2Cups Café
High Quality Caffeinated Conversations with Individuals who want to see a better world.
2Cups Café
From Toledo to Tampa: A 30-Year Friendship Journey
A genuine, heartfelt reunion between lifelong friends reveals powerful truths about growth, purpose, and authenticity. Sean Wood and Alan "Two Cups" Jackson trace their 30-year brotherhood from Toledo's neighborhoods to their current paths as entrepreneurs and family men, offering rare glimpses into pivotal life moments that shaped them both.
Their conversation travels from teenage football rivalries to life-changing decisions, including Sean's choice to join the military during Desert Storm while his mother was terminally ill. What follows is a captivating journey through HBCU culture at Florida A&M, where Sean discovered a community that enthusiastically supported his fashion design dreams rather than dismissing them. "You couldn't say you wanted to do something and be discouraged," Sean reflects, contrasting this with their industrial hometown where creative pursuits weren't considered viable careers.
Both men speak with remarkable candor about entrepreneurship lessons learned the hard way. Sean shares wisdom gained through business setbacks, emphasizing discernment and proper vetting of partnerships. "If money is the why," he warns, "you've built off the wrong thing." The conversation reaches its emotional peak when Sean reveals a profound realization about fatherhood - discovering his son felt their relationship had been purely transactional through basketball training, prompting him to build a deeper connection beyond shared activities.
As they approach milestone birthdays, their reflections on legacy, self-knowledge, and remaining open to new possibilities offer listeners valuable insights regardless of age or background. "Get in touch with the relationship with yourself," Sean advises. "Before you introduce you to anybody else, make sure you know you." This conversation between old friends doesn't just tell their story – it provides a thoughtful blueprint for authentic living and purpose-driven entrepreneurship that resonates long after the final cup of coffee.
Follow Allen C. Jackson - @2cupschronicles
Let me catch.
Speaker 2:Okay, we can go live in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Welcome back to Two Cups Cafe, where I'm your host, alan C Jackson, aka Two Cups, and today who I have with me for a high-quality caffeinated conversation? No other than one of my best friends in the whole wide world, sean Wood. What's up S Doc? What's up, man?
Speaker 1:What's up?
Speaker 2:Oh, nothing, man, I'm just so pleased. Man, let me run it back because I forgot to cut. Okay, please, man, let me run it back because I forgot to cut. We're gonna go live on five, four, three, two and one. Welcome back to two cups cafe, where I'm your host.
Speaker 2:Alan c jackson, and who I have coming through for a high quality caffeinated conversation today, is none other than one of my greatest friends in the whole wide world, sean wood. What's up's up as that? What's up, though? What's good? Oh, man, just please, man, just to be down here, man, hanging out with you, man, for a couple of days and we've been trying to do this for a while, oh, man, just let's just rewind the time, and we've been knowing each other over 30 years, man, and you know God has been good man. You've been able to come down here to Florida and Tampa Bay area and raise your family. Man, you're a serial entrepreneur, as I call you man. You've been doing a lot of things in the entertainment space, man, but if we could just rewind it back, man, and just talk about you know how we started hanging out? I think it was the summer before ninth grade. Man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was kind of crazy because I think this happens with most of the people that I've become closest with. I don't like them at first. And the buzz was everybody in the neighborhood was just talking about this cat, al, on the football field, and I was pretty much one of the older cats in our neighborhood, so you know, it was kind of a shock to the ego.
Speaker 2:It was like my name wasn't talked about.
Speaker 1:No more, and so I was like man. I got to see who this cat is, and one day we were in the field, across the street from your grandmother's crib, and it was like oh man, I love. Simon, I went and threw on my shoes and I think I had on like a cut-off shirt, trying to show my little biceps or whatever I get the ball man and this dude hit me so hard I was like oh man, I played it off and kept playing through the game.
Speaker 1:But after that I was like I don't like Buddy, but I think that you know, after that summer, or actually during that summer, we were both. We both decided we were going to Montgomery and I think I was riding my bike to practice and you kind of tell the right behind me and it was you know, we start rapping on the way to practice and was, honestly, you know homies ever since. Man, like you say, probably one of my, if not, you know, one of my best friends in the world.
Speaker 1:man, you know this is we've actually you know been in each other's homes, and not just you know it's we. We've actually, you know, uh, been in each other's homes, and not just. You know, as far as I know where you stay and you know I know your people, but you know we've been in each other's. You know family, personal, business, and you know we've learned a lot. You know went through a lot, you know shared a lot some of the things that you know we didn't share. We've seen and just kind of were always there for each other.
Speaker 1:So it's been amazing to have a blessing I'm not going to even say amazing because I don't want to take anything away from what God designed and destined it's been a blessing to have somebody like you there, and even times where we didn't talk as much we it was already. It was always fluid, man and so, um, you know it's, it started there, um, and we just been cool ever since, man. So from from prospect and in in the areas over there all the way to Montgomery and beyond, man, it's been an extremely cool ride, man. And yeah, I mean we got some stories In the middle of it all, we got some stories For sure.
Speaker 1:I don't know if all of them are made for TV.
Speaker 2:Oh man no doubt man.
Speaker 2:Like I said, man, I'm just so proud of you. Man, I just want to say that, first and foremost, man, no doubt, man, like I said man, I'm just so proud of you man, I just want to say that, first and foremost, man, for I mean, you're one of the several people that you know graduated with us that decided, you know, after high school, to move away and start a family. I know you went to the Air Force first man. You and a handful of our other friends went to various you know branches Air Force first man.
Speaker 2:You and a handful of our other friends went to various branches of the military man, and I ain't going to lie, I was mad at all of y'all man, I was mad at everybody for leaving, because I felt like, you know, I was never leaving In my mind, I was never leaving the hometown and we were just going to all just grow up and run the town together. But it's been a blessing to see, like I mean, you come down here and just kind of broadened my horizons early on, because you begin to get into a space that you may not have been able really to jump into back home, especially at that time, you know, we weren't known for fashion entertainment style. You know you was one of the one of the guys back in the day. Man, you, you know you were. You more R&B. You know we were hip-hop.
Speaker 1:You know, you're a little more R&B.
Speaker 2:You know you like it. We ride around man, you were singing and everything man just hanging out, man. But, um, so when you, when you came down south, and you know, and I think you might have been going to FAMU at the time, but then you talked me through when you first got into fashion, and what was the impotence behind that, so, like you said, the fashion thing honestly was well before high school.
Speaker 1:My mom was a designer by nature. My mom was somebody that literally could she sewed by eye and so she could look at something and recreate it. Just you know like she'll turn a pair of pants or a jacket or something inside out and she would recreate it. Just you know like she'll turn, you know, a pair of pants or a jacket or something inside out and she would recreate it. So you know fashion was something that was really her thing and I guess you know it was definitely, you know, hereditary.
Speaker 1:You know I've always been in the shoes and clothes and stuff like that. But putting stuff together, I kind of learned a lot of that from my mom. So, fun fact, when we was growing up they had skids and so naturally never told anybody but my mom would. Literally she bought me one pair of skis and you know, like most parents, you know I can make that, you know, and so you know she literally did and we would just take the patch off of the one pair. That was actually official and so it looked like I had a bunch of period skis.
