Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Lecrae, Quad Webb, Andra Hall, Monique & Melvin Rodriquez

Transcript

Lecrae, Quad Webb, Andra Hall, Monique & Melvin Rodriquez · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

0:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's the show that she
0:07
Speaker 1: has the secrets of success experience firsthand by marketing and
0:10
Speaker 1: Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I will know he's giving me
0:13
Speaker 1: advice on many occasions. In incase you didn't notice, I'm
0:16
Speaker 1: not broke. You know, he'll be interview with celebrity CEOs
0:19
Speaker 1: and entrepreneurs and industry decision makers. It's what he likes
0:22
Speaker 1: to do, it's what he likes to share. Now it's
0:24
Speaker 1: time to hear from my man, Rashan McDonald money Making Conversations.
0:28
Speaker 1: Here we come. Yes, this is ras Sean McDonald and
0:31
Speaker 1: you're listening to Money Making Conversation. What is money Making
0:34
Speaker 1: Conversations is? Your show is to show where entrepreneurs, small
0:38
Speaker 1: business owners and individuals who are trying to understand or
0:41
Speaker 1: find themselves, trying to find their voice, trying to find
0:44
Speaker 1: their calling, their gift, their purpose, listen to this show
0:47
Speaker 1: and understand that they can be successful too. But there
0:50
Speaker 1: is a process, a process and being successful. I just
0:53
Speaker 1: speach this past weekend and I was talking about perception.
0:56
Speaker 1: Do not let perception determine your destiny and option can
1:00
Speaker 1: be tied to age, race, gender, racial preference, um, color
1:06
Speaker 1: of your skin, and a lot of people that that
1:09
Speaker 1: your neighborhood you grew up in. You should not let
1:11
Speaker 1: that stop you didn't like I did not allow that
1:13
Speaker 1: to stop me. Um were their obstacles, Yes, were their
1:17
Speaker 1: obstacles that I overcame by myself. No people help me.
1:21
Speaker 1: You cannot be successful in life unless you have surround
1:24
Speaker 1: yourself by people who believe in you, have like minded thoughts,
1:29
Speaker 1: and believe that your dreams, even though they may seem impossible,
1:34
Speaker 1: can be reached. That's the purpose of money making conversations.
1:37
Speaker 1: I'm a guy who's every day I wake up always
1:41
Speaker 1: tip you a work up dumb so I can accept information.
1:43
Speaker 1: As I accept that information then willing to move through
1:46
Speaker 1: that day on the path to be successful. And I
1:49
Speaker 1: wake up the next day that same way. So always
1:51
Speaker 1: gaining information. And you have to always gain information to
1:54
Speaker 1: be successful because the system changes. And that's what money
1:57
Speaker 1: making conversations all about. Yes it's syndicated, Ashley, Yes it's
2:00
Speaker 1: own podcast. Yes you can hear on Spotify. Yes you
2:03
Speaker 1: can hear the Alexa. That's about your media, the media
2:07
Speaker 1: that you're trying to broadcast. Your brand has to be
2:10
Speaker 1: put on blast. I tell everybody you're living in the
2:13
Speaker 1: Muhammad Ali era. Well you have to say you are
2:16
Speaker 1: the greatest. In eighteen seventy one, Ringling Brothers, Bottom and
2:20
Speaker 1: Bailey Circus came out said they're the greatest show on Earth.
2:22
Speaker 1: Corporations for years have always said they have the best car,
2:26
Speaker 1: the best Hamburger, the best code. Social media now allows
2:29
Speaker 1: us to say do the same thing, to say our product,
2:32
Speaker 1: our talent is the greatest. My next guest is one
2:35
Speaker 1: of the most popular Christian hip hop artists in the
2:38
Speaker 1: rap industry. He has won five Grammy Awards, including one
2:41
Speaker 1: win for Best Gospel Album which is Awesome, fifteen Double warves,
2:45
Speaker 1: and one Billboard Music Award. Here's a philanthropist, and I
2:48
Speaker 1: call him a social entrepreneur. We'll get into that in
2:51
Speaker 1: a minute. Is one of the best in the rap game.
2:53
Speaker 1: Please welcome to money making conversation. Look crazy? What's going on?
2:59
Speaker 1: What's going on? Okay? First of all, the craik Houston, Texas.
3:02
Speaker 1: That's where you're born, young man. Okay, cool, That's where
3:05
Speaker 1: I'm from. That's why I'm from Fifth War Texas. Brother
3:08
Speaker 1: just was gonna lockdown of information about each other. Get
3:11
Speaker 1: our gps together here. Okay. Now I was sir, sir
3:18
Speaker 1: right there, College Worth right out fifty nine, brother right there,
3:22
Speaker 1: Russell and Bain Street. That's where I was born right there.
3:24
Speaker 1: Now he's man, my folks from Live Oak off in
3:28
Speaker 1: third ward. There you go, there you go. Come on.
3:31
Speaker 1: Now we're gonna get. We're gonna get. So we're gonna
3:33
Speaker 1: be and so in tune. You and I we're gonna
3:35
Speaker 1: be friends from life after this interview. Now here's the
3:39
Speaker 1: beauty of our relationship. Okay. I was at the Super
3:42
Speaker 1: Super Bowl Gospel Celebration taping and I was sitting on
3:47
Speaker 1: the front row. Uh, because when you're big, that's where
3:50
Speaker 1: they put you on the front row and set you
3:52
Speaker 1: on the front room. And so and so this young
3:55
Speaker 1: man came out, you know, uh because I believe the
3:59
Speaker 1: man to hosting, David tallon Man was hosting that year,
4:02
Speaker 1: and they introduced this young man called look Crazy. I
4:05
Speaker 1: didn't even know his name. All I knew is he
4:09
Speaker 1: came out and he was rapping, and I was turning
4:12
Speaker 1: next to a person. I was saying, who is that dude?
4:15
Speaker 1: Because first of all, he looked good and he see
4:18
Speaker 1: here's the thing about his gifts, because see, gospel is
4:23
Speaker 1: rooted in you know traditional look, you know singing, you know,
4:29
Speaker 1: you know you you road, gotta have that choir, gotta
4:33
Speaker 1: had the conductor. Here he was out there on that
4:35
Speaker 1: stage by himself, rapping, and he I remember, I remember
4:39
Speaker 1: something he did. He told her about to raise their
4:41
Speaker 1: hands and everybody and this this this performance at Lakewood
4:46
Speaker 1: as Joel Ostein's Church. Now that's that's a former home
4:49
Speaker 1: or the Houston Rockets. You know you're talking about people
4:52
Speaker 1: up in that June and all of them raised their hands.
4:54
Speaker 1: I look around, who is this dude? And then but
4:58
Speaker 1: better than that, he's what he was saying said something
5:01
Speaker 1: to me. His beat says something to me. And I
5:05
Speaker 1: became a fan of your talents from that day. And
5:09
Speaker 1: you didn't even know that, young man. You didn't even
5:10
Speaker 1: know that you affected a person like me, Ra Sean
5:13
Speaker 1: McDonald based on your skill set. I didn't know you
5:16
Speaker 1: from Houston at the time. All I know is that
5:18
Speaker 1: when you still on that stage and you walked off
5:20
Speaker 1: that stage and walked down those aisles, you walk right
5:22
Speaker 1: down my aisle. I went, I wonder who managing him?
5:29
Speaker 1: Because brother, you got it. Man tell us about that
5:31
Speaker 1: journey a little just just just a little bit about
5:34
Speaker 1: that journey because of the fact that when I was
5:36
Speaker 1: watching California Dreams Dreaming, it said that it seemed to
5:40
Speaker 1: say that you grew up in California, but then by bio,
5:43
Speaker 1: your bio says that you were born in Houston, Texas.
