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Speaker 1: Afrotech Conference is back and return to AIDS Town, Houston, Texas,

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Speaker 1: from October twenty seven through thirty first, twenty twenty five

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Speaker 1: at the George R. Brown Convention Center. For years, Afrotech

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Speaker 1: has been to go to experience for black tech innovators, founders, engineers,

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Speaker 1: creators and investors. In twenty twenty five is shaping up

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Speaker 1: to be the biggest year yet, though with fortyzery tenees expected.

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Speaker 1: This year's conference will feature five days of dynamic programming

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Speaker 1: across six curator stages from discovery to executive leadership. Join

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Speaker 1: us to hear from industry leaders at the forefront of change,

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Speaker 1: learn from top ten engineers and designers, and connect with

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Speaker 1: recruiters from nearly two hundred companies. This year, we're digging

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Speaker 1: deeper into what's next with tracks exploring AI and machine learning,

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Speaker 1: mad tech and health equity, cybersecurity, climate tech, and much more.

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Speaker 1: Whether you're launching your first startup, pivoting into a new role,

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Speaker 1: or scaling as an execut there's something here for you.

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Speaker 1: Tickets are moving fast to keep your spot nowt at

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Speaker 1: Afrotech Conference. Dot com will lucas here, Black tech, green money,

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Speaker 1: so good to be with you guys again today I

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Speaker 1: got a special guest I've been looking forward to this morning.

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Speaker 1: I saw it on my calid. Now I'm like, it's

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Speaker 1: about to go down. So Jojo Simmons, co CEO of

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Speaker 1: three is four, New York City based creative studio, redefining

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Speaker 1: storytelling by transforming purpose driven brands into global cultural movements.

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Speaker 1: Three is four delivers bespoke content strategies emotionally resident media

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Speaker 1: across film, television, digital, experiential and social platforms. Son of

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Speaker 1: Hip Hop Ikona Rev Run of Broun the MC, You've

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Speaker 1: seen him on TV. You've seen Jojo all over your screens.

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Speaker 1: Me rose to fame on MTV's Runs House, which ran

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Speaker 1: from two thousand and five to two thousand and nine

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Speaker 1: and won him an NAACP Image Award. Later, he also

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Speaker 1: started in Growing Up Hip Hop. Welcome Jojo Simmons, what's up?

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Speaker 2: Brother?

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Speaker 3: And there is one thing I do want to say,

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Speaker 3: and it's not that you're wrong. I do want to

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Speaker 3: correct that. For the last two two and a half

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Speaker 3: years I had I was co CEO of my my

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Speaker 3: founding partner, Chris Carl. We recently named Shreff Tomlin as

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Speaker 3: our new CEO. She's a black woman, so happy to

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Speaker 3: have her take over that role, as a lot of

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Speaker 3: people don't know.

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Speaker 2: CEO is a hard role.

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Speaker 3: Torounding members, We're like, thank you take those responsibilities. Then

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Speaker 3: we can hand the business and include and close the

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Speaker 3: deals and keep on bringing.

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Speaker 2: The clients in. But I do want to shout and

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Speaker 2: I don't say that to correct you.

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Speaker 3: I say that to give sharer the love and honor

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Speaker 3: that she's been doing an amazing job over the last

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Speaker 3: few weeks to a last few months with really you know,

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Speaker 3: turning things up at three or four. So just want

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Speaker 3: to shout out to our CEO, Sharyl Tomlin, as absolutely

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Speaker 3: we start this up, and I'm sure she'll be doing

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Speaker 3: a lot of interviews and things coming up when people

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Speaker 3: will really learn who she is and why we chose

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Speaker 3: her to be in that position. But just wanted to

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Speaker 3: put that out there and thank you for that introduction. Brother,

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Speaker 3: it was it was more.

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Speaker 1: Than no no. Thank you for that, and thank you

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Speaker 1: for the clarity also, that is important. As we said

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Speaker 1: the stage for today's conversation, I'm interested in you know,

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Speaker 1: you had an upbringing unlike most of us, you know,

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Speaker 1: in the public eye, and you know a legacy that

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Speaker 1: you come from also, and you're the next generation of that.

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Speaker 1: And I wonder how coming up under that sort of

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Speaker 1: legacy and pressure, how that shapes your identity both as

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Speaker 1: an artist and as an activist and business person.

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Speaker 3: I think in all senses when you can wrap all

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Speaker 3: of those from artists to entrepreneurs.

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Speaker 2: To activists to advocates.

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Speaker 3: You know, growing up and watching not only my dad

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Speaker 3: performed for you know, thousands of people, and watching my

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Speaker 3: uncle go in rooms and close deals that were amazing.

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Speaker 3: Deals weren't not just like fat farm deathcam deals, but

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Speaker 3: like doing things where he was stopping gun violence and

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Speaker 3: stuff like that in New York, where he was really

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Speaker 3: showing up in those.

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Speaker 2: Types of spaces.

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Speaker 3: I think watching that, being inspired by the ones before me,

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Speaker 3: Like I said, my dad, my uncle, and you know,

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Speaker 3: the older ones in front of me showing me what

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Speaker 3: was really important in life, really molded me to understand

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Speaker 3: what was important as I got older, and what I

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Speaker 3: wanted to take from what they were doing and kind

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Speaker 3: of implement into the way that I run myself and

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Speaker 3: my business in my life is you know, keep carrying

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Speaker 3: that sort of advocacy and giving back an intention.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's what really helped molding.

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Speaker 1: You know and being on screen. What did you learn

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Speaker 1: about storytelling from that experience, because I imagine you didn't

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Speaker 1: know back then, like, yo, this could be my life

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Speaker 1: on the other side of the camera one day. What

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Speaker 1: did you learn? What lessons did you learn from being

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Speaker 1: on screen about you know, what happens behind the scenes

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Speaker 1: to make sure that story gets told properly.

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Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing that I learned being on

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Speaker 3: screen is you know, take advantage of the time you

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Speaker 3: do get on screen, because only you can, you know,

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Speaker 3: control your narrative on screen.

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Speaker 2: First, we can only judge.

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Speaker 3: You or think who you are through what you know

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Speaker 3: you show, no matter if it's editing and people edit

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Speaker 3: you to look in a different light or whatever. They

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Speaker 3: can only give what you get. You know, they can

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Speaker 3: only get what you give, and they can only put

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Speaker 3: out what you put out right, So I think that

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Speaker 3: one thing I did learn growing up is that you

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Speaker 3: can control your narrative on that screen.

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Speaker 2: You can truly control your narrative. You can change the

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Speaker 2: way people look. You can, you know you can. You can.

