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In the military

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you're taught to do more with less so

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within business model.

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and within my business model,

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I pretty much did the same thing.

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And I believe that's

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what kind of made me successful

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within

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My first couple of years

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is because

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we really did more with less

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I'm your host,

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the moderator, Rob Richardson,

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my special guest here is Kern Alexander,

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but before I get to him,

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I want to do a

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little bit of housekeeping.

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If you're watching this on YouTube,

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please hit the like button.

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Please hit the subscribe button.

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That's

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how more people can learn

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about the great disruption

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that we're doing.

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They can learn more about people

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like Kern Alexander,

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some of the other great guests

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we've had before.

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If you're listening to us on Apple Podcasts.

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Please write a review.

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Please, like us.

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Again,

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we want to spread the word spread love.

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But we need your help.

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Fellow disruptors.

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So if you're watching this,

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if you're listening to this.

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We appreciate your feedback.

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We appreciate reviews on Apple, iTunes

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or if you're listening to us on Google,

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wherever, you might be listening to us.

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We really appreciate your support.

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We've had a really, really good year.

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We plan on having a really good

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2022 as well. So.

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All right.

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So Kern Alexander

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 is with the higher collection.

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He is also he's also served our country.

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So he's a businessman.

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He's a serviceman

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and it's an honor

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to have him on the show.

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Kern, how are you doing, man?

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Awe man I'm doing good.

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Thank you so much for having me

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today, man.

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No problem. No problem

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A pleasure to have you.

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And you're out of Oakland,

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California, right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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My business is based out of

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Oakland, California.

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All right.

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So how does one go from

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serving our country?

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And thank you for that to jumping into

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owning a dispensary?

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And like, how does that?

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How does that happen?

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How did that happen, though?

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Those, you know,

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those seem to be very different fields.

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How did they get to collide?

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Yeah, I'm just curious how we started.

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Just jump right in.

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How does one do that.

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How do you get there.

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How this path looked

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Well,

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what happened was, um,

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I was based in California

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a lot of my career.

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I started my career in 2007,

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and my first duty station was in Travis

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Air Force Base,

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which is in Northern California.

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So I kind of had roots there

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since about 2007.

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Now throughout my time

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being in the military.

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Of course,

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you know,

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you get deployed all over the place,

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but I've always seem

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to come back to California.

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It was like always my place

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where I would come back to.

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So even when I got stationed overseas,

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I would come back.

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I got stationed elsewhere

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and I still came back. So,

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you know, I got out

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and my path wasn't really paved.

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You know,

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at first I

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I knew that I didn't want to go back

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to doing what I was doing before,

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which is pretty much overworking myself

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for the government.

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I knew

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I wanted to kind of

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take that leap of faith

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and get out there on my own.

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So one of my buddies, he had a cannabis

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dispensary back in the day in 2015.

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This was more like the medicinal model.

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Back in the day 2015.

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That's now back in the day.

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But go ahead, right?

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Well, I don't.

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I'll tell you this so much has changed.

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I know, right? Right.

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I tell people like we got like

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COVID has changed like time.

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You know, there used to be AC BC

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and now it's like.

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And now it's like a

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a AC BC after COVID, before COVID.

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And like, before Covid Right? I.

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And that's real life thing

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I feel like two years of my life

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has just been missing.

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I don't even know what really.

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It just went so fast.

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You know what I mean?

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Doesn't seem like two years

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I tell people, the last two years

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it felt like 15.

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Like it's like

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feels like a time warp, bro.

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But anyway, I digress. Go ahead.

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Yeah, but but yeah.

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So essentially back in 2015,

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it was more like a

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medicinal model in the cannabis space

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where you could have like collectives.

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So my buddy kind of did his thing

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and he started his collectives,

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so he kind of hit me up.

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He was like, Yo bro, what you doing?

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Now that you out.

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You know you should hop into the cannabis

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hop in the cannabis space.

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At first,

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I was against it

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because my job in the military I was

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I worked intelligence.

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So for me, you know, we kind of

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we I try to do things

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the right way, right?

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So for me, a lot of times.

