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Speaker 1: Hey, Hey, ba fam, I could not be more excited

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Speaker 1: to bring to you our two incredible powerhouse guests today.

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Speaker 1: They are not just dominating beauty and wellness, but they

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Speaker 1: are actively redefining what success looks like for black entrepreneurs.

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Speaker 1: So first I want you all to meet Tamara Watkins,

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Speaker 1: who is the brilliant president of Butterskin, which I love

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Speaker 1: saying Butterskin, who's been making major moves since twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: She is a Howard University grad started am I allowed

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Speaker 1: to say, you.

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Speaker 2: Know, good family family, you know.

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Speaker 1: Who started as a strategic consultant and literally helped transform

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Speaker 1: that brand's trajectory. So she has twelve years of experience

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Speaker 1: scaling multicultural beauty brands like Bevel you may have heard

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Speaker 1: of them, and Hyperskin. Tamara has that rare combination of

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Speaker 1: corporate expertise because she's led e commerce strategy at a

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Speaker 1: little company you might know, Microsoft, Xbox, anybody I don't know,

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Speaker 1: a little upstart and authentic entrepreneurial hustle. She is the

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Speaker 1: definite of walking in your purpose while also building generational wealth.

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Speaker 1: And I know we're both raising tiny humans. And I

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Speaker 1: have just heard a small snippet of what she has planned.

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Speaker 3: For her son.

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Speaker 1: He better get ready because Mama has big goals over him,

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Speaker 1: all right. And then Tamara is joined by friend and

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Speaker 1: fellow entrepreneur, doctor Kristen Edwards, who was the founder of

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Speaker 1: Black and Green, which is a marketplace that focuses on

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Speaker 1: bringing non toxic, black owned beauty brands to the masses. Now,

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Speaker 1: this Yale University graduate has a doctorate in public health

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Speaker 1: from John Hopkins to boot like, because if there's one

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Speaker 1: thing black women are going to do, we're going to

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Speaker 1: get ourselves educated, you know, with the capital E. But

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Speaker 1: before launching this marketplace, doctor Edwards was teaching future healthcare

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Speaker 1: leaders at George Washington University and implementing cost saving initiatives

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Speaker 1: at the John Hopkins Health System. But then she launched

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Speaker 1: Black and Green in twenty seventeen. Doctor Edwards has built

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Speaker 1: a community of over two hundred and ten thousand followers,

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Speaker 1: grated one point three million dollars in sales, and been

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Speaker 1: featured from Essence to The New York Times. And today

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Speaker 1: we're going to get into how these queens are creating

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Speaker 1: their own tables instead of waiting for seats, building wealth

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Speaker 1: while lifting others and revolutionizing industries that weren't designed with

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Speaker 1: us in mind, but will be rebuilt and reframed with

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Speaker 1: us in mind thanks to these incredible powerhouse entrepreneurs. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's get into it with our guest today, Tamera Watkins

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Speaker 1: and doctor Kristen Edwards. Welcome ladies, Thank you great to

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Speaker 1: be here. I'm so excited, so brown ambition. We call

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Speaker 1: our our audience a BAFAM. We really are here to

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Speaker 1: celebrate and to uplift, especially in dark times like this.

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Speaker 1: Both of y'all have launched or been a part of

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Speaker 1: the launch of incredible brands that really center us and

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Speaker 1: your products and your focus. Can y'all talk about how

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Speaker 1: does it feel to be building these brands and these

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Speaker 1: businesses at a time like we're in right now? What's

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Speaker 1: keeping y'all motivated?

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Speaker 3: Did well?

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Speaker 4: To be honest, Like, I wake up every day and

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Speaker 4: I feel so incredibly grateful to get to do what

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Speaker 4: I do, Like I recognize that I am very privileged

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Speaker 4: in order to lead the type of brand that but

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Speaker 4: is and what Butter represents. So it feels great, but

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Speaker 4: even now more so than ever, Like there's a battery

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Speaker 4: in my back, Like I'm.

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Speaker 2: Literally in DC's backyard.

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Speaker 4: So Kristin, I don't know how you feel, but like

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Speaker 4: because we're like so close to the DC area into government,

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Speaker 4: like you really do feel it, and so I just

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Speaker 4: feel even more empowered to, you know, continue to lead

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Speaker 4: the charge for black rounded brands.

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Speaker 3: Did that come immediately?

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Speaker 1: I'll let doctor, I'll let doctor Edwards go to do

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Speaker 1: we just call you doctor Edwards or Kristen or what

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Speaker 1: do you prefer?

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Speaker 5: You know, you do whatever feels good to you. My

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Speaker 5: mom would just say tell people to all you doctor Edwards.

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Speaker 5: You work for that doctor.

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Speaker 2: But hell yeah, so do whatever your heart.

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Speaker 3: So for now you're going to be doctor.

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Speaker 1: Okay, tell you.

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Speaker 3: Doctor doctor Edwards. All right, well, I'll let you go

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Speaker 3: ahead and go.

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Speaker 1: How are you feeling these days?

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Speaker 5: I think that's the best way to take a deep breath.

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Speaker 6: It can feel.

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Speaker 5: I think what I've been trying to focus on is

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Speaker 5: what I can't control, And there's so much that I

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Speaker 5: can't control, and I refuse to let what I can't

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Speaker 5: control pull on my energy too much, and so I've

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Speaker 5: been very intentional to worry about what I can control.

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Speaker 5: What I can't control is where I spend my money.

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Speaker 5: What I can't control is where I spend my time.

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Speaker 5: What I can control is what I watch on TV.

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Speaker 5: I'm not watching that little orange man do stuff because

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Speaker 5: I don't want to spend my time doing that. So

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Speaker 5: I control what I can control and try to ensure

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Speaker 5: I'm wrapped around love as much as possible. But like

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Speaker 5: you said, that's a privilege. That's the privilege that I

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Speaker 5: get to control that in that way. There's some people

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Speaker 5: who can't control it the way I can control it. Well,

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Speaker 5: I'm thankful for the privilege, and I'm using the privilege

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Speaker 5: to try to control as much as possible.

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Speaker 1: I Mean, we all know entrepreneurship ain't for the faint

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Speaker 1: of heart. It is stressful. It comes with all the challenges.

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Speaker 1: And one of the things that I've been most grateful

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Speaker 1: for is, like, thank goodness, no one sending me emails

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Speaker 1: talking about can you send me five bullet points? And

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Speaker 1: you know, and fearing for my job and at least

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Speaker 1: being your own boss is some comfort in these days.

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Speaker 3: And I agree with brown ambition.

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Speaker 1: Even waking up the day after the election and then

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Speaker 1: I came to talk to ba Fan and I just

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Speaker 1: I was surprised by myself, by my hope and the

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Speaker 1: level of inspiration. I was feeling the call to action

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Speaker 1: battery in my back, just like you, Tamera. And that's

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Speaker 1: why when I came into the new year with BA,

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Speaker 1: I wanted to create a different format where it wasn't

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Speaker 1: just about interviewing a specific guest, it was about really

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Speaker 1: having around like a round table.

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Speaker 3: It's a virtual table, so there's no shape.

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Speaker 1: To but I call it the brown table, where we

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Speaker 1: actually have people who represent not just success, but also

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Speaker 1: the power of community. So that what I love about

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Speaker 1: y'all is that you're not just fellow entrepreneurs, you are friends.

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Speaker 1: And I want to hear about that relationship and how

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Speaker 1: do y'all think your friendship has been growing over the years,

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Speaker 1: and how that has helped y'all in scaling your businesses individually.

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Speaker 4: I'm glad you are shifting the format because one of

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Speaker 4: the things that is I believe is going to be

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Speaker 4: so key for black brands moving forward is collaboration and community.

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Speaker 2: I think so.

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Speaker 4: Often, and I was a couple of years ago I

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Speaker 4: was sitting on like when I say a couple of

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Speaker 4: this was a lot of years ago. Black Enterprise used

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Speaker 4: to do the State of the Black Business calls I'm

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Speaker 4: not sure if they still do them. But Earl Graves

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Speaker 4: Junior was leading and he was saying that he recommends

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Speaker 4: the future for black businesses when it comes to growth

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Speaker 4: is collaboration. So and that would really be in the

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Speaker 4: shape of mergers and acquisitions essentially. And the reason why

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Speaker 4: is because we're like fighting over like this small piece

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Speaker 4: of the pie. When you know, if you get one

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Speaker 4: eighth of a slice and I'm getting one eighth of

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Speaker 4: the slice, why don't we combine those two slices together

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Speaker 4: so that we can get a much larger slice and

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Speaker 4: combine the resources. So I'm really glad that you're shifting

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Speaker 4: the way that you format the podcast.

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Speaker 1: Thank you absolutely, But friendship wise, I mean, how have

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Speaker 1: y'all supported each What has that looked like for y'all

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Speaker 1: building alongside one another?

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Speaker 4: So I think the biggest advice is that for us, no, no,

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Speaker 4: because it's just like.

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Speaker 2: So many ways.

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Speaker 4: But one of the biggest ways is making sure like

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Speaker 4: when I get information, I'm cheering it with Kristen when

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Speaker 4: she gets information and she's staring it with me. If

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Speaker 4: I'm doing an event or if I can attend the event,

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Speaker 4: if Butter can't be at the event, I'm reaching out

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Speaker 4: to Christen and say, hey, I have.

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Speaker 2: An opportunity, do you want to take advantage of it.

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Speaker 4: It's just not gatekeeping, it's just being as open as

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Speaker 4: we can with each other, because her success is my

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Speaker 4: success and my success is her.

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Speaker 5: I think that's the beautiful thing about black women is

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Speaker 5: that we operate as a community no matter what. We

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Speaker 5: try to support each other as a community, no matter what.

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Speaker 5: It's not a competition. I think that we often hear

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Speaker 5: in the black community that we'll keep pulling down each other.

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Speaker 5: I don't know where y'all find these people at, because

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Speaker 5: that's not my reality at all. Every black woman I

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Speaker 5: have met in business wants to see me succeed.

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Speaker 6: That's the core of what Black and Green is that.

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Speaker 5: When I read the article that the product marketed to

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Speaker 5: black people are more toxic than the products markets everyone else,

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Speaker 5: everyone was like, well, why don't you just create your

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Speaker 5: own product? I was like, because that's not my genius,

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Speaker 5: that's not what I'm good at. But there's tons of

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Speaker 5: black women who do that already, you just don't know

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Speaker 5: that they exist. So that's gonna be my role is

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Speaker 5: I'm going to try to create a community where they're

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Speaker 5: all together or you can come find them and so

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Speaker 5: community and working together in partnership and friendship.

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Speaker 6: It is natural. It's natural for black women.

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Speaker 1: And how have that relationship? Because y'all met in twenty

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Speaker 1: you said twenty sixteen or.

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Speaker 2: Seventeen twenty sixteen?

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Speaker 1: And at what points were y'all in your career slash business?

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Speaker 1: Cause Kristen doctor Edwards, rather you doesn't sound I'm not

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Speaker 1: ready for Kristin yet.

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Speaker 3: I'm not ready. I'm not ready doctor Edwards.

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Speaker 1: You started you started your business around the same time,

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Speaker 1: and I know Tamara you had your career in corporate,

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Speaker 1: so's I love that. It's almost like y'all have been

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Speaker 1: on this journey. But at that time, how did you

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Speaker 1: nurture that relationship? I hear all the time from people, how.

