WEBVTT - Building A Tech Empire Anywhere w/ Hajj Flemings 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:10.760 Afro Techy eighteen, Oakland, California, common the Grammy Award winning 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:13.640 rappers on the main stage, answering your question from someone 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:16.480 in the audience about the importance of not leaving behind 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.840 or neglecting the talent towards opportunity and text from those 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.200 who are incarcerating why so many of us seek to 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:25.880 find ways to evangelize this moment. In text for black 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.360 people to create wealth and legacy, he reminds us not 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:32.800 to forget those behind bars. I mean, from my experience, 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.279 I've been able to go to some visit individuals who 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:38.879 are in prison and just sit down and talk with them, 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.000 and I think one of the things that they really 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:43.600 value is just being able to be heard and be 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.280 recognized as human beings. I think you making an effort 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.879 to show them that in technology that they deserve to 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.360 have the chance to be colders and be a part 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.800 of the tech industry is a is a statement in itself. 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:02.200 You um, you also have to make it like not easy, 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.360 because it's not gonna be easy, but understand give them 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:08.400 the path to know that they can do it. But 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:11.160 you got you find some incredible women and men and 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:14.120 it's locked up in prison. It's doing life without parole 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.479 and and been through a lot of stuff that are 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:21.080 just bringing incredible ideas and humanity. So if they get 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:23.560 a hold of and I did go to a prison 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:25.560 where they are coding, and I actually met a guy 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:27.679 named Charles who I sat in the sale with him 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.880 one one month and then five months later he was 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.000 out in prison, out of prison and coding for a company. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.240 So I think it's a it's um something that we should. 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:40.800 I think if we bring that to our juveniles that 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.199 that are dealing with incarceration, and bring that to people 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.119 who are incarcerated, we would give them a whole another hope, 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.040 a hold another aspect of hope. So one of those 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.360 questions that came earlier about what we could do socially, 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.120 I think that would be a great idea from the 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.600 tech industry is to make sure we go look out 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.160 for those who are who are cast out, that are 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.720 locked up and isn't and thrown away. We should really 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:06.320 take care of them. I'm will lucas this is black tech, 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:09.639 bring money. I'm gonna introuce you to some of the 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.880 biggest names, some of the brightest minds and brilliant ideas. 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:15.560 If you're black and building or simply using tech to 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:23.480 secure your back, this podcast is for you. How Flimmings 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.640 is a leading brand strategist, speaker, and tech entrepreneur that 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.360 travels nationally inspiring people and brands to build, lunch and 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:34.079 grow their ideas. As founder of re Brand Cities, he's 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.239 on a mission to get ten thousand local small businesses online. 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.720 Eyes Howes about Silicon Valley, namely about the idea that 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:44.160 just about using sheer numbers in a bit of math, 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.520 not all of us are gonna move to Silicon Valley, 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:50.080 Miami or Atlanta, And if not, how do we build 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:54.280 strong tech ecosystems wherever we are? You know, I think historically, 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.640 if you look at the DNA of black and black 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.880 next people, right, we have always had the creative DNA 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:04.919 and s. And typically we're in a situation where there 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.560 are high barriers of entry, there's access issues, but we 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.919 always seem to be able to figure out a way 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.640 to do more with less, right and so and so, 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.320 what I've always found is that I believe, and I 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:20.359 used to trade as any example Detroit, I believe the 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.000 barriers of entry are lower here than any other market. 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.440 So I can go to another market where they don't 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.560 know me, and there's and everybody is scrapping for you know, 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:30.760 trying to find their place, and they want to be 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.800 the only black solution in the market. But why not 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.440 be a big fish in a small pond and put 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.720 my city on And that's the way I looked at it, 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:41.720 the same way. You know what I'm You know, I 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:43.960 know that you're from Toledo, right, and so you know 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.440 what I'm saying. So so we have you know, I 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:48.560 don't know if it's a chip on our shoulder and 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.440 we're like, you know, like there's great stuff that comes 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.560 out of the Midwest or or where we're from. And 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:56.960 I just looked at it as more of an opportunity 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:59.560 versus saying I have to go travel someone I can 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.000 learn from somewhere else. But why can't I bring that 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.520 stuff back home and then try to do economic guarding 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.800 and stuff in my own community. So so if we 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:11.920 do decide to stay in a place where technology isn't, 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.560 actually let me take that back where where the idea 