Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's to show that she
Speaker 1: has the secrets of success experience firsthand by marketing and
Speaker 1: Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I will know he's given me
Speaker 1: advice on many occasions in indicasion, didn't notice, I'm not broke.
Speaker 1: You know he'll be interview with celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and
Speaker 1: industry decision makers. It's what he likes to do, It's
Speaker 1: what he likes to share. Now it's time to hear
Speaker 1: from my man, Rashan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Here we come.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Money Making Conversation Masterclass. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Rashan McDonald. I recognized that we all have different definitions
Speaker 1: of success. For you, it may be the size of
Speaker 1: your paycheck. Mine is inspiring people to develop a plan
Speaker 1: to reach their dreams. It's time to stop reading other
Speaker 1: people's success stories and start writing your own. You can
Speaker 1: only exceed expectations by believing in yourself. People always talk
Speaker 1: about purpose of gifts. You read about that all the time,
Speaker 1: or he had hyped in social media. If you have
Speaker 1: a gift, lead with your gifts and don't let your friends, family,
Speaker 1: or co worker stop you from planning or living your dreams.
Speaker 1: My guests is Kelly Jinnrette. She's an Emmy nominated actress
Speaker 1: currently starting them and set up your hit series All
Speaker 1: American Homecoming in twenty eight teams. She and her husband
Speaker 1: became the first African American married couple to be nominated
Speaker 1: for Emmies. In the same year, as we know how,
Speaker 1: Emmy was on the hit series Handmaid's Tale, which I
Speaker 1: another one of my great series that I love as well.
Speaker 1: She's based in Atlanta, so she took time to come
Speaker 1: on when I showed the talk about to spend off
Speaker 1: and her character she's the president. We have a president
Speaker 1: on the show. Please welcome your money making conversation master class,
Speaker 1: Kelly Jinnrette. How are you doing, Kelly? I don't doing well.
Speaker 1: How are you you know? Um? Uh some own character.
Speaker 1: She was on the show when it was show premiered,
Speaker 1: so I got to watch the first season as well
Speaker 1: as that, so I really am immersed into the series.
Speaker 1: So so he said, this guy really knows the series.
Speaker 1: So because so I, you know, I tried to do
Speaker 1: my prep work, Kelly, and I was trying to just
Speaker 1: jump on the show and like and me even as
Speaker 1: the generic question, because when you have a series as
Speaker 1: as complex, I want to say that complimentary character complex
Speaker 1: is yours. How do you how do you slide in
Speaker 1: and out of this whole process in the script development? Well, uh,
Speaker 1: I think the thing that I focused on is just
Speaker 1: telling the truth of the character of the story. It's
Speaker 1: just so well written it's easy to kind of slide
Speaker 1: into it. And I feel like the character of Mara
Speaker 1: is very close to me Kelly as an individual, and
Speaker 1: so that makes it easy as well. We know we
Speaker 1: said that they fictitious HBCU school. Um, you know, here's
Speaker 1: my OA thing. Like I said, I watching Netflix a lot,
Speaker 1: and the All American series. It trends on Netflix as
Speaker 1: a TV series and so and so it's and it's
Speaker 1: one of the top shows on c W. What is
Speaker 1: encompassing the popularity of this show. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: put you on the spot, but obviously you're starring in
Speaker 1: the series, so that I'm sure people on the street
Speaker 1: stop you. I'm sure they make comments of why they
Speaker 1: watch the show. Well in your character as well, what
Speaker 1: is the driving force to the fan viewership? I think
Speaker 1: because it's something that is relatable, I think that people
Speaker 1: see themselves, especially black people, they can see themselves on
Speaker 1: the TV screen and not just see themselves, but see
Speaker 1: their lives, see the complex aspects of their lives, the successes,
Speaker 1: the trials, and community, you know, seeing a group of
Speaker 1: people come together to support one another. Even if that's
Speaker 1: something that people don't have in their lives, it's something
Speaker 1: that they aspire to have. It's something that they desire
Speaker 1: to have. And so I feel like the family aspect
Speaker 1: of the show, the relatability of the characters on the show,
Speaker 1: is something that really resonates with people, um and not
Speaker 1: just black people. You know, we've we've had people of
Speaker 1: all races talk to us about how much they loved
Speaker 1: the show. So that's that's something that's humbling and exciting.
Speaker 1: We know, Kelly jen right, That's what I'm speaking to.
Speaker 1: She's one of the stars of the t W hits.
Speaker 1: There's all American homecoming. I know I'm older than you, Kelly,
Speaker 1: and that's a good thing because I feel that everybody
Speaker 1: lives their life and their paths. But we grew up
Speaker 1: on a Different World, and Different World was a sitcom
Speaker 1: and so but it inspired a lot of traffic to HBCUs.
Speaker 1: Some people say that watching that series change their lives
Speaker 1: and so, but that was that was a sitcom. This
Speaker 1: is a drama, so it lends itself for a lot
Speaker 1: more serious and I think socially conscious storylines. One of
Speaker 1: the one of the storylines is mental health, and I
Speaker 1: think that's important because in the African American community, we
Speaker 1: are always to last to uh. We try to live
Speaker 1: in perfect life where we don't want to admit that
Speaker 1: we have gay in the community. Gave people in the
Speaker 1: community one of the lists we have mental health issues
Speaker 1: in the community, we don't make we have high blood pressure,
Speaker 1: all the things that that they may deem as negative.
Speaker 1: It's about learning the truth and then be able to
Speaker 1: live with it. Those diverse story lines, I think really
Speaker 1: engage makes the serious popular. That's just my side of
Speaker 1: the conversation. But you live in it, You live in
Speaker 1: the script. You're living with these actors who have to
Speaker 1: make these storylines come to life. And then you are
Speaker 1: like the president, which follows all this drama back to
Speaker 1: you and and and the mass decision making. So let's
Speaker 1: talk about that. And I also want to talk to
Speaker 1: other other characters. But I wanted to get that holistic
Speaker 1: statement out about your show, which is really positive, but
Speaker 1: it also is a statement about the black community because
Speaker 1: we don't talk about these things. Yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: think the show doesn't really good job of highlighting, like
Speaker 1: you said, things that we don't discuss in in the
Speaker 1: African American community, mental health being one of them. You know,
Speaker 1: I think it is important for us to have those
Speaker 1: conversations to rid ourselves of the shame and the guilt
Speaker 1: that comes with not having it all together, um, and
Speaker 1: making sure we are careful with the people we trust
Speaker 1: to help us walk through those situations as well. You know.
Speaker 1: It's it's a beautiful thing to be a part of
Speaker 1: a show that isn't afraid to kind of go in
Speaker 1: and dig deep into those things that may be taboo
Speaker 1: in our community, right And and when you say taboo,
Speaker 1: and it shouldn't be, you know, it's because it should
Speaker 1: be conversations and and the word therapy. And I really
Speaker 1: like the way that storyline is working itself out for
Speaker 1: the for the head coach, but also when I look
Speaker 1: at the series, the fact that the two sports that
Speaker 1: we're talking about at HBCU that don't get talked about
Speaker 1: ever because We're always talking about the marching band, We're
Speaker 1: always talking about the football teams, we're all talking about
Speaker 1: the basketball team is tennis and baseball, And I find
Speaker 1: that really really cool because I would be personal about
Speaker 1: my daughter, you know, before she Shout at un she
Speaker 1: played tennis and was on the on the pro circuit
Speaker 1: and Shout at the need N eighteen eventually went to college.