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Speaker 3: Do I get a mentor? How do you meet people in.

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Speaker 1: You know network and all of that. So talk a

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Speaker 1: little bit about y'all have nurtured your relationship all this time.

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Speaker 4: Just stand in contact, Just send in a text message. Hey,

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Speaker 4: how's it going. Hey, there's a grant opportunity.

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Speaker 2: You should check it out. Hey, I'm going to be here.

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Speaker 2: Do you want to link up? It's just it's not

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Speaker 2: anything formal. You know, it's not like this a formal relationship.

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Speaker 4: It's just do what natural, doing what naturally comes to us,

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Speaker 4: just as people who want to see each other succeed.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, and I think of a key piece of that

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Speaker 6: is intentional. We're all busy women.

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Speaker 5: We all have a million things to do, have two

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Speaker 5: little kids running around the year, got a husband running

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Speaker 5: around the heere if I want to.

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Speaker 6: I can be busy, but it's making that attention. I can't.

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Speaker 5: I am busy, but it's making that attention when something

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Speaker 5: crosses me and say, ooh have you seen about this?

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Speaker 6: Oh? Have you heard about this? Oh? Have you checked

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Speaker 6: this out?

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Speaker 5: It's just that intention to make sure if I can't

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Speaker 5: do it, maybe she can't.

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Speaker 1: Is there something anything that y'all have learned from one

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Speaker 1: another that you sort of like keep with you.

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Speaker 4: Resilience, like just watching what Kristen has been through. Like

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Speaker 4: the resilience, the will, the desire to continue going by

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Speaker 4: any means necessary.

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Speaker 2: I mean if sometimes I'm just like, you know, if

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Speaker 2: Kristen can do it, I can do it.

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Speaker 6: You know.

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Speaker 2: I have no excuse.

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Speaker 5: Well, there'll be one hundred percent honest because you know

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Speaker 5: with podcasts, that's with the BA fan, that's.

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Speaker 6: What we're gonna do. I didn't remember how we met.

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Speaker 6: Since we met. I had a car accident.

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Speaker 5: I was in a I had a traumatic brain injury,

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Speaker 5: and my memory was impacted.

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Speaker 6: My walking was impacted.

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Speaker 5: The neurologist told my parents, I may be a vegetable

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Speaker 5: for the rest of my life. I may never walk again,

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Speaker 5: I may never talk again. I may I may never

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Speaker 5: remember anything again. I don't remember my own wedding. That's

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Speaker 5: how impacted my memory was. But the beauty of it

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Speaker 5: is I don't remember how I met people. I don't

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Speaker 5: remember when we met, but I remember how I feel

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Speaker 5: around them that I remember, and I remember, Oh, she's

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Speaker 5: a good person.

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Speaker 6: I remember that.

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Speaker 5: So it's interesting how the impact that you have when

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Speaker 5: people are on me. That's how I have connected. I

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Speaker 5: know whenever she's in my safe. I don't know how

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Speaker 5: we met, I don't know how we trusted, how we

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Speaker 5: know each other, but that she's good people.

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Speaker 3: Not me crying over here. I don't know. I'm gonna

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Speaker 3: em listening to that.

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Speaker 4: Wow.

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Speaker 1: I mean I read about your accident and I was

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Speaker 1: gonna let I was gonna take your lead on whether

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Speaker 1: or not you wanted to talk about that, but I

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Speaker 1: know that I didn't realize the impact it had to

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Speaker 1: your memory.

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Speaker 3: That's really heartbreaking. Really yeah.

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Speaker 1: Wow, Yeah, how does that feel to hear that?

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Speaker 3: Tamara?

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Speaker 1: I just feel like that's one of the most beautiful

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Speaker 1: things I've ever heard about her friendship.

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Speaker 2: It is beautiful.

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Speaker 4: And I when I so Sophia you she's brought us

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Speaker 4: pr lead and she also worked with Kristen as well.

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Speaker 4: And I remember when it happened, like she just burst

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Speaker 4: into this office space that we were working in and

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Speaker 4: she was just crying, just she was just so emotional,

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Speaker 4: and I was just like, what happened, Sophia, what happened?

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Speaker 4: And she told me and we all just like, you know,

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Speaker 4: it was just it was so emotional because, like I said, like.

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Speaker 2: Kristen is like, you know, it's she's our sister, you know,

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Speaker 2: So it was just so yeah, it was just a

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Speaker 2: hard time. So thank you. I'm glad.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you've impacted me way more I feel like

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Speaker 4: than I've impacted you.

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Speaker 2: But I'm glad to hear it. So thank you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So, you know, launching a business and running that it's

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Speaker 1: like nothing when you've survived that, and you're I read,

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Speaker 1: is it true your newborn child was with you and

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Speaker 1: your husband? And how are they are they okay?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, they're doing okay.

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Speaker 1: Oh thank god, because I would just.

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Speaker 5: Turn yeah, because when I when when I ruined this accident,

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Speaker 5: I got airlifted to the hospital, and Amblus came to

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Speaker 5: take my son to the hospital, and my my husband

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Speaker 5: went with my son to the hospital. So we were

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Speaker 5: in two separate hospitals, trying to bounce back and forth

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Speaker 5: between the two hospitals and cs and both.

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Speaker 6: So it was like a very heavy time.

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Speaker 5: At the time, I was still on maternity leave from

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Speaker 5: my position when I was a professor, and so since

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Speaker 5: my brain injury, I can't go back to being a

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Speaker 5: professor anymore. So that piece of my career, that chapter closed,

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Speaker 5: and I focused one hundred percent on kind of the

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Speaker 5: work of Black and Green, but because of my brain

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Speaker 5: injury at the time of my at the time of

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Speaker 5: the par ancident, I was doing everything. I was shipping

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Speaker 5: and packing all the products out of my home office.

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Speaker 6: I stayed at the EPs. I was dropped.

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Speaker 5: I was I was doing everything, but after that I

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Speaker 5: just can't do everything anymore. So I had to move

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Speaker 5: my products to a fulfillment center. I had a higher team,

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Speaker 5: and hiring people ain't easy and I ain't.

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Speaker 6: Got no money, so that maybe even harder. And so

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Speaker 6: it was like trying to keep Black and Green alive?

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Speaker 5: Was the process like I'm just.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, and I got pregnant again.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that's also the resilient piece. You were like, I'm

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Speaker 4: not going to let this stop me.

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Speaker 1: I can't understand. And this wasn't like a long one.

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Speaker 1: I mean this was like not that long ago. We're

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Speaker 1: talking like seven eight years.

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Speaker 2: Oh my god, five, it was like five years ago.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, my accidents are live first twenty and nineteen and

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Speaker 5: then I have a three year old and the five

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Speaker 5: year old now, and so I got because me and

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Speaker 5: my husband, our plan was like grinna have two kids

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Speaker 5: back to back. So it was a probably like a

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Speaker 5: little bit past my maybe a year and a half

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Speaker 5: passed my kind of recovery from a accident and was like,

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Speaker 5: all right, we're gonna do this. I was like, we said,

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Speaker 5: we're going to do this. So I had another son

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Speaker 5: named Asher out of a biblical blessing, and so was

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Speaker 5: a blessing to happen.

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Speaker 1: To little boys too. I have a five year old

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Speaker 1: and an almost two year old.

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Speaker 2: Oh all boy, moms, Oh goodness.

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Speaker 1: Talk about resilience. Well, thank you for thank you for

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Speaker 1: sharing that that your identity.

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Speaker 3: I mean reading your bio.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean having come from the academia and then

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Speaker 1: having to turn to walk away from that. Was that

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Speaker 1: something that.

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Speaker 3: That you eventually had planned to do.

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Speaker 1: Did you launch Black and Green while working in higher ed?

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Speaker 1: Was it sort of like, okay, well this timeline has changed,

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Speaker 1: but at least I've been preparing for it a little bit.

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Speaker 6: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: I would love to say I did, but I didn't.

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Speaker 5: I purposely went into academia with the idea I'll be

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Speaker 5: doing that the rest of my life.

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Speaker 6: Because my thought was that.

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Speaker 5: Academia was a lower lift than when I was a

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Speaker 5: hospital administration. There was no way for me to kind

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Speaker 5: of do what I did as the administrator and run my business.

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Speaker 5: But my vision was, oh, I can just teach a

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Speaker 5: couple classes we and still run my business. And so

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Speaker 5: I was envisioning that always being a steady a part

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Speaker 5: of my income. And then another piece of it is

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Speaker 5: that because I don't make money off of Black and Green.

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Speaker 5: So my vision was that my Professor would kind of

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Speaker 5: be my financial security and Black and Green will be

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Speaker 5: my fun passion project.

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Speaker 6: So that was the way I envisioned it.

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Speaker 1: And so that has shifted now, are you I would

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Speaker 1: We'll get into that one real quick. So Black and Green,

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Speaker 1: So maybe I missed. I thought it was like a

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Speaker 1: marketplace where you are featuring all these products from other

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Speaker 1: brands like a butter Scan or others. Is that the case,

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Speaker 1: and then if that's the case, you're right, Oh okay,

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Speaker 1: but you would like get their products and you were

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Speaker 1: physically shipping them yourselves, so they weren't feeling.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that's why I was doing it, But I have

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Speaker 5: I'm changing my model now. When I started in twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 5: the way it worked is people shipped the products to

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Speaker 5: my house and I shipped out the product.

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Speaker 2: I'm a wagon going to the post office.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, and I'm like they were my best friends. I

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Speaker 6: knew they like, hey, it like we was like we

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Speaker 6: were height.

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Speaker 5: So they people would shipped the price of my house

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Speaker 5: and I would shipped them out. And the reason being

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Speaker 5: I didn't want to have In twenty seventeen, black owned

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Speaker 5: businesses were newer, and so I didn't want to have

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Speaker 5: the pressure of Black and Green cells on these new

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Speaker 5: indie brands.

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Speaker 6: So if you're if you're trying to get.

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Speaker 5: Out your five or ten orders for to day, if

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Speaker 5: you adding five or ten from Black and Green, that

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Speaker 5: might overload you. And so I said, I can take

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Speaker 5: that piece off of you and ship the stuff thrown

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Speaker 5: to me. And so for those first couple of years,

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Speaker 5: that's the way it worked where I was the warehouse.

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Speaker 5: Then I moved to a filming center. But now post COVID,

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Speaker 5: post George Floyd being murdered, post Brianna Taylor being murdered,

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Speaker 5: people are changing the way that they shop now. When

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Speaker 5: I started Black and Green, people went a one stop

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Speaker 5: shop to come shop and find things after being home

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Speaker 5: for a whole year. Because of COVID, people got used

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Speaker 5: to shopping online, in ordering all kinds of stuff online,

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Speaker 5: and they don't need one store to go to anymore.

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Speaker 5: They did all their research to go to all their places,

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Speaker 5: and people started using Black and Green like a catalog.

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Speaker 5: They'll come see the black on brands and go directly

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Speaker 5: to those websites that buy their products. So that's like, ooh, Christen,

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Speaker 5: so stuff is in your warehouse expiring because people aren't

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Speaker 5: buying it from you.

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Speaker 6: I can tell about my conversion rate. People are here,

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Speaker 6: they still clicking, they still.

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Speaker 5: Coming, but they're not buying. And so because of that,

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Speaker 5: I have to change the way I'm doing business. So

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Speaker 5: now the way we're going to work is that the

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Speaker 5: brands will ship it directly and you'll come to blank

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Speaker 5: greed to find the brands and go ship shop from

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Speaker 5: them directly.