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Speaker 2: You can inspire through your storytelling on TV.

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Speaker 3: You can really use that time while you're on screen

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Speaker 3: to really you know, use it, use it intentionally as

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Speaker 3: I would feel.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I want you to go all level deeper there,

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Speaker 1: because we hear so much about you know, brand is

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Speaker 1: what other people say about you, not what you say

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Speaker 1: about you. It's how as a storyteller, Now, how do

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Speaker 1: you help both your clients and the public understand that

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Speaker 1: this is what you know? Pick a brand that you

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Speaker 1: work with, this is what we are, so that the

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Speaker 1: clients the customers also say, Yeah, that's what we love

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Speaker 1: them for. That's why we rock with them.

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Speaker 2: Authenticity. You know, we don't try to forge anything.

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Speaker 3: If you're not doing that in your brand, we're not

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Speaker 3: going to tell you to go do that now so

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Speaker 3: we can get content of it.

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Speaker 2: Oh let's go go into this space.

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Speaker 3: No, what are you doing now or what do you

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Speaker 3: what are what could you be doing that you that

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Speaker 3: would feel natural to you that we can catch and

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Speaker 3: we can tell the story to the consumer, so the

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Speaker 3: consumer remembers why they even purchased from you in the

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Speaker 3: first place.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Of course, they probably like your product, of your or

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Speaker 3: your service, but mainly they like who you are, they

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Speaker 3: like your story, they like where you came from.

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Speaker 2: I love the same story. You know, my wife and

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Speaker 2: I were talking.

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Speaker 3: I said, you know, you go in to the supermarket

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Speaker 3: and there's six different toilet roll brands and all of

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Speaker 3: them make money, not because you know one is better

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Speaker 3: than the other.

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Speaker 2: It's because they all have their own story.

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Speaker 3: They all came from a certain place, they all you know,

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Speaker 3: they all etched their name in the game some type

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Speaker 3: of way. So I think that I always tell people

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Speaker 3: the best sale is being yourself and telling your story

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Speaker 3: because once somebody can relate, they want to buy the product,

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Speaker 3: not just because of the product, but because they relate

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Speaker 3: to the story.

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Speaker 2: I love.

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Speaker 1: I love that. You know, we talk a lot about

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Speaker 1: legacy on this show. People wanting to build wealth and

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Speaker 1: legacy building or utilizing tech, implementing tech. So maybe they're

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Speaker 1: not building it, but they're leveraging it in a specific way.

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Speaker 1: You know, you grew up in a world of legacy.

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Speaker 1: It was legacy all around you. You know, but you

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Speaker 1: also have ideas for yourself and you know things that

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Speaker 1: you want to do and carve your own path. You know,

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Speaker 1: when you talk about the expectations that were on you

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Speaker 1: and that you've maybe or even self inflicted because you

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Speaker 1: came up around.

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Speaker 2: This very self inflicted.

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Speaker 3: You know, I thought about this the other day, and

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Speaker 3: I love that question because I was thinking about the

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Speaker 3: other day and I was like, you know, although I

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Speaker 3: enjoyed rap and I'm very passionate about rap music, I

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Speaker 3: almost felt like I wouldn't safe force because nobody forced

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Speaker 3: me to do anything.

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Speaker 2: But I felt more drawn.

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Speaker 3: To that space because of what dad does and what

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Speaker 3: Dad did, and it's like, maybe I'm supposed to be

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Speaker 3: in an entertainment space to carry this torch, whether it's

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Speaker 3: through the entrepreneurial spirit in the music space or it's

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Speaker 3: the rapping side, right. I always I think I feel

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Speaker 3: like I self inflicted that pressure on me. I don't

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Speaker 3: think my dad or my uncle ever's like you need

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Speaker 3: to do this and you need to carry this torch

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Speaker 3: and you've got.

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Speaker 2: To be run junior, or you got to be just

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Speaker 2: like Russell.

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Speaker 3: I think that they always just supported me in anything

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Speaker 3: and everything I did, whether it was to play basketball

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Speaker 3: or it was anything that I wanted to do, I

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Speaker 3: think they supported it. So I think it was a

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Speaker 3: lot of self inflicted pressure, but I won't fully say

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Speaker 3: self inflicted because they were still pressure to win, and

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Speaker 3: it was still a pressure to represent the legacy in

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Speaker 3: the in the right way and to uphold the legacy

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Speaker 3: in the right way. So I would say the pressure

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Speaker 3: of answering into the spaces that I did came from

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Speaker 3: myself thinking I need to do that. But the pressure

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Speaker 3: of wanting to win and having to win and dealing

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Speaker 3: with losses bad came from like knowing that my family

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Speaker 3: was is a team of.

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Speaker 2: Winners, and you know, and we were able to win

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Speaker 2: for a really long time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know. I think about people who have won

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Speaker 1: and you know, let's say you've won Grammys before, you've

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Speaker 1: you know, won Academy Awards, or you're a best selling author,

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Speaker 1: and then other people come to you and they say,

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Speaker 1: I want to be a best thing. R to show

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Speaker 1: me how, and you're like, I can show you what

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Speaker 1: I did, but I can't guarantee that you have that outcome.

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Speaker 1: When you say that, you know they supported you. Your

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Speaker 1: uncle supported you, your father supported you. Did they also

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Speaker 1: put on you like yo, like, yeah, we support you,

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Speaker 1: but I can't necessarily guarantee that you're going to be

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Speaker 1: the biggest rapper out.

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Speaker 2: There always always.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I think that's important to keep it real.

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Speaker 3: I was talking with a friends about that. At the

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Speaker 3: end of the day, they would tell me that there's

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Speaker 3: someone to your rapper and he's young, and I was like,

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Speaker 3: you know, just support them to like be real with

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Speaker 3: them at all times. And I think that's what kept

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Speaker 3: it cool. That's what was good for me is my

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Speaker 3: dad would never was like, you're going to be the

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Speaker 3: biggest this, or you're gonna be you know, just work

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Speaker 3: hard and what however God plans it out for you

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Speaker 3: or however life unravels, is that's how it's going to unravel.

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Speaker 3: But just because you know you have the resources, are

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Speaker 3: even if I give you my blueprint of how I

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Speaker 3: did it, it isn't necessarily going to work for you

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Speaker 3: the same way. You know, like like one like I

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Speaker 3: heard the other day. You know, people's plans aren't one

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Speaker 3: size fits all, you know, like just because the way

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Speaker 3: that they had a plan, it may not fit your plans.

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Speaker 3: You know, you got to everybody has to go through

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Speaker 3: their own experience and everybody has to have their own,

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Speaker 3: uh you know, their own kind of you know, lessons

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Speaker 3: in life to get to where they need to go.