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So you got a lot of stuff you can't discuss with us

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Oh, sure. Yeah.

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But but, you know,

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getting into the cannabis space,

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it was just it was

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it was a learning curve.

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So at first, I didn't jump right in,

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you know, I was a student.

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I became a student to my boy,

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learned the ways of

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how it actually worked.

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And then, um, I became a patient.

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That's really

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what won me over to the space itself.

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I went into the VA

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as I said, I'm 100% disabled

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and I walked out

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with a bag full of medicine.

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Maybe maybe two bags full of medicine.

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A lot of it was Motrin,

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but a lot of it was upper and downer,

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kind of like psychotics, you know,

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or psychoactive.

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So I didn't really want to put myself

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through that

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after having to put myself

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through taking pills

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throughout my whole career already.

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So I actually sat down

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with a cannabis doctor

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and they gave me alternatives

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for PTSD, alternatives for anxiety,

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lack of sleep.

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I wasn't sleeping

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my sleep schedules, all jacked up.

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So so that that's really

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what won me over.

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I decided to just become an advocate

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for it in a positive manner,

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you know, because in 2015 it was,

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you know,

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everybody was looking at it like a.

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My God, you're you know,

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you're a drug dealer.

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but for real

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Yeah, I know it's how.

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They were looking at it, I remember.

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Yeah, yeah.

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But you know, for me, I had to like,

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put a positive spin on it

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and actually show

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that this drug can actually help me,

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and it can actually wean people

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off of the things that

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people were stuck on.

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So spoke with

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that cannabis doctor changed my life.

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Pretty much.

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I'm of the belief.

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You know, so sorry to interrupt you.

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I'm of the belief

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that as controversial opinion.

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But I believe it.

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Like,

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I think most drugs should be legalized

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and regulated because it's

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when it goes underground.

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That's when we create a new

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criminal element.

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It helps that thrive.

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I mean, there

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obviously be some debates

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about other types of drugs.

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Certainly, marijuana has been

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has put more black

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and brown people in jail unnecessarily

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unnecessarily than any other substance,

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and it's been used as a reason.

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Exactly.

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And so what I like about you

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being involved

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is at least now

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some of us are participating

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in the opportunity

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to make a return

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because unfortunately,

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you are the exception to the rule.

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Most of the time,

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we're not

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we're not involved in the process.

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We don't have an opportunity

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to be involved in the process

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unless we're

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in jail with

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some of us are still in jail for crimes

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related to marijuana,

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while mostly

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everyone else is benefiting from it.

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So I do applaud you for doing that.

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And then you

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know what we

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do too, is we try to help with education,

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you know,

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because what I learned being within

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a space is

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you don't know what you don't know.

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You know, like,

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you don't know those opportunities

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when those licenses open up.

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You don't know when

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those cities become legal.

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Or like how much the actual cost is.

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If people know the actual cost of things,

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sometimes they probably wouldn't.

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They probably wouldn't run away from it,

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you know, cost.

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In the beginning, it cost me about 2500.

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But now, you know,

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the cost has like

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almost tripled quadrupled

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in certain places

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to get within the space.

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So we try to push the education of

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getting in the medical space

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while we have the opportunity.

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While we have the opportunity exactly,

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because the medical space for me

291
00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,200
was the lowest point of entry

292
00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:39,400
and the easiest point of entry

293
00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,360
to get in when it became recreational.

294
00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:43,600
It was overpriced

295
00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:44,680
and then

296
00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,000
the barrier of entry became super high.

297
00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:48,480
Yeah, no doubt.

298
00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,760
I'll tell you, it's really

299
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:51,880
when we talk about

300
00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,040
educating our community

301
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,520
and entering at the point of

302
00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:57,760
where the opportunity is.

303
00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:58,400
Like you said, it's

304
00:07:58,400 --> 00:07:59,600
really, really important

305
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:00,280
for a lot of things

306
00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:01,120
because that's where the

307
00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:01,800
that's where wealth

308
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,480
opportunities are created.

309
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,040
And if we're ever going to really address

310
00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:07,840
the racial wealth gap,

311
00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:09,520
we have to move on these opportunities

312
00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:10,560
as they present themselves.

