Speaker 1: Aba fam, Welcome to another episode of Brown Ambition. I
Speaker 1: am your host, Mandy Woodrif Santos and whoo it has
Speaker 1: been It has been a week, ba fam. I am
Speaker 1: still recovering from afro Tech. I don't know if I
Speaker 1: had told y'all, but I was invited to attend by
Speaker 1: Blavity CEO and multi Brown Ambition host. I think she's
Speaker 1: been on the show two times at least Morgan Debon
Speaker 1: and I had been invited by her last year, but
Speaker 1: a lot was going on. I just had a baby,
Speaker 1: and then of course there was a bunch of you know,
Speaker 1: I was back and forth to Atlanta, traveling for some
Speaker 1: family stuff. It just wasn't a good time. Last year
Speaker 1: it was in Austin. But when I got the invite
Speaker 1: this year, something just said, you better get yourself in
Speaker 1: that room. I had not been to afro Tech, which
Speaker 1: is alarming to me. I think I might have gone
Speaker 1: to one of the smaller offshoot conferences, more local or
Speaker 1: regional ones that they have hosted over the years. But
Speaker 1: for those who are not in the know, afro Tech, God,
Speaker 1: how do you describe it? We're talking about a professional
Speaker 1: It is where black professionals get their damn life and
Speaker 1: come together with a mix of entrepreneurs, CEOs, business founders,
Speaker 1: business leaders, job seekers, students, more experienced professionals who are
Speaker 1: looking for new opportunities, or simply want to be in
Speaker 1: a community that feels like safe, that feels like us,
Speaker 1: that feels like in the backdrop of the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four election that we just went through, y'all, I can't
Speaker 1: think of a better place to have landed just a
Speaker 1: week later than in the smack in the middle of
Speaker 1: thirty five thousand, yes, thirty five. I did not even
Speaker 1: know the scope of this thing, y'all. Thirty five thousand
Speaker 1: people descended upon Houston, Texas for Afrotech. I have never
Speaker 1: been to something that big in my entire life as
Speaker 1: far as like a conference goes. I mean, the scale
Speaker 1: of it, I just could not. I mean I just
Speaker 1: would turn the corner and I'd be like, wow, that
Speaker 1: is amazing. Wow. Look how the stage design. Look at
Speaker 1: the presentation, Look at the MC's, Look at how they
Speaker 1: have you know, even small details like the yard, I
Speaker 1: mean not a small detail, but Howard University, y'all, they
Speaker 1: did the damn thing. They had something in the front
Speaker 1: called the yard. Which was it was. They'd be out
Speaker 1: there at like eight thirty am, bumping, having the DJ
Speaker 1: going and the food trucks, and you would be you'd
Speaker 1: be at a conference talking to people about professional goals,
Speaker 1: and you could walk outside and do the damn Cuba
Speaker 1: shuffle and go back inside and get right back to business.
Speaker 1: And that is how we do. I cannot think of
Speaker 1: a more incredible space to be in as a black professional.
Speaker 1: And I when did I spend I spent maybe three Yeah,
Speaker 1: I spent three days at Afrotech. I actually missed some
Speaker 1: of the most exciting parts. At the end, they had
Speaker 1: the they had the Black Party, which is like their
Speaker 1: big celebration. At the end, there were, you know, some
Speaker 1: some celebrations that I had to miss, and I did
Speaker 1: it for a good reason though. I had to come
Speaker 1: back to New York to see my little brother. He
Speaker 1: has a short film that premiered at the Urban World
Speaker 1: Urban World Film Festival here in New York City, and
Speaker 1: I was so proud of him. And honestly, if y'all
Speaker 1: haven't attended a film festival in your town, they are
Speaker 1: all over the country. So if you live near a
Speaker 1: major city, chances are there is a film festival in
Speaker 1: that city or nearby. I really encourage you to go
Speaker 1: because there is amazing art that is being created by
Speaker 1: whether it's budding filmmakers or veteran filmmakers, but there are
Speaker 1: some really incredible stories out there that won't get a
Speaker 1: chance to be seen unless you go to these festivals.
Speaker 1: And it was maybe my second or third festival that
Speaker 1: I've ever gone to, which is kind of embarrassing because
Speaker 1: I live in the film capital of America kind of
Speaker 1: right apart from la and maybe Atlanta, I don't know,
Speaker 1: but it was really extraordinary. And then I logged on
Speaker 1: to like Instagram yesterday and Morgan from Blavity in Afro
Speaker 1: Tech she was posting, and I mean, I gotta give
Speaker 1: it up to Morgan. I can't believe how poised she was.
Speaker 1: I mean she was everywhere. She was introducing the whole conference,
Speaker 1: kicking it off, she was on multiple stages a day,
Speaker 1: she was working the crowd, she was in lord No,
Speaker 1: she was working behind the scenes with partners and making
Speaker 1: sure everybody was having a great time in her team.
Speaker 1: My god, at Blavity, I mean black excellence, black f
Speaker 1: and excellence. But I saw that there was like a
Speaker 1: bunch of like hot takes on social media about whether
Speaker 1: or not afro Tech is worth it. Some people were
Speaker 1: saying that it was too expensive and calling out a
Speaker 1: price of eight hundred dollars for the conference pass. And
Speaker 1: like any conference, there are multiple levels of access, right,
Speaker 1: there's a student pass, there's I had an executive pass,
Speaker 1: which is like for more I think more senior professionals.
Speaker 1: And there was a corporate sponsor pass, and forget some
Speaker 1: other ones general pass, And yeah, they come at different
Speaker 1: price points. But let's say you had spent eight hundred
Speaker 1: dollars on that conference, as long as you came with
Speaker 1: a plan and a purpose for being there, as long
Speaker 1: as you maybe went to i don't know, ten percent
Speaker 1: of the gajillion different incredible sessions that they had, as
Speaker 1: long as you hung out there for I don't know,
Speaker 1: three to four hours a day, even though they had
Speaker 1: programming from like eight am until five pm and then
Speaker 1: additional events in the evening. Even if you did that,
Speaker 1: I think you would get your money back. You would
Speaker 1: find the value there. And that is a fraction. Not
Speaker 1: only is that a fraction of what I've seen some
Speaker 1: in person massive conferences cost, but it's a fraction of
Speaker 1: like what some online professional development courses can cost, right like.
Speaker 1: And this is in community, in person with real people.
Speaker 1: And I went through this expohole, y'all, and I couldn't
Speaker 1: the scale of it, the scale of it. There were
Speaker 1: the hugest brands, I mean, American Express LinkedIn. There was
Speaker 1: a whole damn TwixT integration because Mars Wrigley was a
Speaker 1: sponsor and the CEO was there. Who knew Mars Wrigley's
Speaker 1: CEO was black?
Speaker 2: I didn't.
Speaker 1: Who knew the CEO of the Honest Company was black?
