1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 1: Hey, I'm Barraitune Day Thurston, and this is how to 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: citizen with Baritune Day in season two. We're talking about 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: the money, because, to be real, it's hard to citizen 4 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: when we can barely pay the bills. The year was 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: nine and I was about to graduate from Harvard University 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: with a load of debt because that place is expensive 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: and fancy. And when I thought about my exit plan 8 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: from Harvard, I was always conscious of what I owed 9 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: the federal government, the university, my own mother. I learned 10 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: about recruiters, these people from corporate America who would come 11 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:51,919 Speaker 1: to the university, set up shop in a local hotel, 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: and try to woo us with promises of impacts, but 13 00:00:55,800 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: mostly money. And I went to one of these events 14 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: at uh local hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was overwhelmed 15 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: by the amount of food, free food in the middle 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: of the day, and not just any food. Shrimp. Yeah, 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: daytime shrimp was not a part of my regular diet, 18 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: and I devoured it, and I was kind of sold 19 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: on some of the promise. So I found myself after 20 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:29,119 Speaker 1: graduation in the corporate world working in strategy consulting, which 21 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: is still a hard job to explain to anybody. I 22 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: wore khakis and had close cropped hair and ate out 23 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: way too much, and it helped me pay off those loans. 24 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: My first year out of college, my salary was higher 25 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: than my mother's peak lifetime annual earning across our whole life, 26 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: and that was a big deal. It was a big 27 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: deal for me to go to Harvard is a bigger 28 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: deal to graduate, and it was the biggest deal to 29 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: pay for it. I'm in this corporate life and I'm 30 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: making a decent living, but there's limits. I realized this 31 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: is not for me, it's not my full purpose. And 32 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: I found my way out and found my way in 33 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: many ways to you right here, right now today, we're 34 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: gonna talk to someone who's got a bit of a 35 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: parallel story. Lived the most capitalist life one can in 36 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: this economy by working on Wall Street, like for real 37 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: Wall Street, and he didn't stay like me. For him, 38 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 1: it wasn't enough, but he did keep building businesses, different 39 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: businesses though, those that try to address the opportunity. Heather 40 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: McGee laid out for us that we can deal with 41 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: our economy's historic exclusion by significantly increasing those who are 42 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: included in it. That we can all win and make 43 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: money too. We live in a world where the zip 44 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: code that you're born in and the color of your 45 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: skin is very determinative of sort of where you're going 46 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: to end up, at least economically, and so the idea 47 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: of social equity is balancing the scales. In order to 48 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: do that, you need to give a leg up and 49 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: give support because we're not starting all from the same 50 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: sort of level. After the break, we speak with Sam Pulk, 51 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: founder and CEO of Every Table. Yeah, thank you, it's 52 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: much better. Okay, so quiet on set. Sam Pulk, Save 53 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: in the World, episode thirty seven. Growing up, Sam Pulk 54 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, 55 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: but he was sure he wanted to make money. So 56 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: he at his start in Wall Street. Then he pivoted 57 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: hard to the far other side of the street and 58 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: dove headfirst into the world of nonprofits, literally the opposite 59 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: of Wall Street. One day, he realized he needed to 60 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,840 Speaker 1: create something that drew from both worlds, that wasn't completely 61 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: extractive and dominated by profit seeking, but that also wasn't 62 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: steeped in this top down world of charity. I know, 63 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: capitalism and business get a bad rap. They're exploitative and 64 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: extractive and maybe just bad for the planet. But I 65 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: also know there are better ways to use these tools. 66 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,239 Speaker 1: I wanted to talk to Sam because I also believe 67 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: that there were ways to do business that help people, 68 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: that help us citizen, that help us show up, and 69 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: that are good for our society. Hello, Sam, how you 70 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: doing good? Thanks for having me. Thank you so much 71 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: for for being head. Is that that doesn't sound right? 