How to Build and Scale with Purpose - A conversation with Dr. Carlton Brown — Entrepreneur, Consultant, Speaker & Author

Guest: Dr. Carlton Brown — Entrepreneur, Consultant, Speaker & Author

Episode Host: Angela 

In this episode of Begin Build Blossom, we sit down with Dr. Carlton Brown a dynamic thought leader, entrepreneur, consultant, speaker and author whose work spans business strategy, leadership development, and transformational thinking.

Dr. Brown brings a rare blend of academic insight, lived entrepreneurial experience, and creative vision. His journey is marked by resilience, reinvention, and a deep commitment to helping individuals and organisations unlock their potential. His efforts are rooted in culture, which stems from his Jamaican heritage. He has launched and scaled businesses, advised leaders, and is author of the thought‑provoking book "The Race Paradox: Why Organisations Fail On Race". Dr. Brown has dedicated his career to empowering others to lead with clarity and intention.

In our conversation, we explore the mindset behind sustainable entrepreneurship, the realities of building a business in today’s landscape, and the personal philosophies that have shaped his path. Whether you’re at the beginning of your business journey or looking to elevate your next chapter, this episode offers grounded wisdom and practical inspiration.

We spoke about: 

1. Dr. Brown’s entrepreneurial beginnings and early influences
2. The mindset required to build a sustainable business
3. How creativity fuels innovation and leadership
4. The role of personal development in business success
5. Navigating challenges, setbacks, and reinvention
6. Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders

Books Mentioned: 

1. ​The Magic of Thinking Big by David J Schwartz
2. ​It's Possible by Les Brown 
3. Outliers by Malcom Gladwell 
4. Tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell 
5. Bounce by Matthew Syed 
6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Jeremy Irons, et al.
7. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie 
8. Atomic Habits by James Clear 

To connect with Dr. Brown and associated brands: 

The Black Business Conference - The UK Black Business Entrepreneurs Conference

Aspire Consultancy - Home | Aspire

Marshal and Brown - Marshall & Brown

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/carltonbrown1

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

There's an old saying, proper planning and preparation prevents poor performance. So do your research. Proper planning and preparation. Number one. Two, it's gonna be harder than you initially thought. Plan to have more resources than you think that you need. What often happens is we are often undercapitalized, which then makes your ability to grow difficult. Build your network. Build your social capital. Your social capital for me is is uh understanding that it gives you p access to people, resources, or opportunities that if you did not have that social capital, you would not have access to those people or individuals. So if by knowing your network or growing your network, I should say, there might be individuals who could invite or open up doors for you that you wouldn't ordinarily get access to.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Welcome to Begin Build Blossom, your business journey, the podcast where we share valuable insights, resources, and motivation to fuel your entrepreneurial spirit. Let's build a supportive community together. Don't forget to subscribe or follow wherever you listen to podcasts and be part of this journey. Let's pause for a moment to hear from our sponsors. You've built a name for yourself through hard work and dedication. But does managing the business side feel like a distraction from your true passion? Are you dealing with unmanaged finances? CME Accounting LLC is here to help. We specialize in organizing your financial records, allowing you to focus on what you do best. With organized books, you'll have more time for what inspires you. Whether that's expanding your influence, building relationships, or simply enjoying life. Don't let unmanaged finances hold you back. Reach out to CME Accounting LLC today and let us help you thrive. Visit our website www.cmeaccountinglc.com or email us at admin at cmeaccountinglc.com. Alright, let's jump back into our conversation.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Welcome to Begin Bill Blossom, your business journey, a space for real inspiration, insight, and conversations around entrepreneurial and creative journeys. I'm Angela Sandennis, your host for today's episode. Today on Begin Bill Blossom, I'm joined by a founder, a CEO, author, strategist, speaker, and host, Dr. Carlton Brown. Dr. Brown is an award-winning thought leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion, particularly focused on the persistent and often paradoxical ways that organizations fail on racism. He has more than two and a half decades of experience in business leadership and strategy. Having held senior leadership roles in large FTSC 100 companies and scaling his own enterprises. Dr. Brown is the CEO of Aspire Consultancy, a business advisory firm working with the public and private sector SMEs. And he's also the founder of Marshall and Brown, a premium Caribbean food and drinks brand, as well as the host of the UK Black Business Entrepreneur Conference. Listeners, we are in for a very insightful conversation. After all, Dr. Brown has a wide range of experience. So join me in welcoming him to the Begin Bill Blossom family. Welcome, Dr. Brown.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

Angela, what a wonderful welcome. So thank you so much. And it's a pleasure to be here and to have this lovely, wonderful conversation with you. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, we really appreciate you taking the time to join us. So we're looking forward to all the insights and especially as we speak about race and diversity and equity and about black people being in business, whether it be in the UK or around the world.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

