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Speaker 1: If you're about to make a change in your life

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Speaker 1: and you feel uncomfortable, that's the best feeling you can

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Speaker 1: have because for the first time in your life, you'll

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Speaker 1: make a new decision that's going to be best for

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Speaker 1: you and not what somebody told you to do. And

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Speaker 1: that's when all bets are off. Welcome to Money Making

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Speaker 1: Conversation Masterclass. I'm your host with Shan McDonald. Our theme

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Speaker 1: is there's no perfect time to start following your dreams.

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Speaker 1: I recognize that we all have different definitions of success.

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Speaker 1: For you and maybe the size of your HM. It's

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Speaker 1: time to stop reading other people's success stories to start

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Speaker 1: living your own keep winning. My guest today is Derek D. Hayes.

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Speaker 1: He was recently featured on the cover of Essence magazine

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Speaker 1: his vision for his restaurant, Big Dave's Cheesecake beginning twenty fourteen,

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Speaker 1: as he aimed to merge his passion for community food

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Speaker 1: and business. Well started as a small water ice shop

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Speaker 1: in seven half roughly seven hundred fifty square food gas

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Speaker 1: station and Donewoodie, Georgia. Since twenty sixteen has generated nationally

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Speaker 1: and on big days cheesecake. If you've not been there,

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Speaker 1: I recommend you go there. He's right down the street

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Speaker 1: from my business. My staff they need, they need to

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Speaker 1: have stock in these business that's how much they go. There.

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Speaker 1: A thriving cheesecake empire with store and mobile locations all

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Speaker 1: across Metro Atlanta. Hayes is also the founder of Dave

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Speaker 1: and Derek Hayes Foundation and co owner of vegan cheesecake

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Speaker 1: concept Dinkies with Sludy Vegan Atlanta CEO and vegan restaurant

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Speaker 1: phenom Pinky col In twenty twenty one. Hayes' passion for

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Speaker 1: community and food landing him an illustrious spot as a

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Speaker 1: Forbes twenty twenty one next one thousand on a rate.

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Speaker 1: Let's discuss this journey into Big Dave's Cheesecake, being a

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Speaker 1: community leader, being bigger than food. Please, welcome to Money

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Speaker 1: Making Conversations, Masterclass, Derek D. Hayes.

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Speaker 2: How you doing, sir, I'm good man. Thank you so much,

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Speaker 2: mister Rashan McDonalds for having me. Man.

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Speaker 3: I appreciate you. Brother.

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Speaker 1: Hey Man, had I had to lay it out there

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Speaker 1: for you, Derek, because you don't Because now you did.

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Speaker 3: Man, that was good.

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Speaker 2: You know sometimes hearing you know the stuff that you did.

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Speaker 3: You know along the way it feels good.

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Speaker 2: You know, ah, your heart wreak, you know somebody else innerness,

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Speaker 2: So it's always a blessing.

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Speaker 1: Well, the thing about it is you should be because

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Speaker 1: sometimes I have a segment I do a local show,

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Speaker 1: Must Show Syndicates, and I do it live every Tuesday.

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Speaker 1: I love to invite you on it, by the way,

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Speaker 1: on WCLK every Tuesday, and it's called a bragging segment,

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Speaker 1: and I encourage people to call in and talk about

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Speaker 1: what they've done. Because we tend to be too humble

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Speaker 1: about our business. I always encourage people to remind them that,

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Speaker 1: you know, McDonald brags for brags, and we need to

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Speaker 1: brag about what we do. So everything that you have

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Speaker 1: accomplished is part of your success story. Is not what

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Speaker 1: we see when we get that sandwich because that cheesecake sandwich,

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Speaker 1: because what happens was there's a journey to get there.

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Speaker 1: So how did I hear the date twenty fourteen? I

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Speaker 1: hear the small gas station. I hear seven hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty square feet, which is the size of my apartment

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Speaker 1: in college. So I know what that feels like. So

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Speaker 1: talk to us about it because obviously there was a

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Speaker 1: walk kid, there wasn't a sit down diner. Tell us

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Speaker 1: about the whole concept of what you have turned into

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Speaker 1: an empire so far and it's growing.

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Speaker 2: Well, well, first I want to start off with saying

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Speaker 2: the mission and you know, and an honor was my father,

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Speaker 2: you know, that was everything.

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Speaker 3: That the reason why I built big days.

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Speaker 2: He passed away from lung cancer in two thousand and nine,

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Speaker 2: and my dad dying wish was for me to you know,

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Speaker 2: stand on my own ten toes and change my generational patterns.

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Speaker 3: And you know, not to get in trouble.

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Speaker 2: And you know, he worked his whole life and he

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Speaker 2: thought he left a lot behind and he didn't.

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Speaker 3: So I was able to see.

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Speaker 2: A blue collar work of my whole life and now

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Speaker 2: transpiring to me building my brain and honor and my father.

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Speaker 2: It was it was you know a lot of hard work,

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Speaker 2: but it was something that my mission and my passion

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Speaker 2: what I really wanted to do because just think about it,

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Speaker 2: a lot of people build.