5:46
Speaker 1: Can you help me out there, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
5:50
Speaker 1: So my uh, you know, I got a military family,
5:54
Speaker 1: so of course we spend a lot of time in
5:56
Speaker 1: different places. I was, I was my family originates and
6:00
Speaker 1: in Texas, so that's for most of them living. That's
6:02
Speaker 1: where you know, my mother's firm, that's where I was,
6:04
Speaker 1: I started out at. But we moved around, so I
6:07
Speaker 1: spent the time in San Diego in California, and I
6:10
Speaker 1: spent the time at Denver and in Dallas. So but
6:13
Speaker 1: but Houston has always been, you know, kind of the
6:17
Speaker 1: origin the room. Ain't nothing wrong and there's nothing wrong
6:21
Speaker 1: with having Houston as your origin. My friend, Yeah, what
6:26
Speaker 1: was what reach records? Your record? Reach Records was actually established,
6:34
Speaker 1: um right outside of Dallas and then in Texas, and uh,
6:39
Speaker 1: basically what had happened was a friend of mine and I,
6:42
Speaker 1: you know, we were at the University of North Texas
6:45
Speaker 1: UM and and that's kind of where I had a
6:48
Speaker 1: spiritual transformation and just kind of realized, man, I may
6:50
Speaker 1: need to use my gifts for you know, bigger purpose
6:53
Speaker 1: and um and so from there we began to start
6:56
Speaker 1: putting out the music independently. And uh, and you know,
7:00
Speaker 1: Texas is almost like its own country, So just touring
7:03
Speaker 1: the state of Texas and and and traveling through our
7:05
Speaker 1: Texas had had so many people supporting the music and
7:09
Speaker 1: it just kind of spilled over from there and and
7:12
Speaker 1: into the to the rest of the world, and so
7:14
Speaker 1: you know, year after year, Uh, things just grew. You know,
7:17
Speaker 1: we started off independently. I remember taking my CD into
7:21
Speaker 1: Stories and selling them on consignment. And if you don't
7:24
Speaker 1: know what consignment is, is when you convinced the store
7:26
Speaker 1: they need to buy some of your music. And I
7:28
Speaker 1: was sending my friends in the store to go buy
7:29
Speaker 1: the music that they bought, and they would buy some
7:32
Speaker 1: more from me. And so, uh, it's literally out the
7:34
Speaker 1: trunk of my car. And we did that for years
7:37
Speaker 1: until things just kind of grew beyond having to do
7:40
Speaker 1: it that way. Well know, look, it's really a blessing
7:43
Speaker 1: to have this conversation with you because the fact that
7:46
Speaker 1: you affected me and it's such a positive way, and
7:49
Speaker 1: that's what I really love about gospel music and in
7:52
Speaker 1: your case, hip hop music and rap. Because of the
7:55
Speaker 1: fact that I'm old school, you know, I tupox my man. Okay, Yeah,
8:00
Speaker 1: I grew up with at the comedy club in Houston,
8:02
Speaker 1: hip Hop Comedy Stop back in. And so my whole,
8:07
Speaker 1: my whole flavor is tied to what you're doing. Even
8:10
Speaker 1: though I'm an R and B guy, you know, I'm
8:12
Speaker 1: I'm an old Ja's guy, you know, Marvin Gay, I'm
8:15
Speaker 1: all that. And so when I so when I see you,
8:18
Speaker 1: I see I see a very gifted young man that
8:20
Speaker 1: that really is kind of like touching a person that
8:23
Speaker 1: that's in my age group, but also younger people too.
8:26
Speaker 1: Tell me to talk to us about the responsibility of
8:29
Speaker 1: what your delivery with your music. Well, yeah, you know,
8:34
Speaker 1: I um, you know, I spent a lot of time
8:37
Speaker 1: with my grandmother who's basically like the spiritual matriarch of
8:41
Speaker 1: the family, and so there's a little bit of an
8:43
Speaker 1: old soul in me as well that that helps me
8:45
Speaker 1: to connect to people, you know, outside of my you know,
8:49
Speaker 1: typical age range or or or you know, demographic. But
8:53
Speaker 1: then at the same time, you know, I was raised
8:55
Speaker 1: in the streets and I ran ran the streets as
8:57
Speaker 1: a as a kid, and so was influenced by a
9:00
Speaker 1: lot of that type stuff. And so for me, I
9:02
Speaker 1: think about how do I take the wisdom that folks
9:05
Speaker 1: like my grandmother had instilled in me and uh and
9:08
Speaker 1: how to apply it to folks who grow up like
9:10
Speaker 1: me who you know, we're looking for godance and looking
9:12
Speaker 1: for you know, different uh models, because I didn't grow
9:15
Speaker 1: up having models in row models. By the time I
9:17
Speaker 1: was a grown man, you know, Marty Luther King was
9:20
Speaker 1: gone and so you know, all we had was a
9:24
Speaker 1: lot of confused individuals who were doing the best that
9:26
Speaker 1: they could, but you know, they didn't know which way
9:29
Speaker 1: was up. So for me, the responsibility is to use
9:32
Speaker 1: my music and my gifts as a tool to uh
9:34
Speaker 1: to help people see their guy given potential and to
9:37
Speaker 1: understand that you know that they were created for a
9:40
Speaker 1: bigger purpose than what they may know. You really are
9:42
Speaker 1: are uniquely as h crafted individual and I and more
9:49
Speaker 1: so that I when it caused the entrepreneurship, because we're
9:52
Speaker 1: gonna talk about their your involvement is in there and
9:55
Speaker 1: some of the projects in Atlanta. I call you a
9:57
Speaker 1: social entrepreneur because of the fact that you go in
10:01
Speaker 1: and you're trying to change the community. You're trying to
10:03
Speaker 1: keep the community intact, but you're also trying to bring
10:06
Speaker 1: business and trying to upgrade because you know, once you
10:10
Speaker 1: increase the taxes, then gets to what. Schools get better,
10:12
Speaker 1: policing gets better, the community gets better. And that's what
10:16
Speaker 1: social entrepreneurs do. Tell us about the English Avenue project
10:20
Speaker 1: that you involved in Atlanta. Yeah, so even this avenue
10:25
Speaker 1: is uh historically being uh you know, over the last
10:30
Speaker 1: decade or so, it's been a very tough area, you know,
10:34
Speaker 1: known as the Heroin capital of the Southeast and a
10:37
Speaker 1: lot of traffickings, a lot of you know, just uh
10:43
Speaker 1: tough activity going on over there hadn't been a school there,
10:46
Speaker 1: uh in years since a matter of facts, this nine
10:49
Speaker 1: so there's more grocery stores. I mean there's not even
10:51
Speaker 1: there's there's no grocery stores. You know, it's just there's
10:54
Speaker 1: it's a food desert, it's a school desert, and um,
10:57
Speaker 1: it's very unfortunate situation. And so a good friend of mine.
11:01
Speaker 1: Benjamin Wills had a vision to uh to see some
11:05
Speaker 1: change in that community, and you know, I came alongside
11:09
Speaker 1: Benjamin Wills and UM and we worked hard to put
11:13
Speaker 1: a school in that community. And so Peace Preparatory Academy
11:15
Speaker 1: is in this fourth year now, UM adding a grade
11:18
Speaker 1: every year. So it's the first school has been in
11:20
Speaker 1: the neighborhood uh since ninety six. I also took it
11:24
Speaker 1: upon myself to uh to you know, uh take ownership
11:28
Speaker 1: over some of the properties down there because it's you know,
11:30
Speaker 1: as a black man, I wanted to make sure that
11:32
Speaker 1: the community was owned by somebody who cares about the community.
11:35
Speaker 1: And so UM, instead of just putting up you know,
11:38
Speaker 1: random things that are not helpful for the community and
11:41
Speaker 1: just trying to profit off of them, I'm thinking through,
11:43
Speaker 1: how can we do something that is profitable uh as
11:47
Speaker 1: a business, but then also uh you know, sustainable, but
11:50
Speaker 1: it also helps the community. So things like that are
11:54
Speaker 1: you know, um, places that can house folks and they
11:59
Speaker 1: can pay rent at a lower at a lower price
12:01
Speaker 1: that they can also work in the storefront. And so
12:03
Speaker 1: you just get different um circumstances and different things along
12:07
Speaker 1: those lines. So you know, there's uh there's there's stores,
12:12
Speaker 1: storefronts that provide healthier options for people, but that provide
12:17
Speaker 1: them at a uh at a cost that they can afford.
12:20
Speaker 1: You hire people from within the community, absolutely, and that
12:23
Speaker 1: that becomes a part of the process of getting English
12:26
Speaker 1: as um. That's what the Neighborhood Award, That's what the
12:30
Speaker 1: Hoodie Awards was all about when I dated for sixties
12:32
Speaker 1: straight years, about shining That's that's there's true stars of
12:36
Speaker 1: the community. There's the stars are built within the community
12:39
Speaker 1: to bring them outside that they're they're gifted people within
12:41
Speaker 1: the community. We just got to shine a stronger light
12:43
Speaker 1: on it. I'll be remiss if I don't talk about it.
12:46
Speaker 1: Your music as we close out is California Dreaming. Is
12:49
Speaker 1: that's your new yest single video out? A new single out?
12:52
Speaker 1: Or it's one that's come out after that? No, yeah,
12:56
Speaker 1: that's the latest one. We we we put that out
12:58
Speaker 1: as a summer project. Know, just something playing playing bones,
13:03
Speaker 1: riding ten speed bias, riding a little little banana bikes. Okay, now, alright,
13:08
Speaker 1: what you know about dominoes though? Look, Craze, that's what
13:10
Speaker 1: I was trying to flay. You Are you just are
13:12
Speaker 1: you just faking like you're playing dominoes or you really
13:14
Speaker 1: know how to play dominoes. Don't look crazy with me, Okay,
13:23
Speaker 1: now I would say, so it's the it's the real
13:26
Speaker 1: deal with my brother. Because I'm I'm I'm on Thursday.