It is a global phenomenon and um and entrepreneurship is is one of the aspects of as us as African African Caribbean diaspora. I I almost put this within our DNA. We're multifaceted, very creative individuals. And you know, entrepreneurship is what we do. You know, I I can remember being in Jamaica and you don't have anything, and I I've seen entrepreneurs, you know, we're gonna go and find some peanuts and we're gonna get some Guinness or we're gonna sell on the roadsides. And I was in Ghana, I was in Accra and it's in Accra or in Ghana, and it's the same. We we have this innovation and creativity to make things happen, right? They say necessity is a mother of all invention.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

That's right. So it's an innate ability that we develop.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

Indeed. So we are we we are creative by definition, and of course, necessity drives us to do things that are necessary to survive. So and entrepreneurship is one of those vehicles. So I'm pleased to have a discussion with you. I think it will be really interesting and insightful. But yeah, entrepreneurship is a is a key thing. But at the same time, as you said, the ke one of the challenges you know that we we will still experience are are challenges with access to financial opportunities uh within that. So we I know we'll explore that a little bit later, but yeah, I'm I'm excited to be here. And as I said, thank you for hosting and uh the great work that you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Okay, great, great. So thanks for that. Now, before we get into the serious business, you know what we want to break the ice a bit. We want to learn a bit about Dr. Brown. We always ask every guest, and you will be no different. What is one word you would use to describe yourself now, and one word as a child?

SPEAKER_03 5:48

It's interesting, interesting question, you know. Um, as a child, my mum said I was very talkative. And I suppose as an adult, my wife says to me, You're very talkative. So much hasn't changed. I've been consistent, right? Um but I I I would say certainly say now, I think I was always driven, even as a child, as a as an individual, to try and achieve whatever that was, whether that's on the sports field, playing cricket, wanting to win, uh, or playing football. And I think the same applies to me now, still, I'm still very driven and purpose-led. Um, so yeah, so I think that's probably how I would describe myself is yes, very driven, very purpose-driven, mission-driven. And I think that, you know, we the possibilities of what's possible. I don't see, despite any challenges in the world, I think, you know, whatever we want to do, we can. And I'm not saying it's easy because that sounds too glib, right? But I think the possibilities of being able to do stuff is there, it's real, but you have to be intentional about that and and take the actions that are necessary to make things happen for sure.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

That's right. That's right. So there is a little bit of linkage. I suppose in some ways you've been consistent in both parts, in the part of how your mother would describe you, and in a part of how you would describe yourself, because talkative and driven.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Yeah, I suppose so. That transition from a child to a young adult to uh a mature um person now, I think you you're kind of thinking, not that your your values, I think, are what are who make you, your beliefs in your values, who you are, but how you operate in the world and be, you know, we talk about this word consistency, and I think consistency speaks to your values. Do you do you care about people? Are you compassionate? Are you genuine? Are you authentic? My mum used to say, You're too sometime-ish, which is a you know, you're you're what I've been described that way as well. So we are sometimes So sometimes, you know, you could be a particular way, and others you are, you know, but hopefully that I feel for myself, uh am I really consistent of who I am as a person? My values are are reflected in how I operate. Yeah, I I'd like to think that I'm consistent in that way. You know, my values reflect who I am as a person.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

That's insightful and good to hear that perspective. So as we move along, reading is an important part. It's uh a place that we connect as well, and we'll talk a little bit more about later on. Is there a book that you would recommend, or perhaps a movie you would recommend to individuals that they should read and must read?

SPEAKER_03 8:18

Oh wow. Oh wow. Reading is something I enjoy doing, and there's so many different types of books. Many years ago I read a book by David Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big. Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers or Tipping Point, Matthew Said and Bounce, The Alchemist, Erhard Tolly, Channing Austin Brown, you know, there are so many great books. Even Del Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence Me. It was a very old book, but so many great books. So what book would I choose besides There's no choice.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

There are far too many.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

There's a tall order, atomic habits. There are so many. But if I not that I want to choose one, but there's one who I still revert to, and it's something I read when I was young. It I mean, I've read, you know, I love the philosophies of Marcus Garvey as an example, and Malcolm X. But I also like the uh David Schwartz, the magic of thinking big. So from a young age, I think the things that influenced me was like my mother, who's you know, she was the person who would out of necessity do the coach trips to the to the seaside or used to be the partner uh banker, and she would hold dances and domino tournaments. She was that person, and she would think that she could make things happen. And so when I read The Magic of Thinking Big, it was kind of always sat with me that actually you can be you can think bigger than than what sometimes other people have the expectations for you. So that book really resonated with me, The Magic of Thinking Big. I'm probably gonna give you that. That's my final answer, Angela.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

So we'll lock it in.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

We'll lock it in. The magic of thinking big, yeah. I think there's something kidnapped.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

You know, interestingly, I was I was in a network marketing group, and that was one of the books that was part of our training program, The Magic of Thinking Big. So it's a book I think I need to read again. I read it from a couple of our guests as well. So that's good. So we'll put that in the show notes, listeners. So, two other things so we can get through rapid fire. If there is a place in the world that you'd like to visit right now, where would that be? If there's one place you could visit, where would that be?

