Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Rushion interviews Ryan Wilson, the co-founder, and CEO of The Gathering Spot, a private membership network that that serves as a hub for collaboration and business connections for over one million African Americans.

Transcript

Rushion interviews Ryan Wilson, the co-founder, and CEO of The Gathering Spot, a private membership network that that serves as a hub for collaboration and business connections for over one million African Americans. · 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 given me
0:13
Speaker 1: advice on many occasions. In the case you didn't notice,
0:15
Speaker 1: I'm not broke, you know he'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs,
0:19
Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and industry decision makers. It's what he likes to do,
0:22
Speaker 1: it's what he likes to share. Now it's time to
0:25
Speaker 1: hear from my man, Rashan McDonald money Making Conversations. Here
0:29
Speaker 1: we come. My guest on Money Making Conversation Masterclass is
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Speaker 1: Brian Wilson's the co founder and CEO of The Gathering Spot,
0:36
Speaker 1: a private membership network that has served that serves as
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Speaker 1: a hub for collaboration and business connection connections for African
0:43
Speaker 1: Americans and minority The Gathering Spot opened in Atlanta in
0:46
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen and has expanded nationally. We'll discussed that during
0:50
Speaker 1: our interview. In twenty twenty two, The Gathering Spots is
0:53
Speaker 1: acquired by Greenwood, Inc. Creating the most significant fintech and
0:57
Speaker 1: community platform for blacks and minorities where they come mind
1:00
Speaker 1: collaborating business community of over one million people. Please walk
1:04
Speaker 1: into Money Making Conversations Masterclass, Ryan Wilson. How you doing, Ryan,
1:08
Speaker 1: I'm doing well. Thanks for having me tell us about
1:11
Speaker 1: the gathering spot twenty sixteen. I had to start before
1:14
Speaker 1: that with a dream, with an idea, who pushed an
1:17
Speaker 1: idea and how did it happen? So it did start
1:20
Speaker 1: before twenty sixteen. I like to say that a lot
1:23
Speaker 1: of times folks think that businesses start overnight, but our
1:26
Speaker 1: process was truly at night. I started writing about TGS
1:30
Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen, and my plan growing up was to
1:32
Speaker 1: be an attorney. So I was in law school in
1:34
Speaker 1: DC and came up with the idea to really rethink
1:38
Speaker 1: or reimagine the private city club experience. Sent the idea
1:42
Speaker 1: to my college roommate, and we worked for about three
1:44
Speaker 1: years before the first gathering spot opened in March of
1:47
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. So it's been seven great years now. Nah.
1:52
Speaker 1: That sounded really simple, Ryan, Okay, you know yeh, y'all
1:56
Speaker 1: had a great idea and then all of a sudden
1:58
Speaker 1: it happened, because we know it didn't happen because people
2:02
Speaker 1: pushed back on great ideas, especially when it's not normal,
2:05
Speaker 1: especially when it's not part of a community that that
2:09
Speaker 1: experience happens. What were the pushbacks and what were the
2:12
Speaker 1: obstacles and getting it opened? So I actually counted the
2:18
Speaker 1: obstacles in the early days, so I thought it was
2:19
Speaker 1: important to know just how many of them we were collecting.
2:23
Speaker 1: Our first round of funding required three million dollars of
2:26
Speaker 1: capital to be raised, and it was ninety seven people
2:30
Speaker 1: that told us no in a row before we got
2:32
Speaker 1: to our first yes. At the time was twenty two,
2:36
Speaker 1: twenty three years old, and we just kept going. I mean,
2:40
Speaker 1: the thing that we told ourselves during that time period
2:42
Speaker 1: was that we really were seeing something that the market
2:45
Speaker 1: couldn't see, right, and that honestly, there was a good
2:48
Speaker 1: thing in the knows that we were getting from folks,
2:50
Speaker 1: because they were actually indications that we were probably heading
2:54
Speaker 1: actually in the right direction because they couldn't see what
2:57
Speaker 1: we were trying to accomplish. But ninety seven people before
3:01
Speaker 1: the first yes, and then we after that first yes,
3:04
Speaker 1: we're able to move a little bit faster and start
3:06
Speaker 1: the construction process of the first TGS. Now the first
3:10
Speaker 1: TGS Atlanta, Georgia. Okay, because you were saying you said
3:13
Speaker 1: DC earlier in your conversation why Atlanta, Georgia was the
3:17
Speaker 1: gathering spot to open it in Atlanta, Georgia was the
3:19
Speaker 1: perfect location. I think Atlanta is one of the more
3:22
Speaker 1: important cities in the country right now. If you look
3:24
Speaker 1: at the colleges and universities, if you look at the
3:27
Speaker 1: small business community, if you look at the large companies
3:30
Speaker 1: that call Atlanta home, and then if you look at
3:33
Speaker 1: the creative community. I really think that what we export
3:35
Speaker 1: more than anything else in the city is our culture.
