WEBVTT - Dr. Iris Cooper Full Interview 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.080 Listening makes us smarter, more connected people. It makes us 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.240 better partners, parents, and leaders, and there's no better place 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.280 to start listening than Audible. Audible is where so many 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.600 inspiring voices and compelling stories open listeners up to new 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.760 experiences in ways of thinking. Audible members now get more 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.880 than ever before. Members choose three titles every month, one 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:22.000 audiobook plus two Audible originals that you can't hear anywhere else. 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.760 Members also have unlimited access to more than a hundred 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:29.280 audio guided fitness and meditation programs. 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Explore all the ways listening on Audible 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.360 can help improve mind, body, and soul with entertainment, information 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.800 and inspiration. You can get titles from your favorite I 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.000 Heeart talent such as Chelsea Handler, Danny Shapiro, Charlomagne, The God, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.399 and Bobby Bones on Audible. Start listening now with a 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.360 thirty day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.880 Audible originals are free. Visit audible dot com, slash I 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.199 heart or text I Heeart to five hundred, five hundred. 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:27.200 My nextus is the founder of Glory Foods, Incorporated, a 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:31.160 multimillion dollar food marketing company. She's recognized nationally as a 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:37.679 business strategist and branding expert, having coached many startups to sustainability. 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:42.920 A current venture. Just Ask Iris is an entrepreneur consulting 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:47.440 coaching firm specializing in food enterprises that involved branding, finance, strategy, 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.080 and other business topics. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation, 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:58.320 Dr Iris and Cooper. Good morning everyone, Good morning, this 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.360 is what Sean mcgon so happy to have you. How 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.120 you doing and likewise I'm great, I'm great, and thank 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:06.640 you for having me. Definitely let me ask you where 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:08.320 are you at right now making this phone call? What 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.760 city I am? I am in Dallas, Texas. I'm a 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:16.720 Texas boy, So you're in my country. Uh, Houston, Texas. 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:19.920 I'll be good myself. It's a big state night. Gotta 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:23.760 be good. You gotta be really big and good. What 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.919 tell me? What do you? Let's let's talk about. When 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.320 I was running and I co created the Steve Harvey 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:35.600 Morning Show, Glory Foods advertised to UH several years on 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:38.600 the show, UH the Neighborhood Award. Joe were one of 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:40.880 the key sponsors for the Neighborhood Wards that we did 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.600 in Las Vegas. So I'm very familiar with the product. 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.679 I bought the product in stores. Tell us about how 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.720 the whole Glory food concept started and then became a 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.080 major player in the on the shelves of various grocery 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:59.480 stores throughout this country. Well, it all started with UM 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.400 four people that work together in the food business in 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:06.440 the department store. I was the only semil and I 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:10.079 was right out of the NBA program from Indiana University. 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.119 Had been a banker for a few years. But UM, 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.520 the guys came to me after we had worked together 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.000 and said, Iris, we need your marketing expertise. We need 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.919 to figure out a way to get soul food in 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:26.440 the grocery stores because Ortega has the Hispanic market and 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:30.080 Latoy has a Chinese market, but there's no soul food. Well, 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.520 my mama was from Mississippi and I remember her spending 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:40.560 all day keep cleaning greens, clipping them, massaging them, season 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:45.280 and out of cooking. And I'm I'm not doing that. 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.240 I work every day, I got kids, I got stuff 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.640 to do. I said, we got to find a way 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.280 to X but I that process if if you're going 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:57.360 to have me involved, and and so they said, well, 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:58.760 I don't know how to do that, and I said, well, 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:00.720 we're going to have to find out how to do 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.000 that because the woman in the eighties was not interested 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:09.040 in spending four or five hours working on greens. And 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.720 so I said, here's what we're gonna do. You all 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:15.240 work on the technology. I'll work on the marketing and branding. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:19.880 And um I did marketing research. I looked into the 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:24.320 process of breaching black women who were in the workforce 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.720 at the time and created the work, the business plan, 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.040 the branding. And then while I was doing that, they 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:36.600 were working on how to preseason vegetables before they're cooked 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.760 in a can, and then cooked them all together in 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:44.640 a mass production fashion. And the next thing we know 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:49.719 is we are in front of Kroger. My partner, Bill Williams, 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.680 and myself and I did a presentation to the buyers, 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:58.840 all men, no power point, no overhead projector not even 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.040 a handout, and I was just talking about this niche 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.559 of why we had to exercise the option right now, 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.200 how powerful it would be and it would reach black 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.800 women all over the country. And so after I asked 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:16.440 for questions, all they said was, we're in We're going 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.520 to send you in order, and let me tell you something. 