WEBVTT - LAKEISHA LANDRUM PIERRE - From Raisins to Returns 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.280 Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.040 I'm your host Coleen Witt, and today have very special 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:11.160 guests Lakeisha Landrum Pierre, founder and managing partner, co founder 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:15.600 and managing partner of Emmiline venture Capital, which is amazing. 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:18.920 We've never had a venture capitalists on the show, let 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:23.560 alone a young woman, let alone woman a black woman. 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.440 So this is going to be like a unique, very 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:30.080 unique episode. We're going to be like all in your 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.479 head today. You're going to teach us a lot. So 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:35.680 we'll talk about your backstory, but we're also going to 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.919 talk about the industry you're in and because it it 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:42.160 definitely has a not fun reputation as far as women 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:44.120 or people of color. 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:46.200 Yeah, except it changes the world. 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:47.080 Except it changes. 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:47.960 It changes the world. 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:50.199 It decides the direction that society goes, and so we 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:51.560 need more of us there for sure. 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.200 Exactly. So before I get into the weed, yes, we 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.160 got to get into what we're eating for breakfast. I 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.320 don't know if you have breakfast. Hi, I am so 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.080 excited to this for you. Okay, I am. 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:02.800 So excited colleing. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:08.880 So we're going back to two thousand, We're going back 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:13.960 to two thy twelve, okay, and I'm in grad school 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 and I'm really hungry, and I'm my Columbian roommate. And 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.399 she said, girl, we're about to We're about to have 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:20.720 some coconut rice. 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.640 So this is a Columbian dish. So Columbian rice. 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.960 Is superfun cooked for you today, and it's the basic 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:32.119 ingredients are coconut milk, raisins and white rice. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:50.400 Wow. On this show, the broker to dish, the better 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.160 the story. For all y'all that don't know, this dish 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:56.960 was ten dollars in inflation market, which means that twenty twelve, 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.360 this is probably like a three dollars dish. And it 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:00.800 makes multiple servings. 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:02.920 Multiple servings like when we're done, you can have something 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:04.520 for lunch and for dinner, which is what we used 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:04.760 to do. 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.720 So shout out. She's not she's now back in. 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:11.960 But are you guys still good friends? 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.040 We're still in touch? Like she's it's we don't. We 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:17.040 haven't seen each other a lot and so love each other. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.480 When when this episode comes out, I would love it 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:22.200 to see her reaction that this is the this. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.080 That yes, oh I should absolutely figure. 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.359 Yeah, this is the you went to school? Where were 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.079 you at school at Harvard. At Harvard, Yes. 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:35.040 So Harvard. We lived in Cambridge, but still broke. 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:35.960 Let's be clear. 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.040 I think people assume that because you work really hard 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:41.320 to get to a top school. No one in my 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.040 I was breaking ground for my family. No one had 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:45.440 done that. 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.560 Am I supposed to talk about what I'm making. 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.160 How to do it or no guys on nar rate? 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:51.760 She just I put hot water in the pot. I 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.760 didn't realize that she was going to add a whole 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.520 can of coconut water, but she did. So we're gonna 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.400 make a lot of ice today. But yes, she did. Added, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.320 she boiled, She started heating up the water. She added 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.000 a can of Lakeisha, added a can of coconut water. 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:07.320 And now she's adding rice. 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.240 I'm gonta let it boil just a little bit, okay, 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.920 and then we'll put the rice in the that's it. 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.000 Wow, you didn't put any raisins in yet. Oh yeah, 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.440 you start with you know what, you narrate your dish, 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:19.440 tell us how you make it. 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:21.760 So you start with the raisins, right the because you 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.480 want the raisins to be like soft and when you 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:27.359 bite into them, they're just like really soft into if 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:28.680 you don't cook them first. 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:31.360 They still are like hard, they're still. 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.400 Hard, Whereas when you boil them in that coconut milk, 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:38.480 it completely changes the flavor and it tastes like dessert. Really, yes, 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:43.120 so step one, Okay, I saw her put the raisins 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:43.480 in the first. 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:44.320 So raisins go first. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.040 Raisins go first, And typically we're gonna do an accelerated 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:49.640 version with high speed version. But typically you let the 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.760 raisins just hang out for about ten minutes in the water, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:54.800 and the water by itself. Yeah, I typically put the 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.320 coconut milk. Uh huh, and you just let that boil. 0:03:57.880 --> 0:03:59.840 Were we supposed to have water in there at all? No, 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:00.920 we weren't. 