Speaker 1: I didn't Afro Latina. And not only that, but I
Speaker 1: got to go to a dinner right and sit right
Speaker 1: next to the CEO of Honest Company. And that's the
Speaker 1: kind of magic that can happen at afro Tech. And Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm one hundred percent. I'm sold. I am so grateful
Speaker 1: to attend. I will be back unless something crazy happens.
Speaker 1: I'm going back in twenty twenty five. It's going to
Speaker 1: be in Houston again. And in fact, Houston made November
Speaker 1: what is it November sixteenth, which was the last day
Speaker 1: of the conference, they declared it afro Tech Day. Let's
Speaker 1: go go Morgan like that is so amazing. So I'm
Speaker 1: just in awe. It was a wonderful experience. I'm not
Speaker 1: even like probably the target exact target audience for afro
Speaker 1: tech because I'm not a prof I'm not a professional
Speaker 1: who's like working their way up at these at tech corporations.
Speaker 1: But I still got huge value out of it because
Speaker 1: I am a professional. I'm a working black woman in
Speaker 1: the world, and it's just magical to be in community
Speaker 1: with other people who are just wanting more for themselves
Speaker 1: and wanting to connect and wanting to learn. And i
Speaker 1: mean just the level of spongery. I'm saying spongery not
Speaker 1: ain't a word, but the level of openness to learning
Speaker 1: new things and feeling like you are getting you know,
Speaker 1: you're at the forefront of some really essential information for
Speaker 1: your career. I mean, it was just incredible. So listen,
Speaker 1: I will ride for Morgan and Blavity any damn time.
Speaker 1: So everyone on the internet who's saying it's too expensive
Speaker 1: or it's just for people who want to go there
Speaker 1: and meet a husband, which is so sexist coded like
Speaker 1: so so sexist, so misogynistic, because you know what, like,
Speaker 1: if you're a dude, I would say, you probably have.
Speaker 3: Better odds finding a WiFi at afro Tech and probably
Speaker 3: got more potential for that too, because, like all things,
Speaker 3: black women were there front and center. So I think
Speaker 3: that's just all bullshit. I think if you went with
Speaker 3: a purpose, a plan, and you were someone who was
Speaker 3: going to push yourself outside your comfort zone and not
Speaker 3: let things like, yes, we are a lot of us
Speaker 3: are introverts. Yes, a lot of us struggle in huge,
Speaker 3: over stimulating environments. And if there's one thing afro Tech is,
Speaker 3: it is a loud, proud, in your face convention. They
Speaker 3: have so much to get in front of you, like
Speaker 3: they have it's music, it's of course, it's speakers and lights,
Speaker 3: and it's massive, and you're walking from oh you're walking
Speaker 3: miles and you're not even leaving the building, right, So.
Speaker 1: It's very stimulating. And yes, I too struggle with that,
Speaker 1: and I too would have to go recharge myself and
Speaker 1: get back out there. But it is like some experiences
Speaker 1: are not worth that. Like I don't know every birthday
Speaker 1: party for four year olds that I have had to
Speaker 1: attend in the last year that have overstimulated me to
Speaker 1: within an inch of my life, I wouldn't say that
Speaker 1: those were necessarily worth my own happiness, the worth it
Speaker 1: for me. But afro Tech, that is worth pushing yourself,
Speaker 1: putting yourself past your own boundaries and like pushing yourself
Speaker 1: through your comfort zone to really take full advantage of it.
Speaker 1: So that is what I have to say about afro Tech.
Speaker 1: Now about today's episode. Today, we got some company in
Speaker 1: the studio, Brown Ambition, and I don't even really know
Speaker 1: how it all happened, but it happened, and I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna I'm not gonna question it. I'm just gonna say
Speaker 1: that I got to interview the one and only Matthew Knowles, Yes,
Speaker 1: Beyonce's dad. I don't know what else to say it.
Speaker 2: Matthew.
Speaker 1: Of course he is so much more than that. But
Speaker 1: Matthew Noles, oh my goodness, is the guest on Brown
Speaker 1: Ambition today. Matthew Knowles. What can I say about him?
Speaker 1: He's a visionary, an entrepreneur, he's a renowned music executive,
Speaker 1: he's an author. He advocates for education and for empowerment,
Speaker 1: and you're going to hear today how he is advocating
Speaker 1: for us to understand our bodies in an even more
Speaker 1: holistic way. So that we can get in front of
Speaker 1: potentially harmful diseases that maybe in our DNA. Yes, Matthew
Speaker 1: Knowles is an ambassador for twenty three and meters and
Speaker 1: you'll hear today on the show how that was born
Speaker 1: out of his own experience of being diagnosed as a
Speaker 1: rare case of a male with breast cancer. So he
Speaker 1: has taken that experience and I feel like it is
Speaker 1: just the nole's way right to take your experience, turn
Speaker 1: around and say how can I save some lives? How
Speaker 1: can I use my experience to improve the health outcomes
Speaker 1: for others? So that's what he's here to talk about now.
Speaker 1: Of course y'all know him as the founder of some
Speaker 1: of the biggest acts and music like Destiny's Child and
Speaker 1: of course Beyonce, and he has a wealth of experience
Speaker 1: and insights to share. You may not know it, but
Speaker 1: he's actually a professor in the UK. He has also
Speaker 1: taught in the US, so he is not to be
Speaker 1: played with, Okay. So I talked to Matthew about everything
Speaker 1: from the work he's doing with twenty three and Me
Speaker 1: to his early days as an entrepreneur, to the types
Speaker 1: of content, the types of lessons that he focuses on
Speaker 1: teaching as an educator, we have us a good old time,
Speaker 1: and you know what, as an interviewer, I've learned a
Speaker 1: lesson too through this conversation. You'll hear and I actually
Speaker 1: kept this in the show. You'll hear at a certain
Speaker 1: point where some of my questions. Even though I'm having
Speaker 1: a great time, I feel like we're getting along. I
Speaker 1: usually keep things pretty casual, but Matthew has a boundary
Speaker 1: and he's kind of like, here's my boundary, and let's
Speaker 1: just pick a different track. And I was like, let
Speaker 1: me keep that in the show because it's just real.
Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, as an interviewer,
Speaker 1: I'm really trying to play the role of the audience.
Speaker 1: So I hope that I hope that y'all enjoy the interview.
Speaker 1: I hope that you get a lot out of it.
Speaker 1: I hope, honestly you get to know Matthew like I did,
Speaker 1: as much more than the father of one of the
Speaker 1: greatest artists in history, and get to really appreciate his work.
Speaker 1: Oh and just stay tuned for the part where he
Speaker 1: he shows us a little bit of his music talents
Speaker 1: and talks about how he has a writing credit on
Speaker 1: one of my absolute favorite Destney's Child songs. All Right,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take a quick break and be right back
Speaker 1: with my interview with Matthew Knowles. All Right, Hey, be
Speaker 1: a fam we have some very special company in the
Speaker 1: studio today. That's what I say when we have a guest.