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Speaker 1: I always like you to describe storytelling for good, Like

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Speaker 1: what does that mean to you and what principles drive

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Speaker 1: this mission that you're on.

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Speaker 3: It's intentional storytelling. It's telling the story that needs to

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Speaker 3: be told. It's telling the story of the underrepresented people.

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Speaker 3: Is telling the story of the people that you don't

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Speaker 3: hear about. It's telling the stories of all the positivity

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Speaker 3: in the world, the things that are going on, the

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Speaker 3: things that can change, the things that can impact.

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Speaker 2: Like I like telling stories.

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Speaker 3: And of course we see all these great TV shows

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Speaker 3: and movies and all this other stuff, and I like

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Speaker 3: working on the things that create impact. I like working

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Speaker 3: on the things that get people passionate about being part

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Speaker 3: of a community to change things right, to be good,

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Speaker 3: to be positive, to build each other up. Because I

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Speaker 3: always say this, we're in a space in a world

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Speaker 3: where people are just beating each other down all the time.

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Speaker 2: And that's what I truly feel like.

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Speaker 3: Every every podcast, every blog space, every space you walk in,

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Speaker 3: it's like somebody's being judged for something.

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Speaker 2: And and and my and our idea of for good

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Speaker 2: is literally just being.

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Speaker 3: Good man and putting out the good in the space,

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Speaker 3: and putting out the good in the world, and being

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Speaker 3: that little room of good that you could just come

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Speaker 3: into and just breathe for a minute. Everything over here

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Speaker 3: is positivity. We're not judging you, we're not biased, we're

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Speaker 3: not doing none of that. We're you know, a multi

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Speaker 3: cultural team over here at a three or four in

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Speaker 3: the four good in four good universe. So like that's

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Speaker 3: what we wanted to look like in the world, Like

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Speaker 3: just everybody working together, you know, in unison, you know

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Speaker 3: what I mean.

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Speaker 1: So when somebody of your name, you know, puts out

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Speaker 1: we're doing this thing, I would assume that you have

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Speaker 1: a lot of inbound Yo, we have this idea for

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Speaker 1: a project. We would love to work with you, Jojo,

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Speaker 1: more things than you have the time with bandwidth, you know.

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Speaker 2: To do.

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Speaker 1: How do you filter through what is worth you working on?

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Speaker 1: Because not everything that's you may want to work on

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Speaker 1: you should work on either.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we try to work on everything, but we do

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Speaker 3: have a policy if if if the intention isn't good,

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Speaker 3: then we're probably gonna turn it down. Like we're not

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Speaker 3: just picking.

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Speaker 2: Up every dollar. You know. Obviously I say this whole time.

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Speaker 3: Revenue and income, all of that is important in any company,

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Speaker 3: but we will not work with assholes.

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Speaker 2: I'm sorry if I curse, but we just won't work

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Speaker 2: with assholes.

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Speaker 3: We won't work with people that don't understand the intention

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Speaker 3: of being good. We won't work with people that don't

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Speaker 3: understand the importance of what we do. And I don't

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Speaker 3: never want to shy away our clients everything. Oh he

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Speaker 3: doesn't work with us because maybe I'm not a good

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Speaker 3: enough person.

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Speaker 2: I don't.

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Speaker 3: I'm not saying that I think everybody has good in them,

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Speaker 3: but I'm just saying like, we're just not going to

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Speaker 3: work with people that aren't going to speak to us

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Speaker 3: with respect and aren't going to respect the craft and

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Speaker 3: respect the time that we put into our work and

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Speaker 3: respect that you know that there's you know, what they

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Speaker 3: do is deeper than just you know, sales in revenue

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Speaker 3: because ultimately with drive sales and revenues, like I said.

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Speaker 2: Authenticity and really connecting to the people.

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Speaker 3: And there's so many clients that we're so thankful for

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Speaker 3: that you would never think would care about the storytelling,

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Speaker 3: but they do, and they telling us that it's working

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Speaker 3: and that the community is really biting on it in

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Speaker 3: it and it's amazing because these are spaces that they

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Speaker 3: wouldn't be a lot of storytelling about what like you know,

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Speaker 3: We've worked in the tobacco space, and you would never

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Speaker 3: think that the storytelling matters, but it does, you know,

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Speaker 3: it really does, and and and and the brands that

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Speaker 3: we work with understand that. And then they come back

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Speaker 3: to us and say, hey, it's working and it looks great,

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Speaker 3: and those are those are those are the kind of

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Speaker 3: clients we love to work with. It's like, it doesn't

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Speaker 3: matter what space you in, understand that the storytelling and

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Speaker 3: being real with people, you know, it goes a long way.

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Speaker 1: What's the project you've worked on that you're most proud.

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Speaker 2: Of right now?

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Speaker 3: It has to be the for a good podcast, you know,

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Speaker 3: my podcast that that that I'm hosting. We obviously work

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Speaker 3: on a lot of projects with a lot of different clients.

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Speaker 3: We've done experiential work, We've done documentaries, We've done you know,

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Speaker 3: all types of content.

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Speaker 2: For people that I'm super proud of.

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Speaker 3: Like I said, but I think just the podcast, Like

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Speaker 3: I literally before this, I was just doing an interview

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Speaker 3: on the other side. I would you I was interviewing

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Speaker 3: somebody in the same space, because.

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Speaker 2: You know, I love the conversations we're having.

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Speaker 3: They're so inspiring AND's so impactful, and they're not always celebrities.

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Speaker 3: That's the biggest thing to me is like, yeah, we

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Speaker 3: have the big names, the millions of followers, but then

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Speaker 3: we're talking to the people that don't really have that

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Speaker 3: many followers but have an amazing story. And the impact

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Speaker 3: is crazy because when we look at the audio downloads,

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Speaker 3: they're about the same neck and necklace somebod these celebrity downloads,

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Speaker 3: because it's like the conversation is amazing and the conversation

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Speaker 3: is impactful.

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Speaker 2: And my byline on it is, you know, welcome to

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Speaker 2: the Four Good Podcast.

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Speaker 3: Where we focus on the good, never the bad, and

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Speaker 3: we're measured by what we do, not what we have.

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Speaker 3: So this isn't about how much money you have, how

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Speaker 3: many cars you've got, how many cars you you know,

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Speaker 3: how many houses you bought, how many women. I don't

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Speaker 3: care about that. What are you doing in the world,

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Speaker 3: What are you doing for your mental health, what are

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Speaker 3: you doing for your personal growth? And how can somebody

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Speaker 3: that's a fan of you or that's listening right now

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Speaker 3: be inspired by that if they're going through a time

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Speaker 3: where they just don't know what to do. Those are

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Speaker 3: the conversations I love having. The Four Good podcast is

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Speaker 3: just everything that I envisioned it to be when I

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Speaker 3: came up with the idea and I came up with

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Speaker 3: the name with my.