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:17.960 we have of technology, Because technology is every industry, whether 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.680 you're doing HR for a health care system, where you're 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:25.840 doing law for an automotive. You're still working with technology 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:27.840 every day, So how do we start to change our 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.920 minds and the narrative that we're being taught um that 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:32.719 you know, if you want to build an app, you 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.800 need to be somewhere else. How do we change that 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.520 narrative in our local community so that we can start 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.440 to perpetuate and get more of us doing this type 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.080 of work. So I think some of it is a challenge, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.560 right because you know, so there are like real challenges 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.000 that exist in our community. So so there is more 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.360 BC funding in you know, in place like Silicon Valley 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.159 and Austin and Boston and stuff like that. So we 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.520 do have to figure out, like what are those challenges 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:00.960 and how can I, in the space that I'm in 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.599 maximize that and so and so for me, like what 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.160 I tried to do is say, okay, um, I wanted 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:09.000 to look at what do I do well? What do 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.480 I focus on? What are the things that I was 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:15.400 created for? Sometimes we have this shiny object like mentality, 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.200 and so we see something happening somewhere else, we see 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.440 somebody doing something cool, and then we want to go replicated. 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.960 Like I'm sure as soon as people saw Afrotech and Blackty. 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:27.640 Everybody's like, well, I can become the next Blab, I 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:31.039 can come the next Africa without understanding all of the 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.840 stuff that has been happening behind the scenes to get 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.720 to this point. And so and so what I've done 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:40.359 is like, let me just double down in the space 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.480 that I'm in and try to be an expert and 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.839 not just and not just jump and try to be 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.400 the next Will Lucas. Let me just be the best 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:49.880 highs that I could be in my market and try 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.719 to make an impact there and see where that leads me. 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.159 And I think we get into this comparison thing because 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.279 of social media and we're trying to become something that 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.000 would you know what I'm saying that we were never 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.960 called to be, and I think that tarts to take 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.760 us places that we don't belong. And so I try 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.520 to I try to really major majors and minor and 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:10.760 minors and do what I do and be the best 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.680 at it in the space that I'm in. So let's 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:16.520 talk about you talked about there's there's less venture capital 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.120 funding in cities, I think the cities that we're from, 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:23.720 and there's these certain economies, geography, geographies where those they 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.560 do have that funding. Let's talk about how we make 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:29.240 those these cities real then, Like what needs what needs 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:31.200 to happen, What are the actual things that need to 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:37.120 happen to build a bigger entrepreneurially friendly ecosystem in community? 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.599 Like what do universities need to get involved? Do the 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.719 big corporations lead? Like what needs to happen to make 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.760 these cities better for entrepreneurs? So I think that all 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.400 these cities there are anchors. So we have university anchors, 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.359 we have organizational anchors. I think also too, we have 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.880 to hold cities and we have to hold big brands accountable. Right, 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.800 So when I looked at uh Um George Floyd's death 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:06.479 and so on, I saw all these black boxes posting online, 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:08.279 and I was like, that as great that you support, 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.320 that's great that you are with us. But what rain 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.960 in my mind was, this is the time we have 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:18.760 everybody's attention. How can we now focus on really trying 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:23.080 to drive or or or really adjust what's happening from 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:27.000 an economic standpoint, because it's not just a social issue. 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.520 You know, what they like to me and so and 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:31.880 so and so. What I've tried to do is in 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.440 my market, what can I do to try to get 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.160 at the table? For many of us were really not 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.640 at the table. And so when these decisions are made, 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.440 So when Chase brings a hundred million dollars into your 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.520 community and you're not a part of that conversation, and 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.280 by the time they get to you, when we have 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.520 a five thollar grant, I'm not knocking the five dollar grant, 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:52.920 but how do we get up highering the food chain 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.520 so that when the real dollars are allocated, they go 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.480 to the real organizations that are close to the problems, 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:04.280 that understand and are empathetic towards that community. And it's 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.440 typically people to look like us. But by the time 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:08.680 we get it, we should be happy for five And 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.120 I'm not knocking to five grand, but if I can 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:14.120 get a million, ten million, or you know, I'm that's 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:16.240 where those are the spaces that I want to play. 