13:28
Speaker 1: I'm a post collage on the dreaming on my social media. Okay,
13:31
Speaker 1: you know, and I'm gonna posting on social media. I'm
13:35
Speaker 1: gonna tell you this. I live in Atlanta. I also
13:37
Speaker 1: have a home in Houston. So you have two places
13:39
Speaker 1: you can you can you can knock me out. Okay,
13:41
Speaker 1: you can knock me out. Mr Bones, don't want none
13:43
Speaker 1: of me. Okay, don't want none of me. I'm talking
13:46
Speaker 1: to some me, not you me. Because because you're a
13:51
Speaker 1: special talent, you're a special talent. Man. I want to
13:54
Speaker 1: thank you for coming on my show, Lakree and as
13:56
Speaker 1: you can see, man, I want you to let you
13:59
Speaker 1: know that I am a fan. I wanted to do
14:01
Speaker 1: research in the brain. I wanted to tell some of
14:03
Speaker 1: your story. And it's not enough enough time to tell
14:06
Speaker 1: you how great and it changes you're making in the community.
14:09
Speaker 1: Just do me a favorite. They'll change. Stay strong and
14:12
Speaker 1: keep being you. Okay, We'll be right back with more
14:21
Speaker 1: from March McDonald. The money making conversations don't touch that down.
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15:23
Speaker 1: with Alexa Hi. Just Rashan McDonald. You're listening to Rashan
15:28
Speaker 1: McDonald and you're listening to moneymaking conversation because Rashan McDonald
15:32
Speaker 1: is talking, Oh, moneymaking conversation. Just getting out there so
15:36
Speaker 1: everybody understand what's going on. Just gets you know. People
15:39
Speaker 1: they listen and they scanned through, and they might not
15:41
Speaker 1: they just hear ra Sean McDonald. They don't hear moneymaking
15:44
Speaker 1: conversation there. What this shows about. This shows about bringing
15:46
Speaker 1: people that will empower you to be successful based on
15:50
Speaker 1: their story, based on their their their drive to be
15:53
Speaker 1: successful as an entrepreneurs, as entertainers. And I always tell
15:56
Speaker 1: people nowadays, because of social media, all entertainers are are entrepreneurs.
16:01
Speaker 1: They are all small businesses because of social media allows
16:04
Speaker 1: them to market themselves, control their brand through the digital formats,
16:08
Speaker 1: through the social media formats to YouTube formats. So the
16:11
Speaker 1: game has really changed in the last ten years as
16:13
Speaker 1: to who you consider to be an entrepreneur and who
16:16
Speaker 1: you are considering to be a small business person. That's
16:19
Speaker 1: why I would tell people anybody got a social media account.
16:21
Speaker 1: Please understand that account. I don't know the word. Some
16:25
Speaker 1: people I just not keep it private. I don't know
16:27
Speaker 1: how you do that. Because people can share your they
16:29
Speaker 1: can share your posts, so so I always know that
16:32
Speaker 1: if you you're private, somebody to share, it's suddenly not
16:34
Speaker 1: private anymore. So understand that's the way the system is
16:37
Speaker 1: designed is to promote your product. And why my guest
16:41
Speaker 1: here is I wanted to queen of promotion because she
16:44
Speaker 1: got a lot of things going on. The next guest
16:46
Speaker 1: is always very busy. I mean when I did a
16:48
Speaker 1: show Sister Circle, you know she she hugged me a
16:50
Speaker 1: little bit, and we don't buy her business because she
16:52
Speaker 1: had a lot of stuffs you are going on. She
16:56
Speaker 1: stars in the doctor drama Marriathon Mesas on Bravo. She
17:00
Speaker 1: co host Sister Circle, the daily talk show that empowers
17:02
Speaker 1: and inspires black women to live their best life. She's
17:06
Speaker 1: an entrepreneur and also on the show today to talk
17:09
Speaker 1: about her new cookbook, which I Am in awe because
17:13
Speaker 1: it's so fantastic, Cooking with Miss Quad, Live, Laugh, Love
17:18
Speaker 1: and Eat, which is currently a bestseller on Amazon. Please
17:21
Speaker 1: welcome to Money Making Conversation. I'm gonna say, my good
17:24
Speaker 1: cooking friend, miss quaud, Well, it's so great to be
17:30
Speaker 1: a part of your show. And thank you so much
17:32
Speaker 1: Rashawn for those trying compliments, and thank you for sharing
17:36
Speaker 1: and sharing your show with me today. I truly do
17:38
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Thank you so much. And you know, I
17:41
Speaker 1: hate to give you a little love when it came
17:43
Speaker 1: down the circle, but I didn't have to get out
17:45
Speaker 1: of it. Gets what mad at you because I know
17:49
Speaker 1: it's it's a moving part, so many moving parts going
17:52
Speaker 1: on there. And the thing about this is that you
17:54
Speaker 1: know we're gonna talk about it's a little interesting step
17:57
Speaker 1: back on us. I remember I was with the CIA
18:01
Speaker 1: and she was with CIA. I don't know if she's
18:02
Speaker 1: still with c A. And and they told us, told
18:06
Speaker 1: me about the talent. They said they got this really
18:09
Speaker 1: dynamic young person. She does the show. Uh married married
18:14
Speaker 1: to Madicine. I said, we sharing you should sit down
18:16
Speaker 1: with her because we feel she has start potential. And
18:19
Speaker 1: h I sat down with her and was an awe
18:22
Speaker 1: about where she could go with her career. And there
18:25
Speaker 1: was a way before such a circle, way before this
18:28
Speaker 1: cook but way before a lot of great things that
18:30
Speaker 1: he has going on in her life now. Unfortunately for
18:32
Speaker 1: me at the time I was I was still trying
18:34
Speaker 1: to find out who Sean McDonald was, and we didn't
18:37
Speaker 1: get together. But to see to see what I saw
18:40
Speaker 1: and now, what I heard in that meeting and to
18:43
Speaker 1: see the growth of her now is amazing and fantastic
18:46
Speaker 1: and it's only gonna get bigger because she is a
18:48
Speaker 1: natural positive hustle about her that everybody should understand. It's
18:53
Speaker 1: a valued part of how you can win on a
18:56
Speaker 1: regular basis and also have multiple levels of income. I
19:00
Speaker 1: just had to get that out absolutely absolutely, We'll listen.
19:04
Speaker 1: It was a pleasure for me to sit down with
19:07
Speaker 1: you that day, and it's most certainly a pleasure for
19:09
Speaker 1: me to be speaking with you now, And it was
19:12
Speaker 1: a pleasure for you for me to have you on
19:13
Speaker 1: Sister Circle. You know, you have done some amazing things
19:17
Speaker 1: to yourself and your career, and you have helped to
19:19
Speaker 1: springboard a lot of people integrating. So I don't want
19:22
Speaker 1: that to kind of be skirting it over because you
19:24
Speaker 1: have been definitely influential and a lot of people's lives
19:28
Speaker 1: and their success. So hats off to you. Thank you
19:31
Speaker 1: very much. Now, I saw you. I'm flipping through I
19:33
Speaker 1: saw on this nation, I saw you on they're talking,
19:35
Speaker 1: So is that a do you make appearances? She's everywhere
19:39
Speaker 1: now you she want other people, but you know you've
19:41
Speaker 1: better follow on social media? Keep up with her? Okay, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
19:45
Speaker 1: You've better follow this young lady. Now I saw your
19:47
Speaker 1: on desination or do you feel em periodically? On this day?
19:50
Speaker 1: We're talking to quad web. When the stars of Sister Circle,
19:53
Speaker 1: when the stars of Marrithon Maritors an incredible entrepreneur as
19:56
Speaker 1: well as a cooking sensation. When I saw in additionations whatever,
20:01
Speaker 1: yeah you did, you did? And so absolutely you know
20:04
Speaker 1: I love my Deah Nation family. Uh. I just want
20:06
Speaker 1: to give a big shout out to Gary with the Tea, Smiley,
20:10
Speaker 1: Craig uh Porsche Williams listening. They have always been a
20:14
Speaker 1: huge supporter of me and I and the bread as well.