3:38
Speaker 1: So when I thought about a place that I would
3:40
Speaker 1: want to be where there would be different people connecting
3:43
Speaker 1: with one another, I wanted to be in a city
3:45
Speaker 1: where black folks were in leadership and leading the city.
3:50
Speaker 1: But also we're doing it from a variety of different industries.
3:53
Speaker 1: And so I decided to come back home. I'm from here,
3:56
Speaker 1: but this city's special. Atlanta. Atlanta as a as an
4:01
Speaker 1: incredibly special place, and I wanted to be a part
4:04
Speaker 1: of the growth of what I thought the city was
4:05
Speaker 1: going to experience. And I have to agree. I know
4:08
Speaker 1: that Steve Harvey and I when we left New York
4:11
Speaker 1: and we was trying to figure out a place where
4:13
Speaker 1: we wanted to set up our businesses our headquarters, and
4:16
Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven we moved to Atlanta because
4:18
Speaker 1: we felt that it was just the right environment, the
4:22
Speaker 1: right type of African Americans to do business with. It
4:25
Speaker 1: was upluely mobile as far as coast of living. We
4:29
Speaker 1: felt that was in line right there. And also, but
4:31
Speaker 1: in since two thousands and something, you've seen how the
4:34
Speaker 1: especially with Tyler Perry moving his theater down here and
4:37
Speaker 1: the other the tremendous growth in the television and film
4:41
Speaker 1: and streaming industry. And here in twenty sixteen you said,
4:46
Speaker 1: you know you have to be you have to kind
4:48
Speaker 1: of be a visionary when you start setting up these ideas.
4:51
Speaker 1: Was that Did you see that, Brian or you just
4:54
Speaker 1: it just happened and you're excited about being a part
4:57
Speaker 1: of being along for the ride. I mean, I saw it,
5:01
Speaker 1: but more importantly, I felt it right when I came
5:03
Speaker 1: back home. I could I could feel the energy that
5:05
Speaker 1: was in the city. And this is a big city
5:09
Speaker 1: to a certain extent, that still feels like a small town, right.
5:12
Speaker 1: You can build relationships here. So I would come back
5:14
Speaker 1: to Atlanta and we would get more done in a
5:17
Speaker 1: couple of days in the city, and it felt like
5:19
Speaker 1: we were getting done anywhere else we were trying to
5:21
Speaker 1: raise money. So I felt that energy. I felt felt
5:26
Speaker 1: the fact that people were rooting for you here, that
5:29
Speaker 1: they're willing to help you, and that was a part
5:31
Speaker 1: of the culture. So it made all the sense in
5:34
Speaker 1: the world. And I mean honestly, again, I'm in my
5:37
Speaker 1: early twenties at this part of the journey, so I
5:42
Speaker 1: didn't have much to be afraid of, right it was.
5:45
Speaker 1: It was exciting more than anything else, just to be
5:48
Speaker 1: able to have the chance to have a chance. Well
5:50
Speaker 1: the Jayson Roy I'm talking to Ride Wilson, the co
5:53
Speaker 1: founder the CEO of the Gathering Spot, of private membership
5:55
Speaker 1: network that serves as a hub and collaboration for business
5:58
Speaker 1: connections for African mary and minorities. Now, I mean it
6:03
Speaker 1: takes a lot of confidence. I won't say the word
6:06
Speaker 1: arrogance to say you a young guy and say I
6:08
Speaker 1: need three million dollars and being go in the room
6:10
Speaker 1: convincing people I need this amount of money. Now, what's
6:15
Speaker 1: your background to give you that level of confidence? And
6:18
Speaker 1: what type of presentation did you have to put together
6:21
Speaker 1: to convince people that this would work? So I had
6:25
Speaker 1: to benefit my parents were entrepreneurs, and so I grew
6:27
Speaker 1: up not wanting to start a business at all because
6:29
Speaker 1: I saw that life. I saw what my parents went
6:32
Speaker 1: through to build and scale of the companies that they
6:36
Speaker 1: had started. The best advice that I could give folks
6:40
Speaker 1: that are that are staring at an idea that they
6:41
Speaker 1: have is just to know that it isn't random, right,
6:44
Speaker 1: There's something that's really leading you to the point of
6:48
Speaker 1: wanting to do whatever it is that you want to do.