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Speaker 3: Brands just for money.

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Speaker 2: You know, I built this for a purpose of really,

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Speaker 2: you know, believing in my father, you know, his dreams

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Speaker 2: and where he wanted before he left their So it

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Speaker 2: actually helped me and tricked me into one and more

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Speaker 2: out of my own self. So when I built big days,

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Speaker 2: I didn't know anything about business. I didn't know how

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Speaker 2: to you know, pay sales and use text. I didn't

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Speaker 2: know anything about you know, getting ADP. I didn't know

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Speaker 2: anything about food costs.

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Speaker 3: All I wanted to do was.

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Speaker 2: Better my life and you know, get out of situations

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Speaker 2: I was in at the time. But in the midst

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Speaker 2: of all of this, I was able to start in

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Speaker 2: a small gas station because nobody went to rent me

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Speaker 2: in space out you know, I'm going all over Atlanta.

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Speaker 2: I'm saying, you know, I got the money, you know,

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Speaker 2: I you know I need that, you know, need the space,

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Speaker 2: and everybody's like, you know, but you don't have the

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Speaker 2: business experience. It only took me this one shot. I

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Speaker 2: always learned this in life. One shot can change your

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Speaker 2: life forever. And that gas station was my shot because

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Speaker 2: that Indian guy rented me that space. And you know,

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Speaker 2: I had no business experience, and I was able to

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Speaker 2: make that nationally known. You know, in seven years of

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Speaker 2: my hard work. Now along the way, I had a

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Speaker 2: lot of roller coaster rise. You know, I got taken

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Speaker 2: advantage of a lot by contractors, even you know, employees,

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Speaker 2: you know, because I had a you know, soft heart,

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Speaker 2: you know, you know, I wanted to see everybody grow

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Speaker 2: at the time. But it built my tough skin along

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Speaker 2: the way because I had to understand for me to

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Speaker 2: scale this business, I had to become a real entrepreneur.

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Speaker 2: So I started really, you know, doing my Google university,

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Speaker 2: my YouTube university. I'm learning, you know, how to really

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Speaker 2: you know, do these things. And so I don't get

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Speaker 2: taken advantage of it because I didn't finish school. You know,

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Speaker 2: I got a high school diploma, but I don't, you know,

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Speaker 2: I didn't finish college. So and I got forty some

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Speaker 2: tattoos on my body, so I don't look like the

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Speaker 2: average CEO. So when people look at me, you know,

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Speaker 2: I got to come on my things together so they

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Speaker 2: could take me serious. And the way I did that

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Speaker 2: was to build multiple successful businesses along the way throughout

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Speaker 2: the years.

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Speaker 1: Now, when you show this gas station, there's a gas

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Speaker 1: station seven hundred and fifties roughly, they said, you said

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Speaker 1: seven forty nine. I'm just gonna say, se get one

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Speaker 1: more square for seven fifty seven fifth square free. Why

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Speaker 1: at what area of town was they done witty, But

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Speaker 1: what area of doun witty? And why did you think?

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Speaker 1: What did you have to bring it? Because this is

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Speaker 1: a gas station. Now you're cooking in the gas station.

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Speaker 1: So talk about that setup and then being able to

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Speaker 1: sell the concept to the community and to your friends,

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Speaker 1: because the friends really is a hard sale because they

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Speaker 1: going to tell you it's not a smart idea.

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Speaker 3: So that's how.

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Speaker 2: I actually wounded up in the kitchen cooking myself because

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Speaker 2: I tried to get a cook of cheese steak.

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Speaker 3: And my friends was like, nah, it's not home.

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Speaker 2: And not to mention, I am in this little gas

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Speaker 2: station with one grill and one fryar and it's all electric.

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Speaker 3: You know. I don't know if a lot of people know.

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Speaker 2: Cooking on electricity and cooking on gas is totally different

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Speaker 2: because the grill goes in and out.

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Speaker 3: You know, temperature is different.

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Speaker 2: When you pick cold no items on there, you lose temperature.

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Speaker 2: So I had to actually learn how to cook on

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Speaker 2: these disadvantage you know, equipment that I had, and then

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Speaker 2: I was cooking on used the equipment. At the same time.

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Speaker 2: I had no employees at the time. It's just me

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Speaker 2: being a cashier. The cook accounting inventory, anything that I

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Speaker 2: had to do to make it because I wanted to

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Speaker 2: be successful in a way I had to do that

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Speaker 2: was put myself in all these situations.

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Speaker 3: To be able to you know, work hard to do

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Speaker 3: that myself.

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Speaker 2: Because I didn't have the money at the time to

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Speaker 2: to you know, give people to help me. Because at

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Speaker 2: the end of the day, I blew my money, you know,

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Speaker 2: and I spent my last you know, building Big Dave.

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Speaker 2: So I really had to get it out the mud.

