Speaker 1: Afro Tech is back in Austin, Texas this November is
Speaker 1: the place for all things black, tech and web three.
Speaker 1: The in person afro Tech conference experience is bridging the
Speaker 1: worlds of afro technologists, innovators, investors, corporations, musicians, and everyone
Speaker 1: in between. So pull up, grab your crew, and grab
Speaker 1: your tickets and join this at the largest black professional
Speaker 1: conference of the gear. This experienced the afro Tech Dot
Speaker 1: count to learn more. So as I speak, I am
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, just wrapping up afro Tech Executive Los
Speaker 1: Angeles two and it's been a full day, a remarkable
Speaker 1: day of just a snippet of what we are really
Speaker 1: gonna experience in Austin this November. So afro Tech Executive,
Speaker 1: it's like this special conference where c suite executives, startup founders,
Speaker 1: venture capitalists and more, just people on the rise in
Speaker 1: their career converge upon the city. We've done this in Miami,
Speaker 1: We've been to d C, We've been to Brooklyn, We've
Speaker 1: been in l A. We've been all over and this
Speaker 1: group of people are really who are behind the scenes
Speaker 1: making these things happen. And so it is a snapshot
Speaker 1: of what you will experience at the Big Afro Tech
Speaker 1: conference in Austin this November. So I am like wiped out.
Speaker 1: I am I've had a remarkable day with my people.
Speaker 1: We had a remarkable comedy show this this evening, and
Speaker 1: so I'm I am over the moon excited about the
Speaker 1: future because I know whose hands is in hey. So
Speaker 1: let's let's take out this flashback of my conversation with
Speaker 1: Ryan Glover, who's co founder at Greenwood Bank Afro Tech World.
Speaker 1: Gilly the King and social media influencer and disruptor wallow
Speaker 1: to six seven are the host of The Million Dollars
Speaker 1: Worth The Gang Show, a weekly podcast which is the
Speaker 1: perfect blend of discussing music, real life issues, personal experiences
Speaker 1: on its advice in comedy, and our interview at Afrock.
Speaker 1: I ask Gilly his thoughts on how we as black
Speaker 1: people in business can stand confident about our value, our perspective,
Speaker 1: our sauce when it's being challenged or not respected at
Speaker 1: a premium. Number One, you gotta believe in what you're doing,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. That's number one. So if
Speaker 1: you if you're being innovative and you being creative, and
Speaker 1: you you know in your mind that this is what
Speaker 1: I feel is gonna be the next ship. You gotta
Speaker 1: roll with that. I would never devalue myself, but but
Speaker 1: nothing you feel what I'm saying. I know what I'm worth,
Speaker 1: even even back when I was doing um record deals.
Speaker 1: You know, I flew down the suave house. You know
Speaker 1: Tony Draper, you know, the really CEO that I ever
Speaker 1: met in my life. Shout out to Tony Draper. But
Speaker 1: he tried to do the ceo wine and die Rapper
Speaker 1: ship to me. We got down there, We well up
Speaker 1: to the gate. I never seen no house like this
Speaker 1: in my life. Gates open up. He got the range
Speaker 1: over a viper with the zipper windows and bad leads,
Speaker 1: all kinds of ship. You know what I mean. I
Speaker 1: go in the drive. We we bust. I'm talking now business.
Speaker 1: I'm down there two old days. I'm meeting superstars. I'm
Speaker 1: playing two and two against Jacket Edge. You. I'm gonnaigga
Speaker 1: straight from Nord Philly. Yeah eyes, why I like this?
Speaker 1: The artist pulling up, his artists pulling up. That's already
Speaker 1: going eight more pull up. He and the big body,
Speaker 1: five hundred fans m j T pull up me in
Speaker 1: the old school. I'm like, God, damn, these niggas doing it.
Speaker 1: Next day, Yes, big ball, pull up here and some
Speaker 1: something different. I'm like, damn, when it was time to
Speaker 1: talk that business, don't want now the value ain't going on.
