Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Attorney Benjamin L. Crump, Kierra Sheard, Antoine Cason & More

Transcript

Attorney Benjamin L. Crump, Kierra Sheard, Antoine Cason & More · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Please welcome to I want to say, attorney not called
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: small entrepreneur, please welcome to show. Attorney Benjamin Crump, thank
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: you so much to stop for having me. And we
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: talked at least twice a week, if not more. We
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: talked yesterday in fact, and it's because I just want
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to talk about you know, we're gonna be on for
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: two breaks here, Attorney Cropp, and I just want to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: talk about the journey because I watched you grow and
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: you know, youre just a solid attorney in the itally
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: has their office in Florida, just doing the right things
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: and uh about trying to impact people's lives. And then
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the Trayvon Martin thing happened, and that just thrust you
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: out into the forefront of America. It was a very
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: controversial case, a case that uh that that covered a
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: lot of had a lot of media attention. How did
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: that change your life? Certainly I was trying to do
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: without believe was my life's and and fight for the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: civil rights and the due process of people from my community,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: people look like me, and for people who were Americans.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: It didn't matter whether you were black and white, Hispanic.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: You just wanted to try to use the blessings and
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the education that God gave you with this law degree
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: to try to do good, and so that's where we
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: were doing. Third good. Marsha was my personal hero, and
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I tried to pattern my career after Justice Marshall and Uh.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: In doing so, I has got quite successful at it,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and people Rashawn started calling me referring cases to me,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: especially in the matters of civil rights with the killers
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: of unarmed people of coloring. That was the call I
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: got with Traybon Benjamin Martin after February twenty six, two
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: thousand twelve, when he was killed by a neighborhood watched
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: by and here with a nine millarmeter gun as he
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: walked home with a can of tea and a bag
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: of skittles. And from there it became the number one
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: news story in the world in two thousand twelve, which
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: was quite significant with Shane because I know you are
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: used to hipp and UH get exposure for individuals and matters.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: And it was fascinating to me about tred Bond because
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: when I first started it, we couldn't get anybody to
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: cover it. And then it became yeah, nobody cared about
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: a little black boy getting killed. Uh. It was almost
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: like a cliche. But once we were able to communicate
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: to society that Trademond martin life matter and why it mattered,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: it was really astonishing. Not give a lot of credit
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: to God, uh, because people started caring about his life.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: And for the first time ever, you had the death
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: of a little black boy then cover on the every
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: major magazine in America, Time, Magazine, news Week, Uh uh uh,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Evony jet Essence, I mean, it was everywhere. And so
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: I think that was the thing that at least introduced
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: me to many Americans who did not know who Benjamin
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Crump was. You know, I'm been telling you impactful that
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: a whole scenario was involving surrounding Trayvon Martin. Because Hoodies
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: was a big impactful moment because he's wearing a hoodie
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: and the African American team wearing a hoodie is they
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: are they automatically a suspect. And at the time, Steve
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: and I we had the Neighborhood Awards now but it
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: was called the Hoodie Awards, and I actually had to
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: change the name because of the fact that people thought
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: it was a tribute show to Trayvon Martin situation and uh,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: and not just because you know, like I said, just
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: just you know, we weren't. We was in transition anyway,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: but it didn't kind of like accelerated the change of
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: from because people are always trying to figure out what hoodie?
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: What does what does that mean? And then we went
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: on and said because we're just short for neighborhood awards
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: and so. But because of the situation with Trayvon Martin
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: and the hoodies, it was so many people inundating us
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: with emails and and texts and the phone calls asking
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: was this event in Vegas? Was this a tribute to
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the UH, to the Trayvon Martin situation? So I just
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: know how big it became and still resonents to resonates
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: today and probably was the reason that Black Lives Matters
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: really was launched, behind the galvanized, behind the actions that
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: came about that. You know, I just wanted to bring
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: that out front because I don't want anybody to think
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: this is a show we're talking about civil rights concerns
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: about It's about the changes in your life that are
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: now offering you opportunities to expand your brand. And your
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: brand is very recognizable because I know I'm out in public,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: but you all the time. That's crazy, It really it
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: really crazy though, because you're just people come up to
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: you in such a humble, respectful manner, and they put
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: a tremendous burden on you, a responsibility. Correct absolutely, And
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I think this because all of us have children, and
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: we love our children, and we care about our children.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: So when they see people out there uh standing up
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: for their children, speaking up for their children, and fighting
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: for their children in the court of law and in
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: the court of public opinion, they recognize that trade bond
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: could have been their child too. And I just want
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: to digress for a second to say to you, Steve,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: but you I reshine with you, and Steve did with
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: the Neighborhood Awards and still inspirational, man, I mean that
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: whole idea, uh less recognize people in their neighborhood for
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: doing good that don't often happen. And believe you, me,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: reshine that that wasn't lost on any of us, that
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: great vision that you had. Thank you. I appreciate that
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: and my and and don't believe, uh it's dead in
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: the water, Okay, I know, because I get I get,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: I get approached by too many people. It's in my
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: life is going in a positive direction. Steve's life is
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: going in a positive direction. And I feel that one
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: has allowed each each side to grow in order to
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: come back together to do something great together again. And
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I feel really comfortable when I say that, and I
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: feel comfortab when I say this about the fact that
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: you know you're about to do something real big. It's
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: one of the reasons we have you on the show today.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: The Big Crump National Law Firm, that's entrepreneur side. We're
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: gonna talk about. Just give us a short scenario what
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: it is, and we come back from break, we're gonna
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: talk in detail about the Big Crump Law Firm and
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: why you got involved at that magnitude. Absolutely. Like I said,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Thurgood Marshall was my personal hero. And the VI is
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: coming out. I have a small cameo and I'm threw
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: up to death to being a movie about my hero.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: But Thurgot Marshall went all over America trying to use
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: his talents as as legal skills to try to the
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: most impact he could, not just for the individuals affected
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: by the injustices, but on the conscious of America. So
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: what we're doing is trying to impact the conscious of America.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And with this Being Crump Law Firm, using the brand
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: that you help established, I think I'll be able to
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: serve more people on a greater scale. And that's what
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: it's really about, trying to do as much as you
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: can for as many people as you can and make
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: a difference. And now that I have a business apparatus
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: to the Being Crump Law Firm, I think I can
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: do it even more productively. Great. When we come back,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about the different areas of practice that
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: the Being Profit Law Firm will cover. Again. Welcome to
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: money making conversations on the phone. Right now is the
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: incredible civil rights attorney, businessman, uh host personality UH A
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: guy who's changing the world. Every time I see him,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: he's doing something spectacular. And when I on this next break,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: you're gonna hear about movies. You canna hear TV shows,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: you can hear about books, all under the brand of
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Attorney Benjamin Crop. Be right back from more money making conversations.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: We're doing big things on this show, y'all because we've
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: got big time guests like Attorney Benjamin Crop. We'll be
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: right back, Hi. We're Tryan McDonald back with more money
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: making conversations on the phone. I have the incredible, the
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: talented and motivating attorney Benjajamin Crop. How are you doing, Benjamin?
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: I'm doing good. Brother Roshan McDonald, my advisor who always
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: make my prayer look good. Thank you, my friend. We
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: were talking about your the natural law firm that you're launching.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: When we say it's launching this month, yes, sir, okay,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: there will be uh here would hear so much about
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: the brand and the you know Ben Crump Law on radio, television,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: bild boys, social It's gonna let everybody know that they
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: can get access to the Bend Crump Law firm. Your
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: their facing an injustice now, and these injustice come in
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: different areas of practice. Now, you have civil rights what
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: we've already talked about, but then you have employment law, medical, malpractice,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: workface compensation and class actions and more. Can you break
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: down exactly when you say, like, uh, employment law, medical,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: what what exactly does that mean? When somebody is in trouble,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: they can call your firm. It'll be an eight hundred
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: number and the website and they can get access to
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: the lawyers who respond back to the immediately. Absolutely, they
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: can reach us at eight five eight hundred eight five
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: nine nine nine nine nine uh anytime day of night,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: twenty four hours a day. And when we talk about
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: employment law, and I could just talk about some of
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: these areas um employment law. You know in America, we
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: have a right not to have to face a hostile
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: work environment. So if you feel that you know, being
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: subjected to RATI your discrimination, UH, set, harassment, UH age,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: discriminate station UH, if you have been made to work
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: over time and not be fairly compensated all these variety
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: of things that have uh caused you a hostile work environment,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: then the big Crump law firm is ready to fight
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: for you to get justice in those matters. Because technology
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: is kind of like blurred the work our schedule because
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: you can text people, you can email people, and and
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: then sometimes employees don't know when to respond off hours
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: or should they respond off hours. And that's what you're
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: talking about when you said the blurred lines are put
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: you in the position of are you compensated for that?