Speaker 1: I don't say guests, I say company. I am from
Speaker 1: the South, I'm from Georgia. I'll know when we have company.
Speaker 1: We take the plastic off the sofa, we get the
Speaker 1: good plates down, and we say hello and welcome to
Speaker 1: our guest today. And hey, you can hardly even believe it,
Speaker 1: but mister Matthew Knowles, welcome to Brown Ambition.
Speaker 2: Hey, I'm mag Mandy. You're from Georgia. From Alabama. Well,
Speaker 2: from the South we are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you call us? I mean, now you're
Speaker 1: in Where are you at? Now?
Speaker 2: Are you in La Orange County, California? You know my
Speaker 2: wife and I we we live in Houston part time.
Speaker 2: We live here part time. We live in London part time.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Okay, what are we doing this? Seasonally? Is
Speaker 1: there a certain season? Do you leave Houston in the summer?
Speaker 1: Because that heat I hear is intense.
Speaker 2: It's not seasonal. It's it's more holiday fest of time. London.
Speaker 2: I teach every quarter at the in College of Contemporary Music,
Speaker 2: so that song calendar four times a year, and then
Speaker 2: you know, most of the times. I've done twenty four
Speaker 2: speaking events this year, twenty four around the world, so
Speaker 2: we live a lot on the AirPrint planes as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean, I am excited because I feel
Speaker 1: as if, well, I haven't I should just start by saying,
Speaker 1: it's been a hell of a week, right, Honestly, I
Speaker 1: am in this season where when I sit across from
Speaker 1: someone who I know is an incredible parent or at
Speaker 1: least has more experience than I do, the first thing
Speaker 1: I want to do is just say, you got any
Speaker 1: advice for me? I have a four almost a five
Speaker 1: year old he turns five this year, and I have
Speaker 1: a one year old, and I mean, this is a
Speaker 1: very intense week, and I'm just wondering, like, as a dad,
Speaker 1: have there like what advice do you have for parents
Speaker 1: who are trying to figure out sort of like how
Speaker 1: to keep the vibe hopeful and you know, hopeful and
Speaker 1: forward looking during a crazy time like this.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm I'm older than probably most of your audience.
Speaker 2: So I've seen this before. I've seen it probably three
Speaker 2: or four times in my lifetime. This too shall pass,
Speaker 2: and it just prepares us. You know, whenever there's challenges
Speaker 2: in our life or failure or mistakes, I view those
Speaker 2: Mandia's opportunities, opportunities to grow, opportunities to get better, opportunities
Speaker 2: to learn from the mistakes, also known as not going
Speaker 2: to vote no. So so you know, it's an opportunity
Speaker 2: for us. And I think we keep hope alive and
Speaker 2: hopeful with our kids. Our parenting skills were always find
Speaker 2: out what they are passionate for and with and and
Speaker 2: surround them with all the support. When I found out
Speaker 2: Beyonce Slane wanted to get at a young age and entertainment,
Speaker 2: and we got a vocal coach, we got the tools
Speaker 2: that they needed. So it's always about being hopeful with
Speaker 2: our kids. I don't think we give them the do
Speaker 2: them and glow them. I don't think in parenting kids
Speaker 2: needs need to know everything.
Speaker 1: Mmm not. They don't need to know everything. Just enough,
Speaker 1: I mean just just enough, just enough to get through.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: I did see that you you had joined Beyonce in
Speaker 1: Houston to support Kamala Harris's campaign. Is that right? I
Speaker 1: think I saw a photo. Yes, Yes, what was that experience? Like?
Speaker 2: It was amazing experience, amazing energy. The venue that it
Speaker 2: was in was literally seven blocks from where my wife
Speaker 2: and I lived. We had only been there once, but
Speaker 2: it was set up for soccer, and I had never
Speaker 2: I didn't even understand that thirty thousand people could get
Speaker 2: in this venue. And so it was so much energy
Speaker 2: and so much security, security that I had never seen before,
Speaker 2: scary security. So it was it was an interesting night.
Speaker 2: I didn't found out until later that there had been
Speaker 2: a bomb threat and that's why I was delayed. Uh
Speaker 2: So it was it was deleted somewhat couple of hours.
Speaker 2: So it was a long night.
Speaker 1: Oh man, Oh I didn't. I hadn't heard that. Well
Speaker 1: for you, I mean, I know you recently you have
Speaker 1: been doing some speaking engagements and have been sharing I mean, obviously,
Speaker 1: you developed, you produced, you managed one of the most
Speaker 1: iconic groups in his story of music and one that
Speaker 1: means so much to me as a little girl growing
Speaker 1: up in the nineties and early two thousands. But the
Speaker 1: business behind that, I know you've been talking a bit
Speaker 1: about the branding of you know, a group like Destiny's
Speaker 1: Child and then to Beyonce, And I saw this graphic
Speaker 1: where there are all these different, you know, elements of
Speaker 1: building the brand of Beyonce and Destiny's Child from like
Speaker 1: marketing and worldwide engagement and global engagement. Did politics ever
Speaker 1: come up? I you know, seeing Beyonce now sort of
Speaker 1: take the stage with with Kelly and support Harris for you, like,
Speaker 1: is that something that you would encourage as a manager
Speaker 1: for someone who's maybe not necessarily seen to be in that,
Speaker 1: you know, On the political side of things.
Speaker 2: Well, politics is in business, Mandy, not the politics of government,
Speaker 2: but the politics of relationships and how decisions are made
Speaker 2: certainly follow the same concept. There are politics in business
Speaker 2: that you have to build those proper relationships with. That's
Speaker 2: why it becomes very important relationship building. So there is
Speaker 2: a similarity there. No, I don't get that involved today
Speaker 2: in the governmental politics. I did when I was younger,
Speaker 2: much younger in Alabama and demonstrating and desegregating. I never
Speaker 2: went to a black school, Mandy, and I'm seventy two
Speaker 2: years old until I was a junior in college. So
Speaker 2: my mother went to high school in Cretit King and Marion, Alabama,
Speaker 2: and when she moved to Gaston, Alabama. My mom she
Speaker 2: was ferocious in the movement, and so I integrated elementary, Junior, High,
Speaker 2: High School, University of Tennessee at Chattanoogood. So from the
Speaker 2: that regard guards, I was speaking last night to a
Speaker 2: group of young people. You know, I've been beaten, spit on,
Speaker 2: electric prodded, all the things that young people today have
Speaker 2: no clue of what a colored and white water fountain
Speaker 2: looks like, or bathroom that we had to go to.
Speaker 2: And really, because of that, because the lack of history,
Speaker 2: don't have the appreciation of how important it is to vote.
