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Speaker 1: Monique Rodriguez, founder of my l Organics and author of

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Speaker 1: the new book The Glory and Your Story, Activating a

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Speaker 1: Fearless Faith to change your life, your career, and the world,

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Speaker 1: which is out this month.

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Speaker 2: Welcome Monique, Thank you, Thank you for having.

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Speaker 1: Me absolutely And so I'm so interested in talking to

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Speaker 1: you because number one, you have this book out which

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Speaker 1: we're going to talk about. But I'm so interested in

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Speaker 1: wealth generation and the beauty business, the wellness business, and

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Speaker 1: this audience is super interested in building generational wealth and

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Speaker 1: you've accomplished so much of that, and so I'm interested

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Speaker 1: in your take on something. So I'm going to start here, like,

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Speaker 1: where do you believe this industry beauty and wellness fits

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Speaker 1: in our opportunity to create generational wealth in our communities. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I think it's a huge whitespaceed opportunity because I feel

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Speaker 3: that the trajectory of beauty in general is headed for

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Speaker 3: overall wellness holistically, and I think that as consumers, we

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Speaker 3: are looking at, you know, how do we take care

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Speaker 3: of our overall bodies that will eventually be a reflection

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Speaker 3: of our outward appearance. So everything that we put into

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Speaker 3: our bodies, you know, our skin our hair, our nails

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Speaker 3: is a reflection of like how well we take care

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Speaker 3: of ourselves. So I think that you know, if I

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Speaker 3: can talk to any aspiring entrepreneurs that is looking to

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Speaker 3: tap into this space and create generational wealth, I would say, like,

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Speaker 3: identify what is that need or that void, because there's

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Speaker 3: always a void in the market, right And I don't

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Speaker 3: believe in a saturated market. I feel that there's always

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Speaker 3: something that someone is not doing. That you have that

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Speaker 3: special spark or innovation that you can bring to the industry,

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Speaker 3: but you just got to figure out and sometimes it

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Speaker 3: takes for you to be still to figure out, like

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Speaker 3: what that innovation spark.

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Speaker 2: Is that you can bring to this space.

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Speaker 3: Because I can, I can speak from that because that

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Speaker 3: was definitely like my story. I saw a void the

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Speaker 3: beauty space and the hair space. Actually the void of

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Speaker 3: there was a lack of relatability. There was a lack

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Speaker 3: of access to high quality products that really focus on ingredients,

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Speaker 3: and there was a lack of education on how to

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Speaker 3: actually use the products. Because I felt myself, as a

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Speaker 3: product junkie was going through so many different products because

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Speaker 3: I didn't really understand how these products worked and performed.

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Speaker 3: For my hair texture because curly natural hair is a

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Speaker 3: different texture, is very unique, and it takes a special

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Speaker 3: type of product. It takes a special type of technique

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Speaker 3: in order to navigate dealing with textured hair, which makes

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Speaker 3: it really what makes it really special.

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Speaker 2: But that was a void that I said, Well.

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Speaker 3: You know, I can take my nurse and background, the

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Speaker 3: educational science background of what I'm doing, apply that to

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Speaker 3: what I love and the passion that I have for hair,

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Speaker 3: and I can relate to people in a way that

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Speaker 3: most brands at that time couldn't relate to people because

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Speaker 3: I was a consumer my so, so they were not

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Speaker 3: the consumer. They were just kind of putting products out

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Speaker 3: there and talking at consumers versus, you know, bringing the

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Speaker 3: consumers in on this journey with them and making them

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Speaker 3: feel like they were a part of it. So that

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Speaker 3: was a spin that I saw in the market, and

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Speaker 3: that was the void that I feeled. So when I

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Speaker 3: think about entrepreneurs entering into the beauty and wellness space,

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Speaker 3: identify like, what is that void? What is that problem

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Speaker 3: that you feel that you can solve and do it

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Speaker 3: better than anyone in your competitive landscape?

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Speaker 2: And you and you roll with that.

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Speaker 1: So you said a couple of things that I want

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Speaker 1: to go a level deeper on because I've seen so

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Speaker 1: many entrepreneurs start or have an idea about something and

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Speaker 1: then when they realized that there's other people in the

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Speaker 1: market no matter they've heard, you know, you can still

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Speaker 1: do the thing, but for whatever reason, it's discouraging. And

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Speaker 1: so what do you feel is like typically the reason

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Speaker 1: for that discouragement and how do we get past it.

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Speaker 1: I hear you say, you know, figure out your innovation,

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Speaker 1: and I've heard people say that, but people still get

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Speaker 1: discouraged when they realize there's others in the marketplace.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think there are a lot of

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Speaker 3: different reasons why people get discouraged. I think one of

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Speaker 3: the reasons is lack of funding and lack of access

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Speaker 3: to funding and lack of resources. And I think that

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Speaker 3: we may tend to get discouraged because we are trying

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Speaker 3: to tackle this mountain head on. We're starting at the

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Speaker 3: top instead of like taking small little steps to climb

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Speaker 3: this mountain to.

