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Speaker 1: Check me out at the annual Black Effect Podcast Festival,

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Speaker 1: happening Saturday, April twenty seven in Atlanta. Live podcasts are

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Speaker 1: on deck from some of your favorite shows, including this one,

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Speaker 1: Black Tech, Green Money, and also some of the best

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Speaker 1: podcasts in the game like Deeply Well with Debbie Brown

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Speaker 1: and Carefully Reckless. Atlanta is one of my favorite cities

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Speaker 1: in the world. I lived there for two years. Actually,

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Speaker 1: in my worldview, seeing us successful in every industry and

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Speaker 1: not having any limits on our potential largely was shaped

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Speaker 1: by Atlanta.

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Speaker 2: So to be there with.

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Speaker 1: You doing this podcast talking about how we build or

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Speaker 1: leverage technology to build wealth. Come on, man, doesn't get better.

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Speaker 1: I want to see you there. Get your tickets today

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Speaker 1: at black effect dot Com back Slash Podcast Festival. I'm

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Speaker 1: with Lucas and this is Black Tech, Dreen Money. John

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Speaker 1: and Mike Burns, known as the Burns Brothers, are serial

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Speaker 1: entrepreneurs with companies in a variety of verticals like organizational

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Speaker 1: culture and diversity, marketing, PR and events, hospitality, and lifestyle.

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Speaker 1: You may have heard of their companies like Manchester Park

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Speaker 1: Created Agency, HQ House, a Social Club, a Koy Collective,

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Speaker 1: a DEI Strategy, firm. John is an attorney by trade

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Speaker 1: and community activists. Mike is a seasoned executive coach and

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Speaker 1: former army officer. The Burns brothers have found synergy working

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Speaker 1: together and their company is growing internationally and they set

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Speaker 1: their sites on the African continent, working in Kenya, South Africa,

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Speaker 1: Ethiopia and more. There's a lot of opportunity on the

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Speaker 1: continent that many black entrepreneurs from the States had taken

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Speaker 1: advantage of, whether it is simply finding opportunities or partnering

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Speaker 1: with natives own business moves.

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Speaker 2: For the Burns brothers, what about.

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Speaker 1: The continent, said to them, this is your next move.

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Speaker 3: So Mike and I've been doing work in Africa for

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Speaker 3: the last five seven years, so we understood kind of

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Speaker 3: the opportunity that exists there and the need that exists there.

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Speaker 3: But we also wanted to be a bridge between African

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Speaker 3: Americans here in this country and then Africans on the continent.

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Speaker 3: We recognize that Africa is going to be twenty five

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Speaker 3: percent of the world's population in the next decade and

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Speaker 3: a half, and so how can we be stewards for change?

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Speaker 3: How can we really be that connective tissue? And we

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Speaker 3: thought just based upon our experience, there is tremendous opportunity

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Speaker 3: to have that connection point.

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Speaker 1: So when you think about going into new territory, there's

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Speaker 1: not just about having the dollars and resources to go

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Speaker 1: open up, but there's also you know, political implications and

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Speaker 1: not that And I don't mean like law and politics,

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Speaker 1: but I mean but like nuances about being in a

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Speaker 1: certain space that you don't necessarily know being from the

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Speaker 1: proverbial outside.

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Speaker 2: So how do you do that.

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Speaker 1: When you go into a space like did you have

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Speaker 1: local partners How did you consider this new territory to

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Speaker 1: find that you know, we want to be successful here.

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Speaker 1: This is the guy, the girl, the lady, the man

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Speaker 1: that can help us navigate that.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, well you're exactly right.

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Speaker 5: So we specialize in the connection and the community, but

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Speaker 5: we will readily admit we don't know Africa as well

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Speaker 5: as is needed to deliver what we're trying to deliver.

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Speaker 4: So partnership is essential.

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Speaker 5: And so as John said, we've been doing this and

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Speaker 5: integrating ourselves into Africa over the past five and seven years,

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Speaker 5: primarily in the space of like helping to decrease the

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Speaker 5: unemployment rates which are crazy across the continent. So if

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Speaker 5: you're a skilled African Black African, about thirty percent of

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Speaker 5: the time you will be unemployed. So these are people

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Speaker 5: went to college and did all the right thing, they're unemployed,

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Speaker 5: and if you're a black woman, that moves to almost

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Speaker 5: seventy percent. So over the past couple years, we've been

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Speaker 5: partnering with organizations, specifically three organizations. One called CCI, which

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Speaker 5: is the biggest private employer. They do call center services,

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Speaker 5: So when you're thinking about how do you employ a

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Speaker 5: lot of people at one time, like the call center

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Speaker 5: industry is one of those spaces, and we've partnered with CCI. Also,

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Speaker 5: another organization called Talent Match, which focuses on people who

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Speaker 5: have really high levels of skill like developers, digital marketers, designers,

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Speaker 5: and how do you place those people get them jobs?

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Speaker 5: And then finally the third organization that really kind of

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Speaker 5: helped us out as well as this organization called Endeavor,

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Speaker 5: and they're actually building cities.

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Speaker 4: Across the cognitive Africa because.

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Speaker 5: They have a proposition that you can't bring multicultural or

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Speaker 5: multinational organizations into or on the continent because the infrastructure

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Speaker 5: is not right, so you need to build from scratch.

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Speaker 5: So they actually building these cities and so with those

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Speaker 5: three partners, they have feet and boots on the ground.

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Speaker 4: Plus they've just been great guides to ensure that we're.

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Speaker 5: Connected with the right people and doing the right things

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Speaker 5: to set up for success.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting when you said that, I thought

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Speaker 1: about a question. I get asked a lot because I

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Speaker 1: have three buildings commercial properties and they're in a Censius

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Speaker 1: tract that is not great and so but the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to build things that are great in this this tract

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Speaker 1: is a really great opportunity. And so I'm my question

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Speaker 1: is directed at like this the spirit of entrepreneurship where

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Speaker 1: you're building in Africa. You know, so you have two

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Speaker 1: guys you know, from the United States going and taking

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Speaker 1: advantage of an opportunity building something to help people, to

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Speaker 1: create connections for them, create opportunities for them in et cetera.

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Speaker 1: How do you recognize the spirit of entrepreneur worship as

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Speaker 1: pervasive there and the ability to get something started Because

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Speaker 1: when you have thirty percent seventy percent unemployment, I imagine I

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Speaker 1: got to go start something because nobody's trying to hire me.

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Speaker 5: Well, it's interesting and I'll turn it over to John.

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Speaker 5: But like entrepreneurship comes out of problem sets oftentimes, and

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Speaker 5: when you don't have a lot of opportunity, your whole

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Speaker 5: life is a problem set, and so you have to

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Speaker 5: create and figure things out. So if you think about

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Speaker 5: just the richness of entrepreneurship in Africa on the continent,

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Speaker 5: it's inherently already there, and so finding the talent to

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Speaker 5: partner with, finding the talent to actually employ there to

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Speaker 5: help drive our mission. Having people that have this visionary mindset,

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Speaker 5: it's not something you have to teach and just alreadys

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Speaker 5: ingrained and who they are just based off of their

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Speaker 5: socio economic and personal circumstances.

