Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Rushion Interviews Creamalicious Founder, CEO, and Executive Chef Liz Rogers Responds to Walmart’s “Juneteenth” Ice Cream Controversy!
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass. I'm your host with
- 0:03Speaker 1: Sean McDonald. I recognize that we all have different definitions
- 0:06Speaker 1: of success. For you, it may be the size of
- 0:08Speaker 1: your paycheck. Mine is inspired people to accomplish their goals
- 0:11Speaker 1: and live their very best life. It's time to stop
- 0:14Speaker 1: reading other people's success stories to start writing your own.
- 0:17Speaker 1: People always talk about the purpose of gifts. If you
- 0:20Speaker 1: have a gift, leave with your gifts and know that
- 0:22Speaker 1: your friends, family, or coworkers stop you from planning or
- 0:25Speaker 1: living your dream. My next just is truly a dreamer.
- 0:29Speaker 1: She's there's a dream in everyge coop. She is the
- 0:31Speaker 1: executive chef, owner and founder of pre Relicious ice Cream.
- 0:36Speaker 1: Criminal Licious if you don't know, Criminally in the news
- 0:39Speaker 1: a lot lately in a very positive way. But also
- 0:42Speaker 1: she wants to respond to some things that have been
- 0:44Speaker 1: on social media. But more importantly is about trust and
- 0:47Speaker 1: she trust and believes that you know, there's ass of
- 0:50Speaker 1: purpose is what she's doing in her life. I've invited
- 0:52Speaker 1: on Money Making Conversation Masterclass to tell our story to
- 0:55Speaker 1: get us updated. Welcome to the show. Executive chef Liz Rogers,
- 1:00Speaker 1: how are you are you looking good? Nice to see you.
- 1:04Speaker 1: Where are you based in? What's it you're based in?
- 1:06Speaker 1: So I'm based here in Cincinnati, Ohio. So I'm originally
- 1:10Speaker 1: from Cleveland, Ohio. And the whole brand of cream Alicious,
- 1:13Speaker 1: how did that get started? I'm an executive chef and
- 1:17Speaker 1: restaurant tour by trade. So Cremlitious actually came from all
- 1:22Speaker 1: the desserts that we made homemade inside the restaurant and
- 1:25Speaker 1: they were actually just turned into ice cream desserts. So,
- 1:30Speaker 1: so when I hear things like slap your mama, you know, uh,
- 1:34Speaker 1: you know, the con Poe, the sweepertato pie, all these
- 1:38Speaker 1: things are just Southern favorites. How did you manage to create? Really?
- 1:44Speaker 1: You know, because some people have versions of this, but
- 1:47Speaker 1: George tastes a little bit different and a lot better
- 1:50Speaker 1: than your competitors. How is that? I think it has
- 1:54Speaker 1: a great deal to do with me being a chef
- 1:57Speaker 1: and criminal Isious is like Disney of the Storytellers. Uh.
- 2:01Speaker 1: Each point is it's very authentic. It's about real times,
- 2:05Speaker 1: real people, it's about family. Um, it's an extremely authentic brand. Uh.
- 2:11Speaker 1: It really takes you back to childhood memories, just when
- 2:14Speaker 1: times were better, you know, when we really didn't have
- 2:17Speaker 1: a worry or care in the world, where we can
- 2:19Speaker 1: be friends and and we can play until the street
- 2:22Speaker 1: lights come on, and you know, just all of those
- 2:25Speaker 1: you know, going to church and coming home and having
- 2:28Speaker 1: family dinners and and just waiting for the best part
- 2:32Speaker 1: of the dinner, which would be the dessert. Desserts always first,
- 2:35Speaker 1: and it's always the best, and it's always the most
- 2:38Speaker 1: exciting part about eating. So I think that, um, we
- 2:42Speaker 1: really stand out just because each each one of the
- 2:45Speaker 1: points they have a story, um that can really resonate
- 2:49Speaker 1: with just just an average person. Now, how did it
- 2:53Speaker 1: all start? Because I know, you know right now you
- 2:57Speaker 1: your social media's blowing up. You know, there's a controversy
- 3:00Speaker 1: around the Wald Martin launching another ice cream called June tenth.