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Speaker 2: So I would say that self belief is more than

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Speaker 2: anything that I had to do along the way, is

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Speaker 2: believing in myself. If you don't believe in yourself, there's

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Speaker 2: no way that you can get somebody else to believe

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Speaker 2: in you. So when I started believing in myself more,

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Speaker 2: I started to get you know, a little bit of traffic.

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Speaker 2: And to be honest, man, I tell everybody, Eve the rapper,

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Speaker 2: Eve Man, she was a big play, you know, a

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Speaker 2: big part of my story because in the midst of me,

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Speaker 2: you know, going through this year and now open, I

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Speaker 2: don't have no traffic.

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Speaker 3: Still I'm going under. You know.

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Speaker 2: Of course, if you can't pay the bills, eventually you're

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Speaker 2: gonna have to shut them doors and she posted me

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Speaker 2: on her social network.

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Speaker 3: Man, I made a chicken cheese steak for her.

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Speaker 1: Man right, and you know, so I did? You I

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Speaker 1: did because rapper, you famous, you know, great following, so

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Speaker 1: loyal following first of all. And so where were you

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Speaker 1: at for that connection to make? Did you know her?

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Speaker 1: Or she found out about your fusion recommended your food?

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Speaker 1: Tell me about that stuff.

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Speaker 3: I was a friend. It was a friend.

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Speaker 2: It was a friend, friend of a friend, and she

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Speaker 2: was shooting barbershop.

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Speaker 3: You know, she was shooting the movie.

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Speaker 2: And I waited all day for her to come, like

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Speaker 2: a kid on Christmas, I'm talking about.

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Speaker 3: She ain't come.

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Speaker 2: Man, you know, you know I ain't get discoveraged that.

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Speaker 2: I said, you know, I'm gonna keep on fighting. And

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Speaker 2: the next day she really came. And as I was

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Speaker 2: making this chicken cheese steak. You know what she told me,

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Speaker 2: She said, if this sandwich is good, I'm gonna post

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Speaker 2: it on my social media networks.

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Speaker 3: Now you gotta think about it. I'm a kid from Philly,

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Speaker 3: I'm all my red sizes. I exhausted everything and now.

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Speaker 2: I'm like ship my life depends on is I gotta

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Speaker 2: make the.

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Speaker 3: Sandwich the best I can make it. And when I

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Speaker 3: made this sandwich, she bit it.

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Speaker 2: She went't crazy, she said, oh man, you.

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Speaker 3: Brung me home.

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Speaker 2: And she put it on every social media outlet she

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Speaker 2: had at the time. And when I tell you, the

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Speaker 2: next day, I made five thousand dollars. That was my

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Speaker 2: biggest day ever at the time. And it was just

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Speaker 2: up from there. I started to be able to get

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Speaker 2: the community more involved because they seem traffic. You know,

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Speaker 2: people eat off of their eyes. You know, they see lines,

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Speaker 2: they say, well, got to be good. So I was

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Speaker 2: able to start building lines. And then the next part

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Speaker 2: of my journey that was a very big part of

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Speaker 2: my mission, was in twenty eighteen, I was picked to

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Speaker 2: go to a sandwich competition and Orange Beach, Alabama, and

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Speaker 2: I ranked number seventh in the world.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Orange Beach, Alabama sandwich competition. Okay, now this ain't

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Speaker 1: New York.

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Speaker 3: This ain't that like, You're not even Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: You a Orange Beach, Alabama sandwich competition. So see, that's

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Speaker 1: what I love about you. You know, you tell this story.

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Speaker 1: It is so normal to you. But Orange Beach, Alaba,

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Speaker 1: I don't think going to orangeby, Alabama gonna do anything

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Speaker 1: for anybody, but tell us about this competition and why

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Speaker 1: it was important to go.

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Speaker 2: So so it was important to go because, for one,

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Speaker 2: I wanted to represent that not only had the best

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Speaker 2: cheese steak, but I wanted to have the best sandwich.

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Speaker 2: And honestly, it was an opportunity for me. You know,

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Speaker 2: I was hungry, you know, I had to fire in

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Speaker 2: my belly for success. I was waiting for my moment,

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Speaker 2: and when I got picked, I was ready for it.

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Speaker 2: But to be honest, when I got there, you know,

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Speaker 2: it was a little discussion because I was cooking on

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Speaker 2: a barbecue grill. Now, mind you, how do you make

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Speaker 2: a cheese steak on a barbecue grill because they don't

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Speaker 2: have flat tops. So what I had to do. I

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Speaker 2: went to Walmart and got a skill it and like

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Speaker 2: a flat top, and I put it over that gas

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Speaker 2: grill and I got that thing hot and I made

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Speaker 2: them cheese steaks, just like I was at Big Days.

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Speaker 2: You know, I took my obscoles and I pivoted, because

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Speaker 2: that's the thing. When you don't pivot when stuff happened,

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Speaker 2: you're gonna sink, You're gonna give up. You know, I'm

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Speaker 2: already at disadvantage, you know, to Americans. I'm a black

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Speaker 2: man to come from the ghetto, so I was supposed

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Speaker 2: to be here anyway, sure, you know. So the way

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Speaker 2: I was looking at it was, this is my opportunity

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Speaker 2: to make some noise for me and my people, to

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Speaker 2: show that I deserve to be here.