20:18
Speaker 1: I have How dare I leave the bread out because
20:19
Speaker 1: she's amazing? But um you know, we we do work together,
20:23
Speaker 1: you know when someone is sitting out, you know, I
20:26
Speaker 1: am fortunately love that that they like me, would like
20:28
Speaker 1: me enough and like my personality enough that we have
20:31
Speaker 1: definitely been able to um Bridge the gap and create
20:34
Speaker 1: a partnership, whereas if anyone is sitting out, you know,
20:38
Speaker 1: I'm happy to be called upon. And I think all
20:40
Speaker 1: last week, um portion was now of course, you know
20:43
Speaker 1: that's another young lady who's really successful. It has multiple
20:46
Speaker 1: streams of income. She was away working on Real Housewives
20:50
Speaker 1: of Atlanta as they had taken their their girls trip
20:52
Speaker 1: or their years annual trip, and uh, you know they
20:55
Speaker 1: call up and say, hey, you know, we would we
20:57
Speaker 1: would love to have you here if you if you
20:58
Speaker 1: would come and stay, we'll love well, well, well had
21:01
Speaker 1: a lot to have you. And I said, you know what,
21:03
Speaker 1: it would be my pleasure. So yeah, she saw me additionation.
21:07
Speaker 1: It's always a great time, you know, just you know
21:09
Speaker 1: that that that sense of camaraderie and and and found
21:13
Speaker 1: a monks entertainers and talents, and it's always good for
21:16
Speaker 1: me to talk about somebody else's business. Absolutely absolutely, But
21:20
Speaker 1: you know the beauty of it just seeing you looking
21:23
Speaker 1: you know, you have a brilliant smile and that energy
21:25
Speaker 1: and your articulation was on point and you felt you
21:29
Speaker 1: you just felt right in there. This's when I looked
21:31
Speaker 1: at it, go, well, this is another a lane of
21:33
Speaker 1: exposure that's gonna give you another great opportunity for your
21:36
Speaker 1: career too, to grow. And and that's really that's why
21:39
Speaker 1: I was excited a boy seeing it that you you
21:41
Speaker 1: never turn away from a positive opportunity, even though you
21:45
Speaker 1: know your schedules business. You go, Okay, look, this is
21:47
Speaker 1: something good, something I know some work involved, and it's
21:50
Speaker 1: gonna squeeze my time, but you see the upside of
21:53
Speaker 1: that effort. Correct. Oh, absolutely, there is never an opportunity.
21:58
Speaker 1: Uh if it makes sense what with my brand and
22:01
Speaker 1: especially where I'm trying to go, um that I'm probably
22:05
Speaker 1: nine times out of ten not going to turn it down.
22:08
Speaker 1: We do understand that being in a rim of entertaining,
22:11
Speaker 1: it's it's it's short lived, and you know, people are
22:13
Speaker 1: always looking for the next best thing in this world.
22:17
Speaker 1: You have the dis arena and you have to make
22:19
Speaker 1: yourself almost impossible to be denied. And you do that
22:24
Speaker 1: by expanding and kind of being great and a lot
22:27
Speaker 1: of things. Sometimes people say you adjust the jack of
22:29
Speaker 1: bond trade, but the man so none. But I say,
22:32
Speaker 1: you thrust yourself into whatever you're doing and you can
22:34
Speaker 1: become great at it. And that's how I look at it.
22:36
Speaker 1: And you're doing a very very great job at doing
22:39
Speaker 1: what you just spoke of. Now let's talk about why
22:42
Speaker 1: you know I'm I'm salivating over here cooking with Miss Claude. Live, laugh,
22:47
Speaker 1: love and eat. Okay, now, let me tell you a
22:49
Speaker 1: little bit about Rashan McDonald. Rishan mcdonal is a super foodie, okay,
22:53
Speaker 1: because you know I can bake. Now, I have a
22:55
Speaker 1: website called baker Spotlight dot Com. On their Rashawn each
22:59
Speaker 1: type of recipes and all that stuff from from baking recipes,
23:02
Speaker 1: but also liked. Rashaan eats from various restaurants around the country.
23:05
Speaker 1: I've eaten saw a Spotlight restaurants. Now what I also
23:09
Speaker 1: do on my Facebook page which has almost eight hundred
23:11
Speaker 1: thousand followers. If you go in there, you know chip
23:14
Speaker 1: chef Jamika overn wins that she posed uh chef wells.
23:19
Speaker 1: He's post on Saturday every week. I always post foods.
23:22
Speaker 1: I post myself baker spot like two or three times.
23:24
Speaker 1: So it's a site that's a Facebook page that's really
23:28
Speaker 1: people go there because they like to give recipes and
23:30
Speaker 1: things like that. So just just send you up to
23:32
Speaker 1: your boy likes to eat and also promote people. So
23:37
Speaker 1: I will be promoting your book and a platform that
23:39
Speaker 1: people are used to come in and see food. And
23:42
Speaker 1: also on Sunday morning, I posted the list tasty video
23:46
Speaker 1: some type of dessert. Okay, Now, I got the book
23:50
Speaker 1: Open to Cooking with Miss Quad, Live, Laugh, Love and Eat.
23:54
Speaker 1: It's a top seller on Amazon on page the shrimp
23:59
Speaker 1: and Arster dressing. Okay, y'all. Okay, so you know okay
24:05
Speaker 1: now now okay, now I realized say that because you
24:08
Speaker 1: know than he's given coming up. Everybody wants a different spin. Okay,
24:12
Speaker 1: different because I've done the cranberry, I've done the I've
24:15
Speaker 1: done the with the mushrooms, I've done the arster. Now
24:18
Speaker 1: I've never done the shrimp and arster dressing. I'm gonna
24:21
Speaker 1: tell you something. The reason I'm bringing this up hard recipes. Also,
24:26
Speaker 1: sometimes you get a cookbook and you've gotta be a
24:28
Speaker 1: mad scientist to understand what's going on with the measurements
24:32
Speaker 1: and get confused. And you can look at her book
24:34
Speaker 1: and you're like, Okay, cannot be that easy. It cannot
24:37
Speaker 1: be that easy. So this is what I do for
24:40
Speaker 1: a living. I cook and I bait. So when I
24:42
Speaker 1: look through I go yeah. Yeah, yeah that that that
24:45
Speaker 1: makes sense. Yeah yeah, yeah that that And here's the
24:49
Speaker 1: beauty of her because I'm gonna tell you about why
24:51
Speaker 1: I love her book. Because see, there are people out
24:54
Speaker 1: there who do cookbooks who get mad if you kind
24:57
Speaker 1: of skip a step. They want they want you to
24:59
Speaker 1: like ride down every step. Now in this corn bread book.
25:04
Speaker 1: In this book, she tells you, look, I'm gonna tell
25:06
Speaker 1: you how to make the corn bread. But if you
25:08
Speaker 1: want to go to Krogers Public get that corn bread,
25:11
Speaker 1: our pre may come on. Save yourself a couple of steps.
25:15
Speaker 1: Am I right? Absolutely? This is what i want to
25:20
Speaker 1: do for you. This is what I'm gonna do. You know,
25:22
Speaker 1: because I told you my website, I'm not my website,
25:25
Speaker 1: my Facebook page at ru Sean McDonald. You go there,
25:29
Speaker 1: you see Monday afternoon food, Tuesday food, Wednesday food, Friday food,
25:34
Speaker 1: Saturday food, Sunday food. Okay, I wanna And what I
25:37
Speaker 1: do is I want to I want to take three
25:39
Speaker 1: of your recipes and what I want to do is
25:41
Speaker 1: post them with the picture and you and I'm going
25:43
Speaker 1: to put the link in there the driveing to Amazon
25:45
Speaker 1: so they can buy the book. If you don't mind
25:47
Speaker 1: this is what I like to do. And I'm doing
25:50
Speaker 1: it for Chef to Be because she does it every
25:52
Speaker 1: week and she she can't believe the reaction that she gets,
25:55
Speaker 1: the engagement that she gets, the like she gets. And
25:57
Speaker 1: I want to do it for you, Coral, because this
25:59
Speaker 1: is a great book. I want people. People are buying it,
26:02
Speaker 1: they should buy more. This book should be a testament
26:04
Speaker 1: to you as a as a as a chef because
26:07
Speaker 1: this is amazing and I'm gonna put it in the air.
26:11
Speaker 1: You will have a cooking show my friend in the future.
26:15
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Rishan, thank you so very much. And
26:18
Speaker 1: that's something that my team and I are are really
26:21
Speaker 1: working towards. Um We're very much so interested in doing that.
26:26
Speaker 1: And and just to hear those word I didn't tell
26:28
Speaker 1: you that, I never shared that with you, but to
26:30
Speaker 1: hear you say those words of confirmation for me and
26:32
Speaker 1: so I've received that. Thank you so much, and you
26:34
Speaker 1: will and you'll be back on the show we talked
26:36
Speaker 1: about those other shows. Guess why crime breaks bike on Halloween? Yep,
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Speaker 1: with Alexa. Money Making Conversations continues online at www dot
27:51
Speaker 1: money Making Conversations dot com and follow money Making Conversations
27:55
Speaker 1: on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. My next two guests are
28:08
Speaker 1: on the phone. I just said hi to them off air,
28:09
Speaker 1: So let me bring moreline so we get this bad
28:12
Speaker 1: ball rolling. My next two guests began their business with
28:16
Speaker 1: one product, the Advanced Hair Formula, a unique blend of herbs,
28:21
Speaker 1: amino acids, and minerals to support healthy hair. Course on
28:24
Speaker 1: ball Headed, I got some hair, but you know I
28:26
Speaker 1: cut it off and so people onto mac assume on
28:29
Speaker 1: ball Headed it helps your skin, nails, and your immune system.