- 3:04Speaker 1: But before we get into that, how did you get
- 3:07Speaker 1: in the ice cream business? I've gotten the ice cream
- 3:12Speaker 1: business because I love I love food, I love desserts,
- 3:17Speaker 1: I love sweets, so I'd rather eat sweets than than
- 3:20Speaker 1: than regular food. And just really from just owning my
- 3:24Speaker 1: own restaurants and just being innovative. I pride myself on
- 3:28Speaker 1: being extremely innovative, cremlicious, is more than a dessert, is
- 3:32Speaker 1: absolutely an experience. So we do take fresh bake pastries
- 3:37Speaker 1: from the South, um four generations of family owned recipes,
- 3:40Speaker 1: and we baked them in their entirety and they're combined
- 3:43Speaker 1: in the pint. So I really wanted in alam pint
- 3:46Speaker 1: the best of both worlds. I didn't want the consumer
- 3:48Speaker 1: to have to choose. They can have the best of
- 3:50Speaker 1: both worlds and really really being innovative with the flavors
- 3:55Speaker 1: and the brand names and where the actual dessert originated from. Uh.
- 4:01Speaker 1: That was extremely important to me as well too, for
- 4:03Speaker 1: it to be a conversation piece. Now, now your brand
- 4:07Speaker 1: was out there doing well, you got picked up in
- 4:09Speaker 1: other stories besides Walmart, your Target, you and other stories
- 4:13Speaker 1: that are competitors of Target and Walmart, but more importantly
- 4:18Speaker 1: Kroger's your Kroger stores. I know, I actually walked was
- 4:21Speaker 1: walking down the ice cream and I looked over to
- 4:23Speaker 1: my right. Now's whole religious that's a while. You're here too,
- 4:26Speaker 1: so you know a lot of as they say, a
- 4:28Speaker 1: level brand stores, which is which is? Which is amazing
- 4:32Speaker 1: for a new product? What is? What is your testimony
- 4:35Speaker 1: or test us a statement? When I tell you you're
- 4:38Speaker 1: in these high level stores. And you know, also, if
- 4:41Speaker 1: I'm missing any stores, please mention them because I don't
- 4:44Speaker 1: want to upset any of your other clients. Yeah, we're
- 4:48Speaker 1: we're We're in Walmart, of course. Uh, We're in Kroger,
- 4:51Speaker 1: We're in Mire, Uh, We're in Target, Jungle Gyms, We're
- 4:56Speaker 1: all over the country. It's the national brand now, and uh,
- 4:59Speaker 1: it's in a really amazing opportunity for crem Alitious and
- 5:04Speaker 1: the actual brand we have. It's not the easiest being
- 5:09Speaker 1: an African American woman and minority ice cream manufacturer at
- 5:14Speaker 1: any rate. You know, Uh, crem Alitious is one of
- 5:17Speaker 1: the first and only African American ice cream manufacturers and
- 5:20Speaker 1: mass production in the world today. So I really kind
- 5:23Speaker 1: of set out to do this mostly because I understood
- 5:26Speaker 1: that there was just definitely a need. There was this
- 5:30Speaker 1: huge hole in the category. I felt, um, that's really
- 5:33Speaker 1: overcome by these huge giants that's you know in the
- 5:37Speaker 1: world that you know has been here since we were kids.
- 5:41Speaker 1: And you know, for me, I you know, as cheers
- 5:44Speaker 1: in the Underdog. I just want other entrepreneurs to understand
- 5:47Speaker 1: that if they have a dream, they need to just
- 5:49Speaker 1: go for their dream. And not be afraid to take risks,
- 5:51Speaker 1: and you know, follow your passion and as you always say,
- 5:54Speaker 1: lead with your gifts. And I really do believe in that,
- 5:57Speaker 1: and I do I do seek that as much as
- 6:00Speaker 1: possible to be an inspiration so that we can make
- 6:03Speaker 1: room for other people to be on the shelves as well.
- 6:06Speaker 1: But I also know that if opportunities do not come
- 6:10Speaker 1: to you knocking on your door, that it's time that
- 6:12Speaker 1: we understand that we have to go out and we
- 6:14Speaker 1: have to create our own opportunities and to not be
- 6:17Speaker 1: afraid to call up some of these retailers and say, hey,
- 6:21Speaker 1: could you give me a shot? And if they say no,
- 6:23Speaker 1: you gotta keep trying. At the end of the day,
- 6:25Speaker 1: all they can do is say no, but they may
- 6:27Speaker 1: say yes absolutely, and then you have to be ready
- 6:30Speaker 1: when they say yes. That's the whole key, you know.
