WEBVTT - The Woman Behind The Mission 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.600 Calling all my sweeties to the forefront. I'm your host, 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:04.280 Chris Rna. 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:10.760 Hazel and this is the Keeping Positive, Sweetish Show. Purpose 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.680 has a way of asking more from us than we 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:16.840 can ever expect. Today's conversation is about the courage to 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.400 keep saying yes even when the assignment gets heavy. We 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:24.080 are sitting with Jasmine at Crow Houston. Today's guest has 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:26.440 reimagined what it looks like to solve one of our 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:30.120 country's biggest challenges. Jas And Crow Houston is the founder 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.879 and CEO of Gooder and innovative company that's recovered millions 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.040 of pounds of surplus food, built free grocery markets and 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.440 underserved communities, and help make food and security, sustainability, and 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:45.520 dignity part of the same conversation. She has been recognized 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.400 by Forbes and The New York Times, and now she 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.600 is sharing her journey in her very first book, Feeding 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:55.040 Hope Kids Feeling Please give a very warm welcome to 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:56.639 Jazzmine crow Houston. 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.320 How are you doing so, I'm. 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:02.840 Wonderful, Thank you so much. I want to start off 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.200 by saying congratulations. You have a new book, Feeding Hope. 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.920 How to build a mission driven enterprise to create change? 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:12.200 You've already done so much to create change, and now 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:12.919 you're an author. 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.280 This is so exciting. And you just. 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.360 Said that today or yesterday was the first time you 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:18.760 actually got to touch today. 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.360 Like literally before I came here, I was like your producers, like, 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:23.760 can you bring a copy of the book? I said, 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:25.920 they just arrived this week and so I opened it 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.319 and yes, you're holding the first copy I ever touched. 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:30.240 I love it. 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.399 I'm a reader, so I love the texture of the 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:34.200 cover already. 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.520 Yeah, the pages feel good. Yeah, I'm excited to. 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:39.760 Do book reader like I haven't got into like audible 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:40.400 ye kindles. 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:44.039 Yes, yeah, unless I'm in a hurry, like I'm trying. 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.000 I need to read, like are speeded up and like 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:48.200 get something through something. 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:50.600 I like to touch the pages. I want to smell. 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:52.280 It kind of reminds me of when I was a kid, 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:57.520 and I'll be like Beverly Clear or the Babysitters Books Club. 0:01:57.720 --> 0:01:59.520 It's something about the pages Valley High. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:00.840 Yes. 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.800 Yes, But before we dive in, because I do want 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:05.640 to talk more about your book, let's play a quick game. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:06.120 Okay. 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.320 The game is called keep It or Give It. 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.160 Let's see, So I'm gonna throw out a few words, 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.040 and you tell me if you're keeping them or you're 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:15.919 gonna give them away. 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.240 I'll tell you mine after this. The first one is 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:22.359 group chats, keep keep. 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.160 Oh my god, my group chats have been very Yes, 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:27.720 I'm gonna keep them, definitely. 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:29.640 I love that I have one group chat that I loved. 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:30.679 All the other ones I mute. 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.560 Really yeah, crazy, I can imagine. 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.040 Especially chats I feel like. 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:38.000 Yes, not the big ones I would definitely give away, 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:38.720 but the small ones. 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:40.240 Yeah, I feel like that is important. 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:45.239 Yes, yes, I love the early mornings giveaway. 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:47.959 I'm late, but I do not like an early morning giveaway. 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.000 See. I wake up at five am, so I'm an 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:50.640 early riser. 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:52.720 When I do get to the gym at five thirty, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.040 I feel really good. But it doesn't happen often. 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:56.160 You know, it's a good feeling. 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.919 Yes, it's a very good feeling. I love that fear, 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.000 h So I have a I would say keep it. 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:07.960 I have a healthy amount of fear, and you know, 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.600 I think sometimes it helps you plan for like the worst. 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:13.560 So I think you have to keep fear, but you 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:16.520 can't give in to it. I would say that that's good. 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.840 I like that rest. 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.320 Keep Yes, hope no one gives that away. 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.640 Listen, before you got here, I take sure. I was like, 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:25.799 what's their et a? 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:27.960 Because I was in their neck, and yes, I love 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.840 gotta get it cooking, keeping sure. 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:34.560 What's your favorite dish to cook? 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:36.040 Probably lasagna? 