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Does that is that part of your job description that
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: if you got a text or an email on the
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Saturday or Sunday, all you're supposed to respond to that
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: but that's what you're talking about, right exactly, And will
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: you be plaid time and a half if it's over
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: your four hour work period, And so all these things
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: come up, the fact that women are paying paid almost
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: fifty less than men for doing the same that job
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: as men, the fact that you don't have diversity at
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: the executive levels of companies that serve majority minority communities,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: and the fact that there has been a class feeling
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: placed on men, women and minorities. So these are the
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: things we're looking at because, as Martin Luther King said,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: economics where the founder frontier of civil rights. And that's
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: very important that we say that because of the fact
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: that you're a law firm. And I really want to
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: say that because I want to if anybody think that
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: your law firm is just about civil right cases, your
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: your law firm is engaging itself. And like I said,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: and the employment law, medical malpractice, workman conversation, class acts,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: class actions, which are very important and it's a very
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: competitive field. And the reason I wanted to bring you
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: on the phone to talk on my should to talk
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: about it is because everybody got a commercial. It's scene
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: if I got a TV show or TV show or
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: TV commercial about lawsuits. They got eight hundred numbers with
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: just light screens, just pop up. I call this number.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: If you've been affected by some type of Malcolm powered
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: or been affected by some type of some type of
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: medicine that you were supposed to take. All this is
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: just popping up. Does this by calling your number bye
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: bye bye, putting your face on it, it gives them
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: a sist of a value to the person that they're
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: calling for help. Right certainly, And that's a big part
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: of the money making conversations that I so often have
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: a few. It is about Brandon brand that they feel
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: they know, they feel they can trust in their darkest hour,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: somebody who they believe will fight for them and walk
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: abandon them in any way or uh not protect their
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: interests completely. And so that's when they see the being
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Crump law banner with getting this being crump the same
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: way I fought for so many high profile cases, whether
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: it's Traybon Martin, whether it's Michael Brown and Ferguson, whether
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: it's the thirteen black women who were raped in Oklahoma
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: by the police officer, the same way they saw me
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: be dogmatic in those cases. We're gonna be dogmatic. We
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: have a loved one who goes to the hospital and
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: for whatever reason, they are catastrophically made worse or even die.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: You know, we're there for mama, We're there for your wife,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: your husband, and those tragic circumstances. Also, I want to
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: point out which is happening more and more with the
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: advent of all these goods uh rashine nightclub shootings, apartment shootings,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: whether you have negligent security where you felt you actually
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: paid extra money for your apartment complex to have security,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: and then for whatever reasons, the security was not adequate
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: and you were injured. We're looking at all these type
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: of things because he is not just a civil rights matter,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: but it's also about protection of the law and making
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: sure that you have a right to have your civil
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: roles redressed. You know what I like about the fact
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: that your brand of being crump the brand the the
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: because because I see, like I tell you, I see
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: people walk up to you on a regular basis. We
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: can be at the McDonald I've been with him at McDonald's.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: I've been at the airport. We've been sitting up standing
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: up where on the car rental, We've been sitting at
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: a hotel lobby and they all come up with the
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: same glowing a feeling of of trust, the glowing feeling
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: that we're so thankful that you have our voice, that
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: you are trying to give us a back. And that's
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: what I want people to understand that this is what
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: he's building with the Being Crump Law Firm, is an
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: opportunity for you not to be afraid. Don't be afraid
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: that nobody's gonna listen to you, don't be afraid that
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: you can't have your voice heard. That's what the Being
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Crump Law Firm is all about. And that's what that
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: that's I think that's really key because so many people
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: who are are deserved, they have no voice, are fearful
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: to come out and speak, and so they remained a
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: victim abound by their deserve. Its correct absolutely when you
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: sit it right on the nail when you say, oftentimes
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: people don't do anything because they feel nobody is gonna
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: stand with them, nobody's gonna fight for them. And especially
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: talking about brands, what you did incredibly is helped launch
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: my brand into the television space with evidence of innocence
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and the fact that those individuals were wrongfully incarcerated. Uh
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: was completely innocent and they felt nobody would stand with them.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: So we're highlighting all these injustices because neutrality in the
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: face of injustice is injustice. So when a bad thing
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: happens to you, don't be afraid. I don't care what Shane.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: If there's something that's as a worker's conversation claimed where
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: you slipped and fell and you hurt your hilp for
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: you had to have surgery on your back as a
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: result of it, and you now feel fear for a
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: retribution for you going to get the proper help that
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: you need from your employers. That's what being crump laws
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: therefore can help bite those battles with you so you're
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: not alone. Wow, that's what I'm talking about. Okay, let's
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: let's switch gears here a little bit. Coming out this Friday.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Coming out this Friday, there's a movie called Marshall starting
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Chadsman Bozeman. That's the man. If you if you watch
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: UH that Captain American movie, he played the back Black
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Panther and if you watch the movie for the two
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: he started Jackie Robinson. So you'll be making a cameo.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Parents to my understanding, my friend in this movie that's
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: coming out this Friday called Marshall. Correct. Absolutely, it's an
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: incredible movie, Shin. And I'm not just saying that because
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: I met it, and I'm not just saying that because
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: it's about my personal hero. They're a good Marsha and
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: introducing him to a new generation of Americans, but also
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: reigniting the next generation of lawyers who care about people,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: social justice engineers. And in this movie, uh Tadwick Bosman,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: there's an incredible job as Burgood Marshall. Your good friend
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: regend a husband is the director. He is a master
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: for job. It's already getting a lot of buzz about
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Academy of Consideration, and everybody in America who's listening to
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the Rashan McDonald manny making conversation should go out on
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: this weekend and see this movie is take the whole family.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: I think it's a really good movie that makes third
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: good Marsha very not only relevant but relatable. You get
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: to see this person who's gonna really main a lot
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: of young people that Dirdan Marshall was a man. I know,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: he became this iconic figure becoming the first black Supreme
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Court justice in Oregon landmark cases like Brown versus Board
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: of Education. But at his core, he was a lot
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: like you and I Rishan, just a brother who was
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: trying to do good and really trying to use the
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: talents and the blessings that God gave him to make
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: the biggest impact possible. And so when you go see
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: this movie, it's an all star cast. It got Kate Hudson,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: It got Josh Gad who played Olof and Frozen and
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: was also in the Kevin Hart moveing Wedding Wedding Ringers,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: who does a really incredible job. He got Sterling, Kate Brown,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: who just won his second Email Award, this one for
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: disus us before he wanted for his portrayal of Christopher
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Darden and people versus O J. I mean, it's a
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: stellar cast. They got Attorney Benjamin Crow and the sprinter
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: jokes here when we come on the screen, myself and
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: I trade my Martin parents are also any the crowd
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: jest erupts an applause and so red and low and that.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: But we everybody started there's some kind of way every
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: time y'all come on the screen, everybody start clapping. We've
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: been on the screen the whole time. Nobody capping. But
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: that's awesome. Now, I know we're running out of time,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: but I gotta bring up this next big project that's
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: coming up. It's called Whose Shot Tupac? You're the host of.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: It is on a E is a six part series
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: and that's coming out in November. Correct, yep, November twenty one,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: and for six weeks every Tuesday night, it's uh ribbon
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: in uh as said, it's a ribbon in documentary look
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: into not only what happened and who killed Tupac, but
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: also it talks about do process, and it's a real
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: education and and we have some explosive bombs, share information
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: that has never been seen before. We really feel we're
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: giving two proctial court the investigation to due process that
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: eluded him twenty years ago. So that's the twenty one,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: that's the Tuesday. So we have you back on the
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: show on the twenty at that Monday to talk about it.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Just really give that big final push to make sure
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: everybody know that this is something that's that's important and
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: it may become an ongoing documentary type style series for
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: you on any correct. Absolutely, Uh, That's why we gotta
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: have everybody watching everybody chime in because people are telling
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: our stories more and they want people, like Rashaan said,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: who they think are relatable, people who they trust telling
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: those stories. And that's where the brand is all about,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: right rest, Absolutely, and that's why I think it's that's
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: why I know it's important that when I bring you
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: on the show, I just wanted everybody to know. And
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: it's just so that you know, and in the world
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: we live in today, you know, diversity and and and
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: and taking advantage of the of the lanes of opportunity
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: and still maintaining your dignity in your craft. That's what
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: I love about you. You know, the evidence of innocence
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: that was right in your lane. You know, making an
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: appearance in the third Good Marshall movie, that's right in
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: your lane. Trying to pursue the truth in the Tupac murder,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: that's right in your lane. And then in January, I
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: mean in February, you're gonna have your first book coming out.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: But we're gonna talk about there on the next show
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: because I don't want I want everybody understand that this
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: mob that you're launching the Big Crump Law Firm, uh
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: call this young man I believe in him. I trust him.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: We talked two or three times a week, just talk
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: about life. He was involved in the hurricane out there
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: delivering supplies with the with the with the police officers
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: down there because it's from Tallahassee. So he was impacted
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: in Florida personally by that past hurricane. So he never
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: does not He always has time to help, either in
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: the courtroom or in the community. Big Crump, give it
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: that number one more time if you leave my friend
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: eight hundred eight five nine nine, or they can go
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: to w W W ben Krupp dot com because I'm
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the stand from Rashaw McDonald dot com that you want
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: people to be able to get to you easy. Now
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: you go, man, you're gonna talk to soon. I'll talk
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: tonight or tomorrow. I love you, man, Love when and uh,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: let's say we're gonna talk a lot. But November tween
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: the tell christ the schedule November tweeny to come back
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: on to talk about the launch of Who's Your Tupac
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: on any posted by my good friend Attorney Benjamin from
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: We'll be back with more money making conversation. We got
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: a dancer, former Dallas cowboy cheerleader now fashion designer. High
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: here shoes turned into clocks. Be right back more money
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: making conversation. Thank you, hell, welcome back to money make Conversation.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: I'm your host with Sean McDonald. Let's keep everything rolling
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: right alone smoothly started with my man attorney, Benjamin Crump.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: My next guest as a farmer Dallas cowboy cheerleader. She's
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: the top Las Vegas show girl at the Luxur Hotel
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and Casino and it's performed for US arm Forces in
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: war zones thirteen times. She knows how to give it back.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: I'm on the show to talk about her being a
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: small entrepreneur making the difference using her creativity. Please welcome
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: from Las Vegas, my good friend Amber Strauss. Everyone, how
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: you doing a good ears? No? No, and my prayers
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: and concerns go out. You know, I thought about you
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: when all that went down, and I knew you were safe.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: But again, I'm sure the city is not a happy
