Ron Frierson - Chairman, LAEDC Board of Governor & Former Dir. of Economic Development, Amazon

Big titles mean little if the fridge is empty. That’s Ron Frierson’s compass, and it guides a conversation that cuts through buzzwords to what economic development is supposed to do: help people work, earn, and live with dignity. From a pastor’s household in Saginaw to directing Western U.S. economic development at Amazon, Ron traces the habits and values that traveled with him—showing how a praying family, a push mower, and a basketball scholarship built a leader who thrives in the oven of hard problems.

We unpack the real mechanics of cross-sector leadership: translating corporate imperatives into plain language for policymakers, and translating civic constraints into actionable plans for companies. Ron explains how site selection actually works, why trust is the only durable advantage, and how hard calls during COVID expanded his range. He also pulls back the curtain on LA’s global brand—its creative gravity and deep diversity—and the hard truth that fragmentation still slows permits, blocks investment, and widens the wealth gap where it hurts most.

There’s a blueprint here for turning marquee moments into long-term gains: align the 88 cities as one region, streamline timelines so small businesses can compete, and design procurement and permitting that deliver opportunity instead of charity. Ron speaks candidly about homelessness and addiction through the lens of personal loss, insisting on a human-first approach that pairs services with accountability. For students and rising leaders, he lays out a simple, powerful kit: find mentors, stay curious, and act like someone is always watching—because reputation compounds.

If you care about how Los Angeles can convert the World Cup, Super Bowls, and the Olympics into 15 years of inclusive growth, you’ll find both principles and playbook here. Listen, share with a friend who leads, and leave a review so more builders can find the show.

Transcript

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Welcome & Ron’s Background

Narrator 1 0:00

Welcome to the California Leaders Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories of the visionary shaping the future of our region. Hosted by Christopher Luna, this podcast brings you conversations with the movers and takers, driving innovation, leadership, and community impact across California. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a community leader, or simply someone passionate about making the difference. This podcast is your gateway to the insides and inspiration you need to lead and succeed. Get ready to get inspired by the leaders, making waves in California and beyond.

Narrator 2 0:36

In this episode, we welcome Ron Frierson, Chairman Member in Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation Board of Governor. Ron lives in Los Angeles with his family. He furthered his education with graduate studies at Baker University in Kansas and attended Economic Development Institute at the University of Southern Mississippi. He continues to give back through service on Emporia State University's Board of Trustees and the Kramer School of Business Advisory Counseling. Ron Frierson is an accomplished economic development and corporate strategy executive whose career spans more than two decades across the public, private, and civic sectors. Since 2022, he has served as Director of Economic Development for the Western United States and Amazon, where he oversees a team responsible for multi-state investment strategy, site selection, and community partnership initiatives over multiple business lines across Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, and Hawaii. Ron is also deeply engaged in civic leadership. He serves on the boards of the Southern California Leadership Council, Urban Land Institute, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and the International Economic Development Council. He is chair of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, serving as the organization's first African American chair in its nearly 40-year history. He was appointed by LA County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath to a blue-ribbon commission focused on climate-resilient rebuilding in areas impacted by historic wildfires. He has been honored by the National Urban League with the 2024 Visionary Award, recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the LA County's 500 most influential people, and listed as a leader of influence, nonprofit, and philanthropy. Please welcome Ron Frierson.

Christopher Luna 2:27

Ron, welcome to California Leaders. Thank you for being here. Chris, thank you, my friend. Thank you for having me. Yeah, I mean, you've built such an incredible career. I'm a huge fan of yours, big follower from public service, corporate strategy, servant leadership. You're you're you've done so much in your time and your career. And like I said, I've always looked, I look up to you quite a bit. So I really do appreciate you being here.

Ron Frierson 2:50

Oh, with my height, that means literally as well, right? Look up to you. Exactly. Thank you so much. That's so kind because you have such an excellent reputation yourself and the work you've done with the chamber and with your podcast. It's an amazing success. I've seen some of the other guests you've had. I'm just honored to be here to speak with you today as well.

Christopher Luna 3:08

Thank you. I mean, when when we first met, it was probably at some event after, you know, we've we attend so many, but I remember going to an event with the Chargers. And I was walking past you and I saw you having lunch. I'm like, Ron, come on, let's go.

Ron Frierson 3:23

So that was a good, that was a good time too. You know, we've run into each other so frequently that I can't remember the first time it happened. Um, I know that every time I see you is you're always so gracious. Um, you will stop and say hello and shake my hand. And we recently walked into an Nvidia and Gensler together. I think that was the first for us for us to actually leave the park construction, walk down a Los Angeles, downtown city streets into a venue together and just kind of talk to each other. So again, all of the respect is is mutual, and I'm happy to be here. Um, yeah, I've I've been around for a while. This is why I have all this premature gray hair.

Christopher Luna 4:01

So well, I mean, what amazed me about you is really your leadership style. Um, you I I've heard you speak

Family, Faith, And Work Ethic

Christopher Luna 4:10

at a few events and you really capture the audience and you really know how to connect well, and and you have such a strong background, but it always comes down to your your upbringing. Um, I'm always curious to know exactly what how you became the person you are and what kind of got you involved in so much that you do today. I mean, if you don't mind just telling us a little bit about your background and and your upbringing. Sure, sure.

Ron Frierson 4:35

Um I am the result of a praying family and parents who um love me. My parents had me at a young age, they're still married to this day. They've been married for 53 years. And um Ron and Georgette Fryerson, I'm junior. My son is the third. Um, and so I have a very strong family network. My parents, uh, my grandparents, very close. My best friend in life was my paternal grandmother. Um, my brother and sister, I'm the oldest of three. Um, my sister aunt, which is my aunt Cheryl, who's my dad's youngest sister. Remember, I said they had me at a young age. And so my dad's youngest sister grew up, like my big sister, and she still is to this day. And then my big brother was my dad's only brother, my uncle Bruce. So my aunt Cheryl and Uncle Bruce, um, my grandma Grace, just my entire family, we're very close-knit. I'm a Michigan guy, um, born and raised in Michigan, Saginaw, Michigan, an industrial town. And um, I remember as a kid, um, we had an amazing time coming up. Um, you know, when you are very young, you don't know if you were lacking financially. And I always had two parents, and I always had two parents working. Um, but that was somewhat rare in in my neighborhood. And so with that, um, we saw kind of all sides and both sides. I remember my brother and I would have to come in the house when the street lights came on, and um, all my friends would still be outside playing, and we couldn't stand my dad.

Christopher Luna 6:21

That was everyone's rule, though.