Speaker 1:But I had one period my mom kind of you know I'm saying uh made the rest. So that was kind of like you know um, where you know watching the process, watching her go through the process, you know, and you know just kind of like you know picking that up from her, and then I started, you know, drawing designs. I I was, you know, drawing designs. I was, you know, an extreme introvert, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wouldn't have picked that up back when we was coming up.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean because most of it was number one. I think you know my story a little bit more than others. I grew up more so single-parent household. Right, we grew up with my father and had visitation we'll see my mother on the weekend, okay and so I was, you know, kind of home to kind of care for, you know, my brothers and sisters most of the time. So I didn't really get to, you know, go out and kick it like everybody else did. I didn't really get to go out and kick it like everybody else did, Because I had a different set of responsibilities. So I literally, man, I'd sit in the basement and I'd write raps and draw clothes. That was kind of my thing.
Speaker 1:But the neighborhood we stayed in, and then my mom's side of the family, we was definitely into the streets. I was, you know, I was caught in the midst of, you know, kind of both sides, because I did have a little street element on, you know, with some of, you know, my cousins on my pop side. But we were also heavily into church. So I literally, you know, I carried the devil, the angel, on each shoulder on a regular basis and it was, you know, truly. You know who I was not necessarily, you know, a devil, but you know I definitely danced in the street stuff a little bit and you know I was definitely in the church and both of those were part of who I was. But, like I said, as being an introvert, I would literally just create stuff at the crib. I had a design book and I had a rap book. Stuff that I was on Just really couldn't Like hey, fellas man, I'm about to make clothes Kind of wasn't popular or the cool thing at that time.
Speaker 1:Once I got to Tallahassee because even when I got to the military I stayed that was kind of a passion I was still dabbled by that point.
Speaker 2:I think it's important for context that our viewers know that this was kind of pre-cross colors, pre-shon john pre-fubu. All these things were kind of developing right when we were becoming adults. So as a teenager, you know you doing those things. You know I think that's when FUBU first hit it might have been junior or senior year or something like that.
Speaker 1:It wasn't. Even then FUBU was after high school. For us the black brand was Carl Canai. Yeah, I remember Carl Carl Canai was the forefront black brand. Then Cross Colors was a popular brand, but I think that was British. And then, you know, especially in her hood, we were still on Nautica and Helly Hansen and Pele Pele. You know stuff like that. But like there was really no, you know like.
Speaker 2:So is Mark Buchanan. Is that a black brand? Nah, hmm, yeah, interesting yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, and it's a lot interesting. I mean and it's a lot so I mean and really, you know if you really dabble and really get into it. A lot of quote, unquote black brands had or just kind of you know black brand by, yeah, affiliation or representation, you know who they had representing. The brand FUBU was definitely you know, true black brand and there's many others, you know, after the fact, but yeah when I was, when I was dabbling, it was just and it was it wasn't you know a thought process of creating something.
Speaker 1:You know that was extremely different. It was just stuff I liked, you know. You know it didn't it? I didn't really have a um, you know, um, a thought process on. Like you know, I'm about to be the first in this.
Speaker 2:Right, it was more so of a passion at first.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah and that's kind of where it started.
Speaker 2:I think that's probably why we got along so good, man, in high school, because you know, people didn't know. But you know, I wrote, you know poetry and raps and I read. Man, I started reading when I was. I started reading kind of like as a punishment. I was raised by my grandparents, like you said. You know my story too. You know, raised by my grandparents for many years, and in the summertime my grandpas wouldn't let me off the porch unless I read for an hour, but me not knowing that he really wasn't gonna quiz me on what I was reading.
Speaker 1:I didn't know you. I didn't know you couldn't, you could not listen.
Speaker 2:I didn't know you could not listen to you know an adult at that time. So he told me to read for an hour. I'm like I'm gonna go ahead and read for an hour, but in that process I began first of all my comprehension, my vocabulary, because he kind of gave me things to read. Man, a lot of stuff was historical. Um, I remember we used to do school projects back then. They'd be like you know old folks way of telling you they ain't know. The answer was go look it up in the encyclopedia but the problem was the encyclopedias that we had.
Speaker 2:You know that that information was obsolete. The whole Britannica encyclopedia from 1972 said you know that wasn't going in the 90s. So but just developing that like I used to read, I used to used to write and then socially, like you know, my brothers were older than me and they were one in particular my brother mike. He was a little more into into streets and, you know, and doing some things. Both of my brothers, you know, definitely had that element, but mike was a little more boisterous with it and um, it just sports man kind of kind of kept, I think, because you know I was naturally a shy kid but sports kind of.
Speaker 2:You know, I think that was a thing back then for both of us that really helped us socially just kind of become part of a team, part of a family, a social group you know already built in, you know, from when summertime and when school started. I don't know if it wasn't for football I would not have hit the ground running per se. You know in my teens man, but you know in my, uh, my teens man. But you know, like you said, when you're talking about fashion and then you talk about church and talk about the streets, like you said, I I can attest that that was just you being who you were in all those environments you know what I mean and trying to navigate, so tell me a little bit about you. Know what was your decision on going to the military?
Speaker 2:So that was an extremely tough decision honestly because I never really wanted to go to the military, because you know boys in the hood they said you know, Furious. Style said man ain't no, no, what he say ain't no room for black men.
Speaker 1:Black men don't have no place in the military, the white men's military and at the time it was, it was.
Speaker 1:It definitely resonated um, for a multitude of reasons. And it's funny because shout out to Scott like I, I will say um, I love Matt, say um, I love mac. Okay, me too. And and what, what it was for me, mac hummer was was the start of independence. Okay, you know, and and um, what it you know.
Speaker 1:Like you say, that's the social aspect. You know, being an introvert, like um, to to be an introvert and then go to a space when you're around people, but everybody welcomes you. So they made that transition easy. You know, I think I don't know if it would have been the same going into, you know being an introvert, and then going into a space your freshman year and being welcomed like you know, like they, they, full on. You know being an introvert and then going into a space, your freshman year and being welcomed like you know, like they, they, full on you know, from the, the upperclassmen, um, they full-on embraced us and sports may have had a, like you say may have had a lot to do with it, but I think the shops and you know where you could kind of also find your.
Speaker 1:You know, um, your, who you were going to be, was cool. But to answer your question as far as the military went, man, Ms Ramsey she man and, like you said, she you know being around her like me and you both, you know, were into, you know, reading and that was her thing, you know. But you know she would pull me, her and Ms Black would literally pull me. Ms Black, actually she had us set up to. We were hired at Jeep. Yeah, we were hired man.
Speaker 1:Right out of high school so like right out of high school, we had already had a job Well, well, let's go back.
Speaker 2:So we graduated high school, right, right, and everybody was talking about you know they were going to college, they were doing this and that I was one of those brothers that you know I'm going to go in January, you know what I'm saying. So we graduated June. I'm like I'm trying to figure this out. I really didn't want to go to school, but you know, ms Black, we had to. I said it before. We had a class called Jobs for Ohio Graduates, you know, and she took us through. You know soft interview skills and really she was just a place of encouragement, you know, telling us that. You know we could do it and do something. You know what I mean. So she, she sent me, you were here too. We went to Chuck E Cheese yeah yeah, so we went to Chuck E.
Speaker 2:Cheese. She said go to Chuck E Cheese. Chuck E Cheese is about to open and where we stay at where we live, and it was like we get to Chuck E Cheese. Two guys in front of us. They like okay, you're going to come back on Saturday, make sure you got your khakis and you got your shirt, this, that and third. And this guy go up, make sure you got your khakis, you got the shirt. I think I might have went up first. They told me like we'll get back with you. Then you went, they said we'll get back with you. And then the guy behind you, they're like Okay, come back Saturday.