313
00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:12,120
So that that's an example

314
00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:13,040
that you mentioned.

315
00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:14,880
I'm big in the space of Web3,

316
00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:16,160
I don't know if you know much about Web3.

317
00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:17,040
But yeah, yeah.

318
00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:17,800
And that's

319
00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:19,280
yeah, yeah, I've been checking on it.

320
00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:20,000
Yeah, yeah.

321
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,960
So we had the first black owned

322
00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,240
and NFT marketplace on the globe

323
00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:25,320
is built on flow

324
00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,160
blockchain called Disrupt Art.

325
00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:28,200
But I say that to say like,

326
00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,800
I'm working to onboard people

327
00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,160
because I don't want them to

328
00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:34,320
be excluded from this opportunity

329
00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,240
right now is a great time to get in.

330
00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:37,680
And just the opportunity

331
00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:38,680
is just ample, right?

332
00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:40,840
But it won't necessarily be

333
00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:42,880
that way in three to five years,

334
00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:43,920
you know, had you been an.

335
00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:46,720
No the barriers of entry are going to be

336
00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:48,040
Way too high like this show

337
00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:48,880
And then that

338
00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:49,680
and then even

339
00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:51,280
if not the barrier entry,

340
00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,440
the misconceptions to entry

341
00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:55,240
will be so rampant.

342
00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:55,760
Well, that's it.

343
00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:57,520
That's a really good point.

344
00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,760
The biggest misconception to entry,

345
00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:00,400
and I want to get back

346
00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,080
to your point of view very quickly here.

347
00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:03,600
But you know, the problem

348
00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,560
that people are stopping people

349
00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:06,360
a lot is two things

350
00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:07,480
is this block in their mind.

351
00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:08,520
It's either

352
00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,880
it's a I'm not a technical person,

353
00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,560
so I can't do that, which is not

354
00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:13,800
you don't have to be a technical person.

355
00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,000
I mean, you know how email works,

356
00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:15,920
you're not technical person.

357
00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:16,680
All you need to understand

358
00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:19,080
is how to think basic work one or two,

359
00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:20,680
everybody saying iIt's a fraud.

360
00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:21,280
Well I said all right?

361
00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:22,000
Listen,

362
00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:23,160
it's not a fraud,

363
00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,040
but it's 17 billion dollar

364
00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:26,160
has been created this year,

365
00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,680
so the best performing asset

366
00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:30,280
right now

367
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,120
across the entire country, so right,

368
00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:32,720
if it's a fraud.

369
00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:34,360
You at least need to see what's going on

370
00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:35,240
where. People are going.

371
00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:36,720
Wow, right? Right. Like why?

372
00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:39,160
And it's not a fraud.

373
00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:40,000
But like getting people.

374
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,520
I think that's also a trap we have in our minds

375
00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:42,440
Yeah that fear

376
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,520
You know, we. It's fear

377
00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:45,720
We mentally block ourselves

378
00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:46,840
from opportunities

379
00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:48,440
before we even try them.

380
00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,760
You know, like a lot of times I like,

381
00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:52,480
I used to be in these clubhouse rooms

382
00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:53,040
and I would hear

383
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,320
people like this discouraging people

384
00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,080
so much on entry into the cannabis space.

385
00:09:58,080 --> 00:09:59,600
And I'm like, Yes,

386
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:00,280
people are like,

387
00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:01,800
Oh, you won't ever be able to get into

388
00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:02,320
the New York

389
00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,080
space is going to be too expensive.

390
00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:05,400
There's not even any rules.

391
00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:06,840
There's no rules to this space.

392
00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:07,280
What do you mean

393
00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:08,680
it's going to be too expensive?

394
00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:09,280
You know what I mean?

395
00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:09,440
Like,

396
00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:10,440
there are no legislation

397
00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:11,840
saying what that price tag is,

398
00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:13,360
but it's all a mental psyche out

399
00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,400
It's all a mental cycle.

400
00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:16,840
I think it's a lot of trauma

401
00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:18,760
passed down to so from.

402
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:19,560
Oh, sure.