Speaker 1: So I'm very fond of that storyline and then seeing
Speaker 1: baseball being a very interesting and engaging storyline. It's really
Speaker 1: a testament to not say theything else football because we
Speaker 1: do talk about football in that but those are the
Speaker 1: two primary sterline do when you see these things, because
Speaker 1: you kind of laugh when I brought it up in
Speaker 1: a good laugh that they go, this is different and
Speaker 1: it's a good thing for the series. Oh absolutely. So
Speaker 1: growing up, I have four brothers, they all played baseball.
Speaker 1: My mom tried to get me and my sister into tennis,
Speaker 1: so we always joke about how we could have been
Speaker 1: Venus and Serena my mom. My mom still plays tennis
Speaker 1: to this day, and so those sports were very prevalent
Speaker 1: in my life and still are, you know, with my
Speaker 1: mom still playing tennis and my brother, uh a huge
Speaker 1: baseball fan, and so I think it is yet something
Speaker 1: else that is very unique to our show, that we
Speaker 1: are highlighting sports that people wouldn't necessarily think like HPCU tennis,
Speaker 1: HPC baseball, you know, and and it just opens up
Speaker 1: our eyes to the diversity that we can find at
Speaker 1: these HBCUs. Well, I was happy to see that because
Speaker 1: it broke stereotypes for storage storylines. You know, this is
Speaker 1: not about the marching band, This is not about the
Speaker 1: football team and halftime that side of the story I
Speaker 1: think everybody knows. But HBCUs do have golf teams. You
Speaker 1: species have started gymnastic teams. A species have always had
Speaker 1: baseball teams as well as tennis teams. And so when
Speaker 1: you look at that storyline development, then you say, where
Speaker 1: we shine? You know, you know we we thought we're
Speaker 1: gonna be you know, we're supposed to be Serena and
Speaker 1: Venus before Serena and Venus. Now, why did you your
Speaker 1: mom play tennis? Now? How did you get around a
Speaker 1: mom who plays tennis and not play tennis? You know,
Speaker 1: she there's there's debate around this story, but she said,
Speaker 1: you know, she she had us out there and growing
Speaker 1: up in Atlanta. Uh it's hot, and I think we
Speaker 1: were just a little too prissy and didn't want to
Speaker 1: be out there in the sun, you know. And I
Speaker 1: was like, listen, you should have like toughened up and
Speaker 1: been like, no, you're gonna be out here, You're gonna play.
Speaker 1: Uh So, yeah, I think I'm gonna take you up
Speaker 1: front on this now hand Maid's Tale, not that's a
Speaker 1: pointed rough se eries. Now, I'm trying to find out
Speaker 1: when you say the word prissy. Now and that character
Speaker 1: you played that handmade what nothing pressy about that whole
Speaker 1: set up over it? So please help your boy here
Speaker 1: to understand why that was prissy and Handmad's tail wasn't prissy. Well, see,
Speaker 1: I think you have real life and acting life, and
Speaker 1: so I can act like the tennis player, I can
Speaker 1: act like a scorn wife. You know. Those things are
Speaker 1: are a little easy to do. Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it because because your resume is amazing, you know,
Speaker 1: and you know because because I if you get a
Speaker 1: little history of me, you know, I I started my
Speaker 1: career as a stand up comedian, went to college math
Speaker 1: degrees sociology with the ibmf IBM thought I'd be the
Speaker 1: next Eddie Murphy and its College's countryside. And when I
Speaker 1: look back at my life now, all I realized, how,
Speaker 1: you know, where the fortunate or or driven I was
Speaker 1: to have the career I have, Because having success at
Speaker 1: twenty and thirty, you still gotta get the forty, You
Speaker 1: still gotta get the fifty she got. All those years
Speaker 1: have still got to come. And do you think like
Speaker 1: that that you do you ever take time to look
Speaker 1: back at a lot of the success stories, the opportunity
Speaker 1: that have been presented to you as an actress, to say, wow, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I excuse me. Was driving to acting class a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago and passed by a place where I
Speaker 1: used to have to take my rent check, and that
Speaker 1: just sent me down the path, as the old folks
Speaker 1: used to say, looking back over my life and thinking
Speaker 1: things over when I moved out to California and the
Speaker 1: the amount of nose that I received and the all
Speaker 1: mode and not yet and uh even the yes is
Speaker 1: you know it is, it's humbling, it's exciting. UM. I
Speaker 1: do my best to just try to focus on what
Speaker 1: is in front of me right now while not neglecting like, hey,
Speaker 1: if I'm so fortunate to to continue on in this
Speaker 1: like what type of legacy do I want to leave
Speaker 1: for those who are still here? Um? And so yeah,
Speaker 1: it is often that I sit back and I'm like, Wow, God,
Speaker 1: thank you. Because then, and I think that's important for
Speaker 1: your fans to hear you say that, because everybody wants
Speaker 1: to be you. You might say, oh, man, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm just out there working. But then in your conversation
Speaker 1: you said, despite your resume that you have acting classes,
Speaker 1: you're still going to acting classes. Oh absolutely, TV series
Speaker 1: now Emmy nominated actress. I loved you and corked in
Speaker 1: a number of the projects, and here in Twit Twit two,
Speaker 1: you're still going to acting classes. Please let my fan
Speaker 1: base understand why that's important. So there there's a proverb
Speaker 1: that I love it. It's it says it is not
Speaker 1: good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty
Speaker 1: and miss the way. You can be passionate all day
Speaker 1: and all night, but if you don't have the knowledge
Speaker 1: to sustain you and what it is that you are seeking,
Speaker 1: I don't care if it's acting, if you want to
Speaker 1: be a teacher, if you want to be a scientist,
Speaker 1: like whatever, it is that you want to do, you
Speaker 1: must have the knowledge to back it up. And as
Speaker 1: an actor, I'm always in the position of what else
Speaker 1: can I learn? How can I be better? How can
Speaker 1: I sharpen this tool that God has given me. I
Speaker 1: don't ever want to get to a were like I've
Speaker 1: a ride, then that's boring and I don't grow. I
Speaker 1: want to keep growing. We'll be right back with more
Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rushan McDonald. Now let's return
Speaker 1: to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. I'm talking
Speaker 1: to Kelly Jenrett, one of the stars of the All
Speaker 1: American series Home Care. It's a spin off of that
Speaker 1: series based on the fictional HBCU. I guess we have
Speaker 1: to say for my fans or even me to understand
Speaker 1: is that it's just like watching the Tom Brady If
Speaker 1: Tom Brady didn't go to practice, then he couldn't throw touchdowns.
Speaker 1: He lose timing, he loses chemistry. And by going to
Speaker 1: an acting classes, even though success is in your history,
Speaker 1: it will be in your future. You still have to
Speaker 1: understand how can you push your character? How can you
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, cry or laugh or emote
Speaker 1: a certain scene change. So can you walk your walk
Speaker 1: us through the steps of what is an acting class
Speaker 1: experience for somebody that's as successful as you, Because I'm
Speaker 1: sure when you walk in a room, the other actors
Speaker 1: and actors going, oh, she's here, and they try to
Speaker 1: pick your brain for information because you in some ways
Speaker 1: they say you've made it. So talk about your acting
Speaker 1: experience going into these rooms with other actors and actresses
Speaker 1: and how you maintain that humbleness to get something out
Speaker 1: of the course. Well, for me, I I love uh
Speaker 1: classes like I will do one on one coach, but
Speaker 1: I love the class aspect. I've worked with two very
Speaker 1: incredible studios, Sue Hamilton's Studios and Berg Studios, which have
Speaker 1: which are similar in some regards and very different in others.