28:33
Speaker 1: Since then, they have expanded to a half dozen half
28:36
Speaker 1: dozen collections under their direction, including products for skin and children.
28:42
Speaker 1: Their products have been distributed any more than eighty seven
28:44
Speaker 1: countries and can be found in more than one hundred
28:47
Speaker 1: thousand stores across the US and retailers such as Salad Beauty.
28:51
Speaker 1: I go there, Target, of course. I shot their CVS
28:54
Speaker 1: and wal Rings went the wall roofs yesterday, Kroger's went
28:56
Speaker 1: to the yesterday, went the wall Redjusted as well J C.
28:59
Speaker 1: Pennies in Walmart, to name a few. Please work with
29:02
Speaker 1: the money making conversations. My guest Monique and Melvin Rodriguez, Well,
29:10
Speaker 1: thank you. Do you love that energy? Got by got
29:13
Speaker 1: me a power couple on the phone. Here we hear it.
29:17
Speaker 1: We hear it. Good. Where are you guys based at?
29:21
Speaker 1: So we were based on Chicago, um, but we're based
29:23
Speaker 1: out of Northwest Indiana, which is about forty five minutes
29:26
Speaker 1: outside of Chicago. Okay, cool. I was in Chicago from
29:30
Speaker 1: I lived up there because I did to Steve Harvey
29:32
Speaker 1: talk show up there from twelve to twenties sixteen. So
29:37
Speaker 1: so I know about that Chicago winter. Yes, okay, it's coming.
29:45
Speaker 1: It should be there. Now it's October. Now she's not
29:48
Speaker 1: upon you and you just denied. Yeah, we're we're about
29:55
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's that's pretty. That's pretty. That's pretty warm
29:58
Speaker 1: for that time of the year. So let's let's talk
30:00
Speaker 1: about your business. Um. First of all, I set up
30:02
Speaker 1: the top of your power couple, which means that you
30:05
Speaker 1: have to work as a team. Like It was kind
30:07
Speaker 1: of funny at the very top when I said what
30:09
Speaker 1: you guys were from both y'all talked to the same time.
30:11
Speaker 1: And I know you can't and I know you can't
30:13
Speaker 1: run a business like that. There has to be a
30:15
Speaker 1: unity yang and you handle this part of the business.
30:17
Speaker 1: I handle this part of the business. Sometimes you do
30:19
Speaker 1: come together because you know you have to discuss the
30:22
Speaker 1: direction of the business. So how this shows about money
30:26
Speaker 1: making conversations about small business, about entrepreneurship, it's about relationships.
30:30
Speaker 1: Your relationship means you communicate, you do you Let me
30:33
Speaker 1: ask this question right quick? Do you bring okay, you
30:37
Speaker 1: you've got a business together? Do you bring that business home?
30:39
Speaker 1: When do you release your business? Time? Go ahead? Nevin, Well,
30:46
Speaker 1: that's that's always a interesting um topic because Ben an entrepreneur.
30:54
Speaker 1: You know obviously, as you know, you're working ten times
30:58
Speaker 1: harder than if you're thinking your corporate it's your job
31:03
Speaker 1: and you know, but for us it's God, family, then business,
31:08
Speaker 1: and it's in that order, and that's how we operate.
31:10
Speaker 1: Monique and I are God fearing people and all that
31:13
Speaker 1: we do, it's it's His way in our way, and
31:18
Speaker 1: you know, oftentimes in our and where we are now,
31:22
Speaker 1: you know we made periodically talk this is or what
31:25
Speaker 1: have you, but we always remind ourselves, you know what,
31:29
Speaker 1: this can wait. There's no need to talk about this
31:32
Speaker 1: right now. You know, our kids, our kids need us,
31:36
Speaker 1: our home needs us, and we can deal with that
31:39
Speaker 1: at lytic time. So so we are aligned with that regard.
31:44
Speaker 1: But being that both Monique and I are so driven
31:48
Speaker 1: and we're always looking to improve and all fast of
31:53
Speaker 1: our lives. You know, oftentimes we find ourselves uh periodically
31:59
Speaker 1: talking bits. But again we we do recognize and we
32:03
Speaker 1: do understand that, you know, there is a balance and
32:06
Speaker 1: there is a fine line that we uh tend the
32:10
Speaker 1: practice to not cross and so it keeps us balanced. Cool.
32:15
Speaker 1: That's great. Now, let me ask you this question, Monique, Uh,
32:18
Speaker 1: the name of your company? How did they come about?
32:20
Speaker 1: Give us the history of your company's name. Yeah, So
32:24
Speaker 1: when I first, um started brainstorming on names from our company,
32:28
Speaker 1: obviously I was more so working on the product card
32:32
Speaker 1: and really educating consumers on social media. So I guess
32:36
Speaker 1: I was kind of going in the direct in the
32:38
Speaker 1: direction of creating a business. So once I decided to
32:41
Speaker 1: come out with the product, I had the product, actually
32:43
Speaker 1: before I had the name of the company, and you know,
32:45
Speaker 1: I went back and forth with Okay, what do I
32:47
Speaker 1: want to name the company? And you know, I wanted
32:50
Speaker 1: the name to be something that's meaningful to me and
32:53
Speaker 1: you know, something that motivates me, something that drives me
32:56
Speaker 1: every day, UM, and something that I obviously love and
33:00
Speaker 1: my kids are the first thing that comes to mind
33:02
Speaker 1: because they're the reasons why I do what I do. Obviously,
33:06
Speaker 1: I'm their mom. I love them like more than I
33:09
Speaker 1: love myself. And you know, everything that me and Melvin
33:13
Speaker 1: are sacrificing, all the hard work that we're putting into
33:16
Speaker 1: this business is for our kids and to create a
33:18
Speaker 1: legacy for them. So I thought it would only be
33:21
Speaker 1: right to name the company after them. Um, and also
33:25
Speaker 1: for the fact that me and my kids we also
33:27
Speaker 1: share the same birthday. So I have two daughters and
33:30
Speaker 1: our birthday is on October fifteenth, which which recently was
33:34
Speaker 1: um just passed. It was last week, and it's like,
33:38
Speaker 1: what are the odds of that. Not many moms or
33:41
Speaker 1: I've never heard of any moms sharing a birthday would
33:44
Speaker 1: not one, but both of their children for the company
33:49
Speaker 1: to be named after them. So their middle name is
33:52
Speaker 1: Gabrielle and r L. And they're Mea and Mackenzie. But
33:56
Speaker 1: they're my il. So that's where my IL was created. Wow,
34:02
Speaker 1: I'm glad I asked because it's important to understand that,
34:06
Speaker 1: you know, like people ask me. Many of my business
34:08
Speaker 1: company's thirty and fifty media some people call the three
34:11
Speaker 1: win five media, and that's based on the address of
34:13
Speaker 1: the home that I grew up, when I lived, when
34:15
Speaker 1: I would lived in the hood. That's where it gives
34:18
Speaker 1: me my motivation as to my history, and it gives
34:21
Speaker 1: the story. And I think it's important that you tie
34:23
Speaker 1: a story to why you're achieving success. And when you
34:26
Speaker 1: talk about your children, my children is my legacy. It
34:29
Speaker 1: drives me. It gives me a sense of purpose. So
34:31
Speaker 1: I understand that as well. And I want to get
34:33
Speaker 1: back to this whole power couple conversation because because Melvin,
34:37
Speaker 1: he talked about, you know, being able to turn it
34:39
Speaker 1: off and being able to you both were driven, and
34:42
Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of you know, we have two
34:44
Speaker 1: people that's just just looking forward all the time. They
34:46
Speaker 1: have them don't have a general tenden to look behind. Okay,
34:50
Speaker 1: as a team. Explaining your work habits, Monique, and then
34:54
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you, Melvin, explain me your work habits
34:57
Speaker 1: because they're different. Correct, Yeah, uh yeah, we're absolutely different.
35:01
Speaker 1: You know, hold on, hold on, hold on, you said
35:04
Speaker 1: that we're absolutely different. Like that was like a little
35:07
Speaker 1: slam on Meilver Mail. But don't not to do you
35:09
Speaker 1: like that. Brother, know, he knows, he knows like we
35:14
Speaker 1: we So people all the time. Like our personalities are
35:16
Speaker 1: just so opposite. Uh, you know, we work, we just
35:19
Speaker 1: work differently. Like, you know, I work well in the
35:22
Speaker 1: morning times. I'm a morning person. I'm not a night person.