403
00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:20,240
Yeah, yeah, like

404
00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:22,240
so like this fear has been ingrained.

405
00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,200
Someone told me, OK,

406
00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:25,200
you've got to think even with my,

407
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,120
my parents, you know, like.

408
00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:28,040
And like

409
00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:29,400
even on the successful with them,

410
00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,240
I feel there's still like

411
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:32,320
like you, sure

412
00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:33,560
you want to deal with that,

413
00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:34,120
you know what I mean?

414
00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:35,480
Like, it's like a mental block,

415
00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:36,960
and I'm like, if they come for me,

416
00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:37,800
then they got to come.

417
00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:39,680
Everybody that's doing the same thing.

418
00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:41,080
That's a lot of people.

419
00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:42,440
I heard Gary B say this.

420
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,600
Like he said, our parents have been great

421
00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,480
and they teach you a lot of great things

422
00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,360
and I'll take your values.

423
00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:50,440
But I'll apply my work

424
00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:51,520
approach and ethics

425
00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,480
like because we need to evolve, right?

426
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:55,400
Like we got to.

427
00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:56,640
We take a lot of the values

428
00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:57,840
about being a good person

429
00:10:57,840 --> 00:10:59,240
about working hard.

430
00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,880
Yes, but we also can't take their mindset

431
00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:02,320
with us.

432
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:02,840
We'll take our.

433
00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,360
Mindset, we'll take that.

434
00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:06,280
We'll have our value,

435
00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:07,560
we'll take their values

436
00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:08,640
and apply our mindset.

437
00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:10,800
And work mindset.

438
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:11,280
Right. Right.

439
00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:12,400
Because their mindset is.

440
00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:14,480
Based upon a world that they know

441
00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,080
that it probably was an accurate mindset

442
00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,080
to have when they were growing up.

443
00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:20,040
It makes sense, right?

444
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:21,000
Just the government

445
00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:22,600
said the same thing about the government.

446
00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:23,360
I don't understand

447
00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:24,520
why our government is

448
00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,880
ran by 80 year olds.

449
00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:28,040
They don't even understand

450
00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:29,680
the technology era.

451
00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:31,960
Like what?

452
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,840
Well, it's because we allow it.

453
00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:35,840
The quick answer to that is that

454
00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,440
when people can become more involved,

455
00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:39,640
we'll see a change.

456
00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:41,080
But the answer to that

457
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:41,800
is that 80 year

458
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:42,640
old and 60 year olds

459
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,160
vote and participate all the time, and.

460
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:46,080
We participate.

461
00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:48,760
Sometimes and sometimes we get a power.

462
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,400
Sometimes we don't I mean that's the answer

463
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:52,800
I mean it's like we have.

464
00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:54,800
But you know, back to the

465
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:55,760
point of that mindset,

466
00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:56,400
I do think that's very,

467
00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:57,080
very important

468
00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:58,440
for us to challenge

469
00:11:58,440 --> 00:11:59,800
the mindsets of some things

470
00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:00,280
that were passed.

471
00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:00,760
Again,

472
00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:01,840
values have been great

473
00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:02,240
in terms

474
00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:03,280
of working hard, taking

475
00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,360
care of your family, right?

476
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:06,520
But the mindset,

477
00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:07,440
I'll give one example

478
00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:08,880
that I've said before.

479
00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:10,760
one of the mindsets that

480
00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:11,920
black community is passed down

481
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,360
again and again and again

482
00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,240
is to work twice as hard.

483
00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,280
You've heard it to get what half as much?

484
00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,160
I'm like, No, half as much.

485
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:20,360
No I;m like I work twice as hard

486
00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:21,880
and I expect twice as much.

487
00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:23,080
I mean, I won't be like this.

488
00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:23,920
I mean, llet me talk to white guys.

489
00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,560
They work twice as hard to expect

490
00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:27,480
ten times as much. That's what I want

491
00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:29,480
And then out,

492
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:30,840
man, I got in the Air Force.

493
00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:32,520
Air Force taught me a whole new mantra.

494
00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,760
They said, Work harder,

495
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:36,080
work smarter, not harder.