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Speaker 1: Well, then wouldn't you get a fee like off the

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Speaker 1: from the Yeah, so you were making money?

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Speaker 4: How?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, what's the business model?

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Speaker 2: Like?

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Speaker 6: Yeah?

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Speaker 5: So the way worked beforehand is I woud get fifty

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Speaker 5: percent of MSRP to hold the products in my warehouse

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Speaker 5: and then ship them. So basically I was purchasing products

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Speaker 5: from the brands, I was holding them my warehouse, and

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Speaker 5: then I was selling them at the purchased.

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Speaker 1: Now, oh, okay, okay, you're like a wholesaler almost like

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Speaker 1: you're like you basically turned your house into target?

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Speaker 3: Is what you did?

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Speaker 6: I surely did.

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Speaker 3: Okay, OKAYRD.

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Speaker 5: I had people come into my house to pick stuff

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Speaker 5: up and everything I live and do some girl, can

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Speaker 5: I come get things?

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Speaker 6: Come on, girl, come get it. So that's that's the

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Speaker 6: way that it worked.

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Speaker 3: I'm sorry it's not funny, but it's kind of fun.

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Speaker 2: It's cute, it actually is.

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Speaker 6: It's actually hilarious.

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Speaker 1: It's a little bit comforting because I love to hear

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Speaker 1: about scrappy beginnings and like it's everything because you see now,

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Speaker 1: like I'm meeting you years into this journey, and you

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Speaker 1: read the bio and you look at the websites all

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Speaker 1: beautiful and have the followers and stuff, but yeah, the

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Speaker 1: humble beginnings of it all and just having the like

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Speaker 1: to get it done and even if it's not like

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Speaker 1: the way that someone with an MBA or like with

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Speaker 1: a retail background or whatever would have done it, like,

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Speaker 1: you still got the shit done. And I just find

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Speaker 1: that really inspiring.

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Speaker 3: That's all.

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Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing that, and thanks for helping

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Speaker 1: me understand better about black and black and green and

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Speaker 1: how that works. So then but when well, Tamara, you

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Speaker 1: came to BUTTA when as in twenty twenty as president twenty.

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00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,240
Speaker 4: Okay, and so right before COVID hit. Actually I started

445
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:51,760
Speaker 4: in March, the beginning.

446
00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:52,479
Speaker 3: Of my perfect timing.

447
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:55,399
Speaker 2: It really was.

448
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:57,600
Speaker 1: Okay, talk a little bit about that, because you all

449
00:21:57,720 --> 00:21:59,679
Speaker 1: did you came from a you were a consultant. I

450
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,680
Speaker 1: know we talked about Microsoft, but you were a consultant

451
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,840
Speaker 1: and you were helping businesses scale. Is that what you

452
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:06,080
Speaker 1: were doing as a consultant.

453
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:06,360
Speaker 2: Yeah.

454
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,199
Speaker 4: So I was helping mainly brands that were black founded,

455
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,400
Speaker 4: scale their online acquisition and retention strategies.

456
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:14,840
Speaker 2: So that's everything.

457
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:20,160
Speaker 4: From meta ads strategy, Google ad strategy, search engine optimization,

458
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,760
Speaker 4: SEO email marketing strategy. So I came offering that suite

459
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,679
Speaker 4: of services to Buda in March of twenty twenty, and

460
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,359
Speaker 4: it was really great because the ownership really listened to me.

461
00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,000
Speaker 4: Because when COVID happened and everything shut down and everyone

462
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:37,919
Speaker 4: had to stay in their homes, I was like, listen,

463
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,200
Speaker 4: all of my a lot of my other clients were

464
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,359
Speaker 4: just you know, they were fearful, and they really pulled.

465
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 2: Back on their marketing spend.

466
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,560
Speaker 4: And I am a Warren Buffett fan, and a Melody

467
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 4: Hobson fan, and a John Rogers fan. The aerial investments

468
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,400
Speaker 4: and you know they as often say, when everyone else

469
00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 4: is being afraid, that's when you should be you know, brave.

470
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,159
Speaker 4: And so while everyone else, all the other brands and

471
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,400
Speaker 4: companies were afraid to spend their marketing dollars. We went

472
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,600
Speaker 4: balls to the wall. We pushed the accelerator and so

473
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 4: we started like.

474
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,440
Speaker 2: Really ramping up our marketing budgets, and it was synergy.

475
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:15,400
Speaker 2: There was a lot of synergy.

476
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,479
Speaker 4: Because black people were seeing what was going on, you know,

477
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:20,840
Speaker 4: and so they wanted to It was a battery in

478
00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,639
Speaker 4: their back to support black founded brands because they realized, Okay,

479
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 4: where we spend our dollars matter, and so we need

480
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,080
Speaker 4: to spend those dollars with brands that are going to.

481
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,880
Speaker 2: Reinvest it into our communities.

482
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,360
Speaker 4: And so once we did that, growth was exponential, like

483
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,440
Speaker 4: it was a fast moving train.

484
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:38,280
Speaker 3: I love that.

485
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,480
Speaker 1: They make so much sense to Warren Buffett reference too,

486
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,160
Speaker 1: because I know him as an investor and he talks

487
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,399
Speaker 1: about you know, and I always say that when the

488
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: market's going down, it's like it's it clearest thing sale,

489
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 1: get some stuff you know that's cute apples, apples fifty

490
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,640
Speaker 1: percent off today. That's really why is the Melody Hobson

491
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,280
Speaker 1: She she's Aerial Investments.

492
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,280
Speaker 2: She's a yeah, she's co CEO.

493
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,879
Speaker 1: Co CEO, right. I also think about Stacy Brown Philpott

494
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,600
Speaker 1: from Task rab At CEO and she she was a

495
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 1: CEO at task Rabbit and she has sench launched a

496
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,919
Speaker 1: venture capital fund too. She's just another rare black female

497
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,199
Speaker 1: unicorn in venture capital. And yeah, it's really nice to

498
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 1: hear that I feel that way about Brown Ambition. I

499
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,720
Speaker 1: don't know if to give y'all some backstory. BA. We've

500
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 1: been around since twenty fifteen as a podcast, and I

501
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,760
Speaker 1: was a journalist, a business journalist at like Yahoo Finance

502
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,639
Speaker 1: Business Insider. I did a SEO marketing for a financial

503
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 1: fintech company for like five years, so marketing sisters here.

504
00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 1: And yeah, I went full time with Brown Ambition And honestly,

505
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 1: I went full time as a solopreneur in twenty twenty one,

506
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,359
Speaker 1: and I have a coaching practice that I do. But

507
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 1: when my business partner for Brown Ambition left at the

508
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,240
Speaker 1: end of twenty four it was my opportunity to like

509
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 1: recharge the way that I approached Brown Ambition. And I

510
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: had the great fortune to attend this conference called afro Tech.

511
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,680
Speaker 2: Have y'all Oh I went in November. You were in Houston.

512
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,440
Speaker 1: Yeah you were there too, Yeah, well there was only

513
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:19,639
Speaker 1: about thirty thousand of us.

514
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,280
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, it was a lot.

515
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 1: Well Tamra then you know, I had not been to

516
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,159
Speaker 1: I mean, Morgan is one of the first guests on

517
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,440
Speaker 1: Brown Ambition all those years ago, and anyway, and when

518
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:36,720
Speaker 1: I was there, I left with this light. I left

519
00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,240
Speaker 1: with this sort of like quiet knowledge that, oh, Brown

520
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,800
Speaker 1: Ambition is way more than a podcast. It's been my

521
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 1: baby all these years, and it's been this platform and

522
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 1: this way of you know, really century women of color

523
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 1: and conversations around wealth building. But for me, I'm like

524
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 1: the business, the size of it, the scope of it.

525
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 1: It was impossible to leave Afro Tech just thinking of

526
00:25:57,359 --> 00:26:00,399
Speaker 1: it as a podcast. And now I'm I'm you know,

527
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 1: balls to the wall too about creating a real, you know,

528
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:08,120
Speaker 1: media platform. And you see people like Joy Reid losing

529
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 1: their shows at MSNBC and Rashida Jones leaving NBC, and

530
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,359
Speaker 1: like these these voices in media and how necessary and

531
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 1: essential they are at a time like this, and I

532
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:24,359
Speaker 1: I just really feel that that calling and by hearing

533
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 1: from people like y'all too, it's just very inspiring because

534
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: I used to have these conversations very much like oh,

535
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: that's great that you did that. Now I feel like

536
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:37,199
Speaker 1: I am trying to gobble up as much intel and

537
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 1: as much guidance because I want to build too. It's

538
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:46,359
Speaker 1: very it's very inspiring, and I don't have a question.

539
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 1: I just wanted to share that.

540
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,080
Speaker 2: That's all all right.

541
00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 1: So with butterskin, what makes it different than other brands

542
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,000
Speaker 1: that are on the shelf and why should we be

543
00:26:58,200 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 1: buying up all y'all's products?

544
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 4: Well, what makes us different is the founding mission. So

545
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 4: BUTA was founded by an actor named Dorian Ornad. He

546
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:10,159
Speaker 4: was on a lot of photo shoots. He was on

547
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,040
Speaker 4: a lot of sets for movies and TV and film,

548
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,959
Speaker 4: and so when you're an actor or an actress, you

549
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,719
Speaker 4: have to wear a lot of makeup usually, and so

550
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 4: that was the case for him, and when he would

551
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:23,199
Speaker 4: come home, he did not like the way that his

552
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 4: skin looked once he would take the makeup off, and

553
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 4: so he set out.

554
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:26,679
Speaker 2: To change that.

555
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 4: But when he would go into beauty department stores or

556
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 4: maybe even like a mass retail like CBS, he would

557
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,560
Speaker 4: not see skincare brands that reflected him from the shelf.

558
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,359
Speaker 4: So he wouldn't see models that look like his mom

559
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,919
Speaker 4: or his sisters. His dad is cousins, and so he

560
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,760
Speaker 4: set out to change that. So he went to private

561
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 4: equity and he worked with the lab.

562
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 2: He was really really.

563
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,000
Speaker 4: Deeply involved in the product development process, and so he

564
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 4: created products that address the skincare concerns of black and

565
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,480
Speaker 4: brown people. So, for example, I don't know when I

566
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 4: was younger, and even recently, you go into a drug

567
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:05,920
Speaker 4: store or department store.

568
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:07,399
Speaker 2: And first off, you see someone that doesn't look like

569
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 2: you're at the counter.

570
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:14,919
Speaker 4: Secondly, you read the packaging and it says for redness.

571
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,240
Speaker 1: Who gets redness?

572
00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,359
Speaker 4: I'm way too rich of a complexion. I don't get redness.

573
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,160
Speaker 4: I get dark spots. And so our skincare products are

574
00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,480
Speaker 4: high quality, they're vegan, and they help to address the

575
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,399
Speaker 4: skincare concerns that we actually have.

576
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 2: So even when it comes to like.

577
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:35,320
Speaker 4: Anti aging, like a lot of brands you know that

578
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,320
Speaker 4: are competitors, they tend to say anti agent. We don't

579
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,160
Speaker 4: do anti agent because we all know most black people,

580
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 4: what do we all.

581
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 2: Say when it comes to agent? Right, so we believe

582
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 2: that we don't age.

583
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 3: I only get half that promise. I represent.

584
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 1: I represent the melanine challenge of our sisters out there.