Ron Frierson 6:24

That was our that was our curfew. Exactly. You had to go, but I have friends that were still able to play outside, and so we would hear them outside playing, we hear the basketball bouncing and things of that sort, and my brother and I would be so upset with my dad. And my dad would be like, they wish they had someone to call them in the house, and we never understood until later. And so um, yeah, I'm just so blessed. And my grandparents, my paternal grandfather, he passed away in 2010. Um, he was at every one of my basketball games from elementary school, clear up to um high school, just all the way there. And um, that's just what do your parents do if you don't know. So my my dad is a pastor of a church, uh, New Covenant Christian Center in Saginaw, Michigan. But when I was growing up in my early days, he was uh working for General Motors, like most of the men where I come from. My grandfather worked at General Motors, and so uh the automotive industry and that heavy manufacturing is really a part of who we are, which also I think um I can uh kind of give credit to in my work ethic. I remember my dad getting up very early in the morning. Never calling in sick, never calling in sick, and my grandfather, who worked second shift a lot of times, that means he would go to work in the afternoon. And so he would be at the work from like say three or four in the afternoon until 11 or 12 o'clock at night. And that's why he was able to go to my elementary school basketball games on Saturday mornings because he didn't have to go to work until the so it was just something, but work ethic was really, really big in my house. We all had chores, my brother, sister, and I, um, after we had a huge yard, you know, in the Midwest. We had a huge yard and we had a push more. Yeah. And I remember like I would see commercials with, you know, other families and people would ride more. And then I started to think, I was like, you know what, maybe that's why my brother and I grew to be such athletes and so big and strong, because dad had a grand plan. I would love to think that's the case. And so after we would do the mow the lawn and things, um, then we would go to my grandparents' house, do the same thing. You know, granddad would help us, but we'd do their lawn. And then my grandparents had a couple of rental properties. Then we would go and cut the grass at the rental property. So essentially, my brother and I were a lawn service growing up. But I think back, and you know, when you're in it, you don't really think about things, but when you're 53 now. So when I think back, I think about all of these little things that kind of attribute to my work ethic. And um I've always said, and whatever role I'm in, one thing I can almost guarantee that is that it's gonna be hard to outwork me. Um, period. And and and that's and I take that with me with to whatever role I'm in. And it also has kind of forced me to um embrace almost long for discomfort because I know that growth comes from that. Growth comes from putting yourself into what will seem to be a vulnerable position. And and I'm an athlete, I've been an athlete my entire life. Um I've started playing basketball in the third grade, then from there.

Christopher Luna 9:36

You're never walking. And that's that's one thing when I was playing football. It's like you never walk, you're never walking on the field. And when you have that that background, you're you have a sense of urgency, and there's things that you need to do fast, right? But going back to your your parents, I mean, you you're talking about mowing lawns, but that was a family business. I mean, if you're managing properties, I mean that's kind of what I grew up doing. I would I didn't mow the lawns too much. But um, I can see that sense of responsibility of helping out and being part of that in an assistant household.

Ron Frierson 10:12

You had to be part of the family. Saturday morning chores were something that we had to do. It's like you you had responsibility, even at a young age, responsibility to the family. And we are a very, very uh spiritual family, and we believe in Christian principles and things of that sort. And and that moral standing, I think, is one of the reasons why, and I'm sure we'll get into it, all of the different places that I've lived throughout my life, I've always been true to my core because I know who I am, because of where I come from. And I've always tried to stay connected to who I am. And um that's something that I think that um

Sports Mindset And Leadership

Ron Frierson 10:50

you know it's a different day and age. I didn't have to grow up with social media. I can make my mistakes, I can take my bumps to the head without the world seeing it. And, you know, you know, and looking back again, I am completely blessed in the fact that I've been able to develop over time. And and there's a book by James Allen, it's called As a Man Thinketh, and it's published in 1903. And in that book, there's a passage that alludes to gold only reaches its purest form once it's gone through heat. And so basically, for us to develop into the person or that we want to be, or into the professional that we want to be, we need to embrace the heat that comes our way. Because once we get on the other side of it, then we're better. And then once you see that you've become better and you've grown and developed because of that, and you know what the end result is, it's not as difficult or scary for you to go into another oven because you know what the end result is going to be. And I really look at that. Um, athletics and my upbringing and my spirituality, I think it really lends to my my leadership style.

Christopher Luna 12:08

Um it's the foundation. I mean being being raised in a religion, I think. I mean, I talk to my kids all this time uh about it all the time. I wasn't too active growing up. My parents were really busy. We we grew up in a family business, and the weekends were working actually. We our one of our storefronts were open seven days a week. So I would go out on the weekends and work. And um, but as I grew, my mom always told me how important it was. And we need to have that sense of tradition and the sense of background and just have those strong morals, right? So now with my kids, I'm a lot more strict than my parents were with me, but you know, my my son is is really good, he's very active, my other boys too, and I think it we it has that that foundation for the family, and it's good for us to have that and kind of teach others to be strong like that as well.

Ron Frierson 12:57

Absolutely, and now I am not a saint by any means. My mom will be the first to tell you that. Um, and they laugh at it sometimes, but I do think that those moral principles and core that keeps you out of a lot of stuff because you always have a limit that you won't go beyond because it's against who you are and your principles, and also in my case, it also made me a lot more um tolerant towards people who weren't like me. And it made me tolerant because it's because you don't you know that you are in no position as an individual to judge. You know, you show yourself by example, and sometimes I've been a good example, sometimes I could have done better. But the point is that I've always known who I was again, um, deep to my core. And I think that every team I've led, every um, you know, the people who work for me, I think they know that as well. They know that I'm trustworthy. They know they can trust Ron. They know that Ron is not the type of person to make a judgment or um dictate an action based on insecurity or fear or something that is not going to be beneficial for them because of some sort of strategic selfishness or anything like that. That's not what I do. I've always looked out for my people. And I think that's one of the reasons why I'm continuing to be blessed throughout my career is because I've set that reputation, and that's just who I am.

Christopher Luna 14:28

Yeah, I'm sure your dad was a pretty strong leader as well. I mean, by the sounds of it, I mean, he being a pastor, you have to be able to motivate and and inspire your inspire everyone, right? So I don't want to go past your parents a little bit because you mentioned that they've been together for 54 years, married. 53. 53.

Ron Frierson 14:45

Oh, they've been together for long, they've been together probably 55 years. Wow.

Christopher Luna 14:49

Yeah, I know it's an anomaly. Well, my parent, my parents, um, we celebrated their 50-year anniversary three years ago, so they're right around the same.

Ron Frierson 14:57

It's amazing.

Christopher Luna 14:58

Um, and and again, just having that strong foundation, that strong family, that strong upbringing, um, really helps carry us and our leadership roles. And I think that's when I met you, I felt something from you. I I it's hard to explain. Um, and it if I always tell them it's like if we can write a book about it, but it's hard to explain these interactions. And you can really just tell the type of person you are and how authentic you are and humble you are. You, I mean, when I when I met you, I'm I'm not I'm I'm not anyone important, but you've always treated me so graciously. And that's what I really attach myself to. It's like, wow, like someone like you who've had has had this incredible career, would pay attention, would come here and sit down with me, and and I think that sh really shows your leadership style and who you are.

