Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Rushion Interviews CEO of Black Pearl Global Investments, Dr. Shante Williams

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Rushion Interviews CEO of Black Pearl Global Investments, Dr. Shante Williams · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

0:00
Speaker 1: My guest is Dr Shanta Williams. She's the CEO of
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Speaker 1: Black Pearl Global Investments, is a black owned asset management
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Speaker 1: firm that's focused on reducing health disparities across the globe.
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Speaker 1: Black Pearls tagline, be Well Do Well captures the firm's
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Speaker 1: mission to invest in transformative companies around the world. Dr
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Speaker 1: Shanta earned a bachelor's degree from Western Salem State University
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Speaker 1: HUTH and a Master's of Business Administration from Queen's University
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Speaker 1: of Charlotte. She holds a doctorate in Integrated Medicine in
0:30
Speaker 1: Biomedical Medicine from the Ohio State University. Please working with
0:35
Speaker 1: to Money Making Conversations of Master Class. Dr Shanta Williams,
0:38
Speaker 1: how are you doing? I am great, Thank you for
0:41
Speaker 1: having me today. Well, I gotta say this to everybody.
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Speaker 1: You know, some people will probably only listen to this podcast,
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Speaker 1: but people who are viewing this path podcast, her background
0:51
Speaker 1: is amazing. She has an amazing background, and there's not
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Speaker 1: some fake background, there's the reality. So so when I
0:58
Speaker 1: look at your background, is that is that the background
1:00
Speaker 1: that's tied to success that view? You know, Actually, the
1:06
Speaker 1: two buildings right behind me our banks, um and so
1:09
Speaker 1: I like to say my house is mostly windows. So
1:12
Speaker 1: I say I wake up and I go to sleep
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Speaker 1: with money on my mind. Well, you know, I tell
1:17
Speaker 1: people you know when you say that, because that's how
1:20
Speaker 1: I'm not saying. I'm tying I see banks when I
1:23
Speaker 1: go to sleep, which I which is a good thing now,
1:26
Speaker 1: because you know you're always bankers. What runs out live
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Speaker 1: money is what runs out live. If you can see
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Speaker 1: something that motivates you to say I want to put
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Speaker 1: more money in that bank, and more money in that bank,
1:34
Speaker 1: that means you're focused, and that means that there's a
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Speaker 1: drive that we all need to have. But I do
1:38
Speaker 1: go to sleep with goals in mind. I do. I
1:42
Speaker 1: always tell people that allows me to wake up because
1:44
Speaker 1: a lot of people always say I'm not a morning person,
1:46
Speaker 1: where I've always been a morning person, because I've always
1:49
Speaker 1: went to sleep with goals and that when my clock
1:52
Speaker 1: went off, I knew why I was getting up. Can
1:54
Speaker 1: you talk about the whole process of how you tie
1:57
Speaker 1: to sleep into making you successful when you wake up? Oh? Well, first,
2:02
Speaker 1: I will say I'm a person since I'm not a
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Speaker 1: morning person. Um, but that doesn't mean I don't wake
2:07
Speaker 1: up early in the morning. UM. Actually live by the
2:12
Speaker 1: UM mantra that I need a full night of sleep
2:14
Speaker 1: to be the best person I can be. So most
2:17
Speaker 1: people are surprised that I sleep eight hours a night
2:19
Speaker 1: at least um every night, UM, even when traveling. UM.
2:23
Speaker 1: And I don't compromise on my sleep because a tired
2:26
Speaker 1: mind UM this entire results. So for me, if I'm sleeping, UM,
2:30
Speaker 1: I have a whole line down process at night. UM.
2:33
Speaker 1: I try to stop all meetings, you know, at least
2:35
Speaker 1: two hours before bed. I turn off all of the
2:37
Speaker 1: electronic devices. I try to read something that's inspirational UM
2:42
Speaker 1: really to help my mind calm down. But then you know,
2:44
Speaker 1: take that moment to reflect um on what what's been done, what, um,
2:50
Speaker 1: where I'm going, and then really just have a quiet
2:53
Speaker 1: wine down. So I actually love sleeping. If if that
2:56
Speaker 1: was a real hobby, it would be one of my hobbies. UM.
