Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Rushion Interviews Melody Shari Holt, she opens up about divorce, motherhood, rebranding, and new music! |Grammy-nominated jazz duo Marcus & Jean Baylor discuss family, music, & purpose!

Transcript

Rushion Interviews Melody Shari Holt, she opens up about divorce, motherhood, rebranding, and new music! |Grammy-nominated jazz duo Marcus & Jean Baylor discuss family, music, & purpose! · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's to show that she
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: has the secrets of success experience firsthand by marketing and
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Brandon expert Rashaan McDonald. I will know he's given me
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: advice to many occasions. In incase you didn't notice, I'm
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: not broke, you know, he'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and industry decision makers. It's what he likes to do,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: it's what he likes to share. Now it's time to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: hear from my man, Rashan McDonald money Making Conversations. Here
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: we go. Welcome to Money Making Conversations masterclass. I'm your host,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Rashean McDonald. As always should be recognize. I recognize that
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: you all different definitions and success. I'll talk about that
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: all the time. There's there's nothing wrong with thinking different,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: being different, but it's important that you mac maximize your
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: effort to be successful. For you, it may be decides
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to your paycheck. Mine has inspired people to accomplish their
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: goals and live their very best life. I always tell
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: us on every episode of my Guests is Hers it's
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: many times. Please stop reading other people's success stories and
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: believe me. She is writing her own right now. Please
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: always to leave with your gifts. If you leave with
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: your gifts, then don't let anybody, not even your friends,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: family or co workers, stop you from planning or living
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: your dreams. Those last two statements absolutely epitomizes my next guest.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: It's a new year, it's time to start fresh and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: most importantly, build your brand. We're going to talk about that.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: My guests or Money Making Conversations masterclass is Melody Sharif.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: She's to start and produce her owns hit series Love
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: and Marriage Huntsfield. You know Melodie, She's a successful entrepreneur, homebuilder,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: TV personality, slash host, motivational speaker, author and now recording artists.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Within the last year, Melanie just released the latest single Down,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: which is charging number one on iTunes. She's also the
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: founder of the beauty line Seventh Avenue Premier Skincare, which
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I've ordered by the way. Now the latest session of
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Love and Marriage hunts Fields and right now on the
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: own network, Melanie discussing the new season of four. Season
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: four came four years full seasons. I've known you there
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: hit serious Love and Marriage Huntsfield, being a parent. We're
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: gonna talk about that her social life. We wanna talk
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: about that and being a serial entrepreneur, which comes to
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the forefraat of all my conversations that I have with
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: her when she comes on this show. Please welcome to
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  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Melody Chari. How you doing, Melody? Hey? Hey,
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  Speaker 1: Hi everyone, how are you doing? Look at this? Look?
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: You know, I always enjoy getting a chance to come
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  Speaker 1: and talk with you. Well, you know, because it's been
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: a journey with us, you know, and throughout that journey,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: you know, when I met you, you guys were a
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: couple and inspiring to get into this lane of television.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: But you had aspirations always about what you want, and
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: that's what I've always loved about. You know when I
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: always tell people when you are a couple, that doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean you have to deny your dreams and your aspirations
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and your opportunity to be successful. Couple doesn't mean you
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: have to couple. It means that they're shared opportunities and
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: one should support the other in the process. But don't
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: ever deny your dreams when you are married or you're
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: in a relationship or in a partnership, because it only
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: works if both people are giving max effort, and it
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: only works if both people respect each other's aspirations or
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: dreams and in turn helped support each other getting to
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  Speaker 1: the next level. Talk about your dreams and talk about
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: so far the journey that you're making. Right now, we're
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: gonna talk a lot. We're gonna slow this down because
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: she has a lot to talk about. I feel very
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  Speaker 1: honored to have Melody take since aside of twenty five
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: minutes of a time to talk about her career and
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  Speaker 1: the future. So where are we at right now, Melody?
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  Speaker 1: You know, I will to painty back off of what
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  Speaker 1: you just stated. I will say that you know, I've always,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: you know, loved and enjoyed singing. My first performance was
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: when I was five, and from there I was always
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: singing on television, doing padgets talent shows, playing keyboard at
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  Speaker 1: the church and in the prey on the praise and
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: worship team. And so I've always had a love for
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: the arts, being in plays right, I've always had a
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: love for the arts. And so what I am seeing
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: right now is literally the thing that God gifted me
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  Speaker 1: with that started in my early years. I'm seeing it
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  Speaker 1: come to fruition. I'm seeing me God opening doors for
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  Speaker 1: me in the same arena of arts and entertainment and
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  Speaker 1: me being able to you know, pursue my music career,
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  Speaker 1: acting and hosting, producing, and so for me right now,
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  Speaker 1: I'm in a phase and stage of thankfulness and gratefulness.
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  Speaker 1: I am just super super excited about everything that God
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  Speaker 1: has in store despite the obstacles that I've gone through
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  Speaker 1: and I've experienced. As you mentioned, it is important that
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  Speaker 1: you know when you're a spouse, when you're married to
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: still support one another in your dreams and you know
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  Speaker 1: your aspirations, which includes as well, making sure that your
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  Speaker 1: mate is in the best place when it comes to
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: their mental well being their emotional being, because it's something
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: about what you can do when you are in a
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: great space mentally and emotionally. We never as you this, Melanie,
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  Speaker 1: because you know when people I always tell people, I
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: call it multi level or multi tiered levels of income,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: multi tiered levels of opportunities. And when I say that,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: some people say that we shouldn't stop. Now. I'm sure
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: some people go, you know, Melani need to go somewhere
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: and sit down now, she's sanging. Come on now. That's
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: why it was important that people need to hear that.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: This is not something you thought of last week. This
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  Speaker 1: is part of your DNA, part of your life. So
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  Speaker 1: I didn't know you had a skill, a skill outside
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  Speaker 1: of sing. I know you can see, but you go
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  Speaker 1: about that. You know I can get it the keyboard
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  Speaker 1: and do my thing too. So really, I've said this
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  Speaker 1: many times on my show, that you know the eighteen
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  Speaker 1: forty and sixty or a key a key parameters as
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: far as what you want to do with your life,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: because eighteen that's when you're a free spirit. You know,
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  Speaker 1: that's when you want to do all these things and
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: somewhere alone line in your case, you got married, and
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  Speaker 1: sometimes when you get married, you became a positive the parents,
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  Speaker 1: you support, your husband, and y'all were still doing things together,
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  Speaker 1: but still not the things that you could do. So
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  Speaker 1: right now in your life, am I saying it correctly?