6:50
Speaker 1: And it's important to be a good steward of what
6:52
Speaker 1: I saw is my assignment. My my mission is to
6:56
Speaker 1: connect people. I'm a community builder, and look, I don't
7:00
Speaker 1: I don't get a chance to do life over from
7:02
Speaker 1: what I understand, and so I didn't want to have
7:04
Speaker 1: any regrets about not trying. And at that point, again,
7:07
Speaker 1: I'm in my twenties, so if it didn't work out,
7:10
Speaker 1: my mind was like, well, I'll go back and I'll
7:12
Speaker 1: have plenty of time to figure out a plan B.
7:14
Speaker 1: But I couldn't live with the what if, And so
7:18
Speaker 1: our plan was to just to give it a shot.
7:21
Speaker 1: And thankfully, thanks to a lot of really, really good
7:25
Speaker 1: people that were helpful to us, we were able to
7:27
Speaker 1: get off the ground and running. Now. It's it's so enlightening.
7:30
Speaker 1: I'm born and raised in Houston, Texas, Okay, lived in
7:33
Speaker 1: Chicago for five years, in New York for four years,
7:36
Speaker 1: so La for fifteen years. And so I understand the
7:39
Speaker 1: culture of this country, especially from the black perspective, because
7:43
Speaker 1: I've lived it, I've experienced it. And so you've expanded
7:46
Speaker 1: this this environment of the gathering spot. Now, what are
7:50
Speaker 1: the other two locations? Other locations that you have, all
7:53
Speaker 1: the locations that you were considering, and why so we
7:57
Speaker 1: we built the second TGS in Washington, d C. I met,
8:01
Speaker 1: I went to school in DC for underground and for
8:02
Speaker 1: law school. Built the third one in Los Angeles. And
8:05
Speaker 1: then what we have something called connected cities, where if
8:09
Speaker 1: you know anything about the gathering spot, we program a lot.
8:12
Speaker 1: We do a lot of events. And so our mission
8:15
Speaker 1: during the pandemic, when we couldn't gather in the way
8:17
Speaker 1: that we traditionally, what we're doing was to start to
8:21
Speaker 1: build things that you could do maybe that weren't necessarily
8:24
Speaker 1: connected to the physical locations. So in five other cities
8:28
Speaker 1: New York, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, and Charlotte, we have what
8:31
Speaker 1: we call connected cities, and so there are thousands of
8:33
Speaker 1: members that are a part of those clubs in the
8:36
Speaker 1: cities that I referenced that don't have access to a
8:39
Speaker 1: physical space yet, but do have access to our programming
8:42
Speaker 1: into the community. The goal is to build physical locations
8:45
Speaker 1: and all of those markets plus something. Okay, let me,
8:48
Speaker 1: do you want to slow it down a little bit? Ryan?
8:51
Speaker 1: You know, because I know what the gathering spot is.
8:53
Speaker 1: When I read this out, I say a private membership network.
8:57
Speaker 1: It serves as a hub for collaboration and business connections
9:01
Speaker 1: for African Americans, the minority. What does that mean and
9:04
Speaker 1: how does that membership register? So we have the best
9:10
Speaker 1: way to understand TGS is that we build physical spaces
9:14
Speaker 1: where everyone's welcome. But we are focused on making sure
9:18
Speaker 1: that black folks in particular feel celebrated at everything at
9:23
Speaker 1: every turn of what we do. Our clubs have events space,
9:27
Speaker 1: so we host a lot of different events throughout the year.