- 6:32Speaker 1: Like I said, you can jump, but you better jump
- 6:34Speaker 1: with a plan, better jump with a little money, and
- 6:37Speaker 1: most important to jump with the product to be able
- 6:39Speaker 1: to deliver. Now, there's a dream in every school because
- 6:43Speaker 1: you started mentioning about dreams and talking about people living
- 6:45Speaker 1: their dream and reaching their dream and not being deterred
- 6:48Speaker 1: when their dreams are being denied. Why do you say
- 6:52Speaker 1: there's a dream in every scoop or cream of Delicious?
- 6:55Speaker 1: No um, just having this ice cream on the shelf.
- 7:00Speaker 1: It's bigger than me, right, it's it's so much bigger
- 7:02Speaker 1: than me. It doesn't necessarily mean that, you know, there's
- 7:05Speaker 1: this this It's more than just a pint of ice
- 7:08Speaker 1: cream for for people to eat and enjoy. It's the
- 7:11Speaker 1: accomplishment of just almost doing the impossible. You know, sometimes
- 7:16Speaker 1: people don't believe in you, they can't see your vision,
- 7:19Speaker 1: they don't understand what you're trying to do. And then everybody,
- 7:22Speaker 1: you know, one wants to be around and they want
- 7:25Speaker 1: to be with you when you're winning, right, But nobody
- 7:28Speaker 1: wants to to be on that bus when it's slowing down.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Everybody is jumping off. And then you just have everybody
- 7:34Speaker 1: that wants to ride the bus when when it's going fast,
- 7:36Speaker 1: you know, and and and there's opportunity and people can
- 7:39Speaker 1: see that. And then there's this expiration date, right, so
- 7:43Speaker 1: you're you're kind of racing against time and you have
- 7:45Speaker 1: to really understand, you know, what it means to have hope,
- 7:49Speaker 1: I mean, hope keeps us driven. It keeps us in
- 7:52Speaker 1: the game. You know, you you feel like as long
- 7:55Speaker 1: as you have hope, you feel like you can actually win.
- 7:58Speaker 1: You know, once you lose hope, you're gonna lose, you know.
- 8:01Speaker 1: So I try really hard to make sure that I
- 8:04Speaker 1: can provide what I need for myself and what I've
- 8:07Speaker 1: set out to do, because you only have one life.
- 8:10Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations Masterclass
- 8:13Speaker 1: with Rashan McDonald. Now, let's return to Money Making Conversations
- 8:19Speaker 1: Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. Now. You started becoming on various
- 8:24Speaker 1: people's radar in the top of the year January. I
- 8:27Speaker 1: started seeing people free videos of your Cremoligius on TikTok
- 8:32Speaker 1: and and so it was so you were kind of
- 8:35Speaker 1: like I wouldn't say underground brand because you were in
- 8:37Speaker 1: Target Stories. Was like you said, Myers and in the
- 8:41Speaker 1: Jungle Gym and and then Walmant at the time. But
- 8:45Speaker 1: then in January it seems like the world discovered you.
- 8:48Speaker 1: What impact did they have on your business because I
- 8:51Speaker 1: think you went in Kroger's in March, correct, that's correct,
- 8:55Speaker 1: Umkroger's expanded the brand a lot more than what I
- 8:58Speaker 1: thought they would, so that was great, and just trying
- 9:01Speaker 1: to keep up with the demand for um, what's going
- 9:04Speaker 1: on here, uh, you know, just just out here and
- 9:07Speaker 1: being compared to I mean, like it's crazy because I'm
- 9:10Speaker 1: like right on the shelf next to Ben and Jerry's
- 9:13Speaker 1: Hogads and Nestley. So it's kind of unreal, you know,
- 9:16Speaker 1: but it's happening, and you know, it's it's not as
- 9:21Speaker 1: easy to stay on the shelf. You know. We're looking
- 9:23Speaker 1: for you know, support, We're wanting to be acknowledged because
- 9:28Speaker 1: we do have a very good product. I'm still learning,
- 9:31Speaker 1: I'm still perfecting my product. I'm still learning what type
- 9:35Speaker 1: of marketing to do, UM, sorting out the people that's
- 9:38Speaker 1: around me, building a stronger infrastructure, and just really understanding
- 9:43Speaker 1: people think that you can't make any mistakes, like you're
- 9:47Speaker 1: held to this really really high standard and you don't
- 9:50Speaker 1: get an opportunity to mess up, you know. But the
- 9:53Speaker 1: truth of the matter is, as a business owner, you're
- 9:55Speaker 1: gonna make a ton of mistakes. You're gonna learn a
- 9:57Speaker 1: lot of lessons. But that doesn't mean you have to
- 9:59Speaker 1: live in your less since. But I'm in control of
- 10:02Speaker 1: the pen, you know, I've decided that I'm in control
- 10:06Speaker 1: of my own headlines and my own destiny and my
- 10:08Speaker 1: own future. And you know, I write my own headlines now.