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Speaker 2: Get to the top. And so when you look at.

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Speaker 3: The mountain and you're down at the bottom and you're like,

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Speaker 3: I gotta do all this and it's going to require

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Speaker 3: all of this and I don't know how I'm gonna

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Speaker 3: get the equipment to climb this mountain.

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Speaker 2: Then you start getting into your own head.

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Speaker 3: And then that's when the discouragement and the fear and

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Speaker 3: the doubt sets in pep in because now you've opened

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Speaker 3: the door to it because you are not looking at Okay,

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Speaker 3: this is something that I'm going to tackle with little

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Speaker 3: small steps in order to get to the top. You're

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Speaker 3: looking at the top and trying to backtrack and figure

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Speaker 3: out how you got to put all this together to

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Speaker 3: get there.

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Speaker 2: So I think that's what contributes.

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Speaker 3: To a lot of people's discouragement, and that's why entrepreneurship,

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Speaker 3: I feel, is one of the biggest faith journeys that

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Speaker 3: you can go on because it is the fear of

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Speaker 3: you stepping out on faith. You are the fear of

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Speaker 3: like normalcy and comfortability. You know, for me, I left

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Speaker 3: my stable, good paying job to start something that I

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Speaker 3: didn't know how it was going to go, didn't know

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Speaker 3: if customers were going to buy for me, didn't know

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Speaker 3: if you know, our income was going to go down

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Speaker 3: because now we have no nursing income that I was

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Speaker 3: dependent on. So it was a lot of different factors

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Speaker 3: that will cause you to be like, Okay, is this

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Speaker 3: really worth me stepping out? Or should I just stay

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Speaker 3: comfortable and stay safe because this is what feels good

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Speaker 3: and it's not scary. It's like I know, it's I

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Speaker 3: can predict. Well, we can't never predict anything, but we

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Speaker 3: feel like when we're in a safe space that we

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Speaker 3: can predict.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 3: But it's not really stability when you're not fulfilled. So

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Speaker 3: I think that's what you know, discourages a lot of

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Speaker 3: people because we get in our own way, we set

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Speaker 3: the limits on ourselves. When I feel that we operate

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Speaker 3: with a guy with no limitations. So once we take

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Speaker 3: the labels and the limits off, then we can fully

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Speaker 3: just flourish and thrive with whatever dream or desire we have.

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Speaker 1: Man, that just spoke to me, So yes, I have

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Speaker 1: to listen back to this too, you know, remind meself

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Speaker 1: of that. And so I've seen so many people building

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Speaker 1: you know, shade butter companies, hair companies, lotion companies, et cetera,

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Speaker 1: and so many get stuck at the kitchen, you know,

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Speaker 1: which is a great place to start, but they get

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Speaker 1: stuck there. Can you talk about what you would do

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Speaker 1: today if you were starting over again. Knowing what you

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Speaker 1: now know about how to successfully start that may be

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Speaker 1: helpful to some of these brands.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel that sometimes what stops small businesses from

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Speaker 3: scaling to different levels is sometimes that person. I think

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Speaker 3: entrepreneurship it comes with the spirit of humility. And I've

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Speaker 3: seen several entrepreneurs that get in their own way because

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Speaker 3: they feel like they know everything. They don't like to listen,

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Speaker 3: And I think listening is very important.

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Speaker 2: I mean especially.

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Speaker 3: Listening to people that have gone down the path that

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Speaker 3: you're looking to go. I mean people that you know

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Speaker 3: have not necessarily been down that path. You may want

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Speaker 3: to have discernment with, you know, listening to them or whatnot.

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Speaker 3: But having the spirit of humility and asking the right questions,

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Speaker 3: surrounding yourselves with the right mentors. It was a huge

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Speaker 3: part of my success. And outside of like the funding.

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Speaker 3: Like I know, funding is a huge a huge undertaking

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Speaker 3: for small businesses and entrepreneurs and that's a huge sumbling block,

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Speaker 3: but it's not something that you can't.

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Speaker 2: Cross that obstacle, right.

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Speaker 3: You know, We've gone through funding challenges and it just

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Speaker 3: takes for you to get out their network and connect

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Speaker 3: with the right people. But I feel that a lot

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Speaker 3: of people get stuck in that space of just operating

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Speaker 3: from their kitchen because they are they're not putting in

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Speaker 3: what they want to get out of it. Like it's

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Speaker 3: gonna whatever you put into it is what you're going

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Speaker 3: to get out of it. And that's gonna take you

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Speaker 3: getting out here, grinding, getting out here, going to networking events,

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Speaker 3: meeting people. It's going to take you also spending money,

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Speaker 3: and sometimes you will be spending money that you don't have.