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Speaker 4: So, John, I don't know if you have other pieces

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Speaker 4: to add to that.

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Speaker 6: No, I totally agree.

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Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more that I think for us, based upon

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Speaker 3: kind of the mindset that we kind of moved with,

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Speaker 3: it was all aroun driving opportunity. It's this this wealth

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Speaker 3: of enthusiasm, this wealth of knowledge, this wealth of talent,

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Speaker 3: this wealth of expertise, but just the lack of opportunity.

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Speaker 3: And I speaking to like the entrepreneurship point that Mike mentioned,

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Speaker 3: there's so many bright minds and so our mission separate

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Speaker 3: apart from HQ is how can we drive opportunity, how

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Speaker 3: can we drive by engagement and how can we ultimately

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Speaker 3: drive impact?

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Speaker 1: I want to ask that same question kind of, you know,

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Speaker 1: like about DC. Is you have HQ DC House now,

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Speaker 1: which I think is fantastic, and.

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Speaker 2: I also have a social club.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if so, but I'm I'm I'm interested

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Speaker 1: in this question of you know, is it important to

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Speaker 1: have sort of a missing mission oriented social club, like

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Speaker 1: dedicated to helping a community achieve you know, specific things

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Speaker 1: or general things even not even specific things, or is

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Speaker 1: it the social aspect of having a club to where

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Speaker 1: you know, cool people just want to hang out with

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Speaker 1: other cool people.

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Speaker 2: Is that enough?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a great question. I want Mike to kind

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Speaker 6: of jump in here too.

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Speaker 3: At our club is unique in the sense it's really

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Speaker 3: based upon three core principles, right, So it's a social

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Speaker 3: aspect which is really important. But for us, the almost

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Speaker 3: more important aspect is a development both personal and professional.

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Speaker 3: We think it's important to as people of color that

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Speaker 3: we're being developed personally professionally, and so we have cohorts,

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Speaker 3: we have workshops, we have classes that really focus on

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Speaker 3: that critical piece and we always say why we want

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Speaker 3: to create social experience. We want to create a safe space.

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Speaker 3: We are really driven by, ultimately, how can we mobilize,

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Speaker 3: how can we support, and how can we empower people?

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Speaker 3: And so to answer your question, we kind of convey

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Speaker 3: to our membership the importance of how can you collectively

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Speaker 3: or individually make an impact, whether it be in your

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Speaker 3: personal life, your community, or on a global scale. And

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Speaker 3: that's kind of mantra that we move with. And so

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Speaker 3: it's bigger than the social experiences. It's bigger than the

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Speaker 3: cool vibe, it's bigger than the parties.

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Speaker 6: It's really this.

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Speaker 3: Global community that we're trying to create that really kind

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Speaker 3: of convenes black folks around the world, and we can

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Speaker 3: kind of speak to that.

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Speaker 6: Some more too.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, please go in on this.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, and it is actually a really good question, a

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Speaker 5: little because I don't know if it's an either or right.

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Speaker 5: I think that at the end of the day, whether

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Speaker 5: it be a social club or you're making a widget, right,

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Speaker 5: you have to have like passion or drive around what

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Speaker 5: you're doing. And so John and I just happened to

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Speaker 5: have passion and drive about making a change and impact.

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Speaker 5: We come from, you know, grandfathers and mothers of like

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Speaker 5: the civil rights movement, right, So everything we ever saw

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Speaker 5: was people who were put in self second and others

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Speaker 5: first in order to drive change in the community. And

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Speaker 5: so we just happen to create a product that is

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Speaker 5: tied to that. Could we have done it and just

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Speaker 5: been a social club and had parties and drinks. I've

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Speaker 5: seen that model work as well, but for us, that

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Speaker 5: really wasn't the foundation of.

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Speaker 4: Why we were doing it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So I love your responses on this, and I

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Speaker 1: want to go on a level deeper because when I

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Speaker 1: think about, like take Soho House, you know, like they

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Speaker 1: don't have to have a mission to galvanize people.

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Speaker 2: They could just open a club.

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Speaker 1: But like you and so, it's like when we do things,

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Speaker 1: and I don't know if that's you know, just in

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Speaker 1: here because of our history, but like when we do things,

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Speaker 1: they tend to be more mission oriented and mine as

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Speaker 1: a mission, like toe House has a mission. Like our job,

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Speaker 1: I believe is to organize the community's doers.

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Speaker 2: So I have a social club.

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Speaker 1: That should probably just tell you a little bit about it,

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Speaker 1: because if you don't know, so toe House is a

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Speaker 1: private social club, you know it's for the city to well,

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Speaker 1: then creative and entrepreneurial class and it's and it's built

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Speaker 1: on the waterfront here in my hometown. It's twenty five

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Speaker 1: thousand square feet. So we have that social parts, five bars,

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Speaker 1: five lounges of coffee house, jazz club, et cetera. But

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Speaker 1: what we're doing is organizing the people in the community

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Speaker 1: who are doing the work to help our community be

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Speaker 1: what it could be if we got out of our

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Speaker 1: own way. And so when people hear about where I'm from,

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Speaker 1: they're like, oh, you know, sorry to hear that, or

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Speaker 1: you know, there's all the young people want to leave

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Speaker 1: when they graduate from high school and all of these things,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, we have really cool stuff here. We

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Speaker 1: just got to get the right people in the right

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Speaker 1: place to know each other in create that cross pollination

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Speaker 1: and et cetera. But then you think about a different

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Speaker 1: type of club. Our counterparts they don't have to do that.

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Speaker 1: They could just go put a beautiful space and if

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Speaker 1: if you want to be in, you in, or maybe

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Speaker 1: not in, but you know, because their waiting lists are

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Speaker 1: you know, I would love to have that sort of

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Speaker 1: waiting list. But they don't have to have the mission

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Speaker 1: underpinning the community. So I'm interested in your thoughts on

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Speaker 1: at what point or is it important to even aspire

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Speaker 1: to just be able to do something just because this

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Speaker 1: will be dope?

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Speaker 5: Well damn, that's that's really good brother. So this is

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Speaker 5: how I interpret it, and I like it just hits

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Speaker 5: me right. Could we do it? Absolutely? Would it be successful? Absolutely?

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Speaker 5: Where we have like a waiting list like some of

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Speaker 5: our competitors. Could I mean it's a tough, but I

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Speaker 5: think why why we tend to go towards like the

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Speaker 5: impact and the community. I think there's something inherently built

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Speaker 5: in us based off our history, that our survival is

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Speaker 5: based off community, and also our strength comes from community.

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Speaker 5: So I think naturally when we build, I mean think

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Speaker 5: about we grew up in the church, we grew up

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Speaker 5: in like fraternity and rorities, like everything, especially in the

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Speaker 5: Black experience.

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Speaker 4: Is very much tied to community.