35:26
Speaker 1: I will cut off and go to sleep at if
35:29
Speaker 1: I can, if it's a good day eight thirties, because
35:31
Speaker 1: my brain shuts down. But I work and I throw
35:33
Speaker 1: better in the morning time. You know, I'm also a
35:36
Speaker 1: person that writes down everything. I'm a checklist type type
35:40
Speaker 1: of person. So I keep my calendar, I keep my planner,
35:44
Speaker 1: and I write down all of my tasks for you know,
35:47
Speaker 1: the week. I plan out everything, all of my content
35:50
Speaker 1: on social media, and I like to check things off,
35:52
Speaker 1: so I'd like to say organized. Um. And you know,
35:57
Speaker 1: I practice getting up at five talk in the morning.
36:02
Speaker 1: I'm am, okay you five? What time are you? Melvin?
36:07
Speaker 1: I'm a five thirties Okay, we got four? Okay, we
36:15
Speaker 1: got we got four or fifteen? We got five? We
36:17
Speaker 1: got five thirties. We gotta work on five thirties there, Okay.
36:23
Speaker 1: You know we went to buy like a few we
36:26
Speaker 1: went to to buy in April, and you know, just
36:29
Speaker 1: to see like their culture and how they practice getting
36:32
Speaker 1: up early in the morning and spending time with God.
36:34
Speaker 1: Like it was really like I opener for me. And
36:38
Speaker 1: you know, just researching a lot of other successful people
36:41
Speaker 1: and seeing how getting up early in the morning before
36:44
Speaker 1: the sunrise and spending time with God and really spending
36:47
Speaker 1: time with yourself and being stealing, being quiet, it just
36:50
Speaker 1: gives you so much clarity for the day. And to
36:53
Speaker 1: me that just helps me stay so more organized and
36:57
Speaker 1: being more productive throughout the day. Um, that's just kind
37:01
Speaker 1: of like how I operate, you know. Obviously, you know
37:05
Speaker 1: in any business, any young startup or entrepreneurs entreneur business,
37:08
Speaker 1: you're gonna deal with what we all call and know
37:10
Speaker 1: growing things. But you know, I'm a farm believe. But
37:13
Speaker 1: when you know better, you do better. And so through
37:16
Speaker 1: such trials and trie relations, we learned and we've gotten better.
37:18
Speaker 1: And as as I mentioned earlier, we're very, very driven,
37:21
Speaker 1: you know, to the point where failure for us is
37:24
Speaker 1: not an option. Our motto is execution of excuses is
37:28
Speaker 1: as simple. And so you know, um, when we talk
37:32
Speaker 1: about going a scale, well we had to plan for
37:35
Speaker 1: the scale uh financially, uh, structurally, et cetera. And so
37:40
Speaker 1: fortunately for us, we were able to surround ourselves around
37:44
Speaker 1: experienced individuals that have been done that to help and
37:48
Speaker 1: mentor and aid us. And what we were getting ready
37:51
Speaker 1: to undertake the relation to scale because when we started
37:56
Speaker 1: our first major retailer, Sally Duty in we scale the rapidly.
38:01
Speaker 1: Long story, you know, we entered in February and literally
38:05
Speaker 1: within six months it could us change why due to
38:07
Speaker 1: the success and and um demand moren't brand And so
38:11
Speaker 1: fast forward four and a half five years later, we're
38:13
Speaker 1: now in every major retailer in America, as you mentioned earlier,
38:16
Speaker 1: And how did you support that well? Again, surrounding yourself
38:20
Speaker 1: of like minded individuals, surrounding yourself of experience, surrounding yourself
38:25
Speaker 1: with people that have your best entest at hand, and
38:29
Speaker 1: and and also being able to uh educate yourself to scale,
38:35
Speaker 1: because again it's about it's one thing about getting a
38:37
Speaker 1: distribution at scale, but it's another about staying that scale
38:41
Speaker 1: and sustaining yourself. And for us, you know, we're all
38:44
Speaker 1: about sustainability and consistency and so everything that we do
38:48
Speaker 1: today we did a minion of years ago in the beginning,
38:51
Speaker 1: Given that customer that experience that he or she deserves,
38:54
Speaker 1: every single time, all the time, you know. And so
38:58
Speaker 1: again for us, we're not need driven, we're not revenue driven.
39:01
Speaker 1: We're a mission driven. So it's a big difference. And
39:04
Speaker 1: so in all that we do and everyone that works
39:06
Speaker 1: for us, they understand that, and we're consistent and we're
39:09
Speaker 1: accountable at all that we do, and we've we've been
39:12
Speaker 1: able to support our growth, you know, and show to
39:15
Speaker 1: the point now, I mean we're shipping products as you
39:17
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, and over eighty countries around the world. You know,
39:21
Speaker 1: how did you do that? Again, you have to have
39:24
Speaker 1: the support because there is no eye and team and
39:28
Speaker 1: you can't do this alone, which is one of the
39:30
Speaker 1: reasons why we're really showing our youth and our communities
39:34
Speaker 1: that together that you can't you just can't have it all.
39:37
Speaker 1: And we when we get the mindset of I just
39:39
Speaker 1: can't have it all that you know what, when two
39:42
Speaker 1: or three I gathered and he told us this, when
39:44
Speaker 1: two or three I gathered in the midst it's done.
39:46
Speaker 1: And so for us, you know, again going back to
39:50
Speaker 1: surrounding people that understand the mission and we're together, you
39:53
Speaker 1: can support the scale. I love it. I love it.
39:56
Speaker 1: You know, it's really important because you know, when you
39:59
Speaker 1: start growing, you start doing something that is normal because
40:02
Speaker 1: everybody knows how to go get a job at a bank,
40:04
Speaker 1: or go get a job and the store. Go get
40:06
Speaker 1: a job at a regular location where everybody else works,
40:09
Speaker 1: clocks in that they leaves at five, get that large break,
40:12
Speaker 1: playing for vacation. When you're an entrepreneur, you can't really
40:15
Speaker 1: explain to people what your normal day is, and it
40:17
Speaker 1: confuses people. And that's what the doubt drops in. How
40:20
Speaker 1: are you gonna make money? How are you gonna pay
40:21
Speaker 1: for the bill? Girl? You know you've got kids. All
40:23
Speaker 1: that type of those conversations start popping in, dropping in,
40:27
Speaker 1: and that's what you're saying, Melvin, You gotta get those
40:30
Speaker 1: people out of your conversation. Those doubters, those people who
40:33
Speaker 1: tell you that can't be done, who told you you
40:36
Speaker 1: can do that? What bank gonna give you money? All
40:39
Speaker 1: those dollars because they they doughted me in my life,
40:42
Speaker 1: and I know that they're the first, they're the closest
40:45
Speaker 1: to you. Really, your dollars, your biggest dollars, are the
40:48
Speaker 1: people that you really believe in the most. Initially because
40:51
Speaker 1: you go, wow, you questioned me, So you really have
40:54
Speaker 1: to go out of that that first circle. You got
40:56
Speaker 1: to jump out of that first circle to meet people
40:58
Speaker 1: out who unders said how you approach business as you say, Melvin,
41:03
Speaker 1: like minded people generate like minded success. They willing to
41:08
Speaker 1: push you to your opportunity instead of hold you back
41:11
Speaker 1: from the opportunity through questions, through doubts. I've never done
41:16
Speaker 1: that before. I don't know. See, if you're constantly answering
41:19
Speaker 1: questions like that, guess what You're not moving forward. I'm
41:22
Speaker 1: on the phone with my my power couple. My power
41:25
Speaker 1: couple here a Monique and Melvin Vegas. So my Yale
41:29
Speaker 1: Organics a hundred a hundred thousand stores in short five years,
41:33
Speaker 1: eighty seven countries. So I got I got the conversation down,
41:36
Speaker 1: wal Green. I'm not even reading anymore, mel I'm just
41:38
Speaker 1: I'm just rattling from success. I'm just talking about success.
41:42
Speaker 1: And he's on a mission. I want to just say
41:44
Speaker 1: that Melvin is on a mission to let everybody know
41:47
Speaker 1: that he and his wife worked. They come from the hood,
41:50
Speaker 1: they come from a regular life, improving in power and success,
41:53
Speaker 1: and they want to continue to keep that message out there.