Speaker 1: And what the stakes are. You know. One of the
Speaker 1: things that I was grappling with what to say to
Speaker 1: the Brown Ambition audience as toally, I ended up coming
Speaker 1: on at like four in the morning and basically saying
Speaker 1: what was on my heart. But one of the things
Speaker 1: I thought about was how my generation was given this
Speaker 1: impression that your generation, the ones who came before, is
Speaker 1: the Mlks, John Lewis is the Shirley Chisholms, that they
Speaker 1: had done so much fighting and that they had one period,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think what we're in now, and
Speaker 1: I mean, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this too,
Speaker 1: but it sounds like this unlearning of the fact that
Speaker 1: this is not We can't take it for granted. It's
Speaker 1: not done. The fight is so not done. In fact,
Speaker 1: it maybe starting, you know, from further behind in many
Speaker 1: ways and like where we thought it was, and that
Speaker 1: has rocked some people's worlds and terrified them in a
Speaker 1: way that doesn't seem to be terrifying you, because of
Speaker 1: course you seem to have experienced, you know, that level
Speaker 1: of social unrest and unjust and where things aren't fair,
Speaker 1: things don't work out for the home team all the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, life is not fair in my opinion, So I
Speaker 2: seldom used that word was it fair or not? Was
Speaker 2: it injustice? You know, I used those type of of
Speaker 2: of scenarios. But you know, so I just think that also,
Speaker 2: we've made a lot of progress as black people, and
Speaker 2: we can never forget that. And I think sometimes we
Speaker 2: forget just the population of America. We are only thirty
Speaker 2: eight million people. There's two hundred million white people, and
Speaker 2: to have done all the things we've done with such
Speaker 2: small numbers is absolutely amazing. And I think we lose
Speaker 2: sight on that. Sometimes we lose sight on what a
Speaker 2: small number of people have accomplished with a majority number
Speaker 2: of people. And so I have hope. I help hope
Speaker 2: in your generation. This election showed us a lot of
Speaker 2: data one being educated versus those that aren't educated, and
Speaker 2: how the thought process. You know, you can easily fool
Speaker 2: someone who's not knowledgeable. If you don't understand how a
Speaker 2: car operates, then you can tell mechanic can tell you anything,
Speaker 2: and you'll buy into it that you need a new radiator, okay,
Speaker 2: you need a new battery, okay, because you're not knowledgeable.
Speaker 2: And that's what happens. Is why I really press about knowledge.
Speaker 2: I use the word knowledge rather than education because knowledge
Speaker 2: is to me more important having the knowledge of something,
Speaker 2: because you have the Bolls smarts of something. I'm a
Speaker 2: college professor. I'm saying this doesn't necessarily give you to
Speaker 2: give you the knowledge that you need. That's where I
Speaker 2: would give hope, because we've come a long way, and
Speaker 2: I would want her to understand again why it is
Speaker 2: important to vote. Why is it is it important to
Speaker 2: build relationships? Why is it to understand different cultures, how
Speaker 2: they think, how they operate, it's important to understand that
Speaker 2: we're all different. Cultures are different, how they decision making
Speaker 2: is different, how they build relationships are different. Uh And,
Speaker 2: and people that are successful they understand that.
Speaker 1: Talk to me a little bit more. I'm just curious
Speaker 1: about that knowledge versus education.
Speaker 2: Uh And. And to give an example, if a professor
Speaker 2: taught entrepreneurship out of the textbook and had never been
Speaker 2: an entrepreneur, I take offense because he or she would
Speaker 2: not have the knowledge of what it means in the
Speaker 2: day to day of what an entrepre entrepreneur has to
Speaker 2: go through that's not in the book, the mental aspect
Speaker 2: of it, the importance of understanding the financial aspect of it,
Speaker 2: and what we as Blacks have to go through to
Speaker 2: run a business versus our counterparts. Because that's an example. Yes,
Speaker 2: you could get a take the course from someone who
Speaker 2: taught it that never has been an entrepreneur, and I
Speaker 2: guarantee you that course will be totally different from someone
Speaker 2: who's an entrepreneur that teaches the course. First of all,
Speaker 2: for me, I throw half of that stuff out the
Speaker 2: window because it's not applicable. It's just textbook filling up
Speaker 2: pages in a book that's never going to be used.
Speaker 1: What are the things that you were like, we're skipping
Speaker 1: that chapter.
Speaker 2: Because that's the knowledge I have. Yeah, I'm on call
Speaker 2: in what's very important going to move the needle for
Speaker 2: you as an entrepreneur?
Speaker 1: What is that I'm an entrepreneur?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I'm not going to get into teaching
Speaker 2: the class with you.
Speaker 1: No, I'm curious, but like no, no, I obviously absolutely
Speaker 1: let me know. I'll sign up. I'll go to London
Speaker 1: whatever school you're teaching getting get a proper course. But
Speaker 1: I'm just curious, like high level, I'm very curious to hear,
Speaker 1: like high level, what are the like tenants of entrepreneurship
Speaker 1: that you're like, this is the stuff that's going to
Speaker 1: separate your success from failures for me.
Speaker 2: For me, it's a simple as to who the what,
Speaker 2: the why, the where the who the what the why
Speaker 2: the where? Who's the customer? What is the product? Why
Speaker 2: should my customer buy it? And what is are the
Speaker 2: distribution channels? That's the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Now I can
Speaker 2: go into the different distribution and how that works. I
Speaker 2: can go into marketing and how that works, but basically
Speaker 2: it's those four elements and when you build out from
Speaker 2: the foundation. Uh. Then you hear some people say, what's
Speaker 2: the word that's used, systemic racism? I use the word
Speaker 2: structural racism. When you build a house, you first build
Speaker 2: a foundation, the structure of it. When you build a business,
Speaker 2: you first build a foundation, the structure of the business.
Speaker 2: Then you go into the systems. Then you go into
Speaker 2: putting in the light system, the heating system, the air
Speaker 2: conditioning systems, and a home. But you first build out
Speaker 2: the foundation of it. I keep like real that that
Speaker 2: has worked for me. I guess coming from Alabama, people
Speaker 2: keep things very simple. Uh. Sometimes we make it more
Speaker 2: difficult than it really is. And there's no need for
Speaker 2: that often.
Speaker 1: I mean, from what I'm hearing, it's for you. Have
Speaker 1: you defined your customer? Have you defined the need that
Speaker 1: they have? Do you know why they would need what
Speaker 1: you want? And do you know how to get it
Speaker 1: to them?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Am I? How am I doing?
Speaker 2: Who the who? The what the why? To where you
Speaker 2: got to a on that one? Mandy? Oh?
Speaker 1: Thank you? I mean you said that you wouldn't call
Speaker 1: it systemic racism, but structural racism. I mean, we can
Speaker 1: keep it Alabama simple, but tell me more about structural
Speaker 1: racism and it's its role in you know, the in
Speaker 1: the life for a young black entrepreneur, like the people
Speaker 1: who listen to our show who want to start their
Speaker 1: own businesses. Where do you see that potentially causing them issues?