2:59
Speaker 1: And I goal is to be able to sleep in
3:02
Speaker 1: whenever I want. I can't do that just yet, but
3:05
Speaker 1: I'm working on it. So just just that entail travel
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Speaker 1: or because it seems like when you do that, because
3:10
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you something Chante or Dr Williams, I
3:13
Speaker 1: had a problem with that, I had a problem with
3:15
Speaker 1: understanding how to shut down, you know, And I would
3:19
Speaker 1: tell people sometimes like I just got on that wheel
3:21
Speaker 1: and just kept running and kept running. And it seemed
3:24
Speaker 1: to me that that you understand the value of self
3:29
Speaker 1: and which means ties to you know. Look, I don't
3:31
Speaker 1: function well if I'm not talk to us about that. Yeah. Well,
3:38
Speaker 1: with travel, I've found that I used to be one
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Speaker 1: of those people that if I'm flying into a city,
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Speaker 1: I'm a meeting with everybody I possibly can in it.
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Speaker 1: Every hour on the hour, I'm just meeting, meeting me
3:47
Speaker 1: the meeting. UM. I stopped doing that really for two reasons.
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Speaker 1: It's exhausting and it means that your your body, your
3:55
Speaker 1: brain is to go. UM. When I think about who
4:01
Speaker 1: I aspired to be, UM, the person, the leader I
4:05
Speaker 1: aspire to be for the entire firm, I know that.
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Speaker 1: UM in my brain at night, I really think, Um,
4:12
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about their fifty one families. Um, that's how
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Speaker 1: many employees. We have, fifty one families that depend on
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Speaker 1: me to keep the vision solid in order to help
4:22
Speaker 1: them get paid, to help them get raises, to you know,
4:25
Speaker 1: push us all forward, and ultimately, UM, my brain really
4:30
Speaker 1: needs to shut off at some point. Um. I started
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Speaker 1: doing this particular um print, this particular mantra UM. I
4:39
Speaker 1: don't know if you've ever had this situation where you're
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Speaker 1: sleeping and all of a sudden, your brain just turns
4:44
Speaker 1: on or you're trying to go to sleep, and your
4:46
Speaker 1: brain won't shut down. Hate that hate that hate that
4:52
Speaker 1: you know what, I say to myself now, not right now,
4:56
Speaker 1: and it shuts you down. Yeah, and it takes a
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Speaker 1: It takes some practice and just saying not right now,
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Speaker 1: I mean and and I used to have to say
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Speaker 1: it out loud. I'm not going to focus on this
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Speaker 1: right now and focused on sleep or focused on reading.
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Speaker 1: Like literally, I've now had to train my brain this
5:15
Speaker 1: is alright now. We're not gonna worry about that thing
5:17
Speaker 1: because we're doing this thing and staying president. The momentum
5:20
Speaker 1: actually helps, I think with that wine down process, because
5:24
Speaker 1: you can't talk with what's already happened right it's in
5:26
Speaker 1: the past, and you can't anticipate the future. Where you
5:29
Speaker 1: are today right now is trying to wind down to
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Speaker 1: go to sleep. So I will tell myself not right
5:34
Speaker 1: now a lot. Well, I'm gonna Jesus I'm gonna try
5:37
Speaker 1: that because and not saying it happens a lot, but
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Speaker 1: I tell you sometimes, i'd say every quarter of the year,
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Speaker 1: every quarter period, I wake up and did an idea
5:47
Speaker 1: coming to my head about one or two o'clock in
5:49
Speaker 1: the morning, knowing because I get up, Earl, I get
5:51
Speaker 1: up at four thirty in the morning during the week,
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Speaker 1: So so I'm already mad because I go look the
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Speaker 1: clock the potential sleep when it was shrinking and I
5:58
Speaker 1: can't go to sleep. So not right now, I'm gonna
6:01
Speaker 1: use that, and hopefully I don't have to use it
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Speaker 1: anytime soon. But it's usually tied to you know. I
6:07
Speaker 1: I go to bed knowing that I have to do
6:10
Speaker 1: something when I get up, and if somehow I wake up,
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Speaker 1: and then it just takes over my thought process and
6:15
Speaker 1: it just becomes like are you kidding me? Are you
6:18
Speaker 1: really kidding me? I can't go back to ridiculous. You know.
6:21
Speaker 1: The interesting thing about you, Dr Williams, was that you know,
6:24
Speaker 1: when I read in your credits and Winston Salem and
6:27
Speaker 1: then when you got your masters from, and then also
6:30
Speaker 1: where you got your doctorate from, and there were three
6:32
Speaker 1: different academic arenas, but more important than the two that
6:35
Speaker 1: stood out the most was the beginning and the end,
6:38
Speaker 1: which is Winston Salem State and the Ohio State University.