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: see at this point. But uh, but again my prayers
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: go out for everybody. You stay safe. Okay, Yes, it's
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: been a melancholy there's been quite a bit of roller
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: coaster this past week. Well, I've been doing you a
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: lot of years. And but the thing I've always liked
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: about you is that you know you you you. You
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: keep a good balance in your life, you know, because
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: you're in entertainment and things don't always go your way
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: in entertainment, you know very correct. You walk into a
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: room and you can you see a hundred women in
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: their auditions for the same role, and all of them
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: look different, so you don't really know sometimes or looking
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: for a red head, looking for a blonde. Sometimes you
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: don't know. So you're shooting and the dog and just
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: relying on God and opportunity to see you through. And
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: now I know you've been traveling all over this world,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: you know, dancing, and you was headlining the luxe or
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: hotel many times while I was down there doing the
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Neighborhood awards. I drop in this see your show. And then, um,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: most important, you came up with this new idea. Yeah,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: I wanted it back in July a year ago. It
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: kind of um came out of I saw some funny
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: doing this minimum living and it was start did in
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: December and like December one, you get rid of one item,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: December two, two items, and he started just making room
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: for greatness. To enter your life. So I ended up
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: getting rid of like four items. And I was laying
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: in bed one day and listening to an annoying clock
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: on my wall, and I was like, oh my gosh,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: I should recycle. Because I was getting away a lot
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: of shoes. I was like, I should recycle these shoes.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: And so then it just kind of burther it into
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: heel time. And so I can turn a worn and
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: unworn sneakers and heels and I'm working on Oxford specifically
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: for guys um to turn them into clocks. Now, okay,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: now when you say this, now let's go go to
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the beginning. But thank you crazy right when you when
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: you when you think of these ideas normal? Right? So
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: how did you break through the crazy part? And let's
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: go let's go back. Okay, you're you're an attractive woman
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: very intelligently on a pretty man student when he was
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: in college, and you chowed an entertainment. And so when
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: when a woman who has been an entertainment talk about
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: with business ideas, all you met with any skepticism? Well yeah,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: you know, I just for years and years and years,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: you know, we we work on we make other people money.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: And I was like you know what, I want to
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: be in charge and have liberty of my own life
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: and do what I want to do when I want
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: to do it. And so the best way to do
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: that is to be your own boss. And I know
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: that I've been feeling this way for quite some time
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: and being like producing a show didn't really interest me.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: It's just like I think being a dancer in so
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: many shows that I was like, that's a lot of
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: work and I felt like I had done that a
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: lot that it just didn't inspire me. And I wanted
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: something that, I guess what's kind of outside of the box.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: And hell Time, because I made so much room for greatness,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: hell Time just kind of made its way into my life.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: And the creative process is what I love and it
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: you know, figuring out how to to put a clock
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: post from from like a clock kit in through a
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: sole of a shoe. Um, I had to figure all
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: that out, and that was the part that I love.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: It's the business part and the marketing all that stuff.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: That's where the headache comes in. And that's what we're
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: doing to day. We're marketing because when I when we
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: talked that said you need to come on my show,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: so we can start marketing. And it's gonna be the
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: last time on my show because you're heading into Christmas season.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Because I know when you're marketing and you're branding, you're
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: promoting something. I always remind people McDonald's runs commercials every day,
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: Chick fil A runs commercials every day. You have to
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: stay in front of your customers eyes in order to
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: become an item that they want to purchase. And so
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: being on my show today, it's just an extension of
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: opportunity to tell people about you. But it's also your story.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Is why I wanted you on the show, about a
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: person who didn't limit her dreams. Based on the fact
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: that you know your your fitness guru. You know you
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: have you have a foundation. Tell us about your foundation.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: So I created created a dance scholarship to give back
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: to young aspiring dancers. I grew up a single parent,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: and um, so you know my mother would work your
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: jobs who that I could go and dance and I
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: would win these scholarships to l A and New York
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: and we would we would be tied on finances. So
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: I um asked I in Dallas because I'm from Dallas, Texas. Uh,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: there's the dance Counsel and they have awards scholarships, so
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: I would apply to those every summer. Since then I
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: could go to l A and New York to train.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: And that was something that was important to me to
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: give back. And um, before I turned thirty, I created
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: this list of thirty things to do before I was thirty,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: something that bettered me, something that bettered our environment, and
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: something that better better to other people. It would be
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: anything from you know, to stop tanning and tanning beds,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: to plan a tree in my name, to create in
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: this scholarship and um, and that's how it kind of
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: came to life. And and some of my military friends
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: that I met along the way and pay people were
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: really supportive of it. I thought it was so cool.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: So I get to award uh young dancers, uh you know,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: financial aid to help them pursue their dreams. And so
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: with heal time, I'm able some of the proceeds go
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: to the Amber Shouser Scholarship. I love the way you
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: just we've that only because you learned how to market
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: and brain. You know, if you know is a percentage
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: of it is going to help other people. It's a
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: charitable clause in your heel time correct, So how does
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: one get how does one get a clock? Come on
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: that we only which out of sales of clocks too?
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: How does one get one of these special clocks? So
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: I have a website. It's heel time dot com. That's
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: h E E L T I M dot com and
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: you can go online under clock gallery. Uh. One cool
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: aspect Anxiety named every clock after a friend of mine.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: So so every clock is named and inspired by a friend.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: You know, whether this friend gave me their shoes some
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: of my showgirl friends gave me their shoes, or I
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: picked up the shoe at goodwill, or I ordered it
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: and the sho's never been worn and call all kinds
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: of the concepts are inspired by my friends. But you
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: can also customize um, your shoe if you have, like
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: say you have your wedding heels, um, you know just
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: they just sit in a box. Um. And so here's
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: a chance I can turn your wedding heel into a
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: beautiful clock that you can put on your wall. So
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: I say that the game because I think that's really
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: really awesome, and that should be heard clearly. You can
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: take anybody's shoe, even my size twa of gators yea,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: and turn it into a shoe. You can take a
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: can you take a basketball shoot too? I've turned sneakers, yes,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: sneak into that. So but you sell them, but you
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: also will customize them. So when they go to so,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: when they go to that website hell time dot com,
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: does that have it on there that they can they
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: can submit a requests or contact you and make uh
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: for for customs. Yes, I actually have a custom tab
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: under clock gallery and it will tell you and explain
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: to you. Because here's the thing is, for some like Hells,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: their platforms and clock posts aren't long enough to go
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: through that platform. So some for so platforms I can't do.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: But it'll it'll show you how to take pictures. So
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: then I can then tell you yes, I can turn
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: that into a clock or no I can't. I love that.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: So basically you'll be able to let people know up
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: front you don't just be mailing me in your shoe
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: and then you people ugly shoe come in your bam
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: and and just so. And also it's good to see
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: pictures and you you're just not gonna do any shoes.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: So if the shoe look too ugly, you're just not
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: gonna do it right. Well, you know ugly shoes like
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: good Will and I've you know, added glitter and crystal girls.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Come on, come on, tell them again. You can turn
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: an ugly shoe into a pretty warm clock. That's what
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: you're saying, right exactly, I can do that. Yes. Now,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: here's the thing because a lot of people will say, hey,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: once it's you know, hanging on my wall and it's
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: turn into a clock, can I wear it again? Here's
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: the problem is there's gonna be a hole in your
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: sole of your shoes. So so no, or if you
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: have your basketball shoe, I put the clock on the
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: top top of the toe, so um, you know you
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: can always take out the clock that you're going to
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: have a hole in your shoe. Right. So this is
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: something that's this is one time permanent and it should
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: be something that you want as a as an item.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: We got, like I said, we've got Christmas coming up,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: we've got birthdays coming up. These make great items, one
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: of a kind type items. Because we can say that
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: because your shoe, Yes, if it's customized on your shoe
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: that you warn for your wedding, that's one of a kind.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: That makes an amazing gift opportunity. And these are working
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: clocks correct, Yes, these are working clocks. Yes, and I
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: always test them at least twice before I mail them out,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: make sure they're all They're all um work and working
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: for sure. So Amber, again, you come on show right now.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: This is October. You know we got Christmas coming up,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: so if you have time, I want to bring back
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: on the show in November so we can get these
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: orders in. But again, it's all part of the branding process.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: Tell them one more time how they can contact you
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: to get orders in order what you already have on
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: your gallery. Yes, www dot hell time dot com. That's
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: h E E L T I M E dot com.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you, it's a great talking to you. It's a
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: fantastic And I want to also next time we're talking
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: about we're gonna talk about the the you know, the
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: getting in shape. That's what you really big Well would
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: love you, Yes, teach in cycling classes a week and
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: I'm sew energy just went to another level. Fantastic is always.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you for taking the time and calling me from
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: Los Vegas. We're talking soon. Go to heal time dot com.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: Check it out. Amber Strasser, the originator the entrepreneur Straight Dallas,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: former Dallas cowboy Chilly to turn entrepreneur. That's how we
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: do it on this show, trying to tell you the
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: secret to success really is all about you and your
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: dream or you want to take it to the next level.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: It's all about you and your dream and the effort
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: you're trying to put behind it. We'll be back with
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: more Money Making Conversations hosted by me Rashaan McDonald. Hi,
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I'm Rushan McDonald. Welcome back to Money Making Conversation. If
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: you want to call in today, the number is A
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: three two two three zero five five nine two. The
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: phone number is eight three two to three zero five
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: five nine two. As everybody know, I broadcast live from Houston, Texas.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: You can also see this show on my Facebook page
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: money Making Conversations, and you can hear it on my
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: I Heart Radio podcast. Go to Business Finance section and
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: you will see Money Making Conversation. If you want to
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: hear all my past broadcasts, all the broadcasts that you're
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: here right now can be found on I Heart Radio
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: podcast on the Business Finance section. I'm Sean McDonald. You
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: guys ready for my next guest because I'm ready to
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: bring on. She's from Atlanta, Georgia. My next is a
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: farmer senior Senior executive and finance for the Intercontinental Hotels
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Group in Now she has turned entrepreneur in her encore career,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: starting they vendor laundromat business in an underserved Northwest neighborhood
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Georgia, which she envisions envisions being the local
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: community center. Please work in the money. May conversation Marlena Norris,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: Hi Dot, I'm doing well good good? Are you start
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: like you're in the box? You know what speaking phone
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: or or what? Or you're on the regular phone? Can
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: you pick up because you start like in the boxes?