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Speaker 2: Team, It's everything we envisioned to be.

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Speaker 3: It's like a non biased, non judgmental space, a safe

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Speaker 3: space as we like to call it, a brave space

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Speaker 3: as we.

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Speaker 2: Super like to call it, for people to just come

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Speaker 2: into and not be judging.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, let's say more about that. You know, I think

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Speaker 1: about there's You're obviously talented. There's a lot of things

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Speaker 1: you could be spending your time doing, and what was

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Speaker 1: the decision making like process for you know what? It's

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Speaker 1: worth it for me to spend a few hours a

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Speaker 1: week doing the podcast versus the other things you could

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Speaker 1: be doing.

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Speaker 3: My curiosity, I'm passionate about my curiosity. I'm curious about everything.

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Speaker 3: I'm curious about people. I love people, so I love

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Speaker 3: having conversations. I will literally have conversations in the supermarket

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Speaker 3: with the lady checking me out and just you know,

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Speaker 3: ask where she's from, and ask how she's doing, and

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Speaker 3: ask how mental health is because that's who I am

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Speaker 3: at my core.

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Speaker 2: So it makes it very easy.

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Speaker 3: It doesn't feel like work when I have to When

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Speaker 3: I have to go interview every week.

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Speaker 2: It feels like, oh, who do I get to interview

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Speaker 2: this week? Okay, great, Like this is amazing.

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Speaker 3: I'm passionate about conversation, you know, Like it's funny because

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Speaker 3: I've been in front of the screen my whole life.

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Speaker 3: In some senses, I do want to step back. In

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Speaker 3: some senses, I don't want to be in front of

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Speaker 3: the screen. But these conversations are needed. It feels like

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Speaker 3: my calling, right. It feels like if I have a

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Speaker 3: platform and I can use the platform for good, I'm

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Speaker 3: gonna do that, right. So that's why, you know, I'm

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Speaker 3: just so passionate about those conversations that it doesn't feel

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Speaker 3: like I have to take some hours out of my

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Speaker 3: day to do something that I don't want to do,

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Speaker 3: or do something that, oh I check off my feel

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Speaker 3: good list for today. No, it's genuinely not that. It's

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Speaker 3: an authentic conversation that I love having with people.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: That's why I tell my team, Hey, keep them booked

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Speaker 3: up every Tuesday. Keep them booked up, you know, and

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Speaker 3: then you know, I go, you know, I do some

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Speaker 3: in persons with people, so like keep me booked, Please

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Speaker 3: keep me booked, and please keep me with guests because

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Speaker 3: I love talking to everybody.

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Speaker 1: You've been recognized for your work with mental health, and

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Speaker 1: you know, I wonder, you know, other than just being

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Speaker 1: curious about things like what, what dedicates you to that

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Speaker 1: particular conversation.

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Speaker 2: My own mental health.

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Speaker 3: You know, growing up being a teen star, a child star,

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Speaker 3: I'm sure you can think that that took a toll

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Speaker 3: on my mental health. It was a little different for

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Speaker 3: me to go right into fame and then really not

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Speaker 3: ever be normal again. Like still to this day, I'm

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Speaker 3: not normal, right, And I don't say that in like

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Speaker 3: a cocky way. I say it in a way of

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Speaker 3: like I'm going to be recognized everywhere I go, So

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Speaker 3: just focusing on me and making sure that my mental

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Speaker 3: health is good and that I don't let any of

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Speaker 3: the outside world distract my positivity or my happiness. That's

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Speaker 3: the main thing about mental health is you know people

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Speaker 3: are they find it hard to stay happy and stay positive,

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Speaker 3: and it's because all the distractions of the outside world

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Speaker 3: and all the prejudging and the judging yourself and then

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Speaker 3: putting pressures on yourself. I think that I had a

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Speaker 3: lot of that growing up, and when I was able

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Speaker 3: to really sit down and realize there was a mental

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Speaker 3: health issue and I needed to really take time to

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Speaker 3: myself and really figure out who I am and what

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Speaker 3: makes me happy and what doesn't matter in life. What

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Speaker 3: does matter is when I realized that, Okay, I'm good,

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Speaker 3: I want to pour into others. I want others to

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Speaker 3: understand that mental health doesn't mean you're crazy, it doesn't

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Speaker 3: mean it's something wrong with you. We all go through

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Speaker 3: these mental health problems where we all think about or

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Speaker 3: we're all on our head about something.

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Speaker 2: And I think that me just being once again.

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Speaker 3: Platform where I could talk for that space, especially in

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Speaker 3: black and brown communities where we know that a lot

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Speaker 3: of people aren't taking advantage of therapists and a lot

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Speaker 3: of people aren't understanding that they have mental health issues.

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Speaker 3: I thought it was important that I'd be one of

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Speaker 3: those people would follow us to kind of you know, represent.

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Speaker 1: How do you open the storytelling with that effort to

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Speaker 1: destigmatize it.

443
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:22,760
Speaker 3: I mean, we all have a story to tell and

444
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:24,520
Speaker 3: it all plays a part of our mental health. Whether

445
00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,359
Speaker 3: it's a sad story, a happy story, or a mad story.

446
00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:29,800
Speaker 3: We all went you know, it all plays into your

447
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:30,359
Speaker 3: mental health.

448
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:31,040
Speaker 2: You know what I mean?

449
00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:34,440
Speaker 3: And I think that's the most important thing is relatable storytelling.

450
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,560
Speaker 3: And that's why storytelling is so great, because you may

451
00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:37,920
Speaker 3: tell a story and somebody.

452
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:39,640
Speaker 2: Be like, I went through the same thing. Oh wow,

453
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,280
Speaker 2: he did he went through I went through the same thing.

454
00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,320
Speaker 3: And that's the importance of importance of storytelling and mental

455
00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:47,920
Speaker 3: health because people like Jay Barnett, who was an ex

456
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,080
Speaker 3: NFL player who almost committed suicide, now is a mental

457
00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:53,480
Speaker 3: health advocate and he speaks to so many men and

458
00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,480
Speaker 3: people and you would never think somebody is so powerful,

459
00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:57,360
Speaker 3: will we be going through that?

460
00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,920
Speaker 2: But there's somebody on the other side that said.

461
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,280
Speaker 3: I was to commit suicide too, and I wasn't even

462
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,239
Speaker 3: an NFL player and I wasn't probably even making the more.