Speaker 1: This is what I wanted, he said. I ain't never
Speaker 1: gave a deal out that big in my life. I said, well,
Speaker 1: it was nice meeting your drink, but I'm going back
Speaker 1: to silly and he said, uh, you know what. I
Speaker 1: like that. I like that you got that. So it
Speaker 1: was just me believing in myself. You feel what I'm
Speaker 1: saying and believing it because sometimes you get around these
Speaker 1: companies and the motherfuck have been and playing longer than you,
Speaker 1: and they are you doubting yourself. Mhm No, I don't
Speaker 1: think it's supposed to go like that, because uh, then
Speaker 1: you were doing the same ship says eighty one. It's
Speaker 1: Tom I'm with Lucas and this is black tech, Green money.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna enter this. You to some of the biggest names,
Speaker 1: some of the brightest minds and brilliant ideas. If you're
Speaker 1: black and building or simply using tech to secure your bank,
Speaker 1: this podcast is for you. Ryan Glover is co founder
Speaker 1: and chairman at Greenwood Bank, the new digital bank he's
Speaker 1: building with Michael Render, a KA rapper, Killing Mike Ambassador,
Speaker 1: Andrew Young, and serial tech entrepreneur Paul Judge. Greenwoods mission
Speaker 1: is to help Blacks and Latinos take control of the
Speaker 1: financial destiny and build generational wealth. Previous degree with Bank,
Speaker 1: Ryan was in the music business as co founder of Noontime,
Speaker 1: the music publishing and management company which represented people like
Speaker 1: Jazzy Faye, Sierra Grammy, and war When He producer Brian
Speaker 1: Michael Cox and others. He's also founder of bound CV,
Speaker 1: the national cable network, and the Restaurant in Atlanta Agency.
Speaker 1: Ryan got his career jump started at Howard alongside Puff
Speaker 1: Daddy and Cassine Read, who would go on to be
Speaker 1: the Mayor of Atlanta. As a student, Cassine Read compelled
Speaker 1: Ryan to produce a hip hop concert for homecoming weekend.
Speaker 1: Of all the people who could have produced that concert
Speaker 1: would set off his stellar career. I wonder why Ryan
Speaker 1: was recruited, what made him so special all those years ago.
Speaker 1: So I've always been well, I've always been excited about
Speaker 1: the entertainment industry, right, But I can't rap, sing, dance
Speaker 1: my way out of a paperbag. Right, So I've always
Speaker 1: been excited about entertainment, but from a business perspective. Um So,
Speaker 1: So back then on the on campus, you know, I
Speaker 1: saw the energy that was being created not just on
Speaker 1: our campus, but the musical energy that existed clearly in
Speaker 1: New York, clearly in California where I was from, where
Speaker 1: I'm from, and Atlanta, and I thought it would be
Speaker 1: an amazing idea will to bring that energy to Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. And to on to Howard's campus, right amidst
Speaker 1: the wonderful culture of the of the go go experience
Speaker 1: that existed in in d C. So it's almost like
Speaker 1: gumbo that was being created right there on on Howard's campus.
Speaker 1: And I tell you this, you know, being all at
Speaker 1: Howard during those times was an incredible education, right. You know.
Speaker 1: Not only was I learning, will you know, scholastically, but
Speaker 1: I was also learning um other cultures really Michael, within
Speaker 1: my own culture, from individuals from different parts of the country, right,
Speaker 1: and built relationships, um with those individuals from Chicago, from
Speaker 1: New York, from d C, from Texas, and those relationships,
Speaker 1: as I tell my children today, are the relationships that
Speaker 1: have helped me become successful. Um. In life across multiple industries. Right. So,
Speaker 1: as you know, I went to how Our university, graduated
Speaker 1: from Howard, relocated to Atlanta, started a music and publishing
Speaker 1: company called Noontime. We made records at Noontime from everybody
Speaker 1: from Mary J. Blige to Aaliyah. We made records for
Speaker 1: puff Uh. We signed um Jeezy Noontime, we signed Sierra UM.