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: All right? Awesome, awesome, thank you very much. I apologize
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: when I tell you that earlier. First of all, thank
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: you for getting on the call today. Um being your you,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: I want to say a corporate exact turned business on
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: the correct Can I say that? Okay? Cool? Now, I'm
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: very familiar with in the Continental Hotel Change. I have
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: the loyalty card, so I know the type of service
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: and expectations I expect from them when I check into
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: the hotel. I'm taking the Chicago. I stay in the
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: one in Los Angeles in the central city on the
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: regular basis, that's the only hotel I stay in, and
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: so I just want to know. I'm familiar with the
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: quality level with your background, so that's the level of expectation. Now.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: I'm also from filth War Texas. Fifth for our sections,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: Texas is one of those underserved communities that you reference
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: because guess what. We had to go to a laundroy
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: mat to get our clothes done. We had to go
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: big old white sheet. We put all the dirty clothes
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: in that white cheet and I walk down the street
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: with this thrown over my shoulder because my mom made
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: me pack it. And we go down there, we do
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: all our washing or drying, and then we folded neatly,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: we bring it back. Is this the type of laundro
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: match we're talking about. That's a good question. I'm also
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: familiar with the awarding um and you two because I
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: lived in ut for seven years there you go very
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: very familiar with that area. The laundry service in today's
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: world is um more a little the quality of what
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: you would expect in the hotel as It's what I'm
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: trying to bring to it. It's not your mother's laundromat
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: there you go, or Rashawn's old laundroy mat. Now I
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: would sell it this. I would tell you this. You know,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: I lived in New York and New York you know
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: it's one of those cities where you have huge laundry
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: matt services around the corner and things like that. And
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: I used that. And there's a lot of things that
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: that I noted in your description of what you're trying
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: to do. UM, basically, tell us why did you what
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: inspired you to do this? Because I read the article
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: that was printed September twenty eight, so I have a
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: sense of it, but I want our listeners to get
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: to understand it. Though. What's inspiring you behind starting this
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: type of service in the community. Well, coming from the
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: hotel business, to me, the laundry business is similarly in
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: that it's a hospitality business. Excuse me, it's a business
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: about people taking care of people. I actually sort of
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: fell into the first one, and from there the vision
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: morphed into something bigger than what I thought would happen. Right. Um,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: I opened the first one. It is in on the
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Donald Lee Hollywood Corridor. UM, And my primary purpose initially
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: was to provide jobs, right, um. So that was the
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: thing that drove me. That's a catalyst driving me into
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: opening up the Lindry, and it gave me an opportunity
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: to connect with the community. Right. So, as time went
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: on and I got involved with nonprofit work, I could
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: see a greater need in this particular community. So when
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: the second location came available, I jumped on the opportunity
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: because it was a ground up opportunity as opposed to
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: the first one, which was turn key. I got the
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: chance to make it into exactly what I wanted it
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: to be, which is something that I think a community,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: um like this one deserves and something that I think
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: the community need. Now we're the reason I just wanted
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: to talk about. That's a certain expectation of what people think.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: I think a field that the larger matter is. Am
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: I wrong? I say that? Are you trying to change
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: the dynamic to say this is a lifestyle like larger
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: map where you have child services, WiFi, televisions that actually work,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: you know that don't look blurry, you know, screens screens
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: of that. That's what we talk about as a lifestyle. Correct,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: It's it's totally different. It's a shift in paradigm in
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: the a that one might think of what a laundromatum
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: ought to be or what it has been. An average
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: person that comes into a laundromat for all the purposes
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: in at least into at least two hours in that laundry, right, um.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: And so it does become a gathering place um for
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: the community. And so to make it something that is
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: an experiencing that is enjoyable is what we're um, what
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: we're seeking to do. So when people walk into the
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: laundry and they bring in their children, yes there's there's
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: kids entertainments that are where there's wifis that entry um,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: iPads that are that are stationed. So they rather than
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: kids who might ordinarily run around terrorizing the laundry play
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: with baskets, they said, they sit attentively in front of
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: a WiFi and they don't move. Um. We've this location
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: used to be an old McDonald's. So we used the
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: same footprint that was here from before. And it's a
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: McDonald's back in the early seventies if you remember, they
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: had outdoor play areas um during that time. So we
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: actually a footprint, sensed it in and said why don't
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: we just put something outside um that would give a
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: little more entertainment and a little more excitement to the
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: to the to the laundry experience. We haven't put actually
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: playground equipment out there yet, but it's primed and ready,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: it's sensed. We just finished the cement in the concrete,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: so now it's just bringing eating other things for for
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: kids and adults to utilize. Let me ask you this now,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: how many washers I hope, I'm I'm not putting you spot?
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: How many washers? How many dryers do you have at
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: your facility? We have thirties six washers and thirties four
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: dryers at the facility, all brand new, all state of
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: the art, um and incredibly efficient. Okay are they because
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: are you know? Are they coin driven, credit card driven
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: or the l A D What are they? We think
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: they take everything UM their coin for the individuals who
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: want to come in and just you know, from the
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: old school, UM use coins. And then we've got you
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: take Apple pay, Google pay. It takes all the major
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: credit cards, Dinner and Discover um. So we Premis take
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: everything and we have a loyalty card where we can
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: put frequent reward programs on there to inspire customers to
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: come back repentively um and use on machines, so they
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: take present to everything. Well, well, you know, I'm just
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: letting everybody there's a new launder Madden Town to Atlanta, Georgia, because,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: like I said, you know, people have these perceptions, and
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: you know, I have a natural way of saying things
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: and and and it comes across humorous sometimes, and I
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: think when you say things humorously, people can tend to listen.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: And also there's a layer of truth when you're speaking.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: And when I'm speaking about my experience, you know, that's
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: the reality of a lot of people's experience. You're trying
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: to change that narrative, correct, I am trying to change
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: the narrative, shift the paradigm to to the way one
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: thought of a laundry is a drudgery and amongding chore
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: that you had to do. That hasn't changed. You still
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: have to do it, but it doesn't mean it has
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: to be a drudgery and it didn't have to be
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: so much of a chore. So we walk into our facility,
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: it's always going to be cool, it's always going to
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: be comfortable. It's very high techt and just to look
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: and feel, um, it's we have great attemptance who um
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: take care of your every week we offer free coffee,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: free WiFi, and eventually we have a long term vision
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: that we will take us into doing tutoring. This is amazing.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: We're gonna be right back with more of our conversation
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: with Ms Marlena Norris in regards to it, she's innovating,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: she's changing the game. She's a former executive with Intercomment
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: Hotel and now she's Uh, there's some things I want
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: to talk to her about. She really it's more than
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: just the lawn dramatic experience. She's trying to change. She's
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: trying to change that community. She's trying to get people
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: to reinvest in that community. And we want to talk
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: about that in more detail because as an entrepreneur, as
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: you are a gained changer and she's trying to let
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: people know that she is invested in the community not
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: just to make money, but to create a narrative of positivity.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: And I love it and we're gonna talk more. We'll
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: be right back with Ms. Norris on money making conversation.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: Don't go nowhere again phone number eight three two zero
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: five five nine two if you want to call by
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: bye Hi for sure. McDonald's back innovators money making conversations.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: You hear the interviews of about industry decision makers, CEO,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: small entrepreneurs and celebrities, and I asked them to tell
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: us the secrets to success in their world on the phone.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: I have a young lady who has transition from the
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: corporate experience and now she's changing the game in the
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: underserved community in the Atlanta George. She's opened a laundron mat.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: You hear the word lundromat, and I know you go
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: laundro Matt Man. I mean a lot of thoughts just
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: come on you about where the laundro Matt is. We're
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: not at her laundromat, and so Ms Norris, will you
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: please tell everybody your laundronat, your laundromat is not their
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: mama's laundro mat. That's absolutely right, it is not your
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: mother's laundromat. Matter of fact, the Washington dryers are so
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: high tech um that the force for which they stand
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: actually cleans your clothes um better, more efficient. You don't
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: need as much soap. So I can save the people
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: in the community money because they don't need to wash
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: and put tons and tons of soap in the washers
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: and then the dryers dry maximum in thirtamnus and so
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: they're in and out in one hour. So so you
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: say no time and money, that's what you're saying. I'm
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: saving in time and money exactly. Now, what is the goal?