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Speaker 5: So I think we naturally just migrate to it, even

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Speaker 5: when we go into entrepreneurial ventures, because that's where we

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Speaker 5: find our collective power. So I think we do, and

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Speaker 5: we could be just as successful without the community our

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Speaker 5: empowerment based aspect. But I think based off of our

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Speaker 5: customer base, both you and ours, our we are our

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Speaker 5: client and our customer base need the community aspect of it,

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Speaker 5: probably more than some of our competitors.

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Speaker 1: Yeah you chime in on that, John, No.

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Speaker 6: I couldn't agree more.

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Speaker 3: I really have nothing to add, And I think I

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Speaker 3: think it's to Mike's Moore. I think it's kind of

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Speaker 3: based on the foundational fabric of who we are as

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Speaker 3: people of color, and.

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Speaker 6: I think it's heightened.

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Speaker 3: By the continual kind of visible political climate that we

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Speaker 3: live in in this country. Right we need safe spaces

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Speaker 3: to convene and ultimately community to help us mobilize. And

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Speaker 3: so I think whether it be your membership club which

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Speaker 3: is super dope Maa, so congratulations that sounds incredible, or

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Speaker 3: it's ours or others, I think the foundational framework of

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Speaker 3: what we do as people of color is mobilized through community.

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Speaker 3: You think about every organization from Jack and Jill to

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Speaker 3: the links I know Mike mentioned, like the Divine Nine.

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Speaker 3: Everything's based upon like how can we convene, how can

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Speaker 3: we mobilize to ultimately move our culture forward?

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Speaker 6: And so it really begs the question to.

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Speaker 3: Your point, when can we get to that point where

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Speaker 3: it doesn't always have to be around how can we

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Speaker 3: change the narrative.

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Speaker 6: How can we move our culture forward?

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Speaker 3: How can we just get together and have a good

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Speaker 3: time right that doesn't have to be built on some

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Speaker 3: other framework.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Do.

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Speaker 1: I didn't plan on going this deep on this because

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Speaker 1: but I love your responses to this.

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Speaker 2: Do do you think about so I have in.

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Speaker 1: The other spaces we have like we're building a market,

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Speaker 1: And immediately ninety percent of the people I tell that

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Speaker 1: I'm building a market, grocery store, etc. They assume that

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Speaker 1: I'm going to try to.

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Speaker 2: Solve the food crisis issue.

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Speaker 1: And I would imagine when one of our less melanated

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Speaker 1: part friends may say that they don't get that assumption.

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Speaker 1: But when I say I'm going to go build a market,

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Speaker 1: people assume I'm going to go try to solve the

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Speaker 1: food crisis, food desert issue. And I'm like, I want

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Speaker 1: to compete with Whole Foods. I want to compete with

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Speaker 1: Trader Joe's. And at what point can we think.

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Speaker 2: That way versus always.

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Speaker 1: Trying to And again, if you want to do that

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Speaker 1: food desert thing, that's I applaud that, and I think

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Speaker 1: we should do that. But we also have to see

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Speaker 1: people like yourselves building beautiful spaces just because we want

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Speaker 1: to enjoy beautiful spaces, and we want to be around

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Speaker 1: other people who are like minded in that way that

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Speaker 1: they want to enjoy.

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Speaker 2: People who enjoy beautiful spaces.

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Speaker 5: And know what's so interesting? Right, So when John and I,

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Speaker 5: HQ is one of the other, Like, we have multiple

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Speaker 5: companies that sent under the Burns Brothers organization. HQ's one

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Speaker 5: of them. One of them is like a marketing and

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Speaker 5: branding company. And I remember when we first started it

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Speaker 5: and we also have an event company. I said John,

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Speaker 5: I don't want to be like the best black market, right. Yeah,

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Speaker 5: I don't want this company to like hire us because

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Speaker 5: it's African American or Black History Month, and so they're

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Speaker 5: looking to run some programs. So then they come to

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Speaker 5: us to fill some type of diverse supplier quota. I

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Speaker 5: just want them, but they want the best production event company.

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Speaker 4: In the world.

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Speaker 5: You come to Styles right by the Verns Brothers, not

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Speaker 5: because it's black. And so I completely agree with you.

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Speaker 5: I think the issue we face, and it goes back

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Speaker 5: to like community and all the other stuff, is that

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Speaker 5: we don't control the narrative, right, And if you don't

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Speaker 5: control the narrative, you're just righting the wave of the narrative.

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Speaker 4: You kind of just kind of take it takes you

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Speaker 4: where if it wants you to go.

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Speaker 5: And so community numbers are so important, the fact that

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Speaker 5: we will be the numbers if we connect and we

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Speaker 5: have this point of kind of community, then we can

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Speaker 5: have the volume to start controlling our own narrative, and

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Speaker 5: not just our narrative, but the narrative of the whole ecosystem.

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Speaker 5: But right now, I think when you go to that

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Speaker 5: food example, is that we don't control the narrative, and

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Speaker 5: someone else would created the narrative for us. So that's

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Speaker 5: all you could be doing if you're trying to open

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Speaker 5: up a marketplace.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, as really good.

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Speaker 1: So I asked Quintin Harris, Who's I believe you guys

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Speaker 1: know Quinton. He's a co founder of CEOI Retrospect there

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Speaker 1: in DC. And I asked him to send me a

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Speaker 1: couple of questions for you guys. I wanted to ask

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Speaker 1: somebody who's experienced your spaces and know the you guys's work.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, I wonder what he would ask if he

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Speaker 1: was given this opportunity.

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Speaker 2: So he sent one.

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Speaker 1: He sent two, actually, but this first one he said,

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Speaker 1: they have very strong views on black excellence and how

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Speaker 1: it restricts inclusivity and collective progress. How are they intentionally

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Speaker 1: redefining the meaning of black excellence?

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Speaker 6: Mike, you want to take that one. I got to

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Speaker 6: think through it. I love that question.

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Speaker 3: I love Quentin's a great guy too, So when I

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Speaker 3: take it, I can kind of follow up.

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Speaker 5: So funny enough, we actually own the trademark to a

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Speaker 5: phrase called blaxcellents.

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Speaker 4: We have like the domain.

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Speaker 5: We're not sharing exactly what we're dealing with it yet,

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Speaker 5: but we got to figure it out.

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Speaker 4: But it's tied directly to this question, right.

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Speaker 5: I think that how we look at black excellence even

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Speaker 5: as black people is like very narrow, right, and we

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Speaker 5: actually then reinforce and reaffirm that by who we celebrate

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Speaker 5: around excellence.

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Speaker 4: It's usually athletes, it's usually entertainers.

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Speaker 5: I mean, we're on a podcast with a brother who

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Speaker 5: is the chairman of the board of.

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Speaker 4: The University of Toledo, Like, that's black excellence. Yeah, And

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Speaker 4: so how do.

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Speaker 5: We tell stories that are stories that are never been told,

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Speaker 5: are people who have never been highlighted that actually show

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Speaker 5: the whole gambit of.

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Speaker 4: What we do as people and how we do it better?

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Speaker 4: Than anybody else.

