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The Realities of Entrepreneurship: Lessons from Pinky Cole · Earn Your Leisure

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  Speaker 1: Earners. What's up. You ever walk into a small business
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  Speaker 1: and everything just works like The checkout is fast, the
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  Speaker 1: back end so you can keep pushing your vision forward.
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  Speaker 1: This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: a lot of people think podcasts about work are boring,
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  Speaker 1: routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little,
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  Speaker 2: So whenever we talk to entrepreneurs, you know, I definitely
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  Speaker 2: want to get some entrepreneur gyms. So on your road
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  Speaker 2: to scaling, I know that you've had a lot of
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  Speaker 2: ups and downs, right, So what are some lessons that
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  Speaker 2: you've learned that because a lot of times on social
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  Speaker 2: media people paying entrepreneurship is like, you know, just flying
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  Speaker 2: private jets and going on vacation. But I know you've
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  Speaker 2: had some ups and downs. So what are some lessons
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  Speaker 2: that you've learned on your entrepreneurialship journey that you could
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  Speaker 2: potentially share with the audience.
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  Speaker 3: Who you know, what's interesting is is can you hear me? Yeah, perfectly, Okay,
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  Speaker 3: I just see me. Okay, let me tell you something
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  Speaker 3: so interesting.
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  Speaker 4: And I want you all to go back and go
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  Speaker 4: through the archive of the evolution.
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  Speaker 3: Of my interviews.
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  Speaker 4: And if y'all know anything about me, you know I
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  Speaker 4: don't lie about what's happening in my trajectory and business.
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  Speaker 3: Like, I'm always very honest about the journey.
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  Speaker 4: There's a lot of great things that happen, but a
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  Speaker 4: lot of people don't talk about in business when are
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  Speaker 4: not so great things happen that requires you to make
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  Speaker 4: hard decisions in your business.
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  Speaker 3: So there's there's a lot of.
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  Speaker 4: Things that have happened since the last time that I
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  Speaker 4: spoke to y'all. I've had to close some doors. So
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  Speaker 4: here I have this big pop and brand, it's super
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  Speaker 4: successful that everybody loves. But I got a location that
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  Speaker 4: nobody shows up to because it was poor site selection, right,
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  Speaker 4: So that's one piece of information that I really got
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  Speaker 4: the opportunity to learn about, Like location is important. So
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  Speaker 4: whoever is in the restaurant business and watching this program,
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  Speaker 4: like it's not enough to just say all right. This
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  Speaker 4: feel good in my spirit because I'm a spirit kind
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  Speaker 4: of entrepreneur. You really got to lock in and get
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  Speaker 4: the data because the data will allow you to make
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  Speaker 4: sound decisions. And I always didn't move by the data.
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  Speaker 4: Y'all follow me. So that was the first big thing.
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  Speaker 4: So I've had to close doors, and as an entrepreneur
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  Speaker 4: facing the reality that I had to close my doors
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  Speaker 4: for business, part of you feel like a failure, and
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  Speaker 4: then part of you feel like should I be embarrassed
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  Speaker 4: that I had to close Dore stores when you got
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  Speaker 4: Burger King, Popeyes and all of these other big brands
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  Speaker 4: that have been around for the test of time doing
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  Speaker 4: the same thing and nobody really talks about it.
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  Speaker 3: So navigating through that has been difficult.
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  Speaker 4: But also learning that it's just business and there's no
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  Speaker 4: emotion in business and you got to be able to
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  Speaker 4: buckle down and make decisions based on the trajectory of
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  Speaker 4: the business so that you can continue to do the
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  Speaker 4: right thing. Those are kind of like the biggest things
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  Speaker 4: that I've learned, and I promise you is the Harvard
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  Speaker 4: of entrepreneurship. Like money couldn't have paid for that. That
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  Speaker 4: is pure on experience, pure on figuring out what works
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  Speaker 4: what doesn't work. Y'all got to imagine, I'm in the
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  Speaker 4: vegan space, so I ain't got no competitor. You understand
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  Speaker 4: what I'm saying. So that's a good thing, and it's
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  Speaker 4: a bad thing. It's a great thing because I'm leading
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  Speaker 4: the pack, right, I'm leading the opportunity to show people
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  Speaker 4: that veganism can work. It can be real, people can
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  Speaker 4: have it. It can be something that you eat every day.
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  Speaker 4: But then on the flip side, because there is no competitor, really,
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  Speaker 4: there's no metrics, there's no comparison.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, like in real estate you see comps,
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  Speaker 3: but where are the comps?