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: Now you've opened one, you've opened one location. Uh, I
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: read the argles, say you're opening the second one or
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: it hasn't opened, the second one has opened, and the
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: goal is to like franchise these out. Is that the goal? No,
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: that's not the goal. My goal is to build as
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: many as I can and underserved communities and do good
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: for the community. But I want to keep my brand
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: pure and keep it clean and keep it focused on
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: on the mission that I have or that we were
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: put in place for it. So I have at this
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: point in time, I don't have any um intentions of franchising.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: I read this quote. I'm gonna repeat repeat this quote.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: I thought it was pretty phenomenal that you stated small
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: entrepreneurs can come into this neighborhood and be real agents
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: for change in economic development. I want to lead that change.
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: That's your role. That's the role you want in life, now, correct,
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: That's that's the role I want. I want to play.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: I want to make a difference in this community. And
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: people like me can come in and change the facide
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: put in a really good business model. Um. And if
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: everyone comes in and does the exact same things that
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: that we're trying to do here, we take our community back,
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: one black at a time. Well, let me ask you
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: this then, because we're talking about you know, come back
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: and and you know what usually happens. And I'm not
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: saying anything that anybody's know. There's certain areas in Houston
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: that at one time were predominantly black, and all of
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: a sudden, it's not predominant black anymore. In fact, they
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: just pushed homeless people out. He pushed everybody out, and
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: it's they can be regentrified and now you and when
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: that happens, then we don't get to participate in the
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: change you're saying. I believe what you're saying is that
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: by investing in, by coming into your community, now you
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: get to only participate, but you also get to save
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: the community and build it back up, becoming a tax
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: serving community, correct exactly. And you get to see at
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: the table you did an opportuity to be on the
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: funding of development and have guide and direct the past,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: which it goes to your voices at the table they're
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: supposed to allowing it to happen and just run might
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: over you. So that's the thing that's important to me.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: Now when when when I talking because I mentioned several
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: times that you were a corporate executive with inter Kondom,
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: a hotel chain, what was the transition? Because I I
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: get a lot of calls about people who are afraid
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: to make that transition to leave a job that offers
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: them health benefits, for retirement opportunities, they stay there for
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: a long period of time. What what was What was
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: the transition from going from you know, you know your check,
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: you know what time you show for work, you know
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: your vacations, you're gonna get everywhere of a year to
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: self employment. The first thing I learned was that I
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: didn't have where on in corporate America, I had a
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: team of individuals. There was the VP of of Legal,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: there was a VP of Text, There was a team,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: and it was a collaborative team that wasout solving problems.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: The first thing I had to learn was there was
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: no team unless I paid for that team. And while
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: in the corporate world, I could just send an email
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: off to my legal counsel in house and they would
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: answer me expodiciously. In this world, I not only have
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: to pay for an attorney who happens to be in St. Louis, Missouri,
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: but I have to hope that he would call me
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: back within a day or two. So that was something
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: that was It was a real revelation for me and
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: the other things. The transition is that I am everything.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: I have two partners, one of which who is my husband,
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: and then I have another gentleman who is a partner.
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: But generally I'm the CEO of the managing partners, the CFO,
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: I'm the administrative assistant. I'm pretty much everything. I wear
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: every hat in the business. But it's fascinating because it's me.
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: What do you do on your because there are some
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: days they just get you down? You know? How do
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: you get back up from the down days? Oh that's
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: a good question. I am always going to see the
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: glass have full. If I didn't see the glass have full,
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't have moved into this neighborhood. I wouldn't have
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: taken on the risk and the challenge. Um, I just
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: keep remembering that I'm doing something really good and that
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: I've because I have two hundred mets in this community,
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: I now employed for eight people, so for one and
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: for the other, and that's eight people who may not
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: have had an opportunity otherwise. That I've been able to
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: be a blessing too. So that keeps me going. I
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: keep remembering, remembering that there's a question I wanted to
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: ask you earlier, was that the advantages of coming into
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: an under under served community is what what what I'm
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: thinking through the biggest advantage for me is that my
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: husband and I both are educational education boss and we
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: believe in the power of knowledge and the biggest advantages
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: that we're finding. What I'm finding is that one we
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: can actually use that that platform to empower others and
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: to teach of as I had a young lady who
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: walked into the laundry on last Friday, and she was
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: probably thirty years old, and she was so excited because
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: you wanted to open the laundromat and she wanted to
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: know what it took and and wants to really picked
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: my brain about it. So that's a teachable moment where
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: give an opportunity to teach people about what it takes
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: to give into the business um to use all the
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: propate knowledge that I had some much financial perspective to
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: impart that onto others. But more importantly, a tutoring aspect
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: of this is that what my husband and I want
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: to do. My husband tutors right now for in our church,
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: and he's actually brilliant and to what it gives us
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: an opportunity is to actually come into this community where
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: the scores are predominantly low and try to help raise
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: um awareness of that and also try to be put
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: in classes here at the laundry. So there's just so
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: many opportunities and so many it's so much you can do.
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: That's the advantage to it, that of giving back. So
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: this is this is a combination and if I'm if
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: I'm incorrect, you can always correct me. Passionate and entrepreneur
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: because you're passionate about trying to make a change, and
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: also you also you're passionate about you know, you know
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: this is the thing that this is one battle that
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: I always fight and I and I will continue to fight.
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: I hate when people just automatically stereotype African Americans. Uh,
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: you know, we don't use technology, you know, we don't
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: use social media. You know, we uh, you know, we
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: just we use the basic funds of life. We don't
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: drive certain type of cars. So what I take away
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: from our call with you is that you're trying to
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: empower the community and only way it's gonna happen is
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: that by us reinvest in our time and our energy
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: back into the community. Is that correct? That that is
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: absolutely correct? And play you something that I found and
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: what I don't like. What I don't like is that
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: you have um people who have come to this community
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: who may not look like you and I, who invest
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: in this community, but they invest at a substandard, sub
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: par level. And because there be this this community is
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: a basically it's it's there. It's a foodish, there's banks,
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: there's no grocery stores, there's pretty much it's pretty it's
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: pretty limited on each resources that other neighborhoods would have
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: in in this one should have. But you do with
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: people who come in and invest for the whole purpose
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: of profiting and taking advantage. And that's the things that
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: I don't like. I like. I want to be able
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: to come in and give the community a product that
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: it deserves at a fair price. UM and offer other
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: a many things um in addition to that. So that's
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: the thing that excites me. Another exciting aspect of what
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: we're doing here is we will start this week to
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: launch the construction of a community garden. I said it
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: was a food desert um. So we're hoping if we're
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: gonna have a community garden that will we can partner
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: with some of the other restaurants in the neighborhood who
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: made come and get their products organic organic experiencing. I
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: you inspire me. Can I say that Ms Norri's inspire
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: thank you. I'm fortunate, you know, Unfortunately I live in Houston.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: I also live in Atlanta. So I'm not gonna say
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna come over there and wash some clothes, but
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna come visit you if you don't mind. And
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: because the fact of the matter is is that you know,
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: I traveled this country and I'm fortunate to have been
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: on both sides. You know, I hadn't we come from
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: the inner city, and I know days when I didn't
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: eat like everybody else was supposed to eat, even as
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: an adult. I know those days. And but what I
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: do like is the fact that you are undaunted by
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: the goal of somebody telling you what you cannot do.
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: You are undaunted by the fact that people telling you
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: that there's value only in certain parts of the world,
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: and that doesn't change you and I and I'm proud
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: of what you're doing. And I'm glad you came on
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: my show because this show is money making. Conversation is
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: about people hearing you. And also maybe if they hear you,
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: they would make a step in their city, in their
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: community and reinvest. Atlanta is only a starting point for you. Please,
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: if anybody ever asked the interview, please spread your word.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: You are the gospel, young lady. You are the truth,
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: You are the game changer, and you are the people
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: we need to hear from on a regular basis. Thank you.
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: I appreciate that. So if if somebody want to watch
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: their clothes, because people can hear me in Atlanta, how
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: can they get to your laundry mat my friend, and
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: my laundry is called the laundry Sitter's twenty seven as
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: Donald Holly will Parkway. What what are the hours? What
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: are the hours? The hours are from seven eight m
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: to twelve o'clock, mis mate, every day of the week. Awesome.
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: I want to thank you for taking the time to
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: call my show. If you don't mind, if if I
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: can always bring you back on the show periodically, just
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: to keep motivating my listeners and letting them know that
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: there's greatness in our community and their greatness, and making
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: change in yourself because you're you're changing the narrative. You're
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: giving us information and opportunity that there there's there's an
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: investment in any community. You just have to put the
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: time in an effort. Am I right? That's right? Absolutely,
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be happy to come back. I appreciate you
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: and tell you and tell your husband I want him
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: because you've been saying so many nice nuggets about him,
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: dropping all these gems, talk about he's your business partner,
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: and I heard you drop the words he's a genius.
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: I needed to put him on my show. My friend Ms.