463
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,040
Speaker 3: But he made me stop. He made me not do

464
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:09,760
Speaker 3: it because his story related to my story, and I

465
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:10,800
Speaker 3: realized that it wasn't over.

466
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:11,560
Speaker 2: I realized that I.

467
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,280
Speaker 3: Still have strength to keep going. That's why storytelling is

468
00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,720
Speaker 3: the most important part of mental health. It's telling your

469
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,960
Speaker 3: story so other people. Other people can hear it and say, oh,

470
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:21,600
Speaker 3: I'm okay, I'm all right, I'm not the only one

471
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:22,199
Speaker 3: going through this.

472
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,159
Speaker 1: You know, we've talked about some of your projects and

473
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,520
Speaker 1: some of your ideas, and you seem like and you

474
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:29,920
Speaker 1: here the energy of someone who has a lot of ideas.

475
00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,959
Speaker 1: I wonder, like, what's your process like? So when you

476
00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:37,639
Speaker 1: have an idea for a concept, you know you can

477
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:39,439
Speaker 1: pick three of the things that you're working on, Like,

478
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,680
Speaker 1: what's the first thing that you do in order to

479
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,600
Speaker 1: take that thing from just concept to actually reality.

480
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,760
Speaker 3: Bring into the team, Bring into my partners, see what

481
00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,680
Speaker 3: they think about it first, because sometimes as creative with ADHD,

482
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,000
Speaker 3: I throw things at the wall and most of the

483
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,560
Speaker 3: time they like it. But like, yeah, man, bring it

484
00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,080
Speaker 3: to the team and see if not if it's possible,

485
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:00,879
Speaker 3: because anything is possible. Bring it to the team and

486
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,159
Speaker 3: see what it will take to bring that to life,

487
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:06,400
Speaker 3: or what it will take to bring that vision to life.

488
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,879
Speaker 2: So that's always the next thing is envisioning it and

489
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:09,680
Speaker 2: then planning it.

490
00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,479
Speaker 3: A lot of people are great at envisioning an idea,

491
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,280
Speaker 3: but then get lazy or don't really want to put

492
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,800
Speaker 3: the work in the actually plan it. Right, You need

493
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,360
Speaker 3: to envision, you need to plan, and they need to execute.

494
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,920
Speaker 3: And I think that's the most important thing. So envision first,

495
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,320
Speaker 3: planning with the people that matter and that can help

496
00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:27,359
Speaker 3: you really execute and then execute it.

497
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,639
Speaker 1: So how do you balance the freedom to be creative

498
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,879
Speaker 1: that you have with the efforts to have actual outcomes?

499
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:38,160
Speaker 1: They don't always play together.

500
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,440
Speaker 2: How do I say that I asked that question against really.

501
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,320
Speaker 1: So, you have a lot of creative freedom. You can

502
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:46,360
Speaker 1: you have a studio, you can do all the projects

503
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,359
Speaker 1: you want to do. You got a camera, the microphones,

504
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,080
Speaker 1: all the things, and you got the ideas to go

505
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,520
Speaker 1: produce these things. But you need specific outcomes to make

506
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,960
Speaker 1: them make sense. So how do you balance those two things?

507
00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,280
Speaker 1: Like yo Jojo just wants to do this, but how

508
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,520
Speaker 1: do we know, well, how do we ensure that the outcomes,

509
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,400
Speaker 1: the revenue, the numbers, the watchers, listeners are their best

510
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:08,960
Speaker 1: suited to target that thing.

511
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,200
Speaker 3: It's hard, you know, obviously stats play into it, and

512
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,359
Speaker 3: you know, looking at the algorithm and all that stuff.

513
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:16,280
Speaker 3: You can say all of that, but I think that

514
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 3: you know, I've been blessed to be able to get

515
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,400
Speaker 3: on camera and just be authentic and it really gravitate

516
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,159
Speaker 3: towards the people we've you know, we've.

517
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,560
Speaker 2: Had a few viral clips and we've done really well.

518
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,800
Speaker 3: You know, when it comes to cloud of the views

519
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,440
Speaker 3: and downloads, So I just say, like I wouldn't never

520
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,600
Speaker 3: say like I couldn't do something I didn't envision. I

521
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,720
Speaker 3: just say that, really, it's just been. It's just it's been.

522
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,960
Speaker 3: It's just been easy for me. It's it hasn't felt

523
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,280
Speaker 3: like I've done anything that I haven't wanted to do.

524
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,280
Speaker 3: When it comes to the podcasts or talking to people,

525
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,679
Speaker 3: it just feels like easy. And you know, obviously we

526
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,479
Speaker 3: need to have an outcome. You're pouring money into it,

527
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,040
Speaker 3: so we need to get money out of it. But

528
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,159
Speaker 3: that comes with consistency and building. And what I do

529
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,879
Speaker 3: know is are we better than yesterday? That's my main question,

530
00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 3: you know, are we Are we growing from yesterday or

531
00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:03,879
Speaker 3: are we Are we regressing? Are we progressing or are

532
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,400
Speaker 3: we regressing? And from what I see is we're constantly progressing.

533
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 3: The followers are going up, the community is growing, the

534
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,840
Speaker 3: you know, the conversation is getting longer, and the conversation

535
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,960
Speaker 3: is starting of how important for a good podcasts is.

536
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:18,919
Speaker 2: For the world.

537
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,240
Speaker 3: So you know, yeah, that's how I see the outcome

538
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,119
Speaker 3: right now is that it's impacting people.

539
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,600
Speaker 2: And when you impact people, the revenue comes. The revenue

540
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,119
Speaker 2: always comes when you impact people.

541
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,560
Speaker 1: You know, you brought up the words stats, and I

542
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 1: think about there are there's feedback that you get when

543
00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 1: you produce content and strategies stories for other people. You

544
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,640
Speaker 1: get an audience feedback, you get an audience reaction, and

545
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,960
Speaker 1: there's also like, you know, just creatively, creatively you want

546
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,840
Speaker 1: to do a certain thing, how has the feedback you

547
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:55,080
Speaker 1: received shaped or changed or altered or you know, massaged

548
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,600
Speaker 1: the ideas that you wanted to put into the world.

549
00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:00,439
Speaker 3: I used to be super protective over my creative ideas,

550
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,359
Speaker 3: especially when people used to give feedback. I used to

551
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 3: not want to really hear it because like, you have

552
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,840
Speaker 3: this idea and you know it's gonna work. But I've

553
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 3: become way more open to feedback, I believe, even on YouTube,

554
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,359
Speaker 3: Like after one of my biggest first episodes with my

555
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 3: sister Vanessa, I had a lot of feedback about me

556
00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:16,800
Speaker 3: talking over her and kind of host I was. And

557
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,440
Speaker 3: instead of like being heard about it but like everybody's wrong,

558
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:21,320
Speaker 3: I came and said, Okay, I'm gonna look at your

559
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,119
Speaker 3: feedback and I'm gonna implement some of the things that

560
00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 3: I do think you guys are right about. You know,

561
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,400
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna automatically be offended.