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Speaker 3: And when they.

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Speaker 1: Show what I'm saying when you say that in the

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Speaker 1: diversity at this competition was not much, when you make

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Speaker 1: a staatemle.

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Speaker 2: I can't I can't count on my my fingers how

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Speaker 2: many black people in this competition. And it probably was

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Speaker 2: maybe fifteen thousand, you know, could have been could have

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Speaker 2: been a little less, a little bit more, I'm not sure,

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Speaker 2: but I know that it was a good amount of people,

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Speaker 2: know that's trying to qualify for this, for this cooking competition.

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Speaker 3: And honestly, I never forget.

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Speaker 2: I gave Bo Jackson a Dave's Way, and I said,

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Speaker 2: I know I had a big shot because I knew

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Speaker 2: I was.

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Speaker 3: Making this sandwich.

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Speaker 2: But you know, all of my grind, my blood, sweat

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Speaker 2: and terrace, all these years of me working, I said,

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Speaker 2: I ain't come here to lose, man, you know, I

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Speaker 2: came here to show out and show on.

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Speaker 3: And honestly, and they called Derrick Hayes.

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Speaker 2: They said, you know, top qualifiers, top ten in the world.

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Speaker 2: And when they called me, I was talking to somebody

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Speaker 2: because we was in this big facility, right and I

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Speaker 2: was looking at them like they just called my name.

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Speaker 2: And it was mind blowing because at the end of

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Speaker 2: the day, you want to win, you want to get

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Speaker 2: to the mountain top, you want to get there. But

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Speaker 2: when they really call you a name, all your years

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Speaker 2: of your heart.

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Speaker 3: Work and everything you've been through start to pan out.

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Speaker 2: And honestly, it was emotional for me because again, just

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Speaker 2: like you said, it was an Orange Beach, Alabama, and

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Speaker 2: me as a black man, winning anything at Orange Beach, Alabama.

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Speaker 1: Was a win for me on a barbecue grill on

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Speaker 1: a barbecue grill on a barbecue was skill it for

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Speaker 1: Walmart exactly.

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Speaker 2: You know, That's how a lot of myo a lot

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Speaker 2: of my journey was built off of blood, sweat and

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Speaker 2: tears and getting it out the mud for real, because

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Speaker 2: I wanted people to see a real, authentic side of

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Speaker 2: what I was building. I don't want people to, you know,

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Speaker 2: see that anything that was given because I wanted them

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Speaker 2: to see that if the reason verses with short and

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Speaker 2: they looking at me, they can do it too.

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Speaker 4: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more

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Speaker 4: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making

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Speaker 4: Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan MacDonald.

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Speaker 1: Well, the beauty of this conversation that I'm having with

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Speaker 1: you is that I know that establishing your brand because

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Speaker 1: setbacks are part of your growth. Now, in twenty twenty,

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Speaker 1: we all faced the pandemic and at that point we

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Speaker 1: didn't know what to do, and so you used the

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Speaker 1: word pivot early in your conversation, the word pivot, which

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Speaker 1: I think is really important this conversation. When we talked

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Speaker 1: to young entrepreneurs who have a goal set in place,

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Speaker 1: this is how I'm going to do it, and sometimes

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Speaker 1: when something interrupts that goal, they frustration sets in or

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Speaker 1: they throw their hands up. When COVID the country was

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Speaker 1: set down, how did you react to that and did

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Speaker 1: you have a game plan?

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Speaker 2: Dave, I'm gonna say this. I'm gonna say this in

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Speaker 2: the most humblest way. My life was a pitvot. I

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Speaker 2: come from West Philadelphia. I come from the jungle. I

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Speaker 2: come from Atlanta opportunity if you want it, because you

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Speaker 2: got to go get it. So when this happened in

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Speaker 2: this pandemic, of course, nobody had ever seen this tragedy

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Speaker 2: happened in the world like this, But I knew the

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Speaker 2: city I came from taught me how to pivot, So

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Speaker 2: I wasn't.

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Speaker 3: Going to quit.

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Speaker 2: I was going to find out a way to help

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Speaker 2: people while I was helping my brand be able to

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Speaker 2: grow at the same time.

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Speaker 3: In a way I was able to do that was

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Speaker 3: I was.

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Speaker 2: Able to give a thousand plus meals to the community

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Speaker 2: because those same people that was going through those hard times.

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Speaker 3: Were the same people standing in my lines.

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Speaker 2: And then I wanted to help the healthcare workers, those

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Speaker 2: frontline workers.

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Speaker 3: Those were the.

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Speaker 2: Same people that was patting their life on the line

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Speaker 2: every day for people that had COVID, and we didn't

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Speaker 2: really know how dangerous COVID was at the time, so.

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Speaker 3: Those people I wanted to help.