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Speaker 3: But that's the risk. Everything comes with the risk. You

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Speaker 3: have to take calculator risk. But on the other side

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Speaker 3: of the risk is the reward. And you know, I

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Speaker 3: just feel that like people just like nobody's going to

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Speaker 3: know about your business if you don't get out there.

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Speaker 1: And talk about it. It's a fact.

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Speaker 3: And you got to travel. And because my husband and

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Speaker 3: I we would travel everywhere. We would go everywhere to

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Speaker 3: talk about our business. We did events big and small

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Speaker 3: because we wanted to get the brand out there. And

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Speaker 3: sometimes it just takes you getting out of your own

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Speaker 3: way and put yourself out there and just you know,

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Speaker 3: go for it and not caring.

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Speaker 2: About what people think about how you're.

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Speaker 1: Going to look I love that. I love that it's

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Speaker 1: a call I found where you said, you know the

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Speaker 1: glory in your story. You wrote that to encourage others

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Speaker 1: to see beyond their circumstances and tap into the inner strength.

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Speaker 1: And you also said winning in life and business requires

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Speaker 1: a kind of risk taking that money that many are

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Speaker 1: afraid to embrace. And I hear you saying so many

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Speaker 1: things along those lines, and I want you to talk

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Speaker 1: about if you can remember some of the most riskiest

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Speaker 1: decisions you've made in how you move through those things

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Speaker 1: and how you move past the fear that keeps most

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Speaker 1: people from going past.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I could give you several examples of

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Speaker 3: like just risks that we took throughout the journey. I mean,

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Speaker 3: the first risk, like I talked about earlier, was leading

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Speaker 3: my career my safe comfortable. I was getting a paycheck

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Speaker 3: every two weeks. I knew that paycheck was coming, and

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Speaker 3: the risk was if this doesn't take off, I'm not

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Speaker 3: going to have a job. You know, Granted I have

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Speaker 3: a nursing license, so I had something to fall back on,

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Speaker 3: but you know, that was still a risk of like

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Speaker 3: just putting that career aside.

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Speaker 2: And then when my husband left his job.

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Speaker 3: That's when it really got real because he came from corporate,

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Speaker 3: so you know, it's not easy to just go get

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Speaker 3: a corporate job. So with both of us, leaving our

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Speaker 3: careers was a huge risk, but we focus on the

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Speaker 3: vision guide gave us, and we knew that we had

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Speaker 3: to plan, Like we didn't just leave our jobs and say, oh,

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Speaker 3: you know, we don't have a plan in place, or

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Speaker 3: we don't have income. We had to have a solid

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Speaker 3: plan in place to map out like how we were

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Speaker 3: going to get some type of income to still keep

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Speaker 3: our bills afloat and our.

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Speaker 2: Food in our kids' mouth. So we had to like

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Speaker 2: plan that out.

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Speaker 3: But it was a huge risk of like the unknown

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Speaker 3: of like both of us turning away from our jobs.

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Speaker 3: We had the risks that we took when we entered

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Speaker 3: into retail. That was a huge risk because retail is

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Speaker 3: a whole different beast and if your brand does not

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Speaker 3: perform in retail, it can be very detrimental to your

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Speaker 3: business because if you don't perform and you have to

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Speaker 3: come out, that is not a call to the retailer,

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Speaker 3: that is a cost to you as the brand, And

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Speaker 3: depending on how many stores you're in, that can be

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Speaker 3: millions of dollars that if your brand doesn't perform that

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Speaker 3: you have to pay that retailer if you don't sell

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Speaker 3: or turn in those stores. That's a huge risk because

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Speaker 3: you know, it's like, we believe in our brand, but

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Speaker 3: the what if? What if it didn't sell and then

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Speaker 3: we take on this huge undertaking and do we have

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Speaker 3: over a million dollars to pay back at that time?

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Speaker 2: No, we didn't. The risk of when we got a

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Speaker 2: line of credit.

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Speaker 3: When when you're going to get a line of credit

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Speaker 3: and you're a small business, like you don't have banks

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Speaker 3: that are just trying to throw money at you. They're

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Speaker 3: very cautious because what they want to know is how

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Speaker 3: you're going to be able to pay it back and

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Speaker 3: what type of assets you have that we can use

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Speaker 3: as collateral. So the risk was we had to put

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Speaker 3: our house up for collateral, the house that we live in,

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Speaker 3: the house that we raise our family in, and if

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Speaker 3: that line is called do what happens next? They take

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Speaker 3: your house? That was a huge risk. The risk of

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Speaker 3: taking on investment and not knowing that this investment partnership

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Speaker 3: was going to work. Are we going to be able

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Speaker 3: to perform and grow the business to scale so we

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Speaker 3: can get these investors their return back on their investment.