72 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: Thanks for being here. Let's just keep it normal. Thanks 73 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: for being here. Do you remember the moment you decided 74 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,239 Speaker 1: you wanted to work on Wall Street? First of all, 75 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: like you know, my agenda when I got out of 76 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: college was to figure out a life skill that would 77 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: allow me to make a hundred thousand dollars a year forever, 78 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: and so Wall Street was a sort of place for that. 79 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: That's a very specific post college agenda. How did you 80 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: come up with a hundred thousand dollars as your threshold? 81 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: Hundred thousand was the number that I thought sort of 82 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: people that were, you know, wealthy or comfortable would sort 83 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: of make. But I wanted like safety and comfort is 84 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: what I wanted. Where does the Wall Street decision come 85 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 1: into that? The real sort of moment for Wall Street. 86 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: For me was when I walked onto a trading floor 87 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 1: at Credit Squeets First, Boston on the first day of 88 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: my summer internship, and it was have you ever been 89 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: on a trading floor? But it's it's wild. People yelling 90 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: and you know six means in front of traders and 91 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: you know, people like you know, talking and shouting into 92 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: their phones, and also like how they were dressed. You 93 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: could see that this was like a level of sort 94 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: of like elite sort of wealth and class in a 95 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: way that that I had no experience with. Hundreds of 96 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: billions of dollars are flowing through those people and their 97 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: decisions just sitting there. And you saw that, and you said, 98 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: I wanted I wanted in. It meets the hundred K 99 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: threshold that you set for yourself. What is it like 100 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 1: once you're in the life, what's it like for you? 101 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: I just worked like a maniac. I was waking up 102 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: at four thirty in the morning, and you know, getting 103 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: to the office of the first one on the trading 104 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: floor every day, last one to leave, you know, analysts 105 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: and the trading program lived in these sort of like 106 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: swanky apartments downtown. And I got this like six hundred 107 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: square foot apartment twenty five minutes away that I could 108 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: pay four hundred dollars a month for just so I 109 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: could sort of like save enough money. Do you feel 110 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: rich yet? Do you feel powerful? Yeah? I mean Wall 111 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: Street in general? Did I mean like the expense accounts, 112 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: you know, flying to see sort of traders in the Midwest? 113 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: Wall Street was really a place like even my first year, 114 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: where I would like get sick of these sort of 115 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: like five star dinners because I would just go there 116 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: every night and I'd be like, oh God, I need 117 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: a night off from Nobu. You know. Did you just 118 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: say that for those who may not know what is Nobu? 119 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,679 Speaker 1: Nobu is the fanciest, most sort of elite sushi restaurant 120 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: in the world basically, and it was like your McDonald's. 121 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: It was totally so you're over ordering sushi, you're working hard, 122 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: you're making more money, you have some sense of power. 123 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: When does this start to turn sour? You know? By 124 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: the time I got to be thirty, I was then, 125 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: you know, the senior distress trader at one of the 126 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: largest hedge funds in the world. This was sort of 127 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: during the crash about eight no nine. It was the 128 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: worst day on Wall Street since the crash of seven. 129 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: The Dow tumbled more than five hundred points after two 130 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: pillars of the Street tumbled over the weekend. Lehman Brothers, 131 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: a one and fifty eight year old firm, filed for bankrupts. 132 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: It was a crazy time on Wall Street, you know, 133 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: like Lehman went down, and you know, Countrywide went down. 134 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: Came to the America Dream. No one was better at 135 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: selling it than Angelo Mozilla as founder of the mortgage 136 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: giant Countrywide Financial. And more and more people find themselves 137 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: at or near underwater with their houses. The propensity to 138 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: reach into their pocket, grab their house keys and leave 139 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:33,440 Speaker 1: them on the countertop and walk out goes up. We 140 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: have to stop that problem. In the nobody knew what 141 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 1: was going to happen. But but the interesting thing about 142 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: it was that all of these sort of bankers, we're 143 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: not going to get their bonus that year. And people 144 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: were very very upset about that. And so I was 145 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 1: looking at these guys and being like, huh, this doesn't 146 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: seem right, Like, of course you're not gonna get your bonus. 