6:42
Speaker 1: Talk about your journey at Winston Salem State because each
6:46
Speaker 1: experience was different from you. And why did you go
6:48
Speaker 1: to an HBCU. Well, let let me so, I actually
6:51
Speaker 1: got I went from undergrad straight to my doctorate. So
6:55
Speaker 1: when Ohio State was in the middle, and then I
6:57
Speaker 1: went to Queens Lakes, don't apologize no, but but the
7:03
Speaker 1: way they rolled out so an HBCU UM that experience, UM,
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Speaker 1: I think prepared me for everything. There is a sense
7:14
Speaker 1: of self, a sense of worth, a sense of value
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Speaker 1: that you get from community. One of the things that
7:21
Speaker 1: tell young people is, yes, the college experience is about
7:24
Speaker 1: you know, you get a diploma, but it's the people
7:27
Speaker 1: that connect you. It's the people who surround you, the
7:30
Speaker 1: arms that are wrapped around you, um figuratively and going
7:33
Speaker 1: to an HBC you every single one of my colleagues
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Speaker 1: that went to an HBC you didn't get lost in corporate.
7:39
Speaker 1: They didn't get lost, and they went to a p
7:40
Speaker 1: W I later they knew who they were. And I
7:44
Speaker 1: think that is a very unique experience that you only
7:47
Speaker 1: get at a at a Black school UM really because
7:52
Speaker 1: those professors are there really with a mission and a
7:55
Speaker 1: mandate to really arm us to take on whatever UM.
7:59
Speaker 1: I know, when, at least when I was coming up,
8:01
Speaker 1: there's a lot of stereotypes about HBCUs UM. You know,
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Speaker 1: you couldn't get in somewhere else. UM actually chose not
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Speaker 1: to go to Florida State to go to HBCU UM.
8:11
Speaker 1: And so for me, it was very intentional to make
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Speaker 1: sure that who I was was solid and grounded. My
8:18
Speaker 1: family is a close knit family. I grew up in church,
8:21
Speaker 1: and I really wanted to make sure that my preparation
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Speaker 1: for my career was going to continue to center around
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Speaker 1: me being a solid human that's really focused on getting
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Speaker 1: back making impacts and taking these educational tools for We'll
8:35
Speaker 1: be right back with more Money Making Conversations master Class
8:39
Speaker 1: with Rashan McDonald. Now, let's return to Money Making Conversations
8:45
Speaker 1: master Class with Rashan McDonald. Now that's just going through
8:48
Speaker 1: the academy wonder correctly. So you went from Western Salem
8:51
Speaker 1: State to the Ohio State University, or you got your
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Speaker 1: doctorate in medicine and then you got a master's in
9:00
Speaker 1: business administration okay, okay, so usually people just cool with
9:06
Speaker 1: the masters and business administration. Okay, but you got it.
9:09
Speaker 1: But you're a doctor to go get a master. Talk
9:12
Speaker 1: to us about that journey right there, because I wrote,
9:15
Speaker 1: I always write all my credits down, So me Rashan thinking, okay,
9:20
Speaker 1: this is the order, and she did this, she did this,
9:22
Speaker 1: she did this, she an excuse me, excuse me? I
9:25
Speaker 1: went from here to my doctorate? Did I? When he
9:28
Speaker 1: got my masters? Why that order? Oh? So the order?
9:32
Speaker 1: UM really interesting. I thought I was going to be
9:35
Speaker 1: a clinician. Um. I was in neuro oncology neurosurgery, halfway
9:39
Speaker 1: between clinic and surgery and making drugs, and I thought
9:43
Speaker 1: that's what I was to be doing. And along the
9:46
Speaker 1: way I started realizing I love this medical stuff, but
9:50
Speaker 1: I also want to do something else. You know, you
9:53
Speaker 1: start to see the life that you're going to be
9:55
Speaker 1: very soon, and I wanted some aspects of it, but
9:58
Speaker 1: not all of it. And so I was very fortunate. Um.
10:01
Speaker 1: This is where mentors, um and advisors really come into play.