Speaker 2:And then so that same, that same week I went you know I had a little pizza car we went to the, the pizza place they were hiring for a delivery driver. Yeah, the dude said you got a car. I was like yeah, so he walked outside, took a look at my car. He's like I'll get back with you for delivery driver. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the dude said you got a car. I was like yeah, so he walked outside, took a look at my car and said I'll get back with you. So that went from from June no job. July, no job. August no job. I get a call. We both get set up on. Ms Black said get set up on uh. Ms Black said September 20th down at uh private industry council, they got a job paying more than $10 an hour at a union shop.
Speaker 2:I put both y'all names down there. Y'all go show up so people don't know well people that know me know I was still 17, but you had to be 18 years old. I turned 18 September 19th and we filled out the job application on September 20th, and so I think I subsequently started work there on November 1st.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so it wasn't set up right after was a long it felt like it felt like, and so for me, it like the difference was is um I already knew by the time I already knew I was going to the military. So it's kind of um, I was really just doing all that stuff going through the motions, yeah, but at the time I didn't know this. Then Okay, but shortly thereafter I realized that I could have told the military no. Oh so you thought I already signed that I got to go.
Speaker 1:But the other thing was no knock on Toledo at all. But I never felt like the things that I wanted to do I was gonna be able to accomplish there. So you know I was looking at this is like this is gonna be my only opportunity to, to see something different and see, you know, if I have a chance. Right, you know to. And so it was like you know, and that's what made it tough, because I'm literally most people don't know when I left for the military, my mom was sick. Okay, like terminally sick, yeah, you know so that was. And then you know I had. You know my mom was sick, like terminally sick, you know so that was. And then I had my younger brother and sister were both my brother was in high school, my sister was coming shortly behind that and, again, you know, we were extremely close to this day.
Speaker 2:A couple years apart.
Speaker 1:We were all two years apart and then, like, even to this day, we live 15 minutes away from each other. We've always been extremely close. It was difficult to leave, but it was just like the other thing is, and this is kind of a philosophy, I live by. I was telling so many people, I was going to the military. I felt like it was almost motivating me to leave. I didn't want to look crazy by saying that I'm doing this and that Because we did have cats that did.
Speaker 2:I was like I'm going to the military and they'd be like nah. Yeah, I found out you could quit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, A couple people went. I thought you'd go to jail for that.
Speaker 1:I know you just thought I'm going home there's loopholes in everything in life but yeah, and so it was a difficult choice because, again, like I said, especially when you look at you know you got an opportunity to have a really good paying job, to stay close to family.
Speaker 1:But I felt like I needed that just to see if what I thought I could be or what I thought what I seen myself as I wanted to see, if I could see that to fruition. So in the military it helped. You know I wanted to see you know if I could see that to fruition, so the military kind of just you know it would it helped and, in a grand scheme of things, man like a four-year enlistment long you don't gotta go to war and it really ain't really a bad thing?
Speaker 2:no, we, we did enlist during Desert Storm and that was that was like, that was that was the crazy thing, like I think, as soon as we enlisted this was, like you know, you had a chance to be sent off to Desert Storm yeah, you're exactly right, because my wife well, we didn't know each other at the time, but she enlisted, I think, in like 89, and then she said Desert Storm started, you know when she was coming up and when she was still in, but she was about to come out. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I mean you know again, man, like we grew up in the hood in Toledo.
Speaker 2:We was at war every day. We had just as much a chance of not making it out of the hood as we did of?
Speaker 1:you know not making it out of you know the military.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we came along when, when the crack and the gang started booming man. You show me. You had to tell me about some stuff. Man remember we got off the bus. He got the bus man to look to little dudes to little dudes, dressing all red.
Speaker 2:You know, not from way back, you know we live in Ohio, but you know I always been. Detroit is 45 minutes away, so I was always Detroit. Everything you know Detroit Lions, detroit Tigers, detroit Pistons. You know Michigan Wolverines, so you know I think I had on a blue and it was the Tigers, I remember, I remember it like, like, like, blue and the.
Speaker 1:It was the Tigers, I remember it, like it was yesterday.
Speaker 2:And it was fresh too.
Speaker 1:He had it like so Al was one of the cats that was younger than us but always had a job, so, dude like he definitely was, there are some businesses that probably shouldn't be open because he was always working under the table, or something. This dude was 14, working but like, and so he always was fresh and so he had this. It was a cold Detroit Tigers outfit. I've never seen to this day? I ain't seen it, but we got off the bus, man and little young cats was on.
Speaker 1:What's up with all that flu? Yeah? They were like 8th grade or something like 9th grade they was really trying to check us and Al was just like man. What is y'all talking about? Like we not sick?
Speaker 2:I was like man what's up with these little dudes? It was like three of them, I'm thinking. I know I can at least beat up two of them.
Speaker 1:I mean, all of them was smarter than us. Like if it came down to the come down. You know, I think we was good, but it was. I knew what they was on and what it really was, and it was like this ain't about to be no fight, but and what it really was, and it was like this ain't about to be no fight, buddy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as soon as we turned the corner, it was about 13 of them waiting behind the dumpster. It was a mob. It was a mob.
Speaker 1:It was a mob of crips or blood. It was blood. That's what it was. It was a straight setup man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know that was like. But then our neighborhood started separating along those lines it might only be two, three blocks. You know somebody you went to school with, you know your whole grade school career and then now you're 16 years old and you know now y'all sworn enemies or something. So I mean, yeah, man, so the military. So after the military you went straight to college. How'd that work?
Speaker 1:Well, when I was in the military, I took junior college classes and it was really more so again because I didn't like the military. So it was. It wasn't even, it was to try to get out of having. So when you're in the military you're on usually, you're always on call yeah and so I had a couple home place that worked on the flight line.
Speaker 1:Sometimes they had to. It'd be the weekend and we'd be like you know what? We're about to go hang out, we're about to go kick it, excuse me, and these cats would get called in, and so the only thing that you know you could get excused for was school, and so I was like shit, I'm about to, you know start going to class.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I don't you know. So that was that that. And then a buddy of mine actually was a cat, I didn't know, in toledo, excuse me, but um, he's from toledo, okay, he. He was, uh, one weekend. He was just like man, let's go to tallahassee for the weekend. And he's like cool man, we got Tallahassee, we got Florida A&M.
Speaker 2:University, florida State, there. So you was in Panama, right, panama City, panama City. So how far was Tallahassee About? Maybe a couple hours. Okay, it wasn't far, I mean, it wasn't a long drive.
Speaker 1:I mean, we was literally when we first started going and really fell in love with it. We'd get off of work on friday and we'd be, we was on the road and go for the weekend, um, but, yeah, you know, going back and forth and just kind of being around that atmosphere, especially, uh, on famu's campus, you just see all these black people and it was like they look like you, yeah, um, they act like you and they're from everywhere. It was just like yo, this is like it was. It was a real life in a different world. Yeah, and you know you've seen that you felt like you was a human or something, man, it wasn't real, it was.
Speaker 1:It was definitely because, you know, for us we lived, you live life or you live your vicarious point of life in television back then, right, and so, you know, we grew up, we had the Cosby Show, a Different World, and you know, and so, like you know, it was a fallacy. You know that, okay, like this people, we really live like this Black people really live like this. Because it wasn't, that wasn't. We said that's just TV, yeah, that wasn't on our, and then we really seen that this is a real thing.