585
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,120
Speaker 2: Hey, we're all we're all family over.

586
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,800
Speaker 3: Here, thank you in the club.

587
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 2: We all fam We all fam. Yeah.

588
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 4: So like the thing is like even that, like we

589
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 4: don't do anti agent, we do skin preservation. So just

590
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 4: making sure that we are authentically speaking to the community,

591
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,040
Speaker 4: we're representing people in the community, and we're also solving

592
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 4: the skincare concerns that people in our community have.

593
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,560
Speaker 1: And also I'm assuming making sure that the products that

594
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,240
Speaker 1: we are creating don't have anything toxic to us.

595
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 2: That's all right, I.

596
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 1: Mean I was a just for me kid, like you know,

597
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,760
Speaker 1: the box, the relaxers in the box, and seeing what

598
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 1: you seeing the lawsuits against companies and the dangers and

599
00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,400
Speaker 1: we're still finding out there's probably not enough research. I know,

600
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,520
Speaker 1: with doctor Edwards with your health background, I don't know

601
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,880
Speaker 1: if you want to speak on that, but like the

602
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 1: impact to black women by the toxicity of the products

603
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: that we have been sold for so long.

604
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,240
Speaker 3: And I go to a grocery store.

605
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 1: Even my local like neighboring grocery store, and I well,

606
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 1: and I'm not talking about a CBS or like a

607
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: target where you expect to see like a different a

608
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,440
Speaker 1: lot of different brands in healthcare. But I'll see Shay,

609
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,920
Speaker 1: and I'll see Miss Jesse's and I'll see you know,

610
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,160
Speaker 1: all these black owned beauty brands at my supermarket even

611
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,680
Speaker 1: And that's wonderful, But are you finding that today's products

612
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,440
Speaker 1: are you know, really and truly like healthy for us

613
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 1: and better for us? And how would you educate consumers

614
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: as we're shopping to make sure that we are like

615
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: being smart about the products that we're putting on us,

616
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 1: on our bodies, our hair.

617
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 2: So I always recommend to take the food label approach

618
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:37,040
Speaker 2: to be honest.

619
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:39,960
Speaker 4: Like, just like you look at a nutrition label on

620
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 4: your on the packaging of your food, the ingredient list

621
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 4: is the nutrition lebel.

622
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 5: With the food label, like there's gonna be a lot

623
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 5: of things on there. You just don't know what it

624
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 5: is and don't know what it.

625
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,280
Speaker 3: Is exactly true. And some of it you'll look it

626
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 3: up and it's like, huhoba oil.

627
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,800
Speaker 1: Okay, I didn't know that that's true.

628
00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:01,080
Speaker 4: That I was about to call you, doctor Edwards man doctor.

629
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:03,280
Speaker 6: So I love that question.

630
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:07,200
Speaker 5: So the report I read that kind of showed how

631
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,000
Speaker 5: the products marketed to black people are more toxic than

632
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,960
Speaker 5: the products marks everyone else. The Environmental Working Group did

633
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,640
Speaker 5: that report in twenty fifteen. I just work with them

634
00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 5: to redo that report to kind of see have things

635
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 5: changed since twenty fifteen. I may have the dates wrong.

636
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:23,320
Speaker 5: I was trying to look over here to get the

637
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 5: exact dates. It might be Okay, there's a twenty sixteen report,

638
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,640
Speaker 5: so they just redid it between twenty five I work

639
00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 5: with them to redo that report and we found a

640
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:32,440
Speaker 5: couple of things.

641
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 6: Have things gotten better?

642
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 5: They have gotten better, and so there's a lot of

643
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,800
Speaker 5: toxic ingredients that we don't see being used anymore, like parabins.

644
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,720
Speaker 5: We have seen a decrease in those. But what concerns

645
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 5: me is we also saw increase in fragrance and undisclosed fragrances.

646
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 5: And why that concerns me is that our fragrance mixture

647
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 5: can be a mixture of over a thousand different ingredients

648
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,720
Speaker 5: and we don't disclose what you are in them. It

649
00:31:57,760 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 5: can be all kind of ingredients that you're throwing in

650
00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,640
Speaker 5: that were linked with cancer or can be for mal

651
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 5: the high releases. So it's all kinds of things that

652
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 5: can be in fragrance, undiscloys, fragrances, and so we did

653
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:09,320
Speaker 5: see an increase in that.

654
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 6: What that showed me is that us.

655
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,480
Speaker 5: Doing this work on trying to on what ingredients we

656
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,360
Speaker 5: need to pull out of products is not the real

657
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,440
Speaker 5: battle because manufacturers are smart. They said, Okay, if you

658
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:26,920
Speaker 5: don't want parabans anymore, we can pull out a parabin

659
00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:28,840
Speaker 5: but we can stick the thing that we want in

660
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 5: this undisclosed ingredient, so we still get a harmful ingredient

661
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 5: in there. Anyways, I said, so, what I want the

662
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,120
Speaker 5: push to be is on the manufacturers to prove that

663
00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 5: the product is safe, not to avoid a toxic ingredient.

664
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,960
Speaker 5: I want to switch the responsibility to be if you

665
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 5: want to put your products on the shelf, you get

666
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,880
Speaker 5: to prove to me that it is safe. Because people

667
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 5: assume if it's on the shelf, it must be safe

668
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 5: for me, and that's not true at all. And the

669
00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,479
Speaker 5: way to make it easier for consumers, because it's a

670
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,280
Speaker 5: lot of work and there's no way you can know

671
00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 5: these thousands of ingredients and which ones are safe and

672
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,560
Speaker 5: which ones aren't. The way to make easier is one

673
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:06,640
Speaker 5: shop with the place like Black and Green where we

674
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 5: do all the work for you. Shop with marketplaces that

675
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,600
Speaker 5: do all that for you to make sure that you

676
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 5: have non foxsing ingredients in there. So that's one way

677
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 5: to make it easier for folks the purchase products. I

678
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 5: don't have the expectation that you're going to undergo the

679
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,479
Speaker 5: background every single one, and the background every single ingredient there.

680
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:33,600
Speaker 5: There's no way you'll know. And they're hoping that you

681
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 5: don't know it's marketed and it's named in the way

682
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,240
Speaker 5: that you won't know it's just some crazy ingredient. Another

683
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:41,959
Speaker 5: kind of tool I use. If you can't pronounce it,

684
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,320
Speaker 5: stay away from it. That's kind of like the more

685
00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 5: of a food label thing. If you can't pronounce it,

686
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,000
Speaker 5: you don't I recognize it. It's probably not the best

687
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:51,320
Speaker 5: thing for you to use. Is that one hundred percent truth? No,

688
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:53,360
Speaker 5: it's not one hundred percent truth, but it's a good

689
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,520
Speaker 5: way for you to get a little test for it

690
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:57,800
Speaker 5: when you're trying it out.

691
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,040
Speaker 4: So, Kristen, can I ask you questions to follow up

692
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,480
Speaker 4: to that? In terms of you wanting manufacturers to prove

693
00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 4: to a consumer that the product is non toxic? What

694
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:08,600
Speaker 4: would that look like?

695
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:09,680
Speaker 6: Oh?

696
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,720
Speaker 5: I love that question. So what would that I imagine

697
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:19,319
Speaker 5: us having a I imagine having a report. I don't

698
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,120
Speaker 5: want to use the word report, but kind of having

699
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,240
Speaker 5: a metric that say you have to prove your safety

700
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,160
Speaker 5: from these seven things that I don't want us to

701
00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:29,879
Speaker 5: have to go test every single ingredient to figure out

702
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,400
Speaker 5: what are the health of negative health effects of those ingredients.

703
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:34,160
Speaker 5: I want you to come to us and prove the

704
00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:36,719
Speaker 5: safety of your product, like, hey, we have done the

705
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:39,400
Speaker 5: testing of this, we have verified the health of this,

706
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 5: we have verified them when these products are mixed together,

707
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:44,560
Speaker 5: here are the outcomes of this product. So I want

708
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,640
Speaker 5: the manufacturers to do the work of proving to us

709
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:49,880
Speaker 5: that it's safe before we say, okay, check mark you

710
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:50,840
Speaker 5: can put on our shelves.

711
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 6: Now does that make sense?

712
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 1: It's like a like an organic label, you'd have to

713
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,160
Speaker 1: sort of set the It's so it's subjective, right, Like

714
00:34:58,200 --> 00:34:59,959
Speaker 1: what's toxic? Really right?

715
00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,440
Speaker 3: And like there's like the level of things is toxic.

716
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,200
Speaker 1: And maybe it would take like you'd have to use

717
00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 1: a certain product one hundred thousand times before it had

718
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:10,879
Speaker 1: those adverse impacts. And I see that with sunscreen, it's

719
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,239
Speaker 1: so freaking hard to like, I'm like, what do I

720
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,839
Speaker 1: what sunscreen is safe? Like the fuck? It's so part

721
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,280
Speaker 1: of my friends. I have a pine mouth, But it's

722
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,920
Speaker 1: it's frustrating. Yeah, as a consumer, and I love the

723
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,319
Speaker 1: idea of Black and Green being that that sort of

724
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:28,680
Speaker 1: screen which does put a lot of burden on Black

725
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 1: and Green, which you should get paid for. And I

726
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 1: hope you're yeah, you talk about grants and stuff and

727
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:38,879
Speaker 1: all that, but I wonder like, yeah, how who there

728
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:41,719
Speaker 1: is no organization that defines those terms. So it would

729
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,640
Speaker 1: be up to an organization like Black and Green today,

730
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,280
Speaker 1: Well you can't you can't sell on our website unless

731
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,239
Speaker 1: you have these you meet these like metrics and have

732
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:51,320
Speaker 1: this seal of approval.

733
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:54,200
Speaker 5: And Black and Green uses an Environmental Working Group, So

734
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,799
Speaker 5: that's the organization that has done the work and doing

735
00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:01,239
Speaker 5: the research under every single product, every single ingredient, trying

736
00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:04,719
Speaker 5: to understand the toxicity of that ingredient itself. And so

737
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:08,120
Speaker 5: that is one that that is one organization that exists

738
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,239
Speaker 5: that does some of this work for us. And they

739
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 5: have an I believe they have an app where you

740
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,080
Speaker 5: can scan the product and can let you know kind

741
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 5: of what the toxicity score of that is. So any

742
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 5: product on Black and Green wed let you know what

743
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,279
Speaker 5: does what does the e that used toxicity score? And

744
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,520
Speaker 5: it's also something important to mention is that in the

745
00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,759
Speaker 5: European Union they do a much better job than we

746
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,960
Speaker 5: do in America than in America. But we don't tell

747
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,680
Speaker 5: you what products, what ingredients you can use, what ingredients

748
00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 5: you shouldn't use. And the European edients say, okay, you

749
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,960
Speaker 5: can use the ingredient, only use this much of it.

750
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:39,560
Speaker 5: We can only use as much of it. They have

751
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,239
Speaker 5: regulations on the percentage of ingredients that you can use,

752
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 5: and so they have a lot more control over the

753
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,520
Speaker 5: things that are being put into products. And so the

754
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,279
Speaker 5: beauty of that is is that we just say an

755
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,560
Speaker 5: ingredient is bad, ingredient is bad, okay, cool, versus this

756
00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:58,600
Speaker 5: say ingredient in this a lot is bad. If you

757
00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,279
Speaker 5: use this amount of it, it's okay. And so they

758
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:05,120
Speaker 5: have a lot more regulations around the actual amount of

759
00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:07,960
Speaker 5: ingredients that could be used, which I like that that

760
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,440
Speaker 5: I think that it takes. It's still a less of

761
00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,840
Speaker 5: science be there, and it's still it just controls it

762
00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,680
Speaker 5: in different ways than control is here. We don't have

763
00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:19,600
Speaker 5: any federal control in the America at all.