Speaker 1: But I think for me, my my approach in being
Speaker 1: in class and and not even so much that people
Speaker 1: are like oh my god. I mean not that they
Speaker 1: say to me, um, but I know that it is.
Speaker 1: It's acknowledged, like, yeah, she's an Emmy nominated actress, but
Speaker 1: she's still here in class. And so even when I'm
Speaker 1: not going up in class, when I'm not performing, when
Speaker 1: I'm not doing a scene when I'm not doing a monologue,
Speaker 1: other people are and I love being able to see
Speaker 1: what other people do. I love being able to hear
Speaker 1: the feedback that other actors get, because then I can
Speaker 1: take that and say, oh, you know what, that's a
Speaker 1: really great note. I'm gonna try that the next time
Speaker 1: I do my scene or the next time I'm in
Speaker 1: a situation like this. And so it is really that
Speaker 1: iron sharpening, iron mentality that I take in and again, like,
Speaker 1: I've not arrived. I don't think I'll ever get to
Speaker 1: a place where I'm like, I don't need to be
Speaker 1: sharpened anymore. I'm gonna tell you this, Kelly, you have arrived.
Speaker 1: But I'm not saying you don't need to be sharpened. Okay,
Speaker 1: I say that because of the fact that you know, look,
Speaker 1: I can't act. I would tell you right now far
Speaker 1: I you know, I've tried, I go. That is not
Speaker 1: my skills. And as a standard comedian, I was very
Speaker 1: successful when it came to transition that skills to what
Speaker 1: you do or individuals like you do, y'all. That's that's
Speaker 1: like amateur and professional. Y'all were professional. I was a
Speaker 1: superstar amateur. And so you don't get a resume like
Speaker 1: you get unless you have a ride, because people call
Speaker 1: you in on these high level auditions, and sometimes I'm
Speaker 1: pish some people basically they just wanted to hear you
Speaker 1: show up, so it didn't give you the role. Now,
Speaker 1: but what I do get out of the fact that
Speaker 1: you in each classes as being a director. I do
Speaker 1: see that. So talk to us. Are you working on
Speaker 1: being a director? When will you direct one of the
Speaker 1: episodes of All American Homecoming? Because I see that happen then,
Speaker 1: because that's your skill set, I said, I'm like, who
Speaker 1: you've been talking to you? Just telling you, Kelly, you
Speaker 1: know you can sit over here with this humble story,
Speaker 1: your botman in the games, his Nati folk. Okay, I've
Speaker 1: seen talents like you, and I also know you're one
Speaker 1: of those people who push other talents on the set,
Speaker 1: you know, because that's your gift. So, but that gift
Speaker 1: will translate behind the camera because you see things differently.
Speaker 1: You see when you walk into sing you see everybody's roll,
Speaker 1: everybody's character. That's a director's eye. I see that when
Speaker 1: I'm watching the show, when I'm watching you, I said,
Speaker 1: So now that we know that Roushan got all this
Speaker 1: inside information because he just watch you. That's gonna talk
Speaker 1: about what your next step gonna happen in Kelly Jenret's career.
Speaker 1: You know, thank you so much for saying that. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you, and I actually would like to direct. UM
Speaker 1: would love to direct an episode of Homecoming. We'll we'll see,
Speaker 1: We'll see what that looks like over over the next
Speaker 1: couple of seasons. Like I again want to make sure
Speaker 1: I am sitting in a seat of learning and taking
Speaker 1: it all in shadowing the different directors that come on
Speaker 1: our set and work with us. UM reading books. You
Speaker 1: know Michael Schultz, the great Michael Schultz UM who directed
Speaker 1: several episodes of both All American and All American Homecoming. UM,
Speaker 1: he is someone that is like, yeah, there are there
Speaker 1: are books that you can read. UM. Other directors who
Speaker 1: I'm like, do you mind if I shadow you? And
Speaker 1: They're like, yeah, absolutely, come on, and you can shadow
Speaker 1: me on this other show that I'm working on too.
Speaker 1: So it's something that I'm I'm like tip tipping my
Speaker 1: toe in, but I think I'm just like just jumping.
Speaker 1: Thank you, but make sure you have the knowledge with
Speaker 1: the zeal. I'm gonna tell you something. Let me tell
Speaker 1: you you. I gotta tell you this. You know, just
Speaker 1: just a colleague, okay, you know I Fortunately it is
Speaker 1: executively sitcoms. I've readden on sitcoms. I produced sitcoms, the
Speaker 1: large scale productions, and I was always never the person
Speaker 1: making the decisions. And then I did. Then then I
Speaker 1: was in Vegas during this huge Neighborhood Award event with
Speaker 1: me and Steve Harveys, who was doing and and I
Speaker 1: did it. And I realized when I walked away, I went,
Speaker 1: that's it. That's it. And that's what I'm telling you.
Speaker 1: Where you're at, You're at the that's it stage. And
Speaker 1: I say that because you will do your homework. My friend,
Speaker 1: You're not gonna jump out there and not be prepared.
Speaker 1: You got an amazing husband's gonna help you be prepared.
Speaker 1: You have people in the industry who are rooting for you.
Speaker 1: I'm just letting you know that that you don't get
Speaker 1: this resume based on luck right place at the right time.
Speaker 1: It's a skill set that you're still doing iron shoppings
Speaker 1: iron I'm just letting you know that when you do
Speaker 1: direct your first episode, I just know that hopefully I
Speaker 1: pushed you a little bit. Hopefully your husband pushed you
Speaker 1: a lot more because he sees the same thing I see.
Speaker 1: And the blessing is that when it happens, you're gonna
Speaker 1: go that's it. Wow. And I'm saying you should have
Speaker 1: started earlier, but I just want you to cross that line.
Speaker 1: Realize you're not gonna stop acting, but Bore, it's gonna
Speaker 1: open the door for you. That's gonna scare you because
Speaker 1: you're gonna see how much you're gonna change the industry
Speaker 1: on that side of the lens, giving directions for young actors,
Speaker 1: whether they're white or black or Latino, because you're gonna
Speaker 1: be a You're going to be one of those actresses
Speaker 1: that can act with the special effects. You'll be able
Speaker 1: to do it all because your career has shown you
Speaker 1: to participate in all those lanes. And I'm not turning
Speaker 1: this into a motivational speech for Kelly. I'm just letting
Speaker 1: you know you're talented, young lady, and I'm fortunate to
Speaker 1: be a person who shared this experience. And only reason
Speaker 1: I call you a young lady because you're younger than me,
Speaker 1: and I have to show you respect by saying, as
Speaker 1: an older person in this business. Who've seen talent like
Speaker 1: you and and they've crossed over. You're jump run, uh
Speaker 1: ski slide, do your thing right now? You just off
Speaker 1: all American Homecoming. You're gonna be directing some episodes before
Speaker 1: it's all done. Okay. I feel I'm like, well, how
Speaker 1: we passed the offering plate because you just you just
Speaker 1: gave a whole word right there. Um Man, I'm like,
Speaker 1: do you know my husband? Have you been talking to him?