9:30
Speaker 1: We have a restaurant in bar space, and then we
9:32
Speaker 1: have workspace. The reason why people join, though, is because
9:36
Speaker 1: of the network, because of the community. So my job
9:38
Speaker 1: each and every day is to try to figure out
9:41
Speaker 1: how to introduce people that ordinarily would not have met
9:44
Speaker 1: one another. The youngest member is twenty one, the oldest
9:47
Speaker 1: member is now ninety one. And so my job is
9:50
Speaker 1: to no matter what you do, and if you go
9:53
Speaker 1: to a gathering spot, you'll see people wearing t shirts
9:56
Speaker 1: sitting next to people who are wearing suits, right, And
9:59
Speaker 1: my job is to try to figure out where is
10:01
Speaker 1: the common ground and where can we build a relationship,
10:04
Speaker 1: hopefully for business purposes or honestly for people just to
10:07
Speaker 1: meet others that they need to know socially. You know,
10:10
Speaker 1: it's really interesting. I'm talking to Ryan Wilson, and you know,
10:15
Speaker 1: I've been together to start four events. I've been togethering
10:18
Speaker 1: spots for meetings. It's a certain pride that you give
10:22
Speaker 1: young entrepreneurs. That's that's that's my biggest takeaway Ryan, is
10:26
Speaker 1: that when I meet young entrepreneurs, they said, can you
10:29
Speaker 1: meet me at the gathering spot? You know, and and
10:31
Speaker 1: our meeting is at a table, you know, and the
10:34
Speaker 1: probably in the in the in the dining area. And
10:37
Speaker 1: you know, when you when you walk into the gathering spot,
10:40
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, it's you met. It's an amazing experience
10:45
Speaker 1: because it's beautiful, first of all, and you walk in
10:50
Speaker 1: and every step of the way you felt like you
10:53
Speaker 1: walk you walked into a world of professionalism. Every step
10:57
Speaker 1: of the way. Soon as you walk into the dining area,
11:00
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's everybody feel like they're motivated to do
11:05
Speaker 1: something unique for themselves and special. Like I guess you
11:09
Speaker 1: have to experience that to understand what I'm talking about,
11:12
Speaker 1: because when we walk, this is not like walking into spaces.
11:15
Speaker 1: This is not like walking into we works where they
11:18
Speaker 1: do run out the offices and they do run out
11:21
Speaker 1: the desk and all that. This is the experience where
11:25
Speaker 1: you have people tied with the worried pride. Am I right?
11:28
Speaker 1: Then when I say that, Ryan, no, I appreciate that.
11:31
Speaker 1: I mean that's our goal, right If I if I
11:34
Speaker 1: to use another reference point, I mean different age group here.
11:37
Speaker 1: But if you think about the experience that a lot
11:40
Speaker 1: of folks have when they walked into their high school
11:43
Speaker 1: cafeteria or the cafeteria at college, right where everybody was there.
11:48
Speaker 1: It was a place where that you could build relationships,
11:51
Speaker 1: you could work, you can hang out, right, but it
11:53
Speaker 1: was family right, It felt it felt warm. That is
11:56
Speaker 1: what we are trying to make sure that the adults
11:59
Speaker 1: that are members of the club have a similar experience,
12:02
Speaker 1: and so people are there for different reasons. Again, some
12:05
Speaker 1: folks are there to get some work done. Others are
12:07
Speaker 1: there to meet people and try to get business deals done.
12:10
Speaker 1: But all in all, we want it to be a
12:12
Speaker 1: welcoming and warm experience that you know was built for you.
12:17
Speaker 1: We have this idea a lot of times that the
12:19
Speaker 1: spaces that we move in and out of were built
12:22
Speaker 1: for everybody. Well, look, my belief is that somebody was
12:25
Speaker 1: thinking about somebody when they built whatever it is that
12:28
Speaker 1: you're you're using. I was thinking about black folks when
12:32
Speaker 1: we were building the gathering spot. And so the music
12:35
Speaker 1: that you hear, the food that you'll eat, and the
12:36
Speaker 1: people that you'll see all go back to this very
12:40
Speaker 1: simple idea of we need to have a place where
12:41
Speaker 1: we feel comfortable. Well, you know, I you know, this
12:44
Speaker 1: is the fun point. By talking to Ryan, you know
12:46
Speaker 1: he talks about you know, I was in about early twenties,
12:48
Speaker 1: you know, gathering spots only seven years of age now,
12:51
Speaker 1: so that means he's nice in his early thirties. Okay,
12:54
Speaker 1: you know I love talking to him because you know,
12:57
Speaker 1: I'm saw him like a couple of years. It was
12:58
Speaker 1: a big event that tend that hosted over the gathering
13:02
Speaker 1: spot because it's also by community, and I want to
13:04
Speaker 1: people emphasize that. That's why I've been to like several
13:08
Speaker 1: events there. I think the UH, the African American Museum
13:12
Speaker 1: had any event there where they had the fundraiser there.
13:14
Speaker 1: I went to the event for that. Of course, my
13:17
Speaker 1: recently was the Big Brother's Big Sister event where they
13:20
Speaker 1: were it was engaging black men to come to the
13:24
Speaker 1: gathering spot and be mentors for for young young people.