764
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 6: States are doing it.

765
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,240
Speaker 5: So Maryland had done some work to advance and ingredients,

766
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,080
Speaker 5: California had done some work to band ingredients, and so

767
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,319
Speaker 5: states are taking on the responsibility of banding ingredients and

768
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:31,720
Speaker 5: personal care products.

769
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,280
Speaker 1: Okay, now imagine like for you, Tamera, as a business

770
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,799
Speaker 1: owner or not a business owner, but being a part

771
00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:43,040
Speaker 1: of butterscan hearing that, Can you talk a little bit

772
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: about what that would look like from it? Like it

773
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 1: almost would add a lot more work on the creator side,

774
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:53,000
Speaker 1: the founder side, and we want more businesses by us.

775
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 1: But do you see any limitation there or any like

776
00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:57,840
Speaker 1: any other perspective to add to that conversation.

777
00:37:59,400 --> 00:37:59,759
Speaker 6: I do.

778
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,920
Speaker 2: I think it would put especially if you're a smaller business.

779
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 2: I think if you are.

780
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 4: The size of let's just stay a butter skin and

781
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:10,960
Speaker 4: you do have access to private equity dollars in your

782
00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:14,600
Speaker 4: leveraged business, maybe not so much. But if you're a

783
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:17,040
Speaker 4: smaller business, it could put more of a burden on

784
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 4: you because these processes are expensive. Working with these EWGs

785
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 4: are expensive, and so that is definitely it could I'm

786
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,120
Speaker 4: not gonna say it definitely will, but it could chip away,

787
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,480
Speaker 4: you know, at your margins, because either you're gonna have

788
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,400
Speaker 4: to raise the price of your product or you're gonna

789
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:32,040
Speaker 4: have to take.

790
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 2: More of a hit on the margins of the product.

791
00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:36,880
Speaker 2: But you know, I think.

792
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,000
Speaker 4: Chris, and I was actually going to ask you, do

793
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 4: you think, in terms of your business model, would you

794
00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:47,120
Speaker 4: consider becoming a service that helps to basically become like

795
00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 4: the easy pass lane for black and brown businesses to

796
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,680
Speaker 4: work with the EWGs in order to get them those

797
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:57,040
Speaker 4: certifications that they need, Because I think another consideration is

798
00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,759
Speaker 4: the bandwidth and capacity if you're a solopreneur, like you're

799
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:04,839
Speaker 4: already looking at, you know, working with packaging, marketing, et cetera,

800
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,160
Speaker 4: et cetera, et cetera, and now I have to work

801
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,600
Speaker 4: with these e wg's which I may or may not

802
00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:12,920
Speaker 4: know anything about, you know, to get these certifications. So

803
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 4: have you thought about that like as an additional arm

804
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:17,280
Speaker 4: of your business.

805
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:20,920
Speaker 5: Yeah, I definitely have like explored doing that and try

806
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,640
Speaker 5: to help people get these certifications and testing on their

807
00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:26,719
Speaker 5: products because I care about it.

808
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 6: What I found is how do I say this in

809
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 6: the right way?

810
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 5: What I found is it didn't lead to the person

811
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:36,279
Speaker 5: making more sell and so it was hard for to

812
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:37,680
Speaker 5: make the choice to investment.

813
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 1: They said, so, okay, that's America for you.

814
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:46,640
Speaker 2: You know, because we're hearing something different from OLTA.

815
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:48,480
Speaker 6: Ooh what do you hear?

816
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:54,400
Speaker 4: So I'm hearing that when these badges for these certifications

817
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 4: are present on PDP pages, PDP product display pages for

818
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,640
Speaker 4: those are in the e commerce world, they see an

819
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:06,239
Speaker 4: increase in conversion rate on those PDP pages. So I

820
00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,400
Speaker 4: think if you can equip people business owners with that

821
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:12,040
Speaker 4: data on how these badges are actually going to benefit

822
00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:15,799
Speaker 4: their sales, like, you know, incrementally, I think it would

823
00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,360
Speaker 4: help that conversation goes maybe a little bit smoothing.

824
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:23,000
Speaker 5: Yes, I love that if basically I need the data

825
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:25,480
Speaker 5: to show by you doing that, that is going to

826
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:26,720
Speaker 5: increase your sales.

827
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:28,919
Speaker 6: But I didn't have that data.

828
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:30,720
Speaker 5: I said, I, you just need to do it because's

829
00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,800
Speaker 5: the right thing to do. And that wasn't enough for

830
00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:38,839
Speaker 5: to get people to move but needed So it's not.

831
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 1: Like they did it and then they found out that

832
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,480
Speaker 1: they weren't making more sales. It's like to get them

833
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:45,600
Speaker 1: to do it, you have they're looking for you to

834
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:47,600
Speaker 1: tell me, like, what's the business case for this?

835
00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:47,919
Speaker 2: Right?

836
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:48,320
Speaker 3: Classic?

837
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:51,360
Speaker 1: Right, this is the classic conundrum with DEI efforts. And

838
00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:54,040
Speaker 1: also you know, like, well, what's the business case for this?

839
00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:54,919
Speaker 1: Make it make sense?

840
00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:59,280
Speaker 4: That's an obvious when you know, I mean the numbers

841
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,520
Speaker 4: that the number It's like if you're a white business

842
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:04,479
Speaker 4: and you're marketing to one hundred white people and there's

843
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:06,759
Speaker 4: fifty black people that you can also market to.

844
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 2: Now you have an extra fifty customers. The math is

845
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 2: just the man.

846
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:12,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know, you're making too much sense to Mara.

847
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:14,760
Speaker 1: I don't know about that. It's just like the logic

848
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:17,520
Speaker 1: does it have a place here in America anymore? I

849
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:22,560
Speaker 1: don't know, but one percent of greed that sounds that

850
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:25,719
Speaker 1: sounds really great. So you're and then to Mara with butterskin,

851
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:27,080
Speaker 1: You're sold in Ulta stores.

852
00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:33,360
Speaker 4: Yep, we're in Alta, Amazon, Macy's, JC, Pennies, and coming

853
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:34,760
Speaker 4: more to some other stores.

854
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:36,200
Speaker 3: Okay.

855
00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:38,359
Speaker 1: I mean I'm thinking about BA FAM and I know

856
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,640
Speaker 1: that they're resonating with the conversation about how to be

857
00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 1: better about picking products off the shelves. So I love

858
00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:45,439
Speaker 1: that we know black and green. Now I'm always trying

859
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,120
Speaker 1: to put myself in their shoes of like what do

860
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:49,719
Speaker 1: they want? I know that getting the inside scoop on

861
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,960
Speaker 1: like how a beauty brand is. In conversation with Alta,

862
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,480
Speaker 1: Alta has sort of emerged as it'd be great to

863
00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,560
Speaker 1: have something from Alta on in the future, but they've

864
00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:00,000
Speaker 1: sort of emerged as like they're about to sell sacred product.

865
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:04,959
Speaker 1: They've always sold Tracy Yellis Ross's products and I've talked

866
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,359
Speaker 1: to Kim Lewis, the CEO of Cromex, and she sells

867
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:11,120
Speaker 1: her products there. So have y'all been having a good

868
00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:14,839
Speaker 1: relationship with them and have they helped? Has it been

869
00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:17,400
Speaker 1: like an engine for growth being in a brick and

870
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,760
Speaker 1: mortar store like that for Butterskin.

871
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:22,920
Speaker 2: Absolutely definitely an engine for growth.

872
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:27,279
Speaker 4: I love that Olta and Macy's and JC Pennies like

873
00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,600
Speaker 4: they're very much supporters of the brand and so they

874
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,719
Speaker 4: do things like because make no mistake, going into brick

875
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,879
Speaker 4: and mortar is very expensive, Like I think a lot

876
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:40,600
Speaker 4: of brands think it's like you know, the Panaceo or

877
00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:44,239
Speaker 4: like the north Star, and it can be, but it

878
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:47,839
Speaker 4: is very capital intensive. But once you get in there,

879
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 4: because there is this, you have to show your worth,

880
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:53,960
Speaker 4: Like once you're on the shelves, that's just not even

881
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:55,680
Speaker 4: half the bat, that's a quarter of the battle.

882
00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:58,399
Speaker 2: Then you have to prove that you can stay in there.

883
00:42:58,719 --> 00:43:01,640
Speaker 4: And so may season all to JC Penny, all of

884
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,359
Speaker 4: our retail partners have been really great about supporting us

885
00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:08,319
Speaker 4: and giving us the tools and the resources that we

886
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:10,239
Speaker 4: need in order to make sure that we can stay

887
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:10,760
Speaker 4: on the shelves.

888
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:13,440
Speaker 1: And what does that look like like if you're someone

889
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,840
Speaker 1: who wants to work with those kinds of partners, what

890
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:17,840
Speaker 1: makes a good partner? What kind of resources is it

891
00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:20,360
Speaker 1: that they give you? Like educating, I mean you probably

892
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,000
Speaker 1: don't need education on how to grow your brand, but

893
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:25,920
Speaker 1: like placement on shelves, like intel on what's selling and

894
00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:28,439
Speaker 1: what's not selling. They give you patience to like try

895
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:30,279
Speaker 1: things out and if it doesn't sell immediately, they don't

896
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:31,280
Speaker 1: kick you off the shelves.

897
00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:34,799
Speaker 2: What a good partner in business?

898
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:38,640
Speaker 4: So one of the things that they might do so say,

899
00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,640
Speaker 4: for example, like once you're on the shelf, you really

900
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,160
Speaker 4: need to the expectation is that you will allocate marketing

901
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:48,400
Speaker 4: and advertising dollars in order to inform your community that

902
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:52,239
Speaker 4: you're on the shelf now prior to me, prior to

903
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 4: like twenty sixteen and me working with brands that are

904
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,759
Speaker 4: in brick and mortar. Like in my mind, you know,

905
00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:59,360
Speaker 4: you're thinking, oh, I'm at Alta Macy's now, Like the

906
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:01,160
Speaker 4: work is done and like the products are just going

907
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:05,319
Speaker 4: to sell themselves. Now you have to allocate you know,

908
00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:08,360
Speaker 4: X amount of dollars in order to inform your customers

909
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:10,880
Speaker 4: and other customers that the product is there. And so

910
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,680
Speaker 4: the expectations is that you will use your digital marketing

911
00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:17,799
Speaker 4: dollars to or really reallocate your digital marketing dollars that

912
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:21,680
Speaker 4: you may have earmarked to spend to drive traffic to

913
00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:24,520
Speaker 4: your own website. Now you have to spend those dollars

914
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:29,359
Speaker 4: to drive traffic to Alta's websites. Which might be counterintuitive, right,

915
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:32,360
Speaker 4: but that is an expectation. But one of the resources

916
00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,880
Speaker 4: that Alta Macy's may offer a black founded or a

917
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:38,239
Speaker 4: personal color brand is you know, hey, so we want

918
00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:41,839
Speaker 4: you to spend fifty thousand dollars on advertising, but we're

919
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 4: gonna you know, co sponsor some of that. So that

920
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 4: will just basically subsidize or all set the cost of

921
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:53,680
Speaker 4: the marketing, which is really.