Speaker 1: Like what is happening? Well? Do you know? The thing
Speaker 1: about it is that you know, I'm married, and you know,
Speaker 1: and my wife's talented, and and sometimes I have to
Speaker 1: remind her her gifts and not on her how portant
Speaker 1: she is in my life. And to do that yesterday,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. And uh, because you know,
Speaker 1: we go through these processes and and and and and
Speaker 1: if you don't, who's who is to remind you? If
Speaker 1: the person that doesn't love it, that loves you the most,
Speaker 1: that's the person should be reminding. But you know that
Speaker 1: my whole thing and bringing you on was not to
Speaker 1: get it in this part of the conversation. It's port
Speaker 1: of It's just this is a conversation a testimonial conversation
Speaker 1: about your career and the brilliance of it and being
Speaker 1: this matriarch on this TV series that's a hit show
Speaker 1: on c W called All American Homecoming, and you're the
Speaker 1: stewardship over that show. You know, you might not really
Speaker 1: live in our lines all the time, but your your imagery,
Speaker 1: your your being able to when they come for those
Speaker 1: those brunch those brunch dinners, how that becomes like the
Speaker 1: old Black Households where everybody would meet on Sunday dinner
Speaker 1: at the family. So there has a lot of symbolism.
Speaker 1: So when you ask we wrap up this interview and
Speaker 1: you know, not about what I talked about in your
Speaker 1: direct then what do you enjoy the most about being
Speaker 1: on this series All American Homecoming, there's a hit on
Speaker 1: c W. There are so many things to enjoy. What
Speaker 1: immediately comes to mind are the actors that I get
Speaker 1: to work with. There's not one day that I don't
Speaker 1: go on set and have a full hearty laugh. We
Speaker 1: laugh all the time, and I love to laugh. I
Speaker 1: love to enjoy myself and we we have the deep conversations,
Speaker 1: we have the tough conversations, but the family dynamic um
Speaker 1: on set. It's just amazing. It is something that I
Speaker 1: look forward to every time I get to go to set. Well,
Speaker 1: I look forward to when I turn on TV and
Speaker 1: see y'all. Letna say y'all okay, because can say y'all
Speaker 1: on Houston, Texas. So y'all flow is really good out
Speaker 1: of my mouth just in Atlantic an extension of the South,
Speaker 1: but more important to your career is a blessing. Watching
Speaker 1: the show with African American talent that is relatable, it's
Speaker 1: a blessing, but more important to the storylines are well written,
Speaker 1: but the but the leadership being able to go into
Speaker 1: the storylines about the community that that we don't talk about,
Speaker 1: normalizing it and story lines that carry credibility is a blessing.
Speaker 1: And I think years from now, what Hilman did for
Speaker 1: us in different world, you guys are gonna do for
Speaker 1: the next generation of ten years, twenty years and not
Speaker 1: said they were inspired by this TV show that was
Speaker 1: on a fictitious hbcuth school in Atlanta, and you're one
Speaker 1: of the stars of that show. So Kelly, that will
Speaker 1: be part of your legacy and people probably ain't their
Speaker 1: kids after year. You know, that's my favorite character. Home coming,
Speaker 1: but thank you for coming on. Money Making Conversation about Glass.
Speaker 1: You're you're a blessing the interview. Thank you, thank you
Speaker 1: so much. Thank you for the life that you spoke
Speaker 1: into my life. I received it. I hear you, and
Speaker 1: I will move recording me. There you go, now you go. Well,
Speaker 1: now we're going. Come on, come on, come on, come on,
Speaker 1: come on, come again. Thank you. Keep that laugh, That's
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. Laugh right there. Keep their spirits high,
Speaker 1: and we're talking soon, okay, because I keep my I'm
Speaker 1: gonna keep a little monitor on you. I'll keep my
Speaker 1: little monitoring and if I see you directed anything, you know,
Speaker 1: your first phone call gonna be your ball. Not to
Speaker 1: say that I told you so, Just to say what
Speaker 1: prompted the jump though? What prompt be safe? Now we
Speaker 1: talked soon, love you. We'll be right back with more
Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rushan McDonald. You are now
Speaker 1: tuned into the Money Making Conversations Minute of Inspiration with
Speaker 1: Rashan McDonald. Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald for Money Making Conversation
Speaker 1: Masterclass with your daily minute of inspiration. This week, I
Speaker 1: sat down with actress starting and who lose reasonable doubt y'all,
Speaker 1: say Carnalody. She explains the confidence that comes along with
Speaker 1: preparing properly for opportunities. The best way that I learned
Speaker 1: to prepare is just by being prepared, doing my best work, um,
Speaker 1: doing all the work that I can leading up to,
Speaker 1: you know, the first day of filming, because that gives
Speaker 1: you a sense of freedom, you know, being able to
Speaker 1: relax and being confident knowing that I've done my my
Speaker 1: part up to this point. And then once you get
Speaker 1: on set, you know it's time to play. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm you know, at my best, my co stars
Speaker 1: at their best, and then it's just that's where all
Speaker 1: the fun happens, you know. And so I think it's
Speaker 1: the preparation is what allows you to have the confidence
Speaker 1: to just be Listen to this full interview with Emma
Speaker 1: Yata Carnality. It's available on Money Making Conversations dot com.
Speaker 1: Now let's return to Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald.
Speaker 1: My guest is Dr Shante Weeps. She's the CEO of
Speaker 1: Black Pearl Global Investments, is a black owned asset management
Speaker 1: firm that is focused on reducing health disparities across the
Speaker 1: Globe Black Pearls tagline be Well, do Well capture the
Speaker 1: FIR admission to invest in transformative companies around the world.
Speaker 1: Dr Seanta earned a bachelor's degree from Western Salem State
Speaker 1: University and a master's of Business Administration from Queen's University
Speaker 1: of Charlotte. She holds a doctorate and Integrated Medicine in
Speaker 1: Biomedical Medicine from the Ohio State University. Please Working with
Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Master Class, Dr Shanta Williams, how are
Speaker 1: you doing? I am great. Thank you for having me today. Well,
Speaker 1: I we got to see this to everybody. You know,
Speaker 1: some people will probably only listen to this podcast, but
Speaker 1: people who are viewing this path podcast, her background is amazing.
Speaker 1: She has an amazing background, and there's not some fake background.
Speaker 1: There's the reality. So so when I look at your background,
Speaker 1: is that's is that the background that's tied to success
Speaker 1: that view? You know? Actually the two buildings right behind
Speaker 1: me our banks, um and so I like to say
Speaker 1: my house is mostly windows. So I say I wake
Speaker 1: up and I go to sleep with money on my hound. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I tell people, you know when you say that,
Speaker 1: because that's how I'm not saying I'm trying. I see
Speaker 1: banks when I go to sleep, which I which is
Speaker 1: a good thing now because you know you're always bank.
Speaker 1: It's what runs out like money is what runs out live.
Speaker 1: If you can see something that motivates you to say
Speaker 1: I want to put more money in that bank, and
Speaker 1: more money in that bank, that means your focused. That
Speaker 1: means that there's a drive that we all need to have.
Speaker 1: But I do go to sleep with goals in mind.