Speaker 2:It was like oh, man like this is what's up. And so yeah it was.
Speaker 1:It was back and forth with them.
Speaker 1:And then the other thing was right before I got ready to get out of the military, my mom passed. So it was like the same thing that made me not want to leave the crib, made me not want to come back. The crib made me not want to come back, you know, because it was just like you know, life as I know it is no longer. You know the same and, like me and my mom were extremely close. She had me at a very young age, at 15. And so, like we, literally we grew up together. You know, like when she graduated, she was the valedictorian of her class.
Speaker 1:She did her speech with me at her arm, um, you know, we, I mean, we were just like super close and then the biggest deal was she passed um a month to the day before my 21st birthday and so we, we, we had a conversation, um, you know, and she was, she was sick and you and all of this stuff, but we literally were planning out my 21st birthday like this is what we gonna do, blah, blah, blah. Like I said, by her passing before that, and I probably have never told anybody this, but I don't celebrate birthdays because of that, I literally just had a birthday a couple days ago.
Speaker 1:I'm supposed to be quote-unquote monumental, but I could never build myself up to that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the last time I really got into birthdays was my 20th, my 20th year. Then it was just kind of like another day. Kind of like another day, yeah, yeah. And then I mean, you know, the older you get, once I started having kids. Like 24th really was the day you're putting together stuff.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:So I'm putting together basketball goals and trains and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, come on about the kids. Man, yeah, yeah, and it is man, yeah, and that's a beautiful, you know. So it was a beautiful distraction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. You know what was going on. But yeah, man, the transition was more so as far as schooling was just kind of trying to escape what you had to do in the military and then escape from going back home to reality, you know. But you know all of those things like I say, those are my humanly justifications for those things. But the real justification is God always has a plan. You know, that was. You know, whatever I was, on.
Speaker 2:Was his plan? No for sure, no doubt, man. I know like I mean, like you said, definitely God's plan, because you was able to meet your wife, man and, you know, do some great things in that area, and then kind of groundbreaking. I know you remember you told me that that area kind of reminds you of home a little bit, but it was just. You know, people were like a lot more. I don't know if that's a Southern thing, because you know, I don't know if you lived in the North, if that's a Southern thing where people kind of like, if you got a good idea and you want to do it, they'll just push it. I don't know.
Speaker 1:I think honestly that was the HBCU experience. I had homeboys because my partners was from everywhere. A real good homie that was from Cincinnati. I got a couple cats from Carolina, a couple cats from Michigan Dayton.
Speaker 2:Was your one guy from New York. He was from school too. Yeah, yeah, yeah so he's actually.
Speaker 1:He was actually from North Carolina. He moved to New York after he got out of school and it was all really what it was was because you know those were were in-color dreamers. So I think you know that those were in color dreamers, you know, and so I think you know, when you're inspired to pursue higher learning, I think you're somebody that kind of dreams outside of whatever your, you know, your normal is. And so those cats, literally like I, I was sitting, I was at one of my partner's crib one day and I was sitting on his computer and I was making a design on his computer.
Speaker 1:He's like what's that? I was like, oh man, that's a little clothing line, I'm trying to start. And he's like, for real, that kind of look like Calvin Klein. And you know, so he, you know, for real, it kind of looked like Calvin Klein. So he's looking at it. He's like, oh, move this here and move that there. He's like yo man, this is dope man, so what you trying? I'm like, yeah, I got to find a seamstress. He's like man, we're going to go to.
Speaker 2:Miami and we're going to go get some fabric.
Speaker 1:And this was like on a Tuesday that weekend. It was like eight of us in Miami going through the fashion district buying fabric Picking out fabric. Everybody was just like it's about to happen.
Speaker 2:Let's go.
Speaker 1:It was nothing. It was like there was no vision to be seen. It wasn't like I already had a piece out, there was some movement or anything. It was just like if you say you're doing it, I used to tell people all the time you had cats.
Speaker 1:I think if you said, man, I want to make peanut butter man, my auntie got a peanut factory down in the scope. You couldn't say you wanted to do something and be discouraged. They encouraged everything. And so it was like, wow, like you know where they really believed, you know things were possible. I think you know, like I say, being around so many like-minded, you know individuals, you know, and not to say that you know um, you don't have um that same encouragement or camaraderie at a PWI. I just know that, you know.
Speaker 2:It'd be just harder to find your tribe in a PWI.
Speaker 1:It was like you, literally it was the we was going to Matt Kerber and we would have lunch, like the lunch room was literally like you knew your section, you knew who was over here, you knew your table, but everybody belonged in the cafeteria. That's how I looked at the HBCU. Everybody belonged there and you just had to move your tray around to the table, but you still was welcome right, and you was never sitting by yourself. You never set your tray down and nobody because even even then, if you set it down by yourself.
Speaker 1:Somebody come over and be like why you sitting alone? Like you know, I'm saying and so you know that, I, you know, I always thought that was um and that and that was kind of like I ain't going back home. That was the because for us you didn't have that, so to speak. We were fortunate, we were blessed, our crew, we accepted each other flaws and all. You're a mildly crude man, listen, I Like our crew. You know we accepted each other flaws and all you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're a motley crew man. Man, listen, I think about it now and you know we used to. From time to time we would walk and it would be a gang and I always equate it to Fat Albert in the game. Like you know, we just needed theme music behind us bopping down the street, you know sometimes. And then the stories you know I'll never forget.
Speaker 2:I won't say the cat's name, but you know we had a loquacious fabricator on our squad and he was telling a doozy of a story one time, and our whole board was like, bro, you ain't got to lie to us, we your friends, and it was like but it was so funny at the time but it was profound because that's really what it was. It's like man, we homies bro, you don't have to make up nothing.
Speaker 1:We know each other, like you know what I'm saying, we know what it is and so, like I said, we were fortunate enough to have a circle like that that accepted each other's flaws and we didn't really have to deal with peer pressure or anything. We fit in wherever we were because number one, I think we had a great group of cast. Whatever we had going on when we was around each other, we had extreme confidence, like my dog here. So I'm not afraid Nothing's going to happen, nobody's going to knock me off my square, no for sure. You know, with my homies, you know, and that was, you know, that was a blessing within itself, but you know the truth of you, know what the city was at the time. Like you couldn't, you had a lot of dream killers, you know what.
Speaker 1:I'm saying you couldn't say I'm about to do that. Oh man, you can't. You know, I was watching something where, you know, jay-z was saying like you know, my uh, it's probably not a cool thing to talk about, jay-z, right now, but that's my guy.
Speaker 2:But what did he say too soon? Yeah too, he was telling his uncle he wanted to be a rapper.
Speaker 1:And his uncle was like nah. But you inflict what you can't do on other people.
Speaker 2:And I think we had a lot of those. No, I think that's what. How can I put it when you're raised by a city where everything is blue collar? Everything at that time was manufacturing base, everything was revolved around work. So it's like I remember I had a trumpet. I told this story before too, that you know I was raised by my grandparents, I had a trumpet and, um, my grandfather man, he took my trumpet back to the music shop and I came home one day I was like what happened to my trumpet? Back to the music shop and I came home.