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Speaker 1: They said, are you sure you want to change? And
10:07
Speaker 1: I said, well I think I knew, So they of
10:09
Speaker 1: course had me stay on the course and keep the
10:11
Speaker 1: clinical stuff. But then they started introducing me to all
10:14
Speaker 1: of this other financial stuff. And what I realized is
10:18
Speaker 1: I took to the finance stuff like bitch. UM. I
10:21
Speaker 1: had never taken a business class before UM going into
10:25
Speaker 1: UM my first corporate job, and I was really good
10:29
Speaker 1: at it. UM. So for me, the doctorate helped me
10:32
Speaker 1: to see, yes, you have these talents and passions, but
10:35
Speaker 1: you don't know what you don't know. You don't know UM,
10:38
Speaker 1: you're not exposed to this other I didn't even know
10:40
Speaker 1: the field existed, honestly, and once I got exposed, it
10:43
Speaker 1: was like, oh, I can do this. And I started
10:46
Speaker 1: working with somebody else and I went I can do
10:47
Speaker 1: it myself. So the the NBA came along really because
10:52
Speaker 1: I was looking to make sure that I had not
10:55
Speaker 1: only that health care underpinions, because my job was really
10:57
Speaker 1: to help people understand the medical stuff. But I started
11:01
Speaker 1: financially modeling at a really high level and people wouldn't
11:04
Speaker 1: assume it came from me, and I was like, you
11:06
Speaker 1: know what, fine an NBA. Later, I learned that the
11:09
Speaker 1: PhD n B a UM coupling is the most profitable
11:14
Speaker 1: degree coupling UM that you can have. So I guess
11:17
Speaker 1: I made a right choice, absolutely, and congratulations. So that
11:20
Speaker 1: the journey of means that you overcome you you know,
11:23
Speaker 1: the changes a lot and I see a lot in
11:25
Speaker 1: your life. You know that change is positive, but change
11:28
Speaker 1: also comes with fear because fear is tied that I known.
11:31
Speaker 1: How did you like? You said you mentioned mentors, and
11:33
Speaker 1: the mentors were the people you went to when you
11:36
Speaker 1: were indecisive, are sure and kept you focused on your
11:39
Speaker 1: bottom line, which is your dream. Um. Yes, my mentors
11:44
Speaker 1: were people who said, you know, if you're gonna choose
11:47
Speaker 1: the crep path, you've got to do this thing, so
11:49
Speaker 1: you might as well love it. And so every time
11:52
Speaker 1: I was really unsure where I said, they encouraged me
11:56
Speaker 1: to explore, be open to other things over the subject,
11:59
Speaker 1: feel to other fields. And those mentors really, you know,
12:03
Speaker 1: came and um came in the clutch when you know,
12:06
Speaker 1: I think my parents were looking at me like, Okay,
12:09
Speaker 1: you have been on this past to be in the
12:11
Speaker 1: clinic and be a clinician for so long and now
12:14
Speaker 1: you're gonna take a hard left out of it. And
12:18
Speaker 1: I think when you talk about fear, you know, I
12:20
Speaker 1: don't want to let my parents and my family down,
12:23
Speaker 1: but you know, saying I'm gonna go into business. They
12:25
Speaker 1: were like okay, UM, and then saying I'm gonna leave
12:28
Speaker 1: corporate to start my own business. They really started to say, oh, UM,
12:32
Speaker 1: are you sure because you did all this other stuff?
12:34
Speaker 1: And I said, but I'm like you, I'm bringing all
12:36
Speaker 1: of that experience with me. So all of the mentors
12:39
Speaker 1: UM that surrounded me um and to continue to surround
12:43
Speaker 1: me UM really say, UM, keep following what you want
12:48
Speaker 1: to do, not the expectations of what other people want
12:51
Speaker 1: you to do. UM. I always hear my grandmother's um
12:55
Speaker 1: voice in my head when she used to always say
12:57
Speaker 1: when I was little, it's your saying do what you
12:58
Speaker 1: wanna do, UM. And that's really what my mentors are saying.
13:03
Speaker 1: You know, if you're good at saying this isn't right,
13:06
Speaker 1: you know, try something else. And I try to now
13:10
Speaker 1: enter into every situation with a hard yess. It's a
13:14
Speaker 1: hard yest for me. If I'm really into it, I'm
13:16
Speaker 1: gonna try it. If I'm really interested, I'm gonna try it.
13:18
Speaker 1: And it's like, oh, I don't know, I don't know
13:20
Speaker 1: if that's worth my time because being uncertain or squishy
13:24
Speaker 1: that that's your body. I think that's your good, that's
13:26
Speaker 1: your interesting is telling you this ain't ain't right for me.
13:29
Speaker 1: So for me, it's really having those people that encourage
13:33
Speaker 1: me to not be so tied to a title or
13:36
Speaker 1: a position, but really say, where is the path lead to?
13:39
Speaker 1: What's the next step? Wow, I'm talking to Dr Seante Williams,
13:43
Speaker 1: she's the seal. Black Pearl Global Investments is a black
13:47
Speaker 1: owned asset management firm that's focused on reducing health disparities
13:51
Speaker 1: across the globe. Let's talk about the company, Black Pearl
13:54
Speaker 1: Global Investments. How did this start? How did you get
13:58
Speaker 1: involved with the concept because it all started with a dream,
14:02
Speaker 1: But how did that dream manifest itself into reality? So
14:07
Speaker 1: that's a really good story. I'll tell you and take
14:10
Speaker 1: your time. It's your show now. Okay. My first firm
14:15
Speaker 1: was a b diligenous firm. Um it was doing very well.