Speaker 1: But those relationships that we used to build that my
Speaker 1: first business, our first business I garnered on Howard's campus, right,
Speaker 1: So it was the relationships that I built, and it
Speaker 1: was also the ability to do business right from with
Speaker 1: the individuals that I that I met at Howard And
Speaker 1: that's really my foundation of of business and how I
Speaker 1: move UM into the future of of of Greenwood. There's
Speaker 1: so many young people who listen to this podcast and
Speaker 1: have dreams about being that front and center performer or
Speaker 1: the athlete or whatever. UM, and you said this, you know,
Speaker 1: I can't grap sing or dance whatever to say in
Speaker 1: my life. UM, in the pursuit of the business side
Speaker 1: of the entertainment industry A New Times where I met you,
Speaker 1: you know, so many years ago, feels like, UM, what
Speaker 1: did you realize about the economical difference between the performer
Speaker 1: who ultimately gets the bright lights and takes the selfies
Speaker 1: with fans versus the person who may walk into a
Speaker 1: room or go into a crowd undetected or unnoticed. So
Speaker 1: so on. On the economic side, um, let me just
Speaker 1: address address that. You know, it's lights, camera action, so
Speaker 1: so saving is always should be always at the forefront
Speaker 1: of anybody in entertainment or any other industries, uh frontal
Speaker 1: low in their thinking right because as we all know,
Speaker 1: in entertainment specifically, but just in life, nothing lasts forever.
Speaker 1: So so once you have that understanding that that you
Speaker 1: mentioned the right lights, at some point those lights will dim.
Speaker 1: I don't care if you are on stage or I
Speaker 1: don't care if you are backstage. Right, there is always
Speaker 1: someone who is gonna be a little more talented than
Speaker 1: you are, a little younger than you, a little faster
Speaker 1: than you. So you really have to look at your
Speaker 1: talent and understand will that that it's everything lass in
Speaker 1: chapters and in seasons. So you have to prepare yourself accordingly.
Speaker 1: You know, as a business person, you know I've been
Speaker 1: saying the art of recalibration is what can what allows
Speaker 1: you as a businessman to continue to grow. You know,
Speaker 1: I've been in in music, I've been in television and film.
Speaker 1: Now I am in uh in banking services and digital
Speaker 1: banking services industry. And you know, my recalibration has um
Speaker 1: allowed me to change industries. Right, But my strategies in
Speaker 1: the way I operate as a businessman remains consistent, and
Speaker 1: and that really starts with for me, trusting in God
Speaker 1: and putting God first with whatever I do right and
Speaker 1: then also doing the best that I can to treat
Speaker 1: people the way I want to be treated, um, whether
Speaker 1: they are on my side of the negotiating table or
Speaker 1: on the or whether they're on the opposite side of
Speaker 1: the table. A lot of times people will realize, you know, truly,
Speaker 1: honesty is really the best policy, whether you right, whether
Speaker 1: whether whether you want to. You'd say something to somebody
Speaker 1: that you think that they don't want to hear, and
Speaker 1: they might not want to hear it, but at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, if you're dealing with grown ups,
Speaker 1: grown ups will understand it and respect it, and then
Speaker 1: that will allow you no matter where your professional career
Speaker 1: journey takes you, will allow you to garner that same
Speaker 1: respect with that earlier individual or with the individual that
Speaker 1: you're a current be dealing with in that given time.
Speaker 1: So I mean, those are my two basic strategies of whatever.
Speaker 1: And listen, if I move to, um, opening up a
Speaker 1: hot dog stand in front of a a sports arena,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna use the same strategies of the same strategies
Speaker 1: I use in banking, the same strategies that I use
Speaker 1: intellivigient film, same strategies and methodologies are using music. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that honestly gives them the opportunity to deal with it. However,
Speaker 1: they got to deal with it, but come back to
Speaker 1: the table for everybody's benefit. Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned relationships,
Speaker 1: and um, you know I saw an interview with you
Speaker 1: where you said the best business advice you ever received
Speaker 1: was never give your partner surprises. Um. When I think
Speaker 1: about that advice, I consider how much a business partnership
Speaker 1: it's like a marriage and probably shouldn't be entered into frivolously. Right.