Ron Frierson 15:45

Well, thank you, my friend, Christopher. You're far too kind, and I have to disagree with what you said. You are important, everyone is, and that's the one thing that I want to I'm an athlete, I'm a team guy. So this is the best analogy I can use for that, and I've used it within my teams as well. Um Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors, everyone listen. He shoots a shot from the corner, he has a corner three. He's gonna get the praise for that corner three, but someone had to get a rebound, someone had to dribble it up the court, someone had to set a pick so he can get open in the corner. It's a team effort. So the spotlight or something may be on someone, but no one's role within making us productive it should be minimized. It's all important and we're all connected. Okay, and also if you think about it, there's so many people that are in like positions of leadership, but you can't be a subject matter expert on everything. So you have to depend on your team, and that's where the trust comes in. My team member knows that my team member who may be a subject matter on X, he knows and trusts me, and I have to reciprocate that same sort of trust towards him so that he can feed me the information so I can articulate that in a way to make proper strategic decisions and things of that sort. Everyone, everyone is important. And I look at the same way uh and throughout life. Um it's kind of no, it's not I don't even like to talk about it because sometimes it seems as if it's hokey or if it's purposeful, but I it's part of the way I was raised as well. My great-grandmother, um, she was a domestic worker and she um you know moved to Michigan from the South, and she um her parents um were biracial. She had Irish blood and her and African American. But when she came to uh to Michigan, she worked as a domestic worker for, you know, wealthier white families. And she would listen to them and she learned how to invest in real estate. So this woman with a very limited education, I want to say elementary school education, ended up owning multiple properties back in Michigan to a point where she sent for her family down the south to move up and got them all places to stay. As a matter of fact, the first house, I told you how young my parents were when they had me. The first house that we lived in was a house that was gifted to us by my great-grandmother. Yeah. So if this was a domestic worker, we have so many hard-working people here in Los Angeles in the country. There's so many other Elizabeth Woods that are walking around this city. And I can think to myself, what if my great-grandmother during that time, if she was looked down upon for whatever reason, whether it's because she's a domestic worker cleaning toilets, and not knowing that eventually

Entering Economic Development

Ron Frierson 18:40

she's doing something that's going to benefit all of us, and she's raising a family that's gonna be so you I do not take someone's station in life as some sort of um conviction or judgment on to measure myself. I it's just not the way my mind works.

Christopher Luna 19:00

Yeah, I mean, I mean that that's incredible for them to that carry the legacy and built your family, and it's continuing on for your family. So uh we're we're I want to help our audience understand how you got to where you're at. Um what was your your college years like? What did you do? What did you specialize in? Because you've been in both public and private sectors, so I just want to understand it's kind of rare to get someone like you that's been exposed to so much real estate, and we'll go down that path. But tell me a little bit about that journey.

Ron Frierson 19:32

I am really, I am truly blessed, and it's almost somewhat of a mistake. Anyone that gets off into economic development, for the most part, especially my generation, they can tell you they kind of fell into it. Everything with me started with basketball. Basketball and sports were my north star. That's all I wanted to do, you know, um, was play basketball. And so I got a basketball scholarship to go down in Kansas at Emporia State University and I played basketball there. After that, I played briefly professional in Australia and in France. I didn't know until I started actually doing the schoolwork in college, because I wasn't getting straight A's in high school at all. It was like when I was in college and I had to maintain a certain GPA in order to keep playing basketball, that's when I realized, like, damn it, I'm I'm pretty smart. This is not that difficult for me to do. I just need to focus and do it, and I would do it. But just to play basketball, everything was about basketball. And so even basketball after my playing days, I only played briefly in Australia and France, but even after my playing days were over and I went back to school, um, I think that part of my my personality, what someone would see as talent that they um could identify, it caught the eye of the dean of the school of business and the lieutenant governor of the state of Kansas, Gary Shear, both of whom are great friends of mine to this day. Um they basically got me started in economic development. Um and so I worked for the state of Kansas. And um so Bill Thompson, Steve Kelly, um Um Barbara Hake, um, Steve Jack, Governor, um, um Bill Grace was the first governor, but Lieutenant Governor Shear, all these guys, these were um the ones that really got me started. And and one man, Ron Slave Maker, who was the coach that came all the way to Michigan because he thought I was a pretty good basketball player and dragged me down to Kansas, that was the spark that did it for me. And um and I look back on it and and it's I'm happy that it happened, but it also it makes me a little sad, like what if what if I wasn't a a good basketball player? Would would I have made it this far? Would someone have snatched me and I figured out that I had more talent than what I thought I had, or would I have turned out another way? I I don't know, you know, which is weird that it's there's in many underserved communities there are so much talent, but lots of times they aren't noticed unless they have some extraordinary skill. Maybe they're a music artist or they're an athlete. But there's so much talent there. And my talent was basketball that got me out, but it went beyond that. But that's what actually got my attention that put me into a different environment that allowed for everything you see before you. So I started out in economic development working for a state government. I had three governors I worked for, Governor Bill Graves.

Christopher Luna 22:35

And they're and they're governors from both parties.

Ron Frierson 22:37

So I mean, you I'm sure you saw different sides of the things. I was hired by a Republican. I was brought in and nurtured by a Republican. And then from there, I worked for Kathleen Sabilia's her administration in economic development in Kansas Department of Commerce before she went to work for President Obama. And then Sam Brownback, who was strict Tea Party conservative. So I worked for two Republican governors, one in Dernay administrations, and one Democratic administration.

Christopher Luna 23:06

That's what I like about economic development. It's really not one party, it's it's providing support to the region that you're representing. So when you're looking at it, you have to look at it from different lenses. You have to. Understanding your role and what you did and what you represent and how you capture a business to support the region. I mean, it's great that you're able to kind of navigate through all of that.

Ron Frierson 23:30

Well, that's a skill. That's part of being put into the oven. You have to learn how to separate ideology and politics from data and facts, and actually the narrative

Public To Private: Site Selection

Ron Frierson 23:40

needs to be data driven, and you have to find a common throughput, which is basic humanity. At the end of the day, what we want is investment, we want jobs, and we want to be able to feed our kids. Make that the core. Don't get caught up in the fringe elements of this, that, and the other. Make that the core. Make the economics work. Make it so that you're speaking to everyone because everyone wants to be able to have their kid open up the refrigerator and there's food there. Use that as your North Star, the economic health of whatever constituency that you're working with. Politics change. That doesn't. Hunger doesn't change. Oh no, definitely. Politics does. So things for that. Then from there I went to work in the private sector when the CBRE, then later on NAA Capital.

Christopher Luna 24:26

When you're in was that commercial real estate? So what were you doing in that space?