- 10:12Speaker 1: So with crem Malicious, there's so much that I'm learning
- 10:16Speaker 1: um in the consumer packaging goods. But I surround myself
- 10:20Speaker 1: by a very knowledgeable team, and you can't do everything
- 10:23Speaker 1: by yourself when you're when you're running a business. Now, Walmart,
- 10:30Speaker 1: they put out an ice cream called June tenth and
- 10:33Speaker 1: it it was, it was, it was. It was bad
- 10:36Speaker 1: for them because they got a lot of bad publicity,
- 10:39Speaker 1: but in some ways it was good for you, very
- 10:41Speaker 1: very good. Talk about that Yin and yang that was happening,
- 10:44Speaker 1: because suddenly, like in January, people found you. But for
- 10:49Speaker 1: a different reason. Now Walmart has apologized. Let's make sure
- 10:53Speaker 1: everybody understand. Walmart has apologized for distributing to the ice cream,
- 10:57Speaker 1: and I believe at this time they were moving to
- 10:59Speaker 1: ice cream from the shelf. But this interview is about
- 11:02Speaker 1: the impact of positivity. Your fans have found you, how
- 11:06Speaker 1: they've supported you, So talk about that whole Walmart experience,
- 11:10Speaker 1: you know from the social media, from the fans, and
- 11:13Speaker 1: how they have rallied behind you on your social media.
- 11:17Speaker 1: And it's almost like if if social media was a phone,
- 11:21Speaker 1: your phone will be ringing off the hook. It has
- 11:24Speaker 1: been ringing off the hook. Actually there has and um
- 11:29Speaker 1: so many news outlets from across the country that want
- 11:33Speaker 1: me to speak on this. And I pretty much had decided, uh,
- 11:38Speaker 1: how I was going to deliver my message and decided
- 11:41Speaker 1: when I was going to answer to it and what
- 11:44Speaker 1: climate I was gonna be in. And of course I
- 11:46Speaker 1: trust you, you know, with my life, because you're fair
- 11:49Speaker 1: and you're very very much right here. Um you're not
- 11:54Speaker 1: You're not biased, And it's it's it's it's kind of
- 11:57Speaker 1: like you don't go in and and make us some
- 12:00Speaker 1: is about things and you think about things and and
- 12:02Speaker 1: and I'm in a safe environment where I can deliver
- 12:05Speaker 1: my story. And so I felt really good about how
- 12:08Speaker 1: I'm delivering my story and the climate that I'm delivering
- 12:11Speaker 1: it in today. So that's why I decided to do
- 12:15Speaker 1: this one and only exclusive interview with you. Uh. It
- 12:19Speaker 1: was very hard because it was very scary because I
- 12:22Speaker 1: wasn't really sure how this was going to affect my brand. Um,
- 12:26Speaker 1: I didn't know, you know, it could have went either way.
- 12:29Speaker 1: And and even today you don't know if you know
- 12:33Speaker 1: you're gonna upset someone, or if someone's gonna you know,
- 12:37Speaker 1: if there's gonna be backlash, or you just don't know.
- 12:40Speaker 1: But all I know is today I just have to
- 12:42Speaker 1: be my authentic self, um and a businesswoman and understand
- 12:46Speaker 1: exactly what I'm dealing with right now. And it was
- 12:50Speaker 1: a very unfortunate situation. But I think the blessing of
- 12:54Speaker 1: it was all of the people out in the world
- 12:58Speaker 1: that really support word of me. I mean like literally
- 13:01Speaker 1: some of the posts really made me cry. I got
- 13:05Speaker 1: thousands of messages, emails, letters in boxes, uh, posts, just
- 13:12Speaker 1: people just reaching out, just really wanting to be supportive
- 13:15Speaker 1: of this brand. It was just like, you know, cheers
- 13:18Speaker 1: to the underdog, because I am the underdog, right and
- 13:21Speaker 1: I'm I'm cool with that because it's what I know.