Speaker 1: And then how to overcome that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think when I look at straight structural racism,
Speaker 2: it's four pillows to that basic pills. You know, one
Speaker 2: is education and knowledge because if you don't have the
Speaker 2: knowledge then and by the knowledge also allows you to
Speaker 2: get a good job or run a successful business, which
Speaker 2: then allows you to live in a certain neighborhood because
Speaker 2: if you lived in some neighborhoods, then you have I
Speaker 2: then dealt with uh, you know, liquor stores, grocery stores
Speaker 2: on every block, and the culture of that neighborhood. So
Speaker 2: for me, it all starts with knowledge and education which
Speaker 2: allows you to build out and how you live in
Speaker 2: the way that you live. That It's as simple as
Speaker 2: that for me. And because I'm older, you guys don't
Speaker 2: understand that during integration, the only people that really integrated
Speaker 2: were Black people. We integrate it, we allow other cultures
Speaker 2: into our neighborhood. When I grew up Mandy and maybe
Speaker 2: with your grandparents. We had black grocery stores, we had
Speaker 2: black gas stations, we had black nail salons, we we
Speaker 2: had black businesses in our neighborhood. And then we integrated.
Speaker 2: And then we moved out into the suburbs and left
Speaker 2: our core neighborhood behind. And now as we see those
Speaker 2: neighborhood and say, don't look the same. So I always
Speaker 2: think we were the ones who integrated.
Speaker 1: And something was potentially lost in those communities absolutely over
Speaker 1: the same time. Well, how.
Speaker 2: And then social media and then social media doesn't help
Speaker 2: us uh today because we get so much false information
Speaker 2: on social media. It's it's it's sad. It's very sad
Speaker 2: that our younger generation have to endure uh social media
Speaker 2: and and and some not understanding that what they're reading
Speaker 2: is not even truth and actually believing it. Uh. Social
Speaker 2: media has done a lot of damage in my my
Speaker 2: uh my thoughts.
Speaker 1: Do you think it's a necessary evil?
Speaker 2: I use social media for marketing. I just don't have
Speaker 2: a desire a concern to want to communicate with someone
Speaker 2: that I really or get angry or upset with someone's
Speaker 2: comment that I don't even know. For all I know,
Speaker 2: they could be a ten year old and here I
Speaker 2: am getting upset because I read something you know, and
Speaker 2: so I don't. I don't. LinkedIn is where I live
Speaker 2: on social media.
Speaker 1: Oh love a LinkedIn profile as.
Speaker 2: Because that's where business people live, There's where educated, knowledgeable
Speaker 2: people live, and that's where I live. I live on LinkedIn.
Speaker 2: Well as a company, we do other social medias, but
Speaker 2: I don't get involved.
Speaker 1: Well it helps to have that buffer, right, Yeah, So
Speaker 1: tell can you? Would you mind talking about the business now?
Speaker 1: I mean what is it? Because yeah, I, like you said,
Speaker 1: many people may not know that you are a professor
Speaker 1: and you're doing these speaking engagements. But what's your How
Speaker 1: has your business structure? Your business strategy is sort of
Speaker 1: changed over the last couple of decades.
Speaker 2: Well for me, and I say this with a lot
Speaker 2: of gratitude, you talked about building Destiny Child to the
Speaker 2: number one female group in the history of music, and
Speaker 2: Beyonce is a number one female are in it? Uh?
Speaker 2: And and in growing that business, you understand the music
Speaker 2: industry is about intellectual property building IP, and when you
Speaker 2: build IP, it allows you and perpetuity to help income.
Speaker 2: So fortunately, thirty five years later, when I look at
Speaker 2: my business. Three fourths of it is mailbox money, simply
Speaker 2: going to the mailbox every quarter, every semi annuals.
Speaker 1: That residuals. That's playing boot Delicious and it's like, correct, correct,
Speaker 1: Well you're welcome because all those Survivor plays yesterday for med.
Speaker 2: You have you ever looked at the liner notes? So
Speaker 2: who wrote Survivor?
Speaker 1: I mean maybe once upon a time, but you know
Speaker 1: what notes.
Speaker 2: You've got a computer, just google the writers of Survivor
Speaker 2: and tell you audience, It'll only take you thirty seconds
Speaker 2: to do that, because you're good on your computer.
Speaker 1: I'm so good, okay, Survivor. I'm like, who reads liner
Speaker 1: credits anymore? And you don't even have a physical album
Speaker 1: to look at now.
Speaker 2: People that movedone in England read line of credit. Japanese
Speaker 2: culture reads line of credits.
Speaker 1: Composed by Matthew Knows, Beyonce and Anthony Dent. Is that correct?
Speaker 2: That is correct?
Speaker 1: That's your whole like that's some that's your whole nest
Speaker 1: egg right there.
Speaker 2: Of blessed. I've written some number of songs in my career.
Speaker 1: Uh wait, wait, what lyric did you come up with?
Speaker 2: I came up with the melody more so than the lyrics,
Speaker 2: which quite frankly, that's actually me humming on the song
Speaker 2: and saying what are used to? What? What?
Speaker 1: M That's actually me really Okay, mister Knowle is a
Speaker 1: singer too.
Speaker 2: So I'm not a sound.
Speaker 1: You don't want to like, nothing, you want to like contribute? Okay.
Speaker 1: How many other songs are you secretly backing vocals on?
Speaker 2: Well, most people don't realize that. At music World Gospel,
Speaker 2: we built a number one gospel label in the world
Speaker 2: with Leandrew Johnson, Trinity five seven, Brian Courtney Wilson. So
Speaker 2: everybody's focus have always been on Destiny Shall and Beyonce
Speaker 2: and Solange and Kelly Michelle, but us, but quietly I've
Speaker 2: done more outside of that in the music industry, you know,
Speaker 2: building that number one. Had had a country label compadre
Speaker 2: for years, for almost fifteen years country label. At the
Speaker 2: opportunity with Music World Sanctuary record label to do Last
Speaker 2: Earth Wind and Fire Song with Maurice, I did see
Speaker 2: Sha Ka Khan and in London Symphony Cool and Nick Gang,
Speaker 2: last two Old Jay's records, Sunshine and his Soon. I
Speaker 2: can go on and on, but that stays on the
Speaker 2: radar and I'm good with that because I like being
Speaker 2: under the radar. It's a good thing sometimes being under
Speaker 2: the radar.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're known as the mastermind of like the
Speaker 1: number one girl group, like you said.
Speaker 2: But you have to understand that for twenty years I
Speaker 2: managed Beyonce. So why am I not known as the
Speaker 2: mastermind behind Beyonce?
Speaker 1: Is that something that you want to be known?