922
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:56,560
Speaker 2: Helpful, you know, like twenty five thousand dollars.

923
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:58,839
Speaker 4: You know, it could be a real big help to

924
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:02,120
Speaker 4: a brand that might you know, have some cash flow challenges.

925
00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:04,000
Speaker 5: That's the interesting thing I want to talk about with

926
00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:07,040
Speaker 5: host selling and a business in the marketing that when

927
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:09,200
Speaker 5: you and the price of products and see if I

928
00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:11,080
Speaker 5: can do this in a quick way. So let's say

929
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:13,560
Speaker 5: a product costs ten dollars. When you host sell it,

930
00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:15,680
Speaker 5: you usually gonna be a fifty percent of MSRP. So

931
00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:18,080
Speaker 5: the person's going to take home five dollars and the brand,

932
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,480
Speaker 5: the Alta, it's going to take home five dollars, is

933
00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:24,080
Speaker 5: fifty percent is pretty fair term. Sometimes you can get

934
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:28,000
Speaker 5: sixty percent of you giving to the brand or seventy percent,

935
00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:30,720
Speaker 5: depending on what the brand is. And so there's already

936
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:32,840
Speaker 5: that split there. And then on top of that split,

937
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:35,000
Speaker 5: they want you to put money behind pushing people to

938
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,320
Speaker 5: buy from them instead of buying from me directly. So

939
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:42,239
Speaker 5: that's the that's the piece of that's the piece of

940
00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:45,600
Speaker 5: host selling and brick and mortars that I wanted to

941
00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:50,200
Speaker 5: pay attention to, and what I am encouraging people as

942
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,520
Speaker 5: an owner of a marketplace. I encourage people go directly

943
00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:55,840
Speaker 5: and buy directly from that brand because that ensures that

944
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:57,160
Speaker 5: they get all the money.

945
00:45:58,120 --> 00:45:59,600
Speaker 6: I don't know if that hurts or helps.

946
00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:01,640
Speaker 5: Like, if you have your thing at Aulta, I'm trying

947
00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:03,360
Speaker 5: to make my Aulta look good, so I want my

948
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:06,560
Speaker 5: people to buy some Ulta. I'm like I want to

949
00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:09,279
Speaker 5: I want to get all the money, so making you

950
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:10,760
Speaker 5: get all the money.

951
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:12,680
Speaker 2: If you need butter in a hurry, then you go

952
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:14,840
Speaker 2: to Alta. You know, if you needed a hurry, you

953
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:16,759
Speaker 2: go to Macy's or you go to jcpenny.

954
00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:18,839
Speaker 4: So it just depends on you, know how quickly you

955
00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:20,279
Speaker 4: need your products. If you're about to go out of

956
00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:22,720
Speaker 4: town and you can't wait for two day shipping, please

957
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:26,120
Speaker 4: take yourself to Alta and pick some butter products up.

958
00:46:28,239 --> 00:46:30,160
Speaker 3: And then you may have more on your website than

959
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:30,440
Speaker 3: you do.

960
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:33,960
Speaker 4: Yeah great, Yeah, limited shelf space, so not all the

961
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:36,799
Speaker 4: products are are not available at Alta, but we are

962
00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:40,720
Speaker 4: working on that. We're looking at purchasing behaviors in store

963
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:43,719
Speaker 4: versus online and trying to figure out how can we

964
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:49,120
Speaker 4: create Alta jcpenny retailer exclusives that cater more to the

965
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:50,800
Speaker 4: needs of people shopping in person.

966
00:46:51,120 --> 00:46:52,960
Speaker 1: Oh I love it, Okay, because I just want to

967
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:55,280
Speaker 1: go a little bit deeper into your background to merit

968
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,120
Speaker 1: because now you're the president that's your title president at Butta, yes,

969
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,480
Speaker 1: where as a president of grow Okay, and with your

970
00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:06,560
Speaker 1: career trajectory, can you talk about like how have you

971
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:11,560
Speaker 1: learned the keys to growing businesses and scaling businesses, and like,

972
00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:15,640
Speaker 1: what advice would you give to a really ambitious entrepreneur,

973
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:19,640
Speaker 1: even like myself who is a solopreneur but wants to

974
00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:23,640
Speaker 1: become much bigger and wants to reach that next level.

975
00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:27,440
Speaker 1: And from me, like what I hear is like, well,

976
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,799
Speaker 1: venture capital is harder to come by, so I've been

977
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:34,000
Speaker 1: looking at things like grants and and you know, other

978
00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:38,160
Speaker 1: opportunities to raise capital. And I just wonder, with all

979
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:42,319
Speaker 1: your expertise, how have you gained so much knowledge? And like,

980
00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:46,560
Speaker 1: what advice would you have for me us via a

981
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:47,960
Speaker 1: fam I.

982
00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:49,640
Speaker 2: Have a lot of advice.

983
00:47:49,719 --> 00:47:52,840
Speaker 4: I talk about this a lot with my husband, just

984
00:47:52,880 --> 00:47:55,439
Speaker 4: some of my things I wish people knew.

985
00:47:56,120 --> 00:47:57,640
Speaker 2: So, okay, talk to me.

986
00:47:57,719 --> 00:47:59,319
Speaker 3: You forget your husband. He's plants, sick of it.

987
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:02,040
Speaker 1: He's like, you're gonna go find a microphone somewhere.

988
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:06,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay. So the first one is VC.

989
00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:10,680
Speaker 4: I would say when it comes to venture capital and grants,

990
00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:13,160
Speaker 4: I would also say.

991
00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:16,680
Speaker 2: Maybe don't stop that. But I always like to focus

992
00:48:16,719 --> 00:48:19,360
Speaker 2: my attention on the big bets, the big rocks.

993
00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:22,080
Speaker 4: So grants are cool, right, Like you get ten thousand

994
00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:24,600
Speaker 4: and fifty thousand and that's that's some real money. But

995
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:27,120
Speaker 4: money that can really make a difference in your life

996
00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:29,600
Speaker 4: is going to be by maybe by going to private

997
00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:31,960
Speaker 4: equity and venture capital because the same amount of time

998
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,080
Speaker 4: that you're spending applying for a grant, because you know,

999
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:36,680
Speaker 4: every single grand application want you to upload a unique

1000
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:40,560
Speaker 4: video and a unique process application and that could take

1001
00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:41,560
Speaker 4: you by the time.

1002
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:42,880
Speaker 2: You're finished, you know, four hours.

1003
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:44,640
Speaker 4: Half your day is gone when you can be pitching

1004
00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:48,480
Speaker 4: to private equity folks, or you can be building relationships

1005
00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:51,520
Speaker 4: with investment bankers things like that, the people who also

1006
00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:52,280
Speaker 4: have a lot.

1007
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:54,120
Speaker 2: Of money to invest in brands.

1008
00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:57,040
Speaker 4: So I would say that also really get the time

1009
00:48:57,080 --> 00:48:59,799
Speaker 4: to know your numbers, like you need to know how

1010
00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:02,600
Speaker 4: to so you need to be fluent in financial statements.

1011
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:05,560
Speaker 2: So you need to know cash flow statements, income statements,

1012
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:08,960
Speaker 2: and balance sheets because that's how private equity and VC

1013
00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:11,520
Speaker 2: are also going to evaluate your business. It's your business

1014
00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:14,040
Speaker 2: report card. And so if you don't know that, I

1015
00:49:14,080 --> 00:49:15,680
Speaker 2: feel a lot of founders talk about the.

1016
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,720
Speaker 4: Warm and fuzzies, you know, the branding and community building

1017
00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:21,360
Speaker 4: and all that is also important, but the foundation of

1018
00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:24,280
Speaker 4: your business is also those financial statements.

1019
00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:28,000
Speaker 1: I do have them I have a great bookkeeper and

1020
00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:31,279
Speaker 1: she creates beautiful reports, and oh god, I sound like

1021
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:36,919
Speaker 1: President Orange when I say beautiful reports. But it's when

1022
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:40,520
Speaker 1: I even think about standing, I think I have so

1023
00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:42,360
Speaker 1: much work to do. It's crazy how I feel like

1024
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:44,120
Speaker 1: I'm starting from a scratch, even though I've been doing

1025
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:46,799
Speaker 1: this podcast for ten years. But it really feels like

1026
00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:49,880
Speaker 1: bringing all the skills Thatt's across my career into this

1027
00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:55,439
Speaker 1: one like new chapter. And I genuinely feel like I'm

1028
00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:57,600
Speaker 1: starting from scratch in a lot of ways, which is

1029
00:49:57,640 --> 00:50:01,920
Speaker 1: exciting but intimidating because I know about brown ambition, but

1030
00:50:02,080 --> 00:50:04,200
Speaker 1: like to explain it to a venture capital fund, like

1031
00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:05,520
Speaker 1: how am I going to build the confidence?

1032
00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:06,200
Speaker 3: Where am I gonna?

1033
00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:10,800
Speaker 2: What do I what practice practice makes perfect?

1034
00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:13,440
Speaker 4: Like I think the more you pitch, you know, or

1035
00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:17,200
Speaker 4: the more enough pitching, and the more you try to

1036
00:50:17,239 --> 00:50:23,680
Speaker 4: inform people about an investment opportunity in your business, the easier.

1037
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:27,560
Speaker 2: It will become. But also think about I always say like,

1038
00:50:27,719 --> 00:50:27,960
Speaker 2: and I.

1039
00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:29,799
Speaker 4: Said this earlier at the start of the podcast, is

1040
00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:32,319
Speaker 4: I would encourage you to get married again. And when

1041
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:34,279
Speaker 4: I say get married, I mean like, maybe take on

1042
00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:36,920
Speaker 4: a partner, because what your partner what you may be

1043
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:40,359
Speaker 4: good at is what your partner is not so good at,

1044
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:42,719
Speaker 4: and so you both you combine your strengths. Because I

1045
00:50:42,760 --> 00:50:46,560
Speaker 4: also see a lot of business owners doing it by

1046
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:47,960
Speaker 4: themselves and it's hard.

1047
00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:50,560
Speaker 2: I don't encourage it.

1048
00:50:51,560 --> 00:50:53,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I Afrotech.

1049
00:50:53,280 --> 00:50:55,480
Speaker 1: Actually I was sitting at the table with Oh, sorry,

1050
00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:56,680
Speaker 1: doctor Edwards, go ahead.

1051
00:50:56,440 --> 00:50:58,719
Speaker 5: I'm just saying I agree. I don't encourage either because

1052
00:50:58,719 --> 00:51:00,799
Speaker 5: I'm tied mm hmm.

1053
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:03,080
Speaker 4: Like you know how women are just like you, you

1054
00:51:03,120 --> 00:51:04,960
Speaker 4: want a man and just come along.

1055
00:51:04,719 --> 00:51:06,719
Speaker 2: And help us out, you know kind of thing.

1056
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:08,719
Speaker 4: So I think it's the same way. I think you're

1057
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:11,480
Speaker 4: stronger with partnership. Even Warren Buffet says that he's like,

1058
00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:13,759
Speaker 4: the most of the important decision you'll make of your

1059
00:51:13,760 --> 00:51:14,880
Speaker 4: life is who you get married to.

1060
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:17,320
Speaker 6: Yep, yep.

1061
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:17,760
Speaker 2: Yeah.