Speaker 1: And if if then we are of culture, as in
Speaker 1: black people, if we are the culture that drives all
Speaker 1: global culture, whether you're talking about food, fashion, music, sports
Speaker 1: or whatever. Then if you put two or three of
Speaker 1: us together, um, we should dominate, right if we're to
Speaker 1: you know, globally and all of these things, and we're
Speaker 1: not in everything, And so I wonder, um, is it
Speaker 1: because we may be misaligned with our partnerships or is
Speaker 1: it something else? I wonder what your thoughts are on
Speaker 1: how to build successful business partnerships because you've done so
Speaker 1: many over your career. Well, I should say, yeah, so
Speaker 1: so building successful partnerships. You know, in all candor, oftentimes
Speaker 1: people look at like myself, they only remember the successes.
Speaker 1: But will I have had multiple upon multiple upon multiple
Speaker 1: failures right to go along with those successes, I've actually
Speaker 1: learned more and appreciated and it sounds crazy, more in
Speaker 1: my failures than my successes, right. And in those failures,
Speaker 1: you know, I learned really how to treat people and
Speaker 1: how to um identify not just talent but also partnerships
Speaker 1: that I went and applied those tactics and strategies two
Speaker 1: businesses that ended up working. Right. So you know, we
Speaker 1: live in a generation now where everybody wants everything microwavable,
Speaker 1: you know, you know I you mentioned already promotion at Howard.
Speaker 1: I used to study, go to school, study, taking nap
Speaker 1: at night, wake up at twelve am in the morning
Speaker 1: and go pass out three thousand, four thousand flyers hand
Speaker 1: to hand at an event, at an upcoming event that
Speaker 1: I was promoting into the wee bit hours and then
Speaker 1: get up and do it all over again weeks on
Speaker 1: end while at school while promoting. Right, that's that's the
Speaker 1: grind now kids a lot of times and Raley, So
Speaker 1: technology is great. I'm thank the Lord for technology. But
Speaker 1: technology is could be a gift and a curse at
Speaker 1: the same time, because although you know, the younger generation
Speaker 1: is definitely on the hustle and I love it. I
Speaker 1: love everything that I see um from the the younger
Speaker 1: generation across multiple industries. But there's something to the fact
Speaker 1: to the art for me of putting a flyer on
Speaker 1: a car, Right, I did that. I did that. That
Speaker 1: that that you just you can't duplicate that. That grind
Speaker 1: hand combat, yeah, yeah, and that grind, that grind is
Speaker 1: always in the forefront of my mind whatever I do.
Speaker 1: It's ironic. Man. The the more uh the world perceives
Speaker 1: of my success, uh, the more instable in stable I become.
Speaker 1: Because I'm like, you know, I don't, I can't. I
Speaker 1: can't really, I can't really process success. I can only process.
Speaker 1: I can't process past success. I can only focus on
Speaker 1: what's in front of me, right, I get it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not looking backwards. I'm looking forwards, um, because there's
Speaker 1: there's still more work to be done, there's still more
Speaker 1: good trouble to get into, you know. Um, so so
Speaker 1: so that's that's that's my mindset, man, um. Far too
Speaker 1: many of us in our community have dreams of starting
Speaker 1: companies and don't have adequate business business banking relationships right
Speaker 1: or banking relationships period um. In fact, too many of
Speaker 1: us avoid banks altogether and or just use banks for
Speaker 1: you know, depositing their check and you know debit cards. Right.
Speaker 1: And you said in the previous interview, Uh, this is
Speaker 1: our time speaking about Greenwood to take back control of
Speaker 1: our lives, our financial future, um, for it would be
Speaker 1: entrepreneur in our community. What does a good banking relationship
Speaker 1: look like? This is a big question, but what does
Speaker 1: a good banking relationship look like? How are we supposed
Speaker 1: to engage with banks? Um? Bankers A should say, even
Speaker 1: for services other than justment making deposits into an account?
Speaker 1: And what level of banker should we be talking to?