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Speaker 2: I fed forty plus hospitals in a month of COVID

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Speaker 2: the first month. You know, really, no, we didn't know

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Speaker 2: what was going on, and I put my life on

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Speaker 2: the line just as well going to those hospitals because

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Speaker 2: I believed that it was a bigger purpose that they

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Speaker 2: seen an entrepreneur, a young black kid that come from

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Speaker 2: the ghetto standing up. Some other people would stand up,

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Speaker 2: and then we will all stand.

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Speaker 3: Up together, and we were reunite.

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Speaker 2: And being able to get our communities back together in downtown.

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Speaker 3: I was able to help out.

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Speaker 2: I donated twenty six thousand dollars to help businesses get

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Speaker 2: back open. So for me, it wasn't about making the

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Speaker 2: money in the pandemic pandemic, it was about helping others

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Speaker 2: get their doors back open, so that people could see

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Speaker 2: what type of person I was and what I stand from,

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Speaker 2: what I represent, and what I wanted out of my

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Speaker 2: own self. If you can look through a vision of me,

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Speaker 2: you can look through the vision of the community.

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Speaker 3: And we can grow together. And that's what I was

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Speaker 3: trying to do.

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Speaker 1: Well, you did it, and because you were recognized by

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Speaker 1: four twenty one, next one thousand on the red now again,

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Speaker 1: you know it goes back to Alabama. You know you

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Speaker 1: got that, you're in a tent. You know they call

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Speaker 1: your name. Didn't know that was going to happen. You shocked.

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Speaker 1: Now you're doing all this great work for the community.

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Speaker 1: You know, like you said, Now, one part in your

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Speaker 1: conversation where you're talking about selling, you're talking about uplifting, giving,

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Speaker 1: giving given twenty six thousand, there thousand sandwiches there. All

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Speaker 1: about the drive is if I give, then they show support.

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Speaker 1: It creates loyalty. That's a business model that corporations do

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Speaker 1: all the time, and that comes from service. Now, service

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Speaker 1: drives your business. Customer service is a high priority as

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Speaker 1: far as how you communicate with your with your customer base.

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Speaker 2: Correct, yes, yes, but I think I think with me,

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Speaker 2: with me, sir, I think with me is people see, yes, sir,

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Speaker 2: that I'm real. They see the authentic side of it,

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Speaker 2: like I'm not stripted.

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Speaker 3: You know, I show my flaws.

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Speaker 2: I show my my my ups and down so that

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Speaker 2: you don't make the same mistakes that I made.

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Speaker 3: I'm not selling you food.

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Speaker 2: I'm selling you hope and I'm selling you a dream

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Speaker 2: a kid like me believing and want to make a change.

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Speaker 3: And when they see that, they put.

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Speaker 2: The food to the side for a second. They know

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Speaker 2: I make good food. Everybody loves my food, but they

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Speaker 2: also love the passion and the story that I'm putting

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Speaker 2: out because it's so many.

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Speaker 3: Other people out here in the world that need that help.

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Speaker 3: You think about it. It could be a young kid that

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Speaker 3: looked just like me thirty four years old. He might

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Speaker 3: be in the hood trying to get out of not

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Speaker 3: being no, selling drugs or a bad situation.

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Speaker 2: He can go ahead and punch on Instagram and look

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Speaker 2: at me and say, listen, I know this kid came

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Speaker 2: from the same thing I came from. I could do

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Speaker 2: it too. That's bigger than me than any money. That's

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Speaker 2: the biggest thing for me. You know. I could be

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Speaker 2: walking in the market and somebody will walk up to

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Speaker 2: me and say, hey, man, you don't even understand.

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Speaker 3: You saved my life. You made me want to change.

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Speaker 3: You made me want more out of myself.

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Speaker 2: And I used the food to be able to step

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Speaker 2: and stone and trigger that. I was told this once

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Speaker 2: upon in my life. My eye was bad on cancer

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Speaker 2: in two thousand and five. My name was Teresa Hennigan.

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Speaker 2: She eventually passed away, but in the middle of this

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Speaker 2: I went to a church with her and a pastor.

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Speaker 2: He told me in my ear, he said, you're going

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Speaker 2: to be a pastor.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 2: At the time, I'm playing basketball, I had who dreams

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Speaker 2: to make it to the NBA.

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Speaker 3: I said, I'm not going to be no pastor. A

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Speaker 3: pastor is not about getting on a poor pit. It's

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Speaker 3: about spreading the message. It's about giving a message so

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Speaker 3: other people could receive. And right now, every day I

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Speaker 3: spread the message.

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Speaker 2: When these people out here seeing big day build these

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Speaker 2: two locations, young black kid comes from the ghetto, bill

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Speaker 2: multi million dollar companies left and right right now, they

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Speaker 2: get motivated by that. So for me, that's the biggest motivation.

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Speaker 2: For me.

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Speaker 3: It ain't about the money. It's about the motivation for

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Speaker 3: my people.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know the interesting thing about it. You know

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Speaker 1: when I saw you on the cover of Essence. You

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Speaker 1: know usually you know when you on the cover of Essence,

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Speaker 1: you know, you interest Ailblew. You know what I'm saying,

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Speaker 1: you know, Michael B. Jordan, you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 3: That's man, that's the legendary. Go go go, go go.