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:24.040 With Sean, it was just talk. We didn't hand the product, 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:30.040 and we sat out in front of the Kroger regional 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.480 office not knowing whether to laugh or cry because we 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:38.680 had nothing. And so we were on an accelerated pace 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:41.920 to come up with this product so we could deliver. 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.960 So it took us two years to get through FDA 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:50.520 approval with this new disruptive cooking process, and Kroger waited. 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:54.240 Kroger waited for us. We debuted in Columbus, in the 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:59.240 Inner City, and our next stop was Atlanta. Now now 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:03.440 it was headquarters Square in Columbus, Ohio and right in 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.719 the hood Columbus, Ohio. And how did the name Glory 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.200 Foods come about? How did that name come about? Well, 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:11.920 I knew it had to be a name that had 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:16.279 some versatility and flexibility. It also had to resonate with 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.440 the black community. And I don't know how many times 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.760 we say glory in a in a week's time. We 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.760 say it all the time, whether it's in reference glory, 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:32.839 Gloria yesterday, glory to God. Yes. So that name, plus 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.960 it was so flexible. It was in the movie with 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:40.560 Denzel Washington, it was in so many hymnos and in 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:44.800 the Bible absolutely, So when we got that name and 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.520 saw that was available, we jumped on it. Well that 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.720 was smart and uh so so so that was like 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:53.800 you put there what they call the chicken before the 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:58.880 call became first chicken. Yes, the train took off the train, 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.160 so you got out there, miss fancy talker. Miss fancy 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.920 talker went out there talking front of those mans, all 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.360 those big old words, and they said, sold y'all. When 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.680 I said, all grow grown African American people in front 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:20.360 of the building, crime crying, happy, crying said, So with 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:22.800 that being said, what is the next step in that, 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.600 because you know this is a major we're talking about food, 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:30.120 you're talking about manufacturing, and you're talking about canning. You're 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:33.440 talking about also the whole process of being able to 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.760 make it taste good like grandma cooker, your mama cooked it. 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.440 And also, did you guys already have lined up the 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:45.560 selections yams, black eyed peas, pento beans, greens? Are you 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:47.520 just had a couple of them? Because I know that 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:51.240 it always has to be sampled out by, you know, 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.720 by people just say this tastes really good. Tell us 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.440 about that process. Well, Atlanta was the place that we 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:01.800 went to test the recipes. I held a focus group 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.080 with some of my contacts in the Atlanta market before 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:08.960 we actually went with the product line, and I got really, 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:13.120 really positive responses. So you have to do your marketing 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.560 research before you jump out there and make that kind 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:19.200 of investment. And after we got the feedback from Atlanta 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.640 and from Columbus, Ohio, which is a more conservative market, 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.679 we knew we were onto something. And then we began 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:30.240 to sample the product in various retail outlets. Um and 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:35.920 just just to be clear, your path to commercialization is 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.719 not going to be a straight line. You're going to 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:43.640 have detours. You're gonna have detours, You're gonna have uh 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:49.000 stumbled along the way. And fortunately we had My partners 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:53.800 had strong food production background. I'm a marketing person, and 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:57.840 so we combined our talents and we jumped over those hurdles. 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:03.400 We went through ks and tunnels, but we finally landed 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.240 in the spot that we wanted to. In the beginning, 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:10.800 now let me be clear, Glory Foods Is was a 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.520 marketing company. We didn't have the expertise for the the 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:19.920 fixed assets to manufacture these products, so we subcontracted that 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:24.160 out to other companies, and in two thousand and ten 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.080 the company had reached seventy million dollars in sales in 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:32.000 like thirty five states, and we sold it to the 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:36.800 greens manufacturer. The lesson here is begin with the end 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:42.160 in mind and was always to sell it um. It 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:46.120 was started out to be a a family owned kind 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.319 of business, just like so many food businesses. But as 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:52.439 time went on, we realized that there was market value, 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.640 industry value because this had never been done before. No 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:02.160 one had ever preseasoned green or vegetables and then cook 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.480 them in a mass production process. Nobody's done that. And 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.520 let me just say that there were many vegetable companies 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.120 that were very angry that we got our foot in 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.520 the door first and outstanding. Like I said, I'm very 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.520 