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  Speaker 1: You're now doing the things that you want to do
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  Speaker 1: and can do and should do correctly. Absolutely absolutely. And
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: it's funny that you give those different age ranges because
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  Speaker 1: I'm thirty six, and so you know, I still have
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  Speaker 1: a few more years to go before I hit forty,
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  Speaker 1: but I'm closer to forty than I am eighteen or thirty,
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  Speaker 1: that's for sure. And you know, many of us have
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: many talents. You know, we have a story in the
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  Speaker 1: Bible where it talks about where people were giving different talents, right,
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  Speaker 1: and so even sometimes when you know, I've gone on
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  Speaker 1: social media and I've been playing the keyboard while I'm singing,
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  Speaker 1: and people are like, oh my gosh, I didn't know
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  Speaker 1: she knew how to play. You know, we all have talents.
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  Speaker 1: And I feel like in due time and in due season,
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  Speaker 1: you know, those things show their head again and they show, hey,
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  Speaker 1: look this is here. This was instilled in you. This
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  Speaker 1: is a gift that was God given. And so me
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: walking in my purpose and walking in that and being
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  Speaker 1: you know, using that, you know to help other people,
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  Speaker 1: specifically women who can relate to my music. You know,
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  Speaker 1: for me, that's exactly where I'm supposed to be. Now
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  Speaker 1: now when you talk about your music, because the beauty
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: of when I say the word beauty, because you're a
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  Speaker 1: beautiful person, and sometimes people will use that against you,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: you know, and say that, you know, oh, she's just
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: getting that because she's attractive. Of she's just getting that.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: My whole thing is that I have six sisters, so
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: I get really sensitive when people start getting into that
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  Speaker 1: that that gender bending about this is why they are successful.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: I love the fact that I've seen you grow and
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  Speaker 1: I want to be in a relationship with you the
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  Speaker 1: next twenty years so I can see hopefully the next
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  Speaker 1: end game because I do feel that when I said
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  Speaker 1: the word eighteen and forty, well she's doing it. Everybody
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: is that A lot of time when people have not
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  Speaker 1: accomplished their dreams or not living their dreams, when they
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  Speaker 1: get the forty, they feel depressed. They feel that they
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  Speaker 1: feel that they can't do anything other than what they're
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: doing at that time. At forty, they feel that there's
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  Speaker 1: no future. She's said in the word thirty six, she's
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: four away from forty. But guess what she's now doing.
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  Speaker 1: What she wants to do in her life and can do.
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  Speaker 1: That's important and I really I want to use this
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  Speaker 1: episode of interviewing you as a motivating factor, not only
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: for your fans, because a lot of people who will
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: be hearing this interview melody Shari for the first time,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: let's write Shari for the first time, will understand she's
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: an independent thinker and you are a brand now officially
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: called Melody Shari. Correct, absolutely yes, And you know speaking
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: of that, you know I spent many years where of
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: course when I was married, building a brand as this
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: power couple, power duo in business together and so now
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: me having to rebrand myself solo, and then of course
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: after being divorced, going from Melody Hole to Melody Shari.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: And I will tell anyone that hard work is definitely
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: where it's at. Um. You know, you have to have
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: a strong work ethic with anything that you do. I
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: literally had a conversation UM yesterday and I told them, yeah,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I actually did my song on Sunday. I went in
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: the studio, recorded my song Sunday, did the cover shoot
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: on Tuesday, dropped it on Saturday. And they said, whoa,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: you did all that in a week. I said absolutely,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: And I went and recorded my other song on that
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Wednesday and they were like wow. UM. To say my
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: work ethic is unmatched, um, that would be an understatement.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: I don't look or expect anything to be handed or
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: given to me, but I believe in working hard and
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: my mindset is as long as I'm moving, God will
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: meet me where I need to be meant to make
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: sure I get to where I'm trying to go. So
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: I wake up early, three, four o'clock in the morning,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: I'm up. Huh, there you go. That's me four thirty
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: every day, Monday Friday. So for the weekends, absolutely even
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: for me, even all the weekends. And I utilize every minute,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: every second of the day to make sure that I
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: don't feel like something didn't get handled because I decided to,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: you know, not put my all into the day. And
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: so you have to be willing to make those sacrifices
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: you have to. But that comes from it being in
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: your hearts. Right. When something in your heart and it
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: means a lot to you, you're gonna put in the work,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: you know, when you're passionate about it, you're gonna put
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: in the world. Well, you know, I'm gonna back up
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: a little bit here your journey and the journey watching
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: you become who you are today, and believe me, there
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: is a even brighter future for her. I don't want
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: to limit like this is her. She's gonna drop a
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: single drop another single. Her heart, entrepreneurship and her give
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: back has always been strong. In fact, you've seen it
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: and some of the episodes of love and marriage Holly
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Huntville when she was starting her own podcast type set
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: up and trying to get her voice out there and
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: trying to tell everybody her story. And that started with
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: the masterclasses. And I remember to rashand I'm gonna start
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: these masterclasses and you start rolling it out on your
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Instagram account. Why was there? I think that was the
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: first foray until you really starting establishing your brand. And
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: then we're gonna talk about the makeup line. But that
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: was the first part of stepping out of the entrepreneurs
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: and out of the entrepreneurship lane as yourself and sharing
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: your knowledge with other people, especially women correctly, well, yes,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: especially women. You know, I've had a situation where I'd
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: actually been heavily a part of a friend getting into
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: this industry hall property preservation, and so it was successful,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: and you know, there was something in me that says,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: you know what, if I can do it once, I
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: can do it again. And you know, I had this
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: idea of taking the time to teach others how to
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: get into into this white male dominated industry and showing
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: them the way. It's a multibillion dollar industry, so showing
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: them the way, showing them how they could get another
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: level of financial freedom and build well. And so I
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: launched my first class in June of twenty twenty. To date,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: I've had over four hundred students who've gone through my course,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: mostly African American females. I've had people who've been able
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: to resign from their nine to fives. I've had people
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: who are already teaching their sons and their nephews about
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: the industry to build that generational wealth in that family business.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: And so it's been great for me and fulfilling for
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: me to be quite honest to have my master class
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: where I am able to pour into others and teach
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: them the game that honestly helped me to resign, to
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: be able to resign from teaching in April of twenty eleven. Awesome. Now,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: will you go in a little detail exactly what that
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: those courses are so my listeners and my viewers can
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: get a clear understanding of how they can be a
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: part of that and also register. And are is it
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: just a period where you can join online or it's
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: it's seasonal. Can you update them a little bit more
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: with more detail. Absolutely. So. Property preservation is the process
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: of maintaining for clost properties for banks so when a
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: property is for a closet on as a property preservation
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: is you know, you changed the lout, you maintain the lawn,
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: you clean the property. Any issues that happen, theft, vendalism,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: storm fire, you take care of those things for the bank,
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: and the bank pays shoe. I covered seven states at
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: one time, so it is a national industry. I've had
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: students from all over the country, from California to New York,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Okay to Florida. And so what I will say is
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: that if you are good at project management, this is
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: definitely an industry that you can get in because what
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: you're doing is you're managing these different projects, these different
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: work orders. I actually usually have the class about every
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: three months. I currently have the most recent class I
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: just started. We started two weeks ago. It was a
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: five week program. And if you're interested, of course, follow
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: me on social media. I always post one I'm having
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: a class coming up and the websites to register. It's
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Masterclass with Melody dot Com. Right, we'll be right back
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: with more Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. Now
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: let's return to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: She's doing all this, is still doing love and marriage.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Huntsfield still being a great parent, dealing with a lot
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: of social media issues out there, personalized, she's building her brand,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: she's working, she's focused. Now let's go to the Seventh
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Avenue Premier Schemecare. That's the second lane that she brought
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: into my life. You know, you said, Shane, I work
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: because up there our relationship is fun. She has, she has,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: she had direct message, mean work, what do you think about?