147 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: And we basically took the entire country down into financial 148 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: catastrophe and at the same time, I picked up Taylor 149 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: Branches three part series on Martin Luther King, and I 150 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: was sort of like struck by this juxtaposition basically about 151 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: sort of what I was dealing with on a daily basis. 152 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: And then I'd be, you know, coming home and reading 153 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: stories about the Freedom writers, and like, you know, these 154 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: are some of the most gripping stories real life that 155 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: you could ever imagine, right like activists on buses pulling 156 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: into Montgomery, Alabama, amidst mob of people, you know, ready 157 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: to beat them. And there was something that was so 158 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,679 Speaker 1: jaw dropping lee courageous about that. And it wasn't that 159 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: I was, you know, pretending that I was about to 160 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: do something like that, but I was aware that at 161 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,319 Speaker 1: that time in the sixties, there was plenty of guys 162 00:09:51,360 --> 00:10:00,320 Speaker 1: trading bonds at Goldman Sachs, and so I just based sically, 163 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: you know, took a hard look at my life and said, 164 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: where do you want to be fifty years from now? 165 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: What are you going to be proud of? What are 166 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: your kids going to be proud of? What do you 167 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: want your life to stand for? And at the end 168 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: of the day, being a successful hedge fund manager, it 169 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: was definitely a world where people that got a million 170 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: dollar bonus were completely devastated because they should have got 171 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 1: a three million dollar bonus. There was never enough. It's 172 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:29,559 Speaker 1: this crazy sort of like cloistered relative deprivation amidst absolute abundance, 173 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: you know, um, and it just seemed so empty, basically, 174 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: and I wanted to figure out something else. So after 175 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: you leave Wall Street, what next? Sam My wife and I, 176 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: you know, one weekend ended up sitting down and watching 177 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:46,559 Speaker 1: you know, all this food documentaries, you know, Forks over 178 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: Knives and food inc. Etcetera. But there was one that 179 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: was sort of like a lesser known one. It's called 180 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: A Place at the Table by Laurie Silverbush. The recent 181 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 1: people are going hungry is not because of a sualty 182 00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: of food. It is because of politic One out of 183 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: every two kids in the United States at some point 184 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: will be on food assistance. I was one of those kids. 185 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: It was hungry. It messes with you. The average food 186 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:09,959 Speaker 1: stand benefits three dollars a day. It was the first 187 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: one that really made this argument about this sort of 188 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: intersection between food and poverty. And they even described the 189 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: neighborhood South Los Angeles. I was five miles from where 190 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: I was living at the time and said that a 191 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: kid born in that neighborhood would live twelve years less 192 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 1: than a kid born in the neighborhood that I live 193 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: in right now. You know, and there's a lot of 194 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: reasons for that, but one of the core ones is food. 195 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: And I didn't know it then that that was going 196 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: to change my life and you know, become really you know, 197 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: life's work in some level, but it did. And you know, 198 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: this idea that healthy food should be a human right 199 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: and not a luxury product was like self evident to 200 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:51,319 Speaker 1: me on some level. Yeah, So you watch this food 201 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: documentary with your wife called A Place at the Table. 202 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: Take us from that to starting Feast. So Feast is 203 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: a it's a nonprofit that basically helps parents who are 204 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: living in difficult food situations who want to give themselves 205 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: and their families healthy And you know, I'll stop there 206 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: to say that most times the following things you would 207 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: hear from this would be we run nutrition education and 208 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: diet cooking classes into that. I am proud that we 209 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 1: did not structure it like that. There's plenty of sort 210 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: of moralizing when it comes to healthy food, which is 211 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: like if only these people knew what good food was 212 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: and what you know, how to cook, then they would 213 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: make the right choices. I knew that was not true 214 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:39,359 Speaker 1: sort of from the beginning. Food is a fraught and multifaceted, multilayered, 215 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: complicated situation for most people, no matter where you live. 216 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: That is then exacerbated, you know, when you've got you