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.000 Or I make really good Everyone says I make a 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.080 really good steak, Like I think that's the thing I've 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:44.320 been making the longest that I'm like, apparently steak lamb chops. 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.520 Someone called me the other day the lamb chop god. 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:53.320 Oh yes, yess yes, I was a lamb chop god. 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:59.000 I was like, you cook it, yes, steak chops, Yes, 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.880 love it. Yes, I'm down. I love silence. 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:05.920 I'm going to give away silence. I love my music. 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:06.560 I'm annoying. 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:08.760 I even fall asleep to the TV, which is probably 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:11.000 very I mean, I put my sleep timer on, but 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.080 I fall asleep to the TV TV. 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:14.200 I used to be the same way. 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.560 I would fall asleep watching friends, wake up watching watch friends. 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.839 Yes, like I have the modern family. I have very 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:24.679 good feel good shows and then crime shows like true Crimes, 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:25.679 like those are my things. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.320 I love that. Now I have to sleep really dark. 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.280 Yeah, but you got to if you wake up at 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:30.920 five am. 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.320 Yeah, because that times like my brain will keep going. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:35.240 So I have to do my amazing spray and just 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:35.920 go to sleep. 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:43.640 Yeah, the magnesium spray, if you put it on your feet, yeah. 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:43.200 It's gonna tell you within five minutes. 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.400 I'm like, it's good for you if your parents. I 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.800 sprayed a tiny bit on my kid the other day 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.200 and it worked, So that's I'll give you guys that 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:55.520 like a tiny like a spray it on your hand, rub. 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:55.560 It on the. 0:04:57.440 --> 0:04:59.520 I love it. I love that. 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:01.640 Jess to tell you right now, I was blown away 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.200 by your journey. Shelley sings your praises. She's like, you 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.920 gotta meet her. She is absolutely love her and she's 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:11.520 a good friend because she was really singing your. 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.479 Praises, and I was excited to get to sit down 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:13.720 with you. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:15.880 It's been a journey ten years. 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:16.600 This is a day. 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:18.960 I mean, it's nothing happens overnight. 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:19.720 No, it does not. 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:22.120 Let's talk about the journey because a lot of people 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.359 they've heard gooder, they don't know the person behind it. 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:26.760 So I want to know. 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.039 Everything, like how did you get to that point and 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:30.040 what made you think of that? 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:31.279 But let's start from the beginning. 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.680 So I moved to Atlanta in twenty thirteen. My sister 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.080 was going to Spelman. When I graduated college, I went 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.039 to college in North Carolina. My parents funny story. I 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:42.919 wanted to go to Howard Clark, all the places we 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.240 were living in North Carolina. My parents were like, we 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:47.400 want you to be two hours from home, Like we 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:49.080 want you to be driving distance from home. 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:50.960 My freshman year, they moved to Portland, Oregon. 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:51.880 You out. 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:54.680 I always wild shame them for this story. They don't 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.400 hear it every time. So now I hope everyone that's listening, 0:05:57.480 --> 0:05:59.400 here's this about my parents. They left me in North 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:04.159 Carolina as a freshman, and so I finished college, stayed through, 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.520 graduated in my four years. Once they graduated, they hated Portland. 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.440 They had moved to Phoenix, Arizona. So I moved to Phoenix. 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:13.520 My sister was entering high school and I was telling her, like, 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.159 you need to go to an HBCU. Arizona is very, 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.000 very non diverse, like the whole state is probably three 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:22.120 percent African Americans. So got her to go to Spelman. 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.000 We didn't know anyone here, and I was like, you know. 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:24.520 I'll go. 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.960 So she came in the fall I came in January 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.360 of twenty thirteen, and I drove through downtown and just 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:32.000 saw a lot. 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.640 Of people experiencing homelessness. 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.560 And it was if you're kind of new to Atlanta now, 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.840 like the whole downtown Peachtree Pine, like where I used 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.239 to feed it is now a hospital. So that should 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.760 let you know, like how much has been built up? Yes, 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.359 but there used to be hundreds of people outside of 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:48.960 this shelter. And so I was like, I want to 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:51.640 do some cooking. And I learned to cook when I 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.919 was at home in North Carolina by myself, Like the 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.720 very first Thanksgiving, me and my frend Chanelle, who's with me, 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.719 we cooked for everyone who couldn't go home for thanks 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:02.599 I mean, and we made so much food it was 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.240 like crazy, Like I mean, we was Betty Crocker recipe, 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.200 you know, printing it out. This is back in the 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.160 map Quest days where you had to like print out 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.640 where you're going, printing out recipes. Making turkey. Chanelle that 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.240 was taking culinary had learned how to season a turkey. 