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Speaker 5: We grew up, like I said, in the Civil rights

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Speaker 5: era where grandfather was part of NAACP, who took place

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Speaker 5: in this context when were a.

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Speaker 4: Little kid called AXO.

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Speaker 5: I'm not sure if it was just based out of

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Speaker 5: Texas or if it was like a national like kind

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Speaker 5: of quiz competition.

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Speaker 4: On black history, right.

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Speaker 5: And part of what was so nice about AXO is

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Speaker 5: that you had to learn how black people kind of

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Speaker 5: dominated in all sorts of fields that you would.

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Speaker 4: Have never thought about.

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Speaker 5: And I thought AXO like define, like this is black excellence, right,

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Speaker 5: Like what Carver did with the peanut is black excellence.

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Speaker 4: What what happened with Madam C. J. Walker? And here

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Speaker 4: that's black excellence.

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Speaker 5: I'm not saying that Lebron and all these old cats

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Speaker 5: aren't black excellence as well. They are, but it's just

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Speaker 5: so much bigger. And that's how I personally see it.

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Speaker 5: And we need to tell the stories and highlight the

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Speaker 5: things that aren't highlighted around what we're capable of and

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Speaker 5: what we have done.

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Speaker 3: So John, yeah, yeah, And I think Mike kind of

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Speaker 3: mentions the depth of the black experience to kind of

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Speaker 3: what that looks like, right, And it's very We're not

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Speaker 3: monoliss right, So we're very multi dimensional. And I think

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Speaker 3: for us, as we try to build commit and especially

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Speaker 3: a global community, it's highlighting these stories.

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Speaker 6: From around the world what black excellent truly looks like.

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Speaker 3: And so I think in the US sometimes we can

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Speaker 3: get very specific around just what that concept looks like

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Speaker 3: to us, But we are global black people around the world,

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Speaker 3: and so to elevate that whole black excellence experience around

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Speaker 3: the world is like our mission. And so I love

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Speaker 3: that question because I really speaks to the opportunity that exists.

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Speaker 3: Like what if we could highlight the young cat and

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Speaker 3: a village outside of a crap what he's doing right?

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Speaker 4: Like?

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Speaker 3: Stuff like that is so dope to me because I

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Speaker 3: think it not only educates us as black people around

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Speaker 3: the multi dimensions of the black experience, but also really

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Speaker 3: heightens what black excellence truly is.

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Speaker 1: So I'm an entrepreneur like yourself, with several businesses like yourselves,

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Speaker 1: and there's this idea that some people will advise me,

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Speaker 1: and I'm sure you've heard before, like you know, you

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Speaker 1: should focus like on one like you should focus on

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Speaker 1: this one.

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Speaker 2: Thing, et cetera.

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Speaker 1: And I've heard it say like a fist is a

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Speaker 1: lot stronger than five fingers separated.

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Speaker 2: Like if you took all.

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Speaker 1: Your energy and you balled it up into one fist,

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Speaker 1: you could make a bigger impact. And so I'm my

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Speaker 1: question is like, how do you manage not just at

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Speaker 1: a high level, but actually in the trenches, in function

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Speaker 1: several businesses in such different categories and find success?

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Speaker 2: Like how do you guys do that?

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Speaker 3: The might have been on our team meeting this morning,

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Speaker 3: meeting this morning, man, we spent three hours.

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Speaker 6: Talking about the exact topics.

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Speaker 5: Oh wow, yeah, because I think it's interesting, right, because

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Speaker 5: the whole fist analogy is interesting, right, But at the

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Speaker 5: end of the day, the fist is still five separate fingers, right, Like,

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Speaker 5: and if you figure out how those five fingers, which

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Speaker 5: might be five different businesses, how they're still connected to

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Speaker 5: a common theme, a common purpose, then it works.

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Speaker 4: It's actually more impactful. So if you look at all

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Speaker 4: of our.

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Speaker 5: Businesses, they may be on the surface seem very different,

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Speaker 5: Like you got a membership house, but you also have

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Speaker 5: a marketing company, and you have a diversity company, but you.

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Speaker 4: Also have a wellness and performance organization.

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Speaker 5: That is true, but all of them have the strand

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Speaker 5: of delivering understanding that ultimately leads to change through different mechanisms,

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Speaker 5: and no mechanism by itself is effective.

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Speaker 4: Of all the mechanisms working together, and so.

445
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,880
Speaker 5: The day to day becomes not necessarily complicated, but it's

446
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:39,000
Speaker 5: manageable because everybody understands how they fit into the bigger picture,

447
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,400
Speaker 5: even if they operate or tied to a different organization.

448
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,359
Speaker 5: So communication, explanation and really helping people understand those points

449
00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:47,800
Speaker 5: of connectivity is really important.

450
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:50,960
Speaker 3: And then well just team, I mean having an incredible team, right,

451
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,920
Speaker 3: So I think everything foundationally goes back to team and

452
00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,119
Speaker 3: the culture of the organization that really supports people to

453
00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:00,560
Speaker 3: obviously be critical thinkers, to have grit, have integrity, have

454
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,119
Speaker 3: a selfless work ethic, but ultimately being aligned with the

455
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:08,080
Speaker 3: bigger mission around driving impact and mobilizing community, because I

456
00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:10,760
Speaker 3: think everything we do again to Mike's point, well it

457
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,040
Speaker 3: might have a different deliverable from like a business offering standpoint,

458
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,000
Speaker 3: it's really aligned with the overall mission of the larger organization.

459
00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,520
Speaker 1: And so we talk a lot about access to capital,

460
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,239
Speaker 1: which I'm sure you guys talk about also, you know,

461
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:28,320
Speaker 1: and then having businesses in such diverse categories and like

462
00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: to your point, might they do intersect maybe not on

463
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:35,119
Speaker 1: the surface, but underneath. I imagine that might still make it

464
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,720
Speaker 1: more difficult or complex to attract outside the capital. And

465
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,280
Speaker 1: I don't know what your stack is, Like, I don't

466
00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,200
Speaker 1: know if you have outside capital, but like, how how

467
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,520
Speaker 1: are you able to tell that story to potential investors

468
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,359
Speaker 1: if they're like, I know you guys are doing this.

469
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,480
Speaker 1: I'm interested in investing in this social club, but you

470
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,960
Speaker 1: also got this DEI thing over here, and you also

471
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 1: got this brand. You know, how do you tell that story?

472
00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:58,679
Speaker 6: Can you tell it?

473
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,080
Speaker 3: You tell it based upon kind of really helping them

474
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,400
Speaker 3: understand the journey of these businesses and how they ultimately

475
00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,399
Speaker 3: became to form, and they were coming to being based

476
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,800
Speaker 3: upon addressing like a critical need and a gap that

477
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,560
Speaker 3: exists within kind of the work and the functions that

478
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,800
Speaker 3: we were operating in. So nothing was willy nilly, And

479
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,600
Speaker 3: once we explain like the level of alignment across all

480
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 3: of our business functions and kind of that red thread,

481
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,160
Speaker 3: it actually makes us more attractive. Right, So, for instance,

482
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,320
Speaker 3: if I'm a private membership club that needs to do marketing,

483
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,560
Speaker 3: I don't want to hire X Y and z marketing company.