14:19
Speaker 1: I was proud of myself for starting from zero and
14:21
Speaker 1: you know, I hain myself. That was my full time
14:24
Speaker 1: gig and I was so proud of it. And I
14:26
Speaker 1: started to do community advocacy work and I happen to
14:28
Speaker 1: be talking about the impact capital can have an investments
14:32
Speaker 1: can have in a community. And I'm talking to a
14:34
Speaker 1: group of Presbyterian pastors and one of the pastors comes
14:38
Speaker 1: up to me, who was a wit and sailor say
14:40
Speaker 1: the Love, says, you know, hey, fellow Love, UM, I
14:44
Speaker 1: have someone at my church that you really should meet
14:47
Speaker 1: and say when you come to my church. And I'm like, oh,
14:49
Speaker 1: this guy is trying to get me become a church show.
14:52
Speaker 1: I'm a p K already, so I'm like, Okay, to
14:56
Speaker 1: the church. And I just sat through a really beautiful
15:01
Speaker 1: woman's saying service and it happened to be Um, the
15:04
Speaker 1: first female surgeon for Charlotte. She was just amazing and
15:09
Speaker 1: she was talking about taking off the bill Um. And
15:13
Speaker 1: after the service, I I went up to Pat and said,
15:17
Speaker 1: oh you came. I think he was surprised to Um.
15:20
Speaker 1: And so he introduced me to Dr carl Smart. Um
15:23
Speaker 1: and Dr Smart and I probably talked for five minutes,
15:27
Speaker 1: no more. And he was interested in investing and he
15:31
Speaker 1: was like okay. So we shased numbers and then we
15:34
Speaker 1: did not connect again for another year. Um. We played
15:36
Speaker 1: phone tag, YadA YadA, and finally he says, oh, hey,
15:40
Speaker 1: finally got you. We meet they after Thankgiving and he says,
15:45
Speaker 1: I've seen what you're doing. I've been following for a while.
15:47
Speaker 1: I think he was secretly vetting me to make sure
15:49
Speaker 1: I was, you know, the real deal. And he said,
15:52
Speaker 1: but I don't think what you're doing now is big enough.
15:56
Speaker 1: And you know, when you get that kind of feedback
15:59
Speaker 1: from somebody, you Okay, what's I said? Because you you
16:03
Speaker 1: just said earlier, you know, I was doing my thing,
16:05
Speaker 1: my startup, I was feeling good or make a little money,
16:08
Speaker 1: and then somebody tells you, I don't think what you
16:11
Speaker 1: do it is big enough. How did you react to that?
16:16
Speaker 1: You know, in my head, I think I had a decision. Tree.
16:19
Speaker 1: I can be highly offended. I just gotta know what
16:22
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. All I can listen, right I can.
16:25
Speaker 1: I can hear what he has to say. UM. And
16:28
Speaker 1: he didn't say, you know, ruined rock toiling, but he
16:30
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, have just saying it. And I'm like
16:31
Speaker 1: this saying later and myself, you know, I I'm I'm entrepreneurial.
16:36
Speaker 1: And I listened and I really mean it. And he says,
16:39
Speaker 1: I think you could be doing far greater. You can
16:43
Speaker 1: have an impact using the knowledge you have. UM, I
16:46
Speaker 1: do have an interest in this, but you know, would
16:49
Speaker 1: you be interested maybe just talking about how because he's
16:52
Speaker 1: a critical care of pulmon knowlogy that has been a
16:53
Speaker 1: surgeon for um about thirty years. And he said, I
16:58
Speaker 1: think with our health care expertiy ease he's done investing separately.
17:02
Speaker 1: I've done investing separately. If we joined together, we can
17:06
Speaker 1: start impacting uh black people's healthcare from a different perspective.
17:13
Speaker 1: We have the experience, we have the cash, We can
17:16
Speaker 1: invest in things that we moved the neogle and we
17:19
Speaker 1: can do it not just here. We can do it
17:21
Speaker 1: for folks and diaspora. We can do it for folks
17:23
Speaker 1: in the Caribbean. We can do it for folks in Africa.
17:26
Speaker 1: I wasn't thinking global. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina,
17:29
Speaker 1: and I was proud to be doing the work I
17:31
Speaker 1: was doing for the companies in my you know, my
17:33
Speaker 1: little spear, I would say, between Charlotte Atlanta, and that
17:38
Speaker 1: got my mind kind of gone okay. So we started
17:42
Speaker 1: talking about what we would invest in, UM, what kind
17:46
Speaker 1: of impact we wanted to see, what kind of outcomes
17:48
Speaker 1: we wanted to see, And that day Black Pearl was born.