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:18.600 So we made all this food and I wanted to 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.600 do that. So I started my journey, really started feeding 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.280 people out of my kitchen on the streets of Atlanta, 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.400 and so many people used to come out and feed 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:28.360 with me. So like I'll run into people now to 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.120 be like, I can't believe you're still I'm in the 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.120 grocery store there, like you're still the same person, Like 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.600 I'm always I was like cupawning price matching, looking at 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.920 it what publics had on bogo, what Kroger had on sale, 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.960 and that's how it would make the menus. So I started, 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.960 you know, cooking for people and saw that just the 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:50.560 way people are treated if they are experiencing hunger or homelessness, 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.960 is just anything, right, I mean, it could spread any 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.240 cause domestic silence. So often we don't know what it's 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.280 like when you're experiencing it, Like if it's like, you know, 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.480 you're just donating your cans, you're just putting, you know, 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.600 donating checking, giving a dollar at the grocery store. You know, 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:07.040 they asked you do you want to donate to the 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:09.520 food bank, and you do it, and then on the 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.080 other side of it, it's always like here, just take this. 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.440 You're hungry, it doesn't matter. If you're vegan, it doesn't matter. 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:17.480 If you don't eat dairy, it doesn't matter. If you 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:20.680 have religious convictions and you don't eat pork or whatever, 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.160 you never get a choice. And so that's what was 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.600 so different about us feeding on the streets. We had 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:29.480 menus and we had options, and if people just had yes, 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.440 it was like a little restaurant. It literally was a restaurant. 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.079 So it started there. And I feel like that's why 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.960 I met Shelley. Just so many people through those that 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.400 work yes doing that. 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.400 That is incredible and fascinating. 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.680 Yes, it's crazy to think about it. And I was 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.320 thirteen years ago, like, and I did that for four 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:50.640 or five years before I ever even started Gooder. So 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.440 I was doing that every weekend for years. Wow, for 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.040 years traveling. I took one to Essence Fest one year. 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.280 I mean I did one in DC. So I would 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.320 take the whole experience and just go do a pop 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:03.760 up restaurant in another. 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:05.800 City to feed people that were homeless. 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:08.600 It was sad. That is awesome. That is amazing. Have 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:12.400 you always had a heart to see the overlooked? You know? 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:14.679 My dad recently told me. He called me the other day. 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:16.920 He was like Chubby, which is my nickname, and he 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.800 was like, you remember that Christmas when we decided not 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.520 to get you something for Christmas, and we brought gifts 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:24.280 for this mom and her six kids. He's like you 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:26.560 remember that, He was like, you were so happy. I 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:29.160 did not even remember that story, So I guess at 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:32.080 some point I even, you know, went without Christmas gifts 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:35.000 so that another family and kids could have it. And 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.040 my dad always tells like little antidotes about your life 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.160 that you just don't remember, like, oh, I remember one 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.680 time in DC you were asking why people were homeless. 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:46.000 Like I don't remember any of these stories, but apparently yes. 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.640 I had that notebook by Elanya van Ziyan. It was 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.559 like something. It was like, oh my god, what was 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.800 it called. It was like a yellow little journal. All 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:57.080 the girls had it. It was like it was like 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.480 keeping saying true to yourself. It was like a little 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.079 work book. And I found it recently so I still 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:05.040 have it. And my handwriting was terrible, and I was 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:07.200 talking like, you know, it makes me mad when people 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.000 hate on me and my friends. I was a teenager, definitely, 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.080 like in high school or middle school. But I wrote 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:14.120 in that that I wanted to be known for doing 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:18.160 something good twenty thirty years before I would ever start 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.439 doing anything, so I must have always had good I 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.800 have that to this day. Wrote that terrible handwriting, very young, 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.280 and it had like little prompts like what's something that 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.040 makes you feel bad? And that's when I was like, 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:31.960 when people hate on me and my friends? And then 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:33.240 you know what do you want to be known for 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.480 doing something good? Like that was what I wrote, and 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:40.559 so it was. It was kind of I guess foreshadowing 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.559 if you will. Yeah, yes, it's crazy. 