Ron Frierson 24:30

So initially it was corporate site selection, helping companies, which was let's say this this table we have, there's multiple sides, multiple seats at the table. But in the table, it's essentially economic growth. Okay. So the first table I set in, I was trying to recruit business to the state of Kansas. Companies looking to expand, relocate, or consolidate facilities, getting them to take a look at the state of Kansas from the region that I was covering, you know, through various incentives and things of that sort, giving fam tours for the consultants we work with or for the companies that were perhaps interested in making some investment in the state, giving them workforce information, whatever they needed, negotiating incentives. And then from there, it was at the same table, but now I'm working for those real estate uh companies that are representing those companies. Okay, so they will have the clients, these Fortune 500 clients, that would then like say, okay, let's try to consider these different states. So I went from focusing on one state from the state's perspective to being the agent for the company, looking at multiple jurisdictions. And so I could speak to when I went in as a corporate site selection consultant, I can go and speak to a small town or a big city and know exactly what they're thinking on that side of the table because I used to be them. And so I treated them all the way I would have wanted to be treated when I was in that seat, which gets you a lot of friends because I always led with respect, always lead with respect and understand where they're coming from. And I can do that if um I have I think that I probably have two superpowers. One is that I learn very quickly. You know, sometimes I think of you know the movie The Matrix that you know plug something in, and I know I don't kung fu. You know what I mean? So it's like one it's like one of those things I learned very quickly, and I don't know where that comes from, but I do. And secondly, is that I can put myself in other person's shoes, and it makes it easier when I've done that job. So then from there, um, which requires a lot of travel, then I went to traditional um tenant representation brokerage with the NI Capital before I went to work for Mayor Garcetti. And so when I went to work for Mayor Garcetti, who I think is the most, I think the world of him, he knows, I think the world of him. And um that gave me a chance, number one, to sleep in the same bed every night instead of traveling around doing corporate site selection, and I got to really learn the city that I love, and I got to watch him.

Christopher Luna 27:10

But how did you get to Eric Rossetti? I mean, how I mean, how what brought you to California and Allen to come? They they got me.

Ron Frierson 27:18

I was doing little talks every time, and they got me, and there was a role for director of the uh of economic policy, and um I think that what made me special for that role was my broad sort of knowledge that I can go layers deep into multiple industry sectors. Because when I was on the on the private sector side, and even with the state, I know way more than anyone needs to know about protein manufacturing and food production, way more than most people need to know about data centers, way more than most people need to know about corporate headcount and what they need and during the time it's changed now. But at the time you would need roughly 120 square uh square feet per person depending on it for office space. I just know way too much about multiple industry sectors, garment, district, all this stuff. And for a city like Los Angeles, which has such a broad scope of industries operating out of it, it's amazing. And being able to have a touch point for each of them, then also I had a lot of personal relationships because of my previous roles and because of my basketball. I knew a lot of entertainers, I knew a lot of basketball players, there's some people I played with overseas, so I had a lot of relationships that were baked into the cake as well. And I remember um I was staffing um Merrick Garcetti once. We were at Milken, and I walk into the green room with him, and there's some other mayors there, and the former mayor of Denver, Michael Hancock, comes up to me and gives me a huge hug. And hey, what's going on, Ron? And Mayor was looking at me, it's like, Ron, you're full of surprises. You know everyone. So it's just like it all helped out. And um, and so, and then from Mayor Garcetti's office, that was also an oven that all of us experienced because of COVID. Um, I don't think, I think all of us, whether or not we know it, our skill sets have been expanded. And our knowledge base has improved and been expanded because of what we dealt with at COVID. When you're in City Hall, you only hear from people for the most part if there are problems. Okay. Everyone had problems during COVID. And so during that time, it was really helpful to have that broad set of knowledge and then also the ability to kind of dive deep into each industry sector's problems and challenges and see how we could help from City Hall, where there was that intersection of where they needed our support. And just, you know, following a leader like Merrick Garcetti then was just amazing. And just learning things. And I think from there, that's where Amazon saw me and they looked over the the entire breadth of my career and said, This is the guy. So they recruited me.

Christopher Luna 30:06

You're not one vertical, you're not specialized in one industry. I mean, it was such a perfect fit because I I put myself, I don't want to put myself in your shoes, but I I do I manage properties and a lot of it's industrial parks. So I'm working on a tilt-up right now in Apple Valley. And I think I mentioned this to you in the past where um, you know, it when you when you build a property like that, it's 1.3 million square feet. You have to think of all the different verticals that would utilize a space like that. Um, all the different logistics and distribution centers that would need a space like that. So you have to look at it from different lenses. And when you're on both sides of that table, you have to understand how to negotiate and how to bring in that because it's all competitive advantages. I mean, we represent Los Angeles and California, but you're representing the whole state. Um so it's incredible that whole journey and how that led you to Amazon. And Amazon,

City Hall Lessons And COVID

Christopher Luna 31:00

like I said, it's entertainment, media, data centers, I mean, they're they're involved so much. So how did that happen?

Ron Frierson 31:08

Well, the when I got recruited for that, and as a matter of fact, the the executive recruiter that pinged me, um, it was meant to be your serendipity because I hardly, at that time, hardly ever checked my my LinkedIn because I wasn't actively really looking during that time. I was just having my head down because we had so much stuff going on in COVID. Um, but when he reached out to me through LinkedIn and said that he's interested in having a conversation, went through the entire process. For one, the leadership principles at Amazon were already just so closely aligned with the way I conduct myself. I was like, this the culture sounds very much so like me. And then going through the process, I was like, you know what? This is the place to be in plus is Amazon. But with that, um, along with it, I think that the one thing that's needed and necessary always is to earn trust. And not only to earn trust, but to maintain trust. Okay. And that's the one throughput that I have in every role that I've had. I've earned and not only earned, but maintained trust, because trust can be lost. So you have to maintain it. And how do you maintain it? By being uh by acting with integrity. And that's easy when everything is going great. But it's not easy, but unless it's who you are when there's tough conversations to be had, when it's difficult things. But when you get through that, almost like going through that oven, it comes out even better on the other side. You know, you know how there's this old adage that you really, really never know someone until they're upset with you. You know, that's the case. So you have to know, have trust. And I think that one of the things that helped me out and my role there was my ability to earn and maintain trust. Because it's not just about X and X's and O's. Everyone can do X's and O's, or they wouldn't be there. But what differentiates you and what allows you to build on it is your ability to earn and maintain trust.

Christopher Luna 33:11

Maintaining trust, but on both sides. Always when when you when you're in those tables, and like I said, when you're negotiating, when people, when you're with a client, they want to understand that you're, I know everyone has their their end goal, right? But when when you're dealing with such large corporate entities, they have to understand that everyone's gonna benefit from the transaction. And to build that trust takes many years. And to keep that reputation, everyone knows when they're gonna talk to Ron, they're gonna be taken care of, right? Or they're not gonna be screwed out of anything. Um but what what what ties it all together is your government side and your corporate side. So what did government teach you that corporate America uh misunderstands? And what did corporate leadership teach you that government often lacks? Like because you see it not just from real estate and and private entities, but you see it from the corporate side and from the civic side.