496
00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:37,400
So essentially,

497
00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,200
if you can make your mind, do it

498
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:40,280
and put it together,

499
00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:41,120
there's no reason why

500
00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:42,080
you should be physically

501
00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:43,760
in the space doing it yourself, you know.

502
00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,400
Amen

503
00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:45,800
Yeah.

504
00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:46,840
Using that mind work

505
00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:48,320
smarter, not harder as well.

506
00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:48,680
Yeah, I'm

507
00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:50,000
definitely not going back to that.

508
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:51,200
Old mindset you know

509
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:52,920
You got everybody.

510
00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:54,120
Out here and running up the check.

511
00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:55,680
I can't do it.

512
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,960
So tell me about transitioning

513
00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:01,920
from serving

514
00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,160
in the military to being an entrepreneur.

515
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:05,880
It sounds like you did

516
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,240
learn some good lessons about

517
00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,600
your mindset, but I imagine

518
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:12,400
it had to be a little bit of a challenge,

519
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:13,720
especially moving from

520
00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:16,200
a military schedule where you

521
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,320
have essentially things mapped out

522
00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,240
in a very structured way.

523
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,160
Then having to go out and you didn't,

524
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:22,920
you didn't.

525
00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:24,520
You didn't just go get a job.

526
00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:25,560
You went to be an entrepreneur,

527
00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:26,920
which is really the

528
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:28,160
diametrically opposite

529
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:29,120
to having a structure.

530
00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:30,640
It's like you, you figure out.

531
00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:30,960
What you're structure is

532
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:32,520
trying to create that structure.

533
00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:33,680
What was the challenge with that?

534
00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:34,960
Or was it or was it

535
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:35,640
not a challenge

536
00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:36,920
because you had that structure

537
00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:37,800
kind of talk to you

538
00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:38,920
in the military, right?

539
00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:39,880
And that's exactly

540
00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:40,520
what I was going to say.

541
00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:41,120
So for me,

542
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:42,760
I feel like the challenge came

543
00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:43,960
more on,

544
00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:45,640
like figuring out the business

545
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:46,800
aspect of it.

546
00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:47,920
I think the discipline

547
00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:49,280
in putting in the hours,

548
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:50,600
I already kind of learned that

549
00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:51,920
from the military

550
00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:52,640
in the military,

551
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,520
you're taught to do more with less so

552
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:57,280
within business model

553
00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:58,280
and within my business model,

554
00:13:58,280 --> 00:13:59,640
I pretty much did the same thing.

555
00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:00,560
And I believe that's

556
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:01,800
what kind of made me successful

557
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:02,040
within

558
00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:03,080
My first couple of years

559
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:03,960
is because

560
00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:05,840
we really did more with less

561
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:07,880
like I would be the dispatcher,

562
00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:08,920
the packer,

563
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,560
the driver that dropped it off.

564
00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:12,080
I'm everything in the beginning,

565
00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:13,480
at least for the first year, year

566
00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,520
and a half it was on me, you know,

567
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:16,480
and it would be so funny

568
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:17,720
because people would call in

569
00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:18,600
and they're like,

570
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:19,160
you know, Hey,

571
00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:20,440
I may have an issue with this product.

572
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:21,000
I'm like, Hold on,

573
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:22,640
let me get you to the manager

574
00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:24,560
and then I'm picking back up the phone.

575
00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:24,920
Hello.

576
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:26,520
Did you change.

577
00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:27,280
Your voice like.

578
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,000
oh of course of course

579
00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:31,600
Had to switch it up every now

580
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:32,120
and then

581
00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:33,560
and change the voice

582
00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:34,280
or pass the phone

583
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,360
to my shorty, and have my shorty talk

584
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:37,960
But you know, like in the beginning,

585
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:39,560
you got to do those different things

586
00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:41,000
because I'm like, for me,

587
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:42,680
I didn't know how to create a payroll.

588
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:43,960
I didn't know how to create budgets

589
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:45,480
and things like that yet.

590
00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:46,600
So I had to really

591
00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:48,600
learn each aspect of the industry

592
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,080
that I was in,

593
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:51,840
just so that when it was time for me

594
00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:53,360
to put people in place, couldn't

595
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,200
nobody tell me nothing crazy, you know?