13:28
Speaker 1: And this is the type of a home that you've created. Um,
13:33
Speaker 1: what makes you so proud about it? Ryan, Well, I'm
13:38
Speaker 1: grateful more than anything. Right when we started this journey,
13:41
Speaker 1: I had no idea that anybody was going to come
13:43
Speaker 1: into the first gatherings about twenty five thousand per feet, right,
13:47
Speaker 1: and so that's a lot of space to fill up
13:50
Speaker 1: on any given day. So to know that from the
13:53
Speaker 1: President of the United States, to your favorite artists UH,
13:57
Speaker 1: to the many many figures in leaders throughout town, including yourself,
14:02
Speaker 1: that have spent time at TGS and hosted programs talked
14:06
Speaker 1: about the important issues that are happening in our community.
14:09
Speaker 1: I'm just grateful that folks saw what we were, this
14:13
Speaker 1: idea that we had in our head, and have invested
14:16
Speaker 1: their their their time with us. More memories to count.
14:20
Speaker 1: I mean the club in Atlanta, we tried to look
14:23
Speaker 1: at it the other day. I think we're like ten
14:24
Speaker 1: thousand events in and so it's it's humbling, it's amazing
14:31
Speaker 1: talking to Royan will soon be right back with more
14:33
Speaker 1: money making conversation mass plat don't go anywhere. It's about
14:36
Speaker 1: it's about changing lives and that's what I've you know,
14:39
Speaker 1: I'm gonna call him a young man, you know, because
14:42
Speaker 1: he started his idea and it's it's it's important to
14:45
Speaker 1: realize that if you have a dream, don't feel that
14:49
Speaker 1: you're too young or too old to start pursuing it.
14:52
Speaker 1: And he started it in his early twenties and he's
14:55
Speaker 1: still living it now in his early thirties. So the
14:58
Speaker 1: future is bright and future is strong. Now he has expanded,
15:01
Speaker 1: we were right back with more money making conversations. Master
15:03
Speaker 1: class with the incredibly gifted and talented founder and CEO,
15:07
Speaker 1: co founder and CEO of The Other Spot, Ryan Wilson.
15:10
Speaker 1: Right back, Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back
15:13
Speaker 1: with more money making Conversations Masterclass. You are now tuned
15:18
Speaker 1: into the Money Making Conversations Minute of Inspiration with Rashaan McDonald.
15:23
Speaker 1: Following Tameron Hall's bittersweet exit from NBC Today Show more
15:27
Speaker 1: than two years ago, a lot of people wrote her
15:29
Speaker 1: off and some said it was a mistake to leave
15:31
Speaker 1: the show. Well, Tameron Hall has overcome the odds and
15:34
Speaker 1: now host one of the hottest shows in daytime talk.
15:37
Speaker 1: Most important to me and for me is that folks
15:41
Speaker 1: who are at home launching know what they're getting. They're
15:43
Speaker 1: getting a real conversation. I hope they're getting smart questions.
15:47
Speaker 1: We are looking for substantive ways to make our lives
15:49
Speaker 1: better as people, as parents. The human experience is a
15:54
Speaker 1: common thread. At the end of the day, I don't
15:56
Speaker 1: want someone keeping me from my dream. I don't want
15:59
Speaker 1: someone standing in my way. I want inspiration. I want
16:02
Speaker 1: to be a better wife, I want to be a
16:04
Speaker 1: better daughter, I want to be a better mom. And
16:06
Speaker 1: so that's a big part of what we talk about
16:09
Speaker 1: on our show. If you want to hear this full
16:11
Speaker 1: interview with Tamarin Hall, visit Moneymaking Conversation dot com. Keep winning.
16:16
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Money Making Conversations Masterclass hosted by
16:20
Speaker 1: Rishan McDonald. Welcome back to Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Speaking
16:24
Speaker 1: to Ryan Wilson, the co founding CEO of the Gathering Spot.
16:27
Speaker 1: He's on the show for some other things. The American,
16:29
Speaker 1: I mean the African The Atlanta Business League has celebrated
16:33
Speaker 1: their nintieth anniversary. Before we get into that more detail,
16:36
Speaker 1: I just want to wrap my head around one more thing,
16:39
Speaker 1: the fintech, which is financial tech and the community platforms
16:43
Speaker 1: that are available at the Gathering Spot. When you're here,
16:46
Speaker 1: the word fintech a lot being thrown around. What exactly
16:50
Speaker 1: is that and how you guys being one of the
16:55
Speaker 1: lynch pins or one of the forward thinking platforms for that.