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Speaker 3: So everything that we did was a risk, but we

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Speaker 3: had we focus on, like, you know, what is the

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Speaker 3: reward on the other side of it, and with proper planning.

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Speaker 3: So the risks that we take, we also make sure

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Speaker 3: that we do the proper planning in place to identify,

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Speaker 3: like what are the odds or like what is in

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Speaker 3: our favor if it does work. And that's why I

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Speaker 3: say you have to calculate your risk because everything that

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Speaker 3: you do pretty much is going to be a risk.

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Speaker 3: And I always say this to my kids. Everything that

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Speaker 3: you do is going to be hard. You have to

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Speaker 3: choose your heart. I could have chose the heart of

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Speaker 3: still working as a nurse, paycheck to paycheck, struggling, actually

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Speaker 3: trying to provide for my family and going to work

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Speaker 3: every day, miserable on my feet for twelve hours, not

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Speaker 3: getting sleep.

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Speaker 2: That's hard. Or I can take the.

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Speaker 3: Heart of grinding building a company, taking red eye flights,

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Speaker 3: taking the risk of being criticized by my own people

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Speaker 3: in my community, having having to have thick tough skin.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's hard building a business, not knowing if

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Speaker 3: you're going to receive receive a return on what you're

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Speaker 3: building and what you're grinding for. It's still hard, but

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Speaker 3: which one is? Both of them are heard, but you

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Speaker 3: got to choose your heart. Everything that we do in

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Speaker 3: life is going to be hard.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I'm interested in your take on this

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Speaker 1: because I've seen and I'm not going to ask you

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Speaker 1: a political question, but what I have seen is with

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Speaker 1: all these issues, people saying, well, why not just sell

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Speaker 1: your product, you know, direct to consumer? Why not just

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Speaker 1: going to just build a website and do that? And

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, My question is what is the reasoning for

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Speaker 1: going in retail that people may not understand when they

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Speaker 1: just say, well, just put up a website and you

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Speaker 1: a'll tell people to buy it from there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Well, the retail is national exposure, right, you know, that's

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Speaker 3: what it helps. What it helps with brand awareness. Mayo

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Speaker 3: became a global beauty brand because of our retail partners.

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Speaker 3: Because of that exposure. When you're in Target, Sally, CBS, Walmart,

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Speaker 3: we were in over one hundred thousand stores. When you

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Speaker 3: are just operating online, not saying that you won't be successful,

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Speaker 3: you will be successful, but the amount of scalability and

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Speaker 3: the amount of eyeballs and people people that come in

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Speaker 3: contact with their brand. It's not the masses, because you're

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Speaker 3: speaking to your own community. The people that come to

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Speaker 3: your website, they're in your own community and your own ecosystem.

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Speaker 3: Whereas people discovered our brand, a lot of people discovered

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Speaker 3: our brand by just going into the Retailers had never

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Speaker 3: heard of our Instagram, had never heard of our website.

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Speaker 3: They heard of us by going into the retail store

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Speaker 3: and then they look us up. Then they go to

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Speaker 3: our social media and website, and then they enter into

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Speaker 3: our ecosystem.

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Speaker 2: But I feel the.

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Speaker 3: Difference is what's in my own ecosystem versus the masses,

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Speaker 3: and so when I want the masses to know about

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Speaker 3: the brand, that's where retail partnership comes into play.

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Speaker 1: How do you build infrastructure, inventory, supply, chain fulfillment before

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Speaker 1: you get major funding?

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Speaker 2: If possible, Yeah, it's possible. It's very hard.

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Speaker 3: We were fortunate enough in the very beginning to bootstrap

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Speaker 3: our company, and we have very high profit margins that

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Speaker 3: allowed us to just continue to reinvest as we build

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Speaker 3: infrastructure and scale to our point where we got into Salli's.

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Speaker 3: When we entered into Sallly's, the thing when you go

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Speaker 3: into retail is that inventory that they placed the order

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Speaker 3: for you. As a brand, you are paying for that

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Speaker 3: inventory upfront before it goes into the retailers, and then

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Speaker 3: when it gets to the retailers, then you have to

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Speaker 3: wait for them to pay you. And sometimes depending on

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Speaker 3: the retailer, it can take sixty days, it could take

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Speaker 3: ninety days. It could take four or five months before

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Speaker 3: you get that payment. So you have to have some

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Speaker 3: type of operating capital. So when we decided that we

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Speaker 3: were going to test out in ninety five retail stores

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Speaker 3: and that was not that was a small amount, and

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Speaker 3: we needed funding even then for that small amount to

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Speaker 3: enter into those ninety five stores.