Speaker 1: I do. I always tell people that allows me to
Speaker 1: wake up because a lot of people always say I'm
Speaker 1: not a morning person, where I've always been a morning
Speaker 1: person because I've always went to sleep with goals and
Speaker 1: that when my clock went off, I knew why I
Speaker 1: was getting up. Can you talk about the whole process
Speaker 1: of how you tie to sleep into making you successful
Speaker 1: when you wake up? Oh? Well, first, I will say
Speaker 1: I'm a person says I'm not a morning person. Um,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean I don't wake up early in
Speaker 1: the morning. Actually live by the um mantra that I
Speaker 1: need a phone out of sleep to be the best
Speaker 1: person I can be. So most people are surprised that
Speaker 1: I sleep eight hours a night at least. Um every night,
Speaker 1: even when traveling. UM. And I don't compromise on my
Speaker 1: sleep because a tired mind UM this entire results. So
Speaker 1: for me, if I'm sleeping, UM, I have a whole
Speaker 1: line down process at night. UM. I tried to stop
Speaker 1: all meetings, you know, at least two hours before bed,
Speaker 1: I turn off all of the electronic devices. I try
Speaker 1: to read something that's inspirational UM really to help my
Speaker 1: mind calm down. But then you know, take that moment
Speaker 1: to reflect um on what's been done, what um, where
Speaker 1: I'm going, and then really just have a quiet line down.
Speaker 1: So I actually love sleeping. If if that was a
Speaker 1: real hobby, it would be one of my hobbys. Um.
Speaker 1: And my goal is to be able to sleep in
Speaker 1: whenever I want. I can't do that this yet, but
Speaker 1: I'm working on it. So just just that entail travel
Speaker 1: or because it seems like when you do that, because
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you something Chante or Dr Williams. I
Speaker 1: had a problem with that. I had a problem with
Speaker 1: understanding how just shut down, you know, And I would
Speaker 1: tell people sometimes like I just got on that wheel
Speaker 1: and just kept running and kept running. And it seemed
Speaker 1: to me that that you understand the value of self
Speaker 1: and which means ties to you know. Look, I don't
Speaker 1: function well if I'm not talk to us about that. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: with travel, I've found that I used to be one
Speaker 1: of those people that if I'm flying into a city,
Speaker 1: I'm a meeting with everybody I possibly can in it.
Speaker 1: Every hour on the hour, I'm just meeting meeting me
Speaker 1: the meeting. Um. I stopped doing that really for two reasons.
Speaker 1: It's exhausting, and it means that your your body, your
Speaker 1: brain is continuing to go. Um. When I think about
Speaker 1: who I aspired to be, UM, the person, the leader
Speaker 1: I aspire to be for the entire firm, I know that.
Speaker 1: UM in my brain at night, I really think I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about their fifty one families. Um, that's how many employees.
Speaker 1: We have, fifty one families that depend on me to
Speaker 1: keep the vision solid in order to help them get paid,
Speaker 1: to help them get raises, to you know, push us
Speaker 1: all forward, and ultimately, UM, my brain really needs to
Speaker 1: shut off at some point. Um. I started doing this
Speaker 1: particular um, this particular mantra. UM. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you've ever had this situation where you're sleeping and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, your brain just turns on or you're
Speaker 1: trying to go to sleep and your brain won't shut down.
Speaker 1: That hate that that you know what I say to
Speaker 1: myself now, not right now, and it shuts you down. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it takes. It takes some practice and just saying
Speaker 1: not right now, I mean and and I used to
Speaker 1: have to say it out loud, um, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to focus on this right now, um and focused on
Speaker 1: sleep or focused on reading. Like literally, I've now had
Speaker 1: to train my brain to this is not right now.
Speaker 1: We're not gonna worry about that thing because we're doing
Speaker 1: this thing. And staying president a moment actually helps, I
Speaker 1: think with that wine down process, because you can't talk
Speaker 1: with what's already happened right it's in the past and
Speaker 1: you can't anticipate the future. Where you are today right
Speaker 1: now is trying to wind down to go to sleep.
Speaker 1: So I will tell myself not right now a lot. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna Jesus, I'm gonna try that because and not
Speaker 1: saying it happens a lot. But I tell you sometimes
Speaker 1: i'd say every quarter of the year, every quarter period,
Speaker 1: I wake up and did an idea come into my head?
Speaker 1: About one or two o'clock in the morning, knowing because
Speaker 1: I get up early. I get up at four thirty
Speaker 1: in the morning during the week, so so I'm already
Speaker 1: mad because I go look the clock the potential sleep
Speaker 1: when the is shrinking and I can't go to sleep.
Speaker 1: So not right now, I'm gonna use that, and hopefully
Speaker 1: I don't have to use it anytime soon. But it's
Speaker 1: usually tied to you know, I I go to bed
Speaker 1: knowing that I have to do something when I get up,
Speaker 1: and if somehow I wake up, and then it just
Speaker 1: takes over my thought process and it just becomes like
Speaker 1: are you kid in me? Are you really kidding me?
Speaker 1: I can't ridiculous. You know. The interesting thing about you,
Speaker 1: Dr Williams, was that you know, when I read in
Speaker 1: your credits and Winston Salem and then when you got
Speaker 1: your masters from, and then also where you got your
Speaker 1: doctorate from, and there were three different academic arenas, but
Speaker 1: more important that the two that stood out the most
Speaker 1: was the beginning and the end, which is Winston Salem
Speaker 1: State and the Ohio State University. Talk about your journey
Speaker 1: at Winston Salem State because each experience was different from
Speaker 1: you and why did you go to an HBCU. Well,
Speaker 1: let me so, I actually got I went from undergrad
Speaker 1: straight to my doctorate. So when Ohio State was in
Speaker 1: the middle, and then I went to Queens Lakes apologize no,
Speaker 1: but but the way they rolled out So in HBCU, UM,
Speaker 1: that experience, UM, I think prepared me for everything. There
Speaker 1: is a sense of self, a sense of worth, a
Speaker 1: sense of value that you get from community. One of
Speaker 1: the things that tell young people is, yes, the college
Speaker 1: experience is about you know, you get a diploma, but
Speaker 1: it's the people that connect you. It's the people who
Speaker 1: surround you, the arms that are wrapped around you, um figuratively.
Speaker 1: And going to an HBC you every single one of
Speaker 1: my colleagues that went to an HBC YOU didn't get
Speaker 1: lost in corporate. They didn't get lost and they went
Speaker 1: to a p W I later they knew who they were.
Speaker 1: And I think that it's a very unique experience that
Speaker 1: you only get at a at a black school. UM
Speaker 1: really because those professors are there really with a mission
Speaker 1: and a mandate to really arm us to take on whatever. UM.
Speaker 1: I know, when at least when I was coming up,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of stereotypes about HBC used, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: you couldn't get in somewhere else. Um actually chose not
Speaker 1: to go to Florida State to go to HBCU UM.
Speaker 1: And so for me, it was very intentional to make
Speaker 1: sure that who I was was solid ground in My
Speaker 1: family is a close knit family. I grew up in church,
Speaker 1: and I really wanted to make sure that my preparation
Speaker 1: for my career was going to continue to center around
Speaker 1: me being a solid human that's really focused on getting back,
Speaker 1: making impacts and taking these educational tools for wow. And
Speaker 1: so now that's just going through the academy wonder correctly.
Speaker 1: So you went from wester Salem State to the Ohio
Speaker 1: State University, or you got your doctorate in medicine, and
Speaker 1: then you got the master's and business administration. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: so usually people just cool with the masters and business administration. Okay,
Speaker 1: but you got it. But you're a doctor to go
Speaker 1: get a master. Talk to us about that journey right there,
Speaker 1: Because I wrote, I always writing all my credits down.