Speaker 2:One day I have to my trumpet. He's like that horn don't pay no bills. But the thing was he heard me, I'll be down in the basement for hours practice and I was getting good. So I think that him that horn, that horn, I don't pay no bills it was setting me up for like a good check, a reality check. That only thing that is that you're gonna make money off of, which is, we know, is not true. But from the area we grew up in, you know where you see steam and smoke coming out of all the smokestacks, you see trucks, you see trains. Everything is, you know, revolved around industry and manpower. You know what I'm saying. Overtime, you know I'm getting time in the half. I work weekends, I'm trying to work holidays. Everything is based upon the number of hours that you could put in. So it was hard for me as like just having a entrepreneurial spirit. You know, because I started working, I used to be at the job. Like you know, I did everything. I sold burritos.
Speaker 1:You know I'm selling burnt CDs you know, what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:I'm getting a couple used cars, I'm doing all of that and all these guys at work used to be looking at me like man, what's wrong with you, man? Like we make good money, like you don't need to be, you know, selling burritos, bro. But it was like no, that's something inside of me, like I think that it's more than this. When I come in here, you know, I start feeling boxed in in case. So it's not.
Speaker 2:I don't think it's a really a disrespectful thing to say that at that time you know that the landscape of our city was more so like, hey, man, you just gotta be a realist, you just gotta get this job. You know, get this work and just raise your family, take care of yourself, survive, stay out of jail, stay, you know, stay out of the morgue and live. So. But I think now you know our city's turning around some. We have some people doing some awesome things. But at that time, man, when you leave it, I don't think it's a knock on the city to say that you know, it wasn't that many opportunities for us in those different. You know, dream't that many opportunities for us and those different, you know, um, dreamer type, uh, areas.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, and I think the other thing is is you know from from you know? Your grandfather and me and my me and my pops talk about this a lot. Um, like their reality was that that horn didn't pay the bills.
Speaker 1:So what they were trying to prepare you for is what they were actually facing. We have the ability now, not just because of technology, but because our understanding is different. There is nothing you can't do, you know, and so we don't interject or inject that into not just, you know, our own kids, but the kids that we deal with like we, you know, we we don't, we don't put a cap on their belief or their dream of themselves. But then it was like their reality was like you know, I don't know nobody that plays a horn.
Speaker 2:You know that's making money off of this, you know.
Speaker 1:So, like I want to prepare you to be able to, you know, raise a family and provide for a family, so you know that he was, you know, kind of pushing his reality onto you, which you know wasn't your reality. And that was, like I said, I had enough discernment and was just blessed enough to know that at the time, like the stuff I knew I wanted to do it wasn't going to be encouraged you know, not just in my city, but maybe even some in my household.
Speaker 1:You know, and you know, and directly you know, surrounding Like, again, like I don't think I could have told you know y'all, my dog, I don't think I could have been like, yeah, I'm gonna make clothes, you know what I'm saying. Like, like, and we were clowns. So the jokes that would have came out of that, you know, I man listen, I probably would have man, I'd have had a whole other nickname.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying so it was just, you know that wasn't. You know our reality or what we wanted. You know our dream, you know, was in black and white, like we didn't see. And then other things like you didn't see, like you wanted to play the trumpet but, like you know, like who was on. You wanted to play the trumpet but, like you know, like who was on and we were just getting into you know, the MTV era and the VH1 and BET and the Box. You know it wasn't nobody. You know, like I think Rupp Shaker had the one dude playing the saxophone in the video, right, right, right. You know, I think that was as close as you know what I mean. So you know, I mean so just that what we visualized was a little different or what was in front of us, and so it was again no knock on the city at all.
Speaker 1:And then I grew up in the hood. It wasn't like we grew up in the suburbs where people were doing Jack and Jill and playing trumpets and stuff like that. It wasn't happening on our block. You know what I'm saying. It wasn't nowhere around us. We was going to Smith Park and it was literally be safe. You know what I mean. That was really the thing. Again, imagine you walking from Robinson or whatever with your trumpet. You know what I mean. Like, again, imagine you know walking. You know from Robinson or whatever with your trumpet. You know what.
Speaker 2:I'm saying you know what I mean, so you know it was.
Speaker 1:You know they did the best they could with you know what was in front of them. You know I always, you know, I like to use the saying talking to my family grace, because where you were at one point. Just imagine now he would be a completely different great-grandfather to your kids. Oh, you should play the piano. I'm like man. I remember you gave away my trumpet, but now you bought her a piano.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:And that's grace. So allowing people to have and that's grace. You know what I mean and you know so allowing. You know people to have grace and understanding and growth. You know those things are important. You know to open different doors.
Speaker 2:No, 100% man, and you know, like we both men of faith, man.
Speaker 1:And I always wondered like to the adult entertainment space? I'm not talking about nothing, I didn't know. I'm talking about just you know. Let people watch it like Nothing.
Speaker 2:You know Nothing under the entertainment, where they bought an offering. But just, you know just promotions and just just providing adult experiences. Just talking about cat like social, social, adult experiences. You know being that introvert, quiet person that you naturally were, but what is it about? You know, seeing others uh have different experiences, that kind of uh, brings, brings out, brings that out of you?
Speaker 1:So that's a great question, because that also was tough, you know, because when I first got to Tampa and started doing nightlife events a lot of our events, you know, either during or after ending in fights and some, you know, ended in guns being drawn and used and I was actually, you know I had a couple events where people got shot, you know, and it was. I always would go home with, you know, a really guilty conscience of you know, like I brought all these people together. You know, really guilty conscience of you know, like I brought all these people together, right, and so that always kind of played on my psyche and the older I got, I started to transition to things that were a little bit more stable, organized, secure, safe for you know, adults, you know, mature adults, secure, safe for adults, mature adults. So I transitioned to comedy shows.
Speaker 2:I used to do jazz Jazz jokes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember that I kind of tried to make it a little bit of a safer environment. But the real answer to all that man, like I get it, I really, although I'm a personal introvert, I really get a lot of joy in seeing people happy, like I really like watching. You know, other people have a good time. Yeah, Because I like I used to. You know, I used to watch. You know, like, when you're around family for the holidays and stuff like that, because you know I'm a different thinker.
Speaker 1:I used to call it weird, but now you know I'm a different thinker, like I know. You know I knew the struggles that you know some of my family had. You know it was like, okay, you might have barely made it through the week or the month paying rent, but Christmas is this and everybody's together and they all eating and having a good time and playing cards. It's like everybody, even for that space, that moment, everybody's happy. They may leave the house and the bills and the woes and all that is still there. But I would really like to see, you know, people enjoy themselves and, like I, get more fulfillment than that, like I can stand in a corner, and that you know, as a kid that was kind of you know my thing.
Speaker 1:I would just kind of watch it Like to observe yeah and just like you know, okay, cool man, you always want to remember the good time.
Speaker 1:That's kind of what actually motivates me to do stuff like that, just to watch people have a good time. I always wanted to put stuff on where people could walk away and be like, oh man, I had a great time when we were doing jazz and jokes. I had people that would come and be like, yeah, I met my wife here Literally just a few days ago. I had somebody reach out to me and was just like hey, you remember this person that used to come to the jazz and jokes. They used to always talk about it. That was a relative of mine. She passed and we wanted to let you know.
Speaker 1:Well, we knew that, you know she used to you know frequent your events, yeah, pretty close and I'm just like wow, you know like you thought.