596
00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,800
So that transitional part was

597
00:14:57,800 --> 00:14:59,000
that was the.

598
00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:00,800
I don't want say. That's a challenge 

599
00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:01,200
Yeah.

600
00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:02,360
And you know,

601
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,080
I said it on IG the other day.

602
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:04,560
I said, you know,

603
00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:06,120
sometimes as entrepreneurs,

604
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,280
we make it look too easy.

605
00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,720
I wish I could have like taking out

606
00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:12,440
through that piece too

607
00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,080
You know what I mean

608
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:15,720
ten times harder than it looks on.

609
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:17,920
Yeah. People out here, most people are.

610
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:18,240
Perfect

611
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,480
about the entrepreneurial lifestyle

612
00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,480
and lied about it.

613
00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:24,400
Yeah, it is not. It is not.

614
00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:25,640
And I don't say that

615
00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,080
to turn people away from it.

616
00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:28,000
Because I feel like it's

617
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:28,720
a very freeing,

618
00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:29,760
freeing thing,

619
00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:31,600
but you got to know how to control it

620
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:32,720
and understand those freedoms

621
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:34,880
and know that yes, you may have freedoms,

622
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:35,600
but you still need

623
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:36,600
some sort of structure.

624
00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:37,880
You still got to wake up every day,

625
00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:39,480
you still got to answer the phone calls

626
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,160
and you still got to do things

627
00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:41,960
to actually make

628
00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:43,560
that entrepreneur lifestyle work

629
00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:44,800
You have to be the hunter.

630
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:45,000
I mean,

631
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:45,800
I think that's the difference

632
00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:46,480
between being

633
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:47,840
because you still often

634
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:48,920
have to work when you have a job,

635
00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:49,640
you have a certain time,

636
00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:51,080
but like nobody

637
00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:52,680
is not no one else is going to figure out how

638
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:53,320
Nobody, nobody's.

639
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,080
Giving you that opportunity yet.

640
00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:55,720
You know what I mean?

641
00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:57,800
And you got to go out there and call.

642
00:15:57,800 --> 00:15:59,600
Call, call.

643
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:00,720
Call pick up them phones.

644
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:01,960
And don't make it to where you have

645
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:02,920
a staff of people

646
00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:04,080
who depend on you and people

647
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,960
you have to take care of,

648
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:07,240
then the stress is even more

649
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,520
because now you're the last person to eat

650
00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,000
an entrepreneur.

651
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:11,880
Yep, I think

652
00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:13,200
I think people forget that

653
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:13,840
piece like

654
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:14,880
I don't get my checks

655
00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,440
until everybody on my team eats you know,

656
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,280
until everybody on my team eats because I know

657
00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:20,120
and I understand that

658
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:21,840
that's my work force.

659
00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:22,120
That's

660
00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,080
the people who who keep me in place

661
00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:25,960
and keep me sane

662
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:27,120
and make sure the operation

663
00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:27,920
moves the way it needs to.

664
00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:29,360
So you always want to make sure your team

665
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:30,400
eat first

666
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:30,920
and then,

667
00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:32,280
you know, you know, in the back end,

668
00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,800
sometimes that that plate ain't that big.

669
00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:36,720
Yep, sometimes it's huge.

670
00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:38,320
Exactly. You got it.

671
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:39,440
You got to roll with the punches

672
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:40,680
as they come.

673
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:41,440
Yeah.

674
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,240
What's a story or moment

675
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:44,560
that you can disclose?

676
00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:46,240
Because I know you were also intelligence

677
00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:48,120
in the military that

678
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,160
really stuck out with you.

679
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:49,480
Like that

680
00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,200
was a maybe a transformational moment

681
00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,280
that applied that you've applied

682
00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:54,080
that through life

683
00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:55,840
or you apply that through your business

684
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:56,960
if you can think of one.

685
00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:57,640
Oh, yeah, no.

686
00:16:57,640 --> 00:16:58,480
You know,

687
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,000
there's a time that stands out to me.