Speaker 1: So me Rashan thinking, okay, this is the ardor and
Speaker 1: she did this, she did this, she did this an
Speaker 1: excuse me, excuse me, I went from here to my
Speaker 1: doctorate and that when he got my master's. Why that order?
Speaker 1: Oh so the order UM really interesting. I thought I
Speaker 1: was going to be a clinician. UM. I was in
Speaker 1: neuro oncology neurosurgery, halfway between clinic and surgery and making drugs,
Speaker 1: and I thought that's what I was gonna be doing.
Speaker 1: And along the way, I started realizing I love this
Speaker 1: medical stuff, but I also want to do something else.
Speaker 1: You know, you start to see the life that you're
Speaker 1: going to be very soon, and I wanted some aspects
Speaker 1: of it, but not all of it, and so I
Speaker 1: was very fortunate. UM. This is where mentors, UM and
Speaker 1: advisors really come into play. They said, are you sure
Speaker 1: you want to change? And I said, well, I think
Speaker 1: I knew. So they of course had me stay on
Speaker 1: the course and keep the clinical stuff. But then they
Speaker 1: started introducing me to all of this other financial stuff.
Speaker 1: And what I realized is I took to the finance
Speaker 1: stuff like fish. UM. I had never taken a business
Speaker 1: class before UM going into UM my first corporate job,
Speaker 1: and I was really good at it. UM. So for me,
Speaker 1: the doctorate helped me to see, yes, you have these
Speaker 1: talents and passions. But you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker 1: You don't know, UM, you're not exposed to this other
Speaker 1: I didn't even know the field existed, honestly, and once
Speaker 1: I got exposed, it was like, oh, I can do this,
Speaker 1: and I started working with somebody else and I went
Speaker 1: I didn't do it myself. So the NBA came along
Speaker 1: really because I was looking to make sure that I
Speaker 1: had not only that healthcare underpinions, because my job was
Speaker 1: really to help people understand the medical stuff. But I
Speaker 1: started financially modeling at a really high level and people
Speaker 1: wouldn't assume it came from me, and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'll get an NBA. Later I learned
Speaker 1: that the PhD n B a UM coupling is the
Speaker 1: most profitable degree coupling UM that you can have. So
Speaker 1: I guess I made a right choice, absolutely, And congratulations.
Speaker 1: So that the journey of meaning that you overcome, you
Speaker 1: you know the changes a lot that see a lot
Speaker 1: in your life. You know the changes positive, but the
Speaker 1: change also comes with fear because fear is tied to
Speaker 1: I known, how did you like? You said you mentioned mentors,
Speaker 1: and the mentors were the people you went to when
Speaker 1: you were indecisive on shore and kept you focused on
Speaker 1: your bottom line, which is your dream. Um. Yes, my
Speaker 1: mentors were people who said, you know, if you're gonna
Speaker 1: choose the crime path, you've got to do this thing,
Speaker 1: so you might as well love it. And so every
Speaker 1: time I was really unsure where I sat, they encouraged
Speaker 1: me to explore, be open to other things, open to
Speaker 1: the subjects, to be over to other fields. And those
Speaker 1: mentors really, you know, came and um came in the
Speaker 1: clutch when you know, I think my parents were looking
Speaker 1: at me like, Okay, you have been on this past
Speaker 1: to be in the clinic and be a clinician for
Speaker 1: so long, and now you're gonna take a hard left
Speaker 1: out of it. And I think when you talk about fear,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to let my parents and
Speaker 1: my family down, but you know, saying I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: into business, they were like okay, um, and then saying
Speaker 1: gonna leave corporate to start my own business. They really
Speaker 1: started to say, oh, um, are you sure because you
Speaker 1: did all this other stuff, And I said, but I'm
Speaker 1: like you, I'm bringing all of that experience with me.
Speaker 1: So all of the mentors, um, that surrounded me, UM,
Speaker 1: and to continue to surround me UM. Really say, UM,
Speaker 1: keep following what you want to do, not the expectations
Speaker 1: of what other people want you to do. UM. I
Speaker 1: always hear my grandmother's um voice in my head when
Speaker 1: she used to always say what I was little, it's
Speaker 1: your saying do what you wanna do, UM. And that's
Speaker 1: really what my mentors are saying. You know, if you're
Speaker 1: good at saying this isn't right, you know, try something else.
Speaker 1: And I try to now enter into every situation with
Speaker 1: a hard yess. It's a hard yest for me. If
Speaker 1: I'm really into it, I'm gonna try it. I'm really interested,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna try it. If it's like, oh, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know, that's worth my time because being uncertain
Speaker 1: or squishy that that's your body. I think that's your good,
Speaker 1: that's your things telling you this ain't ain't right for me.
Speaker 1: So for me, it's really having those people that encourage
Speaker 1: me to not be so tied to a title or
Speaker 1: a position, but really say, where is the path lead,
Speaker 1: what's the next step. I'm talking to Dr Seante Williams.
Speaker 1: She's a Seal Black Pearl Global Investments is a black
Speaker 1: owned asset management firm that's focused on reducing health disparities
Speaker 1: across the globe. Let's talk about the company, Black Pearl
Speaker 1: Global Investments. How did this start? How did you get
Speaker 1: involved with the concept because it all started with a dream,
Speaker 1: but how did that dream manifest itself into reality? So
Speaker 1: that's a really good story, I'll tell you and take
Speaker 1: your time. Take your time, it's your show now. Okay.
Speaker 1: My first firm was ad Diligenous Firm. Um. It was
Speaker 1: doing very well. I was proud of myself for starting
Speaker 1: from zero and you know, I ain't myself. That was
Speaker 1: a full time big and I was so proud of them.
Speaker 1: And I started to do community advocacy. Can I happen
Speaker 1: to be talking about the impact capital can have an
Speaker 1: investments can have in a community. And I'm talking to
Speaker 1: a group of Presbyterian pastors and one of the pastors
Speaker 1: comes up to me, who was a wits and say,
Speaker 1: Loot stay alone. Says, you know, hey, fellow a love, Um,
Speaker 1: I have someone at my church that you really should meet.
Speaker 1: And when you come to my church and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: this guy is trying to get become a church I'm
Speaker 1: I'm a p K already, so I'm like, okay. Church
Speaker 1: to the church, and I sat through a really beautiful
Speaker 1: woman's saying service and it happened to be Um, the
Speaker 1: first female surgeon for Charlotte. She was just amazing and
Speaker 1: she was talking about taking off the bill Um. And
Speaker 1: after the service, I I went up to past and say, oh,
Speaker 1: you came. I think he was surprised to Um, and
Speaker 1: so he introduced me to Dr carl Smart. Um and
Speaker 1: Dr smart and I probably talked for five minutes normal
Speaker 1: her and he was interested in investing and he was
Speaker 1: like okay. So we shaped numbers and then we did
Speaker 1: not connect again for another year. We played phone tag,
Speaker 1: YadA YadA, and finally he says, oh, hey, finally got you.
Speaker 1: We meet day after Thankgiving and he says, I've seen
Speaker 1: what you're doing. I've been following for a while. I
Speaker 1: think he was secretly vetting me to make sure I was,
Speaker 1: you know, the real deal. And he said, but I
Speaker 1: don't think what you're doing now is big enough. And
Speaker 1: you know, when you get that kind of feedback from somebody,
Speaker 1: you can okay what I said, because you you just
Speaker 1: said earlier. You know, I was doing my thing, I startup.