- 13:24Speaker 1: Is all I know how to do is come back
- 13:26Speaker 1: from it and basically stand my ground. But when you're
- 13:30Speaker 1: yourself and when you're authentic and you stand by your
- 13:33Speaker 1: brand and your name, that's all that really matters. And
- 13:36Speaker 1: I wanted people to really understand that I never went
- 13:41Speaker 1: through a diversity department in any of the retailers that
- 13:46Speaker 1: I got involved with. Where crem Malicious is being sold.
- 13:49Speaker 1: I didn't. I did that for a reason because I
- 13:52Speaker 1: wanted to be in the stores for my own merits,
- 13:55Speaker 1: my hard work, the quality of my product. I didn't
- 13:59Speaker 1: want hand out. I didn't want people to feel like,
- 14:02Speaker 1: you know, they had to meet a quota or you know,
- 14:04Speaker 1: we're just going to give you a shot because you're black,
- 14:06Speaker 1: and we have to have an African American or minority
- 14:09Speaker 1: or black women in the in the stores. I wanted
- 14:12Speaker 1: them to understand that my brand is just as good
- 14:15Speaker 1: as anyone else's. I'm just not as big. I may
- 14:18Speaker 1: not have all the resources, I may not have all
- 14:21Speaker 1: the capital that other brands have to really really grow
- 14:25Speaker 1: this brand. But every day I invest in myself by
- 14:28Speaker 1: working hard and investing in my brand and making sure
- 14:32Speaker 1: that my brand has what it needs to compete and
- 14:35Speaker 1: be successful. And I just really compete with myself. So
- 14:39Speaker 1: I feel like everybody that reached out, everybody that was
- 14:43Speaker 1: on those posts, and the shares and the likes and
- 14:46Speaker 1: and just how they stood up, you know, it just
- 14:49Speaker 1: meant everything to me, and it really gave me everything
- 14:51Speaker 1: to keep going. I'm talking to the executive chef, founder,
- 14:55Speaker 1: owner of Premlicious of Liz Rogers. Liz, Um, there are
- 15:01Speaker 1: a lot of rumors I want to clear up right now.
- 15:03Speaker 1: You know, first of all, first rumor affairs that the
- 15:06Speaker 1: June Teeth ice cream was a collaboration between Walmart and Cremolitious.
- 15:10Speaker 1: Can you answer that? That's definitely a fosse rumor. Um,
- 15:15Speaker 1: I never knew that Walmart was doing a June Team
- 15:18Speaker 1: ice cream. I've never given them any recipes. Uh. Our
- 15:22Speaker 1: recipes are are red velvet ice creams are totally different.
- 15:26Speaker 1: I have chocolate chunks in my red velvet ice cream. Um.
- 15:30Speaker 1: My recipes are formulated in proprietary with food scientists that
- 15:35Speaker 1: I personally worked with two Cremolicious. So I had no
- 15:39Speaker 1: idea what Walmart did or what they were doing. I'm
- 15:42Speaker 1: not involved in anything that they do as it relates
- 15:45Speaker 1: to the Great Value brand. So, Um, this was not
- 15:49Speaker 1: a joint venture deal. Um, this was nothing to do
- 15:52Speaker 1: with me. So their decisions are just that and it
- 15:56Speaker 1: has nothing to do with Cremolicious. I'm speaking to executive
- 15:59Speaker 1: chef Liz DGEs of Creolicious another that you're going to
- 16:04Speaker 1: take your ice cream. You're so mad, You're so mad
- 16:07Speaker 1: that you're going to take your ice cream off the
- 16:08Speaker 1: shelves of Walmart. That's very false, um, to be perfectly honest,
- 16:15Speaker 1: I've had a very good relationship with Walmart for about
- 16:18Speaker 1: a year and a half now. The category manager has
- 16:21Speaker 1: always been extremely attentive to me. He's always watched out
- 16:25Speaker 1: for me and really has been there, you know, personally,
- 16:28Speaker 1: he's always done an amazing job as it relates to
- 16:32Speaker 1: Premolicious and the growth of Premolicious, and he's expanded my
- 16:35Speaker 1: brand three times. So that's not true. And I'm a businesswoman,
- 16:38Speaker 1: you know, I can't just go around taking stuff off
- 16:41Speaker 1: the shelf. Um. Whether I agree with things or not,
- 16:44Speaker 1: you know what, it has nothing to do with the business.