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.840 So let's go in on that, like what kind of 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.040 person do I need to be to get at the table? 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:25.120 Like what what do I need to do with even 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:28.800 my personal brand or what kind of what is my 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.160 resume need to look like to get at the table? Yes, 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:36.360 so so there's a narrative that says that you have 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:40.400 to go to you know, Harvard or Stanford and so 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:42.840 and so there's certain things that happened, right, there's pattern 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.640 matching all of these things where the people who are 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:48.920 making those decisions happened to be happened to look a 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.040 certain way, and they kind of and they kind of 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.520 green like certain projects. So I'm giving example. So when 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.640 we started Rebrand Cities, we started out as Rebrand Detroit 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.760 and we're part of UM. So there was a call 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.199 from or from from the Knife Foundation. It was the 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:05.840 night of the Night City channel. There was seven thousand 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:09.199 people that applied. We were one of thirty two winners, right, 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:12.080 and so we had a better chance of hitting hitting 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.400 like the actual lottery. But we took that idea and said, okay, 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.040 how can we pilot this to figure out how we 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.800 can turn this into something even bigger. So, so we 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:24.920 wanted to rebrand a neighborhood, a black neighborhood, the same 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:28.320 way the city had already did our Midtown area, and 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:30.600 so we and so we took that and then we 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.640 started to look at what is a business model for 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.320 us to be able to follow, right, So we looked 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.559 online and we saw that you know what, saying that 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:43.319 there was twenty million small businesses had no website. We're 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.720 cash only, all right, and so and so we started 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.080 to do this accelerator in the neighborhood and we realized 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.640 that nobody had a website, or almost almost nobody had 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:53.160 a website. So we said, okay, we have we have 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.199 to address this issue. Then we started looking at city 0:09:56.280 --> 0:10:01.840 So there's there's approximately nineteen thousand, four and nine five cities, towns, 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.040 and villages in the United States. And then we paired 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.319 it down and we found out that there's three and 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.040 ten cities that have a hundred that have a population 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.199 of a hundred thousand or more. And so we said, 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:17.840 let's focus on those cities and addressing a problem that 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.120 every single city has. So we looked at a problem, 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:25.360 we found an addressable market and um, and then we 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.439 figured out who do we need to talk to? So, okay, 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:28.840 so we need to talk to people who are in 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.520 economic development, we need to talk to mayors, we need 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.160 to talk to people who who have the bag right, 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.800 and so we had an issue that we know all 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:40.360 of them were concerned with. We knew that if they 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.360 addressed that issue, it was going to be able to 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:44.720 impact their cities, and so we knew that we were 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:48.440 onto something, but some of that happened by trial and error. Right. 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.840 The other part is having the opportunity to be on 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:55.960 a platform like this. Many of us don't have media connections, right, 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.000 and so you contacting me and giving me this opportunit 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.400 unity is a lifeline for me. It's I mean, it 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.680 means everything. Not because I love what you guys do, 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.280 but I know that you have a why, you have 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.640 a huge community that's going to support and so those 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:14.440 are a couple of things that we thought about in 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.199 terms of kind of how we want to focus on it. 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:20.559 So you, let's talk about you. What you noticed as 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:22.600 an issue is a lot of these small businesses didn't 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:26.280 have websites. They weren't technologically solving. Let's start with just 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.480 the website. Why is it important for that small mom 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:33.120 and pop who might do you know dry cleaning or 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.080 might have you know a restaurant? Why is it important 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.320 that they be online and with an actual website? Why 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.880 is that important in first place? So ninety the center 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:43.880 people who make a buying decision go online first, right 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.679 and then and so when you're going to set the stuff. 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.840 I'm going to Google Maps if you're not in Google Maps, 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.600 or or if the information is wrong, if it says 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:56.040 that you're open to five o'clock and you closed at 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.760 three o'clock, and then you know and so and and 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.560 now I'm going somewhere else. I'm going I'm spending money 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:08.040 somewhere else. And so we become invisible in the digital economy. 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:11.600 So then COVID hits right. And then now people who 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.040 weren't online, you're I mean, you were really in a 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.599 tough situation because now people couldn't buy your project, you 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.440 couldn't buy your services. And then even when you got online, 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.240 you then had to then take another step of pos 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.400 you had to have you had to operationalize the business, 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.280 right and so those are the things where now we're 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.320 putting all Now we're stacking all these problems on top 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:36.280 of an access to UM capital, on all these other things. 