familiar with the product because of the fact that for 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:21.280 two years UH you advertise on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:25.400 that UH nationally UH award shows, the Neighborhood Awards, and 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.680 so you guys had natural instincts about selling your brand 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.120 to the community and putting it in a positive light 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.240 in the community. I took that that was my big 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.680 take aware about the Glory Fields brand, the whole marketing campaign. Now, 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.360 when you sold the product, it's always like you know, 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.920 you sell your house. You know, you drive by your house, 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:45.880 if they're still taking care of the yard like you 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:49.240 took care of yard. You know, were there any um 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.719 emotions still tied to it, how they were marking into 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.520 the product, or how the product was still tasted like 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.120 it was when you was part of it, or you 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.760 just washed your hands and walked away. No, I will 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.480 never wash my hands from Glory Foods because my my 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:10.160 heritage are in those products. My mother's recipes are in 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.160 the product. So never ever would I ever walk away 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:17.760 from Glory. Now I don't own it anymore. But when 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.520 when you start a small business, you always have to say, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.040 as I say, have the end in mind that either 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:25.400 you're gonna sell it or you're going to transfer it 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.760 to your heirs. Got to have that plan, and when 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.840 it popped up in two thousand and ten, we owed 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.560 it to our investors to take advantage of it. Well good, 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:38.880 I'm happy to have this conversation about it because of 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.040 the fact that you started something, and not many African 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.040 Americans get to hear an individual who was part of 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.840 a successful startup. And the thing I've been noticing lately 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.640 that I'm seeing more and more young entrepreneurs in the business. 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:58.120 Why is entrepreneurship important for black people? Are African Americans? Well, 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.360 you know how we were just don't put all your 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:04.480 eggs in one bast You got to have a plan 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.760 A and a plan B to sustain yourself. And my 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:11.000 parents lived by that motto. And when we started asking 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.120 for money, they started saying, you need to get a 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:17.200 job and so right, right, And so I grew up 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.680 with that work ethic. So my father was a caterer, 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:24.360 part time. My mother was the first African American avon 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:28.560 lady in Evansville, Indiana, And so when I grew up, 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.599 I knew that I wasn't gonna let one source of 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:34.840 income dictate how I was going to live my life. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.520 I was always going to have something else so I 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.199 could pull out. And so that's why I've had five careers, 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.440 because when one went away, I had something to pull 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.800 out and jump on immediately. And I tell my students, 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.120 because I teach it to university, don't get caught up 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:51.640 in this is this is what I'm gonna do with 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.560 my life, because you gotta you may have to change. 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.720 When the economy changes, you may have to change, and 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.720 that's important. I'm a firm believer of multiple strengths of income. 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:02.600 And that's not plan A Plan B. That's been taking 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.080 advantage of our talents that God gave me. And understand 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:09.720 time management because you can do multilayers and that's the 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.160 that's the goal now, multilayers. And I want to make 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.720 this comment about young entrepreneurs. The reason I know there's 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:19.480 a proliferation of young entrepreneurs because I see them in 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:23.840 spaces like spaces those are those are those office spaces. 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.079 You can rent a office, you rent a day or 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.880 an hour we worked. If you go on any of 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.719 these buildings, you'll see a dominant amount of African Americans 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:35.920 renting out these spaces because it's making giving them a 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.600 shingle that they can hold. We'll be right back with more. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:43.360 Dr Aris and Cooper just asked Irish on money making 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.360 conversations because the second half don't go in the where 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:48.480 she's gonna tell you how, but you know how to 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.000 save your career or your business won't close in five years? 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.920 More money making conversations. How just ra Sean McDonald, you're 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:59.280 listening to money making conversations on the phone as the founder, 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:01.760 one of the founders of Glory Foods Income, which is 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.839 a multi glory foods. Uh. Have you been any grocery store? 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.120 Um so food in the can. I'd like to say 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:11.280 I've tried it. Uh it's very good food. Uh, very 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:16.120 good vegetables, you know, greens and black eyed peas and yams. 