562
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,600
Speaker 2: I want to be taught how to be better every day.

563
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 2: So always open and.

564
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 3: Hearing feedback nowadays, you know, even if it's not feedback,

565
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:35,960
Speaker 3: I want to hear.

566
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:37,720
Speaker 2: I got to, you know, hear that.

567
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,160
Speaker 3: Feedback and really, let really think, is that real feedback?

568
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 3: Is that right feedback? Can I implement that feedback? So

569
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,639
Speaker 3: like feedback isn't bad for me? I love feedback. I

570
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:48,680
Speaker 3: look for feedback every chance I get.

571
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,920
Speaker 1: You know, you know, you talked a little bit about

572
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 1: mental health and your upbringing and how being in the

573
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 1: public eye, you know, kind of affected you and most

574
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,199
Speaker 1: of us will never have that sort of experience. But

575
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 1: I wonder how your thoughts and efforts to opening up

576
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: this discussion from mental health for people who've been in

577
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:14,399
Speaker 1: the industry music, TV or whatever. What gaps exist still

578
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 1: for them?

579
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:17,960
Speaker 3: Oh man, You know a lot of people, you know

580
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,080
Speaker 3: don't know who to speak to. A lot you know,

581
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 3: the truth of the matter is people are having problems

582
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,679
Speaker 3: finding mental health therapists that relate to them. You know,

583
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:28,879
Speaker 3: there's harder to you know, especially in the black and

584
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,560
Speaker 3: brown communities and the artists. You know, you don't you know,

585
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,800
Speaker 3: not everybody is going to understand what the artist is

586
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:35,920
Speaker 3: going through, or even even a black and brown artist

587
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 3: at that right. There's a lot of different therapists, but

588
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,200
Speaker 3: a lot of them are finding it hard to find

589
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,119
Speaker 3: black therapists and they are out there, but a lot

590
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,240
Speaker 3: of them are you know, finding that a hard thing.

591
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:45,919
Speaker 3: So that's one of the loops. And another thing is

592
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,840
Speaker 3: like them not paying attention to their mental health. They're

593
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 3: not them not being aware. I think once everybody becomes

594
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,200
Speaker 3: more aware, they take it a little bit more serious.

595
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,080
Speaker 3: But people are just living and just going and just

596
00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 3: you know, going on with their life, you know what

597
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 3: I mean, and not really taking the time to say, hey,

598
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,399
Speaker 3: am I okay, because you know, I love that.

599
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:04,040
Speaker 2: I had a.

600
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,040
Speaker 3: Recent conversation and somebody said, you know, you go through

601
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,120
Speaker 3: these mini traumas all day and sometimes you never sit

602
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 3: with it and say, you know, I am.

603
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 2: Bothered by that or you know, this did bother me?

604
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,800
Speaker 3: And you know, I think that's that's the main thing,

605
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,080
Speaker 3: is like, it's you know, people not being aware of

606
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 3: their mental health and also you know, people just not

607
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:22,760
Speaker 3: finding the right help for the mental health.

608
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 2: You know.

609
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,520
Speaker 1: Other than the conversations which you said, you love to

610
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,359
Speaker 1: have these conversations on your show and otherwise just talking

611
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,160
Speaker 1: to people, like how do you sustain your own mental health?

612
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:36,240
Speaker 3: Like myself, I give myself the space to breathe and

613
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:37,879
Speaker 3: I run in my family.

614
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:38,719
Speaker 2: I love my family.

615
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 3: I got kids and a wife, so like spending time

616
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,440
Speaker 3: with them or just getting my time to take to myself.

617
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,200
Speaker 3: So I always say, if I if I have an

618
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,760
Speaker 3: empty glass, I can't fill nobody else's glass. So I

619
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 3: need to fill my glass of positivity first so I

620
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,399
Speaker 3: can give everybody else the glasses of positivity. So I

621
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,480
Speaker 3: really just take the time to myself. I'm very big on,

622
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,040
Speaker 3: you know, my barriers. I'm very big on my space,

623
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,160
Speaker 3: and I'm very big on just you know, making sure

624
00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 3: that I take care of me so I can take

625
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:08,520
Speaker 3: care of abody else.

626
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:15,920
Speaker 1: What advice do you offer creatives, entrepreneurs and others who

627
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 1: are trying to diversify revenue, because especially like in the beginning,

628
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:23,000
Speaker 1: when you are building content studio, whether you're a creative

629
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 1: yourself and you are a videographer, or you're building a

630
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 1: studio or you're trying to just put together a collective,

631
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,680
Speaker 1: the revenue isn't always there in the beginning, and you're

632
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,520
Speaker 1: trying to, you know, put things into the world that

633
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:35,960
Speaker 1: show you you can do this and that people can

634
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,680
Speaker 1: trust you with it. So talk about, you know, diversifying,

635
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 1: how to find the money, How do you find the money?

636
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,119
Speaker 3: Show up in spaces and show up and show you

637
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 3: your value and your strengths.

638
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:49,119
Speaker 2: And all spaces.

639
00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:50,880
Speaker 3: A lot of you know, it's crazy, I could tell

640
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:52,679
Speaker 3: the story, you know, and three is four first started,

641
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,159
Speaker 3: we were only showing up in the cannabis spaces and

642
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 3: doing content in the cannabis spaces. And although that was

643
00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,919
Speaker 3: great and we were telling great stories, is that's what

644
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 3: we wanted to do, A lot of the revenue wasn't there.

645
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,600
Speaker 3: A lot of these cannabis brands didn't have money for content.

646
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 3: They had more money for like location and license and

647
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:10,200
Speaker 3: all that other stuff, and like it wasn't like we're

648
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,240
Speaker 3: ready to spend a nice bag on a good content

649
00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,800
Speaker 3: piece of storytelling. So we had to diversify, like you said,

650
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:18,600
Speaker 3: and go on to other spaces and say, Okay, we're

651
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 3: not just good at storytelling in cannabis, We're good at

652
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:25,560
Speaker 3: content storytelling and content strategy for anybody. We're creatives, right,

653
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 3: We're not just creative in cannabis, we're creative anywhere. So

654
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 3: I tell people that, you know, never put yourself in

655
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:32,720
Speaker 3: a box. You know you can you can do more

656
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 3: than just one thing. You can do more than you envision,

657
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 3: Especially if you find your strengths and you lean into

658
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,640
Speaker 3: your strengths. Your strengths can lead you to so many

659
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:41,600
Speaker 3: different places, not just the place that you thought you

660
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:41,919
Speaker 3: could go.