SPEAKER_03 10:30

I would say Jamaica. Well, that's where my family are from, my heritage is from, but equally so, it's a beautiful country. Uh, and of course, I'd love to go back and see what's gone on since the since the hurricane and and see what is happening there from that perspective, but also you know, to to sit down and have a local food and a local rum is also very nice to enjoy and see family. So that would be very nice to go and see some family and friends. So that's the reason why I'd want to go and visit Jamaica.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Okay, so as we close out this section, um, thanks for sharing that bit about you know the family connection and the heritage. Where it's always good to be home and some real Cardian sunshine too as well.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

For sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Okay, so when we grow up as children, there are always funny things that happen to us or happens around us that may from time to time as we become an adult bring a smile to our face. Is there any that you could recall at this moment that always brings a any childhood memory that brings a smile to your face?

SPEAKER_03 11:30

I don't know if you know the term. We used to call it blues dance. Blues dances, right? So back in the 60s, uh 70s, when my mother first came to this country in 62, the nightclubs weren't always open or accessible, or the music wasn't necessarily right. So what they used to do is host their own dances. Illegal Shabins. So so people used to come and pay a few dollars pounds to come into the house, and you'd have a D uh a sound system in your house, and they would serve beers and rum, and they would cook rice and pea and curry goats and and chicken and sell that. So people used to so they they were called blues dancers. So as a youngster, this was I'm upstairs in the bedroom, and the this would be taking place in the front room and the back room, right? So you could hear music. So very uh occasionally my mum would go and call me and say, Come and dance, and she'd give me a pound or some money to show them that I could dance.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

So I used to come down and do my little jiggle, get my palm and go back upstairs to my room. So that was that that was a that was a fun moment.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

I say fun, but it was something I remember dearly that mummy said, Come and show them how you can dance. You know, she used to try to show me off to her friends that I think. A bit of inclusion, indeed. So yeah, so that was uh I think I think that that was an interesting time. And you know, and I always remember, I I always think of, you know, I go back to mom. There was a thing that when car people from the Caribbean came to the UK, they would live in certain areas as as groups of people, and often you you they would live in similar houses because they had to rent rooms in the beginning. And so there'd be multi-occupancy properties that they would all live together and stuff like that. But they wouldn't ever travel out of the of their locality. So mum was to be the person that would organise to get a coach and do coach trips, and people would pay to go on a coach, they'd go and see visit to Blackpool and or Barry Island in Wales or whatever it would be. And I always remember she used to get up the night before she'd be cooking chicken, baking cakes, black cake with rum and rice and peas, and then she'd put containers and cook making sandwiches, and then so people would come on the coach trips, Olive, Olive, what you have? And she would then make sure that she was she'd mu she knew the market that people would take some stuff, but then she'd bring stuff and she would sell it. So she'd maximized the time on that coach trip. So people say, Oh, Olive, you got cake? And she would get, you know, she'd give pigs, she'd give some out naturally, just as a friendship thing. But other times she'd be selling on so that was to be interesting to see my mum how she would operate. That was always enjoyable to see how she navigated stuff. She always carried a little black book. Oh, I gave Angela two tickets. Angela owed me ten pounds, right? So she knows there was no laptops, but she knew very meticulous. Well, listen, mom, if you borrowed£10 from Mum, she would call you in two years. You said, but you still owe me£10.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

She would keep her black book for tickets, and she knew what she sold, who she sold it to, and yeah, she was very good. So that was a very fond memory for me, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Wow, well, well, it's really good that um you were able to share that memory, and we appreciate you sharing it. So we both had a good laugh, and we expect that some of our listeners will also have similar type of memories, whether they're from the Caribbean or from Africa or wherever the situation may be. And talking about entrepreneurship, because there was a little bit of entrepreneurship in what your mom was doing, we can now get into the conversation a little bit more. So when we talk about business, we talk about entrepreneurship. When did you discover for the first time that you know you want to get into business? Did you start off from university or school having a business? Or uh how how did the whole thoughts come about? Because now you have three enterprises of sorts and other partnerships.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