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:18.760 It's all season two taste and there's a must It's 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.760 a multimillion dollar food marketing company. Now she has another 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.200 company that really brought on the show about and we're 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.840 gonna talk about it in this break called Jess Ask Irish, 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:33.640 please tell us about that format dr Irish and Cooper. Yeah, Well, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:38.040 when I was in banking, I was challenged with working 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:42.280 with a pretty much all male environment, and um I 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.760 realized that the odds were against me for being able 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:49.720 to really compete. So I made it my business to 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:53.560 learn everything I could about financial services. I would go 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.960 to meetings that I wasn't invited to. I would PLoP 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.600 right down in the front row and try to figure 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:04.520 out what what's going on with foreign exchange and contract collections. 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.320 I wanted to know everything so that I could adequately 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.680 go out and do what I was hired to do. 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.720 And so when people would come into bank and they'd 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.840 ask questions, I was always to go to person, just 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.080 go ask iris show figure she'll find out. You'll figure 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:22.880 it out. And so that kind of carried forward to 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:27.760 a newspaper column as well as a radio show in Columbus, Ohio. 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.400 And I've always maintained because my parents told me that 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.520 no one can take knowledge from you. If you are 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:38.920 the most knowledgeable person in the room, you already have sustainability. 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.520 So I just always have been a fan of learning 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.400 and That's how the name came up. So if I 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:49.200 want to a fan of learning, which is just ask Irish, 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.480 how is it placed in social media? Is it the website? 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.359 Just to tell my listeners and my fans are exactly 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.960 the format of how they can communicate with you in 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.000 the on the just ask Irish as j U S 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.400 t ask which is a s k Iris which is 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:10.120 her first name, I R I S. It's just asked 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.400 dr i slash dot com. But if you email me 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:18.640 at Iris at just gask Iris, I can make sure 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:22.120 that you get to the website. UM and I focus 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:27.720 now on helping businesses reach that fifth year in business, 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:32.520 primarily food related businesses, but service as well and UM. 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:36.320 I did that after receiving my doctorate in business in 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:41.400 two thousand sixteen, which UM provided me with time and 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.680 resources to study small business for five and a half 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.440 years globally. So I looked at all kinds of business models, 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:53.920 different kinds of concepts, marketing strategies, what happens in failure, 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.400 the family dynamic. I've spent a lot of time doing 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.400 research and I came up with four themes that I 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:05.280 just want to mention to your audience. UM as critical 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:09.679 for sustainability UM. The first is knowledge and experience. You 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:15.720 cannot have enough training or or or mentoring or studying 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.080 UM when you're operating a business, so take advantage of 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:23.879 every opportunity to learn something more about your craft. Number 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.080 two work ethic and commitment. Don't say that you're going 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.520 to spend four hours or eight hours. You've got to 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.040 work until you get the job done period. If that 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.240 means twenty four hours, you've got to do it. The 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:42.000 third UM element is social capital. People will provide resources 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.560 and tools that money can't buy. You've got to have 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.800 a team of people that are supporting you. And if 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.440 you don't have our understanding with your family, it could 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:55.600 be deadly for your business. And then finally, opportunity recognition 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.359 through creative discovery. Just an example of that. One of 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:04.520 my client is Accelerated Laboratory Relocations. Started out as a 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:10.600 typical moving company, but realize that businesses like universities had 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:15.679 chemicals that had to be transported across country safely. And 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:20.480 they saw that niche fifteen years ago African American owned 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.640 company and now they are the number one company here 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:28.560 because they saw that opportunity twenty years ago and it 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:33.639 wasn't Bobby quing you know, the car wash, because that's 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:37.359 where we go. Yeah, that's okay, that's okay too, go 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:39.400 for how we can. But you know what I'm saying 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:41.159 is that because you know, you're big on literacy, and 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:45.760 I always want to push our people, especially people of color, 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.359 that they're that when the age of technology and of 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:54.879 age of augmented reality and social media is that we 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:57.720 have to let people know that we are more than that. 