17:52
Speaker 1: UM we said, okay, let's see what we can do.
17:56
Speaker 1: UM actually sold my purse firm. You know, I let
18:00
Speaker 1: it go knowing that this next thing is going to
18:03
Speaker 1: be an adventure. The next thing is gonna be a
18:05
Speaker 1: journey that maybe we'll reach more people. I now had
18:08
Speaker 1: a partner, because I was a solo prenewer before. Now
18:11
Speaker 1: I have a partner. And we started saying, what do
18:13
Speaker 1: we need? What do we need? What do we need?
18:15
Speaker 1: The name black Pearl has two meanings. Um. Black pearl
18:19
Speaker 1: is one of the most rare and most expensive jewels
18:23
Speaker 1: you can buy naturally. Um, And we started saying, you know,
18:28
Speaker 1: our health is a jewel. Black people are a jewel.
18:31
Speaker 1: We need to be protecting that, we need to be
18:33
Speaker 1: investing in that, we need to her arms around that.
18:36
Speaker 1: So black Pearl is like, oh yeah, that's gonna be us.
18:40
Speaker 1: But then we learned Carl was watching, um a movie
18:44
Speaker 1: Ours of the Arabian and the Black Pearl was the
18:48
Speaker 1: pirate ship that could not be caught. And so there's
18:51
Speaker 1: a double meaning there. Um, we are both valuable and rare.
18:56
Speaker 1: And you know there's some mistake. You know, as own
19:00
Speaker 1: as we are staying on our path, no one's going
19:02
Speaker 1: to catch us because we're doing what we're supposed to
19:04
Speaker 1: be doing. And so that's how we found two other
19:07
Speaker 1: partners that can feel some gaps and I don't have
19:10
Speaker 1: a hard technology backgrounds. We found a partner for that.
19:13
Speaker 1: We got one more partner that really had a deep
19:15
Speaker 1: diving entrepreneurship and business as well. The four of us together,
19:20
Speaker 1: I feel like we amna saying I'm Captain Plannett. Like
19:23
Speaker 1: our powers combined and Black Girl came forward, and it
19:26
Speaker 1: came forward really to write checks into companies as a start.
19:30
Speaker 1: Fast forward. Five years later, we have written checks venture capital,
19:34
Speaker 1: we have made loans, we have uh acquired companies. We
19:41
Speaker 1: have launched an office in Kingston, Jamaica, and we have
19:45
Speaker 1: an office at Acros Ghana um We have a health
19:47
Speaker 1: Advisory um ARM that helps develop people of workforce development.
19:52
Speaker 1: And it all started from me not being offended from
19:55
Speaker 1: the feedback. We're really saying, let me listen to the feedback.
19:59
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. We'll be right back
20:01
Speaker 1: with more Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushan McDonald.
20:07
Speaker 1: Now let's return to Money Making Conversations master Class with
20:11
Speaker 1: Rashan McDonald. I always tell people I wake up, dumb,
20:16
Speaker 1: just make that statement that way. I'm willing to accept
20:18
Speaker 1: information it's given to you. But if you wake up,
20:20
Speaker 1: thank you nor at all, you know you can miss
20:22
Speaker 1: something that moment was right there. If you had a
20:24
Speaker 1: nor at all personality ride to dominate your spirit or
20:27
Speaker 1: your soul, then you would amiss black pearl ever being
20:31
Speaker 1: a possibility. But when you say word black pearl and investments,
20:35
Speaker 1: that's what my audience wants to hear. Investment. What will
20:39
Speaker 1: you say investing this, investing it and it's in healthcare?
20:42
Speaker 1: What are you talking about? So? Uh? For me, money
20:47
Speaker 1: is a tool. UM. Just like a hammer, you can
20:50
Speaker 1: either build or it can destroyer. I can hit you
20:52
Speaker 1: in the head with the hammer and they'll they'll beat
20:53
Speaker 1: you down right. UM. Money is a tool. So when
20:56
Speaker 1: we talk about investing, we're looking for companies on the
20:59
Speaker 1: adventure capital side of things that have high growth potential,
21:03
Speaker 1: but they're coming up with discoveries that are new and
21:05
Speaker 1: novel that are helping they reduce healthcare costs, that are
21:09
Speaker 1: improving the outcomes, that are increasing access for populations that
21:13
Speaker 1: didn't have UM that access or give you an example, UM.