1062
00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:20,319
Speaker 1: And I think as a business owner, absolutely, And I

1063
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:24,439
Speaker 1: think what I agree is what I'm trying to say.

1064
00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:29,640
Speaker 1: And I'm a little bit at this point where I

1065
00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:31,840
Speaker 1: would definitely be thinking about that. And at Afrotech, I

1066
00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:34,360
Speaker 1: was at a table and there was Raquel Martin. She's this,

1067
00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:36,840
Speaker 1: you know, incredible therapist and she has a big brand

1068
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:40,279
Speaker 1: in a podcast and a book coming out and She

1069
00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:42,920
Speaker 1: was sitting next to Rachel Rogers, who of course is

1070
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:45,120
Speaker 1: like we should all be millionaires in like a business

1071
00:51:45,160 --> 00:51:50,000
Speaker 1: battie and listening to them debate about Raquel's approach to

1072
00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:53,399
Speaker 1: like her business and and basically she wants to start

1073
00:51:53,440 --> 00:51:56,120
Speaker 1: a nonprofit arm and then Rachel's like, listen, we all

1074
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:59,320
Speaker 1: think we need to start nonprofits. Like maybe we don't

1075
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:02,240
Speaker 1: need another non profit. We need to make money money,

1076
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:05,480
Speaker 1: and yes, and she was ben Roquel was like really

1077
00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:07,200
Speaker 1: firm in her purpose and like, but this is for

1078
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:10,000
Speaker 1: the people. And she's like very rooted and like wasn't

1079
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:11,879
Speaker 1: giving anything. And I was looking at them and I'm like, well,

1080
00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:15,560
Speaker 1: it sounds like you guys just need to like combine forces.

1081
00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:20,080
Speaker 1: And I mean obviously not like literally together, but having

1082
00:52:20,520 --> 00:52:23,520
Speaker 1: someone who has more of that like just business bowl sense,

1083
00:52:23,800 --> 00:52:25,600
Speaker 1: you know, of like, well, here's how we can take

1084
00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:28,920
Speaker 1: it to the next level. That's definitely in the in

1085
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:31,919
Speaker 1: the lane that I'm going right now. That's like where

1086
00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:33,839
Speaker 1: I'm thinking is like, how do I get in more

1087
00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:37,520
Speaker 1: spaces like afrotech where I can be in community with

1088
00:52:37,640 --> 00:52:39,960
Speaker 1: other people who may be interested in helping like a

1089
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:43,560
Speaker 1: brand like Brown Ambition become what I envision it, and

1090
00:52:44,239 --> 00:52:47,400
Speaker 1: I'm excited for that because working alone is not so fun.

1091
00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:51,360
Speaker 4: It is not as all just challenging, and you know,

1092
00:52:51,520 --> 00:52:54,000
Speaker 4: you're your own homework, you know, like you're writing your

1093
00:52:54,040 --> 00:52:57,000
Speaker 4: own homework. So there's no one sitting on your shoulder going,

1094
00:52:57,280 --> 00:53:00,000
Speaker 4: uh no, I don't think we should invest twenty thousand dollars,

1095
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:02,239
Speaker 4: like we have this much in the bank.

1096
00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:04,680
Speaker 2: Here are the metrics, like, here's a report card.

1097
00:53:05,760 --> 00:53:08,120
Speaker 1: I was gonna askt GPT what they thought about something

1098
00:53:08,160 --> 00:53:10,560
Speaker 1: earlier today and I was like, not you trying to

1099
00:53:10,560 --> 00:53:13,000
Speaker 1: like get a business partnership from about like stop it.

1100
00:53:13,640 --> 00:53:15,080
Speaker 1: I was like, well, what do you think how should

1101
00:53:15,080 --> 00:53:15,799
Speaker 1: I plan my day?

1102
00:53:17,120 --> 00:53:18,400
Speaker 2: I do you think that's a great idea?

1103
00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:19,520
Speaker 6: Oh?

1104
00:53:19,560 --> 00:53:23,920
Speaker 4: Because it's unattached, it's nons it's not emotional. It's not

1105
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,480
Speaker 4: your baby. He can tell you your baby's ugly, and you know,

1106
00:53:27,560 --> 00:53:31,560
Speaker 4: it's just kind of like, yeah, I think you do

1107
00:53:31,640 --> 00:53:34,239
Speaker 4: need someone that has a healthy amount of detachment to

1108
00:53:34,360 --> 00:53:35,480
Speaker 4: advise you on things.

1109
00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:38,920
Speaker 5: And back to the EC conversation. Black and Green has

1110
00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:41,600
Speaker 5: not raised any money at all. We've only done it

1111
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:44,600
Speaker 5: with grants and we've probably gotten about one hundred thousand

1112
00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:46,759
Speaker 5: dollars at grants, which is like great, but you're right.

1113
00:53:46,840 --> 00:53:49,280
Speaker 5: It took a lot of work and a lot of videos,

1114
00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:50,719
Speaker 5: a lot of them doing this and a lot of

1115
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:52,719
Speaker 5: that didn't have to do that. And I have to

1116
00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:56,160
Speaker 5: be honest with you, I'm scared to get a VC.

1117
00:53:57,160 --> 00:54:00,919
Speaker 5: I'm scared. I'm scared that they're going to change there.

1118
00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:03,759
Speaker 5: I think what my fear is that the way I

1119
00:54:03,800 --> 00:54:05,719
Speaker 5: want to do business is not the way to make

1120
00:54:05,719 --> 00:54:07,480
Speaker 5: a lot of money. They're gonna want me to make

1121
00:54:07,480 --> 00:54:09,839
Speaker 5: a different choice that's gonna be different than.

1122
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:10,400
Speaker 6: What I want to do.

1123
00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:12,640
Speaker 5: So I don't want to give that up. So I

1124
00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:13,880
Speaker 5: don't want to think I want to give a power.

1125
00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:17,680
Speaker 5: But I have come to gripts. I can't grow without

1126
00:54:17,719 --> 00:54:21,800
Speaker 5: their money, and so my growth is going to be hindered.

1127
00:54:21,880 --> 00:54:23,360
Speaker 6: I need a team, I need people.

1128
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:26,319
Speaker 5: I'm tired, and I can only grow so much and

1129
00:54:26,360 --> 00:54:29,439
Speaker 5: I can only afford I can't afford I can't afford help,

1130
00:54:29,640 --> 00:54:33,040
Speaker 5: and so I'm stunting myself because of my inability to

1131
00:54:33,160 --> 00:54:34,400
Speaker 5: go get VC money.

1132
00:54:34,480 --> 00:54:39,000
Speaker 6: I know all this, I know it, but I haven't.

1133
00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:41,120
Speaker 4: And listen, working at Microsoft, one of the things that

1134
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:43,960
Speaker 4: I realized that makes that engine run so smooth and

1135
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:50,319
Speaker 4: efficient is at Microsoft, people do one job. If you're

1136
00:54:50,600 --> 00:54:53,680
Speaker 4: great at SEO, that is your right.

1137
00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:55,880
Speaker 2: At customer service, that is your one job. And the

1138
00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:58,720
Speaker 2: reason why is because it creates efficiencies.

1139
00:54:58,960 --> 00:55:01,440
Speaker 4: So I'm not having I'm not having to shift from

1140
00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:06,240
Speaker 4: product development to customer service to fulfillment to operations to finance.

1141
00:55:06,320 --> 00:55:08,840
Speaker 4: Like you are just highly efficient and that's how that

1142
00:55:08,920 --> 00:55:13,360
Speaker 4: engine runs. And so I think, as black founders, black entrepreneurs,

1143
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:15,160
Speaker 4: we really got to get out of this one hundred

1144
00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:18,279
Speaker 4: percent ownership because, like you said, Christian, like you, it

1145
00:55:18,360 --> 00:55:19,240
Speaker 4: stunts the growth.

1146
00:55:19,840 --> 00:55:21,399
Speaker 6: I've had this conversation multiple times.

1147
00:55:21,400 --> 00:55:23,320
Speaker 5: People say, you just have to find the right investor,

1148
00:55:23,840 --> 00:55:26,759
Speaker 5: Like you're not going to lose all your control if

1149
00:55:26,760 --> 00:55:28,320
Speaker 5: you've lost all your controls because you didn't find the

1150
00:55:28,360 --> 00:55:30,839
Speaker 5: right investor, Just find the right investment. So I'm trying

1151
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:33,759
Speaker 5: to find the right investor. And because I know that

1152
00:55:33,840 --> 00:55:35,640
Speaker 5: my growth is dependent upon.

1153
00:55:35,440 --> 00:55:38,440
Speaker 1: It, I'm like, damn speaking, I'm needing to help. I

1154
00:55:38,440 --> 00:55:40,840
Speaker 1: need my producer to be here during these episodes like this,

1155
00:55:40,960 --> 00:55:44,359
Speaker 1: But whatever, why are we in the same boat? Doctor

1156
00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:48,040
Speaker 1: Edwards like legit And I just really felt what you

1157
00:55:48,080 --> 00:55:51,279
Speaker 1: were saying, and I and thank you, Tamara for like

1158
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:54,000
Speaker 1: telling me what I need to hear that I need

1159
00:55:54,040 --> 00:55:55,600
Speaker 1: to hear it again. I heard it at that table

1160
00:55:55,640 --> 00:55:59,560
Speaker 1: with Rachel and Morgan and Raquel and the other people

1161
00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:01,960
Speaker 1: that offer tech, and I need to hear more of it.

1162
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:04,360
Speaker 1: And that's why I'm I'm so excited to hear about

1163
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:06,759
Speaker 1: like these VC.

1164
00:56:06,960 --> 00:56:08,200
Speaker 3: I know that we're at a time and.

1165
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,560
Speaker 1: There's so many things where it's like there's not enough

1166
00:56:10,560 --> 00:56:12,479
Speaker 1: funding for black owned businesses and dada da da da.

1167
00:56:12,840 --> 00:56:14,080
Speaker 3: But I'm very much in like the.

1168
00:56:14,040 --> 00:56:16,399
Speaker 1: Okay, but there's still money out theres and there's still

1169
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:18,440
Speaker 1: some people who want and like, how can I be

1170
00:56:18,560 --> 00:56:19,800
Speaker 1: the one who gets the funding?

1171
00:56:19,840 --> 00:56:20,080
Speaker 2: You know?

1172
00:56:20,600 --> 00:56:24,600
Speaker 1: And so these like where would you suggest we should start?

1173
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:28,080
Speaker 1: Doctor Edwards? And I, you know, reach like and I

1174
00:56:28,080 --> 00:56:29,879
Speaker 1: think part of it doctor Edwards for me too. It's

1175
00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:32,239
Speaker 1: like a little bit of pride I when you said

1176
00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:35,280
Speaker 1: grading your own work, because I'm so close to this baby,

1177
00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:37,680
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit self conscious that someone's going to

1178
00:56:37,760 --> 00:56:40,319
Speaker 1: come and say this is all you did in ten

1179
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:43,040
Speaker 1: years to show like, you know, but I have to

1180
00:56:43,040 --> 00:56:46,160
Speaker 1: get over that if I really want help, right, So Tamara,

1181
00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:48,319
Speaker 1: what do you think what should we do?

1182
00:56:48,840 --> 00:56:50,920
Speaker 2: So you know what you just said, that's all you

1183
00:56:50,960 --> 00:56:52,919
Speaker 2: did in ten years. So here's the thing that.

1184
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:56,839
Speaker 4: I've I've learned is it's all about perception and storytelling.