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  Speaker 4: So I am creating the lane in real time and
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  Speaker 4: I don't have anything to compare it to. So when
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  Speaker 4: I make decisions in the business and I come back
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  Speaker 4: and I'm like, oh, maybe that wasn't the best decision,
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  Speaker 4: it's really hard to base it off for everything. But
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  Speaker 4: every day is a learning opportunity for me, and I
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  Speaker 4: want people to see this interview in all of my
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  Speaker 4: other interviews and understand that, like entrepreneurship, it.
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  Speaker 3: Is not easy.
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  Speaker 4: But if you utilize it as a learning opportunity, every
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  Speaker 4: single time, you show up, then you'll be a lot
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  Speaker 4: better off.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you're doing an amazing job.
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  Speaker 4: You know.
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  Speaker 1: I just saw y'all at essence And every time I
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  Speaker 1: say y'all because I saw you and Derek together, and
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  Speaker 1: it's beautiful to watch marriage. It's beautiful to watch union,
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  Speaker 1: it's beauty to watch family, and it's even better to
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  Speaker 1: watch it as you both are your own entrepreneurs. I wonder,
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  Speaker 1: because you don't have comps, how often are you looking
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  Speaker 1: to what he's doing in terms of scaling his business
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  Speaker 1: and some of the mishaps and some of the glories
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  Speaker 1: that he's had. Do you say, all right, I need
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  Speaker 1: to incorporate. How much are y'all leaning on each other
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  Speaker 1: to get ideas and learn from actual business?
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  Speaker 3: Right?
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  Speaker 1: You said you have to close stores? Are you now
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  Speaker 1: going like, hey, hon, the location is important as you're
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  Speaker 1: trying to scare These are the things like how often
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  Speaker 1: does that conversation happen?
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  Speaker 4: It happens every day. Let me tell you how much
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  Speaker 4: it happens. So I'm gonna give you like real deals
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  Speaker 4: so you understand the timeline. When I got twenty five
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  Speaker 4: million dollars to grow and scale my business, Derek was
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  Speaker 4: in the middle of a ten million dollar deal that
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  Speaker 4: fell through. So here we are. We both have these
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  Speaker 4: popular companies. We're making the same amount of money. I
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  Speaker 4: just had more locations than him. But I was profitable
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  Speaker 4: at the time and he wasn't. So he had to
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  Speaker 4: sit in the shadows into the background, not.
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  Speaker 3: By choice, but just by way of virtue.
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  Speaker 4: And he watched my business grow in the trajectory of
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  Speaker 4: my business.
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  Speaker 3: But then he also watched the mistakes.
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  Speaker 4: That I made along the way, because when you think
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  Speaker 4: about high level I didn't always hire the right people.
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  Speaker 4: I didn't always put the right people in place. I
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  Speaker 4: didn't always pick the best site selection. So he got
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  Speaker 4: the opportunity to learn what not to do or what
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  Speaker 4: to do when he started, you know, growing his business
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  Speaker 4: and scaling his business. So now Derek is in a
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  Speaker 4: really right space in his business.
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  Speaker 3: It's growing. He almost had thirty franchise that he sold.
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  Speaker 4: His company is profitable, He's completely turned the business around,
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  Speaker 4: so he is in a really right space.
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  Speaker 3: So here I am. I'm like, all right, make.
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  Speaker 4: Sure you do it like I'm the coach, like you
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  Speaker 4: know and Javonte in the ring, I'm the coach.
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  Speaker 3: I'm like, all right, this, should you do this, don't
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  Speaker 3: do this?
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  Speaker 4: And sometimes he doesn't like when I do it, but
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  Speaker 4: he knows that it's necessary because I'm like, I've been there,
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  Speaker 4: done that, Like, don't make the same mistakes that I did,
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  Speaker 4: And if you choose to, I'm gonna tell you what's
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  Speaker 4: gonna happen.
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  Speaker 3: On the other side.
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  Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, I am like
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  Speaker 4: his encyclopedia because he can refer back to the comp
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  Speaker 4: and the comp.
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  Speaker 3: Is me and all the things that I'm going through.
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  Speaker 3: But I'm proud of him.
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  Speaker 4: I think that it's overdue for him to now get
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  Speaker 4: his time. He should have been got it when I
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  Speaker 4: got mine back in when I raised my money and
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  Speaker 4: was able to scale my company really fast. But society
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  Speaker 4: has a funny way of making certain decisions, right, And
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  Speaker 4: here we are now he's in a great position, and
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  Speaker 4: I'm excited about his business and I'm claiming that it's
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  Speaker 4: going to grow to over one hundred million dollar brand
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  Speaker 4: like I.