Speaker 1: I was feeling good, make a little money, and then
Speaker 1: somebody tells you, I don't think what you do it
Speaker 1: is big enough. How did you react to that? You know,
Speaker 1: in my head, I think I had a decision, Treet,
Speaker 1: I can be highly offended. Got to know what you're
Speaker 1: talking about, all right. I can listen, right, I can.
Speaker 1: I can hear what he has to say. UM. And
Speaker 1: he didn't say, you know, ruined Rock Tourley, but he
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, I'm just saying it. And I'm like
Speaker 1: this saying that myself. You know, I'm I'm entrepreneurial. And
Speaker 1: I listened and I really lean in, and he says,
Speaker 1: I think you could be doing far greater. You can
Speaker 1: have an impact using the knowledge you have. UM, I
Speaker 1: do have an interest in this, but you know, would
Speaker 1: you be interested maybe just talking about how? Because he's
Speaker 1: a critical care of pulmon knowlogy that has been a
Speaker 1: surgeon for um about thirty years. And he said, I
Speaker 1: think with our health care expertise, he's done investing separately.
Speaker 1: I've done investing separately. If we joined together, we can
Speaker 1: start impacting UH, black people's healthcare from a different perspective.
Speaker 1: We have the experience, we have the cash, we can
Speaker 1: invest in things that wove the neodle, and we can
Speaker 1: do it not just here. We can do it for
Speaker 1: folks and the diaspora. We can do it for folks
Speaker 1: in the Caribbean. We can do it for folks in Africa.
Speaker 1: How wasn't thinking global. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina,
Speaker 1: and I was proud to be doing the work I
Speaker 1: was doing for the companies in my you know, my
Speaker 1: little spear, I would say, between Charlotte and Atlanta. And
Speaker 1: that got my mind kind of gone Okay. So we
Speaker 1: started talking about what we would invest in, UM, what
Speaker 1: kind of impact we wanted to see, what kind of
Speaker 1: outcomes we wanted to see, And that day Black Pearl
Speaker 1: was born. UM. We said, okay, let's see what we
Speaker 1: can do. UM actually sold my purse firm. You know,
Speaker 1: I I let it go knowing that this next thing
Speaker 1: is gonna be an adventure, the next thing is gonna
Speaker 1: be a journey that maybe we'll reach more people. I
Speaker 1: now had a partner, because I was a solo preneur before.
Speaker 1: Now I have a partner. And we started to saying,
Speaker 1: what do we need, what do we need? What do
Speaker 1: we need? The name Black Pearl has two meetings. Um,
Speaker 1: Black Pearl is one of the most rare and most
Speaker 1: expensive jewels you can buy naturally. UM, And we started saying,
Speaker 1: you know, our health is a jewel, Black people are
Speaker 1: a jewel. We need to be protecting that, we need
Speaker 1: to be investing in that, we need to her arms
Speaker 1: around that. So Black pearls like, oh yeah, that's gonna
Speaker 1: be us. But then we learned Carl was watching um
Speaker 1: a movie Ours of the Arabian and the Black Pearl
Speaker 1: was the pirate ship UM that could not be caught.
Speaker 1: And so there's a double meaning there. Um, we are
Speaker 1: both valuable and rare. And you know there's some mistake.
Speaker 1: You know, as long as we're staying on our path,
Speaker 1: no one's gonna catch us because we're doing what we're
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing. And so that's how we found
Speaker 1: two other partners that could feel some gaps and uh,
Speaker 1: I don't have a hard technology backgrounds. We found a
Speaker 1: partner for that. We got one more partner that really
Speaker 1: had a deep dit an entrepreneurship and business as well.
Speaker 1: The four of us together, I feel like we might
Speaker 1: to say I'm Captain Blanett, like our powers combined and
Speaker 1: Black Pearl came forward, and it came forward really to
Speaker 1: a right checks in some companies as a start fast
Speaker 1: forward or five years later. We have written checks venture capital,
Speaker 1: we have made loans, we have uh acquired companies. We
Speaker 1: have launched an office in Kingston, Jamaica, and we have
Speaker 1: an office in Acros, Ghana UM. We have a health
Speaker 1: advisory arm that helps develop people of workforce development. And
Speaker 1: it all started from me not being offended from the feedback.
Speaker 1: We're we really saying, let me listen to the feedback.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations Master
Speaker 1: Class with Rashan McDonald. Now let's return to Money Making
Speaker 1: Conversations master Class with Rashan McDonald. I always tell people
Speaker 1: I wake up, dun't just make that statement that way.
Speaker 1: I'm willing to accept information it's given to you. But
Speaker 1: if you wake up, thank you nor at all, you
Speaker 1: know you can miss something that moment was right there.
Speaker 1: If you had a nor at all personality ride to
Speaker 1: dominate your spirit or your soul, then you would miss
Speaker 1: pearl ever being a possibility. But when you say word
Speaker 1: black Pearl and Investments that's what my audience wants to hear. Investment.
Speaker 1: What will you say, invest in this, invest in it?
Speaker 1: And it's in healthcare? What are you talking about? Uh?
Speaker 1: So UH for me, money is a tool. UM, just
Speaker 1: like a hammer. You can either build or it can destroyer.
Speaker 1: I can hit you in the head with a hammer
Speaker 1: and it'll it will beat you down right. UM. But
Speaker 1: it's a tool. So when we talk about investing, we're
Speaker 1: looking for companies on the venture capital side of things
Speaker 1: that have high growth potential, but they're coming up with
Speaker 1: discoveries that are new and novel that are helping they
Speaker 1: reduce healthcare costs, that are improving the outcomes, that are
Speaker 1: increasing access for populations that didn't have UM that access
Speaker 1: or give you an example, UM. Earlier this year, we
Speaker 1: invested in a maternal healthcare company called Mommy. Mommy is
Speaker 1: a company that UH build technology to help black mothers
Speaker 1: get all of the resources they need to have successful
Speaker 1: deliveries and then post part of them, UM be able
Speaker 1: to cope with you know, new baby, UM, maybe some
Speaker 1: of the mental health aspects and really give them a community,
Speaker 1: getting these practitioners to listen to them, giving them alternatives
Speaker 1: whether they want to be in a hospital or have
Speaker 1: natural birth. But we know from a healthcare perspective, black
Speaker 1: mothers are going to are more likely to suffer adverse effects,
Speaker 1: even if you haven't shared, even if you have money,
Speaker 1: even if you you know, Serena Williams had severe complications
Speaker 1: beyond st I mean, these are women with resources and
Speaker 1: I'm sure the best of the best health care, and
Speaker 1: they still had these other complications. So that's the kind
Speaker 1: of company we put our money into. All adventure capital
Speaker 1: sy the right checks into companies that are making an
Speaker 1: impact that can change the trajectory of you know, women dyeing,
Speaker 1: babies die. Um. We invest in companies that make food cleaner,
Speaker 1: We invest in we invest in companies that can make
Speaker 1: the environment more healthy. Because when we think about healthcare,
Speaker 1: we're thinking, you know, again, if you don't have your health,
Speaker 1: the rest of that's gonna go the pot. Right, you
Speaker 1: can have all the money in the world and your
Speaker 1: health crashes, Guess where your money is going to go
Speaker 1: to fixing your health. So we think about healthcare is
Speaker 1: really the center of our beings, our our university. You
Speaker 1: will and so will help will invest in things for
Speaker 1: economic mobility, will invest in things for climate, will invest
Speaker 1: in things for right on the nose healthcare direct practitioner
Speaker 1: care UM, we will invest in things that are transportation related.