Speaker 1: Like so we start with the teller, like, what, let's
Speaker 1: walk us through this. Yeah, so so so I believe
Speaker 1: speaking of technology, we're in a new digital age. So
Speaker 1: sixty of Americans are banking digitally currently UM. That number
Speaker 1: is kicking up around three per year. And there are
Speaker 1: really no authentic digital banking solutions that cater to the
Speaker 1: African American and Latin X community really until Greenwood. So
Speaker 1: we're a fintech neil bank that provides modern digital banking
Speaker 1: services for for the for the culture. Right. So, so
Speaker 1: you know some of our services your full service UH
Speaker 1: bank in your hand, savings and spending the count. We
Speaker 1: have Apple and Android pay, peer to peer, money transfers,
Speaker 1: mobile deposits, global ATM network, UM, no hidden fees, and
Speaker 1: one of my favorite features UM today early early pay UM.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is there are three
Speaker 1: problems well that we will solve UM and as a
Speaker 1: reason why we stood, we're standing green with up UM. One. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, in our communities there are far too many
Speaker 1: predatory banking services that we cater to. We want to
Speaker 1: extinguish those predatory services. Two and oh to Greenwood, we
Speaker 1: want to be a part of the solution of recirculating
Speaker 1: capital back into our communities as once had what was
Speaker 1: happened in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: we often hear about Black Wall Street in all of
Speaker 1: the thriving businesses that existed during the twenties and that time.
Speaker 1: But you know the reason why those businesses flourished is
Speaker 1: because one dollar recirculated thirty six times in that one community,
Speaker 1: and that allowed UM. That allowed the barber, the banks,
Speaker 1: the the grocers, the attorneys, right the the doctors, right
Speaker 1: the bowling alleys though, whatever businesses were in those communities,
Speaker 1: that money recirculated and everybody got a bite at the apple.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately for us in our community today, one dollar man
Speaker 1: recirculates six hours. So so you know, at Greenwood, through
Speaker 1: our Greenwood Gives Back round Up program, our customers have
Speaker 1: the opportunity to donate their rounded up changed to three
Speaker 1: causes we care about UM. One the n double A
Speaker 1: CP to fight civil rights, UM to U n c
Speaker 1: F to support education. And three there's a wonderful company
Speaker 1: in Atlanta that feeds um the hungry and homeless called
Speaker 1: good Er UM. And our customers have the opportunity to
Speaker 1: donate a portion of their rounded of change to either
Speaker 1: one of those organizations or a combination of the three.
Speaker 1: And then every quarter Greenwood UM we will UM as
Speaker 1: a banking solution donate and match those funds to those
Speaker 1: to those organizations. The third UM solution, the third problem
Speaker 1: that we're going to solve is the deployment of capital
Speaker 1: in our communities. Right. So, you know, I've started a
Speaker 1: couple of businesses that have done well. None of those
Speaker 1: businesses we're started or stood up with banking capital. So
Speaker 1: you know, we don't have the relationships that our counterparts
Speaker 1: have UM that allows us to create wealth personally or
Speaker 1: professionally like others do UM and and we plan on
Speaker 1: solving that problem UM or being a part of the
Speaker 1: solution to that problem. Uh So, really to answer your question,
Speaker 1: you know, we we are an authentic banking solution that
Speaker 1: knows how to because I am one identify small business
Speaker 1: owners UM that that you know have great ideas, have
Speaker 1: wonderful talent, I have a great support system, have a marketplace,
Speaker 1: but just don't have the capital to two turn their
Speaker 1: business from a micro business to a major business. And
Speaker 1: we're we're bullish, We're bullish on that um UM as
Speaker 1: a as A as a company. This she I read
Speaker 1: the book The Color of Money by Mercer Barraturan, and
Speaker 1: she talked about how black people have not yet overcome
Speaker 1: the mindset and systemic oppression of being capital to having capital.
Speaker 1: Ryan's new effort with Green Would Bank, it's on the
Speaker 1: mission to change that for many have tried before. How
Speaker 1: will Green Would make an impact on this pervasive issue?
Speaker 1: Ryan Glover speaks on it, Well, we have good reason.