688
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,960
I went to a commander's call one time and

689
00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:04,360
my commander brought a little rubber

690
00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:05,520
ducky out.

691
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,040
He brought a little rubber ducky out.

692
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:08,600
He put it on the podium

693
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,440
and his speech was, he said, You know,

694
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:13,640
some people may look at this

695
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,520
and try to call it

696
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:19,520
a woodpecker or a bird or a, you know,

697
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:20,800
I call it a duck.

698
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:22,760
It's a rubber ducky, you know?

699
00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:24,520
So his mantra was,

700
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:25,920
you call it what it is.

701
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:26,960
You call a duck a duck,

702
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:28,440
you call a spade a spade.

703
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:30,400
And I feel like that's helped me out

704
00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,160
throughout my business and personal life

705
00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,440
because you cut a lot of the minutia out.

706
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:35,040
You know,

707
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:35,920
a lot of times

708
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,160
things can be handled when you go direct

709
00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,600
and you have those direct conversations.

710
00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:41,280
And in business,

711
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:42,920
sometimes those are those conversations

712
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:44,200
that are the hardest

713
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:45,560
that people don't like to have.

714
00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:47,280
But you call a duck a duck,

715
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,760
you know, as the boss, sometimes

716
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:50,680
even if his family

717
00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:52,480
like I've had family work for me,

718
00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,560
my sisters probably hate me right now.

719
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,200
They love me but

720
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:56,880
at the beginning,

721
00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:58,520
like one of my, my very close

722
00:17:58,520 --> 00:17:59,560
sister was working with me.

723
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,160
She was like, my, you know.

724
00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,120
My right hand. Yeah you know I don't do family in business too much

725
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:04,840
My mother works there, My mother works only 

726
00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,680
because she's like my accountant,

727
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,800
but like, she's helped me but like. Right?

728
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:09,360
My but

729
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:09,920
but that's only because

730
00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:11,320
she's my accountant for support, really.

731
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:12,440
She she's just doing it to help.

732
00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:14,560
But like beyond that.

733
00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:16,120
I don't know if you it's tough tough

734
00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,360
and and you got to do that as the boss,

735
00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:19,760
you got to call a duck a duck

736
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:20,680
if it doesn't work.

737
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:22,200
You can't.

738
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:23,040
You can't keep.

739
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:23,960
So you had to fire family.

740
00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:25,800
Oh, for sure. For sure.

741
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:27,880
Yes, for sure.

742
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:29,320
I've had to fire family

743
00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:30,000
Like I love you,

744
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:30,720
but you got to she going to see this

745
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:31,840
interview and be like,

746
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:33,320
Oh my God,

747
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:34,360
I love you, but we can't love you.

748
00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:35,440
But like you.

749
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:36,440
That's how businesses

750
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,000
end up failing, though, right?

751
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:39,440
If you can't like

752
00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:40,920
you can support your family like

753
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:41,720
this is the reason why I could

754
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:42,760
support you.

755
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:43,280
But like,

756
00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:44,640
what you can't do is have someone.

757
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:46,120
Nobody's above the business

758
00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:47,880
No yeah, nobody's above the business.

759
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:48,840
And that's a mantra

760
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:50,320
that we have on our walls.

761
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:51,880
Like, nobody's not even me.

762
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:52,280
You know,

763
00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:53,920
even the person who created it, like,

764
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,160
if I'm in the way somebody's going to need

765
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:56,560
to tell me

766
00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:57,880
I need to step out the way

767
00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:58,400
to make sure

768
00:18:58,400 --> 00:18:59,400
that the process moves

769
00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,400
to that next level .

770
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,000
And that's what I built my team on.

771
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:03,520
That's what I built

772
00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:04,440
the company on is

773
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:05,960
we call a duck a duck

774
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:07,640
that nobody's bigger than the business,

775
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:08,040
you know,

776
00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:09,640
because this is how we plan on feeding generations

777
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,320
and generations and generations

778
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:13,480
and creating that generational wealth.

779
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:14,560
So we want to make sure

780
00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:16,240
that we keep that intact.

781
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,720
So you I'm not the CEO, you know, Miss Ayana Young