Speaker 1: I mean, we are really thinking about healthcare broadly because
Speaker 1: you can't just put on one level. I think it's
Speaker 1: going to change everything. Well, you know the thing about
Speaker 1: it is UH interviewed Tanya Lewis Lee which just a
Speaker 1: brilliant documentary is really informative on Hulu called Aftershock, which
Speaker 1: is about you know, inframortality, especially in the African American community.
Speaker 1: And I hear you talk about that just gives me,
Speaker 1: you know, flashback that there are many warriors out there,
Speaker 1: and I consider you a warrior who's out there from
Speaker 1: a financial perspective, trying to change lives within our community
Speaker 1: and also giving a shot of delivering a healthy kid.
Speaker 1: When as I closed this interview, and it's been a
Speaker 1: wonderful interview because your life has so many beautiful pearls
Speaker 1: in it, I'm just just use that and we use
Speaker 1: that pearl When when when you just talk about the
Speaker 1: academic training and making decisions and not limiting yourself and
Speaker 1: saying that enough it's enough, and being able to accept
Speaker 1: what I call constructive criticism or comments because people told
Speaker 1: you they saw more in you, that you could do more.
Speaker 1: And a lot of people hear that terminology fear or
Speaker 1: they could satisfy. I'm satisfied where I'm at, but you
Speaker 1: saw it like, Okay, what are you talking about? And
Speaker 1: I think more people should lean in instead of pushing
Speaker 1: back when people approach them about their gifts. I always
Speaker 1: talk about gifts and purpose. I feel you're living your
Speaker 1: purpose because you're taking advantage of your gifts. And as
Speaker 1: you talk about the next chapter and black plural global investments,
Speaker 1: what is it? Dr Shard weaves Our next chapter really
Speaker 1: looked like UM expanding UM into other countries. UM. So
Speaker 1: we're already on the continent of Africa, but we will
Speaker 1: look to push into areas where a lot of people
Speaker 1: are going East Africa. There are not a lot of
Speaker 1: folks deploying money. UM. When we think about the Caribbean
Speaker 1: really starting to support entrepreneurs there, UM, when we think
Speaker 1: about acquiring companies. We just acquired a contact less manufacturing facility.
Speaker 1: I think it's really important if we want to control
Speaker 1: costs of health care and we want to help more
Speaker 1: entrepreneurs get into the healthcare space. We've got to reduce
Speaker 1: those barriers. So one way to do that is controlling
Speaker 1: the supply chain. If I am the direct manufacturer of something,
Speaker 1: I have a direct relationship with the cost of something
Speaker 1: of that product, and so I can start to provide
Speaker 1: it to community at a price that makes it affordable.
Speaker 1: Black people are disproportionately we're more likely to have eye
Speaker 1: care issues. UM. But on the flip side of that,
Speaker 1: if you're somebody who is let's say, creating the next
Speaker 1: beauty products or someone who's coming up with a healthcare formulation,
Speaker 1: guess what you likely will need to package your products
Speaker 1: and FDA regulator facility I now have to UM and
Speaker 1: we have reconfigured our floor plans to help other entrepreneurs
Speaker 1: come into that space, reducing the costs really to start
Speaker 1: patching up their products. So as we rode forward, we
Speaker 1: will look to see how we can one continue to
Speaker 1: bring products into our portfolio that reduce healthcare costs, but
Speaker 1: then how do we leverage those assets to help other
Speaker 1: companies get ahead, whether that's through expertise, whether that's through space,
Speaker 1: whether that's through us really just saying hey, if you
Speaker 1: need to use our products to test whether or not
Speaker 1: your thing is going to work. We're open to that,
Speaker 1: and that's where I think the future for us is
Speaker 1: really going to be headed helping businesses level up, but
Speaker 1: then also bringing in practitioners people UM. One of our
Speaker 1: programs that I'm most proud of is we take folks
Speaker 1: with UM no health care skills, we help them get trained,
Speaker 1: and then they're coming into the workforce at you know,
Speaker 1: the forty or fifty tho dollar side of things versus
Speaker 1: the you know, ten or fifteen dollars an hour side
Speaker 1: of things. And that's I'm really proud of because the
Speaker 1: more people we get into healthcare, the more diverse voices
Speaker 1: we have, they're the less likely is that people will
Speaker 1: get overseen or overlooked when they say I have pain
Speaker 1: or they say something just isn't right. And so I'm
Speaker 1: really proud of the work we're doing today and I
Speaker 1: look forward to seeing that expand beyond North Carolina and
Speaker 1: to other states and in other countries, and then leveraging
Speaker 1: all of these facilities because we can marry those practitioners
Speaker 1: with the spaces, and I think the future is going
Speaker 1: to be very right if we continue to do that. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you your storytelling is amazing. Is the CEO
Speaker 1: Black Pearl Global and investment firm that is changing the
Speaker 1: healthcare of the African American columing not only domestic but
Speaker 1: global people of color. Have they have a I like
Speaker 1: to say, of an angel in the in the corporate
Speaker 1: structure is out there funding ways that we can live
Speaker 1: a better life, a longer life, a life that feels
Speaker 1: like we're part of the people care about us. Again,
Speaker 1: I want to appreciate. I wanted to say, I appreciate
Speaker 1: you taking the time, and all my interviews have their
Speaker 1: special journeys, but I think from an academic standpoint, you're special.
Speaker 1: From a lifestyle standpoint, you're special. And for your calls.
Speaker 1: So what you're doing out here in the community, as
Speaker 1: we all goal is to make money, but ball where
Speaker 1: you can help people along the way, isn't that a blessing? Yes? Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you for coming on Money Making
Speaker 1: Conversation master Class and we talked soon. Okay, absolutely bad
Speaker 1: at me. Appreciate you. It's been Rashan McDonald hosted Money
Speaker 1: Making Conversation master Class. You've been listening to Money Making
Speaker 1: Conversations Masterclass with Rushan McDonald always remember to lead with
Speaker 1: your gifts. Money Making Conversations master Class is a presentation
Speaker 1: of thirty eight fifteen media Incorporate it. You are now
Speaker 1: tuned into the Money Making Conversations Minute of Inspiration with
Speaker 1: Rashan McDonald. Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald for Money Making Conversation
Speaker 1: Masterclass with your daily minute of Inspiration. This week I
Speaker 1: said that With best selling author and consultant Dr Nicole
Speaker 1: Roberts Jones, she talks about the importance of not ignoring
Speaker 1: your potential. Many of us grow up in culture where
Speaker 1: we make lists, right, I want two point five kids,
Speaker 1: I want to work in this career, but we don't
Speaker 1: stop long enough to tap into our soul and we
Speaker 1: don't understand who we be at our core. So it's
Speaker 1: really looking beyond what the world says, what perception says,
Speaker 1: and the list that we make to really get to
Speaker 1: know yourself on a deeper level. It's not even that
Speaker 1: your original list isn't in alignment with what you're great at.
Speaker 1: It maybe that you just have outgrown that place and
Speaker 1: so it's really going to that next level. You know.
Speaker 1: Oftentimes I said, God doesn't rumble you up because he's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: with where you are. He's looking for who you have
Speaker 1: not yet right listen to this full interview with Dr
Speaker 1: n Cole Robert Jones is available on Money Making Conversations
Speaker 1: dot no.