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Speaker 1: That's it. Nice smiling y'all, y'all, y'all all the y'all.

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Speaker 1: I gotta tell you he's straightened up a little bit

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Speaker 1: when I started talking about being on the cover of

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Speaker 1: Essence because Essence, like you know, because I'm older than you.

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Speaker 1: That's the you know, that's Ebony back in my day.

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Speaker 1: That's Jet magazine back in my day. You know, you

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Speaker 1: saw that you left that on the coffee table. Wouldn't

439
00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,280
Speaker 1: happen because you know, that was an announcement about your brand.

440
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,400
Speaker 1: But it's even a bigger announcement for you because it

441
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,720
Speaker 1: wasn't entertainment driven your parent on there. It was about

442
00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,879
Speaker 1: you as a person, what you do for the community,

443
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,200
Speaker 1: and you being able to step out. Like you talk

444
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:05,479
Speaker 1: about your background, you come from humble beginnings, you come

445
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,280
Speaker 1: from Philadelphia, you come from a neighborhood like I came

446
00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,199
Speaker 1: from a neighborhood where people stereotype your success. You know,

447
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,360
Speaker 1: you know exactly you driving that neighborhood. Then people will

448
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:18,920
Speaker 1: question why you come out how exactly it's like you

449
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:19,879
Speaker 1: you lucky?

450
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:22,520
Speaker 2: You turns like that you don't like you don't belong here,

451
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,000
Speaker 2: like you like you ain't deserve it. And I think, see,

452
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:27,840
Speaker 2: and that's what I'm trying to teach too. You know,

453
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,240
Speaker 2: I was asked this question yesterday. I was having a

454
00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,360
Speaker 2: conversation and they said, why do you think our culture,

455
00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:36,400
Speaker 2: you know, handle things differently?

456
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,439
Speaker 3: And the reason what that being is just imagine if you.

457
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,640
Speaker 2: Was a kid on Christmas, right right, everybody got this toy,

458
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,959
Speaker 2: but this one kid got the best toy that everybody wanted.

459
00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:48,760
Speaker 3: That if that kid never.

460
00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,720
Speaker 2: Was taught how to share that toy, because he never

461
00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,119
Speaker 2: had the resources to feel good about having anything that

462
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,800
Speaker 2: feel good, then how can that kid ever know he's

463
00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,320
Speaker 2: going wrong? When you in an environment of everything a

464
00:19:58,359 --> 00:19:59,919
Speaker 2: certain way, that's what you're accustomed to.

465
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:02,880
Speaker 3: Now, what I'm trying to show different is.

466
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,720
Speaker 2: Okay, we step out of these boundaries of these inner cities,

467
00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,800
Speaker 2: these lower income communities, and now we got social media

468
00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:11,560
Speaker 2: outlets showing us when it's right from wrong.

469
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:13,400
Speaker 3: But the leaders that.

470
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,600
Speaker 2: Got the voice got to help out and say, listen,

471
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,120
Speaker 2: now that we got the ball in our hands, let's.

472
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,639
Speaker 3: Stick together and change these communities out and give resources.

473
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,080
Speaker 3: Let's build community.

474
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:26,240
Speaker 2: Centers, centers, Let's build financial literacy program so that when.

475
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,160
Speaker 3: Kids get to high school and when they about.

476
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:29,639
Speaker 2: To get out of high school, they ain't lost on

477
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,399
Speaker 2: about a credit card or or how they going to

478
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,280
Speaker 2: do their financial literacy, or how they're going to get

479
00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,919
Speaker 2: through college. They know that spending over thirty percent on

480
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,800
Speaker 2: their credit card going to mess they credit up before

481
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,560
Speaker 2: the bill cycle hit, they know that they can now you.

482
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 3: Know, utilize their capital before.

483
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,440
Speaker 2: That bill cycle hit so that now they're not getting

484
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 2: pittllized for interest.

485
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,399
Speaker 3: So they rotating this money making money.

486
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,119
Speaker 2: They know how to get cash back cash rewards cards

487
00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:53,040
Speaker 2: when they spending money to put it in they savings

488
00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,760
Speaker 2: account when it earns enough money to now move the

489
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,320
Speaker 2: money and it's free money off of spending money. But

490
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,000
Speaker 2: we can't teach that when know that, and all we

491
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,199
Speaker 2: can know is what's going on in these communities to survive.

492
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,679
Speaker 2: Like I said, where I come from at in Philly,

493
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,560
Speaker 2: I was born to just survive and my day of

494
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,600
Speaker 2: living it was my dead survival. I ain't thinking about tomorrow.

495
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,040
Speaker 2: So I'm trying to teach my generation. Now let's worry

496
00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:16,480
Speaker 2: about tomorrow. Because when you've got kids, you got to

497
00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,200
Speaker 2: lead them set up for when you ain't here, you

498
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:19,639
Speaker 2: got to take care of them from the grave.

499
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:21,399
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. That's why we're doing as

500
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:23,120
Speaker 3: a life insurance initiative right now.