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:40.640 And then now for us, like we did a project 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.120 locally called UM it was called Digitality Trade and in 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.040 that project we work with the City, UM and the 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.200 Rocket Community Fund to work with a hundred businesses. We 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:51.440 had to do all of this virtually. One of the 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.640 challenges we had is that we had to have the criteria. 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.560 People needed to have some kind of device because we're 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.760 doing this stuff remotely. Everything was remote, and so that 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.120 we had people who didn't know how to screen share, 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.439 and digital literacy became a major issue, and so those 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.960 things stacked the deck against us, and so it just 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.280 creates this another challenge, you know, that we had to 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:16.240 overcome basics. So, if I'm hearing you correctly, there are 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.520 instead of always trying to build the next Snapchat, instead 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:21.920 of always trying to build the next Instagram or whatever, 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.679 they are real core issues that these smaller cities and 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.600 not necessarily always smaller, but you know, not unless than 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.880 the all Silicon Valley. There are real issues that create 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:36.559 opportunity for entrepreneurs. Is that correct? Yeah, yeah, yeah, and 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.160 so and so, you know, so we don't have to 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.840 solve the biggest problem in the world. I know, if 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:43.760 you're getting BC funding, you know what I'm saying, they 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:47.959 want ten x plus return, right, um, and that's not going. 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.400 But everybody is not venture Everybody doesn't have a venture 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:55.320 backable idea. But the idea that you have can be 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.720 something that can scale. It can be an idea that 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.600 can also allow you to be able to create a 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.680 nice lifestyle and to be able to generate the kind 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.079 of return so that you can do this full time 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.040 and so and so I think just trying to figure 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.199 out what that is because also too, I would much 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:15.280 rather work with somebody who has a passion for what 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:18.000 they're doing and they love what they're doing and their 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.520 whole goal is I'm not creating this because I'm trying 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:24.120 to get an exit. I'm not knocking that strategy because 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.840 there are people getting great returns. But but I mean, 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.320 by how many of those unicorns do we have? How 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:31.520 many people like Delane Parnell, Like do we have Who's 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:33.680 gonna raise a hundred and seven million? And that's gonna 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:36.400 happen for that's my guy. I'm happy for him. But 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.520 that's not gonna be everybody. But that's okay, and we 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:41.640 have to be okay with the fact that we can 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.560 do something that could be that could be transformational for 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.520 our community. There was a young lady during the pandemic 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:51.040 who was braiding hair, who who um and all the 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.560 barbershops and salons were closed down. She started teaching people 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.600 how to braid hair on Zoom and she was charging 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.840 people how to braid hair, and and it began to 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:05.760 expand her community and her reach. That's innovation to me, 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.080 that's innovation. I want to talk about, you know, just 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:13.440 the actual direct rebranding of a geography, rebranding a city, 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:17.040 you know, branding as you know, I know, it's what 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:20.120 other people say about you, not what you say about yourself. Right, 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:25.680 how do you change the narrative about a community? Um? 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:27.920 And what are the tactical things you need to do 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:33.200 to make other people say something different about that space? Yeah? So, 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:36.960 so I think you have to have an inclusive lens, 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.120 but you need to have people who are in a 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:44.440 decision making position. People who are in i mean, public 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.880 policy drive so much of what happens in our cities. 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.160 And I know we love to, you know, vote for 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.800 the presidential election and that's great, but what happens in 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.680 the local community and so and so trying to get 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:01.920 buy in from from that kind of leadership becomes critically important. 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.440 And what we've tried to communicate to the cities that 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:06.960 we work with, because we're doing stuff in nine cities 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:09.480 and in two different countries, is that is that we 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.320 try to have the conversation to say Look, what if 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.320 people could navigate your city based upon small business owners. 