Ron Frierson 34:13

That's a good question. I think that the um the best way I can answer it is that understand we can speak. We can speak to get stuff off our chest, and we only speak in the language that we know. Okay. But what's important is if you want your message to actually be received and conveyed and thought through. So that means that you need to take into account the recipient of that message and what gets like what's going on through their head. What are they hearing as opposed to just what you're saying? Are you saying something just to get it off your chest or to prove the fact that you know this big word and you speak in this corporal lingo, but on the other end of the table, there's someone that doesn't speak that language, they just speak plain English. And it goes the other way too. So I think that what I was able to do is always be able to translate on both sides. I know, like, if I am going to speak on behalf of a corporation, if you are a policymaker or if you are in government, you have multiple constituencies in your head. You don't just have shareholders and shareholder value and this and the other. You have the neighborhood and community groups. You have the different advocates for various groups, labor groups in your head. And sometimes in their minds, they're thinking, like, I have another business come to talk to me, and they are more concerned about margins. You know, while I have these people over here that are talking to me, and many of them are worrying about where their next meal is coming from. And also this special group over here, they always show up to vote. This group over here may not, but I also need them because maybe I want some money from. So I know what was going through the minds of both sides. And so if you know that, then you have a better understanding of how to tailor your message to earn trust and then maintain it. Because, like I said, and when you go through the gauntlet, you know how you said trust takes a long time to

Joining Amazon & Earning Trust

Ron Frierson 36:20

earn? There's a way to expedite that, and it's hard times and crises. One really, really quick. Um, I have the trust of Gucci, okay, their former uh CEO, Marco, and um Gucci wanted to do uh their 100-year anniversary in Hollywood, okay? But we in our cities, infinite wisdom, we didn't want to allow them to close down both sides of the sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard. They said we don't even do it for our homegrown shows like the Grammys or Oscars or whatever. And I remember saying, no, we're gonna make this happen because we're just opening up from COVID. Gucci had already bought production, they had already hired people to handle everything here. They already got room blocks, and now they're finding out they can't use the entirety of Hollywood Boulevard where they scope it out for the runway, so they were in a fit. They contacted me. Long story short, made it happen. I have friends for life at Gucci. So I'm probably one of the best dressed people in the world.

Christopher Luna 37:25

Yeah, we got to get us some uh Gucci shoes. But how do you how do you build and maintain that trust between competitive interests? Because you're kind of having to, again, navigate through all of all that and uh you represent so much. So it's not taking off one hat and putting on the other.

Ron Frierson 37:41

No, it's all in who you are because there's there's honesty and transparency. There's some things you just can't say just because of no, because there may be legal issues. But if you are an honest broker and you are a true trust broker, then there's ways that you can just say this is this is where we are. This is uncomfortable, but this is where we are. And please understand that this is the objective, this is where we are, and this is our hard line, this is our stance. I understand where you're coming from, but this is this is this is where we are. And so again, having those difficult conversations, it goes back to like my athletic past. Sometimes you're just gonna lose a game. You gotta eat it, okay? Or sometimes you just need to make a tough, difficult decision. And when those happen, you just have to be able to articulate in a way that in many cases the other party that may or may not be happy with the decision, if you you can do it in a certain way that you maintain their respect by being, you know, just not being sneaky, just being a person of integrity. And that's the one thing that um I think is a misnomer in many cases. Maybe it's because of pop culture, maybe because we've been duped by certain um entities to think that, you know, this is the way step on people's throats. I I don't I don't believe that at all. I think that there's a way to do business and it can be cutthroat, but it also can be honest and transparent, and you can maintain integrity throughout. And I think in the long term, and I always think in the long term, um, because that's what's going to get us to where we are. If I always thought in the short term, I'd still be back at one of the jobs I worked um years ago, or when I first stopped um playing basketball, I'm trying to find my footing, and I'm working at Radio Shack in Kansas. You know, there's you have to be willing to put yourself in that difficult position in order to lead. And when you're the people that look up to you or your colleagues, when they see that you're willing to take those arrows to lead, to do the right thing, you're doing it you know with integrity, it's easier for them to follow your direction when you have to ask them to do something.

Christopher Luna 40:03

Yeah, I mean, and and and like I said, you're looking at it from so many different angles. And I know we're we're here based in Los Angeles and and then in California, but you're such a global leader. Like you've worked with with companies internationally. You're you you've traveled quite a bit. I mean, you've tell me a little bit about how you see it internationally. Like when you're when you're out representing California, I mean, what do people think of California? Because you know, there's there's a lot out there nowadays, but I mean, what type of reactions do you get when you're dealing with businesses internationally or when you travel?

Ron Frierson 40:37

You know, I first got exposed to doing business, international business back when I was in Kansas. And one thing about the state of Kansas, and I still have such strong relationships there, is that it fed into what I told you at first about me and the work ethic. When you're over those quote-unquote flyover states, they work for what they get. They're not perceived from the outside as the most attractive place at first. Or, you know, for another analogy, the prettiest girl at school, they're gonna have to put makeup on. So they have the most aggressive incentive programs. They go out and get it, they go and pursue these international deals and things of that sort. I remember working with Kubata Tractor, which is a Japanese company, and I helped them in Kansas as one of the projects I worked. And then also I remember, you know, there's a Cintella feed that's here, but that's actually a Japanese company as well, and we helped them because there's a very strong animal health corridor in the Kansas City area. So I first got exposed, and then my time living in international when I was in Australia, I was in Perth, Australia, and I was in Tour France and those places, and me being familiar with those things that helped me out here. When I was working in Mayor Garcetti's office, lots of times the um the International Trade Division, if there was a delegation coming in from Korea or from Vietnam, they would have me come in and speak to them as well because I was very familiar with these different cultures. And so um it's there's a throughput in that as well when we talk about um California. California is a special place because of all of our upside. And this is one of the places you can go and truly reinvent yourself, me included. You know, people look at this as

Translating Between Sectors

Ron Frierson 42:20

the place where dreams can come true. This is, and in some cases, it can be a dream factory. This is where it comes, with your creative and it's just a diversity. We have so much going on here in the state of California that it's amazing. And so that in and of itself gives us an opportunity that other places and jurisdictions wish they had. So that's the easy part. It's that they're gonna take a look at us. The more difficult and challenging part is how are we going to allow ourselves to live up to the dream that they thought we were once they get here. Then once they see who we are, how are we gonna get them to want to come back? Because part of our strength lies in our diversity. That's part of our strength. And then also one of the things that is quasi-critical, I have about Los Angeles, as much as I love this place and this is home. My firstborn child is my firstborn Angelino, is first one of my bloodline here. It's we're too fragmented. We're way too fragmented. And I can see that coming from where I'm from. I'm from different places, so I can come here and still have a little bit of a macro kind of bird's eye view. We're way too fragmented. LA is stronger together. Right now, we basically have two common watering holes. We have the Lakers and the Dodgers for the most part. Those are where we all come together. Other than that, it's all of these competing fighting interests. And I think that part of what you're doing with your podcast is that you're opening up an uh an avenue for all of us to come together, not just here in Av and unless all of us stay in the world.

Christopher Luna 43:57

When you travel abroad and you're talking about the Lakers. And and the Dodgers, but it's the Angels and the Clippers as well. And Southern California and LA regionally, and leading up to your board chair with L A D C, you guys represent the 88 cities. There's so much here. And it is, LA is so big, it is separated a little bit, but California is such an important state to our country. Um, and internationally, especially with everything that's coming here in the next few years. I mean, just this year with the World Cup, you we have to represent appropriately. We have to talk about it appropriately, and there's so much um there's so much activity coming here. So, how do you, with your board chairmanship with the LA EDC, how do you represent that internationally? Because I know you guys have the World Trade Center as well, and you still receive foreign delegates and foreign investments and help strategize all of that. Like, how do you navigate through your role as a board chair for LADC because it's such a great organization?