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:44.679 To think about it. It's crazy. 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.040 I love that, and I love that your dad reminded 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.480 you of a memory that you had probably forgotten, but 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:50.800 it was a core of who you are. 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:52.440 Yes, so many of those. 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:54.400 I think there's a lot that we don't know, because 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.280 if you don't sit back and sit in your your past, 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.120 you're always on go. We just were talking about that. God, oh, 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.120 I don't think I reflected it. I never remembered having 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.000 and I feel bad. He was like, we we went 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.319 over there and you watched them open all the presence, 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:09.960 Like he has very vivid memories because he's an adult 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:11.719 and it's probably like a big thing for him. I 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:12.200 don't remember. 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:13.760 You were like, I don't remember. 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.080 Birthdays, like you know people you throw the birthday parties. 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:18.000 Your kids don't remember it. I can kind of see that, 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.440 But we also didn't have all we have now, Like 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.880 you know, now, if something like that happened, I'd probably 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:25.320 have pictures to show my kids. 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:26.960 Yeah, but you know we didn't. 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:30.560 Have that, right absolutely, So your heart turned into a 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.920 full business and your heart posture did what has been 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:37.960 the navigation of that when you really like saw a need, 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.559 but then it turns into this full blown business. 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.760 It is I used to be into being Mary Jane. 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:45.080 That used to be my show. 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:47.280 It just started coming back on, or maybe it hasn't, 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.240 but I just watching TV one day and they popped 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.079 up and I was watching for like hours hours. 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.600 She's the right little post its on her. 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:55.920 So I was doing that on my mirror when I 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.520 was living, you know, in Atlanta, first starting this business 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:01.560 ten years ago, literally probably ten years ago to the day, 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:03.960 and when I was thinking about good Or, I remember 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.480 I wanted to provide a million meals and make a 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.760 million dollars like that was the goal. And now you know, 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.240 probably like next year, Gooder will have seen probably nine 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:19.000 figures in lifetime revenue and provided fifty million plus meals 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:19.520 to people. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:21.600 And it's like to know. 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:23.839 Like I wrote that on a post it like one 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.520 million meals be worth the company be worth. 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:27.200 A million dollars. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:30.480 I have always led with my heart with this company, 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.160 and I write about that a lot in the book. 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:34.559 I have failed in a lot of ways, whether it's 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.440 been fundraising, like building a right team. You know, there's 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:39.679 all kinds of things that have not been great along 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.080 the journey. But at the end of the day, I 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:43.960 cannot when it's all said and done, because a lot 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:45.640 of times I'm like, man, even in my book, I 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.160 was like, listen, by the time you read this, my 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.360 company may not be here. I know, because you know, 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.520 it was like in twenty twenty five. There was a 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:55.720 lot happening last year, especially for black women in business, 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:57.640 you know. So I was like, I don't know, And 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.480 that's when I was writing this, you know, going through it. 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:04.800 But I know that I have always done it for 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:06.880 the right reasons. Like you know, I was doing it 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.160 when I had nothing. I was feeding people, wondering like dang, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:11.720 like I should have made myself a little plate when 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:12.320 I would get. 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:12.720 Home, you know. 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:16.800 So to start a business that has employed hundreds of 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.200 people fed millions, if people worked with everybody, you know, 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.959 from Delta to the NBA. I mean, we have had 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.679 a lot of highs and there's definitely been a lot 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.160 of lows. But my heart posture has never been to 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.080 give people less, you know what I mean. 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:32.800 People would be like, oh, give them. 