I didn't leave school. I went I went in as a trainee manager into a retail environment when I first left school. Um, but even before then, it it was interesting. There there used to be um a festival, a rock pop festival on these grounds many years ago, and every year they used to ask people as youngsters to come during the summer months to come and they would pay you to come and clean up the litter. And back then there used to be a a thing called Corona bottles, and they used to have a cap and it said either 10p. If you had the bottles and you returned the bottles, you'd get 10p. So for returning the and they would recycle the bottles. You take it back to the news agents, he would give you the 10ps, and if you got five, you get 50p. If you had 10, it'd be a pound. So with a group of us used to go to the local community center where we used to live, there were some younger boys who are one or two years younger than me. So what I would do, I would organize them to come together and say, right, we're gonna go to this festival and we're gonna find the corona bottles. So so this is you know, we find these corona bottles, and I say, right, if you collect X amount of Corona bottles, whatever you collect, I'll give you 50%. And what so I would collect whatever I was collecting. So I would get all these bottles, take them down in bat bags, and take them, so I would then get distributed their share, what they were entitled to. So I was always thinking about where were the opportunities? So that was the ones with the corona bottles, but it wasn't something I thought about. But that was probably the earliest thought of how do you find opportunities? Because I think that's what entrepreneurs do, right? They they look at something, they see well, what's a gap in the market, where's an opportunity to do something, what can I do better, or what can I create? So entrepreneurship is it is a map for me, it's a mindset, it's a belief that you can do something, you can come up with an idea, a concept, and and deliver upon that and maximize that for profit in some shape or form. So, but as I said, my early career, I started off, I went into retail, but it wasn't until many years later when I was in the corporate world and I understood a lot more about business, commercial aspects of the business, how you know what does marketing look like, what's profit and bottom line look like, what's margin look like? How do you grow a business incrementally? And having those skill sets and learning to deliver that for a corporate, right? But it's when I what part of my career I was now doing 50,000 miles a year, and I said, you know what, I've had enough of this now. I need to do something for myself. And I said, Well, I'm gonna go into consultancy and I'm gonna go back and study, and that's what I you know. I did my I did a degree in uh master's degree in leadership and then I went and did a NBA. I said, Well, and now I I feel that I'm a I'm more equipped to do it for myself, right? I uh went and started to consult. Uh and that's when I started the journey. And my first client was my old cu my old company. And and then you realize, okay, this this this can work, this is something which is and you're selling your services that you can help organizations deliver on strategy, on leadership, and so you're selling your academic insights, your internet, you're selling a service that can help organizations do whatever they need to do in terms of strategy growth or whatever. So that was uh something I've now been doing for over 20 years, and continue to do that. But then it was an interesting, I took a hiatus for a period after about three years of doing that, where I worked in the corporate world, I worked for a company called Rentikill Initial, which was a support services business. And the old finance director and myself, he called me up and said, Carlton, do you remember when we spoke many years ago that we should we should start a washroom business, right? Which was sanitary bins, hand dryers, air freshers, nappy units. I said, Yes, because that was the sector we were in, right? And and he said, Yeah, he said, you know, do you still fancy doing it? I said, Well, I'm consultant at the moment. He said, but there's a big opportunity we can, you know, start something and give it a few years, we can sell it, and we can still go back to what we're doing. So I th I thought about this. So here's the rub. My wife had already started a wedding shop. She had started a wedding shop and we had invested in it, and then we had two wedding shops. And my wife was running that, she had managers in place. So she was really the catalyst for starting businesses. So we had these two businesses, but on one of the shops, we had three floors. When my business partner called me, he said, Okay, where would we operate from? I said, Ah, I've got the solution. We'll operate it from the third floor of my wedding shop. So here we are. We have a wedding shop, my wife and I. We have a third floor, we kit out the third floor, we put partitions up, da da da da da. We employ a sales guy to go out into the market. We employ a driver to go and change the sanitary bins and this, that, and the other. And I'm going out selling, knocking on doors with another salesperson to try and find contracts. We started from the third floor of the wedding shop and for about eighteen, two years until we grew the business well enough. We then moved out to find a warehouse, storage, office blocks, and then we eventually expanded to having ten people employed for the business. We we grew the business and after seven years we grew it to a a a you know, significant number, and then we sold the business. But it wasn't easy, you know. I can tell you it wasn't easy. Because at that at the latter part of that journey of our washroom business, I then decided to go back and do a PhD. So I'm studying and we're still having a business. So for about four years I didn't have a life. I just literally worked and studied, worked and studies, and and and but it was interesting. But yeah, so that was my first Ferrari into into entrepreneurship, was the consultancy piece, which I still do, and and then we had a washroom business, which we started, and then we were we was you know managed to sell that, which was great. And then with my mother's my mother-in-law got unwell, we ended up my wife spent some time with her mum and stuff. So we ended up selling the businesses of the wedding shops eventually over time. So that's what we did. So we moved out of retail, I was in washrooms, and I continued to do the wedding. So yeah, and then um and then of course, you know, when I think about I I I talk about heritage allocks, I think that's important, and accept who you are and and valuing who you are as a as a person. And my mum, as I said, she was a baker, she was a cook. She knows she loved there's not a Caribbean person who at Christmas time doesn't Cook a black cake, a rum cake of some description. But Mum used to think she cooked the best rum cakes, of course. She should make the best rum cakes. And you know, forget the great British bake-off. Have the great Caribbean bake-off for cakes.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Yes, yes, that that's right. There's an idea that we can do all of them.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

What? Listen, tasting a good rum cake, I I could be, you know, one of the best rum cakes I've ever tasted was in Antigua. Oh, I don't know who this lady was, but she could bake a cake.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