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: What the right now? I've always been like a mentor
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: to her. I like to believe I've always been there
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: to give a positive advice and I've always been there
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: to uplift her because that's what people need. I'm gonna
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: just tell you, if you want to win in life,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: surround yourself with people who believe and share your journey.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Understand what I'm saying, not participate. They didn't share your journey,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: which means they're willing to advise you or physically assist
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: you in some ways, financially aid you to make sure
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: your dreams come true because they understand it. So tell
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: us about Seventh Avenue Premiere Skincare. So at Seventh Avenue
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: career skincare. I actually grew up on Seventh Avenue, so
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: that's light it's caused Seventh Avenue as nothing to do
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: with New York, nothing to do with New York. There's
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: nothing to do with New York. No, nothing to do
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: with New York now. And so actually a small town
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: in Alabama running into Alabama black Bread. But that is
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: where I started to learn the importance, you know, as
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: a young girl, the importance of care, taking care of myself,
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: taking care of my skin, my body. And so that's
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: why it's named Seventh Avenue Premier Skincare. But I was
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: blessed to work with, you know, a black female chemist
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: and formulate my products. I knew I didn't want to
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: get products from overseas and just throw a label on them,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: and I knew that I wanted to include some of
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: the things that my great grandmother taught me to help
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: me come back. Py riss rosato, which is a skin
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: condition that I had growing up. And so it has
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: been doing phenomenal, been doing phenomenal. Is clean, natural, vegan,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: animal cruelty free, and I've already gotten opportunities for it
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: to go into retail, and so the sales are phenomenal,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the support is phenomenal, and I mean this is going
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: to be a brand to stick around for quite some
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: time for sure. Okay. Cool. Now, listen to what she's doing, y'all.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: She's taking advantage of all the things that God has
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: introduced in her life mentally, physically Okay. She talked about
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: the skincare there was something she had to deal with personally, Okay.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Her singing career. She's been doing this since she was
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: a kid in church okay. And then the preservation business,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: the on line five week course. It's something that she's
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: doing so she's not stepping out of her comfort zone.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: She's just expanding the opportunities that's been built into her DNA.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: So that's what I really want people to understand about it. Now.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: When we're talking about launching a product like this, you know,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: I don't want people just to hear it, because everybody
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: wants to launch a product. Everybody wants to launch some muffins,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: they want to launch some food products, they want touch
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: all kinds of products. How did you get to the
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: point to be able to say I got this idea?
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Did you get with a chemists? What was what enabled
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: you to bring this brand, which is fantastic by the way,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: to where it is right now. Well, I will tell
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: you this, it took three years. It took three years,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: um pretty much three and a half. I started working
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: on it in two thousand and eighteen. I didn't lunch
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: it until twenty twenty two. I had to go through
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: the process of rebranding it, you know, because of my divorce,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: and so I had to see what that looked like,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: what did that feel like, what felt good to me?
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: How was I supposed to move with the new what
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: was gonna be the new name, what was gonna be
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: the callers? I had to come up with all of
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: that again, and so three and a half years of work,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: which meant patience because I do believe that things happen
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: when they're supposed to how they're supposed to. So yes,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: definitely doing my research, getting with the chemist, because I
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: you know, you have to decide those things that are absolute,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: meaning this is what has to happen. And so for me,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: one of those things was it had to be USA made,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: and I knew that I wanted to be a part
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: of the formulating process. And so what I will say is, no,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: when you're starting a brand, or starting a skincare line, haircare,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: whatever it may be. Stick to those core things that
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: you're saying that can't be changed or can't be moved.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Don't be so easily been, you know, don't being so
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: easily with what others may say. True enough, it may
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: have caused less if I just got something from overseas
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: and through a label line, but that's not what I
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: wanted to do, and that's not what I felt my
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: supporters what they deserved. And so stick chill no matter what,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: you know what feels good to you in your hearts,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: and then go after it, go full force, full fledged
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: after it, and allow nothing, no hindrances, no delays. I
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: say all the time, delayed does not mean denied. I'm
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: let none of that stop you from building the brand
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: or building the company that you know you're supposed to
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: be building. Well, you know the interesting point that then
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: this is the transition to a TV host. You know,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: when she got the opportunity to to host this series.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: I remember she because she came on the show and
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: I interviewed about it, and she was she is at
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: that point, she wasn't sure that that was something that
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: she could do, but she pushed past the fear I'm
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: not saying anything. We not talked on the air and interview,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: and she went roushan, this is something I want to
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: do on the regular basis. I want to act. I
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: want to produce that last step because I went through
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: the Because we're gonna get back to parenting because that
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: because when you're doing all this, people want to where
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: the kids are? Where the kids are? So after you
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: ask this question, we're gonna get back to parenting, and
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: then we're gonna slide back over to love and marriage
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: Hunter Field, which airs every Saturday night a pm Eastern
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Pacific on the Own Network. We won't find out what's
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: happening in this season. It was important on this interview
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: because I know they dived straight into that all the time.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: She has to kind of like squeeze in this squeezing
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: this this is about money making conversation matter to class.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: It's about talking to individuals like her who are making
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: the difference in our community as an entrepreneur, especially females
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: who are the largest and the fastest growing popular special
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: women of color in the entrepreneurial field. Now answer that
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: next question, and then we're gonna get the parent being
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: a host absolutely. So hosting gives me a nice break
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: from reality. You know, we all know that reality TV
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: has to have some drama and a lot of times,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: you know, the cameras are there when you're in situations
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: that you may normally wouldn't being as quickly or you know,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: as so much. You gotta go ahead and have that
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: conversation sometime. And so reality hosting gives me a break
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: from that and it allows me, you know, to just
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: show another side of me. So I definitely enjoyed hosting.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: You know, I hosted Girlfriend's Check in her own, I
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: hosted Behind every Man for own, and I hosted something recently,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: most recently was for Essence and Coca Cola. And so
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I will say that for me, that is definitely a comfort.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Comfort zone for me is hosting. Well, she's a brand
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. You know, I met her. She was
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: just a young lady who's married, which is nothing wrong
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: with that. But I love the fact that she's always
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: been focused. And when you watch the show Love and
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: Marriage Huntsfield, like I said, ears every Saturday night APM
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Eastern Pacific on their own network, you know, you're doing
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: all these things NonStop. Where does the time for the
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: kids fall in, Like, how do you align that relationship
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: because there's a lot of moms out there who want
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: to do what you do. How you're able to be
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: able to manage the love of because and the need
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: because I always tell people, these kids didn't ask to
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: come in this world. We brought them into the world absolutely. So,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: for one, it's very important that you have an amazing
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: support system. It's important that you know you also communicate
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: and talk with your children. So my children know what
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I'm doing, they know what I'm working on. I have
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: those real conversations with them, you know, I have conversations
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: with them about what it is that they want to
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: do as they get older, right, and so my hope
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and prayers always that I'm knocking down doors that they
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: will then be able to easily walk through. So everyone
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: in the family understanding the assignment, so to speak, it's
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: really important. I can tell you that my children, they
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: still get their mom. We still go on vacations. I
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: still you know, pack them up. We'll go to the
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: indoor water park, We'll go to the beach, We'll go
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: to David Busters. I still cook. You cook the other
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: night their favorite Chicka Pie Pie. I still cook, I
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: still take them to school. Um, you know, they come
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: first regardless period, they come first. Well, I'm talking to
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: the brand Melanie Sari, the star Loving Marriage and producer.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Let me put that back. Let's slop back star and
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: producer Loving Marriage Hutsfield, which airs every Saturday night APM
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: on the own network. What is going to happen this season?