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Speaker 2: Because we had to pay for that inventory. We took

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Speaker 2: out a very.

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Speaker 3: Small loan from a friend of my husband's that was

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Speaker 3: an entrepreneur that believed in us, that believed in our vision,

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Speaker 3: and he gave us a loan for like two hundred thousand.

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Speaker 3: You know, now I look back, it wasn't a lot,

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Speaker 3: but that loan was very expensive, right because when we

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Speaker 3: did have an exit, you know, they made a lot

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Speaker 3: of money just off of that small loan. But we

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Speaker 3: needed it at the time, and no banks were going

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Speaker 3: to give us the funding to get into the stores

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Speaker 3: to fund that inventory.

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Speaker 2: So we were fortunate enough.

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Speaker 3: To have that, and then with my husband having a

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Speaker 3: background in logistics and operations, we were able to build

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Speaker 3: up i would say, a baby operations and infrastructure to

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Speaker 3: support us into retail until we started to bring in

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Speaker 3: more money to bring in more people that had the

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Speaker 3: experience and expertise to help develop infrastructure and operations that

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Speaker 3: prepared us for scale before we took on investment funds.

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Speaker 1: So I'm interested in why this book, why now? The

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Speaker 1: glory and your story activating fearless faith to change your life,

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Speaker 1: your career, and the world. So let's talk about why

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Speaker 1: you decided to write this book.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the why is I think like right now es

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Speaker 3: actually in the world that we live in, it's like

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Speaker 3: perfect timing because you know, I want people to look

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Speaker 3: at this book and look at me as like your

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Speaker 3: big sister that's giving you entrepreneurial advice and that's pretty

359
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,400
Speaker 3: much giving you the road map to success and sharing

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Speaker 3: the trials, the tribulations, you know, the mistakes that I've

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Speaker 3: made because I want to be that person that I needed.

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Speaker 3: When I first started my business, there was no Monique

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Speaker 3: Rodriguez or Melvin Rodriguez that I can look to. When

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Speaker 3: I started my company, there were no mentors. To be

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Speaker 3: honest with you, I had to search for mentors that

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Speaker 3: were entrepreneurs and started up brands from their kitchen or

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Speaker 3: their house, from other places and other people that didn't

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Speaker 3: look like me, right, And I want to be able

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Speaker 3: to change that narrative. And I want back in Brown

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Speaker 3: Peace people to now have an example, a big sister

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Speaker 3: that they can look to and say, I want to

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Speaker 3: do what she's done, I want to do it even better.

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Speaker 3: But she's going to be my big sister to give

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Speaker 3: me the road map and share her learnings. All watch

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Speaker 3: it in her journey of faith, because I think it

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Speaker 3: all starts with the solid foundation that's going to help

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Speaker 3: set them up to do even greater in their careers.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I love that comment because you know I saw it.

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Speaker 1: You had said that before. You know, I wanted to

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Speaker 1: be the person that I didn't have in this space.

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Speaker 1: And there's so many of us who look for representation

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Speaker 1: with the journey we might be on and hoping we

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Speaker 1: can find somebody who looks like us, comes from areas

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Speaker 1: we might communities we might come from, and we don't

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Speaker 1: find it. And so I wonder, like, for those people

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Speaker 1: like yourself and others who are doing this for others

387
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Speaker 1: because you didn't have it, where do you go for

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Speaker 1: that strength? Because you're the first in many ways through

389
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,280
Speaker 1: the door and you are being for others what you

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Speaker 1: didn't have, but you got to make it as you

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Speaker 1: have to find that strength.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a great question, and it's so funny because

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Speaker 3: someone just asked my husband that.

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Speaker 2: Like last week.

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Speaker 3: And we are very intentional about finding those people. And

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Speaker 3: we have a lot of friends that are older than us,

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Speaker 3: a lot of successful friends that are older than us

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Speaker 3: that we have met along this journey that we glean

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Speaker 3: to and that we learn from. But it takes intentionality

400
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Speaker 3: to go out and find and search for those people.

401
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Speaker 3: So we're always open to meeting people that look like us,

402
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,040
Speaker 3: that have great success stories that may not be known

403
00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,360
Speaker 3: to the masses, but they're known in their individual circles

404
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,880
Speaker 3: that we will be friends to just have that support system,

405
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Speaker 3: to have that mentorship, and to have those examples, because

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Speaker 3: you know, I still find myself like seeking and trying

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Speaker 3: to find those people. I have a few that are

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Speaker 3: close to me and I cherish those groups of people

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Speaker 3: that I have relationships with.

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Speaker 2: But I'm still.