She did it well, yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:30

So over the years I've thought about businesses and could we do something that reflects our heritage, but in a contemporary way? So over the last couple of years, we've developed a brand called Marshall and Brown and the Jerk House. So the Marshall and Brown pays tribute and homage to our Caribbean heritage, and we do a brand of rum cakes. And we also have a jerk house brand of sauces and condiments. So we we have nine sauces. So you can have a Caribbean hot mustard to a red pepper sauce to a red yellow pepper sauce to a jerk sauce to a jerk seasoning. We also have introduced innovation, we've introduced a uh a jerk ketchup, believe it or not. So ketchup, which is sweet, but they have the same seasoning. So you have pimento, thyme, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet infused into a ketchup. So you have the sweetness of a ketchup, at the same time, you have the heat and the spice of a jerk, uh, which is innovation. But we also do the same with the mayonnaise. And believe it or not, we we we're selling we, you know, we're in we're in Selfridges as an example, but but we sell to a lot of independence. And I can tell you, as my mum used to say, they love it gone to bed. She would say it's going off like hotcakes, as you can. Yeah, and and they but it appeals to a wider you know community community of people, which is important because people travel to the Caribbean all the time, right? Saint Lucia, they go to St. Lucia Jazz, they love the jazz, they love the food, right? And they love the beaches, the pitons, um, the cared beer, you know, they love it all. So, and when they come back, why not give people the opportunity to experience the Caribbean in a contemporary way? So we do we do uh jams, we do six flavours of jams, which are but they're all Scotch bonnet led. So we have a sh we have a tropical jam as an example, which is pineapple, papaya, and mango with Scotch bonnet.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Mango with Scotch bonnet. I need to try that one.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

So we'll we'll I'll have to send you a jar, Angela. We'll have to send you a jar to try it.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah, you need to send me a pack so I can sample your products.

SPEAKER_03 24:34

And then as long as you report on it, Angela, to say how the taste, you know, you have to give a feedback session. I'm up, I'm very much willing to do that. All right, but um, yeah, so so we started that, and that still exists, and we're we're bit we're we're we're slowly but surely building that proposition. In addition to that, my main thrust is that I I work as a consultant. We have Marshall and Brown, so we have a small team at Marshall and Brown, but the idea is that we want to grow it and scale it and make it something into a meaningful legacy brand. That's the objective, that's the purpose, you know.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Okay, so Marshall and Brown, the name is yourself and your wife's name, since you said you were paying homage to your heritage.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Yeah, so Marshall is my mother-in-law and Brown is my mother. It's named after two patriarchs.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Ah, okay, okay. So, yeah, and it's very catchy. It's it's the name itself to me gives uh elevated kind of branding.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

Yeah, Marshall and Brown. It's like almost sounds like Moulton and Brown, right? Yes, but yeah, Marshall and Brown, we wanted to pay they were two great matriarchs, and so again, it's about the purpose of you. My mum was a great cook, um, Eugena Marshall was she was a great cook. That that whole thing about Caribbean cooking, but two two wonderful matriarchs coming together, right? Uh, Marshall and Brown producing something which is, and of course, from a Caribbean heritage, but then bringing it, you know, to from a British contemporary perspective. So you have it's that innovation that coming together of recognizing our history, paying homage to our culture, uh, but bringing it to a wider, a wider community of people.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Let's pause for a moment to hear from our sponsors. You've built a name for yourself through hard work and dedication. But does managing the business side feel like a distraction from your true passion? Are you dealing with unmanaged finances? CME Accounting LLC is here to help. We specialize in organizing your financial records, allowing you to focus on what you do best. With organized books, you'll have more time for what inspires you. Whether that's expanding your influence, building relationships, or simply enjoying life. Don't let unmanaged finances hold you back. Reach out to CME Accounting LLC today and let us help you thrive. Visit our website www.cmeaccountinglc.com or email us at admin at cmeaccountinglc.com. Alright, let's jump back into our conversation.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

Okay, that sounds really great. Just hearing the influence of how you came up with the name and then the whole legacy behind it. So it means that you found your why in a way, not just solving a problem, but ensuring that there's a legacy from both of your families that could be carried on in the future and bringing a bit of the Caribbean back so when people go out, they can sample the Caribbean at home.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

But also, you talk about the gap in the market and the premiumization of the name. We've specifically tried to position the brand because often they see Caribbean brands, you know, you go down the um the world food aisles in the supermarket, right? And it tends to be a lower value proposition, you know, get a source for 99p and that's kind of. But we said, no, actually, no. Well why why we are we positioning brands just at that level? It can be more premium, and they can be more premium. So premium in terms of how they taste, premium of how they look, and the quality of the product which is produced. So again, so we've positioned it in a way that it's slightly it's not a 99p bottle of sauce, it's not that. So we said deliberately there's a gap. We felt there was a gap in the market as an entrepreneur, there's a gap, and we can fill that gap for a variety of different reasons. Consumers want to taste things which are different. It doesn't have to just sit in um the world food aisles, it can sit on a regular shelf, in a regular aisle, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:38