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna let you kind of tell it
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: because you know, if I might get to tell out
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: too many details and then I want to let you
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: back on my show. But it's still high powered. You're
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: brought up in to Africa, you know. He coming back
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: with all these ideas, social media posts getting people fired up,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: infidelity questions, relationship questions, whoa just let everybody know, why
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: did you do the show and how did you guys
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: come to come together as a couple before we start
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: talking about what's happening in this season? Absolutely so. He
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: pitched a show to Carlos King My X and nine
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: and had a consultation with him, pitched the show to
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: him and in the midst of that and once we agreed,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: you know, to go with his production company to get
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: us a show. It took us about three years of
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: us selling Huntsville to him. I would test Carlos all
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the time and let him know what was going on
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: in the city and what was going down in terms
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: of how the city was growing. And eventually he sent
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: us a contract. He was like, look, we put together
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: a sizzel for him, send it to him, and he said,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I want to sign you. Guys. I
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: don't want you to sign with anybody else. I want
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: to work with you. He sent a contract that day
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: we signed it. It gave him a certain time frame
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: to get the show picked up. The next conversation we
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: had was, hey, look, I'm getting some great feedback, but
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: I am really great at getting ensemble soul. What do
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: you guys think about doing an ensemble? Do you have
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: any friends that you maybe want to bring along? And
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: so at that point we presented several friends to him.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: You know that we several couples that we knew, and
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: they went through the process of interviewing them and talking
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: with them and you know, deciding how they wanted to
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: go and so, um, you know, that's where we are.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: That's how we're here with love and marriage Huntsville. I
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: think for me, the the idea from the beginning was
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: really to show a young, young black couples who were
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: successful doing things in the community, working hard to you know,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: enhance the community as much as possible, while also showing
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: real life issues that are happened in relationships and that
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: happened with friendships, and just being transparent, transparent, honest and
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: open um about life like a reality TV show that
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: is actually real, that is transparent. That was the goal
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: and authentic. And I and you also change the game
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: because you went from that big city format and I'm
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: not gonna I'm not being negga around to say that,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: you know. And am I calling Huntsville a small town
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: but a smaller city? You know? Yeah, But if you
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: ever go hunts Field, which is the home of NASA,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: very well educated, you go there, they got everything it is.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: It is a baby version of Atlanta, you know when
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about the the the the lifestyle, the education
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: level and the h and the job availability. It's a
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: beautiful city. I went there many times. I was fortunate
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: to go through when I was when I was being
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: an entertainer. And so with that being said, what should
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: we expect, Melody, sheari, what is season four? And why
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: should we look? I know why because I'm watching you,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: But why should we love some season for up? In
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: one word, it would be whirlwind? Whirlwind? Yeah, um, and
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: you thought last season was something else? After that reunion
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: that has happened and everything else that's going on, honey,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: you better buffle up for season four? Okayason four? Well,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: you know, like I said, you know, that's why I
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: wanted to let everybody here how it started, so you
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: can see that, know some of the manipulations, some of
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the production. You know, you get into these projects and
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: you don't know your journey and their journey. Unfortunately, and
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: melody situation has led to a divorce, situation played out
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: in the public side, played out in the social media.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: But it didn't break her. It didn't break her spirit,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: didn't break her relationships. And know that that's important because
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: you got a lot of haters out there, and these
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: haters are trying to manipulate the system and make people
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: feel that they're wrong. Again, Melanie, sure read as always,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: you bring God, you dropped the gems, you dropped the enthusiasm,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: and just watch our relationship grow and you know, you
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: have a home here money making conversations masterclass. I was
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: a board to show tell them of sending those those videos.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Tell me now, I said, you can't tell me about
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: the song. Drop otherwise out to put that in my newsletter.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: But that's all right. I'm gonna with a little hate
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: knowing you you could have thrown your bar Richard. Can
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: you drop this first? I say, you need to apologize.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: You need to apologize, d em men with everything else.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: But again, tell them to send me something video so
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I can drop in next week's newsletter. Because I've got
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: no banners to promote that. I got one hundred and
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: five thousand fan club members go out every Wednesday, and
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: I dropped them every week to sizzles that go out
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: to promote the upcoming episode. Because I believe in you.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: I love the people on the show. You are my
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: number one on that show. I will protect you. I
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: will support you keeping who you are. You are a
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: blessing and what can I say? A star of what
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: we needed? You know? Will you represent a lot of
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: great things and keep winning? Okay, thank you for coming
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: to my show, melodist. You wonderful. If you want to
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: hear or see any of my interviews on money making Conversations.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Please go to Moneymaking Conversation dot com. Ra Sean McDonald,
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: I am your host. We'll be right back with more
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rushan McDonald. You are now
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: tuned into the money Making Conversations. Minute of Inspiration with
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Rashaan McDonald. Hie ra Sean McDonald for Moneymaking Conversations masterclass
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: with your Daily Into the Inspiration. I sat down with actor,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: writer and comedian Leonard Robinson. I talked about the necessity
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: of changing with the times as a comedian outside of
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: just stand up. I mean, the world is different right now.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: You know, people are becoming more educated and more informed
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: on a lot more issues than they had to be
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: in the past, and with that requires a certain amount
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: of growth on your part as the artist and new
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: creative to understand where the world is right now, the
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: temperature of the world, and decide are you going to
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: grow with it or are you're gonna draw a line
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: in the sand and say I want to stay right
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: here and keep saying these things. You see it. Politically,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: the last couple of years, the whole America first, bring back,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: bring back the good old days, right well, when you
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: say things like that, well good for who? But you
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: know you can listen to this full interview with Leonard
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Robinson is available on Moneymaking Conversations dot com. Now, let's
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: return to money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. They're here,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: I've We're going to talk about a couple of my
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: favorite that cuts on their single The Project. My guests
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: on money Making Conversations Masterclass of Grammy nominated jazz dual
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: Marcus and Gene Baylor for the new album The Bailor