411
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Speaker 3: Like always intentional about like meeting and connect with people

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Speaker 3: that I can learn from. And if our model is

413
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Speaker 3: if I can't evolve from being around you, then I

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Speaker 3: don't need to be involved with you.

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Speaker 1: I like that. You know, there's there's concerning issues I

416
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Speaker 1: think concerning I'll put a label on it. In our

417
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:33,679
Speaker 1: community where we have issues with selling. It says you

418
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,480
Speaker 1: stopped recording, so it's like somebody's trying to call you

419
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Speaker 1: or something.

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's I declined it.

421
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Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, I was waiting for it to okay. Now

422
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,360
Speaker 1: it's back on them. You know, there are a lot

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Speaker 1: of comments when when black companies sell. You'll see it

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Speaker 1: in the comments. And like some of us don't understand exits,

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Speaker 1: and so you said, you know before you know, you

426
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Speaker 1: sold up, not out, And so can you describe the

427
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Speaker 1: distinction there and how can we reframe the conversation around

428
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Speaker 1: exit and liquidity for our community.

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Speaker 3: I think we reframed the conversation by number one, normalizing

430
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Speaker 3: it and know that this is normal trajectory of businesses.

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Speaker 3: Other cultures build businesses with the intention to exit into

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Speaker 3: seal so they can do other things. I'm going to

433
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Speaker 3: use an example of a recent exit that was just

434
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Speaker 3: all over the news, and it was the brand called

435
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,400
Speaker 3: Poppy Yeah, that had a successful exit and I think

436
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,600
Speaker 3: they sold to Petsy and you know, obviously different culture,

437
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,879
Speaker 3: but it was celebrated. You didn't hear all the negativity

438
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Speaker 3: in the backlash. And they do it all the time.

439
00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,760
Speaker 3: They build the exit and it's celebrated. We are the

440
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 3: only community that thinks that building exited is something bad.

441
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,879
Speaker 3: And I understand why we feel that way because we

442
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 3: feel that because when a brand is built for the community,

443
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,199
Speaker 3: we feel like it's ours, it belongs to us. But

444
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:22,120
Speaker 3: that comes from a lack mindset. It doesn't come from

445
00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:26,480
Speaker 3: an abundance mindset. When we operate from a spirit of lack,

446
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,239
Speaker 3: we feel like it's never going to be enough. We

447
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 3: have to gatekeep, we have to keep it to ourselves

448
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:33,920
Speaker 3: because we're going to run out of it, or if

449
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,000
Speaker 3: someone else comes in from a different culture and uses it,

450
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,720
Speaker 3: it's not going to be enough for us. That's not

451
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,159
Speaker 3: the mindset that God even wants us. He wants us

452
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 3: to have an abundant mindset to know that there is

453
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,399
Speaker 3: always going to be enough.

454
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,679
Speaker 2: We're not going to run out our couple continue to overflow.

455
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,959
Speaker 3: So it starts with our thinking first and foremost that

456
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,920
Speaker 3: when a brand is built for us, it doesn't mean

457
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,160
Speaker 3: that other communities that other cultures can't use what's for us.

458
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 3: It doesn't mean that other cultures are going to come

459
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,399
Speaker 3: in and take from us. It just means that what

460
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 3: we're building is great.

461
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 2: That means that what we were building is great.

462
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:15,159
Speaker 3: When a conglomerate is interested in a brand like Mayel,

463
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,879
Speaker 3: that means that what I have built is something great

464
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,560
Speaker 3: for people to be interested in. So that is something

465
00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 3: that should be celebrated within our community. And what I

466
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 3: want our community to understand is that when we don't

467
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 3: celebrate it, what we do is we create fear in investors.

468
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,359
Speaker 2: We create fear and conglomerates.

469
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:39,200
Speaker 3: That are going to be afraid to invest in black

470
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,200
Speaker 3: businesses that are built for black communities because they're going

471
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,000
Speaker 3: to be They're going to be fearful of how the

472
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,439
Speaker 3: community is going to act if they invest or, if

473
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,280
Speaker 3: they've become acquired. But then in the same breath, we

474
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 3: complain less than one percent of women or black women

475
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,360
Speaker 3: entrepreneurs have less than one percent of funding. Venture capitalists

476
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,480
Speaker 3: plain about the funding and the access that's given to

477
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 3: us as black community, but yet we're making them the

478
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,159
Speaker 3: investors fearful to invest in the black community because of

479
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,280
Speaker 3: how the black community tears another black brand down for

480
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 3: doing something that they have done for years.

481
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:16,880
Speaker 2: And so when we talk.

482
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 3: About creating generational wealth, how do we create generational wealth?

483
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 3: You're not going to do it by building a business.