Speaker 2:Are you like like notifying family?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah yeah, and so it was like wow, you know that was you know, so it's that for me, like you know, I, I, you know, I like we were talking, uh, earlier off camera like I'm, I'm a creative man, I like to, I'm the type of person that you give me an empty canvas, I want to go to work on it and once I'm finished with the project, like I don't look at it, you know like how to monetize anything like that. I really just want to give it away and let you know I want people to might just enjoy it. Yeah, yeah for them to look at it and you know however it makes them feel. And then I'm on to the next, you know, make you happy situation, you know. So, man, that's the thing for me, man, like I like to see other people, you know, genuinely happy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, that's awesome, man. I know I had a chance in your early days, man, no-transcript the time, but I'm like man, before I leave here, I want to, I want to leave my guy with you know something, man. So you know, I really enjoyed that, man. And then, um, just to see the progression of things you've done, like as an entrepreneur, uh, so, so this is called two cups, man, and the impetus for it, you know, is I'll try to live my life by this. It's like one for the wake, one for the work. You know what I mean. So, two cups. So the wake, that's like what's inspiring you, what's pushing you forward? You know what you're thinking about. What's motivating you in the work is like what steps you, you know, are you taking, or what things you know are you trying to conquer to keep the work going.
Speaker 2:And I know you, man, 2024, man, you know was was a learning curve for for a lot of us, man, um, I started my podcast. I wasn't as as, uh, consistent as I would like to have been, so this is probably gonna come on in 2025 and and trying to be more consistent. But you went through some things in 2024 as an entrepreneur, and if you had some advice to give to some young up. Wow. So yeah, it was 2024, the end of 2023, and most of 2024 was tough.
Speaker 1:But like advice I would give, honestly, man is having a spirit of discernment, really learning and understanding, like God is going to open and close doors. Ask why, you know, like, pray on those situations to see, like, okay, is this door opening? I think when we're kids and maybe even you know a lot now, people are like, oh man, if I ever hit the lotto, and maybe even a lot now, people are like, oh man, if I ever hit the lotto, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that and you spend it. But you never think of like, okay, if you really did have X amount of millions of dollars. Now I know to pray for discernment.
Speaker 1:Okay, if I get this, what do I do with it? Not me doing what I want, like, how do I spend it? What you know, how do I, you know, um, use this wisely? Um, you know, who do I, you know, give what to? And right, you know. So, like you know, first and foremost is is really kind of connecting with the spirit of discernment, vetting individuals that you, you know Relationships are extremely important, but we have to treat every relationship like we treat the most valued relationship, okay, and what I mean by that is like when you get with you know a spouse, you know you're just like okay, this person got to be this. You have this extreme criteria with you know a spouse, you know you're just like okay, this person got to be this.
Speaker 2:You got, you have this, this extreme criteria of you know what they have to be, and it has to.
Speaker 1:there has to be that with any like, with a friendship, like my friends, like you, got to be somebody that's going to motivate me, that you that's going to hold me accountable, that's going to push me, that's going to check me Like you have to.
Speaker 2:you know, and you know nowadays you're just kind of like oh man, we both like the same thing. This is my homie, you know, this is my bestie.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, my twin, yeah right, you know, and that also you have to have that as well with you know, partnerships, friendships, ships, in general, anything that you connect yourself to. I think it's really important that you know while you're doing it and how it benefits. You know like people always talk about things that serve and don't serve them, Right, you know?
Speaker 1:what I'm saying, like making sure that everything that you surround yourself with serves you in some way, shape or form. I think we don't. You know, a lot of times it's just like oh man, I got this great idea, I want to do this and this is going to be perfect, and you don't listen to um voices of reason, you don't, uh, put enough research into you know, and and for me, like that's, that's honestly been um one of my my biggest flaws been one of my biggest flaws is that I'm probably overconfident in some things where it's just like, oh yeah, I can do it, you know, and not you know really doing the homework and research. And then the other thing is not being able to like it's hard for me to quit stuff. I know exactly what you're talking about. It's like I feel like walking away or giving is admitting a sign of defeat and I don't like, and that's just maybe how we grew up.
Speaker 2:I don't like to lose, I don't like to fall.
Speaker 1:And sometimes you gotta understand that if you learn a lesson, you didn't lose. And I think I'm getting to that point where it's like find the win within what it is, and there's a win in everything. You know what I'm saying. If you learn, alright, man cool, I lost a million dollars, but I didn't lose too many, Right.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying. Like I could have still been in here. I didn't bleed out. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, and so you have to be able to find a win within what you're doing. And this is all wisdom stuff. This isn't you know, because you know all of these things you know are applicable in different ways to different people. So you know, like I said, if what my motivation is now is like, is it serving God and other people, you know, before I was definitely a self-serving individual. You know where individual I want this because I want this, I can do this because I'm dope at this. I can't nobody. Honestly, sometimes, man, I'm about to kill these niggas, it ain't about that anymore.
Speaker 2:It's literally like you just got to pop out and show them yeah yeah, and you know it was really, and we come from that generation of bragging docious.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. I'm the best. You know, like you know you wanting to be. You know that just for the sake of saying it. You know, and then I, you know as I get older, I realize that that's really all it is. The title or trophy you hold is just the name. Oh, I got a podcast, so what.
Speaker 1:I own a business. Back in the day that used to be a brag. Now, when people be like, yeah, I own a business, I'm like man, you got some bills bragged like man. Now people be like, yeah, I own a business. Like man, you got some bills like you know, like, like, like we're, you know like being a you know a business owner. You kind of know that, like man, it's a lot to come with that.
Speaker 2:You ain't getting no sleep I remember when I uh came to visit you a couple years ago and I was just like oh man, this is this and this thing, yeah okay, man in this state he's like yeah, yeah, mm-hmm. Okay, man Right.
Speaker 1:Good to see you, brother.
Speaker 2:I got to get back on here and get to work and that was it.
Speaker 1:you know, you know, like where you know you don't really have as an entrepreneur, you don't really get a chance to be proud of what you're doing, because you're still doing it.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Like it's not like you ever. You know, sit back and you can be like, wow, you know, this is what I've done and this is good. You know, it's just like man. Like you know, this is what I've done. And like, now I got to go put. You know, I got to go fix the sink. You know what I'm saying. Like you know. So you know, and valuing, you know, the things and the people that are important to you. Like you know, I think you know that you know, especially for men and black men. And then, like you know, our age, like when we grew up, it was just kind of like the boy Music Soulchild. You know, I always tell people about this. You know, teach me how to love. And he said, you know, I was told the definition of a man was to never cry. Work till you're tired.
Speaker 2:God will provide all you need to rock for my family.
Speaker 1:Protect them, by all means and give them the things that they need. And then he's like my relationship is suffering, trying to give you what I never had, you know, and it's like that's us. It's like man dude the song was so deep because it was just literally like, and you know he ends it with teach me how to love, because he's like I don't know. And then the other thing is like teach me how to love you, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:It's like you could.
Speaker 1:You may know how to love, but like you know, loving somebody else is different. You know what I'm saying. Like you know what, what. You know what. You think somebody needs me and we you know as, growing up you lot of times, like you know, I think we both were victims of this. Like you know, we would play sports and like you look up in the stands and like, wasn't nobody there?
Speaker 2:cheering, wasn't nobody in that family.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. It was like you know, so I would trade having my dad in the stands watching me do something great over you know. Do something great over him buying me a new parish, the things that they like. I'm doing all of this so you can have a roof over your man the lights can be cut off if you cut one of my games.