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Project Generations. The Baila Project a husband and a wife,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: an astounding duo built on love, faith, family, culture, and community.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: As the children of pastors, Marcus and Jean's musical roots
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: were planted deeply within the church and it was there
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: that the role was paid for the influence of jazz, gospel,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: blues and soul to make its mark. Please work with
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: the Money Making Conversations Masterclass Marcus and Jane Baylor. How
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: are you doing? Hello? Hello? Well, I hope, I hope.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: I did did you justice buy that intro? Because the
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: music is uh? I'm telling you man, y'all, y'all, y'all
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: are doing something. You know, jazz. It's it's jazz, but
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: is a mix of something else. I am I missing
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: something when I say that, Marcus and Jene, Nope, you're
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: not missing anything. I mean, first of all, thank you
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: for the amazing introduction. Um. The other thing is that
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: it's music that's born out of our community. So jazz,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: you know, the blues it's there, you know, gospel is there,
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: you know, R and B. All those things are the
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: roots of our music that makes up who we are
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: as the people. Right before I get into your background.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: And like I said, I may be late to the party,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: but I'm at the party that with the Baylor Project, okay,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: want you know, and there's two songs that really their
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: own mind that there are two songs that really stand
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: out for me that I listened to and uh and
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: that that really I thought, really talk is what I'm
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: talking about. How diverse the sound is. It's called Only
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: Believe featuring the Jamison Ross and then black Boy. You
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: know Black Bok got that trumpet sliding through that, the piano, strings,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: that drum, you know they all it is in The
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: beat is just a slow melodic tune that builds up
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: to the vocals are just are just slid in at
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: different moments. Those two songs Only Believe in Black Boy.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Can we talk about the evolution and the process of
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: creating those really really different songs on the same project,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: which is the Baila Project. Yes, oh wow, you picked
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: um two very diverse songs. I love it those two.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: You know, when we approach an album in general, we
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: really approach it as a body of work, and we
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: really take our time to kind of basically live and
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: allow the songs and ideas to come to us and
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: then we're able to develop them. Um. So Only Believe.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: I think that actually kind of came early on and
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't think it was gonna work on the album,
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: and Marcus was like, yes, anyway, shame on you, Shame
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: on you. That is my favorite. That is the I
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: can't say that that's a love song. I love. I'm
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: an NPR. I can't endorse it. I apologize. I slipped
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: over the curve, I slipped over the lake. But only
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Believe is a song that stood out on the album.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: It's all the music stands out. But like anybody who
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: listens to music, you always have a favorite song that
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: just grabs you and his holes onto you. Emotionally takes
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: you on the journey. Because what I've taken from listening
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: to the music, you guys, when I say you guys
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Marcus and Gane Baylor great storytellers. Wow, thank you, thank you.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: That's really kind of what we aim to do is
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: tell stories through our songs. But there we are aimed
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: to tell stories that are true and authentic, not only
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: to us but to other people. And a good friend
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: of ours, Andre guests he um he described this. He
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: wrote a line of notes and he described the album
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: as a soul full sonic story quilt I believe, Yeah,
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: and you know just how it was all weave together
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: with the different songs and how it was like, um
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: he had specific ideas and concepts and themes, but then
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: it's still had. It was like about the universality of
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: the human condition. So even though it's very particular, allowing
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: the terials, very particular to the Black community, the concepts
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: and things are those that really anybody can relate to. Yeah,
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: that Gard And also I mean this has truly been
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: a journey for us. I mean before we were married,
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: m I was a drummer. Well well while while we
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: were married as well, but I was the drummer in
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: the Yellow Jacket and Gene come out of an R
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: and B duo across Jan Nate's and so there's a
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: whole history of our you know, where we have come
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: from in terms of what we've been doing in the
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: music business. But at the same time been blessed to
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: just be mentored by some of the you know, the
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: legends and just people that inspire us, you know daily,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: and we started on our shoulders. Well, one of the
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: reasons I created I've been blessed to be able to
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: have a show like Mony main conversation masterclass. I get
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: people to talk about their dreams, with their coming their fears,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: you know, walking through the unknown. Dog faith plays a
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: major role in that because you already said both of you,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: both of you came from groups, and groups can allow
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: you to you know, standing back and lean on somebody
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: for support, and sometimes they don't give you the support
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: that you want, but it's still somebody you can talk
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: to to step out as individuals and do what you do.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: Talk about that journey, well, it's I mean, I know
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Gene can definitely add to this, but I guess for us,
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, we started our own label alike be alike.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: And it started at the beginning just for us stepping
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: out as the bill of project and starting from that
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: first gig of just playing for a set of fifty people,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: and so to see how this journey has moved forward.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: And now we're blessed to be Grammy nominated this year
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: for our album Generations. And actually this is our fourth
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: Grammy nomination within what past four years, twenty eight pey,
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: So you can add more to it, you know, yeah, Marcus,
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: you could you could talk Mark just not we go
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: just not a five minute interview. Now you can talk now.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: You know he's just gonna throw it off, like I'm
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: gonna cut him off. You know, you know they only
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: got about three more minutes. You know, this show us
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: built to tell your story. This just show us built
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: to talk about your journey. Because I want people to
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: understand a lot of people want to be you. There
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: are a lot of people who have dreams cut off
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: because somewhere along the line somebody said, go get a
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: job that's not you know, you're too old, or you're
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: or you're you're you're the wrong size, wrong color. You know,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: you can't sing. Nobody wants you to. Because I know
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: because those things were said to me. I remember as
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: my career as a stand up comedian. I remember early
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: on this guy I can tell you his name, Paul Mento.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: He was the owner of this comedy club in Houston.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: And I came off the stage and if to a
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: standing ovation. He said, um, he said, you know, you
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: could be a little bit funnier if people understand you.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: I go, huh, he said, you know you're you're you're
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: not really clear when you talk. I go, but they
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: but they're laughing. He said, you said just a note,
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: just a note, you know, you know, but you it's
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: a business. You're not gonna make it in you know,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: because nobody want to ever understand you. So I know
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: that happened to me. And that's why I can just
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: say this to people that when people questioning, well, you know,
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: my success and well, you know, how did you make it?