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  Speaker 3: Know it to be.
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  Speaker 2: I love it.
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  Speaker 1: You guys have an incredibly popular brand, social media sensation.
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  Speaker 1: The people love you. What are like three to five
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  Speaker 1: marketing ideas that have had the biggest impact on your business?
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  Speaker 2: Personally that that allows you to scale.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, so the biggest one.
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  Speaker 4: And I got my kids in the background, y'all real
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  Speaker 4: entrepreneur here, real real mom.
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  Speaker 3: I love it. I love it. We got five years.
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  Speaker 3: It's a lot, Okay.
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  Speaker 4: So one of the biggest things we live in trend culture.
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  Speaker 4: So how I grew slightly vegan is I said, hmm,
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  Speaker 4: if I can get celebrities to naturally endorse the brand,
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  Speaker 4: they ain't even got to post me on their page.
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  Speaker 4: All I got to do is get that footage, that content,
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  Speaker 4: because gu's what that is.
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  Speaker 3: It's currency.
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  Speaker 4: And if I can get that level of currency, then
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  Speaker 4: I can bring it over to my level of real
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  Speaker 4: estate and post it on my page.
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  Speaker 3: And then everybody going to.
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  Speaker 4: Say, oh my goodness, you got Denzel Washington and east
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  Speaker 4: slutly figon. I know, I gotta try now, because if
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  Speaker 4: Denzel Washington, this man of this high caliber that has
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  Speaker 4: built a career upon acting and is revered around the world,
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  Speaker 4: loves a brand like this, why don't I love the
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  Speaker 4: brand like that?
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  Speaker 3: So I got to see what it's about.
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  Speaker 4: I got to go check the high blaw And because
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  Speaker 4: I've been able to do that, I've naturally had celebrities
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  Speaker 4: want to be a part of the brand, want to
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  Speaker 4: endorse it, and as a result of it, it's natural marketing.
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  Speaker 4: So I have this philosophy that every single person that
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  Speaker 4: sees or feels your brand will tell five people whether
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  Speaker 4: they had a good or bad experience. So, for example,
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  Speaker 4: if they come through my doors and the food was fantastic,
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  Speaker 4: they're going to tell at least five people, and then
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  Speaker 4: those five people they're going to tell at least three
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  Speaker 4: more people, and then those three people are going to
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  Speaker 4: tell at least three more people, and then the chain
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  Speaker 4: will continue to And I've been able to build a
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  Speaker 4: word of mouth business by way of the celebrities who
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  Speaker 4: try the food and the word of mouth.
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  Speaker 3: So those are kind of like the two biggest things.
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  Speaker 4: The third thing I would say is I do three
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  Speaker 4: things on my social media. I make people laugh, I
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  Speaker 4: make them proud, and I give them information. Right, So
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  Speaker 4: if I can make you laugh, the world is hard enough.
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  Speaker 3: We're all going through stuff.
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  Speaker 4: But if I can make you laugh and not think
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  Speaker 4: about the day, then check mark I've done something right
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  Speaker 4: if I'm make you proud. I'm a black woman owned,
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  Speaker 4: minority owned business that has started a business from the
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  Speaker 4: ground up that is helping people to reimagine food in
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  Speaker 4: another way. Right, and you can look at my video
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  Speaker 4: on my content and say, you.
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  Speaker 3: Know, I'm so proud of that woman.
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  Speaker 4: I'm so proud of the community that she's serving, the
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  Speaker 4: fact that she's giving people opportunity.
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  Speaker 3: I am proud of her. Right, then more.
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  Speaker 4: People will start to tap in because people want to
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  Speaker 4: be connected to things that they can be proud of.
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  Speaker 3: And then lastly giving them information. You always love information.
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  Speaker 3: The more you.
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  Speaker 4: Tell, the more transparent you are, the more they feel
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  Speaker 4: like they're dowed in. And when they're dowed in, then
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  Speaker 4: they're going to support you into the wills fall off.
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: So you said five, but those are kind of like
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  Speaker 4: the top things. The celebrity making sure that you're engaging
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  Speaker 4: with your audience and doing whatever is required so that
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  Speaker 4: people can have a word of mouth on your business
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  Speaker 4: and it'll drive traffic to your doors.
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  Speaker 5: An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: were here illegally, you're next. You will be fine nearly
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: never return. But if you register using our CBP home
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws,
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: border and families will be protected. Sponsored by the United
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: States Department of Homeland Security.