Speaker 1: You read the book, so you understand we have good
Speaker 1: reason to mistrust banks. So you know in eighteen hundreds
Speaker 1: US A Freeman's bank, that right that that actually duped
Speaker 1: thousands of African Americans out of their savings, and those
Speaker 1: trustees who ran the bank, uh misappropriated their funds into
Speaker 1: investments that never panned out. They're over three thousand um
Speaker 1: um um um individuals who lost who lost money in
Speaker 1: that one bank and that actual trad tragedy and travesty. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: from a folklore standpoint, that story has been told generation
Speaker 1: to generation and we haven't gotten over it as a culture. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, there's no there's no mystery or there's no
Speaker 1: falsehood in our grandparents are great grandparents actually using their
Speaker 1: mattresses as their savings and deposits, right because bank mistrust.
Speaker 1: And then fast forward, you know all of the the
Speaker 1: the the issues that some traditional banks have had with
Speaker 1: predatory lending, redlining. Um you know of the sort. Uh
Speaker 1: you know, the current community doesn't we're not we're not
Speaker 1: trusting banks, um curb currently right. So you know we
Speaker 1: know also too that we are as a community, uh
Speaker 1: a lot less likely to receive loans than our white counterparts.
Speaker 1: So all of that combustion, combustible bad will for decades
Speaker 1: has created a mistrust in banks, right. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: we are attempting to build that trust back, and we're
Speaker 1: coming at an approaching it from a standpoint of I
Speaker 1: am not a banker, but we have hired bankers to
Speaker 1: operate our business. But me not being a physical banker,
Speaker 1: I understand. I believe what the community and the small
Speaker 1: business person and just the everyday African American and Latin
Speaker 1: X customer needs to understand on creating an authentic banking solution.
Speaker 1: And we're speaking directly and authentically, um to to that
Speaker 1: to that individual and hopefully over time we will build
Speaker 1: trust back into the community from a banking perspective. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, and yes there are other great African American
Speaker 1: banks that that exists, but I candidly think, you know
Speaker 1: not no of the traditionals or the African American current
Speaker 1: banks are speaking to the generation, Um, that we currently
Speaker 1: exist in the way we organically and authentically can and
Speaker 1: that's what we're that's what we're going to do it. Um,
Speaker 1: you've broken into very well, you know, these industries that
Speaker 1: have high bars in a lot of ways to get into,
Speaker 1: you know what, whether it be owning television stations and
Speaker 1: not holding a bank, etcetera. And talk to me like
Speaker 1: number one, like, what what is it that Ryan has
Speaker 1: in his background that says, you know what, we're going
Speaker 1: to give him the keys to this next level of
Speaker 1: success because a lot of people may go to start
Speaker 1: a television network and can't get it done. A lot
Speaker 1: of people want to start a bank, can't get it done,
Speaker 1: not for like a trying, But what is it? What
Speaker 1: is it that people miss? Here? Here's my secret partner
Speaker 1: with people as smart or smarter than you in those industries. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's where I start. UM. I always start with whether
Speaker 1: whether it be music, television, and film. UM, Now, banking services.
Speaker 1: I start with where is the opportunity and that KNT
Speaker 1: could be filled? That's not right. In music, we started
Speaker 1: Noontime from the auspices of they are amazed a ton
Speaker 1: of amazing production companies and record companies that are doing
Speaker 1: amazing work. So so Deaf bad Boy, Deaf Jam death
Speaker 1: Row right, death Row came a little bit after us,
Speaker 1: but you get my get my point um. But we
Speaker 1: at noon time, we all knew myself, Chris Hicks and
Speaker 1: Henry Lead, We all knew that neither none of us
Speaker 1: could wrap singer dance away out of a paper bag.
Speaker 1: But we are Angle was being the best business people
Speaker 1: that we could be to support the talent. Right that
Speaker 1: that led the company. We weren't the talent. And the
Speaker 1: other companies that we were competing with, they were led
Speaker 1: by talent. Our Angle was not to lead by talent,
Speaker 1: but lead through business and business executives. Right, So that
Speaker 1: was our niche bounce. We were the first African We
Speaker 1: are the first African American broadcast network in existence. Right,
Speaker 1: we knew, I knew that black and brown folks, um
Speaker 1: you know, wanted to watch compelling, captivating entertainment, entertaining television programming.
Speaker 1: But we all don't have dollars to UH enlisted in
Speaker 1: a cable operator, right, So how can we become the
Speaker 1: first over the air network that provided free entertaining UM
Speaker 1: content to the masses over the air broadcast content like
Speaker 1: an NBC, ABC, Fox. And we did it UM and
Speaker 1: partnered with individuals who knew that business like the back
Speaker 1: of their hands. Same thing with with with Greenwood UM.