Speaker 2: No, it's just a question. If I'm the master mine
Speaker 2: of Destiny Shaw, wouldn't I be the mastermind of Beyonce.
Speaker 2: I didn't stop managing her to twenty twelve and she
Speaker 2: started in nineteen ninety two. That would be twenty years.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Would that when wouldn't I have architect her career just
Speaker 2: like that architect Destiny Shall career? Would that be a
Speaker 2: Beyonce if there was not a Destiny Shaw? Was that
Speaker 2: a strategy? I want you won't want to answer that question?
Speaker 1: Well, the Jackson five, Michael Jackson, there's so many examples
Speaker 1: of the group being the launch pad for the you know,
Speaker 1: an individual star to come out of the Supremes.
Speaker 2: You ever heard that girl group Supremes?
Speaker 1: Of course?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that boy.
Speaker 1: I was trying not to say justin Timberlake, I got
Speaker 1: stuck on that. I'm like, damn it, who want to
Speaker 1: say the size?
Speaker 2: Just there you go.
Speaker 1: Diana Ross was the Supremes And then I panicked because
Speaker 1: I couldn't think of the lead singer of the Supremes was,
Speaker 1: and I was like, damn it, I should know this
Speaker 1: as Diana Ross.
Speaker 2: Mister Knowles, you have such a great spirit. Mandy, Oh,
Speaker 2: thank you very much.
Speaker 1: I mean you are Beyonce's I mean like you were
Speaker 1: Beyonce's dad. I don't understand what that even must feel
Speaker 1: like for you. I mean, she is so huge now,
Speaker 1: but she's still a human, She's still your baby girl.
Speaker 2: Well that's what I really enjoy today because there was
Speaker 2: a time it was it was extremely difficult to manage
Speaker 2: your kids, and there was a time that I was
Speaker 2: more her manager than her dad. And now I'm one
Speaker 2: hundred percent her dad, and I love that.
Speaker 1: Make some good memories, Like it doesn't have to because
Speaker 1: I'm in New York now, so it's like I don't
Speaker 1: want to have to just fly down for the emergency.
Speaker 1: And the last memories I have of him are being
Speaker 1: really sick. And you know, what are you and Beyonce
Speaker 1: do if you're just like dad and Beyonce, What do
Speaker 1: you in so Lauge? What do you guys?
Speaker 2: Do you just hang out at the house? Nothing? Nothing,
Speaker 2: you know, elaborate, just simple things that normal people do,
Speaker 2: you know, just hang out and have fun and talk
Speaker 2: and laugh and eat.
Speaker 1: Do they ask you? Do you ask them to fix
Speaker 1: things on your phone? Like my dad does all the time?
Speaker 1: What are you like?
Speaker 2: I'm not why. I don't normally. I know my bones
Speaker 2: pretty much fixed by the time I get to them.
Speaker 1: Do you send them a lot of YouTube links about
Speaker 1: conspiracy theories?
Speaker 2: No, we text a lot. We text a lot. I
Speaker 2: don't send them any negativity. It's all positive stuff. I
Speaker 2: don't out that much about the industry. Just the other
Speaker 2: day Beyonce called me for my opinion on a business matter.
Speaker 2: But we don't do a lot of that. It's more
Speaker 2: just dad stuff. How are you health wise? I'm asking
Speaker 2: her and she's asking me, and how is life? We
Speaker 2: don't get into the business conversation hardly at all.
Speaker 1: How long did that transition take? Was it difficult? I
Speaker 1: imagine it might have been.
Speaker 2: Well, it always is difficult. But the wonderful thing is
Speaker 2: Beyonce never got another manager after me and I hope
Speaker 2: that is because I prepared her for the industry that
Speaker 2: she didn't need another manager. I hope that I prepared
Speaker 2: her to be fourth generation because I'm third generation entrepreneur,
Speaker 2: and I'm very proud of These are the things that
Speaker 2: consumers and fans and they don't really think through and
Speaker 2: understand it because most people would have gotten another manager.
Speaker 2: She did. She started a company. How about that?
Speaker 1: And do you think, oh, go ahead, No, I'm.
Speaker 2: Just so proud I am of that's good to see.
Speaker 1: How proud I mean. I don't even obviously I don't
Speaker 1: know her, but I have. I have been led to
Speaker 1: believe that you don't have like a lot of legitimacy
Speaker 1: until you have an agent or a manager in that
Speaker 1: And I mentioned to you, I do negotiation coaching. I
Speaker 1: just had a manager, I'm sorry, an agent and I
Speaker 1: and who hadn't been responding for days and days, and
Speaker 1: I'm doing the conversation, and I'm like, why do I
Speaker 1: think I need this? I don't. Actually, it's very empowering
Speaker 1: when you start to trust yourself to handle a conversation
Speaker 1: and trust in your own and so I feel like
Speaker 1: it's on doubt, it's on it's you know without doubt
Speaker 1: that the reason, you know, Beyonce was able to start
Speaker 1: her own company and move forward with that confidence was
Speaker 1: because at some point you must have instilled in her
Speaker 1: a lot of knowledge where she felt like, I got this.
Speaker 1: I have been to the mister Knowles School of Business
Speaker 1: and Entertainment business And how does that make you feel?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Well, I said, it's a beautiful, wonderful filling. And
Speaker 2: the same with Solange. I mean, so I just don't
Speaker 2: have a manager. She runs her own company. They grew
Speaker 2: up like I grew up. I grew up with parents
Speaker 2: that were entrepreneurs. You know, in the summers in Alabama,
Speaker 2: you go down to your grandparents, and my grandfather on
Speaker 2: three hundred acres of land and would lease out some
Speaker 2: of that land to the paper mill. And he was
Speaker 2: a farmer. Just to come Celtic. My grandfather with lis
Speaker 2: out one hundred acres of land, get paid for it,
Speaker 2: and then go behind them and farm. In other words,
Speaker 2: they paid him so that he could bar and then
Speaker 2: he was a regional moonshine distributor. Thus, Sir Davis, that's
Speaker 2: my grandfather.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, how how does that feel?
Speaker 2: So what I'm saying is is that we've all lived
Speaker 2: in an entrepreneurial environment. Third generation, myself, fourth generation. Now,
Speaker 2: my grandson Jules starts out a top model. He's done
Speaker 2: versace everybody. He runs his own business with his mom,
Speaker 2: and one day she would give him his wings and
Speaker 2: he'll flop out of the legacy of our film.
Speaker 1: I mean the generation. I won't be long before Blue
Speaker 1: Ivy has I mean, does she already have an LLC?
Speaker 1: I'd be surprised if not. She got song credits and
Speaker 1: Grammy's right, yeah, what Yeah, I got to ask you,
Speaker 1: as a granddaddy, like, what's it like? What's that relationship
Speaker 1: like with Blue and the little ones?