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: I had to overcome people telling me to quit that
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: this wasn't for you. And so I know along the way,
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: you know, I said earlier, your pastor kids, and so
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: sometimes when your pastor kids, people talk like your favorite
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: you know, you didn't work hard and things of those things,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: and uh, and so that's why I wanted to make sure, Marcus,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: you tell us your story because I'm gonna get to Gene.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna get you probably on the other side of
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: the break, depending on how hard you talk. So continue, Marcus. So,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, so basically the journey, I mean, so the
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: thing about it is is that I think it's you know,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: one thing that I tell people is that when you
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: have a dream and a go, it starts with a dream,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: but you have to be consistent and persistent. And so
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: in saying that, it's almost like the thing about it
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: is is that you tweak your you tweak whatever your
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: business or whatever you're doing alone the way, but stay
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: consistent at it, like because a lot of times is
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: that I meet people, we meet people in the industry
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: or just in business in general that they're one thing,
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: they're doing this today tomorrow, Like well, man, I'm selling insurance,
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: you know. So it's like nothing wrong with that. But
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: my thing is that your dream really boils down to
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: your purpose, and if you understand your purpose, that's what
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: keeps you going. Because one thing I will tell you
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: this is that I learned that motivation and inspiration on
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the journey comes and go, but What keeps me going
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: daily is the purpose. One thing. I understand what my
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: purpose is. Then it's like okay, whether I'm tired, whether um,
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: you know, it's like okay, man, no, you gotta keep going.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: You almost there. I mean the Bella project, I mean
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: it started with you know, now we're blessed the tour
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: and and you know have a fucking age in and
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: and and but everything started with us doing everything ourselves.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: We booked ourselves, were we did all the I mean you,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: I mean you, you know how it is, you you
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: name it absolutely, drums a gig, you know, the whole nine.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: So what's that being said. I think it's really understanding
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: the journey because it doesn't happen overnight. As much as
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: we would like it too, it doesn't happen overnight. It's
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: a process. Well, the thing that I love about this
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: story is so relatable to you know, nothing's easy, nothing
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: during there there are hungry nights, he's he'll tell you
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: that they're hungry days. There days when you sit on
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: the other side of the bed and you and you
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: your feet on the floor but your body don't want
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: to get up. Days where where you you actually just cry.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: You cry not so much out of fear, it just frustration.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: It's fear us because you know, fear drives that frustration.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: And I should say that because that fear the unknown.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: Have I made the right decision? But what what what
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: keeps you going is faith but also a plan. You
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: gotta have that plan everybody. You cannot just walk out
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: that door and not have an objective because talent would
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: only get you so far. In the bottom line, you
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: gotta surround yourself with people who believe in the same
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: journey you're trying to make. Let me repeat that one
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: more time. You gotta surround yourself with people who want
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: to make the same journey with you. And I would
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: tell you back at ninety two, I didn't get that.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: I didn't get what people saw in me, Marcus and Gene.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: And so that is why this interview that with doing
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: now is so important because of the fact that I
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: want people to hear your story when when we talk
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: all about the journey, you know, we all I know,
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: I'll tell people I grew up in the hood and
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: I always see things on TV. And I always felt
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: that what I saw TV I could actually be a
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: part of I guess that was That's what helped me out.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Always I was a dreamer that really believed that, you know,
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: if I worked hard and stay focused, the dream of
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: me being something other than where I was living could
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: actually happen. So when I when I say that, Marcus
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: in Gene, what was your driving force for you? Set
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: your parents, see the culture that you grew up in.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: What was your driving force that inspired you to this point?
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: And guess what? The journey isn't over it, it's just
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: another starting point because both for you a goal oriented.
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: I tell people that all the time, a goal and
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: what drives that? What is the drive for the journey?
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: I would say. Starting out, for me, it was just
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: the love of music. UM, anywhere that I could sing,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: whether it was the choiring church or the choiring school,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: the league club, consequence, our magical talent shows, wherever I
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: could sing, because I just love doing it so much.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: It wasn't didn't represent work at that point, UM, I
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: just did it. And UM you know that's still part
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: of the drive. But of course it's developed over years.
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: UM and as Marcus mentioned, purpose that's like hugely important
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: to me, UM and the both of us and also
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: UM in business of course, business finance is that kind
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: of thing. That's the drive as well. Um, but you
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: know it kind of grows and develops and changes a
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: bit the old as you as you get older, and um,
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: but it's it's definitely the drive and love for music,
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: but um, the purpose and the passion for it and
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: um and you mentioned something, Um what was it? Oh?
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: Excuse me? Um, just kind of seeing yourself in different spaces,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: like growing up. I grew up in a little small
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: town Sound, Jersey, so I didn't I wasn't connected to
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: the music industry whatsoever. So I didn't even have a
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: concept that you know, if I saw a music video,
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: you know, a MTV back then, Soul Trains it, I
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: love the scene, but I never thought, oh yeah, I
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: could go and do that because I was not anywhere
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: in any proximity too close to it. As I didn't
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: even know, you know, their arts high schools were for real.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: I was watching Fame like man, that shit was not
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: to go. It just kind of I found it and
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: it found me. Marcus has a little bit of a
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: different story because he definitely had to have a lot
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: of drive to break through some barriers. Well. Well, both well,
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: the thing about like like you said before both the
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: gene and are both preachers kids, pastors kids. So Jene
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: grew up her dad was a pastor of a Baptist church.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: I grew up where my dad was a pastor of
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: a Pentecostal Apostolic church. So what that means is back
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: then there was no other music allowed. Well, your mom
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: wasn't play in either, Jane, but there was no other
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: music allowed in our house other than gospel music. Absolutely.
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: And so with that being said, but this is the
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: other side. My mom my dad only had like maybe
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: a seventh grade or six or seventh or eighth grade education,
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: and he came from Mississippi, and you know, for a
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: better life for the family. And so with that being said,
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: I mean later on in life he gave his life
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: to the Lord and he ended up pastoring. But they
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: started my dad's church before I was born. I'm the
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: youngest of nine children. His church literally started in my parents'
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: house where they had a baptismal pool in the basement.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: So that's the beginning of me hearing those stories was
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: the beginning of me understanding what drive is. And then
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: while I was a kid, my mom had been forty two,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: so I hung out with my dad a lot, so
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: he would pick up all the members for church. He
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: would be setting up tents. I mean, my father was
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: only about five foot three four, about the same height,
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: and he would say, hell, I get out the way
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: I do it. And so you're talking about when you
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: watch him, you're talking about drives and somebody just working
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: and just really serving the people and just working hard.