know, 217 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: no options for healthy food and underserved neighborhoods and a 218 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,079 Speaker 1: massive amount of stress. Sort of overlying that, we structured 219 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: Feast basically as almost like a support group. We're running dozens, 220 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: if not not yet hundreds, but getting up there of 221 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: groups across now five states. And these are basically, you know, 222 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: a group of ten moms that meets once a week 223 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: for two hours, led by somebody who has taken the 224 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: program before. Somebody that was in the group will then 225 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: go on to lead another group and then you know, 226 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: at the same sort of school or at the same 227 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: you know, community center, or at the same house and 228 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: will just sort of keep perpetuating itself over time. You 229 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: are a white man, Sam, and you are working in 230 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: a lot of communities that are not white, and people 231 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 1: who never worked on Wall Street. Uh a hundred thousand 232 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: dollars a year will be like an extraordinary situation. How 233 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,719 Speaker 1: do you manage your own presence as a white man 234 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: going into many communities of color, working with a lot 235 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: of moms in particular, um and and avoid any kind 236 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: of savior complex you think about that? Has it come 237 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: up for you in some way all the time? You know? 238 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: I think from my experience with Feast and sort of 239 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: running these groups, we're just all sort of people basically. 240 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: And then how I sort of work with my you know, 241 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 1: privilege in some sense and what I look like to 242 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: other people and is to just acknowledge it. And I 243 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: do this with my team all the time, but like 244 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: speak to it and own it and try to create 245 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: a situation where I'm standing next to people as opposed 246 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: to reaching down to lift them up. Mm hmm. It's 247 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: a powerful image. What does social equity mean to you? Yeah, 248 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: I've become on some sense like a reborn capitalist sort 249 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: of this journey for each person to figure out where 250 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: they sort of need to exist in the world and 251 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: what is right for them and how they can be 252 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: of service and contribute. That is a system and an 253 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: idea that works only on on the on the fundamental 254 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: foundation of you know, equality of opportunity, and yet we 255 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: live in a world where where you you know, the 256 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: zip code that you're born in and the color of 257 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: your skin is very determinative of sort of where you're 258 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: to end up, at least economically. And so the idea 259 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: of social equity is balancing the scales in order to 260 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: sort of like make you know, equality of opportunity for everybody. 261 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: But in order to do that, you need to rebalance 262 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: the scales and sort of give a leg up and 263 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: give support um, because we're not starting all from the 264 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: same sort of level. After the break fast food franchises, 265 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: and how ownership may be the key to building wealth 266 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: that lasts. Ye, all right, Sam, you told us about 267 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: your wild West days on Wall Street. You broke down 268 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: what you're doing with feasts and this community support group. 269 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: Now I want to move on to your newest endeavor. 270 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: Tell me how you came up with the idea for 271 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: every table. So I was running feasts and kept hearing 272 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: from these moms basically that the reason we go to 273 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: McDonald's is because it's you know, it's the only thing 274 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: available that and so I quickly came to realize that, 275 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: like what people in underserver communities. It's not they necessarily 276 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: love fast food. There's just no other options basically, and 277 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: so every table is a lot of things. At its base, 278 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: it is a food preparation, production, distribution, and retail system 279 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: that includes restaurants, smart fridges, which are basically healthy vending machines, 280 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: home delivery. That is building a company that that is 281 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: making healthy, made from scratch, delicious prepared food for cheaper 282 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: than fast food, and in the in the process is 283 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: literally like building a new food system. I know that 284 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: sounds big, but it really is like in some sense, 285 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: I think we're building the food system that should have 286 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: been built fifty years ago. Basically, what should have been 287 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: done fifty years ago that wasn't And how does our 288 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: current food system