Speaker 2: People get that wrong. First of all, I'm a guy
Speaker 2: and guy, and when kids are two, three, four, most
Speaker 2: guys aren't as a grandparent, not not as a parent,
Speaker 2: but as a grandparent. With the girls, they don't have
Speaker 2: the same kind of relationship. With the boys. We throw
Speaker 2: them against the wall and throw throw balls and and
Speaker 2: and so it's it's a different relationship when they're young.
Speaker 2: I have a twenty year old grandson. People forget that
Speaker 2: I don't know their jewels. But then my other kids
Speaker 2: are twelve and younger, so who would I gravit take more.
Speaker 2: It would be the sweeny or old grandson. That's just normal.
Speaker 2: And if the other kids get older, then we have
Speaker 2: more to share together. It's only one of me, so
Speaker 2: I can't spread all of me and be a great
Speaker 2: husband and and you know, so I have to you know,
Speaker 2: you have to parcel out how much time you can't? No,
Speaker 2: I mean, love doesn't go away, but the relationship is different.
Speaker 2: And I'm just real about it. You know, people like, uh, Opal,
Speaker 2: she's a good she's a gonna do teenage. She don't
Speaker 2: want to talk to anybody that's grandpa.
Speaker 1: You don't keep some Moather's Originals caramels in your pocket.
Speaker 1: That's just so funny. I mean that's the real shit
Speaker 1: that I love is, you know, the awkwardness of being
Speaker 1: a grandparent and like it's like, what do we do
Speaker 1: with these little kids? But when you go, what are
Speaker 1: you bringing a toy? Is she into Bluie? Are they
Speaker 1: into Peppa Pig?
Speaker 2: So this is a beautiful thing about media. I do
Speaker 2: media training, and nobody puts a gun up to your
Speaker 2: head and say you have to answer questions. I'd rather
Speaker 2: get off the grandkids conversation that's not.
Speaker 1: Oh my God, of course Jesus. So I'm sorry, No,
Speaker 1: he's that Gune. My heart dropped. I'm like, what, oh no,
Speaker 1: that's that's perfectly fine. Well, you mentioned health and I
Speaker 1: know that you have this. You have a really important
Speaker 1: and close to you partnership with twenty three and meters,
Speaker 1: and you have been very vocal about your experience as
Speaker 1: a cancer survivor. So what would you like to say
Speaker 1: about about that initiative and how people can learn more
Speaker 1: about that?
Speaker 2: Well, thank you for bringing it up, because that's dear
Speaker 2: and important to me.
Speaker 1: I h.
Speaker 2: Five years ago, I had a sag white shoes, sheet
Speaker 2: of paper and a red pin and tittens dots on
Speaker 2: a white sheet of paper. That's one night when I
Speaker 2: took my T shirt off, That's what I saw and
Speaker 2: I didn't think anything of it, Mandy. And then the
Speaker 2: next day, same thing, and I asked my wife. I
Speaker 2: was like, did you buy new T shirts? What are
Speaker 2: these dots on my T shirt? She said, that's interesting,
Speaker 2: interesting because on your side of the bed there was
Speaker 2: these drops of blood and let me go back song.
Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty I got a promotion to the medical
Speaker 2: division of Xerox. When we think of Xerox, you think
Speaker 2: of copiers. But they were leading modality for breast cancer
Speaker 2: and zero radiography, and I was fortunate to be their
Speaker 2: number one sales rep in the world. I'm sure that
Speaker 2: doesn't surprise you that I would be their number one
Speaker 2: sales rep in the world. And we trained on male
Speaker 2: breast cancer, so I knew some of the most important
Speaker 2: signs in that discharge. And I called my physician. He
Speaker 2: had never had a man asked for a mammogram. And
Speaker 2: you know, only two percent of men are diagnosed worldwide.
Speaker 2: That's a twenty two thousand men a year diagnosed with
Speaker 2: male breast cancer. And I had surgery a whole bit.
Speaker 2: And then I took a test for genetics and found
Speaker 2: out that I had a genetic variance or you can
Speaker 2: call it a mutation, which means for men with cancer,
Speaker 2: higher risks, not that you're gonna get it, higher rest
Speaker 2: of male breast cancer, prostate cancer, the number one killer
Speaker 2: of black men, and creatic cancer, short life expectancy with that,
Speaker 2: melanoma for women, express cancer, and ovarian cancer. And after
Speaker 2: that point I had I made a lifestyle change because
Speaker 2: I knew if I didn't that I would be at
Speaker 2: higher risks, and I now I also sold MRI units
Speaker 2: first Black in America to sell MRI and CT scatterers.
Speaker 2: And so I get an MRI every year of my
Speaker 2: prostate of my pancres, I constantly be three months get
Speaker 2: a blood test so I could look at my numbers
Speaker 2: with my prostate, and I annually get a mammogram because
Speaker 2: I have information and I have knowledge and I have data.
Speaker 2: I've lost about twenty five pounds. I have another fifteen
Speaker 2: to go because unfortunately cancer hard to disease, love obesity,
Speaker 2: and so that was very word to me to live.
Speaker 2: So I'm losing weight, change my diet. I walked two
Speaker 2: miles every other day. I do all the things with
Speaker 2: a positive spirit. And that's why I joined twenty three
Speaker 2: a meter. Because young people, those of you that are
Speaker 2: listening and viewing in you have an opportunity to get
Speaker 2: a snapshot of your health right now by a simple
Speaker 2: Salava test. Who wouldn't want to do that? Who wouldn't
Speaker 2: want to get a snapshot of their life when it
Speaker 2: could be at fifty or sixty if you live to that,
Speaker 2: And then now you have the information and knowledge, and
Speaker 2: now you can share that with your health professionals, and
Speaker 2: I since nineteen eighty was talking to women about the
Speaker 2: importance of early detection and getting a mammoground. Then you
Speaker 2: can go a step even further and get a genetic test.
Speaker 2: So that's why I'm so excited about being a global
Speaker 2: brand ambassador for twenty three. I mean not on the
Speaker 2: ancestry side. Yes, we do that, but the company is
Speaker 2: transitioning back to why it was formed. Twenty three is
Speaker 2: twenty three chromosomes X and Y. We have twenty three each.
Speaker 2: The company was never named for ancestry. That just was
Speaker 2: too all people wanted to know who they where did
Speaker 2: they come from? Per Nigerian near at, But that was
Speaker 2: never the intent.
Speaker 1: Do you need to get a new test or do
Speaker 1: you do you just send in a new sample to
Speaker 1: get this additional info about you like to the you know,
Speaker 1: so you're.
Speaker 2: Talking one time. It's a one time thing.
Speaker 1: I've done it before, like ten years ago. I think
Speaker 1: I got my.
Speaker 2: God ago that was ancestry.
Speaker 1: So I've got to do a new sample, but just.
Speaker 2: One medical for the medical.