Speaker 1: There's an opportunity to serve a zero served African American
Speaker 1: and Latin X community for a digital banking perspective UM.
Speaker 1: Partnering with bankers, UM and individuals of like thinking to
Speaker 1: grow this business is the way we're growing the Greenwood
Speaker 1: UH banking solution. So all all of the businesses that
Speaker 1: have all ever started always have started with the mission
Speaker 1: and then a devout commitment to create UH compelling content
Speaker 1: that I believe resonate with our consumers UM and then
Speaker 1: do it consistently UM. And that has just grown. And
Speaker 1: I believe, you know, going back to trust, will you know,
Speaker 1: based on my past successes and failures that folks don't
Speaker 1: talk about, I have built trust as an executive and
Speaker 1: that is carried over and from music to television and
Speaker 1: film and now the banking and in that trust is
Speaker 1: resonating in the community with our mission at Greenwood. UM.
Speaker 1: Speaking of what you were appointed to the Martyr board
Speaker 1: back and I think seen um, which to me indicates
Speaker 1: like that you see the correlations between like political power
Speaker 1: or influence and a true opportunity to serve your community
Speaker 1: and make it better. UM. So many business people avoid
Speaker 1: getting involved in government or politics, and so many government
Speaker 1: types either avoided don't have the jobs to succeed in
Speaker 1: an enterprise. UM. For those of us out there who
Speaker 1: are growing companies but also are getting called on to serve,
Speaker 1: how do you recommend we or they? UM, both think
Speaker 1: about their responsibility and their overall can see an ability
Speaker 1: to create chase for the community and for you know,
Speaker 1: their lineage. So here's how I'll answer that and kind
Speaker 1: of be around the block, but I'll get to my point.
Speaker 1: So I have five children from the ages of twenty
Speaker 1: one uh to seven, and I believe in that the
Speaker 1: more time you invest time that you invest into your children,
Speaker 1: the more successful they will become, and the the the
Speaker 1: more valuable from an economic standpoint they will become for themselves. Okay,
Speaker 1: soh so that time that I invest into my children
Speaker 1: may be perceived or directly a time suck for me
Speaker 1: that is not registering to a dollar earned. Right, what
Speaker 1: I understand that that investment that I don't reap a
Speaker 1: monetary benefit from, will harvest itself in my children's life generationally,
Speaker 1: that will provide for generational wealth down the world. Okay, UM,
Speaker 1: here's the analogy. The more you lend your talents and
Speaker 1: your services two causes and organizations that span outside of
Speaker 1: where you directly earn a living, too, will build and
Speaker 1: harvest relationships and value where that right that you will
Speaker 1: benefit from um. And you might not benefit from it
Speaker 1: directly or the next day or the next week, but
Speaker 1: inevitably you will benefit directly or you know, or you
Speaker 1: will be the benefactor, or you will allow someone else
Speaker 1: to benefit from the from the knowledge that you provide
Speaker 1: to them, which is the value. Right. So you know,
Speaker 1: I often I get asked to do favors often, and
Speaker 1: a lot of times UM individuals say hey, well if
Speaker 1: you can do this for me, I will do that
Speaker 1: this for you. I will never do favors looking for
Speaker 1: a direct return, right, because I know, and I've been
Speaker 1: living long enough to know that that return will come
Speaker 1: in a different form and fashion. Um, maybe not even
Speaker 1: directly back to me, but someone that I have a
Speaker 1: relationship with or get this, I may need that same
Speaker 1: favor of the person in ten years of the person
Speaker 1: that asked me for the favor ten years previous. So
Speaker 1: I like to bank my favors. No pun intendon. That's good.