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:02.280 You just boil the coconu milk. 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:06.200 That's fine because we can throw that out all. 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:07.560 It doesn't mean we're having more. 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.160 Look, tell tell Trevor. 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:11.880 He's about to have some coconut rice next door. 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.680 This rice is good, guys, I'm doging it. But typically 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:16.200 when you do it back in the day, you just 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:18.120 did just straight coconut milk, coconu milk. 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:19.040 And then we put a little bit water if you 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.520 dry whatever you just need. 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.400 Okay, we're learning, and then it's boiling. 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:25.360 So this is this. 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:28.680 You just add the rice, and when was the last 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:29.599 time you made this dish? 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.360 So you're ready for this. My kids love it. 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:33.960 That's hilarious. 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:38.560 So I'll be making it tomorrow because we're coming up 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:39.760 on the holidays. 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.040 That's a lot of rice. Are we supposed to use 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.120 that much rice? Yeah, you're like, I make this all 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:46.880 the time. 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.520 But this is a little different. But it's just. 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.359 Rising to the top. Yeah, okay, my bad. Let me 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:53.080 stay out of your key. 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.239 You stay in my kitchen. That's all the questions. 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.440 So the kids, your kids in this dish, they love it. 0:04:58.560 --> 0:04:59.120 They love it. 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.200 They ask for Coconue writes all the time. And so 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.000 we have just a multicultural home, which is amazing. 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:06.880 So they're what's your husband. 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.760 My husband's family's from Haiti Oka, and so there are 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:12.960 lots of Caribbean food. And then we have someone who. 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.840 Lives in the home with us who's proving she's Feru 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:17.839 and so we pervem food and then all my influences. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:19.080 I can cook African. 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.839 Food, Caribbean food, proving food, Columbian food, and so we 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:23.080 just throw down and soul food. 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.240 I'm trying to go to and soul, your house for food. 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:28.960 Oh we're listen, Christy, say you pull up. It's gonna 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:30.520 be different flavors. It's gonna be planting. 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:32.960 Oh yeah, exactly, Okay, exactly. 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.359 Okay, So we're gonna bring this down because it looks 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.320 like okay, yeah, it looks like it's about to boil over. 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:41.280 It is over. 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:43.960 Does this happen with you? 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:45.839 Because I make it with actual fire? 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.279 Oh okay, okay, do you have a toe? 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:49.400 No, because we're a studio. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.400 No, we're in studio. That's let it burn. Let it 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:56.799 don't burn your hands. Insurance. I love to tell people 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:58.000 about our fake insurance. 0:05:58.080 --> 0:05:59.680 Okay, let's keep going. Yeah, this is good. 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:01.919 I'll put us back on once it school's down. But 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.560 we put the ingredients in and this is our cocada rice. 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.920 Yes, before we got into Harvard, because there's a lot 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:09.400 of tea on Harvard that I want to get into. 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.920 But what did you go to school for? Initially? 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:18.840 So my undergraduate focus was finance. Oh you always liked 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:25.359 your money. I've always liked money. My my grandfather owned 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.760 a grocery store, he owned a church, he owned the cleaners, 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:33.719 and he owned something else. My grandmother, my aunt was 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.120 one of the first black millionaires of real estimilatiers here 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.360 in l A great great I think she had my 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.440 great great aunt and then my great great aunt during 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.200 those times, yeah, exactly. And then wasn't that during like 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.520 the red lining and all that. Yes, this was in 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:50.400 the hold on in La, Yes, exactly La. 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:54.040 If you see the original deeds in La. I remember 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.200 going to this place and they say it'll say no, 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:03.080 it's word no Latin. Yeah, because it's literally if you 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.440 look at the history of somebody, it's explicit on there. 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.280 You know what I'm talking A And I was like, wait, 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:11.400 you could be living in a house and you look 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.120 at the depending on how far back the house goes, 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:16.840 it actually says it. I think it's crazy. But she 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:18.640 was a millionaire during that time in real. 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:23.480 Estate and so and then my aunt, so my mom's sister, 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.000 I had her own real estate brokerage firm, and I 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.320 so I entrepreneurship. 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:32.240 That was and I haven't feel you also got to 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.720 see like successful black people right in your family. 