- 16:47Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations master
- 16:50Speaker 1: Class with Rushan McDonald. Now, let's return to Money Making
- 16:56Speaker 1: Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. Now, when you talk about
- 17:01Speaker 1: the fans support that that that's what really put a
- 17:05Speaker 1: smile on your face. Like you talked about while while
- 17:08Speaker 1: the Juneteenth ice cream was on the shelf, fans without
- 17:11Speaker 1: there saying hey you got cream alicious over there. You
- 17:13Speaker 1: should be supporting now when you should that's the ice
- 17:15Speaker 1: cream that that ice cream is fantastic. Now that's the
- 17:18Speaker 1: part as a brand, as an entrepreneur, that's all you want.
- 17:22Speaker 1: All you want is for your customer to come to
- 17:24Speaker 1: your rescue and sometimes coming to the rescuers by buying
- 17:27Speaker 1: your product. In this case, they will not only buying
- 17:30Speaker 1: your product, but they will promoting your product. And that's
- 17:33Speaker 1: why you're getting these calls over the country and Executive
- 17:37Speaker 1: chef list. This has to be in some ways a
- 17:40Speaker 1: turning point for your brand because now it's putting it
- 17:43Speaker 1: in a different lane of popularity. Correct it is, and
- 17:47Speaker 1: and the ice cream is selling out all across the
- 17:50Speaker 1: country and I'm trying to keep up with the demand.
- 17:52Speaker 1: And now I have to find more investors. I gotta
- 17:54Speaker 1: find more um, I just have to keep it moving.
- 17:58Speaker 1: And the fans support was just absolutely amazing. But I
- 18:00Speaker 1: want people to understand that, you know, we're going to
- 18:03Speaker 1: continue to need support. We're going to continue to need
- 18:06Speaker 1: support to grow and to bring more flavors and to
- 18:09Speaker 1: bring uh more to the to the category and to
- 18:12Speaker 1: really make this a huge movement. You know, this is
- 18:16Speaker 1: a really really big deal. It's see only African American
- 18:18Speaker 1: ice cream and mass production in the world. That's really huge.
- 18:21Speaker 1: I don't think people understand what this can mean. You
- 18:25Speaker 1: know that this could possibly bring about more entrepreneurs that
- 18:30Speaker 1: want to get into source, not just in the ice
- 18:32Speaker 1: cream category, but period. You know, there's so many I'm
- 18:35Speaker 1: looking at Instagram and there's so many amazing pastry lines
- 18:39Speaker 1: and coffees and creamer. There's so much that we can
- 18:43Speaker 1: do and we can contribute to at this very moment,
- 18:47Speaker 1: and we have to keep doing it even if you're
- 18:49Speaker 1: not buying a point, tell somebody about it, dedicate support,
- 18:55Speaker 1: keep supporting it. Shouldn't have an expiration day. We have
- 18:59Speaker 1: to keep keep who's going absolutely now, you said something
- 19:02Speaker 1: that was important here now because sometimes uh, sudden popularity
- 19:07Speaker 1: can cause a shift in the money that you have
- 19:10Speaker 1: for the ice cream that you're trying to put on
- 19:12Speaker 1: the shelf. Are you looking for investors or investors should
- 19:16Speaker 1: contact you or we're not talking about everybody because you
- 19:19Speaker 1: are a person trying to expand your brand. You know,
- 19:21Speaker 1: when you go from two thousand stores to four thousand stores,
- 19:24Speaker 1: or four thousand stores and six thousand stores and ten
- 19:27Speaker 1: thousand stores across the country that is tied in for
- 19:30Speaker 1: additional revenue to be able to make the ice cream.
- 19:32Speaker 1: Tell everybody how that really works and how you feel
- 19:35Speaker 1: about where you're going over the next couple of years
- 19:37Speaker 1: with pre Relicious. I'm definitely looking for more investors, but
- 19:42Speaker 1: I'm looking for the right investors. You know. I'm very
- 19:45Speaker 1: all money's not good money, and I'm I'm really not
- 19:48Speaker 1: in a situation where I can make any mistakes, you
- 19:51Speaker 1: know right now, Um, I have to be extremely strategic.
- 19:55Speaker 1: I have to think about the people that I'm allowing
- 19:58Speaker 1: to be in my circle. I have to understand. Uh,
- 20:02Speaker 1: the investors that I currently have now, they're not multimillionaires,
- 20:07Speaker 1: but they're well to do. They have families, and that's
- 20:11Speaker 1: I really love that. And you know, because Crimalicious it's
- 20:14Speaker 1: a generational brand. It is a brand that's going to
- 20:19Speaker 1: be around, like Coke or Pepsi. It's it's Disney stock,
- 20:23Speaker 1: you know. I remember reading a story where um Walt
- 20:27Speaker 1: Disney was trying to do partnerships or get loans from
- 20:31Speaker 1: banks and everybody's turning them down. I've been in that situation.