Ron Frierson 44:59

You know, me along with Stephen Chung, the president of CEO, uh, who was also a guest on the show, uh, we're both members of the International Economic Development Um Council as well. And so we see from other economic developers across the country and across the world how they view Los Angeles and California. Excuse me. And just like you said, they look at us as a powerhouse, and we are. Now, part of what we're doing at the LADC is that we do take this 88 city approach, one LA, LA together, because together we're stronger. Together, as we market ourselves as a powerhouse region, then we compare with countries. We are, if we were just a country on our own, just our 88 cities, we would be the 25th largest economy in the world. That's amazing. There are countries that can't compete with us. But if we are internally fragmented and we're not pooling our resources together to try to market ourselves as a collective kind of um jurisdiction that is open for business and helping to foster it in an equitable fashion because that's also very, very important. With all of these things going on, we just had the NBA All-Star game, we're talking about the FIFA World Cup, the Women's U.S. Open, another Super Bowl last year, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are the equivalent of maybe six or seven Super Bowls every day for two weeks. We will have the population density. So they'll be here. What I am very much so interested in is like, what do we look like after that two weeks is gone? How are we going to capitalize on this moment so that we can benefit from this for the next 15, 20 years? So that in an equitable fashion, that's the key. See, one of the things about this place also is that we have too much of a wealth gap, too much. And the way the you know things are going out, it's only getting worse. And when you have that, it's going to cause other ills, other social ills. We need to start offering opportunity, not charity and opportunity. Because right now there's so much talent, there's so many places that are disinvested in or underserved that don't have the opportunity to try to lift themselves up. We need to, you know, put together playbooks and speed up processes because if it's slow for you to get something done in downtown LA where you have um, you know, ample capital that's willing to invest in downtown LA, what about if you're in South LA, where in, okay, they really don't have the capital there to withstand some sort of huge gap or lapse in abbreviate, not abbreviated, but some prolonged time for permitting. They don't have the the cushion, the financial cushion. They're still paying rent or something that they haven't gotten, you know, all the permits and everything done. And so it's it's even worse for them in those areas. And I know this because I am um, like I guess I'm from Michigan. Saginaw. When Detroit catches a cold, Flint gets the flu, which gives Saginaw pneumonia. So there's a ripple effect. So there's a lot of things that we really need to do here that we are

LA’s Global Brand & Fragmentation

Ron Frierson 48:15

working on that we can do, and the LAEDC tends to try to highlight with our research so that we can help to guide and advise policymakers on certain things that can help business, especially small business, but help business to prosper and micro business as well in this environment, and also offering a playbook on how we can try to capitalize on this moment. When was the last time you saw the same city within a five, 10-year period have two Super Bowls and the Olympics? Some of these things happen once every 15 years in some jurisdictions, and we're having all of these within two or three years. It's amazing.

Christopher Luna 48:52

And it's incredible because you really have to consider it from the top down and from the bottom up. There's so many businesses here, there's so many families that rely in our region. And to capitalize in what's coming, we have to know how to how to integrate ourselves into it. And representing an association like LADC or a lot of the chambers and others, there's so many resources out there for us. But it's it's really telling that story and capturing it. Because I mean, you talked about California and LA being um uh a place of creativity. But if you would have known me five years ago, you would have seen it different, Chris. I was in a family business in a bubble, one industry in the canning confections and grocery industry. Everything I did, all the trade shows, all the conventions, just that one vertical, right? But how do you tell the story so we can capture all of these different businesses that can relate to what's coming? If I knew what I knew now when I had the family business, I would still probably have it, right? I wouldn't have sold it because I used to sell to LA Public LA Parks and Rec. I used to sell to the county, and they're my clients, but being able to go through that procurement process, understanding what's coming, anyone can get involved. It's just making sure you're involved and getting involved.

Ron Frierson 50:10

You know, I want to say not Steven knows the exact stat. I want to say 94% of the businesses in LA have fewer than 20 employees. 94% of the businesses in LA have fewer than 20 employees. We're essentially a small business town. But at the same time, that's where we need to pull, that's why the LADC is so uh impactful and so well respected, is because we pull together those small businesses and give them a bigger voice. We amplify that voice. That one small business by themselves may not be able to effectuate real change or something that's going to impact them, but we are able to do it when they join the collective of the LADC. And I'm so proud of that. And um, one of the things that really drives and motivates me on that front is the fact that I know that I'm I'm it's personal for me when I think about small business owners, you know, my family, um the church is a small business. My brother, God bless his soul, he was a barber, you know, and just thinking about like how important and how much pride you have as a small business owner.

Christopher Luna 51:17

And when you worked with Amazon, you represent the small business community. I mean, there's a lot of businesses that rely on platforms like Amazon, right? So we we we look at these large corporations, but these large corporations trickle down. If you look at all the refineries, if you look at all the Garmin District, there are all these industries in total. There's whole ecosystems that rely on those big businesses. So when you have a seat at the table as board chair at LA EDC, you speak for a lot of us, right? So, and and having someone like you that can really look at it from every angle, not just both sides, it's really important. What are what's next? I mean, what I I I know you you're doing so much and you're involved in so many great organizations, but how do you inspire other people to lead the way you did? How do you, you know, incorporate what's coming? Like, you know, give give us if if I'm a student right now going through college and working in my degrees, like how do you get us involved?

Ron Frierson 52:18

You know, um, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Amazon. And you're right, like over 60% of the items sold in the Amazon stores come from small independent sellers, which is huge. And it also helps some businesses stay in business during COVID when people weren't walking around. You weren't getting sidewalk traffic. So I really appreciate that time. And even with that, that's also one of those things, one of those, just like my time at NAI, just like my time in the mayor's office and with CB and with the governors, it all is molding and shaping me into I'm gonna be. That's that's what it is. So when I say what's next, it's gonna be something that's gonna be impactful and exciting, and that's gonna be the right thing for me because I'm continually evolving. And but my leadership core is what it is, but refining it is always gonna be a work in progress. And and that's one of the fun things that I really uh enjoy about my work, is because, and it's partly of who I am. Like I said, I represent a lot of people. I represent my family, I represent, you know, Jen and London and Little Ronnie, and I represent my parents back home. I represent my brother uh who passed away in 2020 within a week of my first child being born. I mean, I think about it all the time. This is so this is real for me. This is your younger brother. You're the oldest. Yeah, I mean, yes, my he's my only brother. He and he's my younger brother and my only brother. He passed away in 2020, he passed away of a drug overdose. And so this all is part of me, you know, um, remembering his legacy and what he meant to me and to our family as well. To me, everything is interconnected. Um, and that's also one of those things that um kind of forces empathy with me because I look at people. Um, I won't say differently because I'm sure there's a lot of other people that look at the the basic value of humanity the same way that I do. I'm not, I don't pretend to be the only one, but I may be one of the few that am outward with it. And so um so I have my own take on like some of the

One LA: 88 Cities, Big Stage

Ron Frierson 54:30

um the homelessness issues here in the city that I think that we really need to uh fix, make some hard choices, but it needs to be fixed. I think that there's a way to um manage certain things that um we can improve on, but I'm sure I'm not the only one, and I know there's excellent people at City Hall and beyond that are continuing to work on this every day, and that's why I'm always here to support whenever they're asked whenever they ask me.