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.080 And that's where you get That's when you go and 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.440 ask for a loan that's outside of that. They won't 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:05.359 look at you like you're crazy. I look at you 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:07.560 like you don't have credibility to move forward with that 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.880 opportunity to guess what they have a perception of. That's 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.520 all you can do. And that's why I bring that up, 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:15.640 and that's why I push on this show. We got 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.359 to start broadcasting that we do more than that, we 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.479 are capable more than that. We have to start opening 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:23.600 the salon or nail shot. Because as we get we 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:27.080 get we get singled into athleticism, we get singled into entertainment, 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.200 we get single into close, we get singled into looks, 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:34.200 we get we get negative responses and we start talking 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:37.440 about high intelligence. We are how we can we're capable 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.520 of leadership or we're capable of management. And that's what 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:44.760 you're really big on with your with your with your adventure, 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:49.040 just as Iris correct. Absolutely, because my parents were not 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:53.600 able to finish their education because of economic conditions and 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.680 just the whole process of having to work to feed 0:19:56.680 --> 0:20:00.000 the family. So it was paramount that I finished school 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:02.720 and I believe that I was gonna take it all 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:04.640 the way. I didn't go back to school until two 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:09.080 thousand eleven to get my doctorate. And let me tell you, 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.200 I thought I was the oldest person in the class. No, 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.920 a lady came across the stage on a walker with 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:20.960 getting her doctorate. So as the world changes globally, you've 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:25.640 got to change your perspective on your business. It's not 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:29.800 competing with right the business down the street, it's competing 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:34.040 with China. It's it's competition globally for those same little 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:38.840 products or services. So, yes, knowledge is critical, and if 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:42.800 you're not a fan of learning and thinking critical thinking, 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.399 then maybe entrepreneurship is not for you. Maybe you should 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.800 work for someone else. But if you want to rise 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:53.400 above your circumstances, then you've got to have the knowledge. 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.200 And that's so true. I always tell people who who 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:59.639 complain about a for the all week job, Okay, you 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:02.560 are not a person that should be an entrepreneur because 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:05.000 of the fact that you have to work six to eighty, 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:08.240 like you said, sometimes twenty four hours to finish the task. 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:11.399 If you're doing something for yourself, that should not be 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.440 a time clock saying when you should stop. And I 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.639 always tell people who are thinking about being coming entrepreneurs, 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:21.680 the job that you work or is really setting the 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:24.560 standards of how you should run your business because they're 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:26.800 telling you you have to do something every hour, take 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:29.080 a break, then do something every hour, and then have 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.840 accountability of create reports on what you do. So if 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:35.399 you're gonna become an entrepreneur, just start writing down what 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:38.360 you're doing. And if you can't, if you doesn't feel 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.080 out a day's worth of responsibilities for one day and 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:43.120 you don't have you have nothing to do the second day, 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:44.679 you might want to stay at that job you ad 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:47.920 because you know that you've not set down and and 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:51.600 itemized a list of organized thoughts to say, this is 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:53.400 how I'm gonna run my business. This is what I'm 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:55.520 gonna do with my day to day operations, and this 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:58.080 is what I have to accomplish. And that's what you've 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.040 been telling me. And this is an entire interview. And 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:03.119 you know what, when my best ideas come to me, 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:06.280 Ra Sean in the middle of the night, and I 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:09.800 have a pad of paper by my bed, and even 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:13.040 though I'm sleepy and tired, I have to get up 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.760 and write it down. I know we have technology and everything, 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.680 but start where you are. And so when I wake 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:23.399 up in the morning, I got ideas that came to 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:25.280 me in the middle of the night that I've got 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:29.240 to got to implement or or launch the next day. 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:33.040 So yeah, you've got to be ready when that idea comes. 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:36.560 Absolutely what a plan. And why is branding so important? 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:40.119 Because you that's part of your your mantra when you 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:42.000 were talking about what you do with full Food, any 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:44.560 food enterprises, or any company that comes to you like 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:47.960 the company does the chemical transportation across the United Days. 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:52.040 Why is branding so important? Well, it's your it's your 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:55.560 business is personality. You meet people in your life that 0:22:55.680 --> 0:22:59.159 you remember and others that you forget. It's because of 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:02.959 their personal brand and as the same with businesses. You 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:06.399 have to hear that message and see the vision that 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:10.679 that company is presenting to you. Otherwise you won't become engaged. 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:14.119 And so when when they saw the Glory Foods brand, 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:18.240 that the label and the sunshine and read about it 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:23.119 that resonated with black women. That was that personality coming 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:27.720 through on the label. Another point, it's got to be consistent. 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:32.600 If I'm not there selling Glory food but you know 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:38.040 people see me, you know, let's say, uh, drunk at 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:43.240 a bar something like that, that doesn't it. How can 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:46.480 you be right? Your brand is yours, the soul of 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:49.040 your business, and people come to me and say, hey, 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:52.040