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.320 What if in Detroit, if they needed to go to 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.920 a coffee shop and and we could say, okay, you 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:24.960 can go to Narrowey Cafe, which is a black owned 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.120 coffee shop on the Liberois Avenue of Fashion, and you 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:32.800 can now explore that looking at looking through a small business, 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.720 supporting that small business. It's a different lens, right, And 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.120 so a lot of the stories that I see, even 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.200 in my city, I've seen stuff where they talk about 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.680 small business. Oh, we love being in the city of Detroit. Yes, 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:46.960 But if you came from the suburbs and you went 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:49.960 to an Ivy League school and you were already set 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:52.560 up with all this stuff, of course it's amazing for you, 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.040 Like there's no question it's amazing. It would be amazing 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:59.040 for me too if those things were all in place, 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.480 right and so and so, what we've tried to do, 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:03.200 and we're working on a project right now, and it's 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.800 called Rebrand Black and so we have an accelerator where 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:09.440 we're working with um twelve small business that are all 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:11.720 black owned. And what we've tried to do with the 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.680 stakeholders and the people that we're working with is let's 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:18.520 focus on making sure that we are including businesses that 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:21.480 don't get the same coverage, right, And so I think 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:25.199 when cities are looking, they have to they have to 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.600 take the blinders off and look at how do we 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:33.280 create a city for all people and not just for 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:38.120 homogeneous community of people that are going to be okay 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.040 regardless of what you know. And so those are things 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.480 that we've really tried to hammer and and for us, 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.919 it's been it's been, um, it's been uh, it's been 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:52.959 a labor of love. Love. You know, I'm you bring up. 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.920 You talked a lot about you know, these small businesses 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.440 and historically having been you know, online not very sophisticated 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.040 in the age that we live in, and I think 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.320 specifically about the Midwest. You know, we come from a 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:09.520 place where manufacturing drove the day, and you know, so 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.720 a lot of these folks you're talking about, maybe first 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:16.840 generation entrepreneurs, mom and pop shops and et cetera. How 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:19.840 do you, at the same time of helping them, you know, 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:23.919 be more sophisticated with their technology, also help them along 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.639 the way where they don't perpetuate some of the stereotypes 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:30.440 about working with black owned companies. You know, like you 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:32.800 talked about it says you opened the fire type but 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.320 you left at three. You know, you didn't say hello 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:37.119 to me when I walked in the door, or all 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.960 all these things. How do we because these folks don't 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.359 have you know, like you and I like lineage of entrepreneurship. 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.119 We gotta learning stuff on the fly. How how do 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:50.200 we get those business principles as well for your programming? Yeah, yes, 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.359 I think like part of it is is that we 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.960 have to be willing to give each other a chance. 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.280 We think everybody's the isis coder and so somebody would 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:01.960 do something wrong and and it will be okay. Or 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:03.639 if somebody goes to the club and somebody steps on 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.439 your shoe, you still go back next week or whatever. 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:12.280 But if one thing goes wrong with supporting a black 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:14.199 owned business, then that's the end of the world. And 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.400 we just wanted to throw our hands up, right, And 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:20.840 so we understand that we have a tremendous we have 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:25.119 tremendous economic buying power. What if we took some of 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:27.600 that and we began to support each other. And so 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:29.560 that's part of what we do, like through our community, 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:31.960 is that all right, how do we support to people 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.639 who are in this course the business that we're working with. 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:38.280 When we buy something, let's post something online, let's share 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:42.040 so when you know someone pandemic started last year, we 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.680 took an entire week and we just we're just supporting 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:47.919 black businesses and we posted, we tagged online, we showed 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.919 the product. Part of that was to encourage other people 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:53.840 to say, hey, look, if you're gonna buy something, let's 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.320 share that you're actually doing that. There's a great platform 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:00.919 it's called Spendified. Spendified in the platform m um has 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:05.560 ran by Antoine Davis, and it is a list of 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:09.359 black owned businesses, right and so and so and so 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:12.640 we try to partner or try to share these kind 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:14.919 of opportunities because people will say, well I don't know 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:17.800 where to go, and I find that like disheartening, right, 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:21.400 But so we tried to demonstrate from example and then 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.920 share what other people are doing. For sure. We got 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.359 a question that I came in on stable um. It says, 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:31.240 what should you do first? A business plan or product development? 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:35.160 All right, So, so I remember doing a business playing 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:37.960 years ago. I had this this big stack of paper. 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:40.680 It was like, I don't know a hundred pages after 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:43.240 I developed it. I couldn't even tell you how many 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:45.919 times I looked at the business plan after I developed it. 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.160 What I think is more efficient is now getting and 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:54.520