484
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,199
Speaker 3: If I can hire a familiar entity, right, so that

485
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,840
Speaker 3: makes us more attractive, and by a private membership club

486
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,200
Speaker 3: that does private events. That's the bulk of our kind

487
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,480
Speaker 3: of revenue model in addition to obviously the membership model.

488
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 3: I don't want to hire a event production company or

489
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 3: planning company. I want to hire an entity that actually

490
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,920
Speaker 3: exists within the ecosystem. If I do a lot from

491
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,480
Speaker 3: like a programmatic standpoint for our members around DEE and I,

492
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:57,000
Speaker 3: around inclusive learning, around bias training, around all those things.

493
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:58,440
Speaker 6: I don't want to hire a random vendor.

494
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,960
Speaker 3: I want to hire So everything makes because it's all

495
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 3: a shared experience and a model that really is a

496
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 3: line and synergistic across everything.

497
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,040
Speaker 6: So from our ganage point.

498
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:08,879
Speaker 4: It makes us.

499
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,719
Speaker 3: It gives us a competitive advantage that other organizations wouldn't

500
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,080
Speaker 3: have that are just this, are just this because we

501
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:17,880
Speaker 3: bring all these superpowers together.

502
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,359
Speaker 6: That ultimately supports it helps the whole Well, will.

503
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 4: You get it right?

504
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,879
Speaker 5: It's like a brother that's run like multiple organizations. Like

505
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 5: it's taking us a while to get that narrative type

506
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,280
Speaker 5: right because it's so every like there's so many one

507
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,959
Speaker 5: trick ponies out there like everyone just does this and

508
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 5: once again that's cool too, write like not no shade

509
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,480
Speaker 5: on anybody, right, Like some people just dominate in one

510
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,200
Speaker 5: space and like move forward and that's awesome. But because

511
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,320
Speaker 5: that's a traditional model and folks like us think differently,

512
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,640
Speaker 5: it's hard when you go to like a VC or

513
00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,160
Speaker 5: an investor and they're like, well, you know, I've used

514
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 5: to like this like one dimensional track, Like I really

515
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 5: don't get it. And so we're not saying now that

516
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,360
Speaker 5: everyone has gotten it, and we haven't even really we've

517
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:03,919
Speaker 5: been blessed to take like one business has been successful

518
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 5: and then we've taken the capital and the revenue that

519
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,000
Speaker 5: that business makes to invest in the other businesses, and

520
00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,080
Speaker 5: so we haven't actually had to go and get capital.

521
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:12,680
Speaker 5: But at the same point in time, there will be

522
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 5: a point in time, but we really.

523
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 4: Want to scale this to hit the vision that we're

524
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 4: looking to hit.

525
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,439
Speaker 5: Bootstrap it is probably not the way to continue to

526
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,040
Speaker 5: grow it to where it needs to grow. But now

527
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,159
Speaker 5: that we have this narrative tot tighter, I think it

528
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,760
Speaker 5: will be easier. But we still recognize that not everyone's

529
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 5: going to still get it.

530
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,240
Speaker 1: Who we go to, Yeah, we guys, we have so

531
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 1: much in comment we should really talk more after this,

532
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:37,600
Speaker 1: but so I've got a couple more.

533
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:38,119
Speaker 2: For you guys.

534
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 1: But you know, given the notable individuals who you guys

535
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 1: have had and have as members in HQDC house, like,

536
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:51,080
Speaker 1: how do you leverage these connections to foster, you know,

537
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:55,640
Speaker 1: collaboration opportunities for other black entrepreneurs within you in the network.

538
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,399
Speaker 3: I think it's just open lines of communication, right, and

539
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 3: so we never approach members asking them to do as favors.

540
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,480
Speaker 3: It's more of them willing to use and leverage their

541
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 3: network to ultimately support the community. And so it's really

542
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:16,680
Speaker 3: just being in community with people and ultimately understanding where

543
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 3: the community is going, the community needs and how we

544
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:25,120
Speaker 3: can collectively grow better, enhance the experiences. And I think

545
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 3: people and we've been so I mean, in our wildest dreams,

546
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,719
Speaker 3: we never would have could perceive the impact it's actually

547
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 3: making in people's lives. People are becoming best friends, people

548
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,560
Speaker 3: are doing business relationships, people are dating. But also people

549
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,359
Speaker 3: are creating an impact and like doing things to better

550
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,720
Speaker 3: themselves and better their communities, which I think is the

551
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,399
Speaker 3: most rewarding thing. And so for us, people are volunteering

552
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,199
Speaker 3: of their time and of their networks to support the

553
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 3: community that we're building.

554
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 6: And so I think for us that's just incredibly special.

555
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 5: And what we had said when we started the house,

556
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 5: we're like, okay, like our membership base is going to

557
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,840
Speaker 5: be different than certain of their competitors, right, Like people

558
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:03,240
Speaker 5: who we want to bring in are people are going

559
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,720
Speaker 5: to be pretty established in their career. They're usually like

560
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:10,240
Speaker 5: the onlies in the room. They have senior level of positions.

561
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:14,399
Speaker 5: But more importantly, they re walk into a traditional club

562
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:16,920
Speaker 5: or a house or an event, they're using the people

563
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:18,520
Speaker 5: that people are coming up to and saying, Oh, can

564
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,639
Speaker 5: I get your business card? Or can you introduce me

565
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:22,679
Speaker 5: to so and so and so when they walk into

566
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,600
Speaker 5: the room, there's no real value they receive, right, they

567
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 5: give a lot of value, but they don't really receive

568
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:29,280
Speaker 5: a lot of value. So we say we want to

569
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,040
Speaker 5: create a house to where there's always mutual value exchange.

570
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 5: That you have to be able to give as much

571
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,679
Speaker 5: value as you're asking to receive, and we instill that

572
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 5: and communicating that at the very beginning of the interview process.

573
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,879
Speaker 5: And if you're not able to provide real value, then

574
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,160
Speaker 5: and you're just looking to receive value, then you don't

575
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 5: even make it past like the screening process. And because

576
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,840
Speaker 5: we set expectations early, then when you get into the house,

577
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,439
Speaker 5: it becomes, like John said, are very organic people just

578
00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:58,200
Speaker 5: supporting a matter of their title.

579
00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 4: Role, who they work for, what they do, and it

580
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:01,120
Speaker 4: works out.

581
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:03,919
Speaker 3: Add to that too, to Mike's point, and I to

582
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,480
Speaker 3: Mike's point where I think it's so again pretty amazing

583
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,960
Speaker 3: with HQ, the model that has kind of been created is,

584
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,680
Speaker 3: with the exception of CBC and DC, I've actually never

585
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,960
Speaker 3: seen anybody hand out a business card in HQ. It's

586
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,399
Speaker 3: really built on like authentic relationships. And I don't know

587
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 3: well how much Son he's been in Washington. DC is

588
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:23,360
Speaker 3: the capital business.