501
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:28,840
Speaker 1: Wow, you know I love as we progress through this interview, Derek,

502
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,280
Speaker 1: how your energy, your comfort zone with me has just

503
00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:35,920
Speaker 1: picked up and keep transferring to an even more positive level.

504
00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:37,960
Speaker 1: But the number one thing when I talk about and

505
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,719
Speaker 1: I meet individuals like you because you're a self made person.

506
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,160
Speaker 1: Like I said, you're not a shame of your journey

507
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,840
Speaker 1: now because at the beginning I always talk about friends, family,

508
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,639
Speaker 1: and don't let anybody stop you from living your dream

509
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,119
Speaker 1: and stop you from planning your dream. Okay, when you

510
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,879
Speaker 1: talk about the community and the next step, what is

511
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,399
Speaker 1: Big Dave's future, how do you how do you conceptualize?

512
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,640
Speaker 1: And because you know it, ain't you no more than

513
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,400
Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty square foot shell gas station by yourself.

514
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,560
Speaker 1: You have to put a team around you. What does

515
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,080
Speaker 1: that team look like? So our team, so our listeners

516
00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 1: and our viewers can understand. When you grow, grow has

517
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,280
Speaker 1: to be surrounded by quality. You have to spend money

518
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,439
Speaker 1: to keep that quality around you in order to you

519
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 1: dream to grow.

520
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,280
Speaker 2: I like this topic right here because a lot of people,

521
00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,600
Speaker 2: you know, they might tell me I'm too top heavy

522
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 2: with the locations that I have. But the thing is,

523
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,880
Speaker 2: if you ain't, if you ready, you ain't got.

524
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,479
Speaker 3: To get ready. You know when that moment happened.

525
00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,000
Speaker 2: So in the midst of in the midst of everything

526
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 2: that I'm done with my brand, you know, I just

527
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:41,159
Speaker 2: want for me, like philanthropy is a big thing for me,

528
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,280
Speaker 2: you know, building this brand, I love it just as

529
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,760
Speaker 2: much as I love, you know, the restaurant space. I

530
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 2: love talking to people because, for one, I know that

531
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,320
Speaker 2: I'm giving them real game that I've been through on

532
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,880
Speaker 2: my life to help them change theirs. No, I don't

533
00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 2: think I know everything, but me at thirty four years old,

534
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 2: I was blessing a lot of ways that you know,

535
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,000
Speaker 2: a lot of people may not have got to yet,

536
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 2: and I can now help them when they get to

537
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,360
Speaker 2: the situation in their life they're not making those same

538
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,920
Speaker 2: mistakes I made. Let me tell you something, Mistakes costs

539
00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,960
Speaker 2: in the business. Right when you're in business.

540
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:16,520
Speaker 3: Mistakes cost. It costs.

541
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,439
Speaker 2: When I mean it costs, it's more than money. It

542
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,480
Speaker 2: hurts you in the finance side. But scaling the business,

543
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 2: you need it cro to be good. The COO to

544
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:30,400
Speaker 2: be good, your gms to be good, your assistant managers

545
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 2: to be good, your fry.

546
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 3: Cooks, your grill cooks.

547
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:36,400
Speaker 2: Everybody is a motor that works together to operate this vehicle.

548
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,679
Speaker 2: And without that you can't scale. And it took me

549
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 2: years to really be able to get that together because,

550
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,480
Speaker 2: like I said, I love Hardt, so I see the

551
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,359
Speaker 2: best out of people, sometimes down seeing themselves. But I

552
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 2: was also told this by multiple different billionaires, and this

553
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 2: was my blessing.

554
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:54,520
Speaker 3: You know, you're never.

555
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 2: Going to scale if you don't get thick skin to

556
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 2: be able to do it, because these same people aren't

557
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 2: gonna be with you. The ones that belong what you're

558
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,159
Speaker 2: gonna be with you because they want.

559
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:05,680
Speaker 3: To better themselves along the journey.

560
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 2: But the ones who just tagging along and the business

561
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,120
Speaker 2: is growing and they're not growing, you know, you're gonna

562
00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,440
Speaker 2: eventually have to leave them or the business is gonna

563
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:13,800
Speaker 2: leave you.

564
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 3: And if the business leave the CEO, you.

565
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 2: Know what happens after that, It goes it goes down

566
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,159
Speaker 2: to dream right, And and that's what I'm not building.

567
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 2: Like I told you, this a high this to my father.

568
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:24,800
Speaker 2: I know in the end of this, I'm a building.

569
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 2: I'm building a billion oile of business. I'ma have big

570
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,439
Speaker 2: days everywhere, and I want to keep on setting a

571
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,320
Speaker 2: bar high and setting the culture and what I got

572
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,159
Speaker 2: going on outside of you know, just the Big Daves brand.