- 20:34Speaker 1: I've been turned down so much and just strong along
- 20:38Speaker 1: and all the things that go with with raising money,
- 20:40Speaker 1: which is extremely discouraging, and then you meet these people
- 20:45Speaker 1: that are just regular people, hardworking people just like you,
- 20:48Speaker 1: that believe in you, and it grows from there. And
- 20:52Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a working owner. So as a CEO,
- 20:55Speaker 1: I'm very hands on. I'm I'm very creative. I do
- 20:58Speaker 1: a lot of product development for national companies that I'm
- 21:02Speaker 1: I'm working with now, creating points and I'm very good
- 21:05Speaker 1: at um product development. So that's really a huge wheelhouse
- 21:09Speaker 1: of mine, and it has a lot to do with
- 21:12Speaker 1: being an executive chef. But at the same time, UM,
- 21:17Speaker 1: just going back to this experience that I've experienced the
- 21:20Speaker 1: past week. UM, yes, I'm an executive chef, but I
- 21:23Speaker 1: don't cook with politics, and so that's something that I
- 21:27Speaker 1: don't want to have my brand involved in in any
- 21:30Speaker 1: way shape, shape, form, or fashion. So that's a really
- 21:33Speaker 1: big thing for me as well. So just finding the
- 21:35Speaker 1: right people and UM, making sure that I am affiliated
- 21:40Speaker 1: with the right persons or person for my brand is
- 21:43Speaker 1: very key. Now, as I watched on other TVs on
- 21:48Speaker 1: Martha Stewart do this, Um, I guess a flea market
- 21:52Speaker 1: at a house US on TV. I see, uh, you know,
- 21:56Speaker 1: you know Rachel Ratios cooking show kind of like talk show.
- 22:01Speaker 1: You know, is that something in your future? You're very
- 22:04Speaker 1: articularly you know you you're a successful entrepreneur. Are you
- 22:08Speaker 1: gonna stay in the kitchen or are you looking a
- 22:11Speaker 1: seeking opportunities to be in front of the camera as
- 22:14Speaker 1: a motivator, as an actress, as a TV host talk
- 22:17Speaker 1: to us. I definitely would hope to God that Tyler
- 22:21Speaker 1: Perry caused me to be in a movie. Definitely want
- 22:24Speaker 1: my own show, I am. I would love to have
- 22:33Speaker 1: a story done on my life because my my journey,
- 22:37Speaker 1: my life is very profound. UM. When I spoke earlier
- 22:41Speaker 1: about the underdog, um losing everything, UM, watching all of
- 22:46Speaker 1: your dreams just be shattered into a million pieces, and
- 22:49Speaker 1: you're watching, you know, all these pieces shattered, kind of
- 22:53Speaker 1: like a puzzle, and here you are, You're trying to
- 22:55Speaker 1: figure out how do you put yourself back together? And
- 22:58Speaker 1: it just starts with one piece at a time, and
- 23:01Speaker 1: then you're taking these pieces trying to make them fit,
- 23:03Speaker 1: and they don't fit into these pieces, and then you
- 23:05Speaker 1: try another piece, and you just keep going until you
- 23:09Speaker 1: can finally understand what's your purposes and what you're doing. UM,
- 23:15Speaker 1: my story is is definitely a story of inspiration because
- 23:19Speaker 1: you know, you gotta keep it moving, you know, even
- 23:22Speaker 1: if even if you fall, you've got to get back up.
- 23:25Speaker 1: And it's it's it's a big it's a big deal.
- 23:28Speaker 1: So I'm hoping to be able to get a show
- 23:29Speaker 1: and um be able to read them, meet the right people,
- 23:33Speaker 1: and definitely get some one that understands that I do
- 23:36Speaker 1: have talent and I do have a lot to get
- 23:39Speaker 1: back as well. Well. I would say this, I'm looking
- 23:43Speaker 1: at the person who's shining shining star. I say that
- 23:47Speaker 1: because of the fact that not only you're saying all
- 23:50Speaker 1: the right things, but you're delivering them with a lot
- 23:52Speaker 1: of honesty. And when you when when something like this
- 23:55Speaker 1: happens because you have no control of it, and you
- 23:58Speaker 1: had to respond and you had to be a fresh
- 24:00Speaker 1: rading I'm sure. And now you're the point in your
- 24:03Speaker 1: life where you're flipping the scripts. You turn into something
- 24:06Speaker 1: that some people may deem as a negative, some people
- 24:08Speaker 1: may wilt. You're showing strength. Where is that strength coming from?