589
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:25,439
Speaker 6: Transaction, I imagine, right.

590
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 3: And so I think especially you know, with our in

591
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 3: our community, and so I think it was such a

592
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:31,680
Speaker 3: kind of a treat for us to see that people

593
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 3: actually forming authentic relationships and not just looking for a

594
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 3: transactional relationship.

595
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,440
Speaker 1: And so in the several people I've talked to recently,

596
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,520
Speaker 1: even who I have more entrepreneurial endeavors that are not

597
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,160
Speaker 1: like VC back door, et cetera. We've talked about staffing

598
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 1: and how challenging that is specifically in post COVID days

599
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,639
Speaker 1: and especially with a marketing company like you have. You know,

600
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,880
Speaker 1: the freelancer movement is huge. And then you talk about

601
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,399
Speaker 1: hospitality where COVID change that landscape where you know it's

602
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,400
Speaker 1: hard to put people in kitchens.

603
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,639
Speaker 2: And server staff hosts, et cetera.

604
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,720
Speaker 1: Like how do you navigate those challenges such that your

605
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 1: business isn't throttled for lack of talent personnel.

606
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,080
Speaker 5: We're still figuring it out, brother, like real talk. This

607
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:23,119
Speaker 5: is like conversations every single day because what we've so

608
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,000
Speaker 5: luckily a lot of the businesses you have the ability

609
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,119
Speaker 5: to cross train and other people can cover down on

610
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 5: people's jobs. Membership clubs are not that right, like like

611
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:37,800
Speaker 5: if you get this right, so you got to have

612
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 5: someone at the concierge desk, and if that furs it

613
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:41,719
Speaker 5: isn't there. It's not like you can just call up

614
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 5: Mike and Pennsylvania and be like, yo, can you cover

615
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 5: down on this? And so we're still working through how

616
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 5: do you manage like the cost of people and so

617
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 5: not overstaff, but not get yourself in like a position

618
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 5: to where all you have is like one person filling

619
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:57,760
Speaker 5: a role because not only does that put you in

620
00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,360
Speaker 5: a point of stress around you know, what if they

621
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,240
Speaker 5: don't show up, but it also puts you in a

622
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,640
Speaker 5: point of stress what if they don't perform Right now

623
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:07,920
Speaker 5: you're like stuck with someone who's outperforming because you don't

624
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 5: have another like backup, uh to replace them with. So

625
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 5: there's all sorts of conundrums that come with like staffing.

626
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,280
Speaker 5: But like I said, we're still figuring this out. We're

627
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 5: still uh kind of exploring and young here and and

628
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 5: any of my shot.

629
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,840
Speaker 2: To Oh, I love that.

630
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 1: I mean it's the hardest thing, you know, and I

631
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,000
Speaker 1: recognize and it sounds like.

632
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:31,080
Speaker 2: You guys did this position.

633
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 1: Also, you could be doing more business if you had

634
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 1: more people, And that's the hardest part, Like if you

635
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:37,680
Speaker 1: could find more good people.

636
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 2: This this the.

637
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,840
Speaker 1: Hard part is not selling, Like the opportunity is there,

638
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: it's just the people to support the opportunity. That's that's

639
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:47,640
Speaker 1: when it's really hard, hurtful.

640
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:50,160
Speaker 6: Yeah, bro, well you could.

641
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,560
Speaker 3: I mean, like some positions we've been like interviewing for

642
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,120
Speaker 3: like four months. I mean it's like, but you're exactly right,

643
00:29:56,120 --> 00:30:00,720
Speaker 3: and that's like the challenge because the opport teams exist.

644
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,120
Speaker 3: But you can't support the opportunities because you just don't

645
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,960
Speaker 3: have the people to feel the jobs. But yeah, it's

646
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,200
Speaker 3: definitely a daily challenge for.

647
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,760
Speaker 1: Us along that thread, I imagine, because you know, again

648
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,960
Speaker 1: I feel so much similarity with you guys. I imagine

649
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 1: some of the ideas and companies you started, you know,

650
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: ultimately just don't work out, because this is the nature

651
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:25,960
Speaker 1: to be, Like, how do you set expectations on what

652
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,680
Speaker 1: success looks like or should look like at various stages

653
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,240
Speaker 1: to ensure your efforts are going into something that's worthwhile.

654
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,600
Speaker 5: Yeah, so you know, full transparency, I call myself a

655
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,720
Speaker 5: serial entrepreneur, right, I've been like doing this entrepreneurship game

656
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,040
Speaker 5: for like a long time, and I have had way

657
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 5: more failures than success as a matter of fact, Like

658
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,880
Speaker 5: obviously the Burns Brothers just the biggest success, and it's

659
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 5: because I managed to partner with someone who I know

660
00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,560
Speaker 5: has a work ethic as high as I do. Right,

661
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 5: I think you can probably attest will oftentimes in the

662
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 5: space of entrepreneurship, but like one person who's the horse,

663
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 5: the other person's the carriage, right, and they just feel

664
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,480
Speaker 5: like you're just pulling one partner that doesn't ever work.

665
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,400
Speaker 5: But the other problem you have in entrepreneurship, which we

666
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 5: faced before, is that there are certain things that.

667
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 4: Seem sexy, like tech is sexy. Acts are tech sexy.

668
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:20,920
Speaker 5: So people want to jump into things that they don't

669
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 5: have the subject matter expertise in. Right, Like John and

670
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:29,040
Speaker 5: I know people we're passionate about, you know, change and

671
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,240
Speaker 5: impact for people of color. We're able to mobilize community.

672
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,120
Speaker 5: So what we do inside of HQ and the other businesses,

673
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:36,080
Speaker 5: it was a natural fit.

674
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 4: So it works.

675
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:41,520
Speaker 5: Some of the other experiences that I have, Like at

676
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,680
Speaker 5: some point in time, you just know that is not

677
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,600
Speaker 5: working right, whether it be like man, I can't continue

678
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 5: to take out my savings like type of.

679
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,520
Speaker 4: No are are are that you know?

680
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 5: Like just I've had to reposition the value proposition twenty

681
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:58,240
Speaker 5: times because it isn't sticking.

682
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 4: Like whatever that reason is. It appears differently for different organizations.

683
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 5: But I think that everyone deep down inside they have

684
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 5: to admit to themselves, but they kind of just know

685
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 5: that it's time to move on and jettison what they

686
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 5: were doing.

687
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then well too, even under the Burns brothers,

688
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 3: I mean we've tried things. I mean, my brother and

689
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 3: I have been serial entrepreneurs in the sense, but also

690
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,200
Speaker 3: even with on the Burns where there's umbrella, we are

691
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 3: constant dreamers, right, and so sometimes it takes like team

692
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 3: members like our chief of staff and our CEO to

693
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,560
Speaker 3: be like, hey, fellas, dreaming is good, but we also

694
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 3: have to make sure we're actually delivering on the businesses

695
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 3: that we.