661
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,199
Speaker 1: You know, being a husband and a father, how do

662
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,159
Speaker 1: you integrate you know, that work that you do in

663
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 1: whether it be advocacy or you know, creative work, how

664
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,880
Speaker 1: do you integrate that in your whole life?

665
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 2: Man?

666
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,040
Speaker 3: I just think, you know, you know, being a husband

667
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 3: and a father is just super inspiring. And I think that,

668
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,760
Speaker 3: you know, it's just like the gym for me. It

669
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,840
Speaker 3: sets discipline, it sets routine, it sets you know, it

670
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 3: sets you know. I feel like the most successful people

671
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,560
Speaker 3: that you know, they got a family and they're just

672
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:15,960
Speaker 3: super focused and they're just focused on the task at hand.

673
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,400
Speaker 2: And I think that that's how I integrated.

674
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,199
Speaker 3: Is just having a solid foundation at home so I

675
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 3: can go and be the best meet and I don't

676
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,359
Speaker 3: have to be distracted by any of the other things.

677
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:26,040
Speaker 3: I know that I got a great wife at home.

678
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,639
Speaker 3: I know, I got beautiful, smart kids at home, and

679
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:30,600
Speaker 3: that just helps me keep on going every day.

680
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:31,520
Speaker 2: That just helps me know.

681
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 3: That that part of my life is good, right, that

682
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,440
Speaker 3: part of my life is set, and now I can

683
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 3: go be creative and do it and be the best

684
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:38,320
Speaker 3: I can be.

685
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:39,760
Speaker 2: I don't have to worry about all that other things,

686
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 2: all other stuff.

687
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:41,000
Speaker 3: Yeah.

688
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: I mean when people we hear stories of people who

689
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,400
Speaker 1: have grown up like you, they grow up with means,

690
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,560
Speaker 1: they grow up in the public eye, and there's often

691
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: which I'm sure you've heard, there's there's stories about how

692
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 1: maybe they don't know how to hustle. Maybe there's you know,

693
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 1: spoiled by it. You know, there's quotes that you know,

694
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,040
Speaker 1: one generation earns it, one generation and you know, takes

695
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 1: advantage of it, uses it up. The third generation loses

696
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:04,960
Speaker 1: it all, you know, right.

697
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,840
Speaker 2: And so one generation earns it, one generation burns it.

698
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right, that's right.

699
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:13,960
Speaker 1: And so I how both how did your upbringing ensure

700
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 1: that that doesn't happen? And what are you teaching your

701
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: children so that they understand what it means to work hard.

702
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 3: I think my dad did a great job of making

703
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,360
Speaker 3: sure we had everything we needed, but making sure that

704
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 3: we weren't entitled.

705
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 2: To believe that what he worked hard for that we

706
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 2: would take or or or he would just constantly give.

707
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:33,840
Speaker 3: It was more of the fact that, Okay, now that

708
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,760
Speaker 3: you're on your own, I've given you the lessons, and

709
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 3: I've given you everything you need to get I need

710
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 3: to give you. I think he gave us all the

711
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,239
Speaker 3: greatest opportunity, you know, as much as it you know

712
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:44,480
Speaker 3: might not you know, there might have been some downfalls

713
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,200
Speaker 3: for it. But the greatest opportunity was putting us all

714
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 3: on TV and giving us all our own career, right

715
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:50,959
Speaker 3: you know, you know, that's the best thing you can

716
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,520
Speaker 3: do for somebody to try to figure out how to

717
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 3: make some money out here. And I think that that

718
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 3: was one of the greatest things he did. But not

719
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 3: just that, it was the morals that he instilled in

720
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 3: us that like you got to hustle, like I hustle.

721
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:02,240
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not going to just.

722
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 3: Give you what I've worked for, you know, but what

723
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,600
Speaker 3: I've worked for you should be able to build on that.

724
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 3: So I think that he was very good in teaching

725
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:11,720
Speaker 3: us that. And that's the same thing I teach my

726
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,960
Speaker 3: little ones. Although only nine and four, I'm able to

727
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 3: speak to my nine year old now and just tell

728
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,360
Speaker 3: her how important the legacy is. And you know, no

729
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,880
Speaker 3: matter how much Dad has or how much Dad's gonna

730
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:23,320
Speaker 3: do for you, I always want you to go out

731
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,080
Speaker 3: and work hard and go get it on your own

732
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:26,960
Speaker 3: and make me proud on your own no matter what

733
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:28,480
Speaker 3: you do, you know what I mean. I don't never

734
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,800
Speaker 3: want her to also feel entitled. I never want her

735
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 3: to feel like I don't support her. But I also

736
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 3: don't want her to feel like she doesn't need to

737
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:36,960
Speaker 3: work for you know, what she needs to do, and.

738
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 2: That plays you know, even in school now, like hey.

739
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 3: Work hard, get good grades, you get rewarded for it.

740
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 3: Those are the type of things that in life. You

741
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,040
Speaker 3: know you work hard, you get a promotion at work,

742
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,120
Speaker 3: or you work hard, you know you're able to blow

743
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:48,800
Speaker 3: your brand up.

744
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 2: You know you blow your company up.

745
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 3: That's the same thing that I kind of instill her

746
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,200
Speaker 3: in school, in sports and whatever she does in life.

747
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 3: It's like we don't give up. We see things through,

748
00:30:57,640 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, And nobody owes you anything.

749
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 3: You got to go get it.

750
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,240
Speaker 1: How did you learn to lead. I mean, it's one

751
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:05,920
Speaker 1: thing from being self determined and going to get it,

752
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:07,960
Speaker 1: waking yourself up and going to hustle. It's a different

753
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:09,520
Speaker 1: thing when you are leading other people.

754
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:12,440
Speaker 2: It's funny because I thought about this the other day.

755
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,360
Speaker 3: Somebody you know, talk to me about and I said,

756
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 3: I just think I've always been a natural born leader.

757
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 3: People have always, you know, gravitated towards following me, whether

758
00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,240
Speaker 3: it was a bad decision or a good decision. I

759
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,400
Speaker 3: think a lot of my friends always knew that I,

760
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 3: you know, always thought I had it all together or

761
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 3: always believed that, like, hey.

762
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 2: This is the guy that's gonna lead us to the water.