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: I think that's what the beginning of me understanding what
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: it takes to have the drives and the passion and
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: the work ethic. We'll be right back with more Money
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. Now let's return to
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. You gotta tell
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: us how did you start making that music shift and
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: when did you introduce that music shift to the family. Oo. Wow,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: that's a great not as I'm gonna bring it in.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: I started playing, so I became I started playing drums
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: at the age of two, and I became the church
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: drummer at the age of five. So when I got
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: to home, you all in, you all in back there,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: two years old? Back there, Yeah, yeah, it was you know, yeah,
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: it was so once I got to high school. I
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: think I had a buddy take me to my first
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: introduced me to the Yellow Jackets when I was in
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: middle school. And actually he's a pastor now and a
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: buddy by the name of Chris Kayer introduced me to
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: the music. He introduced you to the music, and then
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: it ran back to the church. He did. Yeah, basically no,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: but yeah, I mean it was like and then later
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: on I had a buddy didn't changed my life. He
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: took me to my first jazz club and it was Olden.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: I snuck out and from there. I don't know why
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: my parents, why my mom has this because my dad
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: passed away when I was nine, and so I don't
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: know why my mom had this. But I had a bed,
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: I had a door in my bedroom, so I would
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: literally sneak out to go here jazz music. And by
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: high school I had older mentors that said, hey, man,
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: you need to start doing some gigs, and so they
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: will call me while I was in high school to
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: go play some gigs. And that's where that's when the
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: bug bit me. And the thing about it is, I'm
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: trying to really figure this out, is that a lot
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: of times is that when you have resistance in terms
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: of I remember my family even at that time they said, hey, man,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: drummers come a dime a dozen. But in my mind,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking like, well, I'm gonna be that dime in
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: a dozen. So I think parents not just handing everything
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: to you sometimes. You know, it's kind of it's kind
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: of weird. It's almost like it makes you want it
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: more and it makes you go after it. Like I
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: had a conversation with a family member to day and
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: he talked about, you know, we talked about having a
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: plan B. I'm gonna be honest with you. I mean,
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: I told him this because I always flattered them, because
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: I love basketball. I said, actually, my plan A was
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: to make it to the NBA. But at the agent,
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: probably nine ten on about eleven, my brother told me
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: I was wasn't going to make it to the NBA.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: Show dream killer dream killer? Huh yeah? He dream killer
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: and a dream killer or a truth tellers mugsy balls.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: He making it. He made it to the NBA five
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: foot three. Now, come on, see he hit him and
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: self whatever that was, okay, But I'm just saying, I mean,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: what is the percentage have been a musician? Okay? A
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: while liar, I would say this so so to bring
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: it all in, I just I feel like this, like
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking about people that have a plan B And
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying I believe you should have a plan BNC.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: But for me, in my mind, most people that I
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: know that has a plan of a that means their
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: resistance and their drive a lot of times it's not
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: going to quit when they know they purpose because I
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: don't believe then. I mean, I told my family. They
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: was like, hey, you go to school for music in
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: New York. I went to music school in New York,
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: and so they were like, you know, I told my mom,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: ye I'm going there. Yea, I can teach, you know,
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: that's the plan be to them. When I in my mind,
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: I was like, man, I'm going to New York to
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: play with the great and I want to tour and
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: do music for a living. That's what my mind was
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: saying to me the whole time. And I agree with you.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: I remember when I but my degree is in mathematics.
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: I worked for IBM, and I left IBM to be
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: a stand up comedian and so I so in my mind,
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: I always I could always go back. That was my
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: plan b was sitting in the back of my mind,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: this jokey joke things, I'm not gonna be the next
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: Eddie Murphy, next Richard pryor then I could always go back,
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: you know I was. I didn't leave with no discard.
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: You know they were crying when I walked out the door.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: But it was when I decided, you know, going back
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: was not an option. That commitment you have to one
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: time in your life. If you say you're gonna go
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: to college, if you say you're gonna get married, you
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: say you're gonna be in a relationship, you're saying you're
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: gonna have a cheer. That's about commitment and when you
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: make that commitment. That's why I always trying to shape
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: these stories that really they can line up in anything
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: that you do, whether it's losing weight or getting in shape,
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: or getting married or dating or having children, or job
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: or starting their business, all these variables really align themselves
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: to the same conversation. It's commitment, and if you're gonna
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: have a committed effort, it has to be tied to goals.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: And when you tie things to goals, then your dreams
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: can become a reality. And that's where people make the
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: mistake all the time. They have all these dreams, no commitment,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: They have all these dreams, no goals, and guess what happens.
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: Frustration sets in. Then they says, become the kings of
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: your conversation. And next thing you know, you're sitting back depressed,
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: not and next thing you know, you're forty years old
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: saying I wish I should have done this. Fifty years old,
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: I could have done this sixty years old? You mad?
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: You mad? Yeah, and just all your stories about what
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: you could have done. When I tell people, do not
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: use age as an excuse. If you have a dream,
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: you can still do that for me, and you still
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: got talents associated with it that we do it. Yes,
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you this. I gotta say this. So
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: you just mentioned something. You just talked about age, So
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: here you go. In our twenties, I was in the
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: Yellow Jackets. In Jean's twenties, she was in Johanna. So
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: when we started this independent Grind started all the way
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: back in two thousand and five. Jean left left the
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: group Johnny I think in two thousand or something like that.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: So I'm saying all that to say this. Two thousand
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: and five all way up to two thousand and seventeen
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: was nothing was building and starting our independent journey. Now
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: we went to labels, we did all that, nothing happened.
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: We put out some independents, spent money, we lost money,
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: made bad decisions, and you know, just in terms of that,
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: it was like the education process, like getting a master's degree.
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: So yes, so so basically I was saying that, you know,
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: we made decisions. And the fast forward from two thousand
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: and five now comes two thousand and a round fourteen
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: and I took a long shower and it hit me
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: and said, hey, we should start this band called the
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: Build a Project where you know, at the time when
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: I left the Yellow Jackets, I wasn't doing as much touring.
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: I was doing more production and producing in the studio.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: Gene and I and I just said, I want to
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: get back to playing Gene and you know you can
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: you know where it features me on drums and you're singing.
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: You know, we have a full band and everything. And
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: so I said, man, that would really be cool. And
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: she said that is the dumbest idea. Okay, don't worry
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: about it. We're gonna write some music and said, make
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: no sense. Okay. So this is two thy fourteen fifteen.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: So we end up doing our first gig at three
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: shows at this place called Smoke Jazz Club. The first
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: set was okay. It's the thought of okay crowd, no
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: no off friend to bring it in. I'm gonna bring
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: it all in. So we did our first show. It
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: was okay. The first two sets was rocking, and it
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: was packed, and it was packed, and out of that
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: started a residency for like eight to nine months. So
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: that was the birthing of Devella Project. We're going to
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: studio every card and we released this album. Now, the
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: industry tells you, well, the industry, the way it's been
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: shaped for years is that it's a youngest person's industry
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: where your twenties, your best years, or your thirties. Check
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: this album. We're over our forties. Our first album drops
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: and comes out right. This album gets nominated for two Grammys,
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: Best Jazz Vocal Album and a Song laughs and move on.