484
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:29,600
Speaker 3: You create generational wealth by getting your business acquired, because

485
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,280
Speaker 3: what your business earns, that money should be going back

486
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 3: into the business. And when you have if you are

487
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:41,120
Speaker 3: operating correctly, you should be on payroll for your business

488
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:45,080
Speaker 3: and you should receive a paycheck, not the profits from

489
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 3: the business. So if you're continuing to operate on payroll,

490
00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 3: it's harder to build generational wealth.

491
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:53,400
Speaker 2: Operating that way.

492
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 3: The real wealth is when you build your business and

493
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 3: you exit and you sell it to a major conglomerate.

494
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 3: That is how all other cultures have been doing it

495
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,280
Speaker 3: for years. That is why we are behind, because we

496
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,200
Speaker 3: have to catch up and become educated on why it's

497
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 3: important to build something and become a choir.

498
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:16,800
Speaker 1: What's in your everyday carry like, what is your eedc

499
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,359
Speaker 1: I like to call like the things that Monique always

500
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: has to have, Like, no matter if I'm leaving the house,

501
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,400
Speaker 1: if I'm in the car, if I'm at work, I'm

502
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,280
Speaker 1: in the gym, I got these things with me, Like

503
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,119
Speaker 1: what are the things you always got to have? You

504
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:29,720
Speaker 1: can't say your phone. You can't say your phone.

505
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's so.

506
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:39,639
Speaker 3: I always have to have some water. I gotta stay hydrated.

507
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 3: And I always have to have my sunscreen because I

508
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 3: think sunscreen is like you want to have great skin

509
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,960
Speaker 3: and not have damage, and that causes you to look, Oh,

510
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:53,880
Speaker 3: you got to have a nice good sunscreen. Is this.

511
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:57,919
Speaker 2: No, we actually don't have a sunscreen anymore.

512
00:27:57,960 --> 00:27:59,679
Speaker 1: So you can give a brand if you want, if

513
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 1: you want right.

514
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:02,000
Speaker 2: Now, I use Tula.

515
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 3: I love their sunscreen, and I also use another brand

516
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 3: call I think it's Kay Brown, but I could be

517
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 3: quoting it wrong. And those are my two sunscreens. And

518
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,679
Speaker 3: then I also have to have a good lip gloss

519
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 3: because I don't like being dry, so I would say water,

520
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 3: you know, sunscreen, lip gloss, and lotion.

521
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,600
Speaker 1: All right, I got two more easy ones for you,

522
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,440
Speaker 1: Like I want to know how does spirituality guide your

523
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 1: business decisions? How does your faith direct you.

524
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, my faith is everything, and we were very vocal

525
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 3: about my faith. My faith is what allows me to

526
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 3: stay grounded. My faith is what allows me to have

527
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,960
Speaker 3: the confidence that I have. It has allowed me to develop,

528
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,719
Speaker 3: like I talked about earlier, the thick skin that I

529
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,080
Speaker 3: have to deal with, you know, criticism, to deal with

530
00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 3: the naysayers, and my faith helps helps to dry decisions.

531
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,200
Speaker 3: Any decisions that we make, we always pray on it,

532
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 3: we consult with God. And so that's how I can

533
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,120
Speaker 3: be as confident as I am to talk about the

534
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,760
Speaker 3: things that I've done because I know my internal drivers

535
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 3: is my faith and not you know, moniques own ego.

536
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,320
Speaker 3: And don't get me wrong, sometimes my ego can get

537
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 3: in the way. But I have to go back to

538
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 3: being rooted and grounded and my source, and that's God,

539
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 3: Jesus Christ, and that humbles me and keeps me at

540
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,600
Speaker 3: a place of humility knowing that I don't operate in

541
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 3: my own power, but I operate from a power that's

542
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,400
Speaker 3: been given to me through God and the Holy Spirit.

543
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 2: So it's everything for me knowing that.

544
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 1: And finally, you know, what's one lesson in the book

545
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,840
Speaker 1: you wish you knew back in twenty fourteen and then

546
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,640
Speaker 1: in those early days. And what's that thing that you

547
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 1: think every founder, every person who's trying to build something

548
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 1: should memorize, get deep within them, you know, resonate.

549
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,880
Speaker 3: One thing I would say, I mean, it's a couple

550
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 3: of things, but I'm gonna say too. So one thing

551
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,840
Speaker 3: I would say is that you know, every success story

552
00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:14,520
Speaker 3: that you see all started with humble beginning. So don't

553
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 3: despise humble beginning. Don't despise the fact that you're still

554
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,360
Speaker 3: in your kitchen and you're grinding, you know, if you

555
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 3: keep being consistent and have discipline not motivation, because every

556
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 3: day you're not going to be motivated to get up

557
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,680
Speaker 3: and work on your business. You're not gonna be motivated.