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.200 I got to see I got to see successful black people. 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:40.920 I got to see people hustle. That's what I got 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:44.920 to see. Genuine commitment to the work, Wow, you know 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.480 what I mean calling the work because it's a lot 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.720 of work, and I think people forget that, Yes, we 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.440 are broke, but everyone, particularly if you're a person of color, 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:57.440 you're typically not coming from generations of. 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:58.840 Life, generational wealth. 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:01.440 Typically you're not come from that. So even if your 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.280 mama did okay, or your parents did okay, or your 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:07.920 grandparents did okay, it's not like comparable right here. So 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.640 you still have to put in work. Yeah, and so 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.480 seeing people growing up around people who put in work. 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:16.960 You saw them like blood, sweat and tears. Did you 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.120 see them ever cry or go through the emotions of it. 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:20.200 I saw them get mad. 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:21.080 Yeah, I get mad. 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:23.920 So imagine, so we're talking of real estate, and there 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.400 was a lot of research that came out about this, 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:30.520 calling like a lot of research. Yeah, when in two 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.160 thousand and eight, when the real estate crash has black wealth, 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:36.880 white got wiped out. Imagine just like a thirty foot 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.439 wave just wiping out black wealth. I didn't know that 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.160 it was a huge impact to black wealth, including to 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.199 my family because we owned a lot of real estate. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.080 And so there's that sort of there's that trickle down effect. 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:50.760 People lose their jobs, they're not paying their rent. That's 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:54.080 fine if one isn't paying their yeah, but if everybody 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.840 stops paying their rent, how are you paying the mortgage? 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.959 Now you're covering multiple people media and how long can 0:08:59.960 --> 0:09:02.640 you keep doing that? And then you start to offload 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:04.880 and offload. Next thing, all of the assets that you 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:08.880 had looked very different than they did before the crash. Wow. Yeah. 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.720 So anyway, so they went through that and you got 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.600 to watched it. Geez, how old were you at the time. 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.200 That's a good question. I don't know, because time is 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:19.040 a blur since COVID, I can't tell. 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:21.120 Yeah, but you were probably like in your twenties. 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:23.440 I would say two thousand and eight. Were you gonna 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:27.119 date me? Okay, date two thousand and I was young. 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:29.360 Yeah, because I know in two thousand and nine, I 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:32.360 remember I had just moved to La I was like eighteen, 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:36.480 nineteen twenty, and I remember watching I remember not knowing 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:40.760 anything about finance, but I remember going, something is very 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.640 wrong with this picture of what's happening in real estate. 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:45.880 I remember thinking that I worked for country Wide Home 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.000 Loans and people were literally lying and saying. All we 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:52.080 had to do is say, hey, do you work such 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:53.800 and such, did they make one hundred thousand a year? 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.599 And if someone said yes, we'd hang up approved it 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:00.280 long and the drama that happened around countrywide was really 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.439 oh yeah, but it was people like me that kind 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:04.960 of But then I had a company and I remember 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.959 another loan officer in the company, and they were giving 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:11.080 people that were like super poor half million dollar homes 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.120 interest only loans, which was another lesson. I was like, Ooh, 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.920 this is bad, not knowing anything bad against it or whatever, 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.400 but I remember going, this is a bad situation. And 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:22.400 then I would see when it flipped. I would see 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.200 families coming in crying because they're losing their homes, and 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.720 I was like, I knew this was going to happen. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.160 It was a recipe for it was for devastation, right. 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.520 Yes, when I was young, I didn't know what you 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:36.920 could do with that. If I had the education, if 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.600 I only had the education, I would know you could 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:41.520 do something with the information. But there were people that 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:42.359 bet against. 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:46.000 The house and made a killing. Yeah, made a killing 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.600 off of the backs of these folks who had no clue. 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.319 Had no clue, And a lot of people that were 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.520 in the industry made a lot of money, ripping off. 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.440 People, ripping people off lifting, right, And that's we don't 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.199 have to go there too much calling education right. 0:10:59.480 --> 0:10:59.920 Education. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:05.959 Oh, if we're talking about ancestors and my grandfather, what 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:08.840 was I thirteen when he passed, But again we're not 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.720 talking about how old I am now, but when that happened, 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:13.520 and when I was thirteen, he told me the one 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:15.480 thing you always want to get at your education. No 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:20.000 one can take that from you. And so much of 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.920 what robs us as entrepreneurs because remember starting a VC firm, 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.600 I'm an entrepreneur, raised millions and millions of dollars to 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.440 get people to and trust me to write checks under 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:35.400 early stage founders. Same thing entrepreneurship. But you have to 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:38.040 have education. You have to even know this industry exists. Yeah, 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:39.920 and then once you get here, you have to know 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:40.840 how to navigate it. 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:41.679 Yeah. 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.360 That takes access to him to information. Yeah. 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:47.680 Yeah, So not only do you have to believe in yourself, 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.360 but the Okay, so let's go back your mom. Let's 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.960 talk about your mom for a second. Two parent household, 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.920 one parent household. It sounds like you had a really great, 0:11:56.200 --> 0:12:00.800 robust entrepreneur relatives. Well, let's just do a little of 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.439 your your growing up household, growing. 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:07.640 Up house, just a snapshot, snapshot. Mom and dad didn't 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.800 make it as a couple. My mom and her, I 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:16.559 don't know what's a before high school sweetheart, neighborhood sweetheart. 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.440 He had always wanted to marry her, and so they 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.640 got together when I was two, and that's today my stepdad, who's. 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:28.760 Oh wow, Yeah, so middle class, upper middle. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.880 I would say, started middle class, but then they hustled, 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.120 so we got better, it got better. They started out 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:39.559 of Compton. Wow, they started. I don't know how far 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:41.480 that is from where we are where the studio. 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.360 Right, like an hour. But your whole family's. 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.319 L native, my mom's gin but my grandparents are all 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.920 from Texas. So they all moved from Texas here and 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.560 so we still like own property in Texas and still 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:55.040 have a connection to Texas. 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:57.440 Wow. Now, education was in still pretty early that it 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:02.640 was important, very important. So throughout your academia it was 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.640 it like straight a student BC. Okay, yes, Now did a. 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:09.760 School international baccalaureate. Yes, that was always required. 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.599 And were you I'm just curious, were you one of 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:15.560 those people that had to study, study, and like work 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.319 really hard at education or did it come naturally easier? 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.640 Because I do believe some people are question or natural. 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:25.439 Love that question, I'd say both. I was more introverted. 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.240 I wanted to sit with my books and journal and 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.760 write and learn. So that's what I did for sure. 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:32.280 But I still also put in the work. So I 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.440 was with both that was natural and I was just 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.480 and I was also naturally inclined to do it. And 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.680 so like my husband, for example, who's brilliant Harvard Business School, 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.000 runs a peek of private equity firm, a billion dollar 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.920 private ecuy firm here in LA, he didn't work hard. 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.880 He was just really smart, oh okay, and just got 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.280 straight a's because he was just right. 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:56.320 But that is because there were some people that, like 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.240 I have an older brother, and like he would get 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:02.440 one hundred a plus or on anything find math related. 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.800 And I was like, oh, he's just like naturally gifted. 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.120 And I'm always curious with someone of your status, did 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.439 you have to work? Because not all like they used 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:12.400 to say. I don't know if you've ever heard this, 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.280 but A and B students typically work for C students. 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.839 Have you ever heard that? Yes? 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:19.440 So interesting, Now. 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.200 Don't quote me on that okay, I'm a college dropout. Okay, 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:25.040 but they would say that to say it. Sometimes entrepreneurs 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:28.000 they definitely color outside the lines, right, and A and 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.760 B student they follow the rules a little bit better, 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.600 so they say an A student is almost better and 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:35.560 obviously not in. 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.520 Your okay, okay, okay, okay, because the A and B 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.360 students they're taught, they're raised to follow the rules. So 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:43.400 you get a's and b's if you follow the rules. 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.040 You do not get a's and b's if you do 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:45.760 not listen. 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:47.480 To Yeah, if you color outside the lines and you 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.560 do it your own way, typically you would be more 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.000 I would think that a lot of entrepreneurs are definitely 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.200 more in the C length. Now you're a triple threat 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.320 or you're unique in the sense that you're you're an 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.240 A student, but you're also running a venture capital firm. 