763
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 3: Not just because I'm run sun or I'm a celebrity,

764
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 3: but because I've always had the plan. I've always had

765
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 3: the vision, and I've always known how to use people

766
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 3: in their strengths around me to make people feel empowered,

767
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 3: to make people feel part of the team. And that's

768
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:42,680
Speaker 3: a special thing to do, and it's and a lot

769
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:44,560
Speaker 3: of people don't understand that. Like, you can be a

770
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 3: person with a team, but to be a leader is

771
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 3: to understand everybody that you have around you. They do

772
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 3: what they do best to make it all work for

773
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:53,600
Speaker 3: all of you guys so you can all get money. Like, listen,

774
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 3: I'm getting money and I have companies with the guys

775
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:57,840
Speaker 3: that I went to high school with. You can't tell

776
00:31:57,840 --> 00:31:59,960
Speaker 3: me that, like that's not, you know, the coolest thing

777
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:01,800
Speaker 3: in the world, because we were all able to find

778
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 3: our strengths and understand what we're doing.

779
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,320
Speaker 2: But I think that, like, you know.

780
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:09,400
Speaker 3: Most of my life, you know, people just gravitated towards

781
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:12,160
Speaker 3: you know, following my lead, and I've taken pride in

782
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:14,320
Speaker 3: like leading my guys to the to the water so

783
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 3: we can all drink.

784
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,080
Speaker 1: You know, looking back at the work that you've done,

785
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,120
Speaker 1: what legacy are you building?

786
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,320
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm building a legacy of impact. I say this

787
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 3: in every interview. It's impact.

788
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:26,640
Speaker 2: You know. It's not about how much money I'd have made.

789
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:27,800
Speaker 2: It's not about you.

790
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 3: Know what you know, what I've do, you know what

791
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 3: I've done when it comes to all the other stuff,

792
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,560
Speaker 3: It's about what I've done to add to the legacy

793
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:36,920
Speaker 3: that I'm already came from, but in my own way,

794
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 3: in my own space, right, So, like it's the impact

795
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:40,400
Speaker 3: that I create.

796
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:42,440
Speaker 2: When I'm long going, I want people to say, man.

797
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 3: He really showed up for people he really represents, represented

798
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,239
Speaker 3: the people he wanted to represent, and he really did

799
00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:49,920
Speaker 3: as all that he can do. Because I know a

800
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:52,200
Speaker 3: lot of people look at myself, my siblings and people

801
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:54,200
Speaker 3: like me that may you know, came with means and

802
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:55,880
Speaker 3: opportunities and say, well, they don't care.

803
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 2: About other people. They're good. But I don't want nobody

804
00:32:58,000 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 2: to ever think that about me.

805
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 3: I want people to know that I late and I understand,

806
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:03,680
Speaker 3: and in any chance or way that I can help

807
00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,240
Speaker 3: the community, I'm always going to show up. Whether it's

808
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,560
Speaker 3: in the cannabis space, the mental health space, the financial space,

809
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:13,040
Speaker 3: any space where black brown underserved, or people that just

810
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:14,880
Speaker 3: don't get it don't get it, I want to be

811
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,479
Speaker 3: the one that educate and help them get it.

812
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:22,479
Speaker 1: And finally, for black creatives, young ones, particularly, but not solely,

813
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 1: the young ones, you know, it's called context. You for

814
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,440
Speaker 1: black creatives aspiring to you know, find their way in

815
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:34,959
Speaker 1: the great you know, culture, commerce, creativity and community in

816
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:38,080
Speaker 1: their work and find an opportunity to build their life

817
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: off of that. What's some of the pieces of advice

818
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:41,520
Speaker 1: you would have for them?

819
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,160
Speaker 2: Oh, how would they mess creativity?

820
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 1: You said, say that creativity community, commerce, they got to

821
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,280
Speaker 1: make money. Culture, how do they do that?

822
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 2: All of that? You just said it. You just said it.

823
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:59,240
Speaker 3: Being in the culture, being in the community, you know

824
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,400
Speaker 3: what I mean, Like showing up in the spaces and

825
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 3: seeing what's happening, you know, being outside, being amongst the people,

826
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 3: being amongst all the people.

827
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:08,720
Speaker 2: And I think that's how you stay creative.

828
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,200
Speaker 3: That's how I get my inspiration is being around my people,

829
00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:13,120
Speaker 3: going around Other times, I just like to walk around

830
00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:15,360
Speaker 3: Halem and just look at my people, you know, you know,

831
00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:17,120
Speaker 3: I just that's how I get inspired.

832
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:18,320
Speaker 2: That's how I get creative.

833
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 3: So I think that just being outside, man, I tell

834
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:24,120
Speaker 3: people the best way to make money is being outside

835
00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:26,239
Speaker 3: and knowing how to talk to people and starting conversations

836
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,279
Speaker 3: with people. You never know who you're speaking to when

837
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 3: you go outside to you know, get outside, get to

838
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,359
Speaker 3: the events with the like minded people like you, get

839
00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 3: to the spaces where people are doing things that you're doing,

840
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:39,080
Speaker 3: and just build relationships. You know, don't think about obviously

841
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,200
Speaker 3: we think about money, but think about relationships.

842
00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 2: Think about people.

843
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,239
Speaker 3: Because one thing I have learned is the greatest relationships

844
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:47,800
Speaker 3: that we've made were authentic relationships that have spun the

845
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:49,680
Speaker 3: block on us and came back and said, I got

846
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:51,759
Speaker 3: some money for you, I got an opportunity for you.

847
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 2: I got to check for you.

848
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 3: Why Because we showed up in spaces and we showed

849
00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 3: our strengths, we showed our values, but we showed out.

850
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,880
Speaker 3: We showed who we were. We didn't just show that

851
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 3: we can offer you something. We showed you that we're

852
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 3: good people. And I think that people like working with

853
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 3: good people, and that's why it works for us. Or

854
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:07,319
Speaker 3: I say that to everybody else out there. Go out

855
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,920
Speaker 3: there and be authentic, good person into the company.

856
00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,440
Speaker 1: Afro Tech Conference is back and return to Ads Town, Houston, Texas,

857
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859
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Speaker 1: at Afrotech Conference dot Com. Black Tech Green Money is

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Speaker 1: a production of Blavity afro Tech on the Black Effect

874
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,480
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875
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877
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878
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:26,759
Speaker 1: and other technivef that's an Innovator's an afrotech dot Com.

879
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,160
Speaker 1: The video version of this episode will drop to Black

880
00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:32,160
Speaker 1: Tech Green Money on YouTube, so'll tap in. Enjoy your

881
00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,160
Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money shitus to somebody, go get your money.

882
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:37,399
Speaker 1: Peace and love