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:34.679 Less or I remember one time one of my friends 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:36.800 was like, oh, they're homeless, you know, so it doesn't matter, 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:38.360 and I was like it does, Like you know, it 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.520 definitely does. Like you can't just give people anything. And 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.079 it goes back to I think what we should have 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.719 all learned in kindergarten, like treating people how you want 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:50.000 to be treated, and we always don't do that. I 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:51.600 mean we and a lot of times in our day 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.720 to day lives we want to be treated a certain way, 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:56.560 but it's like, how often are we really treating people 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:58.160 the way we want to be treated? And in the 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.160 service industry, it does not happen. And when I say 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:05.280 service like this kind of nonprofit giving social impact space, 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:07.120 it's just like check the box. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.000 Yeah, no, absolutely, it's. 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:11.080 I'm really proud of that. 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.679 Like I can say that with all my heart, on 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.840 all my kids, on everything in my life, I've always 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:18.880 wanted the best for people in the business, and so 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.760 for investors, and you know, I've raised capital and stuff 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.080 that's not been the thing because it's like, oh, they 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.760 don't care about feeding people, they care about money. So 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.240 it was really hard to kind of blend the two. 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:33.600 And in hindsight, you know, it's hard to think about 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:35.640 it now, but maybe I should have said good or 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.240 up as a nonprofit, And instead I thought, well, businesses 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:43.320 are paying to throw away perfectly good food, and you know, 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.040 why would we be free if I'm going to like 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.320 hire a driver and get this food delivered. And you know, 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.080 we work with Tyler Perry Studios. We do all the 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:52.240 food on all the sets. Like nothing goes to waste 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.160 from any of the studios. It's like, those are dreams 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:57.280 that I had. And yeah, and I didn't make it 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.280 as a business. Had it been a nonprofit, maybe could 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.160 have been, you know, like I would have then been 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:04.560 going really head to head against the Food Bank, which 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.000 I still ended up doing, or feeding Americas and the 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.280 bigger organizations. But I think it would have I don't 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:13.160 think I would be where I am today had I 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:14.640 not made it into a business. 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:19.120 Right, So let's talk about some of the losses or 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.800 failures and the roadblocks that you hit along the way. 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:23.560 Building is because we see what you've built. 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:25.920 But can you share some of the lessons and some 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:27.720 of the moments where you felt like this is a 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:28.560 really low moment. 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.720 Yes, I mean I think in twenty twenty three. It's 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:34.480 funny I saw on social media someone was like, what's 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.520 the year that you made it through? You know that 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:38.720 you're glad the right about And I was like, it's 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:42.480 a few like twenty sixteen, and then twenty twenty three 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:44.120 was a really tough one. I was pregnant with my 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:47.440 second child, very difficult pregnancy, like very I don't even 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:51.360 think I told close friends, family, like real real close 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.880 close people, probably until like second trimester, you know, like 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.320 literally probably at least five or six months pregnant before 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:01.520 I told anyone. Never told no one at my company, 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.400 no one, like literally, I just I posted on social 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.000 media one day like I want to introduce you out 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:07.520 to my baby, like you know what I mean, like 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.000 literally the day, yeah, like it's my birthday, here's my baby. 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:13.480 And I think people afterwards, people were like, you know, 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.520 when I saw you, I thought, you know, I wondered 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:16.920 if you was a little pregnant like, you know, they 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:18.920 were saying things like that, but at the time no 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.400 one said anything. But I was just going through so 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:23.600 much in my company, and I think the biggest thing 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.200 was like people and what I would try and do 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.080 was I was such a giver and that I realized 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.600 I was a people pleaser. I was like, oh, I'm 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.800 going to give all of my employees two hundred and 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.760 fifty dollars a month for you know, for mental health 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:39.080 or for veterinary services, like whatever they want to do, 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:42.760 for yoga, whatever. I still do that, but I was 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:46.400 doing it and expecting that they would not so much 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.480 be loyal to me, but more so like see that 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.120 I was really trying to be a good leader. I 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.640 gave everybody the first Friday of the month off. I always, 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:54.960 you know, try to do team retreats and take us 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.640 to nice places like two times a year, bring your spouses. 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.400 Like I was like giving so much of myself showing up. 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.080 I wanted to be this humility based leader that I 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.439