Christopher Luna 54:56

And I don't want to get too personal, but you mentioned something really big there. Um how do you I mean I look I look at my boys, right? I mean, they're two two boys and my daughter, so I have three kids. Um I'm I'm the youngest of six, and I can't imagine losing a sibling. I still have, I mean, we're we're all here, and my parents are here, and we're all we're all very blessed. But I do have uh close family members that went through issues, and actually, I have a uh one of my my neighbors passed overdose. I have a cousin that overdosed. Um so I can't imagine having someone closer to me like a sibling. But when you're talking about impact and what you do and how that how that incorporates who you are and how you give back, how how do we help that community? Because I I one one thing that struck me when I when you're talking at an event, um uh my goodness, I forget the creative collective um with the LEDC you guys team at the Gensler when we're talking, and you're talking about the homeless issue, and you're talking like look, everyone has a story and you don't know what their background is. And I think you really engage well with the audience because we I think we can a lot of us can relate to that. But what what do you feel is the appropriate way to to go about it here in Los Angeles?

Ron Frierson 56:24

I think that um human first. Understand you're dealing with humans. And whenever we speak up the unhoused population, we speak about them as if they are not humans that need help. And each of those people have um a story behind them. Almost I would dare to say that many of those people that are on these streets now at one point were being held by a mom with dreams for their child of what they were gonna be one day, and that's not it. Okay. So remember that when you deal with them because it's whenever you deal and think about people as a little subhuman, especially as a minority, I can say this, then it's easier to dismiss them or to um have a certain kind of nonchalant or dehumanize them in certain ways, okay? And and what I do, my North Star, my I don't want to like turn into Oprah here, but um because she's trying to pull it out of me. But my my brother was my first best friend, and um I know what he went through in battling his addiction, and I think about him all the time. So with that, it's like one of those things that I can't look at one of those people out there and not think about you know, Damien came up with a good family. His brother's a corporate executive and he's on the street. Each of these people have a story as well.

Christopher Luna 57:52

Yeah, yeah. And and like I said, I can't imagine going through that, but I think that when you represent a community like that and you talk on their behalf, it it's unfortunate because they get taken advantage of. And and it's not just how they're how people react with people going through those situations, but there need to be a strong support system. And and it's unfortunate because they look at it like dollar signs. And I think that there's a whole economy that's behind the scenes that are working and taking advantage of what's going on. Um, but when people are in that space, I think they do have to just bring it down to that level where it's it's very personable.

Ron Frierson 58:39

Absolutely. And then people forget about it. And every ill in society, whether it's uh racism or there's always some sort of cottage industry that's going to commercialize or make money off some sort of negativity. I think that the key is is for those that think positively and really want to impact, make impact and change, um speak up and actually do something about it. And I think that in the wealthiest country in the world, we have our scars, we have a history. And um but face it, go through that oven of making the difficult choices that will bring us better on the other side of it so that we can kind of fix some of these ills. Now, there will always be poor among us, but even the Bible says that. There will always be that. But when there's a lack of opportunity for you to even, some people are like to say, you know, pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Well, what if you don't have boots? So give people the opportunity to better themselves. And that's one thing I love about our noble business in economic development. Economic development at its core is driving investment, creating jobs so people can feed themselves and their family. That's everything. Everything that's complex, it's a series of simple things. So I love the simplicity of what economic development is. It's trying to drive investment to create jobs so people can feed themselves. And we need to spread that to as many communities to find economic development drivers so the people within these communities can do just that. So they can grow, invest, and feed themselves, and have jobs.

Christopher Luna 1:00:33

Yeah, and it requires the right policies, though, to support the business community. What happens is there's there's a lot of bottlenecks, there's a lot of issues that business owners have when they're trying to just support their families and the lives of others. When I had the family business, I mean we had a ton of employees, my payroll was so high, but we just had issue after issue. And I think that's as as business owners, we come across these cities that are so complex. And I think, like you said, we just need to simplify it, make it easy for the business community to support because it's a domino effect. When you have 50 employees, everyone's relying on this, and there's small economies relying, not just the employees, there's the vendors and all your partners that rely on this. Um, so when when you have a business leave the state or leave the city, it comes down to policy too.

Equity, Opportunity, And Small Business

Christopher Luna 1:01:20

So you bring, again, such big vision from so many different angles. And it's rare to have someone like you because a lot of people are so specific into whatever issue it is, whether it's healthcare, whether it's you know, tourism or whatever it is, but you look at it from so many different angles. And I think that's what makes you so unique and how you lead too, because a lot of people want to make sure that they follow the path on such great leaders like you. And um it's it's incredible. And and if you're to give advice to someone, again, going through their college years right now, I mean, you can't give them that experience, right? The family and the parents and the love that you have and all that support, that's hard to give. And that plays a big role into what into who you are. But what are some things that you can help say, like, look, look into this, or these are some leadership traits that you have to to to to to learn or to be a part of? Like, I mean, when you groom your team and when you recruit uh people to work for you, what are some of those characteristics that you look for?

Ron Frierson 1:02:26

You have to have a decent jump shot. I'm joking. No, um, I no, I would say that um mentoring. I have a strong mentor. I have my dad, I have my mom, I have Lamar Reed, I have you know Robert Creeff, I have Lewis Curry, I have Bob Barter, I have uh my my mentors, and I'm sure I missed a couple of them that I speak with and and kind of tell me certain things from their perspective. And also I would say that things tend to happen when you work hard. You know, when you get out there and work hard, take yourself out of your comfort zone and stay curious. There is an an Amazon leadership principle. This is simply to be curious, be curious because it was the curiosity that kind of leads you in certain places, and it's like one of you once you get to a down a certain road and you are diligent, treat everyone with respect. Everyone with respect because that's how you form a reputation and and that's how you form relationships quicker. Okay, because some someone's always watching. For me myself, I am a tall African-American dude. I used to be somewhat decent looking and had blacker hair, but now I'm turning into Morgan Freeman over here. But I know I don't blend well. You will know if you saw me somewhere. You said this tall big kid, the guy with the gray hair, that's that has to be Ron. Or, oh, it's Morgan Freeman. Okay, so so I know I don't blend well. When you don't blend, people are always watching. I would like everyone to kind of think that someone's always watching you. And I remember when I first started as uh me playing basketball. When I started to get good at basketball, I would be somewhere and someone said, I saw you there. I didn't know they saw me there because people starting to notice me. Then the fact that I'm a preacher's son, my dad's a pastor, you see the preacher's son somewhere, then you know somebody's watching you. So I've always been aware that I don't blame or someone's always watching me. So conduct yourself accordingly. And so, and along with that, that just becomes who you are. And then with that, you treat everyone because you know your background and your history, treat everyone, every human, with a certain level of respect because everyone evolves. No one stays in the same place forever. I just told you about three or four of the roles I played and and the roles I'm going to play in the future. Everyone evolves, nothing stays the same. What will be remembered is that during that point of evolution within two entities as they evolve, when they were counterpoint with each other, when they had community, they will remember how you were with them during that brief interaction with them. So if you were a jerk, they're gonna remember that. You may evolve and become something else, they'll and if you were nice and respectful, genuinely just respectful, they're gonna remember that too and say, you know what? Like with you, Christopher's solid. Ever since the minute he's been solid, you've been solid from the very beginning. If you weren't solid, you wouldn't have the type of response and the great success you're having on the show. Because people would say, I don't want to do it. It's because of how solid you were, and whatever brief interaction it was, it's going to carry forward and help you during your evolution. And I would say for young people, always remember that. Be just as nice to the person that can do nothing for you as you would be to the person that's, you know. Managing your team or whatever.