look in ways that aren't serving us. 289 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: The way to understand sort of how and why the 290 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: food system was built as it was. The fundamental thing 291 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: to understand is that people didn't understand that processed food 292 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 1: was going to be bad for you. Yes, thank goodness 293 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: for Jello instant putting the terrific busy day dessert you 294 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:35,960 Speaker 1: can make at the very last minute. See how quick 295 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: They just didn't know it. And so if you think 296 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: about the decisions that were made with that sort of 297 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,120 Speaker 1: misassumption within sort of spurred the creation of the food 298 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: system was exactly what you might guess, which is like, 299 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: how do you make food really delicious and really cheap? 300 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,479 Speaker 1: And so when I think about the food system, I 301 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: think that, you know, the largest food companies in the 302 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 1: country are what are called CpG with consumer packaged goods, 303 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 1: so that's your cereal and chips, derritos, etcetera. CpG companies 304 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 1: and fast food companies. And the reason that they're the 305 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,120 Speaker 1: largest is because they figured out how to sell food 306 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: the cheapest. So, so how is every table dismantling or 307 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: reimagining this system? Well, when people talk about food deserts, 308 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many times people call me 309 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: and say, hey, Sam, you know I I'm I too, 310 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: am passionate about this issue of food deserts. Let's get 311 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,640 Speaker 1: a bus and put a bunch of produce in it 312 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: and then drive around sort of you know, streets and 313 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: underserved communities and what is the food So a food 314 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,440 Speaker 1: desert is a community that doesn't have access to fresh, 315 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: healthy food. If you go to South Los Angeles, for example, 316 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: there is fewer grocery stores per capita than there is 317 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: on the West Side. But there's grocery stores for sure, 318 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 1: food for less Superior Ralph's isn't underserved neighborhoods. Like, it's 319 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: not that there's no grocery stores. What it is is 320 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: that there's no prepared food. There's no press juicery or 321 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: Tender Greens or Sweet Green or Lemonade or Creation or 322 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:15,960 Speaker 1: flower Child. I mean, I could go on like there 323 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,639 Speaker 1: the amount of sort of fresh, healthy, prepared food that 324 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,679 Speaker 1: there isn't and more affluent communities is massive, and I 325 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: think that's the things that people miss. People in underserved 326 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,399 Speaker 1: communities are both short on money and they're also short 327 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: on time, sort of like we all are. And so 328 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: what every Table does as we say, look, we like 329 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: where Sweet Green is going in terms of quality and 330 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: freshness of food, but can we do it in a 331 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,439 Speaker 1: way that makes it accessible and affordable to everybody? And 332 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: all we do is we apply the principles of CpG 333 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: and fast food, namely centralized production and massive distribution, but 334 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: to fresh food. And so what every table is is 335 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: preparing incredibly fresh, healthy, delicious meals from scratch every day 336 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,400 Speaker 1: and then packaging them and grab and go contain meiners. 337 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,160 Speaker 1: And then as far as pricing goes, every table sort 338 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: of got known in the press for this variable pricing 339 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 1: model where you know, same food, same concept, but if 340 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: it's in Brentwood will charge seven or eight bucks, which 341 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: is basically half the price of sweet Green, so an 342 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,640 Speaker 1: incredibly good deal. But then we open in Compton or 343 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: South l A or East l A will charge five 344 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: or six dollars for the same meal. And it's not 345 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: charity like our stores and underserved communities are amongst our 346 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 1: most profitable. But it is about, you know, creating a 347 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: system that works for everyone, that includes everyone, um, and 348 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: that respects everyone. I've heard a lot of tension in 349 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: the goals of running for profit business and creating something 350 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:50,160 Speaker 1: that's sustainable or achieve some sort of equity goals, and 351 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: this choice that we are forced to make. It seems 352 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,959 Speaker 1: you can either be a real capitalist and lower your 353 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: costs and jack up your prices to whatever the market 354 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: will bear, or where you can go do your do 355 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 1: gooder business and have your social equity and your social justice. 