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: It's for Best Traditional R and B Performance. Why I'm
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: on famous, Marcus, You're saying is because the thing about
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: it is is that it's never too late to go
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: after your goals and your dreams, right now, and I'm
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: gonna put it out there because a lot of times
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: is that the industry says that, hey man, you're you know,
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: age is what's in your mind, it's what's So there's
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: a new book that's being written, and the book is this.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: I'm Marcus Baylor. I'm forty six years old. My wife Jeane.
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: Can I tell them your age? Baby, I'm thinking forty
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: six years. I'm on forty six to forty five. Okay, y'all,
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: I'll forget my age. I'll let you know how you
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: say yo because you stop counting, So that mean okay,
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: I'll stopped counting more and so all just start again.
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: Five years old and my wife Gene, it's fifty one.
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: So check it out. We're in two twenty two. Last year,
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: we had a song that was Grammy nominated call Sit
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: On Down for Best Traditional R and P. Performance. This year,
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: our album Generations is nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album,
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: and we just was blessed to win an NAACP Award
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: this year for Best Jazz Album Vocal. Now, it ain't
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: about to acculate this and that, but what I'm trying
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: to tell you is this is that age and you
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: starting your goals and your dreams. And we literally started
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: over when we started to build a project. So I'm
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: saying that all to say this is that no matter
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: what your age is, if you have to, if you
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: have the breath, and I'm gonna call it to dream,
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: then once your dream, you got to go after that
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: thing and put a plan together like you said, and
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: pursue that and pursue those goals. And this is the thing.
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: Everything that we've done so far, I mean, we don't
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: say this too many times, but I will say this
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: is that everything were small goals that we put into place.
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: We didn't wake up one day and just say, hey man,
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: we want to play in front of in a theater.
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: Oh we want to be Grammy nominated. No, let's be
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: consistent and persistent when we play in front of fifty
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: people are when we then only sold ten tickets, Let's
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: play as if the place is packed in full. And
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: so with that being said, that's where the persistent and
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: consistency comes in. That and you understanding your purpose. So
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: hopefully this, you know, will help somebody. Well, it helped
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: me because that's what I talk about all the time,
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: and that's what I'm known for telling people ages. Don't
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: let age be an excuse to your dreams being achieved
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: and gene. You know when you talk about that only
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: ten people in the audience you got in front now
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: or that sold that audience you got in front and
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: you get to see those faces, You get to see
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: what the music and what you're doing and people reacting
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: to it. How do how does that affect how you
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: perform you know at being an entertainer or does it
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: take you to another level emotionally? Does that? Does that?
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: Does that give you a little more juice to give
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: one hundred one thousand, ten thousand percent talk about that
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: experience as a performer, So yes and no, Like when
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: you know you draw from the audience for sure. I
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: don't know if audiences really know that, but you know,
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: when you can feel the energy from an audience, you
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: know it inspires us as artists on stage, Like yeah,
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: you know, um, Now, one thing you know, especially in jazz,
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: you're gonna be in front of different audiences, right um.
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: And so you know, sometimes I'll talk to my m
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: when I teach, and sometimes I talk to telling my
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: students and like, listen, you gotta be able to really
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: you know, a song is a song, but when you
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: come before people, it's really a selfless act. When you
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: go before people to perform and sing and do what
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: you do if you're doing it, you know, and the
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: right frame of mind. But it's important to kind of
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: just just kind of sense the room. And so it'll
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: be a song where I may sing, I don't always
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: sing it to sing exact way every night. For instance,
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: there's a song called Praise Songs, Hollylujah song, and there's
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: a whole story behind that. But you know when we
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: did it in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and it was like an
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: all black audience. You know how we do we talk
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: back to it? Come on now, hey, all right now,
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, we had a good buddy, Shedrick
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: Mitchell on the organ and he acts a fool when
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: he gets on the organ. And it was just the
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: whole thing. And then you know when we were in
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: I believe it was brought oslava. You're completely different vibe.
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: They do not talk to you like, hey, sing, there's
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: just not part of the air culture, you know, and
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: they could be enjoying it and you're kind of one
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: and well, I think, but they're listening. So understanding that
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: they're they're really listened. But the spirit of the room
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: was completely different, and the lad years sung it completely
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: differently we performed it that it was just it was
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: just a different vibe all together, um and it's just
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: responding to that space in the moment, and and they
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: definitely enjoyed it. You know. One of the ladies just
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: embraced me after afterwards, and she didn't speak English and
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: I didn't speak her language. So anyway, Yeah, it does
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: affect in a way, I think what you do because
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: you're you almost can't help it. You know, if they're
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: vibing with you, you're gonna be vibing right back. But
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: if the same time, it's not people if you're in Japan,
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: they're going to kind of express themselves differently and depending
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: on the age of the audience and that sort of thing.
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, you have to
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: kind of have an idea of what it is that
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: you are trying to um give to the audience when
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: you go out there. Sometimes you may have very discouraging
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: situations and it's important to kind of learn how to
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: handle those right. Well, I did it really badly one time.
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: Gotta I gotta figure that out. You know, being a
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: bit a performer is amazing because you're right. Sometimes I
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: have been a perform on stage. Some people give your
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: standard ovations. Some people with standing walk out. That's me talking.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: That's a standard com gives you a different reactions. I
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: have some people I've acquired audience and say, man, you're
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: the funniest person ever saw. I said, wish you told
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: your faith okay, because I didn't see any laugh to
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: come out of your face. Okay, will help me out there,
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: but I just want to take the time. This was
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: a journey. That's what I do on Money Making Conversation
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: Masterclass and allowing me to speak to the Grammy nominated
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: jazz duo Marcus and Jane Baylor for their new album
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: The Bailor Project. Generations appreciated a husband, a wife and
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: astounding duo built on love, family, faith, culture and community.
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: I wish you luck and on that fantastic night, and
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: again thank you for coming on Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Thank you so much for having us,
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: and we hope to come down to your area soone
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: and what we do, We're gonna let you know you've
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: been listening to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rushan McDonald
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: Always remember to lead with your gifts. Money Making Conversations
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: Masterclass is a presentation of thirty eight fifteen Media Incorporated.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: You are now tuned in to the Money Making Conversations
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: Minute of Inspiration with Rashaan McDonald. I'm Rashan McDonald for
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversation Masterclass, your daily minute of Inspiration. I
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: said that. With writer and director Reggie rock Bitewood, he
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: discussed the message behind the series Swagger, having confidence and
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: living your dreams. The show's called Swagger. You know, obviously
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: on the surface that's like barbato and confidence, but really
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: underneath all of that swaggers of having a cause bigger
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: than yourself, whether your causes, your people, your family, your team,
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: having a cause bigger than yourself, it really gives you
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: that sense of purpose, that determination to move closer to
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: your dreams and your calling. And I think that's why
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: you know in Jason's Journey, Jason's journey initially is himself
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: and as we go through the narrative, it expands as
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: he expands. You can listen to this full interview Reggie
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: rock Bitewood. It's available on Moneymaking Conversations dot com.