41:55
Speaker 1: And I want to thank you too for coming on
41:57
Speaker 1: money making conversation and no Christmas, comeing up someone, You're
42:01
Speaker 1: coming back on the show so we can make some
42:02
Speaker 1: money together. Money making conversations. Okay, we'll be right back
42:05
Speaker 1: with more from John McDonald and money making conversations. Don't
42:09
Speaker 1: touch that down. Guess why crime brate spike on Halloween. Yep,
42:11
Speaker 1: thieves and burglars know you're out in your home is
42:14
Speaker 1: vulnerable this Halloween trick or treat with peace of mind
42:16
Speaker 1: knowing that you can watch your home with Blink home
42:19
Speaker 1: security cameras. Blink cameras are wire free and set up
42:22
Speaker 1: faster than you can rip off your kids candy, and
42:24
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42:27
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42:30
Speaker 1: you get an alert on your Blink smartphone app. You
42:33
Speaker 1: see what your Blink cameras see and your Blink x
42:36
Speaker 1: T two two week talk feature unless you talk to
42:39
Speaker 1: whoever is out there stooping around your home or just
42:42
Speaker 1: coming up to your home. So no matter what you
42:44
Speaker 1: see or where you at is like your at home.
42:47
Speaker 1: And now through November three, I got you up to
42:50
Speaker 1: Blink indoor and outdoor cameras and systems. Yeah, off, just
42:55
Speaker 1: visit blink protect dot com slash sell. That's blink protect
42:59
Speaker 1: dot com slash self thanks to Blink home Security and
43:02
Speaker 1: Halloween just got easier. Also available on Amazon and other
43:06
Speaker 1: fine retailers. Blink is an Amazon company and it works
43:09
Speaker 1: with Alexa. Hi. This ra Sean mcdonaland welcome to Money
43:17
Speaker 1: Making Conversation. Of course, I'm your host. Every every week
43:20
Speaker 1: I bring it into amazing guests to talk about their
43:23
Speaker 1: their careers. There setbacks, there, moments of where they felt
43:28
Speaker 1: that they were going to accomplish their dreams. That's what
43:31
Speaker 1: it's all about. It's about steps that you can can
43:34
Speaker 1: look inside yourself and realize that you can be successful
43:37
Speaker 1: on the oh obstacles because a lot of people look
43:39
Speaker 1: at you doing this speech dispasst Weekend It Scores and Houston.
43:43
Speaker 1: I was just talking about how people are denied the
43:45
Speaker 1: opportunity because of perception. People can feel that this is
43:49
Speaker 1: what you're supposed to be based on your race, based
43:51
Speaker 1: on your age, based on your gender, and you cannot
43:53
Speaker 1: allow perception to control your destiny. And then going on
43:57
Speaker 1: and talked about you shouldn't allow your race, your color,
44:00
Speaker 1: all those things can be put in place as what
44:02
Speaker 1: people perceive what a business person is and align you
44:06
Speaker 1: and a level of expectation that is not your dream.
44:10
Speaker 1: And I created Monimaking Conversation to show people their dreams
44:14
Speaker 1: are for everyone. Accomplished are tied to everyone, but it's
44:17
Speaker 1: also tied to what is your business plan? What is
44:20
Speaker 1: your dedication to that dream? How much time do you
44:22
Speaker 1: will we are you willing to put into that dream?
44:24
Speaker 1: That's what Moneymaking Conversation is. It's a very popular podcast now.
44:28
Speaker 1: It's also syndicated across the country or for entrepreneurship and entertainment.
44:32
Speaker 1: I provide the consumer and business owner access to celebrities, CEOs, entrepreneurs,
44:38
Speaker 1: and industry decision maker which all tend to be the
44:40
Speaker 1: same people. My guests, in turn deliver information about their
44:43
Speaker 1: career planning, motivation, financial literacy, and how they lead a
44:47
Speaker 1: balanced life. My next guest four, we go way back,
44:50
Speaker 1: just because back over back to the Steve Horror Morning
44:52
Speaker 1: Show days. Her grandmother advice is the best. She followed
44:56
Speaker 1: her grandmother's advice, it's best to do one thing and
44:58
Speaker 1: do it really, really well, and equipped with her mama's
45:01
Speaker 1: knack for bacon, she's the owner and created Force Behind
45:04
Speaker 1: Camic Cakes LLC. Camic Kicks is a chain of gour
45:07
Speaker 1: make cupcake booteets which originated in Jacksonville and two thousand
45:12
Speaker 1: and fourteen, Andrew extended the brand to incorporate ice cream
45:16
Speaker 1: and form Camic Cakes Creamery. She extended his brand to
45:20
Speaker 1: incorporate ice cream and and and all kinds of ice
45:24
Speaker 1: cream like pineapple upside down cake, apple pie. But now
45:28
Speaker 1: they're pudding. Uh, but it become which is my all
45:31
Speaker 1: time favorite. By the way. She's also been featured on
45:35
Speaker 1: The Best Thing You've Ever Ate eight when I saw
45:37
Speaker 1: that episode with the with the red velvet and then
45:40
Speaker 1: the butter of a calm in between Sandwich Girl following
45:43
Speaker 1: you please welcome to believe work with the money to
45:49
Speaker 1: make conversation my girl. Long time, long time, uh since
45:53
Speaker 1: the Steve Hard Morning Show days. Ms. Andre, Yes, are
45:58
Speaker 1: you doing great? Great? Thank you? You know I'm not broke.
46:04
Speaker 1: I'm not. I have followed on the wayside. The first
46:08
Speaker 1: people I know I was got dressed up extra people
46:11
Speaker 1: who saw me back in the day to Shaw still
46:14
Speaker 1: gotta going going up. Here's the beautiful thing about our relationship.
46:18
Speaker 1: I got to see you at the early stages. And
46:20
Speaker 1: at the early stage it was about put getting your
46:22
Speaker 1: brand out, sample, sharing, samples, u anything you can do
46:27
Speaker 1: to get on the morning, to show us, the Steve
46:30
Speaker 1: Harry Morning Show team sample your product. You know. It
46:34
Speaker 1: was always you know, and Monica was one of your
46:36
Speaker 1: big fans. She Monica Bars now yeah, one of the
46:40
Speaker 1: executive producer the current exactive producers of Steve hard Morning
46:43
Speaker 1: Show introduced us and created the relationship. So tell us
46:46
Speaker 1: about you know. I mentioned your grandmother, then I mentioned
46:49
Speaker 1: the natural talent, but she was in the corporate world
46:51
Speaker 1: prior to all this star state government. Right out of
46:55
Speaker 1: high school, out of high school, head four jobs, Like no,
47:00
Speaker 1: I'm not Jamaican, but right out of high school I was.
47:04
Speaker 1: While in high school, I was a cashier at a
47:06
Speaker 1: grocery store. Then I wanted to see what was happening
47:09
Speaker 1: over in the bakery department, so another store hired me
47:11
Speaker 1: as a cake decorator. So I worried at two grocery stores. Okay, okay,
47:15
Speaker 1: before I love when people just slide past, just say
47:18
Speaker 1: anything about baking in college. Didn't say anything about the
47:22
Speaker 1: corporate job, state job, right and you know, sudden somebody
47:25
Speaker 1: hired you to be a cake decorate well, yes, but
47:29
Speaker 1: I always baked so as a little girl starting off yeah, always, always, always,
47:36
Speaker 1: So that was just something that I did, and you
47:38
Speaker 1: could just automatically just knew how to decorate, you just know.
47:41
Speaker 1: I mean, it took practice so over time, just like
47:44
Speaker 1: I remember. I don't know they still do, but I
47:46
Speaker 1: remember the little Wilton courses you could take, like at
47:48
Speaker 1: Joe's Fabric. So I took those courses. It was just
47:52
Speaker 1: something I always wanted to do. Just whenever I had
47:54
Speaker 1: some downtime, I would just get in there and just
47:56
Speaker 1: kind of tinker around. Any kid kate decorating, just being
47:58
Speaker 1: able to write a name, decreat cakes, do wedding cakes,
48:02
Speaker 1: do all those different colors and get it right. The
48:05
Speaker 1: piping and piping that's not your boy, you're walking bake,
48:10
Speaker 1: you know, you know, but that's well, I mean, that's
48:15
Speaker 1: not I mean, there are people who are a true artist,
48:18
Speaker 1: and I realized that that wasn't really my forte. I'm
48:20
Speaker 1: like you, I'm more of a baker. But I enjoyed
48:24
Speaker 1: the artistry of us. I wanted to learn it, and
48:26
Speaker 1: as I learned more about it, I realized that I
48:29
Speaker 1: don't know if that's really the avenue I want to
48:31
Speaker 1: go down. But so yeah, so I did that. So
48:35
Speaker 1: cashier de great my dad had back in the day,
48:40
Speaker 1: I guess now we call the food trucks, but he
48:42
Speaker 1: had a business very similar that worked with him and
48:45
Speaker 1: I worked with the state. Okay, so with the school.