17:00
Speaker 1: So fintech broadly speaks to this idea that there are
17:03
Speaker 1: a new set of companies that are trying to provide
17:06
Speaker 1: financial services or financial solutions to people. Our particular solution
17:10
Speaker 1: we required our company called Greenwood, and the goal there
17:14
Speaker 1: is to bank our community at scale, providing a lot
17:18
Speaker 1: of different products, so from savings and credit to investing.
17:23
Speaker 1: You will see the company over time really speaks to
17:27
Speaker 1: the entire financial health of our community. Why that's important
17:31
Speaker 1: is that at TGS. I mentioned all the programs that
17:33
Speaker 1: we were we've been hosting for our entire history. A
17:36
Speaker 1: lot of those conversations get back to us talking about money, right,
17:40
Speaker 1: but we realized that we didn't actually have the tool.
17:44
Speaker 1: We could talk about it right, but we didn't have
17:45
Speaker 1: the ability to bank or or help our community actually
17:50
Speaker 1: gain access to the tools that we were speaking about.
17:52
Speaker 1: So what the two companies coming together helps to accomplish
17:56
Speaker 1: is that goal. We can talk about it and host
17:58
Speaker 1: our programs and meet one another and also get connected
18:00
Speaker 1: to the right resources. Um that that again at scale,
18:04
Speaker 1: becomes a really powerful thing. You know when I when
18:07
Speaker 1: I when I bring interviews onto the show, and I
18:11
Speaker 1: it was a couple of things that happened in my life,
18:13
Speaker 1: you know, like to like I said, Ryan, I was
18:14
Speaker 1: born in Houston, and then I moved to New York
18:17
Speaker 1: when I thought I was going to be the next
18:18
Speaker 1: Eddie Murphy going to our stand up comedy career, and
18:21
Speaker 1: it was just how how empowering that city was emotionally
18:25
Speaker 1: for me. And then when I moved to LA because
18:27
Speaker 1: you know, you you kind of grow up and you
18:28
Speaker 1: really realize how much history has taught to you about
18:31
Speaker 1: New York. So when you get up there, you kind
18:33
Speaker 1: of like walking around going wow, that's wow, Wow, Brooklyn Bridge, Wow,
18:36
Speaker 1: Empire State Building. And then I went to La it
18:39
Speaker 1: was the same way, you know, Muscle Beach and uh
18:43
Speaker 1: Walk of Fame in the Chinese Theater. And it's becoming
18:46
Speaker 1: the same way with the city of Atlanta. This is
18:48
Speaker 1: becoming a lot of landmarks. Big events are constantly being
18:52
Speaker 1: held here. And when you talk about the Atlanta Business League,
18:56
Speaker 1: what is your relationship with them and what's the purpose
18:59
Speaker 1: of us discussing on the show today. So I have
19:02
Speaker 1: the privilege of serving as the new chair of the
19:03
Speaker 1: Atlanta Business League, and it's important for everyone to know
19:07
Speaker 1: if you are a black owned business in Atlanta, you
19:11
Speaker 1: have been impacted by the work of the Atlanta Business League.
19:13
Speaker 1: This is our ninetieth year as an organization, and so
19:17
Speaker 1: my job is in that very rich history to continue
19:20
Speaker 1: the effort to advocate and advance the interests of black
19:25
Speaker 1: owned businesses in Atlanta specifically. So we've got a great,
19:30
Speaker 1: great organization and a great history, but also a great
19:34
Speaker 1: current membership that is again focused on the issues of
19:38
Speaker 1: the day. Now we just talk about the Congress, it's purpose.
19:41
Speaker 1: I lined up our target audience key takeaways for the attendees.
19:44
Speaker 1: Talk about that because it sponsors Norfolk Southern w CRK,
19:48
Speaker 1: and Atlanta AJC, which is is a print publication is
19:52
Speaker 1: located in the Atlanta George ed area. Those important sponsors
19:57
Speaker 1: are important. You gotta mention them, you gotta be able
19:59
Speaker 1: to say what they do, and they serve their purpose.
20:01
Speaker 1: But what audience are you really trying to reach? Because
20:04
Speaker 1: right now everybody's laying off everybody. You know, You're you know,
20:07
Speaker 1: Disney laying off. You know, Google laid off twelve thousand
20:10
Speaker 1: people via email. They didn't even want to tell you personally.
20:13
Speaker 1: And so you know, Amazons laying off people. So when
20:16
Speaker 1: you talk entrepreneurship and then you talk about layoffs, where
20:20
Speaker 1: does where do's the excitement happen and where's the enthusiam.