21:17
Speaker 1: Earlier this year we invested in a maternal healthcare company
21:21
Speaker 1: called Mommy. Mommy is a company that UH build technology
21:26
Speaker 1: to help black mothers get all of the resources they
21:31
Speaker 1: need to have successful deliveries and then post part of
21:34
Speaker 1: UM be able to cope with you know, new baby UM,
21:38
Speaker 1: maybe some of the mental health aspects and really give
21:40
Speaker 1: them a community, getting these practitioners to listen to them,
21:44
Speaker 1: giving them alternatives whether they want to be in a
21:46
Speaker 1: hospital or have natural birth. But we know from a
21:49
Speaker 1: healthcare perspective, black mothers are going to are more likely
21:54
Speaker 1: to suffer adverse effects, even if you haven't shared, even
21:57
Speaker 1: if you have money, even if you you know, so
22:01
Speaker 1: we know Williams had severe complications beyondt. I mean, these
22:04
Speaker 1: are women with resources and I'm sure the best of
22:08
Speaker 1: the best health care and they still had these other complications.
22:11
Speaker 1: So that's the kind of company we put our money into.
22:14
Speaker 1: Unadventure capital side, we right checks into companies that are
22:17
Speaker 1: making an impact that can change the trajectory of you know,
22:22
Speaker 1: women dying, babies, dyeing UM. We invest in companies that
22:27
Speaker 1: make food cleaner, We invest in UM. We invest in
22:31
Speaker 1: companies that can make the environment more healthy because when
22:34
Speaker 1: we think about healthcare, we're thinking, you know again, if
22:37
Speaker 1: you don't have your health, the rest of it's gonna
22:40
Speaker 1: go the pot. Right, you can have all the money
22:42
Speaker 1: in the world and your health crashes. Guess where your
22:43
Speaker 1: money is going to go to fixing your health. So
22:46
Speaker 1: we think about healthcare is really the center of our beings,
22:50
Speaker 1: our universe. If you will and so will help, will
22:54
Speaker 1: invest in things for economic mobility, will invest in things
22:57
Speaker 1: for climate, will invest in things for right on the
23:00
Speaker 1: nose healthcare direct practitioner care, UM, we will invest in
23:05
Speaker 1: things that are transportation related. I mean, we are really
23:08
Speaker 1: thinking about healthcare broadly because you can't just put on
23:11
Speaker 1: one level. I think it's going to change everything. Well,
23:14
Speaker 1: you know the thing about it is uh interview Tanya
23:17
Speaker 1: Lewis Lee just a brilliant documentary that's really informative on
23:21
Speaker 1: Hulu called Aftershock, which is about you know, inframortality, especially
23:26
Speaker 1: in the African American community. And I hear you talk
23:30
Speaker 1: about that just gives me, you know, flashback that there
23:33
Speaker 1: are many warriors out there, and I consider you a
23:35
Speaker 1: warrior who's out there from a financial perspective, trying to
23:38
Speaker 1: change lives within our community and also giving up a
23:42
Speaker 1: shot of delivering a healthy kid. When as I closed
23:47
Speaker 1: this interview, and it's been a wonderful interview because your
23:49
Speaker 1: life has so many beautiful pearls in it, I just
23:52
Speaker 1: just use that and we use that pearl when when
23:55
Speaker 1: we just talk about the academic training and making decisions
23:58
Speaker 1: and not living yourself and saying that enough it's enough,
24:01
Speaker 1: and being able to accept what I call constructive criticism
24:04
Speaker 1: or comments because people told you they saw more on you,
24:08
Speaker 1: that you can do more. A lot of people hear
24:10
Speaker 1: that terminology fear or they could satisfy. I'm satisfied where
24:14
Speaker 1: I'm at, but you saw it like, Okay, what are
24:17
Speaker 1: you talking about? And I think more people should lean
24:19
Speaker 1: in instead of pushing back when people approach them about
24:23
Speaker 1: their gifts. Always talk about gifts and purpose. I feel
24:27
Speaker 1: you're living your purpose because you're taking advantage of your gifts.
24:31
Speaker 1: And as you talk about the next chapter and Black
24:35
Speaker 1: plural global investments, what is it, Dr Shartha weaves, our
24:41
Speaker 1: chapter really looks like UM expanding UM into other countries. UM.