48:48
Speaker 1: It is the beauty of all those things you're talking about,
48:50
Speaker 1: you know, the food truck, cashier, all these things really
48:53
Speaker 1: prepared you for being an entrepreneur, Yes, because you had
48:57
Speaker 1: to learn that. That's why I would tell people what
48:59
Speaker 1: you did in your early twenty is really prepared for
49:01
Speaker 1: what you're gonna do now. I really I always hold
49:03
Speaker 1: that true because all those skills sets that you mastered,
49:06
Speaker 1: because you have the master the kit. And even though
49:08
Speaker 1: your mom said, grandmother said do one thing really well,
49:11
Speaker 1: really well. But but but I would say, now you're
49:14
Speaker 1: doing multiple things really well under the guise of an entrepreneur. Yes,
49:21
Speaker 1: I mean, but you know, it's hard. We're more critical
49:23
Speaker 1: on ourselves. So from the from you know, I see
49:26
Speaker 1: it up close, and I often wonder, I'm like, am
49:28
Speaker 1: I really doing it really really well? But at that
49:31
Speaker 1: time I only focused on that one thing, and I
49:33
Speaker 1: didn't let all these other things destright right, So Caemic cakes, yes,
49:38
Speaker 1: named because of your daughter, my daughter Camillo. I just
49:41
Speaker 1: chopped off the last three lessons. And so that then
49:45
Speaker 1: became a business. Okay. Now when you came into my life,
49:50
Speaker 1: where were you there with your business? I was three
49:53
Speaker 1: stores in it. Just moved to Atlanta from Jacksonville, Florida.
49:57
Speaker 1: UM opened the storm Peach Tree, so nine right. I
50:01
Speaker 1: didn't burrow it across from doctor Donuts. No, we don't
50:04
Speaker 1: talk about donuts when we're talking about I'm just trying.
50:10
Speaker 1: And I dropped our petree headed to Linux Mall. Yeah,
50:14
Speaker 1: and so I dropped by all the time I go.
50:17
Speaker 1: For those who have been in Atlantic for very long time.
50:19
Speaker 1: It's where Justice was. Yes, across the street from you
50:24
Speaker 1: too much. But yeah, So I came here from Jacksonville.
50:30
Speaker 1: Didn't think I was gonna move. I was so naive,
50:32
Speaker 1: really off to turn and I thought I was just
50:34
Speaker 1: gonna open the store and commute maybe twice a month
50:39
Speaker 1: back to it. I got here and that state with
50:41
Speaker 1: about three outfits and figured it out. And so so
50:47
Speaker 1: now when I met your three stores, I just want
50:51
Speaker 1: to start a business and moved to a state like Atlanta, Georgia.
50:55
Speaker 1: You have to have a certain amount of courage, a
50:57
Speaker 1: certain amount of planning. Can you talk about that? That
50:59
Speaker 1: whole process is the first store, the first store, So
51:02
Speaker 1: I think courage is I remember my Angela said, if
51:05
Speaker 1: you don't have courage, you really can't do practice any
51:07
Speaker 1: of the other things. So UM, I think her is
51:10
Speaker 1: the main one. But that very first store. If I
51:14
Speaker 1: don't know how much time I have, but if I
51:16
Speaker 1: just just talk started um candy cakes. Prior to that,
51:24
Speaker 1: I was in corporate, So I transitioned from UM state
51:27
Speaker 1: government to corporate. My daughter was born. About a year
51:31
Speaker 1: old into it, she got really sick and we had
51:34
Speaker 1: to rushed to the well, not rushed her to the hospital.
51:36
Speaker 1: She she went in for what we thought was just
51:38
Speaker 1: a simple perceived while recovering from ad NOI's being removed
51:43
Speaker 1: in council's she flat behind. She had to be rushed
51:47
Speaker 1: to I see you. Things just happened so quickly, like
51:50
Speaker 1: what's going on. Um. She didn't wake up until two
51:53
Speaker 1: days later. But after she woke up, it took some
51:56
Speaker 1: time to get her back on track. So throughout that process,
51:59
Speaker 1: I realized that I can't maintain this whole time job.
52:01
Speaker 1: I had to let that go. My husband at the
52:04
Speaker 1: time ended up taking on a part time job just
52:06
Speaker 1: to help me end sneak. Still wasn't enough, So daughters
52:10
Speaker 1: out of the hospital. Now we're doing therapy during the
52:13
Speaker 1: daytime at nighttime. I ended up taking, uh, basically a
52:17
Speaker 1: minimum wage job. I was thinking that I was an
52:18
Speaker 1: hour working at a clerk in a hotel, um, a
52:22
Speaker 1: night auditor at a hotel and um, so that was
52:25
Speaker 1: a graveyard shift. I had a lot of time on
52:27
Speaker 1: my hand. Like men, I just literally had to stay away.
52:31
Speaker 1: But during that time, as I got closer to her
52:34
Speaker 1: getting better, I said, will I go back into the
52:36
Speaker 1: corporate or will I do what I love to do?
52:38
Speaker 1: So I started working on this business plan, just put
52:40
Speaker 1: it together. I didn't have a dime in my name,
52:43
Speaker 1: just but I just started putting this business plan together.
52:45
Speaker 1: And um, when it was time to open the very
52:48
Speaker 1: first store, I had this business plan at this idea
52:51
Speaker 1: had great product based off of what I cheered with
52:54
Speaker 1: people in the feedback I had gotten back, um, and
52:57
Speaker 1: no one to help fund it. I went to family
53:00
Speaker 1: members and like, you stupid you that money, Yeah, you
53:06
Speaker 1: get real crazy I'm gonna make a living selling cupcake. Okay.
53:10
Speaker 1: So anyway, when they up happening was we had. The
53:12
Speaker 1: only thing we had to our name was a lot
53:14
Speaker 1: of first little started home and so we financed that home.
53:17
Speaker 1: Took out a little bit of money enough to really
53:21
Speaker 1: we had to pay off some bills that was part
53:23
Speaker 1: of guarantee. Um, but it was enough to just buy
53:27
Speaker 1: some used equipment. I mean we literally painted the walls ourselves,
53:31
Speaker 1: and just enough to get those doors open. After we
53:33
Speaker 1: got those doors home, I only had five hundred dollars
53:35
Speaker 1: to my name. This had to work. The only employee
53:40
Speaker 1: and my husband at the time at taking off some
53:43
Speaker 1: time from his job, so we had to so um,
53:51
Speaker 1: got it. Got it opened on our very first end
53:53
Speaker 1: because I had to feel every I was the dishwasher,
53:55
Speaker 1: I was the baker, I was the deck of it.
53:57
Speaker 1: I was everything. I was the pr person, and I
53:59
Speaker 1: sent out a prayer at least to every outlet. I
54:02
Speaker 1: mean I googled how to part But you're three stores
54:06
Speaker 1: in when I met you. Thank you for coming on
54:08
Speaker 1: my show. Appreciate your your friend, and it's great just
54:12
Speaker 1: saying that you not have a home where you can
54:14
Speaker 1: promote your brain. Put your brain out there and anytime
54:17
Speaker 1: you have any specials, come to me. I put in
54:18
Speaker 1: my fan club list strictly for Atlanta area and I
54:22
Speaker 1: kelp you get the word out because you want them.
54:25
Speaker 1: Camel cakes Rashan McDonald's featuring her on the Bigger Spotlight.
54:44
Speaker 1: Guess why crime break spike on Halloween. Yep, thieves and
54:47
Speaker 1: burglars know you're out in your home is vulnerable this
54:49
Speaker 1: Halloween trick or treat with peace of mind knowing that
54:52
Speaker 1: you can watch your home with Blake home security cameras.
54:55
Speaker 1: Bleak cameras are wild free and set up faster than
54:57
Speaker 1: you can rip off your kids candy, and they run
54:59
Speaker 1: on two lithium batteries for up to two years. When
55:02
Speaker 1: your camera detext motion like someone snooping around your home,
55:05
Speaker 1: you get an alert on your Blink smartphone app. You
55:08
Speaker 1: see what your Blink camera see and your Blink x
55:11
Speaker 1: T two two week talk feature unless you talk to
55:13
Speaker 1: whoever is out there stooping around your home or just
55:17
Speaker 1: coming up to your home. So no matter what you
55:19
Speaker 1: see or where you at is like your at home.
55:22
Speaker 1: And now through November three, I got you up to
55:25
Speaker 1: Blink indoor and outdoor cameras and systems. Yeah off, just
55:30
Speaker 1: visit blink protect dot com. Slash Tale that's blink Protect
55:34
Speaker 1: dot com. Slash sale thanks to Blink Home Security and
55:37
Speaker 1: Halloween just got easier. Also available on Amazon and other
55:40
Speaker 1: fine retailers. Blink is an Amazon company and it works
55:43
Speaker 1: with Alexa. Money Making Conversations continues online at www. Dot
55:53
Speaker 1: money Making Conversations dot com and follow money Making Conversations
55:57
Speaker 1: on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Two