20:23
Speaker 1: Enthusiasm of the Atlanta Business League helps out the individual
20:28
Speaker 1: as well as the small businesses. Yeah, so everyone is welcome.
20:31
Speaker 1: Keep that please keep that in mind, right, but our
20:33
Speaker 1: focus is everything connected to black owned businesses that are
20:38
Speaker 1: in Atlanta and the folks that are interested in partnering
20:41
Speaker 1: with them. So you will see some of the largest
20:43
Speaker 1: companies in town. I thank you for mentioning our sponsors,
20:47
Speaker 1: but you will see some of the larger organizations in
20:49
Speaker 1: town that are interested in doing business with some of
20:52
Speaker 1: the businesses that are the members of the league also
20:55
Speaker 1: present the congress that's coming up. It is April eleventh,
20:59
Speaker 1: and it's all day. It's from eight to three o'clock.
21:02
Speaker 1: The goal of the this is our sixteenth annual Congress
21:06
Speaker 1: on the State of Black Business. Goal of this day
21:09
Speaker 1: is again to talk about the important issues that we're seeing.
21:12
Speaker 1: What we will engage what's happening in the market broadly,
21:16
Speaker 1: but then also give very practical advice by way of
21:21
Speaker 1: of of a panel discussions about what black owned businesses
21:25
Speaker 1: in the city can be or should be thinking about
21:28
Speaker 1: as they continue to grow and scale their companies. You know,
21:30
Speaker 1: it's really interesting, dude, because and I think you can
21:33
Speaker 1: agree with me, Like in twenty twenty, you know, the pandemic,
21:36
Speaker 1: but also the unfortunate murder of George Floyd in the
21:43
Speaker 1: state of Minnesota, and there was a huge push for diversity,
21:48
Speaker 1: equity inclusion. Well, I'm out the business just like you.
21:51
Speaker 1: It feels like that lull for that push because politics
21:55
Speaker 1: are getting involved in it. Means that, you know, people
21:58
Speaker 1: trying to say diversity is a bad words shouldn't be
22:00
Speaker 1: using it. It's like a reverse racism in a sense. Now,
22:05
Speaker 1: when you talk about black businesses, you know at one
22:08
Speaker 1: time they will, you know, companies will pursuing us, pursuing
22:11
Speaker 1: our opportunities. It feels not with a different hustle speed.
22:14
Speaker 1: Now am I Am I wrong in saying that? Brian?
22:17
Speaker 1: Are you seeing something differently than what I'm seeing? No,
22:20
Speaker 1: I'm not saying seeing much different. Look. One of my
22:22
Speaker 1: favorite quoteses do you really want to win or look
22:24
Speaker 1: good losing? And I think, unfortunately a lot of times
22:28
Speaker 1: in the diversity, equity and inclusion space, it's not always
22:31
Speaker 1: about winning, right, it's about looking looking good losing. That
22:35
Speaker 1: is not in our interest, right. We actually have to
22:38
Speaker 1: it's it's in everybody's interest, no matter who you are,
22:41
Speaker 1: that black owned businesses grow in scale. We've got to
22:45
Speaker 1: continue to see, yes them be started, right, but also
22:49
Speaker 1: watch these companies get to meaningful scale. What that means
22:53
Speaker 1: are more employment opportunities for folks. That means better participation
22:58
Speaker 1: in our communities and the ability to be able to
23:00
Speaker 1: spend in our community. So, look, I do agree with
23:05
Speaker 1: you that we are entering a time period where it
23:06
Speaker 1: feels like, um, you know, we we we we came
23:10
Speaker 1: saw and conquered as it, you know, as we needed
23:12
Speaker 1: to for black home businesses and our advocacy and support
23:17
Speaker 1: of them. Right, we're not there yet, and I mean
23:20
Speaker 1: the ninety ninety years of the Atlanta Business League tells
23:23
Speaker 1: you pretty quickly that we've had a lot to discuss
23:25
Speaker 1: for a long time. But we're not nowhere near the
23:29
Speaker 1: finish line, and it's important to continue to keep a
23:32
Speaker 1: spotlight on what is a very important issue now. The
23:35
Speaker 1: event is April eleven. There's registration deadlines tied to that.