356 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 1: How do you approach those tensions? How do you see it? 357 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 1: You know, fifty years ago it was the norm for 358 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,119 Speaker 1: companies to be focused on the good of the community 359 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: and all the different stakeholders. And now this was obviously 360 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: helped by the fact that we had like a real 361 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: labor movement, so there was collective bargaining, etcetera. But we've 362 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,960 Speaker 1: sort of like developed this sort of like rapacious sort 363 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: of lobbyists supported idea of capitalism. But I don't think 364 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: that's what it has to be. And then the other 365 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: point I'll make is that actually so many sort of 366 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:40,199 Speaker 1: quote unquote social enterprises are frankly stupid and and what 367 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 1: I mean is, you know, you know, think about like 368 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:46,360 Speaker 1: Tom's Shoes, and Tom's invested in us, so I want 369 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: to be don't bite the hand that feeds you, so 370 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,680 Speaker 1: to speak. I love where this is going, go for it. 371 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:53,199 Speaker 1: But like so, so Tom's is a company that was 372 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: probably like the O G sort of social enterprise really 373 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: that basically created this model where for every pair of 374 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: shoes that they sold, they would donate one to somebody 375 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: in need. But it's basically like they were part of 376 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: this idea that that there's one group of customers that 377 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: you sell to and there's another group of customers that 378 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 1: you do charity for. And I don't like that Tom's 379 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: was about making the affluent customers feel good about their purchase. Now, 380 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: why is every table different. The more stores we can 381 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: have underserved high income, the better, and every table gets 382 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: the same benefit that we do with sort of that 383 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: any sort of franchising business gets. We get these royalties 384 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: off the top. We also get brand benefit from this. 385 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: I'm trying to design a system that works across the board, 386 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,360 Speaker 1: and I'm sure there will be tensions along the way 387 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,760 Speaker 1: and often make some decisions. But it also you know, 388 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: there's plenty of arguments for example, like Costco pays its 389 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: employees incredibly well, and they they've done that from the beginning, 390 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: and they have lower turnover and you know, lower labor 391 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 1: costs because of at etcetera. So some of these assumptions 392 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: that we made, which are sort of like spurred by 393 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: the whole private equity cost cutting, you know, things are 394 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,399 Speaker 1: are just wrong. Like if you treat your customers well, 395 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: if you treat your people work for you well, if 396 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: you share the wealth a little bit, the company is 397 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 1: probably more sustainable over time. I want you to paint 398 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 1: a picture for our palates what some of the food 399 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: people can get from every table. We we have this crazy, 400 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,919 Speaker 1: you know, very actually white sort of idea of what 401 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: healthy food is. But actually all cuisines and all cultures 402 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,119 Speaker 1: have basically two things in common, which is that their 403 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: food is delicious and it's healthy because it's made by 404 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 1: whole food, you know, over time, you know, by scratch basically, 405 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: and so for us, it's really just going back to that. 406 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,680 Speaker 1: And so for example, you know, our menu is really 407 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 1: about celebrating the cultures and cuisines of Los Angeles, and 408 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: some of our best sellers include, you know, Jamaican jerk 409 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: chicken with coconut beans and rice and plantains and uh 410 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: carnitas bowl that does incredibly well in a black chicken 411 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: tinga that's an amazing seller. Actually, our best selling dish 412 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,919 Speaker 1: of all time is called Trap Kitchen. Chicken curry and 413 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: Trap Kitchen are these two Compton chefs who started a 414 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: soul food Instagram delivery business out of their grandmother's kitchen 415 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,119 Speaker 1: that got so wildly popular that they got you know, 416 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: three thousand Instagram followers and then got shut down by 417 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: the government because you can't really do that. But you know, 418 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,159 Speaker 1: there's sort of Compton celebrities, and so we partnered with 419 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: them to make a version of their chicken curry and 420 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: it's been the best seller since we launched it, not 421 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 1: only in Compton, but in Brentwood as well. So how 422 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 1: does every table work? I know you have multiple locations 423 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 1: you're running under a franchise model, but what does that 424 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 1: look like for y'all? So franchising is a sort of 425 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: tried and true and great way for restaurants to grow. 426 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,879 Speaker 1: And