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.960 You're also a founder, you're a creator, but you also 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:07.840 come from a line of entrepreneurs, so you're exposed to 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:09.840 a lot that's crazy, right. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.440 Maybe, Yeah, I love the way you see it. I 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.000 love that. Yeah, yeah, I thought of it that way, 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:16.760 But I love the way you say it, like your 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:18.000 perspective on this is fire. 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:22.920 Oh thanks all right, So education is a staple. Hard work, 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.640 it's a staple when you were little. Again, I'm just 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:30.720 gonna go back because I'm curious. Was discipline like rooted early, Hey, 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:32.480 you're gonna sit here and you're gonna do this homework 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:34.480 before you get up and play or was it just 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.360 naturally you were like I'm gonna do my homework, and 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:39.440 my daughter's just like that. Which one first? 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:41.680 Yeah, Like I just wanted to go sit down and 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.400 do my homework and read and write and read. Oh 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:45.200 I loved it. 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.920 Oh yeah, that means there's no hope for Mike now. 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:49.800 And then I have but remember, so then you have 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.040 the people like my husband Mark, who I'm giving a 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:53.600 shout out to, so I love him so much, So 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:57.600 he is totally different. He was just naturally talented. So 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.240 I was naturally talented and also love to do the work. 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.840 But then you have those who are naturally talented and 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:06.360 don't necessarily want to spend five hours reading books and 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:09.400 doing your husband. Yeah, I mean there's and there should 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.920 be a place on this planet or every style to thrive, 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:13.840 and I believe there is. 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.520 Yeah, yeah, and they all can work together. 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.360 It's like you need the ecosystem. If everyone's like me, 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:20.480 the whole thing falls apart. 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.120 But do you get a little bit jealous of This 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:25.720 is just a sidebar, but do you get jealousy? If 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:27.520 I was around your husband and he could read a 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.240 book fully understand it within two seconds and I'm sitting 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.400 there like reading your does it get a little bit 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:35.720 frustrating or a little bit of jealousy? 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.680 Oh whatever, it's a superpower. So I just think it's 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.120 and that's why he always told joke and say, you're 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.640 married a winner. So it's like it's his superpower. Yeah. 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:49.000 So I think especially entrepreneurs where you invest your time. 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:51.000 We're not going to go here, but you invest your 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:53.000 so much time with your partner so ever that is 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.360 you want them to be a winner. You tell all 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.960 of that. So, yes, that was what drew me to him. 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.880 Like he's such he just all always like one. It's 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:03.560 just such a you know, like just but I like 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:06.280 his cockiness too. Yeah, he's pretty confident. 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.040 I like that. I like that you guys are I 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.080 love that you guys sound like a really fun paer 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.120 to be around too. Might be it sounds like it 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.280 and a lot of food. Okay, so you go through food, 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:20.960 You go to school, you leave high school. What's the 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:22.720 first step you want to go to school for? 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:25.879 Okay, you we're going after high school? 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:27.200 Yeah, okay, graduating school? 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.520 Okay, So then I studied finance, so business? 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.720 Wait all right in high school, when did you just 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:33.960 discovering that you wanted to get into finance? 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.080 I didn't. I didn't discover I wanted to get into finance. 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.439 Okay, what did you want to go to school for? 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:45.600 Initially theology? Theology? Oh, like like church. 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:51.600 Theology is actually, ironically sorry, ironically theology is not church 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:55.119 at all. It's understanding the belief systems of the planet 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.640 across the world. So you understand what do Buddhists think? 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.439 What do you? Oh, that lasted for lesson a semester? 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:02.400 People everybody else? 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:04.520 But what made you want to do that? Because of 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:05.160 your grandfather? 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:06.320 Probably my grandfather. 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.399 He was a minister, an incredible entrepreneur and understood the 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:12.480 power of community. And so also like the economic there's 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:16.280 an economic component to community thriving. If there's not enough 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:19.639 money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.280 I mean by fellows, they don't have money to pay 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.440 for food, they cannot feed their kids. They cannot feed. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:27.720 They do not have homes, they cannot Communities don't work 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:30.920 unless there's money flowing through them. Okay, and you need 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:32.560