23:40
Speaker 1: I think midnight April ninth is the deadline for registry
23:43
Speaker 1: for this event, and the event is the registration at
23:48
Speaker 1: the email address our ship website is Atlanta Business League
23:51
Speaker 1: dot org. That's Atlanta Business League dot org and midnight
23:56
Speaker 1: of April ninth is the registration deadline if you want
23:59
Speaker 1: to participate in this incredibly event. I just want to say,
24:02
Speaker 1: just your rhyme, you know, to gather a spot Like
24:05
Speaker 1: I said that, we do have two three physical locations.
24:07
Speaker 1: One is in DC of course, the headquarters is in Atlanta.
24:10
Speaker 1: The home basis in Atlanta and then Los Angeles. Now
24:14
Speaker 1: you over the Atlanta Business League, a historical organization that
24:19
Speaker 1: has been fighting the fighting, the fight, and you're a
24:22
Speaker 1: young guy man, and I'm so impressed with that. The
24:26
Speaker 1: maturity and the responsibility cares a certain burden with it.
24:30
Speaker 1: How do you allow that to allow you to be
24:33
Speaker 1: yourself and continue to understand that you can't do at all? Look,
24:38
Speaker 1: I look at this as responsibility, and if you know
24:42
Speaker 1: your history right, you know that there were there were
24:44
Speaker 1: good people for a long time fighting way harder than
24:48
Speaker 1: what I can say that I am. On a daily basis,
24:51
Speaker 1: I wake up and go to work each day break,
24:53
Speaker 1: but thanks to their sacrifice and able to do it
24:57
Speaker 1: in a context where the the work, while still difficult,
25:02
Speaker 1: is nowhere near What if you again understand our history
25:07
Speaker 1: our ancestors faced, and so I wake up every day
25:10
Speaker 1: with that knowledge and knowing that it's important to continue
25:14
Speaker 1: to figure out how to keep going on with organizations
25:17
Speaker 1: like the Atlanta Business League. I would not be able
25:20
Speaker 1: to be in business if it were not for the
25:22
Speaker 1: Atlanta Business League. I decided to come back to Atlanta
25:25
Speaker 1: in my twenties, raise money and thought it was possible
25:28
Speaker 1: because organizations like the ABL has shown it. So so
25:34
Speaker 1: we have a responsibility to keep keep all of these
25:37
Speaker 1: efforts going. And so I would really appreciate the folks
25:41
Speaker 1: that are listening to this conversation. Please consider joining the
25:44
Speaker 1: Atlanta Business League. Please definitely attend the congress that will
25:49
Speaker 1: be on April eleventh, but know that even after that
25:52
Speaker 1: congress is over with, we need you engaged on trying
25:56
Speaker 1: to figure out how to grow and scale our companies.
25:58
Speaker 1: The easy way to do do that is to make
26:02
Speaker 1: sure that you're being intentional with how you spend your money.
26:04
Speaker 1: But beyond that, what other ways can you probably know
26:08
Speaker 1: somebody in business, what other ways can you be helpful
26:11
Speaker 1: to helping that that company get to scale? So um,
26:14
Speaker 1: I don't look at that with sadness. I look at
26:16
Speaker 1: it as as responsibility and with optimism and joy that
26:20
Speaker 1: I get the opportunity to have an opportunity to even
26:24
Speaker 1: to make an impact, and so I'm gonna do it.
26:29
Speaker 1: A couple of things I want to mention as we close.
26:31
Speaker 1: Take your business to the next level? What's that all about?
26:34
Speaker 1: So that's a part of our effort at the Atlanta
26:37
Speaker 1: Business League and it's true to name right. It's an
26:40
Speaker 1: effort that businesses can can can join with us and
26:44
Speaker 1: where we get laser focused on growth. So number of
26:47
Speaker 1: programs at abl UM, but again, please consider joining and
26:52
Speaker 1: becoming a member of the organization as you. As you do,
26:55
Speaker 1: you'll see that we host a number of programs throughout
26:57
Speaker 1: the year that will help you grow and scale your company.
27:00
Speaker 1: He is a leader, a natural leader, still a young
27:02
Speaker 1: man and he's a leader. And I say that combined
27:06
Speaker 1: collaborating business community of over one million people. The CEO
27:10
Speaker 1: and co founder of the gathering spot located in like
27:13
Speaker 1: you said, Atlanta, d C. And as well as Los
27:17
Speaker 1: Angeles physical location as well as hotspots in places like
27:20
Speaker 1: Chicago in Houston. Again, thank you for coming on my show,
27:23
Speaker 1: Money Making Conversation Masterclass. Ryan. I appreciate you having me.
27:26
Speaker 1: See you soon,