the reason is because it's a very mutually beneficial 427 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: sort of relationship up between the franchise or which is 428 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: usually the restaurant and the franchise. And the mutual benefit 429 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 1: is if you're a franchise e about to start a franchise, 430 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: you're basically about to start your own business. But starting 431 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: your own business is risky. So isn't it great to 432 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: be able to start a business with a proven concept 433 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,680 Speaker 1: that you you basically know is going to work from 434 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: the point of the franchise or I can start a 435 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: bunch of stores, not have to spend money to build them, 436 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 1: and still make you know, between five and ten percent 437 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: of their revenue. But as we looked at franchising, we 438 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: realized that there was a big problem with franchising. You know, 439 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: like so many other industries, there's a lot of privilege 440 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,920 Speaker 1: baked into it. You have to have a significant net 441 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: worth and capital available in order to start a franchise. Well, 442 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:50,920 Speaker 1: you know, given the sort of racial wealth gap, people 443 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: are more likely to look like me that have sort 444 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,199 Speaker 1: of accumulated capital, right, And so we said, can we 445 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:02,439 Speaker 1: create a system that promotes ownership for entrepreneurs who have 446 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: been sort of marginalized historically? And so what that looks 447 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 1: like is we've gone to, you know, some of the 448 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:11,639 Speaker 1: biggest foundations in the country, Kellogg Foundation, Annenberg Foundation. We 449 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: basically built these partnerships where these foundations either lent us 450 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,919 Speaker 1: money at incredibly low rates or even in some cases 451 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: just donated to us with grants, so that we now 452 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: have this big pool of capital that when we find 453 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:29,919 Speaker 1: talented entrepreneurs from underserved communities who want to start their 454 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: own business, we can train them in our stores and 455 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 1: lend them the money to build and own their own 456 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: Every table franchise. What was your first franchise was the 457 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: history of that relationship. We've actually only got one operating 458 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,160 Speaker 1: right now, and it's and it's Dorcas and it's Every 459 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: Table Hollywood. You should go see it and so Dorcia, 460 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: you know, over the year's head. You know, she was 461 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: in the second ever Feast group. Then she had gone 462 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: on to lead many more groups and Feast and become 463 00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,640 Speaker 1: such a leader in that organization that she eventually joined 464 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: the board. And then you know, after a while she 465 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: came and started working for Every Table as a store 466 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,959 Speaker 1: manager and was the manager of our Watt store. And 467 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: so when it came time, like you know, I was, 468 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: I was both sort of like creating this franchise program 469 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: with Dorcia in mind, and then when it came sort 470 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,360 Speaker 1: of time to choose the first person, she was sort 471 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,360 Speaker 1: of the natural, you know selection. And I've known her 472 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 1: for eight years now, and during all of that time, 473 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,880 Speaker 1: she's been a single mom, working two or three jobs, 474 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: supporting her three kids. And like the the the amount 475 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: of work and stress that she has had to carry 476 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: her whole life is like, you know, all of these 477 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:40,679 Speaker 1: Wall Street guys would crumble in the face of that, 478 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: as far as I'm concerned, you know, So, so what 479 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 1: changes for people when they have access to capital, to 480 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: financial resources, especially in the consideration of historic restriction from 481 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 1: access to those resources, I mean, everything changes, Like I 482 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,119 Speaker 1: think that's I think that's the fundamental thing understand is 483 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:07,200 Speaker 1: that capitalism is ownership. Like it it is about ownership, 484 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: and the real issue for me and I think the 485 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 1: change that needs to happen is the focus on ownership. 486 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: And what I mean is like I'm I'm all for 487 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: fifteen dollar minimum wage for sure, but I also think 488 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: that that still ends up to be like thirty dollars 489 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: a year. And for the real change is you've got 490 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: to spur ownership in whatever form that needs to be. 491 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: Are there other companies doing this social equity franchising thing 492 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: making it easier for people to to get in? Well, 493 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: you know what's funny is, like you don't. We actually 494 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: studied Domino's Pizza a lot, and they they didn't sort 495 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: of think about it like this. They would never have 496 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: called it that, but they actually did some version of this, 497 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 1: which is that most of Domino's pizzas franchise ease came 498 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: up through the restaurant business, so we're drivers or cooks 499 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: in the kitchen, etcetera. So you know Domino's, you know, 500 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: they didn't call it that, didn't do it specifically, but 501 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: they should get some credit for that. What do you 502 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: think it would do for our democracy to have people 503 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 1: who have been historically excluded from this ownership to be included. 