Speaker 1: That's good man, That's really really good. That was heavy
Speaker 1: been there? What kind of benefit did going digital all
Speaker 1: digital have for you in Greenwood? Like, could you have
Speaker 1: achieved your mission of building wealth you know, money circulation
Speaker 1: in the black community and generational wealth transfer with brick
Speaker 1: and Mortar. And here's what I'm getting out before you
Speaker 1: answer it. What is different about the opportunity in doing
Speaker 1: business to day at scale versus eighteen years ago or
Speaker 1: years ago? Yeah, so brick and Mortar, No, um, because
Speaker 1: my our message can resonate in California, it can resonate
Speaker 1: in Chicago, it can resonate in Atlanta, it can resonate
Speaker 1: in Savannah, it can resonate in d C. It can
Speaker 1: resonate in Newark, it can resonate in Compton, it can
Speaker 1: resonate um. Currently, domestically it's going to resonate internationally as well. Um,
Speaker 1: we could not stand up, um brick and mortar banks
Speaker 1: fast enough right in order to I believe, keep up
Speaker 1: with the demand of the service that we are going
Speaker 1: to provide. Two, I believe that those brick and mortar
Speaker 1: costs are are not necessarily archaic in having to do
Speaker 1: but don't serve the customer as well as a digital
Speaker 1: offering will, because at some point the customer pays for
Speaker 1: that brick and mortar spind, it trickles down in some way,
Speaker 1: shape or form. Okay, we nor any other bank or charities.
Speaker 1: So we will make money, but we hope to make
Speaker 1: our customers uh a lot more money as well than
Speaker 1: they're currently making as well. So so that's our philosophy
Speaker 1: on on brick and mortar. No, and finally, Ryan, UM,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take us back to the beginning because I
Speaker 1: want to end on this which I think is a
Speaker 1: really powerful thing. So, Um, you graduated with a degree
Speaker 1: in accounting and after a while I read the story said,
Speaker 1: after a while of working in the field, Um, you
Speaker 1: called to tell your mom that you hated working in
Speaker 1: the county, and she cursed you out for about thirty
Speaker 1: straight minutes and afterwards gave you your blessing to go
Speaker 1: into your thing in music. And so the chapters of
Speaker 1: your career looks something like, you know, accounting the music,
Speaker 1: to fashion with Ryan Kinney, to TV and now to banking.
Speaker 1: For people who today might feel that some cost of
Speaker 1: spending so much time pursuing something, or so much time
Speaker 1: in an industry that that may not feel them, um,
Speaker 1: I mean keeps them from switching gears. What do you
Speaker 1: hope your story inspires in them? Be brave? Right, um?
Speaker 1: Trust God and be brave. Um. And thirdly, uh, you've
Speaker 1: got to be more in line with your passion then
Speaker 1: the money that you think you'll make. The harder you
Speaker 1: chase a dollar, the faster that dollar will run away
Speaker 1: from you, You follow your passion, you follow your heart,
Speaker 1: and you follow your talent. All right, Listen, I want
Speaker 1: to play second base for the Atlanta Braves right now,
Speaker 1: right at fifty, I still think I can turn a
Speaker 1: mean double play. Um, but I'm fifty and I can't
Speaker 1: turn a mean double play like a guy a team
Speaker 1: right nineteen twenty, that's right, that's in the maize, right.
Speaker 1: So I'm passionate about baseball. I love the sport, but
Speaker 1: my talent isn't there. So you gotta marry. You gotta
Speaker 1: marry being brave, with with passion, with for me, faith
Speaker 1: in God and talent right and a lot of times
Speaker 1: when I say talent, it may not be personal talent
Speaker 1: that you own, but you have to be intelligent enough
Speaker 1: to partner with individuals who have that talent that you need,
Speaker 1: that can work with the talent that you have in
Speaker 1: order to make your vision growth. So so that is
Speaker 1: that that would be my three or four keys to success.
Speaker 1: Ye Black Tech, Green money is and producing. The Black
Speaker 1: of the afro Tech is produced by Morgan to Bond
Speaker 1: and me Will Lucas, with additional production support by Love
Speaker 1: Beach and Ray veneer Bort. Special thank you to Michael
Speaker 1: Davis is the cars of Von Yann you know like
Speaker 1: the wine and yes that's his real name. Learn more
Speaker 1: about my guests and other tech disruptors and innovators at
Speaker 1: afrotech dot com. Don't get your money, He's in love.