker 1: at how you're influencing others, Watch how you look, you
Speaker 1: live your life, and maybe the only Bible of anybody
Speaker 1: else reads he was influenced by his grandfather and the
Speaker 1: struggle of his mother, and the fact that his brother's
Speaker 1: sister had to go get a job when they had
Speaker 1: this wonderful, cushy life, and and and and the fact
Speaker 1: that as they were coming up they were they had
Speaker 1: privileges and access because they were white. Um that black
Speaker 1: people other people don't have. Uh. And he recognizes that
Speaker 1: life was for him wild tough, would have been much
Speaker 1: tougher had he not had those embedded privileges. He's not
Speaker 1: guilty about it, but he does feel a responsibility. As
Speaker 1: Ambassador Andrew Young would say, is not his fault that
Speaker 1: he was born black. Is that's another white person's fault
Speaker 1: or responsibility that they were born white. But it is
Speaker 1: all of our responsibility to take this moment and to
Speaker 1: improve the software of our existence for others who come
Speaker 1: after us. And that is what Bill is trying to
Speaker 1: do at true as he's doing well and doing good.
Speaker 1: That's the master class lesson here is a false choice
Speaker 1: to say that you can have to succeed somebody else
Speaker 1: has to fail, that you're gonna win, but somebody else
Speaker 1: has to lose. But we're learning now is you can win, win,
Speaker 1: the you can do well and do good to oh
Speaker 1: wait a minute, do well by doing you is what
Speaker 1: they're about, what he's about, and what I'm about. That's
Speaker 1: twenty one century building the good life. This is John
Speaker 1: O'Brien building the good life with John Hope Bryant. Is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Credentials Financial