1185
00:56:57,120 --> 00:56:59,680
Speaker 4: So it's how you tell your story to an investor

1186
00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:03,120
Speaker 4: who who is seeking to, you know, help you put

1187
00:57:03,120 --> 00:57:06,160
Speaker 4: some jet fuel on your baby the lett it grow.

1188
00:57:06,800 --> 00:57:09,279
Speaker 4: So that's one thing, change the way that you tell

1189
00:57:09,280 --> 00:57:12,760
Speaker 4: the story and a perception. Then the second one would

1190
00:57:12,760 --> 00:57:16,400
Speaker 4: be to position yourself in spaces where you can start

1191
00:57:16,440 --> 00:57:20,160
Speaker 4: to form relationships with investment bankers. Because it might not

1192
00:57:20,240 --> 00:57:23,520
Speaker 4: be a venture capital firm, it might be a private

1193
00:57:23,560 --> 00:57:27,480
Speaker 4: equity firm. So start going to conferences where you can

1194
00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:32,080
Speaker 4: interact and start to cultivate relationship with these people because

1195
00:57:32,120 --> 00:57:34,920
Speaker 4: they might not invest immediately, but you're starting to build that.

1196
00:57:34,960 --> 00:57:37,280
Speaker 2: Really, it's like dating. I always equate everything to like,

1197
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:38,640
Speaker 2: it's like dating, Like you.

1198
00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:40,360
Speaker 4: Just have to build a relationship because if you meet

1199
00:57:40,400 --> 00:57:43,320
Speaker 4: somebody a guy at the bar, restaurant, wherever you choose

1200
00:57:43,360 --> 00:57:45,840
Speaker 4: to socialize, and they try to take it to make

1201
00:57:45,840 --> 00:57:48,760
Speaker 4: a home run, immediately, you're like, you know, but if

1202
00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:51,560
Speaker 4: they gradually court you, which is what you would be

1203
00:57:51,560 --> 00:57:54,960
Speaker 4: doing with investors, updating them on Hey, here's my progress.

1204
00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:57,160
Speaker 2: You're in Chicago. I'm going to be in Chicago. Can

1205
00:57:57,160 --> 00:57:58,240
Speaker 2: I take you for coffee?

1206
00:57:58,480 --> 00:58:01,640
Speaker 4: Like those type of interactions and then you will eventually, you.

1207
00:58:01,560 --> 00:58:04,920
Speaker 2: Know, get an investor. So that's what I would say.

1208
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:07,360
Speaker 4: Go to conferences, and it doesn't have to be the

1209
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:09,720
Speaker 4: conferences that we all know about, like look up some

1210
00:58:09,800 --> 00:58:12,160
Speaker 4: other ones, and AI is a great resource to help

1211
00:58:12,200 --> 00:58:12,800
Speaker 4: you find those.

1212
00:58:13,720 --> 00:58:13,959
Speaker 6: Yeah.

1213
00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:16,680
Speaker 1: I mean I got invited to a small dinner party

1214
00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:19,640
Speaker 1: with Morgan and Afrotech and I sat next to literally

1215
00:58:19,680 --> 00:58:22,080
Speaker 1: a vc funder who was on her way to the

1216
00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:25,200
Speaker 1: Black Ambition, like I don't know event where they like

1217
00:58:25,360 --> 00:58:28,439
Speaker 1: give out their million dollar reward. By the way, hadn't

1218
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:31,280
Speaker 1: heard a black ambition. That was embarrassing and also fun

1219
00:58:31,320 --> 00:58:34,400
Speaker 1: because I'm like brown envision Black Ambition. Great, but that's

1220
00:58:34,400 --> 00:58:38,560
Speaker 1: Pharrell's VC or his like investment fund. Anyway, My point

1221
00:58:38,600 --> 00:58:41,080
Speaker 1: is I sat next to her and I just was like, Oh,

1222
00:58:41,120 --> 00:58:42,000
Speaker 1: that's really cool.

1223
00:58:42,080 --> 00:58:44,080
Speaker 3: Uh huh. That's for other people to think about.

1224
00:58:45,000 --> 00:58:49,240
Speaker 1: So it's like changing, yeah, to being at tables like

1225
00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:54,080
Speaker 1: that and understanding you know, what those roles even mean,

1226
00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:56,320
Speaker 1: Like even you saying maybe it's not VC, maybe it's

1227
00:58:56,360 --> 00:58:57,800
Speaker 1: private equity, Like what's the difference.

1228
00:58:58,920 --> 00:59:04,680
Speaker 2: The difference is expectation of return. Okay, you know, VC.

1229
00:59:04,720 --> 00:59:09,040
Speaker 4: Like because from a number standpoint, from a numbers standpoint,

1230
00:59:09,760 --> 00:59:12,919
Speaker 4: VC is looking at it from every let's say ten

1231
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:14,480
Speaker 4: businesses that they invest.

1232
00:59:14,400 --> 00:59:17,160
Speaker 2: In, one is gonna like really set it off.

1233
00:59:17,360 --> 00:59:21,080
Speaker 4: So they have the expectation that you were gonna set

1234
00:59:21,120 --> 00:59:24,640
Speaker 4: it off. Versus versus private equity, like they're looking to sell,

1235
00:59:24,880 --> 00:59:29,400
Speaker 4: to buy, create some operational efficiencies, and then sell.

1236
00:59:29,920 --> 00:59:34,360
Speaker 2: So it's like real estate investors, but for businesses. Mmmm.

1237
00:59:35,360 --> 00:59:37,160
Speaker 3: So which one is like that? I don't know.

1238
00:59:37,200 --> 00:59:41,240
Speaker 1: They both sound scary?

1239
00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:45,760
Speaker 3: Which one does? Butter use, we'll go that way.

1240
00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:51,240
Speaker 2: We're private equity. We're private. Private equity tends to run

1241
00:59:51,240 --> 00:59:51,960
Speaker 2: a leadership.

1242
00:59:52,240 --> 00:59:55,640
Speaker 4: So there's like, you're not VC's in the past they've

1243
00:59:55,640 --> 00:59:58,920
Speaker 4: handed out like these big blank checks essential almost and

1244
00:59:58,960 --> 01:00:00,600
Speaker 4: so you got you get a lot more money to

1245
01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:02,760
Speaker 4: play with. But the expectation is a lot more pressure.

1246
01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:05,720
Speaker 4: The expectation is for growth, for exponential growth is a

1247
01:00:05,720 --> 01:00:10,000
Speaker 4: lot higher versus private equity, Like they're looking to, like

1248
01:00:10,040 --> 01:00:13,080
Speaker 4: I said, create some operational efficiencies and then sell you

1249
01:00:13,200 --> 01:00:18,480
Speaker 4: off usually eighteen to I don't know, anywhere from like

1250
01:00:18,520 --> 01:00:22,120
Speaker 4: a year to five years sell you know who, another

1251
01:00:22,320 --> 01:00:24,520
Speaker 4: private equity firm perhaps, or another business.

1252
01:00:24,800 --> 01:00:26,720
Speaker 1: Oh it's so icy. Well that's the real estate thing.

1253
01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:29,320
Speaker 1: It's got to flipping a house a little bit. You

1254
01:00:29,400 --> 01:00:32,360
Speaker 1: make a little bit off the top. But then as

1255
01:00:32,400 --> 01:00:35,120
Speaker 1: you as the founder or as the company, like, do

1256
01:00:35,200 --> 01:00:36,920
Speaker 1: you get a say and who your next owner is

1257
01:00:36,960 --> 01:00:37,360
Speaker 1: going to be?

1258
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:42,200
Speaker 4: That's a little you do you do typically though those

1259
01:00:42,280 --> 01:00:46,000
Speaker 4: type of things are you know, you hire a business

1260
01:00:46,000 --> 01:00:49,919
Speaker 4: broker usually, or you can start to build those relationships

1261
01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:53,320
Speaker 4: with investment bankers as well, So yeah, you have a

1262
01:00:53,360 --> 01:00:53,800
Speaker 4: say in it.

1263
01:00:54,280 --> 01:00:57,600
Speaker 1: All right, Well, thank y'all so much for I love

1264
01:00:58,160 --> 01:01:02,240
Speaker 1: the I love that even Doctor Edwards, you're getting to

1265
01:01:02,280 --> 01:01:04,160
Speaker 1: share a little bit about your journey with Tamara that

1266
01:01:04,200 --> 01:01:07,000
Speaker 1: maybe you hadn't before, about like your like how you're

1267
01:01:07,040 --> 01:01:09,720
Speaker 1: thinking about funding your company. And I feel like after this,

1268
01:01:09,800 --> 01:01:11,280
Speaker 1: y'all are gonna have to like touch Yeah.

1269
01:01:11,280 --> 01:01:19,320
Speaker 4: I know, I'm about to text you like help me

1270
01:01:19,360 --> 01:01:25,360
Speaker 4: get yeah, okay, I yeah.

1271
01:01:25,400 --> 01:01:27,120
Speaker 1: And I just feel like doctor Edward's like, we can't

1272
01:01:27,160 --> 01:01:29,120
Speaker 1: let this stop us, Like I can't let a little

1273
01:01:29,160 --> 01:01:31,880
Speaker 1: bit of like hesitation. And Tamara is one of those

1274
01:01:32,000 --> 01:01:35,919
Speaker 1: groundbreakers who's been there and understands the language, and can

1275
01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:37,840
Speaker 1: we can like someone that we can trust. I'm like

1276
01:01:38,200 --> 01:01:40,760
Speaker 1: my friend now too, but like someone that can make

1277
01:01:40,840 --> 01:01:44,080
Speaker 1: you feel a little bit more comfortable pushing forward, because

1278
01:01:44,120 --> 01:01:46,360
Speaker 1: I'll be damned if I let that stop me from

1279
01:01:46,400 --> 01:01:48,640
Speaker 1: like really helping me create this vision.

1280
01:01:48,760 --> 01:01:49,680
Speaker 6: It's not going to stop you.

1281
01:01:50,880 --> 01:01:52,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, amen, you either.

1282
01:01:52,560 --> 01:01:55,880
Speaker 1: All right, well, Thanky'll thank y'all so much for joining

1283
01:01:55,880 --> 01:01:59,280
Speaker 1: me at the Brown table at Brown Ambition, doctor Kristen

1284
01:01:59,680 --> 01:02:02,880
Speaker 1: Edwards that I is going to trip everybody else. You know,

1285
01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:04,680
Speaker 1: your mom really did her big one with that. She

1286
01:02:04,880 --> 01:02:09,040
Speaker 1: was like the challenge and tamyor Watkins of butda. Thank

1287
01:02:09,120 --> 01:02:11,080
Speaker 1: y'all so much for joining Brown Ambition.

1288
01:02:11,520 --> 01:02:12,040
Speaker 3: Be a fan.

1289
01:02:12,120 --> 01:02:13,520
Speaker 1: Make sure you check the show notes. I'm going to

1290
01:02:13,560 --> 01:02:15,800
Speaker 1: put links to their socials and where you can shop

1291
01:02:16,360 --> 01:02:19,560
Speaker 1: and you know, buy their products and check out all

1292
01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:21,320
Speaker 1: their resources in the show notes.

1293
01:02:21,360 --> 01:02:22,520
Speaker 3: And thank y'all.

1294
01:02:22,560 --> 01:02:23,680
Speaker 1: I hope that you'd take care.

1295
01:02:25,160 --> 01:02:25,720
Speaker 6: Thank you,