Christopher Luna 1:06:02

Without a doubt. I mean, I I I always say in retail, it doesn't matter what position you have, where you work, every interaction is some interaction. You never know who you're talking to. And I'm not so calculated when it comes to that. It's just how we're brought up. Exactly. Right. Um, I think the the family business does teach us a lot with that. And and you know, every client that would come in, I was in banking too, so you never know what walks in the door, um, how much money they have. And it it you always look at everyone the same way. And I think a lot of people always want to be or only talk to a certain person in the organization, and having that respect for all really tells who you are. Um, you're mentioning California leaders, and I know before we wrap up, um, when when we're looking to launch this magazine and we represent the state as far as far as California leaders go, there's a whole slew of leaders that I come across. And I've interviewed really inspiring leaders. And Steven and you have really it's hard to explain, but I really connected with both of you. And your your backgrounds, the way you guys see things, what you represent for the community. I'm like, these are the perfect two to to just to launch this platform and launch this magazine because, like I said, you guys are really strong and inspiring leaders. What do you hope when we unveil this magazine on April 15th, what do you hope people would capture from just that cover alone with having you and Steven on there?

Ron Frierson 1:07:41

I hope they would um notice, number one, that Steven is not the best dressed person in LA, but I think I'm a little more fashion forward on that. But no, in in all seriousness, I think is I hope it's the curiosity. You have Steven, who is a um, and this is the launch of California Leaders. You without knowing it are pioneering something that's going to be tremendous. Your inaugural issue of California Leaders has a gay Asian and a black guy. Think about that. Think about how impactful that is and how it speaks to the diversity of the state of California. That in and of itself is going to spark interest and it's gonna have people look at this. It's gonna have eyeballs. Some people are gonna look at it already because of the subject matter and the topic. But some people are gonna say that, wow, this mag, this is this is California, this is real life, this is what it is. And especially in the in the largest economy, the third largest municipal economy on the globe, but the largest economy in the state of California, this is what they launched with business leaders, and then they're gonna see the content and see how amazing it is. This is amazing. So what that's what I want, I want to spark interest, and I want you to realize of how important what you're doing, not because it's me, but because of

Personal Loss And Human-First Policy

Ron Frierson 1:09:10

what I represent and what Steven represents in this community, and I do take that, I don't take myself very seriously, as you can tell, but I do take my job and I do take public service very seriously, and I'm a very pro-business guy. I'm a business guy, that's who I am. So it actually exists where you can be a pro-business guy and a civic-minded guy at the same time. They do exist, and Steven and I are two of them.

Christopher Luna 1:09:38

Yeah. And I never even looked at it that way. Yeah, I just saw two great guys that have are strong leaders. But now you gave me a lot more sense of responsibility here. Um it is, I mean, it I don't know what it is I'm building, to tell you the truth. When I started this, I just came across I managed 150 of you uh where I used to work, and I come across a lot of inspiring leaders. And to me, it was really like, okay, we're more than just the title, we're more than the brand. Uh, there's stories to all of us. And how do I amplify it? When when when we work in, or when I worked in Los Angeles, Los Angeles is big, but at the same time, it's small. Yes. And if you go to just Orange County, people are like, where's your passport? What are you doing over here? I'm like, what are you talking about?

Speaker 4 1:10:32

So true.

Christopher Luna 1:10:33

So to me, it's amplifying these leaders, the great events and the great associations that we attend and the and the things that we do outside of just even the room. A lot of the stories die in that room. They don't live outside. Yes, there's some post-production and there's some images and things like that, but how do we help amplify all of this great work throughout just the state? If you go to Orange County, San Diego, or Sacramento, the Bay Area, anywhere along the state, it's like, how do we tell these stories outside of our network and grow? Because it's it's a disservice when I when I see this content and and we're not doing a good job amplifying it.

Ron Frierson 1:11:14

I think the story will spread on its own because it's a good story. Good stories have a way of getting out there. You don't have to, I don't think you have to worry about it as much. You have to do your due diligence and things you're supposed to do on your part. But the story is so compelling. We are in a region of 10 million people. Just if you have a certain percentage of the people just here, that's gonna be more than just about many publications gonna have anywhere. And not to take into account the entire state. And then think about the diaspora of every country that has some touch point on Los Angeles. All of the different things that are coming to LA that want to know more about LA, the different companies from abroad that are maybe perhaps looking at investing in Los Angeles, and so they're gonna go through and look at different things to learn more about California and Los Angeles. This is gonna be one of the references they have. You know, there's gonna be a lot of opportunity that continues to come your way, and it's largely because you have been, like you say, you wasn't intentional, but the way you're launching is it's it's something that's special. And so I'm excited to be a part of it. And I I just want to thank you so much for having me on. And I'm sorry I got a little you know touched when I was talking about my brother that tends to happen.

Christopher Luna 1:12:35

There's no need for for that, but I mean it's an honor to have you here. It's an honor to have you uh on the on the cover of that magazine. We have a lot of great leaders, Dr. Noel Hasagaba, the new CEO of the Port of Long Beach, Eugene Siroca, executive director of the Port of LA. We have university presidents, we have a lot of great inspiring leaders, but it's not, I mean, you're gonna help sell the cover, but there's a lot of great people that work in these organizations. Think of Amazon or any association organization. There's thousands of employees and there's thousands of leaders within these companies, and we need to help amplify all of their stories as well. And that's my goal, that's my intention, is when I see a brand or a logo like that, I look at everything that represents. And um I again, I just really do appreciate your support with this. And it's an honor to be here with you today and hear your story. And and we're we're gonna have another opportunity to sit down with you more publicly with an audience. And I'm sure that there's gonna be a lot of questions that I didn't ask that I'm gonna ask you there. So be prepared.

Ron Frierson 1:13:39

Thank you, Christopher. I really appreciate it.

Christopher Luna 1:13:41

Yeah, thank you again, and and thank you for joining us again for California Leaders. Um, look forward to the next one.

Narrator 1 1:13:47

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the California Leaders Podcast, hosted by Christopher Luna. We hope you find our conversation as inspiring as we did. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback help us bring more of the content you love. And be sure to follow us on social media for updates, behind the scene content, and to join the conversation. Until next time, keep leading, keep innovating, and keep making a difference.