- 24:12Speaker 1: And how can you encourage other people who faced adversity
- 24:16Speaker 1: to overcome the odds. My strength comes from my mom.
- 24:21Speaker 1: You know, I watched my mother. She was a welder
- 24:24Speaker 1: and I lost my mom several months ago unexpected cancer diagnosis,
- 24:29Speaker 1: and it's been extremely hard. But she was very strong.
- 24:33Speaker 1: She raised all four of us by herself. She worked
- 24:36Speaker 1: as a welder. Like I said, she was the only
- 24:38Speaker 1: woman that worked at her her job, and I just
- 24:44Speaker 1: remember her just coming home so tired, and we just
- 24:47Speaker 1: we just never wanted for anything. We didn't have a lot,
- 24:50Speaker 1: but she was very strong and it was like nothing
- 24:53Speaker 1: ever bothered her, you know. And then it wasn't until
- 24:57Speaker 1: you know, she got sick. I understood, you know, and
- 25:00Speaker 1: though she was very hard on me, you know, it's like,
- 25:03Speaker 1: you know, I ran track, I played in the Junior
- 25:05Speaker 1: Cleveland Orchestra for four years. I write music. I I
- 25:08Speaker 1: do a lot. I've done a lot um. I didn't
- 25:12Speaker 1: realize how much of an artist I was until I
- 25:15Speaker 1: really got into the culinary arts. And with my mom,
- 25:19Speaker 1: she's always wanted to own a restaurant. She was an
- 25:21Speaker 1: amazing cook, and because she was a single parent, she
- 25:24Speaker 1: got she never got an opportunity to do that. So
- 25:27Speaker 1: I really feel like maybe I opened my restaurants and
- 25:30Speaker 1: went on the path that I went on um because
- 25:33Speaker 1: of her. You know um so that she can live
- 25:36Speaker 1: her dream through me. And so this is where we
- 25:39Speaker 1: are today. And I just never saw um anyone disrespect
- 25:43Speaker 1: my mother. UM. She always fought for what she believed
- 25:47Speaker 1: in and that was extremely important to me and I
- 25:50Speaker 1: appreciate that to to this day. I didn't realize how
- 25:54Speaker 1: much I would need her strength until some of the
- 25:56Speaker 1: things started happening, like with the adversity and a lot
- 26:00Speaker 1: of things that's going on today in the world that
- 26:03Speaker 1: you don't think that you would have to deal with,
- 26:05Speaker 1: but it here here you are, So how do you
- 26:07Speaker 1: handle it? Well, my friend and my listeners and my viewers,
- 26:12Speaker 1: I guess I'm talking to executive chef Liz Rogers. She's
- 26:15Speaker 1: on and found him Crew Malicious. Jude Teeh is coming
- 26:18Speaker 1: up and her ice cream is available. Is available at Waltbar,
- 26:21Speaker 1: It's available to talk. It's a very it's available at Myers,
- 26:24Speaker 1: a very jungle gym. More importantly, it's created by an
- 26:27Speaker 1: incredible artist that I was fortunate to have on my
- 26:30Speaker 1: show to talk about tell our story. The story is
- 26:33Speaker 1: not tied to negativity, is tied to positivity, is tied
- 26:35Speaker 1: to uplift, and more importantly, it's tied to encouragement. Basically,
- 26:39Speaker 1: when you buy her ice cream, when you taste her
- 26:42Speaker 1: ice cream, know that you're participating in a dreamer and
- 26:44Speaker 1: her dreams is allowing you to know that you, too
- 26:48Speaker 1: can be successful. I want to thank you for coming
- 26:50Speaker 1: on Money Making Conversation master Class. Executive Chef Liz Rogers.
- 26:54Speaker 1: Thank you. You have a great day and live life deliciously.
- 26:57Speaker 1: I appreciate you. If you want to hear us see
- 26:59Speaker 1: this in the You on Money Making Conversation Masterclass, please
- 27:02Speaker 1: go to money Making Conversation dot com. I'm Rashean McDonald.
- 27:05Speaker 1: I am your host.