So yes, because it's a regular product. So I I love that you shared that perspective on Caribbean food and our products, and that is so true in that we sell ourselves short in thinking I have to make it as cheap as possible for it to sell. But once it's positioned properly in the market, it's packaged, and you're selling quality, people will pay, no matter how much it costs for quality.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

No, I agree with that. I mean, don't take me, don't take me wrong when I say this, it's not easy. But of course not. But when I say um that when the feedback that we get from consumers who taste it, the product, and who are repeat customers, who love not only how it's packaged, how it looks, and how it tastes, that's the testimony. So it's about how do we now scale that and into uh and getting access to that opportunity that will enable us to scale it into one retailer to another retailer and so forth. So that's that's the journey. That's the journey we're on.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

So that that's a good journey, and we wish you the very best. But I wanted to delve in a little more because as you spoke, a question came to mind. You have the idea to develop this business, but how did you find your first client for Marshall and Brown?

SPEAKER_03 29:50

So what I did, I went to the when I started to build, so part of being thinking about and delivering on strategy for business, you know, I I still occasionally teach a uh university as a visiting lecturer, right? And you think about your strategy in advance. So a preparation and planning are key, not just to go into something in you know, without actually trying to understand the market. So what I did, I went to a lot of trade shows. I went to a lot of trade shows, food trade shows, food events where buyers or retailers, uh suppliers, manufacturers, people like me, would want to go and engage with retailers such as independent stores to wholesalers. So I used to go and attend these various trade shows, like uh the IFE or uh Speciality Fine Food in Kensington and Olympia, and I I then would walk around, walk around, spend two days walking around, talking to standholders, talking to this, researching, and then when I launched, I went and had a stand at this particular place. At these, and then this is where we discovered uh so you need to find your sales pipeline, right? Where are my customers? So you go to where your customers potentially are going to be. I I researched who the wholesalers were, I wrote to them. I went to you could either go to the retailers directly yourself, or you can go to a wholesaler, a third party who could buy your product and they would sell it on on your behalf. But you have you have to think about that because you have to then think about what margins are you going to achieve, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Yes, because it starts to infringe on how much you will be able to make the price, it inflates the price as well.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

Yes, correct. Yeah. So it's exactly that. So that's that's how it started. So we started to go out directly, and we and that's how we started to acquire our first customers. But you know, we partnered with with some wholesalers and we got our products listed with them, and that started to push our products out. Then we started to reach out, you know, we we bought some databases and we started to do email marketing campaigns and and stuff like that. And we keep and we still do that today, so it hasn't changed. We still try to do the basics as best as we can see because you need to build that pipeline to with the certainly with the independence, until you get that that bigger break, you need to build up a a broader base. And we we do um we do events, you know. We're at we're at events and we are selling at events. We you know, we're doing rudimentary things but practical things to to generate sales. So yeah, so that's what we do.

unknown 32:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Yeah, so indeed this is a lot of insights in you. You're sharing a lot of really good insights for persons in business. I mean, the approach of going to various trade shows and just experiencing it beforehand. So that way you're able to know where might be best and who might be the best client or partner to get involved with. So that that's an incredible perspective to share and insight to guide other business decisions.

SPEAKER_03 32:51

Yeah, but also do your research. You know, you don't, you know, whether that's just sitting behind your laptop and doing your research, well, who the wholesalers will take this type of product? Go and not stalking them, but go into LinkedIn. Ah, this person's on LinkedIn. Ah, okay. Can I connect with this person? Um, okay. And we now have a you start to build relationships with a variety of different people, sending emails out. As I said, you don't always get great responses. Sometimes they don't even respond. But it's just a journey, right? You just got to keep knocking on doors because you you know you're gonna get more no's than you're gonna get yeses for sure. But it's the yeses, I'm not interested in the no's. Let's see who how we can keep knocking to get to the yeses. So that's it.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Yeah, that that's really good. And as we say about the no's, so the no could be next opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Yeah. So yeah, the more the quicker I get through the no's, that the I'm cut I'm finding someone who's gonna get to the yes. That's how I've got to look at it, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:43

That's right. Okay, so thanks for sharing that. In getting the developing the business and moving it from one stage to the next, you alluded to it, it's not always been easy. And it will continue to be a challenge on and off. What would you say has been the biggest leap you've taken so far since starting out these business ventures?

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Well, I think that the biggest leap is always starting, and I think you've got to I I I I'm a firm believer in trying to plan as much as you can and doing a lot of research as much as you can, but then you've got to take the leap of faith from starting it. And and sometimes, and I still do it, you know, sometimes you you underestimate what it's gonna take, you under you underestimate what investment levels are necessary, or you take on an order that actually you didn't re you know, uh that was slightly bigger than you anticipated. You've got to think about your supply chain. So there's there's so many variables that sometimes can impact you in in that delivery, whether that's thinking about consultancy and you take on a bigger piece of work, whether that's the Marshall and Brown, and as you know, Angela, I run a UK Black Business Entrepreneur Conference, but I do that that's more about us delivering something for our community, right? Uh, about accessing opportunities. But even doing that is about why, you know, some people are saying to me, Why do you do that? Why do you take on all of that stuff?

unknown 35:03

Right?