Speaker 2:I can sit in the dark with you.
Speaker 1:You have to understand. I had last year, last Thanksgiving, man, I'll say this real quick we were all sitting around the house and had family and stuff like that, and the family was going through like, hey, what they're thankful for. And my son, mind you, since he was two I've been showing him how to hoop. That's been my dog as far as you know this basketball thing and I thought you know I felt like we spent a lot of time because we spent a lot of time working on this craft.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know he was just like. You know I got a relationship with my dad. You know I'm thankful for the relationship I had now with my dad. Yeah, you know I was. You know coach, you know what. I'm saying, and so like that was you know, and now you know, we have like we talk about everything Like that's like my homie, homie. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so he probably felt like it was like work. Huh, it was transaction. Yeah, okay, you know as long as I'm, you know.
Speaker 1:You know I'm doing this basketball thing. Yeah, because this is what makes you happy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we spend time, this is what you know this is.
Speaker 1:This is where bond is. You know saying we got something to talk about, you know, because it wasn't, you know just like hey, you know, it was just like hey, bro like you see this move, like when you get home.
Speaker 2:We gonna work on this.
Speaker 1:So you know, I'm gonna get you to trainer and we with the trainer, and then after that we talk about that. We literally went from A to U. But those things it would be many times where I made my kids have to understand what I was doing and have to say well, man, I got to go. I got an event tonight. I can't come to this because Saturdays I do this.
Speaker 2:And force them to have to.
Speaker 1:You know, and that you know those things. You know you can't get that time back you know what I'm saying? You look up and they graduate and then they get to the point where it's like you know, I'm off from college, I don't want to come home this weekend you know what I mean, because you know it wasn't like. You know we had a great relationship in the first place. You know what.
Speaker 2:I mean, so you try to do those things that you know kind of been family tradition according to us, and you be looking up like don't you always love going to that restaurant, you know?
Speaker 1:what I mean. Don't you always love it. You know what I mean. But yeah, you know, like I said, all of it's wisdom and being able to, like I say, find a lesson within everything. I think that's one thing. There's a lot of flaws in me as a person, but I think I've always been able to check myself on a lesson and be like, oh man, I got to tighten up on this, or I got to, you know, I got to fix this. You know what I'm saying. Like you know, and really try to work at doing those things. It's, you know, unfortunate that you know you got to do it so much, you know that you know, so you know that would be.
Speaker 1:you know, if I was to tell somebody just kind of like you know discernment, you know vetting your circle, and then just you know, like, make sure your why is a real why. You know what I'm saying. If money is the why, like you built off of the wrong thing, because you know nowadays, like we talked about, earlier.
Speaker 2:you can make money doing so many different things, you know if money is your end all to be all, then you know you got to readjust that.
Speaker 2:No, 100% man. I think that that's wisdom, considering. You know, like you said, when you're young you just kind of if it's a good idea, if the money's there, if it makes sense, you just try it. You know, and then you understand later in life that everybody has different motivators and you could be saying the same thing. But what I found out, you could be saying the same thing, but actually it means has a different definition, although you even said the same thing at the same time. And then you both kind of sometimes walk away from partnerships, bitter or hurt, because it was what you call unspoken expectations or misinterpretations, or just sometimes lies, it just is what it is.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It's a text understanding. A lot of times when you text stuff, it can be misinterpreted. I think we operate a lot of times without asking questions.
Speaker 2:People are way more emotional now You'll literally be like it's funny.
Speaker 1:You hear people say stuff like I'm quick to cut somebody off, or I'm quick to block somebody, or I match energies. Yeah, yeah yeah, I hear that a lot. All of that stuff is crazy. Why are you quick to? Why not be quick to try to understand?
Speaker 2:a person.
Speaker 1:Why not be quick to? Because sometimes it's such a thing as agreeing to disagree. Okay cool, we ain't on the same page on this and we'll just leave that at that. But I'm going to cut you off from everything.
Speaker 2:Biblically, man, it's like being slow to anger. You know what I mean Slow to speak. I think everybody now, everybody has a platform, everybody has a voice. Sometimes they need to kind of wait and reserve. They try to put out so much information or content that I think sometimes they don't even give themselves a chance to make up their own mind before they put it out there.
Speaker 1:It people grace and understanding that, okay, this may be where you're at right now, and if you don't serve somebody, I'm not saying, like you know, you've got to stay in a situation that ain't serving you, but, like you know, you still got to give people grace that they'll change, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Like I might not rock with you right now, but I'm not blocking you from my life.
Speaker 1:You can't never come back from it, like we just ain't on the same page, right now.
Speaker 2:You can't reconcile, you can't be restored. It might be a process.
Speaker 1:Like you said, it's all biblical If God condemned us for everything that we did, if he blocked us if he matched our energy, you know what I'm saying. We'd be in a crazy space, you know. And not to say that you know we're all God's level, but we still, you know, do have to, you know, love each other a little bit harder, that's for sure, you know, I think it's a lot of quit and a lot of you know, like we talked about to a point. You know it's hard for us to quit.
Speaker 2:That ain't that, ain't this generation, that ain't these times, right people, for sure people quit so many like jobs like, hey, people quit stuff fast now. Um. So let me ask you this, man, before we, before we get out of here, um so I know I asked you about what advice that you have for, like a young entrepreneur. But now we reach, reaching these milestones as far as, like I never expected. When I was 18 years old, you know, I never expected to be 49, about to be 50 years old, it just wasn't. It wasn't really on my radar. You know what I mean. I was just trying to survive.
Speaker 2:But as life went on, you know there's so many things I wish I would have took care of earlier that now I am putting in place, like as far as legacy, as far as financially, as far as you know, god has given me, you know, the grace and the ability to kind of play, catch up on a lot of things.
Speaker 2:But as we're moving into this space where, you know, our children are at the ages where, like I have two grandchildren, but your children are at the ages where they soon to be having children, and a lot of people that came out of where we come from, they had that 30 and out mindset. They had that you know retirement mindset, you know I'm just going to retire and do nothing. You know I'm just going to, you know, live in the you know rest of my days just chilling, fishing, or you know on the grill or whatnot. But what would you give them? Advice to how to stay motivated, how to how to really look at this next step, like somebody might think it's too late to get something going, but somebody might think that you know late to get something going. Or somebody might think that you know they missed their opportunity. What would you say to somebody like that?
Speaker 1:Oh man, it's not to sound or say something cliche, but you know, nothing is never too late for the simple fact that, like your passion develops at different stages. You know everybody's passion, you know, because it's some people that have wanted to do something all their life. But, you know, maybe they're just not getting the confidence to do it, maybe you know they're, they're finally at a stage where you know they, they, I really, I really know how to do this, you know, I can really dive into. And then, plus, it's like you have to have, like you always got to be happy with you, and I think it starts there. I think if you're totally happy with who you are, I don't really think things are. You know, it's a confidence thing. I think it's like, if you're not happy with you, you don't feel comfortable doing something Right.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:If you're happy with you.
Speaker 1:It's not really about having confidence. It's like you know what If?