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: Norris out of Atlanta, Georgia going up ain't changing the
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: narrative on Larger Match and then impoverished communities were back
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: more NFL stock is about to call my show first round,
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: pick said Diego charged. He's now a trucking magnet. Come on, y'all,
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: I'm bringing you all kind of diversity on this show,
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: Vinjamin Crump was talking about law, law firm, movies, expanding
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: his brain, and but Strauss from a Dallas cowbar cheer
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: leader talking about wall clocks, custom wall clock, taking your
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: shoes and turn them into clocks on the wall, customizing
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: and not just talk to Mr North talking about reinvesting
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: in your community. There is dollars in their hood and
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: guess what you can take advantage of it. We'll be
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: back with more of money Making Conversations with Sean McDonald.
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: I'm your host. Hi. Sean McDonald's were back on the
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Great show today. Benjamin Cruk was on
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: earlier talking about his trans aosition to branding his business
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: model into a national law firm called a ben Crump
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: Law Firm, with Amber Strausser transitioning from Las Vegas showgirl,
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: Dallas cowboy cheerleader to um clock designer called hill Time.
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: And Marlana nors Uh left the corporate world at the
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: Intercontinual Hotel and now is Uh creating a new narrative
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: and unpoverished communities with laundro match, they have WiFi services,
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: satellite TV. My next narrative is important because it's NFL
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: season everybody talked about NFL, but the life expectancy of
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: an NFL player roughly four years. My next guest is
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: a former NFL first round draft pick for the San
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: Diego Charges in two thousand and eight. He attended the
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: University of Arizona and graduated with a degree in police
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: st in double minor in African American Studies. In college,
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: he wont this is very significant. That's why I want
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: to keep it on because he's no slouts the Jim
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: Thought Jim Thought Award, which goes to the best defensive
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: back in college football. Please welcome to Money May Conversation.
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: Antoine's Cathon. They get all that right there, Antoinet, It
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: right my man. I'm gonna tell you I got you
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: for one break. I gotta bring you back because when
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: I when they when they gave me the resume, I went,
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: you know something, and then we don't even talking about sports.
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: It's just that you and I have similar tones. Let
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: me just blame. My degree is in mathematics, but my
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: minor is in sociology and policide. And my strength and
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: it would change my life, man, was African American Studies.
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: Because I was just wandering through college. Man and when
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: I when I took my African American studies class, I
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: discovered how much how much information is being denied in
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: high schools and middle schools. Am I correct, Oh, it's
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: it's it's it's insane. That was so eye opening to
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: me to uh take those classes and to learn so
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: much about our history because I would tell you, I
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: tell this to my daughter. She's attending college now, and
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: I told her, you know, it brought tears to eyes, man,
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: because you know, when you look at studies basically in
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: high school, this is how they just how they give
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: you your studies to African Americans. You know, we were
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: brought over as slaves, okay, then we were freed. Then
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: they jumped all the way to the Brown Versus Board
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: of Education, then they jumped to Martin Luther King, and
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: then it's today whatever. That's basically what you learned in
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: middle school. And they give your Black history mark, and
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: they talk a little bit about and do a couple
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: of program but they keep repeating the same you know,
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: Rosie Park or Luther King, you know, the same same
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: leaders and civil rights over and over again. When we're
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: so much bigger and it's so much bigger you know
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: what I'm talking about right right there. Look, nothing else happened.
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: Now you're my friend, outstanding football player because I'm a
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: football fan. Okay, I can remember when you walked across
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: the stage in New York City in the marry of marquees. Okay,
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: that was a that was a life changing moment for you.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: Correct right, Well, what did you expect? You jipt Off award.
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: You you're from the West Coast and then you get
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: drafted by San Diego charges which is right down the coast,
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: so you really don't really change time zone. So you
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: went to school the universe Arizona save time zone, so
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: you're in heaven, correct I? It was. It was the
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: most amazing thing ever I went. I grew up in
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: Long Beach, went to Arizona to San Diego. My whole life,
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: I'm on the West coast with what's better than this?
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: I only spent four, you know, four or five years
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: of my life not next to a beach, So that
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: was that was amazing. And then the family was very close,
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: so you know, making it making it to the to
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: the NFL and having the family coast was always it was.
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: It was something you always kind of think about like,
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: am I going to be close? And then it actually happened.
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: Now now, now the reason I've already bring you on
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: the show, and if you don't mind, I want to
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: bring you back. I already know I like you because
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: the fact that you know you, you You're beyond you
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: know when you you just happen to be a very
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: gifted athlete who played football. You know what I'm saying,
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: Because you your your your structure was set in place
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: to be. I will tell you about Magic Johnson. I
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: tell you about Magic Johnson. I want to call Magic
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: Johnson a friend. Magic Johnson will be an entrepreneur. He
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: just happened to be a brilliant basketball player because that
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: was something that was instilled in him. Can I see
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: the same thing about you? Yeah? And it was. It's
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: been since I can remember. I've always told people that I,
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: you know, I wanted to own my own business, and
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: you know, people asked me how I thought about sports.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: But growing up, you know, of course I had aspirations
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: of making it to the NFL or professional ranks. But
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: when I was when I was going through it, my
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: mindset was always Okay, I'm in high school, now, am
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: I gonna start Okay, started as a freshman. Then okay,
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: am I ever gonna play varsity? Okay? Then you play
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: varsity and it's like, well, am I gonna get a scholarship?
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: Then it's okay, I got one. Okay, now in my
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: going to play then. So it was never like I
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: just knew that was gonna happen for me. Um. But
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: early on I always said I want to own my
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: own business and do different things like that, um as well.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: So it was it was, it was, it was always
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: that for me. Now with that being said, okay, we
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: hear all these horror stories about you know, athletes in
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: general because it gets such huge because I'm very familiar
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: with this because I'm an entertainment and I know about
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: getting huge lump sums of money are inconsistent lump sums
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: of money too, And so when you get this money,
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: what what kept you focused? You know? What what made
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: you stay the course? I want to say because of
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: the fact that when I see yes like yesterday, you
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: know Beckham from the New York Giants, you know he
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: gets injured. J. J. Watt, you know another superstar, he
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: gets injured. Your career was cut short by achilles heel injury,
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: What kept you, what kept you focused when you signed
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: that contract? Say that there has to be life after football. Well,
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: I always knew that it was for whatever reason, and
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: I've been the kind of person that it was never
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: I didn't. I knew the reality and that this wasn't
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: going to last forever. And I've kind of been a
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: frugal guy in my whole life. So for me, when
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: I got it, it was like, Okay, I don't know
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: what to do with it, so I'm just gonna sit
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: on it. I'm just love so I loved that. I
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: love that, don't spend it. Sit on this, Okay, I'm
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna sull on this until I figure out what
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: I really want to do with it. And then when
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: I figured out what I wanted to do with it,
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: because there was so much stuff I wanted to do,
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: I would get to that point and say I just
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: wouldn't do it. So I was just I've always been
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: a safe I've always been a saver, and it's just
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: it's just in me. It's just I just saved. And
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: so people are say, hey, man, you know you're not
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: living like you playoffs, right, I'm just you know, I'm
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: just hanging out. I'm just enjoying what I'm doing. But
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: I always knew it would it would come to an end,
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: whatever that was. So he was planning, You was planning
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: your exit. You was planning. He was giving to football,
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: but you was planning your exit. Because nobody plays football
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: at fifty. You know what I'm saying. That's a reality.
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: You know they're getting to Getting past thirty five is hard.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: It's hard. And so with that being said, you got
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: in the trucking business, though, How did you get into
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: trucking business? My friend? Okay, let's let's go in your background. Now,
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: look at your background, your NFL Star, first round draft pick,
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: your degree in police side with with with African American studies.
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: You went to the University of Arizona down in Santa
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: and they go along all these nice beaches. How do
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: you get in the trucking business? My friend? Yeah? So,
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: my uh through my father. So his his dad, my
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: grandfather started his truck and coumpany in the nineteen seventy seven.
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: And my dad, once he finished playing, he played for
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: the Falcons and he immediately got into truck and so
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: I grew up around entrepreneur. I grew up around it,
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: grew up around trucks, and and I've been around him
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: and I just had a love for him ever since
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: I was a kid. You know, used to ride around
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: the country with him, and so you know, it was
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: always something that I wanted to do as well. So
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: once I you know, got injured and had that point,
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: you know, I decided to go back to school. So
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: I went back to the University of Miami and I
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: got my master's just to put a little bit and
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: put some education behind the little knowledge that I didn't know.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: And you know, through him is it's how I've learned,
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: you know, certain aspects of the other business and you know,
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: running trucks and being around him, it's it's it's what
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: it is. I've been around trucking in sports my whole life.
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: Now what's being said, what's the goals? Now? You know
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: your goal or person because it as an athlete, your
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: goal orated, and so what's the goals in the trucking
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: business for you? I know, you have a young son,
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: so you creating his legacy correct in the entrepreneurial world,
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: because you're bringing him around and you he sees because
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: you said your grandfather correct. And then your father and
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: now you, So what is your goal? The goal is
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: to just run a successful company. Right. We were hauling
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: refrigerative food, so we have refur trailers, eighteen broilers and
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: you know, frozen food, refrigerative food, and and the goal
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: is to is to grow and to vertically integrate the
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: supply chain. And that's our goals here. And you know,
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: to do that, you know, I've been doing every aspect
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: of of the business, as far as the dispatching and
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: you know, looking at the counting and and the hr
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: and the hiring, you know, just kind of getting into
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: every area just so then once I do, once we
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: do grow and get bigger, at least I'm someone who
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: can understand the job, what to expect from people. And
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: I because I'm you're educating me. And my father was
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: a truck driver, so I know about trucky. We used
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: to work for lear Ray Motor Freight in Houston, Texas.