SPEAKER_03 35:04

It's hard work. You don't really get paid for that. You're doing it because, you know, you want to if you want, you know, again, it's purpose-driven, right? What are you doing it for? And you've got to believe in you've got to believe in your ideals, you know, you've got to believe in the purpose of what you're trying to do, right? Ultimately. So I'm not sure if that answers your question, Angela, in that context.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Yes, it does. So it means that in terms of struggle, you you believe the biggest struggle was just getting started.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

It's getting started and and and and mindset, sticking with it sometimes. When it when you you know, Angela, listen, sometimes you wake it up at two o'clock and you say, Whoa, this is tough. You know, and you think, ooh, what am I gonna do here? Or this challenge has happened, and you think and that takes energy and time and resources and and and stress sometimes. You think, wow, you know, what do I need to do here? But it's saying, you know what, there's a solution to it somewhere. It's just about how do I find it, and and then thinking, just believing in the concept of what you're trying to do, right? And and say, okay, all right, it's tough right now, but everything's only for a moment. I think things are just temporary, it's just how quickly could you get through to the other side? Is is how I try to look at it. Because you know it's it's always a contemporary process that something is going to be impactful for now. It might take a week, it could take a month or six months. It doesn't, you don't know, but how how quickly can I get through this? And how can I be creative in working for a solution to this challenge?

SPEAKER_00 36:27

So thinking back on all of that, considering you know you're forward thinking of okay, there's a solution, has there ever been a time that you just wanted to give up? And didn't think it wasn't with Well, that happens all the time, even now.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

I think you think you've I mean, look, a good example that the the conference, we you know, we put the conference together every year. It's a group of people, a team, an amazing group of a team of people come together voluntarily to support the the goals of trying to support black businesses in the UK. But in order to deliver that, we we often need partners to come and support us, the work we do, because we invite speakers and they will have to be, you know, and it's tough finding partners or sponsors. I mean, you're thinking, wow, it's a great purpose. Why don't people want to buy into this concept, right?

SPEAKER_00 37:15

Yeah, I I know, right?

SPEAKER_03 37:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

Well, oftentimes they don't have the same vision that you have or that foresight.

SPEAKER_03 37:22

So so yeah, so sometimes you think, oh, is it all you know, but yeah, so but you've got to say, okay, look, you find a way. You just gotta find a way to make a thing happen. Uh and you keep going, and and that's what you do. And you you keep, like I said, I keep talking about knocking on doors. I knock on doors all the time in different ways, different environments, different places. Oh, did you know we're doing this way? Oh, is that something of interest to you? Can I this is the benefits, you know. So you keep going, you just keep fighting the fight, right? In a positive way, because as I said, we we do it for a reason and we we know the challenges are there, but also there are opportunities, but we need to create the opportunities for ourselves. Yes, and find a way to capitalize on it. I I that's the thing, and and that's what we try to do. So you listen, you just have to keep going. And it is difficult, I just believe me. Sometimes you think, is it all worth it? But yeah, well, you've got to keep doing what you need to do, uh, and to to to deliver the best outcomes, you think what are gonna serve us as a community to give us access to those opportunities that we can grow. Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Okay, okay, good. Brilliant for sharing that. And as we talk about community and finding the why, a lot of times we do it for family, not just the external community. Because if as an individual we're not good, our families are not good, then the community, the wider community cannot be good. You're doing so many things. I know you just came back from a bit of travel. You've written the race paradox, which I would have loved for us to talk about and a little bit more about the business forum. How do you manage the family, keeping the family together? I mean, your your wife is in business as well. So when do you switch off? How do you connect? How do you separate? Do you even separate that?

SPEAKER_03 39:03

No, she's not she's not in business anymore. She's settled down to a nice uh environment where she works for local governments, and she's she's been doing that now maybe eight to ten years now, I think. I can't remember the exact term.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

So, how do you balance it with her and the professional life and your business life?

SPEAKER_03 39:20

So we we try and you know stay grounded, but you know, we take we make sure we take breaks. Like, you know, we a couple of weekends ago we were in France for the weekend, so we make sure we take holidays to to spend time, proper times that we're intentional.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Yes, and not distracted.

SPEAKER_03 39:38

Oh, she hopes if I ever well, you're not carrying your laptop, are you? Well, I'll just have it here just in case, you know. But yeah, we try to keep it, we try to keep it grounded, you know, and um spend time. That's the that's the key thing. And uh, but you know, the good thing is is understanding that you know we we have purpose and uh and I and she supports that, and I think that's where you're important, you know, which I'm really appreciative of. It's on record. I'm appreciative of.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

Okay, good. So I want you to share, you know, with persons who may be contemplating entrepreneurship, whether it be a creative journey or it may be a brick and mortar business, what are some considerations? We can probably enumerate it, maybe three considerations or things to consider when commencing an entrepreneurial journey.