573
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 2: You know, me and Pinky we jumped in real estate

574
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:40,919
Speaker 2: heavy and the reason why we're doing that is because

575
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 2: we're trying to build up these communities. So when stuff

576
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,680
Speaker 2: ain't looking right in these communities, what's better to say

577
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 2: it is it's people that look just like the people

578
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,640
Speaker 2: that's from these communities building them up, and they ain't

579
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 2: developers tearing them up and moving them out. You know

580
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,280
Speaker 2: what I'm saying, right, We're gonna keep them. We're gonna

581
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,960
Speaker 2: keep them in, We're gonna give them jobs. And the

582
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 2: way we're gonna do that is all these companies we build.

583
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 1: I love it, you know. Some Like I said, I'm

584
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 1: right down the street from your location over there, Brand Mark,

585
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,200
Speaker 1: I'm right now, that's where you're at. I'm right down

586
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,560
Speaker 1: the street from that. And so so my staff supports it.

587
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,640
Speaker 1: First of all, A George, they talk to you, your passion,

588
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,040
Speaker 1: your information, you gift man, your gift and a blessing.

589
00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,520
Speaker 1: You're an entrepreneurial spirit. You are what America is built on,

590
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 1: a land of opportunity. You know, we should never be

591
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 1: denied based on the color of our skin or the

592
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,879
Speaker 1: education that people perceive we don't have. You are the

593
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 1: person that I bring on the show to educate my

594
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,840
Speaker 1: audience that anything is possible, and I want to thank

595
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 1: you for coming out. Money Making Conversation master Class.

596
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,080
Speaker 2: Thank you man, and I thank you for having me.

597
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,720
Speaker 2: And I want to I want to release one more thing. Okay,

598
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 2: people listening. So it's not about how you start. It's

599
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,879
Speaker 2: not about what's going to happen in the middle of

600
00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 2: that race. Shoe get untied, your soul gett messed up,

601
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 2: you sneak and fall off.

602
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 3: Just finish the race.

603
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:04,760
Speaker 2: Don't worry about the place you're going to be in

604
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 2: because as long as you finish the race, the job

605
00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:07,520
Speaker 2: is done.

606
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,439
Speaker 3: And when the job is done, guess what you can

607
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:10,360
Speaker 3: say at the end of the day.

608
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,160
Speaker 2: I finished the marathon because I wasn't worrying about the race.

609
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. So the end of it all,

610
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 3: you gave it all you got.

611
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:19,680
Speaker 2: As long as you give it all you got, and

612
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:21,639
Speaker 2: you finished that line, as long as you cross it.

613
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 3: Be proud of yourself and your journey, and.

614
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 2: Stop siusing yourself up to other people, because God got

615
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,760
Speaker 2: everybody's journey for themselves to be able to better other people.

616
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:30,359
Speaker 3: You don't know.

617
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,600
Speaker 2: It may feel like that man or that woman got

618
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 2: that success overnight, but you don't know what they've been through.

619
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,360
Speaker 3: To get that success. Absolutely, it's not attract me as

620
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:38,800
Speaker 3: a marathon. So I always remember that.

621
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,160
Speaker 1: I love it because I always tell people that, you know,

622
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: don't look at it. So it's saying, don't look at

623
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,560
Speaker 1: somebody else's y'all. You know, you don't have to explain

624
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,639
Speaker 1: the word I finished versus I quit. I quit, You

625
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:52,360
Speaker 1: have to explain it. I finished me and I made

626
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,399
Speaker 1: maximum effort to get the job done. That's all you're saying.

627
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 1: And I love it. Brother. We're going to talk in

628
00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,120
Speaker 1: person because I want to sit down and just chat

629
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: with you. I appreciate your time, man, because you're a

630
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,040
Speaker 1: special Again. I've had Pinky on the show. Both of

631
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 1: y'all are special. But congratulations. You know, mister Andrewes Evil

632
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,640
Speaker 1: Big Days Cheesecake. You know, mister sexy, mister sexy, mister

633
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:13,720
Speaker 1: good looking, got the t fall out there. You know,

634
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:16,199
Speaker 1: forty three tattoos straight out of Philly.

635
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 3: Big Day. Jeez Dak, keep doing your thing. I see

636
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,320
Speaker 3: you be in the kitchen whipping up your jeez steak man.

637
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,200
Speaker 1: I love it, man, Stay strong, bro, Big Days Cheez

638
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:27,760
Speaker 1: steak Man.

639
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:28,480
Speaker 3: Thank you man.

640
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:30,719
Speaker 1: All right, we talked soon. If you want to hear

641
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,000
Speaker 1: us see any of my interviews oh money Making Conversation,

642
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,320
Speaker 1: Please go to money Making Conversation dot com. I'm with

643
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: Sean McDonald. I am your host.

644
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 4: Thank you for joining us for this edition of money

645
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 4: Making Conversations Masterclass. Money Making Conversations Masterclass with through Sean

646
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,200
Speaker 4: McDonald is produced by thirty eight fifteen Media Inc. More

647
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,120
Speaker 4: information about thirty eight fifteen Media Inc. Is available at

648
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,760
Speaker 4: thirty eight to fifteen media dot com. And always remember

649
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:01,360
Speaker 4: to lead with your gifts