Speaker 1: Okay, gosh, okay man. Knowledge is power.
Speaker 2: But said that, I'm glad you said that because I
Speaker 2: didn't want people to not differentiate that there's a medical
Speaker 2: side of twenty three and meters and then there's an
Speaker 2: ancestry side, and you can get both. There's also a
Speaker 2: program that you can get both, and you can get
Speaker 2: cardiovascular for stroke, Alzheimer's heart disease. Medicine is changing.
Speaker 1: Now does it get overwhelming? Sometimes? Though? Having all that knowledge,
Speaker 1: sometimes it's like, oh, man, I already deal with anxiety.
Speaker 2: And you know it's just the opposite for me.
Speaker 1: It calms you down. Yeah, I mean, I can.
Speaker 2: Look at my by knowledge. So, Mandy, we just in
Speaker 2: the last three minutes had the opportunity to save lives.
Speaker 2: In the first thirty minutes, we didn't have an opportunity
Speaker 2: to save lives. Three minutes, we had an opportunity to
Speaker 2: save lives. To me, that's way more important than the
Speaker 2: first thirty minutes.
Speaker 1: Uh, well, who knows. I mean, I think well one
Speaker 1: I was. You know, that kind of work is so important,
Speaker 1: like talking about my dad, and I have been very
Speaker 1: open with the BA fam that's what I call our
Speaker 1: audience about my dad's journey, because before he had gotten sick,
Speaker 1: I had no idea how prolific kidney disease, high blood pressure,
Speaker 1: diabetes had been in my in my family and to
Speaker 1: find out, and I've shared with our audience, you know
Speaker 1: how four out of my dad's six siblings have ended
Speaker 1: up in and stage renal failure and my grandpa just
Speaker 1: passed away from kidney cancer last year. So I think
Speaker 1: the work that you're doing is extraordinarily important to this audience,
Speaker 1: and it's it definitely is in line with the transparency and.
Speaker 2: That you get a genetic health genetic text.
Speaker 1: Hm hmm, yeah, I mean yeah, I absolutely, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: something that I'm definitely going to consider. I think that
Speaker 1: for me, just seeing the proof in my family's history
Speaker 1: and like, you know what's interesting. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if you had this experience too, but there wasn't a
Speaker 1: lot of chatter like I think it's great that you're
Speaker 1: actually open about it, but in my family, there was
Speaker 1: this like there no one was really outwardly speaking about it.
Speaker 1: You know, it was sort of like an open secret,
Speaker 1: I guess in a way, and no one was like
Speaker 1: connecting the dots and saying like we all need to
Speaker 1: be like hyper vigilant and hyper aware of any of
Speaker 1: these warning signs.
Speaker 2: Did you can already be hyper village and hyper aware
Speaker 2: eye technology, and that's getting a diagnostic test a mammoground
Speaker 2: or getting a genetic test. That's the only way you
Speaker 2: really are doing it the right way. To have the
Speaker 2: conversation that, yeah, three of my though in my family,
Speaker 2: four of my five dad's brothers die to prostate. Well,
Speaker 2: that's great, and that I know it put me at risk,
Speaker 2: but I rather know genetically. Am I at rits the
Speaker 2: other way, I'm just having a conversation that I'm at
Speaker 2: ritz The other one, you get.
Speaker 1: Like a do you get a medical because the thing
Speaker 1: is like information is knowledge. But then I don't want
Speaker 1: to look at these results in a vacuum. I'd rather
Speaker 1: because that's what happens when you know, you go to
Speaker 1: the doctor now and I get my blood results and
Speaker 1: it's like, oh my god, I'm going to start googling things.
Speaker 1: Then I get really I thought I had pre diabetes.
Speaker 1: Turns out I didn't because I went on and so
Speaker 1: it's like, how do they offer them the side by side,
Speaker 1: Like let's have a medical doctor go through these results
Speaker 1: with you so you can like interpret them.
Speaker 2: They do. There's there's oh good, Okay, I have different
Speaker 2: tiers and the final the highest tiers called total health.
Speaker 2: And with total health you get blood work as well
Speaker 2: as a salava sample and the doctor will call you
Speaker 2: and go over all of the results.
Speaker 1: No okay.
Speaker 2: On the one of the lower tiers, you get back
Speaker 2: the information uh you know, Vilia certified letter and then
Speaker 2: you're probably better off sharing it with your health professional.
Speaker 2: So it's two tiers. But the higher tiers, total health,
Speaker 2: you do get a conversation with a physician.
Speaker 1: And this is something that folks can find out at
Speaker 1: twenty three meter dot com. Sure, yes, no, I mean
Speaker 1: for me, I'm just like, yeah, b a fan. We talk,
Speaker 1: we talk a lot about health. And it's a shame
Speaker 1: you didn't get meet my co host Tiffany, but we
Speaker 1: talk a lot about health, and for me, it's always
Speaker 1: like it's that in conjunction with like actually having like
Speaker 1: a general practitioner and having a medical doctor to help
Speaker 1: interpret that, because yeah, it can beg Yeah, well, I
Speaker 1: was gonna say thank you so much, and I wish
Speaker 1: you are really healthy. I'm glad that. I'm glad to
Speaker 1: hear that the lifestyle changes you're making are working for
Speaker 1: you and you seem very well. I know black don't crack,
Speaker 1: but it takes more than that to keep us healthy.
Speaker 2: Rhymes.
Speaker 1: You know, black don't crack.
Speaker 2: It takes more than that.
Speaker 1: Oh, it takes more. Okay, I got.
Speaker 2: Bar I put that in a song.
Speaker 1: Lord, apparently I need to.
Speaker 2: Crack. It takes more than that.
Speaker 1: Let me know if you want to put me on
Speaker 1: a credit on the song. I don't know, let me know.
Speaker 1: I'll get my own little survivor piggy bank. I'm working
Speaker 1: on it. Ambition. It'll be the Brown Ambition IP. But amen,
Speaker 1: Brown Ambition. Thank you so much, mister Knowles. I hope
Speaker 1: that you enjoyed joining us at the Brown Ambition Podcast
Speaker 1: and I wish you the best of luck.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much, Mandy, And can I give
Speaker 2: a shout out if you want to book me to speak,
Speaker 2: go to Matthewnoles dot com.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you very much. And I'm sure you also
Speaker 1: can find out more and we'll post a link to
Speaker 1: that in the show notes. B a fan as well
Speaker 1: as a link to twenty three and me so you
Speaker 1: can learn more about that see how you can get
Speaker 1: your results. Well, thank you, all right, I'll spit into
Speaker 1: a tube. You got me, I'll do. We'll see what
Speaker 1: I got going on in here.
Speaker 2: I hope. So it's important. Thank you, having a wonderful day.
Speaker 2: I don't know your your dad, dad, but tell them
Speaker 2: I say that hello.
Speaker 1: I will do that.