SPEAKER_03 40:29

Okay. I think f first and foremost, do the research. There's an old saying, proper planning and preparation prevents poor performance. So do your research, proper planning and preparation. Number one. Two, it's gonna be harder than you initially thought. Plan to have more resources than you think that you need. What often happens is we are often undercapitalized, which then makes your ability to grow difficult. So one, proper planning preparation prevents poor performance. Two, it's sometimes gonna be harder than we think. It's not an instant success is not an overnight success journey, right? It takes time to grow. And three, remember that often you know you need additional resources and understanding the capitalization of your business is critical. Just to give you three uh things. But I I would go to four. Build your network, build your social capital. Your social capital for me is is uh understanding that it gives you access to people, resources or opportunities that if you did not have that social capital, you would not have access to those people or individuals. So if by knowing your network or growing your network, I should say, there might be individuals who can invite or open up doors for you that you wouldn't ordinarily get access to. Which you know, we I talk about knocking on doors. You've got to knock on a lot of doors to try and get yeses, right? But sometimes having a good network can open up those same doors a lot quicker for you. So try to think about the rooms that you're in. It's not the rooms that you're comfortable with all the time. Because often you'll have friends and family members who say, Oh, why don't you do this for your business? And you should be doing that. They A, they've never ever run a business, often. And it's not that you can't value their opinions or ideas, but actually put yourself in rooms that are people who've got experience of running businesses or doing who can all give you access to different markets or people or thinking, or who can lever and open up doors for you and build those relationships. And I think that's as critical as well. So I would definitely say build your network, build your social capital.

unknown 42:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

So those those are four really critical points, I would say. One of them particularly stands out for me, which is the network. Um, one of my former bosses would always say it's good to build relationships, and that comes back to the network because you never know when possibly it's you can um use those relationships to open a door, as you rightly said, make a connection, um, support a project, create a partner. So those were really good, I must say.

SPEAKER_03 43:11

And and of course, there's one other thing. There's one other thing, Angela. I've got to say, they should attend the UK Black Business Entrepreneur Conference on the 8th of July 2026. That's right. To build those networks.

SPEAKER_00 43:26

Okay, all right, great. So thanks for that insight. Dr. Brown, we we could have um continued, I guess, for another hour, but we will close here today. What I would like for you to do is to tell our audience how they can reach out to you to find out more about Aspire, about Marshall and Brown, or about the UK Black Business Conference, Entrepreneurs Conference.

SPEAKER_03 43:47

So thank you, Angela. So thank you. So the UK Black Business Entrepreneur Conference is hosted on the 8th of July, 2026, at the NatWest Conference Center. You can access information on our website, which is uh W. www.thebbec.com, which is www.thebbec.com. Secondly, as far as aspire consultancy is concerned, you can go to our website, which is aspire-consultancy.com. And finally, Marshall and Brown, go to the website, order your order your rum cakes, order your jug house sources. It's marshallandbrown.co.uk.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Okay, and that's the same way to connect with you, I would assume.

SPEAKER_03 44:30

Yeah, you can there's contact page, there's contact forms. And of course I'm on LinkedIn as well. So Dr. Carlton Brown on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

Okay, excellent. Well, thank you so much, Dr. Brown, for sharing with us. You provided us with a lot of insight, a lot of information that we can use to guide, whether it be our professional, our entrepreneurial journey, experiences of your Caribbean heritage, the influence, we're really happy about one thing that stands out for me is you know is about setting that premium nature for whatever it is that we would like to offer. So thank you for sharing those insights and we look forward to connecting with you again in the future because I'm sure there's a lot more to discuss. Diversity, equity, and inclusion we did not touch on. So hopefully in the future we'll have an opportunity to do that.

SPEAKER_03 45:19

But I'd love to come back and speak to you about the race paradox book when it comes out in February. That's right. So thank you so much, Angina. I really appreciated your time and I really enjoyed our conversation. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

Okay. All right great listeners, this has been Begin Build Blossom Your Business Journey. We encourage you to like subscribe and share our episodes. It's a space for real conversations and insights and help us grow the community. Engage with us send us feedback. Until next time, I'm Angela Sin Denis. Bye for now. A quick note before we wrap up the insights and experiences shared by our guests are their own. We love creating space for real conversations about business and growth and everyone's journey is unique. Therefore this podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. It is not meant to replace legal, financial or other professional advice. So we encourage you to take what's useful, do your own due diligence and build what works best for you.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

Thanks for listening to begin build blossom your business journey we hope today's conversation gave you the insights and inspiration you need to move forward on your own path. Don't forget to subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcast so you never miss an episode. Do you have feedback? We'd love to hear from you at podcast at cmeaccountinglc.com Join us again next week for a new episode