558
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 3: You have to have a certain level of discipline and

559
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,840
Speaker 3: consistency and it will eventually pay off because discipline is

560
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,000
Speaker 3: going to equate the freedom that you're ultimately looking for

561
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 3: when you are building and growing a successful business. So like,

562
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,920
Speaker 3: focus on how can you be a more disciplined person

563
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 3: in every area of your life, and knowing that everyone

564
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:56,720
Speaker 3: had to always start from somewhere small. And then the

565
00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 3: second thing I would say is one that piece of

566
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,400
Speaker 3: advice that a CFO told us, and this is also

567
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,920
Speaker 3: in my book, is the best time to raise money

568
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:07,160
Speaker 3: is when you don't need money.

569
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:08,560
Speaker 2: And I think that.

570
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 3: When entrepreneurs are growing and they're in a position where

571
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 3: they feel stuck and they don't have funding or resources,

572
00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 3: they may be quick to take on outside funding quickly

573
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,160
Speaker 3: on because they feel like there's no alternative and there's

574
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 3: no way out, and they take on investments and they

575
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:32,520
Speaker 3: dilute their shares early on. So I always caution entrepreneurs

576
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:35,800
Speaker 3: to be careful with diluting your shares very early on,

577
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 3: because what will happen is by the time you do

578
00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:42,600
Speaker 3: have a successful exit. Let's just throw a billion dollars

579
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 3: out there. Let's say you have a billion dollar exit

580
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 3: and you have diluted your shares to own like one

581
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,200
Speaker 3: percent of Now you own one percent of the company. Yeah,

582
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:52,800
Speaker 3: one percent of a billion dollars is still really great money,

583
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,600
Speaker 3: it's really great. But having thirty percent of a billion

584
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,720
Speaker 3: is much more lucrative than one percent. And if you

585
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:03,960
Speaker 3: can get to the point where you can at least

586
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,400
Speaker 3: maintain more of your company towards the end, when you

587
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 3: start getting closer to having an exit, the greater outcome

588
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:13,560
Speaker 3: you will.

589
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 2: Have in the long run.

590
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:16,719
Speaker 3: I mean, but if you're okay, we'll having one percent,

591
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:19,959
Speaker 3: that's fine. But just know that you don't drive decisions.

592
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,200
Speaker 3: You don't control anything. The people that have given you

593
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 3: that money, they're the ones that's making the decisions. So

594
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 3: it just it just depends on the type of autonomy

595
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 3: you want to have and the type of exit you

596
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 3: want to have in the end. For us, we kept

597
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,120
Speaker 3: all of our shares. We did not dilute our shares

598
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 3: until twenty twenty. Wow, we exited in twenty twenty three.

599
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 2: Thank you. We exited in twenty twenty three, so that

600
00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:48,880
Speaker 2: was three years.

601
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,160
Speaker 3: So just imagine how much ownership we had in our

602
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,240
Speaker 3: company when we finally exited, versus just having a very

603
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,360
Speaker 3: small percentage. So weigh your eyes. But don't be so

604
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 3: quick to take on investments. And when you don't take

605
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,200
Speaker 3: on investments and money early on, it also makes you

606
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,800
Speaker 3: more resourceful and it makes you more scrappy. You become

607
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 3: more creative and innovative when you don't have money. And

608
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,840
Speaker 3: for me, I feel like not having it, I learned

609
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 3: a lot more and I learned how to appreciate it

610
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 3: and respect the money and operate from a place of

611
00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,960
Speaker 3: creativity versus if money was just handed to me a

612
00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 3: paraty just threw money to a lot of different places

613
00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:32,680
Speaker 3: and had frivolous spending, So just be cautious.

614
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,600
Speaker 1: The book The Glory and Your Story, activating fearless faith

615
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 1: to change your life, your career in the world. It's

616
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,120
Speaker 1: out April fifteenth. Black Tech Green Money is a production

617
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,280
Speaker 1: of Blavity, Afro Tech with the Black Effect podcast Networking

618
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,880
Speaker 1: night Heart Media. It's produced by Morgan Debonne and me

619
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 1: Well Lucas, with addigital production support by Kate McDonald, Saarah

620
00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,000
Speaker 1: Urgan and Jada McGee. Special thank you to Michael Davis

621
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: in Love Beach learn more about my guess the tech

622
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,560
Speaker 1: this shop is an innovators at afrotech dot Com. Video

623
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,000
Speaker 1: version this episode will drop to Black Tech Green Money

624
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,320
Speaker 1: on YouTube. She'll tap it in Enjoy your Black Tech Green Money,

625
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,360
Speaker 1: Share us to somebody, go get your money.

626
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:13,560
Speaker 2: He in Love