696
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 6: Have, right.

697
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,120
Speaker 3: So it's also ensuring that you have those checks and

698
00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,920
Speaker 3: balances internally, because I think big dreamers dream big, right,

699
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:44,719
Speaker 3: but you also have to be practical around what can

700
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 3: be actually achieved, and so having those folks within the

701
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 3: organization that can level set things too. And then also

702
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,240
Speaker 3: to not putting too much in your play. And I

703
00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 3: know we talked about the fifth and the five finger analogy,

704
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,920
Speaker 3: but I think there's also a value in really drilling

705
00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,200
Speaker 3: down into organizations and not spreading yourself too wide. So

706
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,360
Speaker 3: as in totality of our organization, we're really focused on

707
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 3: kind of drilling down into organizations more as opposed to

708
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,280
Speaker 3: spreading ourselves too fit. And so we recognize that and

709
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 3: we've been very intentional about how we can do that,

710
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:13,640
Speaker 3: how do we approach that, and how do we be

711
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 3: successful with that?

712
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, Mike, you mentioned tech, and I think about I'm

713
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,920
Speaker 1: always interested, like when I see people's you know, the

714
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 1: desktop of their phone, like what apps they have on

715
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,640
Speaker 1: I'm just always curious and like what apps people are using.

716
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,760
Speaker 1: And so I'm curious in how you guys, what you

717
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 1: guys use for people out there looking for systems and

718
00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,280
Speaker 1: technology to help them be more efficient, Like what do

719
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,360
Speaker 1: you guys use tactically technically to be more efficient? Like

720
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:43,800
Speaker 1: some of the things that you know are invaluable to

721
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,320
Speaker 1: me are like Slack, Like my whole team, well on

722
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 1: both of my teams are on Slack and so we

723
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,200
Speaker 1: are always having these conversations. Fresh Desk is one that

724
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,040
Speaker 1: we use to you know, so if a member has

725
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:57,120
Speaker 1: an issue, that can submit it and it's not going

726
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 1: to get lost because we can all see that this

727
00:33:59,280 --> 00:33:59,960
Speaker 1: person's in the need.

728
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:01,920
Speaker 2: Nelly, So can you talk.

729
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,400
Speaker 1: About some of the things that you've used in your

730
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:08,759
Speaker 1: lives to make sure technical things that you've used to

731
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:11,240
Speaker 1: ensure that you're as efficient as possible.

732
00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:15,880
Speaker 5: Yeah, we're definitely were not necessarily a Slack org. We

733
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:18,239
Speaker 5: use a lot of Microsoft teams and we build all

734
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,160
Speaker 5: sorts of team channels that we communicate.

735
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:21,239
Speaker 4: With each other.

736
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 5: On we've really started to adopt the platform, we're still

737
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,440
Speaker 5: testing it out called Copilot. So when you're looking at

738
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,000
Speaker 5: like outreach and how do you integrate your linked in

739
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,800
Speaker 5: with this kind of AI and kind of technology driven

740
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 5: kind of outreach platform, so from a BD standpoint, so

741
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 5: leveraging that from like a CRM standpoint, because we know

742
00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 5: how important it is to have the processes inside of

743
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 5: the pipeline. We use an organization or a technology called

744
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,000
Speaker 5: pipe Drive to help manage all of that and all

745
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 5: of our automated communications and things like that. And then

746
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,239
Speaker 5: when we're thinking just around like the membership experience we

747
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 5: currently u it was a platform called people Line which

748
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 5: we're able to build our membership apps through and things

749
00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:05,480
Speaker 5: like that.

750
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,480
Speaker 4: But we're also as we're expanding.

751
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:10,839
Speaker 5: The community and what we do, we're looking at other

752
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,640
Speaker 5: platforms as well that have more like a community engagement

753
00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:18,560
Speaker 5: interaction model, which we look to roll out here and

754
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 5: leverage in the next month or few.

755
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:22,399
Speaker 4: So those are One.

756
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,520
Speaker 3: Other piece that Mike mentioned too is like our project

757
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,960
Speaker 3: management tool right has been you know, an essential and

758
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,280
Speaker 3: critical piece to like obviously from a project management standpoint.

759
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,840
Speaker 6: It's been since us since with us since we first launched,

760
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 6: you know, a couple of years ago.

761
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, a great tool.

762
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, we use a signa on that side for the

763
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: project management just seeing our stuff, and I've tried different

764
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,839
Speaker 1: ones I tried. I think it was base Camp we

765
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 1: were using for a long time, and base Camp will

766
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:49,120
Speaker 1: tell you, like we know you guys, ask some more features,

767
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,239
Speaker 1: We're not going to build more features. And so at

768
00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:55,040
Speaker 1: some point we needed more features than base Camp even

769
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:55,680
Speaker 1: said that they.

770
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,440
Speaker 2: Were going to do. So we had to graduate, you know.

771
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:00,600
Speaker 1: And I'm because I'm sure there's many more out there,

772
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:02,000
Speaker 1: but those have been in my journey.

773
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:02,320
Speaker 2: Also.

774
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:07,080
Speaker 1: Now one more from Quinton. He said family is family,

775
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,800
Speaker 1: and working with family, let alone siblings, can be a

776
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,719
Speaker 1: difficult task. What is your dynamic as family entrepreneurs? How

777
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:16,560
Speaker 1: do you make space for each other's individual brilliance?

778
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:21,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I think Mike and I definitely are stose siblings, right,

779
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 3: We're only two siblings in our family, right, so it's

780
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:26,839
Speaker 3: he's my big brothers So Mike definitely can big brother

781
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:30,000
Speaker 3: me sometimes. So I definitely understand that dynamic. But I

782
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,440
Speaker 3: think we also recognize kind of the brilliance that we

783
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 3: each kind of collectively bring and there's a level of

784
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,560
Speaker 3: respect that we have for each other, and there's a

785
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,560
Speaker 3: level of respect that we.

786
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,280
Speaker 6: Kind of convey to the team as well.

787
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,279
Speaker 3: But as you kind of go on this journey with

788
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 3: your sibling, you ultimately realize kind of their talents, right,

789
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:50,200
Speaker 3: and you want them to really lean into their talents.

790
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:51,360
Speaker 6: And I think over.

791
00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:54,840
Speaker 3: The last couple of years, we've been really great with

792
00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,880
Speaker 3: letting the person with that talent be kind of leading

793
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:01,759
Speaker 3: that level, leading that area of expertise, and kind of

794
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,560
Speaker 3: take the step back with respect to other areas that

795
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 3: the other person might have kind of more expertise in.

796
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,799
Speaker 3: So I think it's just learning someone, just like you

797
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:13,040
Speaker 3: learn anybody in any relationship, and then ultimately kind of

798
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:16,120
Speaker 3: navigating through those kind of hurdles to ultimately kind of

799
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 3: get to the finished point that where it's more more

800
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,000
Speaker 3: of a well oiled machine.

801
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:21,440
Speaker 4: Yeah.