Speaker 1:I fail like I fail, being me For sure. You know I failed. You know the way I wanted to do it. Like you know, a lot of times if you're lacking confidence, you're like happy with something about. You know, and that's one thing. I may not be happy where I am financially or spiritually, but I know all of those things I can work on, but I'm happy being a son.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying and I think I do me better than you know what I'm saying. You know it's. I know what I want more than anybody else knows. You know what I'm saying, like you know it's, it's, it's, um, I know what, what I want, more than anybody else knows. You know, and I and I know what you know, like what'll upset me, what'll defeat me, and and and I don't. You know um and I. You know I'm, I'm. I've never been afraid to, to be uniquely me. You know what I'm saying, like you know from you know, back in school, like I think I remember I had these corduroy they were corduroy paisley overalls and I rocked them bad boys with confidence, you know, to the point where everybody's like yo them fresh Right, you know, but it was.
Speaker 1:It was like this is just me, I'm not you know, and I think when you're happy with you, then it opens the door to being kind of like, don't you, can't, you can't, I'll back up, get in touch with the relationship with yourself. Like, learn you. Like, before you introduce you to anybody else, make sure you know you. You know what I'm saying. Like you wouldn't, I wouldn't go and be like, hey, this is my guy, al right, without knowing who al really is. And we have to have that same thing about ourselves. I can introduce me to anybody, then I can do anything as me. You know what I'm saying. Like, if I'm, if I'm, if my relationship with me is so strong and it's like I ain't afraid to do nothing, you know. So it's like it's. It's the fear lies within, um, you know, just like the discomfort in you.
Speaker 2:Okay, you know if that, if that makes sense, no for sure, man for sure. Like I said, we're reaching some, some milestones in our lives, man, and i'm'm excited. You know I'm not done yet. You know I'm always looking for try to say, sensitive and open to opportunity. You know, when I was younger, me and my wife used to go through it early in our marriage because I was one of those guys where I didn't want to go window shopping. I didn't want to look at no houses I couldn't afford.
Speaker 2:I didn't want to talk about no, make plans. I don't want to talk about going to vacation because I can't afford it. Don't talk to me about doing nothing until I got it.
Speaker 2:Just learning that life, man, you have to be open to the possibility, because we're saying God can do whatever he wants with us. He can open up any door. It don't necessarily depend on what we bring to the table. We just have to be willing, willing to go, willing to try, not be afraid to fail.
Speaker 2:I got this thing where I don't do anything, that I have expectations from somebody else to make it happen. If we do something together, I'm going to go all out. It's not going to be contingent on what the other person brings to the table. I'm going to bring everything I got to the table and it doesn't necessarily mean that I may have more resources, they may have more talent, I may have more talent, they may have more resources, or maybe a combination of both. But I'm not going to let the tangible things get in the way of whether or not it makes me entertain the idea Some things just don't make sense. But at the same time, just being able to, I'm to go like to different countries. Now my wife would tell you that was something that I didn't have no interest in. You know, I was one of the people that if I didn't have the money, like you asked me did I want to go do something? I'd be like I don't like that.
Speaker 1:You won't go to see the point like I see the point, whack I don't want to go to see the point like, instead of saying that I can't afford to go to.
Speaker 2:Cedar Point. But I had fostered that, had cultivated that mentality, that attitude, even past the point where I could go. But now I was on some Bah humbug stuff with everything I don't like it. But, like you said, know yourself. So I got into a space now over the years where I know what I like, I know what I don't like. My wife would tell me now you don't got real bougie. Over the years you don't got real particular. I was like, yeah, it's kind of you know, because before it would be her looking at, before we could sleep on the floor. We go out of town no matter how many people in the room.
Speaker 1:When I got married she was the one that kind of like this kind of looks like a truck stop, you know what I'm saying. Like this looks like paid by the hour.
Speaker 2:I don't want to really stay here.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I'm like that's cool, that's cool.
Speaker 1:We're going to do this tomorrow.
Speaker 2:We're going, but now I'm the one that's like what's?
Speaker 1:the reviews on that. So we got four stars.
Speaker 2:We got at least half four and a half, but yeah, man, but that's where I'm at with it now, man, like I said, I'm just grateful to be down here in Tampa with you for a few days just to kind of hang out. That's kind of been my thing for going into this next year and you know, as this time coming out we're into the new year, that I want to be able to go and experience different places and you know, if the opportunity arises to meet people, to talk about people in the spaces where they're, like I said, I just want to have high quality caffeinated, sometimes non-caffeinated conversations Because you know, finding out that coffee hit people different ways.
Speaker 1:Some people drink coffee get a little too wired. Let's go.
Speaker 2:But for me, you know, just one for the wake, one for the work, so that two cups, that two cups don't necessarily have to embody coffee, but at the same time, you know, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:I appreciate a good roast myself. But I just want to thank you, man, and once again just tell you man, I enjoy our conversations, man, and just our back and forth about knowing where we came from and understanding where we are now and really excited about where both of us are going in our future, and I honestly look forward to something popping up to where we can kind of collaborate on and do some things together, if nothing else, and like we talked about, you know, vetting your friends, all of this man, like you know, I, I, I, I will, you know, make sure that I continue to push you, cause this is, this is very um, this is incredible, like number one, to see you in this space.
Speaker 1:Uh, but like what's, like this is, this is your lane. Like you, you, you do this well, like like what y'all don't know is there ain't no teleprompter or no scripture, nothing like this. This cat really do this thing. If you guys really see what goes on production-wise and what happens behind the scenes, this dude is phenomenal. This is top to bottom his production. You can't see him he working a switchboard in the middle of this stuff, isn't you know? You can't see him like he working a switchboard in the middle of you know, and like that's, that's this stuff, isn't, you know, normal? Like this ain't a everyday, you know, everybody has it.
Speaker 1:So, like this is something that you know you've been blessed with, you know, I encourage you to continue to, you know, perfect your craft, continue to stay in this line, continue to do what you're doing, man, like I said, I'm a fan. Like you got two episodes. I already told you that's like pretty much like the it for me. You know what I'm saying Like. So, like, keep doing your thing, man. I'm grateful, you know, for the opportunity to you know to be on. I'm grateful, you know, to have you, you know, in the city that I stay in and all of the stuff that we've ever done. Man, it's just I salute you. Give me your flowers, man. Continue to do your thing, because you got something, bro. Again, I love to see my guys, my people happy doing it.
Speaker 2:This is you, so do your thing, bro, man. Thank you, man. I appreciate that from the heart of my brother and um, just um, man, we gonna I'm keep people updated on you know what we got going, what we're doing. Um, got some coffee coming out. I got some products, um, some shirts and mugs and things that'll be available. They may be available now, but I'll have more information on that soon to come.
Speaker 2:We're trying to move from in 2025, we're just trying to handle business. You know, just do business as men and things that you know. Just trying to take away all my excuses for doing. You know a lot of things and I think in the past I always felt like if I hustled to a point where I could pay somebody to do something, then it'd get done. But then I started understanding that nobody's gonna do you like you can. So you gotta sometimes still blaze that trail, still get out there and do what you need to do until the others can get the vision, and then they can run with it A lot of times. Conceptually, it don't matter how much money you got. You can't make it happen. I'm just trying to get to a place this year where I'm committed to consistency and, just like you said, just perfecting the craft and just moving forward. I'll be keeping everybody updated, man. I appreciate your sentiments, man, and, as always, man, much love. Same to you, bro, same to you, yes, sir.
Speaker 1:So this has been your man.
Speaker 2:Two Cups, alan C Jackson for another high-quality caffeinated conversation. Until next time, two Cups, two Cups.