504 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: How it would impact democracy, I think is clear for 505 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: me on sort of two levels. The first and probably 506 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: most important is that it would bring back, or at 507 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: least democratize access to the American dream, which I think 508 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: is so sort of fundamental to our culture and our 509 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: identity as a country. And so it just brings back 510 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: and spreads out the access to power in the voices 511 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: and uh, you know, democracy the vote that is so 512 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: important to this country. Sam Paul, thank you so much 513 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,040 Speaker 1: for spending time with us. This has been quite the education. 514 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: Great talking to you. Next week we'll be talking to 515 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: Knowny Session, the executive director of the East Bay Permanent 516 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: Real Estate Cooperative. She's working on a way to help 517 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:21,239 Speaker 1: people claim ownership of their own communities literally. You know, 518 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: we call this show how to Citizen. So here's some 519 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: of the how to parts from our producer Ali Okay. 520 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: I want you to turn inward and think about the 521 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: businesses in your neighborhood. Are they mostly local small businesses 522 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 1: or national chains? If more of one than the other, 523 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: why do you think that is? Who works there and 524 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: who owns them? When you hear the word entrepreneur or 525 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: business owner, what do you see in your mind? Who 526 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: is that person? What do they look like? Now it's 527 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,959 Speaker 1: time to inform yourself. Success for entrepreneurs often means selling 528 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 1: their business to a bigger company or going public on 529 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: the stock market. These successful exits can generate a lot 530 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: of wealth for the few people at the top a 531 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: k a. Owners and investors. What if there was another 532 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,400 Speaker 1: path for those entrepreneurs to take, one that rewarded those 533 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: most connected and impacted by the business, including employees, customers, founders, 534 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: and investors. There's a movement called Exit to Community which 535 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: is doing just that. Learn more about it by searching 536 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 1: online for Exit to Community or visiting E t C 537 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: dot how fund domain name, the letter E and the 538 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: number two and the letters ce, dot ho W And lastly, 539 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: we want you to publicly participate in a safe way. 540 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: Of course, consider joining or giving to a few of 541 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: the community movements working to build a more inclusive economy. 542 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 1: Here are two we are especially fond of. Zebras Unit 543 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,560 Speaker 1: Cooperative believes the most urgent human rights project of our 544 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 1: time is to reimagine business. Then there's the effort to 545 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: make the donut economy real and communities and countries around 546 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 1: the world. Search the donut Economics action lab to learn more. Hint, 547 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 1: it's not about pastries. If you're take any of these actions, 548 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: please brag about yourself online using the hashtag how to 549 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 1: Citizen and send us general feedback or ideas for the 550 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: show to comments at how to citizen dot com. Speaking 551 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: of that domain name, we have one and we're using it. 552 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 1: Visit how to citizen dot com to sign up for 553 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: our newsletter. Will learn about upcoming events or even more 554 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: stuff than that. And if you like the show, spread 555 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 1: the word tell somebody. If you don't, definitely just keep 556 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: it to yourself. Appreciate you. How does Citizen with baritune 557 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: Day is a production of I Heart Radio Podcasts and 558 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 1: Dust Like Productions. Our executive producers are Me Barrett tun Day, Thurston, 559 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Stewart, and Misha Yusuf. Our producers are Stephanie Cone 560 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 1: and Ali Kilts. Kelly Prime is our editor, Valentino Rivera 561 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: is our engineer, and Sam Paulson is our apprentice. Original 562 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 1: music by Andrew Eapen. This episode was produced and sound 563 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,200 Speaker 1: designed by Ali Kilts. Special thanks to Joel Smith from 564 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: i Heart Radio,