24:45
Speaker 1: So we're already on the continent of Africa, but we
24:48
Speaker 1: will look to push into areas where a lot of
24:50
Speaker 1: people are going East Africa, there are not a lot
24:53
Speaker 1: of folks to playing money. UM. When we think about
24:55
Speaker 1: the Caribbean really starting to support entrepreneurs there M when
25:00
Speaker 1: we think about acquiring companies. We just acquired a contact
25:03
Speaker 1: less manufacturing facility. I think it's really important. If we
25:07
Speaker 1: want to control costs of health care and we want
25:09
Speaker 1: to help more entrepreneurs get into the healthcare space, we've
25:12
Speaker 1: got to reduce those barriers. So one way to do
25:15
Speaker 1: that is controlling the supply chain. If I am the
25:18
Speaker 1: direct manufacturer of something, I have a direct relationship with
25:22
Speaker 1: the cost of something of that products and so I
25:25
Speaker 1: can start to provide it to community at a price
25:28
Speaker 1: that makes it affordable. Black people are disproportionately we're more
25:31
Speaker 1: likely to have eye care issues. UM. But on the
25:35
Speaker 1: flip side of that, if you're somebody who is let's
25:38
Speaker 1: say creating the next beauty products or someone who's coming
25:42
Speaker 1: up with a healthcare formulation, guess what you likely will
25:45
Speaker 1: need to package your products and FDA regulator facility I
25:49
Speaker 1: now have to UM and we have reconfigured our floor
25:54
Speaker 1: plans to help other entrepreneurs come into that space, reducing
25:57
Speaker 1: the costs. Really to start patching up their products. So
26:00
Speaker 1: as we rode forward, we will look to see how
26:03
Speaker 1: we can one continue to bring products into our portfolio
26:05
Speaker 1: that reduce healthcare costs, but then how do we leverage
26:09
Speaker 1: those assets to help other companies get ahead, whether that's
26:12
Speaker 1: through expertise, whether that's through space, whether that's through us
26:15
Speaker 1: really just saying, hey, if you need to use our
26:19
Speaker 1: products to test whether or not your thing is going
26:21
Speaker 1: to work, we're open to that. And that's where I
26:24
Speaker 1: think the future for us is really going to be
26:26
Speaker 1: headed helping businesses level up, but then also bringing in
26:30
Speaker 1: practitioners people UM. One of our programs that I'm most
26:33
Speaker 1: proud of is we take folks with UM no health
26:36
Speaker 1: care skills, we help them get trained, and then they're
26:40
Speaker 1: coming into the workforce at you know, the forty or
26:42
Speaker 1: fifty dollars side of things versus the you know, ten
26:46
Speaker 1: or fifteen dollars and our side of things. And that's
26:49
Speaker 1: I'm really proud of because the more people we get
26:51
Speaker 1: into health care, the more diverse voices we have, they're
26:54
Speaker 1: the less likely thing is that people will get overseen
26:57
Speaker 1: or overlooked when they say I have or they say something,
27:01
Speaker 1: just is it right? And so I'm really proud of
27:03
Speaker 1: the work we're doing today, and I look forward to
27:05
Speaker 1: seeing that expand beyond North Carolina and to other states
27:08
Speaker 1: and in other countries, and then leveraging all of these
27:11
Speaker 1: facilities because we can marry those practitioners with the spaces,
27:14
Speaker 1: and I think the future is going to be very
27:16
Speaker 1: right if we continue to do that. Well, I'm telling
27:19
Speaker 1: you your storytelling this is amazing. She is the CEO
27:23
Speaker 1: Black Pearl Global and the investment firm that is changing
27:26
Speaker 1: the healthcare of the African American columing not only domestically
27:29
Speaker 1: but global people of color. Have They have a I
27:32
Speaker 1: like to say, of an angel in the in their
27:35
Speaker 1: corporate structure, is out there funding ways that we can
27:38
Speaker 1: live a better life, a longer life, a life that
27:40
Speaker 1: feels like we're part of the people care about us. Again,
27:43
Speaker 1: I want to appreciate. I wanted to say, I appreciate
27:45
Speaker 1: you taking the time, and all my interviews have their
27:47
Speaker 1: special journeys. But I think from an academic standpoint, you're special.
27:51
Speaker 1: From a lifestyle standpoint, you're special and for your calls.
27:55
Speaker 1: So what you're doing out here in the community, as
27:57
Speaker 1: we all goal is to make money, but ball you
28:00
Speaker 1: can help people along the way. Isn't that a blessing? Yes, yes,
28:04
Speaker 1: yes absolutely. I want to thank you for coming on
28:06
Speaker 1: money Making Conversation Masterclass and we talked soon. Okay, absolutely,
28:10
Speaker 1: thank you for having me. I appreciate you. It's been
28:12
Speaker 1: ray Sean McDonald I hosted Money Making Conversation Masterclass