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: Is all he ever did was drive trucks. So now
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: you're you're you're you're you're only you're a trucking magnet.
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: I can say that because you're dealing with refederated truck
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: you're transferring merchandise. These things I used to sart load
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: sixteen years old. I used to unload these trucks, so
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: very for me with that process. I'm as a driver
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: my dad, I'm familiar as an unloader from my personal
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: past experience. So how does one grow a business like yours?
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: How does that grow? Well? You we have know, you
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: get your your freight license, so you have your you know,
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: your MC numbers and all these all these things that
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: the company's brokers and shippers are able to see. So
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: once you you register that, you know they see all
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: the trucks you have, all the equipment you have, and
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: when you you sign up with them to to run
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: different loads and different lanes lanes meaning California to Texas
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: or California to you know, Washington or Nevada sol. Once
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: you once you you know, sign up with with these
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: other with these companies, you know, you put down what
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: equipment you have and how many and what lanes you run,
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: so calls come to you. Um, you do your sales
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: calls and you know people with freight do their sales calls,
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: and you know, you just have a conversation like you
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: and I, oh, hey I have a truck. We were
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: over there. Every other day and okay, so they check
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: you out, they check out your score, your you know,
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: your d O T. And you of course you have
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: to be the Department of Transportation and they can look
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: you up and see your records and you know, okay
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: you're a good carrier or not. Okay, well we'll give
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: you this lane. All the work we have. We have
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: it this amount of time a week and can you
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: service that? You know, Oh no, I can only do it.
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: So then you have those conversations with different people and
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: then you become to be around it so long and
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: if people your name starts getting out and you start
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: understanding what you want to take and hard, you know,
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: make it work. Because there's a lot of regulations in
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: this industry. Yeah, so everybody that's everybody can just start
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: holding across state lines. The federal laws out there too. Yeah.
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: The drive time and the schedule and you know, all
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: those things really matter, and you don't want to you
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: don't want to start scheduling guys the wrong way and
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 1: they're in the middle of nowhere sitting because they don't
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: have any time to drive before you go. Can you
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: give us some advice as an entrepreneurs, as a gentleman
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: who made up from made a transition. I look at
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: the athletic world no different than the corporate transition. You know,
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: you still have to make decisions. You still creates fear.
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: You know, yours was was accelerated by the Achilles heel injury.
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: What advice would you give to my listeners and people
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: are watching on Facebook about you know, making a transition
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: into a new career. Yeah, for me, the transition it
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: wasn't easy. Um I had an Achilles injury. I played
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: for I played on partially towing Achilles for two seasons,
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: so that was tough, and and and not knowing, um
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: if I was gonna ever play again, not due to
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: my ability, but due to an injury and me being
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: a little older. So I always always listened to you know,
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: they have all these symposiums for us as players, and
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: you know they continue to talk about how different people
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: went through different things and depression and this. And I've
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: always said, I don't want to be that guy because
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: I am not that guy. I'm not a depressed person. Yes,
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: I've done this my whole life, but it's going to
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 1: be tough. But that so point, it's gonna come to
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: an end. And I don't know how, but when it does,
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 1: I have to try and kick that adversity in the teeth.
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: So my thing was is, Okay, if I'm doing something,
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: my mind isn't idol to me not playing, So I'm
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: gonna just keep doing something so that I don't really
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: have to sit around and think about not playing or
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: I'm heard or this or that. And that really really
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: helped me through it. And then I went back to
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: school to Miami got my masters. So it's really a
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: lot of things that helped take my mind away from it.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: My son I didn't want to see. I didn't want
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: him to see me, you know, not look like I was,
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: you know, still going to do something or sitting around.
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: And that's not something I wanted to show him either,
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: because you know this, it's not going to be easy. However,
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: you know you can still you can still get up,
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: grind and and and do what you want. And thank
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: you for calling in today. Can you call me back? Man?
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: I love you, brother. Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't like calling back.
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you because I see people like you
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: see now you know my energy? You know how when
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: you call back next time, you know you're gonna be
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: another level. I know what I'm talking to because she
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: you don't know me. You don't know what kind of
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: questions I'm gonna ask you. But you know all my
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: questions about you, man, because you're special. You're making the transition,
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: and you're making a difference in the community, and you're
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: sharing secrets. They're gonna help other people to be successful.
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: So so when you call it next time, I want
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: your blaze and brother. Absolutely, thank you for man, Thank
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: you for calling in on Money Making Conversation. My man,
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: former NFL first round pick and to our case Hun
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: who owns case Hun trans Express. He's a trucking magnet.
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: We'll be back with more money making conversations. Be right back.
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 1: Thank you all. She's a whole, She's a whole. I
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: gotta break off this. Rashan McDonald, I'm your host of
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversation. My next guest is the daughter of
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: legendary gospel singer Karen Clark. Shared. Haven't earned a bachelor's
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: degree in English with a minor's psychology from Wayne State.
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: She's built an incredible career as a gospel singer and entrepreneur.
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: Please welcome the Money Making Conversation. Kiara shared doesn't say that. Correct.
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you I was struggling that my name is Rashwan,
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 1: So you know, I want to be respectful. How your
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: name is nunciating? There's no joke because this is how
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: you get paid. This part of your brand, you know,
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 1: overre messing with your name and how you doing? What
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: are you calling from? I'm calling from Eastern time zone.
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. Now, you, my friend,
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: have taken a career as a singer, and now you've
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: taken it into another stream of income. And that's important
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: that we know as entrepreneurs and as entertainers that multiple
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: stream of incomes is the old mcgold correct. Absolutely absolutely,
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: of course, making sure it's you're doing something that you love.
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: It comes organically to you, and for sure, I mean,
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: why not. There's always room to do something else, and
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: you don't want to get bored with one thing, so
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: why not. Now a few years ago, you know, Steve
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 1: harved I was managing at the time, we launched a
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: full figured clothing line through K and G Clothing Line.
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: And because we felt there was a need for that,
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: and even though Steve was a man, because he had
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: a a large female gemo in this social media and
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: his listenership. We felt that was a smart move. Now,
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 1: did you launch your clothing line? Um? I want the
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: full figured line for women. Um, it's Cordie Levin sixty
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: and I'm really excited about it. That's what I have
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 1: going so far now and now just interesting because and
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: and I want to slow it down, you know, because
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: you can ask me any questions, and I'm gonna ask
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: you different questions because the mindset of you know, as
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: a designer, as a person who lives that lifestyle. I
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: have six sisters, and and of course some of them
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: they uh have ventured into the full figure range. You know,
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: they probably listening and probably gonna pop me upside of
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: my head afterwards. But but I just know that that
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: that look it's now on television is an advertising ads.
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: It's it's it is a look that's being accepted in
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: full figure. It's being sexy. And if I say anything incorrectly,
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: I'm just trying to get my point of view to
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: be able to to to tune into the full figure look.
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: You're telling the look of attractiveness. Correct. Yeah? And when
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: and when when I say that, when I say attracting this,
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: I mean that your clothing line is about high fashion. Hey,
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: I look good, because at one time it wasn't that case.
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 1: Correct the clothing line, I'm I'm trying to cloth in
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: general for full figured women. Correct, absolutely right, it's been different.
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: We didn't have as many trendy styles and absolutely you
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: weren't always in sync with fashion forecasting. We're often given
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: clothes like just move moves. I'm talking about you know,
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: what are you trying to change? Because see you know
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: that you know the little spandex pants, put on the
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: T shirt. You know that's all you got to work with.
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: You know, you know you're talking about putting, putting the
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: style that shows a figure that when you walk out,
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: you look elegant, you look sexy, you look you've got something.
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: You've got options. You know, you want to go on
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: a dining Look, you want to go out to a
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: nighting dinner, you want to go into a nightclub. Your options,
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: That's what you're trying to do with your clothing like correct, absolutely, yep,
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: And I'm excited about what we're doing. Um, we're right now,
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: we're only e commerce and it's all quality garments are
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: manufacturing is of South Korea, and um, it's not just
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: a straight sized designer. Obviously I'm a curby woman as well,
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: So I'm actually creating clothes as not just a designer,
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: but as a consumer. And UM, I believe that that's
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: what is helping these close to move while we're just
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: even an emerging brand. UM. So it's really exciting. I
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 1: want to empower the women through these clothes. It's not
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: just um, there's another thing you asked about having multiple
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: streams of income. But one thing that we want to
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: wrap our minds around as we are emerging millionaires is
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 1: that we have to do something that we love. Have
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: the heart of the people, not just have the heart
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: of the dollars. Um. And that is even that's what
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: causes us to be even more effective. UM. And so
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: my goal is to empower and to build other women
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: with these clothes, allow them to see that, no, we
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: don't all have the same shape. We may be built
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: a little differently. But here's a way for you to
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 1: build your esteem. Here are some clothes that fall well
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: or that um queensy your body. Uh, the way that
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: will complement your shape and only enhance who you are.
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: You're already beautiful, and so that's the goal with the clothes.
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: I remember right there, I was. I was writing on
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: the sitcom called The Parkers that started Uh Monique. And
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 1: one of the reasons that I there attracted me to
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: write on that sitcom was that the way the executive
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: producers wanted to portray the full figured women on the show.
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: They look good, you know, they dressed good. They were
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: I didn't like up to that point, all four figured
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: women on TV. They were made, you know, they were
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 1: you know, they were all at the lesser level of secretaries.