802
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:23,360
Speaker 5: And I think if you like, use like a sports

803
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,720
Speaker 5: team analogy, right, Like the great teams have great players,

804
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 5: but what makes them really great is they know I'm

805
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:32,600
Speaker 5: going to throw the ball and I know exactly where

806
00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:34,800
Speaker 5: that receiver is going to be because I've been playing

807
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 5: with them for so long.

808
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:37,480
Speaker 4: Yeah, but it just it just happens.

809
00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:39,399
Speaker 5: And so when you have a sibling and there's only

810
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,319
Speaker 5: two of you, right, like we're the only people, the

811
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,080
Speaker 5: only kids of our mother and father. Like you spend

812
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 5: your whole time together. Your whole life is together. So

813
00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 5: I know how John thinks. I know where John's going

814
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:53,240
Speaker 5: to be on the field, and I know what value

815
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:55,319
Speaker 5: John brings to the table. And so John is a

816
00:37:55,440 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 5: very empathetic human being. I'm a very like like human right,

817
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:04,919
Speaker 5: And so you need both of those because you can't

818
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,279
Speaker 5: be always X, Y and Z and just give me

819
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:10,480
Speaker 5: the bottom line up front. Sometimes you got to like

820
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:13,480
Speaker 5: feel and be there for the people. And so John

821
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,560
Speaker 5: and I play about those parts. John is very much

822
00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:19,080
Speaker 5: a visionary. He's like a creative and he sees the

823
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,879
Speaker 5: ten thousand foot view. I'm very much an operator, right,

824
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 5: I operatedt like five hundred feet, and so us being

825
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,880
Speaker 5: patient with each other and understanding that I can't get

826
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,000
Speaker 5: frustrated when he's at one thousand feet and he can't

827
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:35,279
Speaker 5: get frustrated with me when I'm like, hey, we got

828
00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:36,799
Speaker 5: to figure out how we're going to execute and get

829
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:39,799
Speaker 5: this done and understand all the dots. And I think

830
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 5: that we wouldn't effectively be able to make those connections

831
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,480
Speaker 5: if we didn't have the relationship of being brothers and

832
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,120
Speaker 5: spending our whole life together.

833
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:50,640
Speaker 1: So, in closing, talk to me about twenty twenty four

834
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 1: and twenty like.

835
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,280
Speaker 2: What are you excited about.

836
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,120
Speaker 1: Over the next year. We're ended in the first quarter. Now,

837
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:58,520
Speaker 1: what are you excited about over the next you know,

838
00:38:58,800 --> 00:38:59,760
Speaker 1: a little bit of future?

839
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:04,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, and that's a great question. And we're excited

840
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:06,000
Speaker 3: about a couple things. And I think the most thing,

841
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:09,000
Speaker 3: the biggest thing that I could say collectively or excited about,

842
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:11,760
Speaker 3: we're actually launching what we're calling the HQ.

843
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:13,840
Speaker 6: House Global Network, where our.

844
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:17,840
Speaker 3: Goal is to convene to build community with one million

845
00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:21,279
Speaker 3: Black professionals around the globe by twenty twenty six. Right,

846
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:23,479
Speaker 3: we want to be this global convenor of black people

847
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,440
Speaker 3: around the globe. And so later this year, we're launching

848
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 3: this concept in ten cities globally and more to come

849
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:32,839
Speaker 3: around what those cities are and kind of what that

850
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:35,799
Speaker 3: community looks like. But we really believe in going back

851
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 3: to Mike's point, to really have true influence, that true power,

852
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:40,759
Speaker 3: you have to be in community with people not just

853
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,480
Speaker 3: in this country but around the globe and that leads

854
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 3: you to be able to influence policy, influence business, influence

855
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,319
Speaker 3: legislation because there's power in numbers. And so how can

856
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:55,040
Speaker 3: we no longer think just domestically because now we know

857
00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:56,960
Speaker 3: Africa is going to have such an influence from like

858
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,799
Speaker 3: a population standpoint in the next decade, How can we

859
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:04,200
Speaker 3: now I think globally around mobilizing people, community convening people,

860
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 3: providing people with development opportunities, but also providing people with

861
00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:10,840
Speaker 3: social experiences. And so we're super excited to launch the

862
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:14,319
Speaker 3: HQ House Global Network, which will be that convenient platform.

863
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 2: I love that.

864
00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:17,120
Speaker 5: Yeah, And the only thing I would add to what

865
00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,360
Speaker 5: John says that I'm excited about is the ability to

866
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:22,680
Speaker 5: like help change.

867
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:24,719
Speaker 4: Mindsets of individuals. Right.

868
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,120
Speaker 5: I'm a big believer that the biggest muscle that we

869
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 5: have is our brain, but also the biggest anchor that we.

870
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:33,640
Speaker 4: Have is our brain.

871
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,279
Speaker 5: Right, and if we can do anything over the next year,

872
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:39,360
Speaker 5: and we're doing a lot of development stuff inside of

873
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:42,920
Speaker 5: the HQ ecosystem as well, like to help people unlock

874
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,520
Speaker 5: the anchor that's holding them down because they start to

875
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 5: realize that unconsciously they were doing things that they were

876
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:53,200
Speaker 5: accepting things like if we can start touching those lives

877
00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:56,400
Speaker 5: and shipping away to create that freedom because we're opening

878
00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:00,560
Speaker 5: that mind. To me, that becomes a huge opportunity into

879
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:21,840
Speaker 5: the mention of the connectivity to drive change.

880
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:27,320
Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money is a production of Blavity Afro

881
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,400
Speaker 1: Tech on the Black Effect podcast network in iHeart Media.

882
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,799
Speaker 1: It's produced by Morgan Devonne and me Well Lucas, with

883
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:38,560
Speaker 1: additional production support by Sarah Ergan and Lovebeach. Special thinking

884
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:41,560
Speaker 1: to Michael Davison, Ky McDonald. Learn more about my guests

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Speaker 1: the other tech disruptors and innovators at afrotech dot com.

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Speaker 1: Enjoying Black Tech dreen Money, Share this with somebody, go

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Speaker 1: get your money, some luck. Check me out at the

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Speaker 1: annual Black Effect Podcast Festival happening Saturday, April twenty seventh

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta.

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Speaker 2: Live podcasts are on deck.

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Speaker 1: From some of your favorite shows, including this one, Black Tech,

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Speaker 1: Green Money, and also some of the best podcasts in

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Speaker 1: the game like Deeply Well with Debbie Brown and Carefully Reckless.

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Speaker 1: Atlanta is one of my favorite cities in the world.

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Speaker 1: I've lived there for two years. Actually, in my worldview,

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Speaker 1: seeing us successful in every industry and not having any

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Speaker 1: limits on our potential largely was shaved by Atlanta. So

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Speaker 1: to be there with you doing this podcast talking about

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Speaker 1: how we build or leverage technology to build wealth. Come on, man,

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Speaker 1: doesn't get better. I want to see you there. Get

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Speaker 1: your tickets today at Black Effect dot comback Slash Podcast

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Speaker 1: Festival