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: They all played minial roles. And that sitcom changed my
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: whole perspective, and that attracted me to that, And I
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: think that was a landmark for me personally and also
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: for television because ever since then, that was like in
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: two thousand when I was writing on this show, because
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: ever since then, television has started to show women, you know,
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: and in commercial shols and panties and brawls, who are
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 1: four figures and bikinis on television, and it went prior
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: to that that wasn't the case. And so when you
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: when you when you when you release a line like
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: the line that you're releasing, it's an empowering, an empowerment
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: type statement that you are good just the way you
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: are correct, absolutely absolutely, and I think that that is
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: so important, especially with how society makes the same. Well, actually,
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 1: I can say the society is now more into body volume.
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 1: They're even appreciating cellulite, which is really cool. Whereas about
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: five years ago, it was all just you know, the
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: straight sized woman. But I think that this full figure
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: community has definitely up their volume as it pertains to
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: their voice, and they've made it, you know, known, because
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: the actually, one thing that I've learned in my research
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: while building my company, come on now, come on, come on, now,
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: you got that energy on the road, now, come on.
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: Not tell us absolutely, but one thing that I've learned
• 1:21:01
  Speaker 1: is the average American woman is a size spoor teen,
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 1: size fol fourteen, so she's a press sized woman and
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 1: so um, I think it's really cool that society is
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: changing things. But speaking of beauty and just appreciating who
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: we are, it's one thing to want to be better
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: and want to be healthy and to be able to
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: live well so that you can enjoy the blessings that
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 1: God gives us. But it's another thing to appreciate who
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: you are and to simply own your difference and own
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: that as um a form of beauty as well, and
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 1: so I'm really excited about what um this company has
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 1: to offer. Eleven sixty Again, it is for the full
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: figured woman, and if not to change the woman, it's
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: just to say, hey, here's something for you, get something
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: for your sister. And this is how we've re late
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: and we connect rolling that get that look at Will rolling,
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 1: but you're rolling that girl because see, my whole thing
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: is that he is the deal. Your fourfivor women got power.
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: You have buying power, and that's so happy to see
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 1: that that that you're taking. Like you said, you did
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: your research. Size fourteen is the average size. So who
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: is feeding these people opportunities to be fashionable? So how
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: did you come up with the name eleven sixty? Uh,
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 1: Elettens difty actually came from my mother's birthday. I come
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: from the Clark Sisters in quest my parents I Bishop J.
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: Drew shared and Karen Clark shared, and um, of course
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: my mom is a member of the legendary groups the
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: Clark Sisters, And I know the quarters are full figured
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: women and um they of course they've become smaller now
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: over time, but they're still for considered full figured women,
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: curvy women, and who would dressed by the way, let's
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: go and put that out there. All the all the
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: album covers, they were laid out absolutely very well dressed.
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: And um, that's where the inspiration comes from. It came
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: from my mother, because my mother taught me, if you
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 1: are going to be juicy, uh, just make sure you
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 1: wear it well. If you're gonna be thick, well, you're
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: thick well, and don't be floppy with it. And I
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 1: think that that's a lesson that I've enjoyed sharing with
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 1: a lot of curvy women because a lot of people think, oh,
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: because I'm curvy or because I'm plus size, I'm not cute. No, together,
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: put on you a good girdle and wear these clothes right.
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: And so um, that's where the inspiration came from. And
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: that's why it's name eleven sixties. I love it. If
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: you can hold on, we'll be back with more. To
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: hear someone with his inspirational talk from me, he's listen
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: to money making conversation. We're gonna be back with more,
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: Kira Sheers, that's correct, right, yeah, awesome, be right back
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: at level sixties. A line of fact, we're gonna find
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: out where to buy it. It's on e commerce. You
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: can buy it online right now, and we're gonna find
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: out more. We'll come back. I just be trying. I'm
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: on the phone with a fair talented entrepreneur, gospel sensation. Uh,
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: daughter of a ospite great, but she's great in our
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: own right here shared she has a full figured clothing
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: line called Love and sixty. How can they how can
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: they find this clothe I tell a couple of little
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: things about it. While you are so emboldened by launching
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 1: this line and working the body this line, you can
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: definitely go on our website. It's my eleven sixty dot com.
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: Um again, that's uh w w dot my eleven sixty
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: dot com and um again, it's quotes for it's I
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: would definitely say it's trendy, closed trad in season, and
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 1: they are closed for full figured women. Um guys fourteen
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: and these clothes are ships right to your doorstep, and uh,
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: that's pretty much it. We're also expanding as well. May
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: have a we have a great opportunity with Ashley Stewart.
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: So if you're into trying to close on and actually
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: filling the textures, you can't have this opportunity. We'll have
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: those locations very soon. I'm really excited about that. Well,
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: I make sure that have you done a Facebook live yet,
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: you know, just showcasing your clothes, because that seems like
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: be right up your aulet because you got the personality.
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: You'll get a couple of friends and start modeling and
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: everything and just do a Facebook Live and just turning out.
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: Have you ever thought about that? Doing that again? To
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: you know? About me, I'm just an innovator and I'm
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: a brand specialist. So when I when I encounter somebody
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: like you, did you blessed with all these talents a gift,
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: I gotta make suggestions. You are Facebook Live waiting to
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: happen for eleven sixty. Absolutely, I've definitely done it, and UM,
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: I have a YouTube channel on my website. I am
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: very active on social media and I'm talking about the
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: brand always UM on my YouTube channel, a new an
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: up andcoming episode, we'll be talking about level sixty and
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: ABI to see the new quotes that will be released
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: in October so or this month actually later this month,
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: and so I'm really excited about that. But yes, I've
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: done Facebook Live, UM, Instagram Live and all these really
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: cool things. As far as outlets, I've been on them
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: and I am still on them. Um and that's actually happened.
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: Keeping me go. Shout out to all of those who
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: follow me on social media. Absolutely not on mine. You
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 1: you You're being heard live right now in Houston, Texas.
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 1: We also replay the show back on the I Heart Radio.
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: My podcast is under Business Finance, Money Making Conversations. And
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: also I wanted you to give me, like, uh, tell
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 1: us one of your staff to send me a banner
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: or link so I can post it on my Money
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: Making Conversation you know, social media lines and post it
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 1: today or sometime this week. And if you ever have
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: any specials and every time you're doing live links, please
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: let us know because I know that's how you get
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: the word out and I always I can never tell
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: people enough that you you know, there's a reason you
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: see the same advertisers for cars, for Target, for fast food,
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: because you have to stay in front of your customer.
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: If your customers don't know you, then they can't buy
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: your merchandise. And that was one of the primary reasons
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 1: why I have you on the show. I have you
• 1:26:56
  Speaker 1: know the show because first of all, your celebrity, but
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: also you you you're a brand specialist because you're taking
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: your brand and you extended in the in the entrepreneurial space,
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: which is a small business and that's eleven sixty and
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: I think that's just amazing. I just commend you for
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 1: doing that because of the fact that you're doing it
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: for and you just said you're also doing it because
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: you enjoy doing it and it's not about the money,
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 1: and that's really key for you. Correct. Absolutely, of course
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 1: I want my money in my pocket for sure. Absolutely, Um,
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: I want to I want to live good. I want
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: to enjoy, you know, to my life. I want to
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: blaze the trail for the next young woman who may
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: have to dream again. My goal is to empower people.
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: I love people. I love um seeing people get ahead.
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: I love believing in people. So yes, it's about me
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: having your heart for people. But like you said, I'll
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: also because I'm sure somebody listening and be like you know,
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: she pull she who she fool She's fooling nobody. Um,
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 1: she knows more of our money. And yes, absolutely absolutely
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: we're not fooling nobody. Which to get paid here, But
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: you said that you should do something that you love
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 1: to do, not do it just because of the money.
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: That's a difference in conversation. And that's what I think
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: is important, and that's why you're gonna win, because what
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 1: you're doing is you already said it's size fourteen is
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: the average size in America. You've done your research, so
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 1: you're supplying clothed and the trend style for people who
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 1: need it, who need it, who don't have it. And
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: so tell everybody again, how can they get your clothing
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: line full figure full figure? You can go to my
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: eleven sixty dot com again, that's the word my and
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: Elevin and the numbers six zero to my eleven sixty
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 1: dot com and um if that's too if you're hired
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 1: to get that. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, UM, and my
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: website is I am Here's here dot com and you
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: can totally find everything that I'm doing, from my blog
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: to the youtubeing um and the clothing line and everything
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: that I'm doing, you can find it there. I do
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: speaking and singing as well. Girl. Now you Christmas coming up,
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: so no, if you don't mind, I'm gonna bring you
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 1: back on the show probably late November, so we can
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: start talking aboutetting each Christmas sales. That's all right with you, absolutely,
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: thank you. I appreciate you for calling on Money Making Conversations.
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: Stay strong and then send me to tell your staff
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: to send me that bantner so we can post it
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: on our Money Making Conversation Facebook page. This is the
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: show for the day, y'all. It's been awesome. We'll be
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 1: back next Monday. My man Van Jones from CNN will
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: be on the show next Monday. We're doing it big
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 1: here because it's about you. Money Making Conversation is a
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: show while I interview industry makers, decision makers in the industry, CEO,
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: small entrepreneurs, and celebrities and they tell you the secrets
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: to their success. You take those secrets and make them
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: your successful tools for your next big opportunity. My name
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: is with Sean mcgonal. I see you next week.