SPI 426: Black Entrepreneurs Speak Out, Volume 1

SPI 426 Black Entrepreneurs Speak Out, Volume 1

Pat Flynn:
Hey, what’s up Team Flynn, Pat here. Last week I asked for Black entrepreneurs in the SPI audience to share their own entrepreneurial journey or really anything that they’d like us to know. And what was really cool was that within just a few days, we literally had several dozens of submissions. Absolutely and truly excellent submissions, a ton.

Pat:
And several members of my internal team and I spent time listening to everything that was shared, and we got permission to feature some of them here on the show. And in this episode, you’ll hear the first of many times we’re going to pass the mic to amplify Black voices. The submissions we received sparked several great conversations for us as a company, but also as individuals.

Pat:
And we’re learning so much about being anti-racist and ways that we can listen more and become more supportive. And if you’re listening to this episode, please listen closely to what has been shared here. Take notes and use this as a starting point for conversations with your teams, families, and communities.

Randy Wilburn:
Hey Pat, it’s Randy Wilburn. Hope you’re doing well. Hope your family is doing safe during this pandemic. I wanted to just reach out to you. I got to be honest. I also sent you an email about this, but I was a little concerned when all of the messages that you were sending out sounded like business as usual over the past, maybe week and a half. And then I got this email this morning and it really warmed my heart to hear your concern for my community and for what people of color are going through right now here in the United States.

Randy:
I’ve always thought of you as a standup guy. I appreciate the foundation that you’ve laid out for so many entrepreneurs by giving them a platform and a framework to work from and build on. And so, you even asking the question and wanting to hear and to listen is huge. So, thank you for that.

Randy:
My simple advice, I mean, there’s some good books out there that I would highly recommend. One is White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. And that is a great, great book that talks about systemic racism and also talks about some of the inherent, implicit bias that exists and a lot of individuals, specifically white folks. Everybody doesn’t want to acknowledge it, but she lays it out in such a really refreshing way that you can’t help but read it and take pause to figure out how it affects you.

Randy:
As a Black person I read it and it was very affirming for me about some of the things that I’ve experienced in the past, as well as even the commentary that I run across all the time on Facebook and other social media, like the hashtag AllLivesMatter. I get it, all life does matter, but when I’m talking about Black lives matter, I’m talking about Blacks that are being killed in the streets, Blacks that are being wrongfully convicted and killed, people like George Floyd who should never… he shouldn’t be dead right now, but he is. And that’s why we’re saying Black Lives Matter. We’re not saying it to the detriment of any other life.

Randy:
And of course, I’m sure you’ve heard that argument over and over again. But anyway, I just think it’s important for us to have that conversation. What I would say to anyone that would listen, if they want to help out, especially Black entrepreneurs, people that are trying to get themselves off the ground, is to have a conversation with them. Find out what situations they may be encountering that a white person or any of our white brothers and sisters may not be dealing with or might take for granted that it’s easier for them to go get a loan or do this, or do that.

Randy:
And the thing that I love about what you do, Pat, is that you help people bootstrap things. And almost any one of us can do that, but there’s still some challenges. There’s still some challenges that a lot of us face when it comes to this whole black and white issue. And since we now have this platform on the unfortunate death of George Floyd and so many other things that are happening—like Breonna Taylor and Ahmad Aubrey down in Georgia, I think it’s important for us to start having this dialogue.

Randy:
So, my encouragement would simply be to my white brothers and sisters that are part of the SPI community to reach out to anybody that is brown or black that you consider a friend to talk with them about their experiences, what they go through, what is a challenge for them? What isn’t a challenge for them? I’m sure a lot of them never drive around with a fear of anytime they see a cop car in their rear view mirror, what that feels like. And that is a real issue for some Blacks, not all, but some.

Randy:
The reality is, is that that’s our current state of affairs. And I believe that only through time and through dialogue and discussion can it get better. So, I would encourage them to reach out to Black people that they know. If they don’t know any black people, they need to know some, because this is a very diverse world that we live in. And I’m always encouraging people to reach out and create relationships whenever possible.

Randy:
I posted something on Instagram about two people that have made a tremendous impact in my life in the past couple of years, one is white and one is Black. And I think that’s how it should be. I think that there is room for us to have these relationships, room for us to have this dialogue and these conversations where we can all understand each other better and be able to serve each other in that way, right.

Randy:
I think that’s part of a great commission, right? Of going out and sharing and being in relationship with other people. So, that’s all I have to share with you. I’m about to run out of my time, but be willing to have those conversations with Black and brown people, be open to listening. That’s why we have two ears and one mouth. Just listen. That’s all I want you to do. Listen, and then act as your heart leads. Peace.

Genein Letford:
Hi Pat, thank you so much for everything that you’re doing to make this issue a more [inaudible 00:06:03], especially with your audience. My name is Genein Letford and I’m an entrepreneur, brand new entrepreneur. I left the classroom. I was a classroom teacher for 15 years in Los Angeles, California. And I went out on my own to start my own speaking business, writing business, and also launch online classes.

Genein:
I realized that economic justice is tied to racial justice. And even though I am a teacher within the educational system, I realize that there are huge inequities within the educational system, and that we keep graduating millions of students of all colors without financial education and knowledge of how to build wealth and entrepreneurship education of knowledge of how to create their own economy in case something like what we’re going through now happens.

Genein:
For that to happen, for us to keep graduating kids without these skills is further widening the wealth gap, widening just the opportunity gap in addition to the educational academic gaps. So, I left my job to answer this call that is coming to a huge moment right now. So, I just wanted to just communicate with you and your team—I’ve known about you maybe a few years now—of how can we highlight the fact that this is a systemic issue that starts all the way at birth.

Genein:
My whole business is about how your creative health affects your financial wealth. And a lot of people think that creativity is just about the arts, but creativity is a process of creating ideas, and finding ideas, and creating ideas that have value basically, and ideas that have relevance, value and novelty. And for people to really hone this gift of creative thinking and innovative thinking and know how to bring it to the marketplace is a wonderful skill to have. But once again, like I mentioned before, we keep graduating kids without these critical tools, so they just know how to memorize facts and regurgitate them on a test. But once they get out into the real world, they don’t have the tools to actually function, build wealth for themselves and their families.

Genein:
And like I said before, the biggest demographic where this hurts the most is the Black community and those communities of color. So, I’m creating that. So, that’s just one of the experiences that I have witnessed. I’ve seen it firsthand within the system, and I see it firsthand within entrepreneurship that a lot of, especially now with the pandemic, a lot of people losing their main source of income and they have no clue of how to create any other type of income because we haven’t given them any of the training.

Genein:
So, I’m just building this business. I’m building online classes. I am an award-winning educator and I just love doing what I do. So, thank you for this platform to share my story. My name is Genein Letford. You can find me at geneinletford.com. My book From Debt to Destiny: Creating Financial Freedom From the Inside Out talks about how I realized that my creative gifts, my ability to create ideas that have value and then bring them out into the marketplace was a huge indicator of me coming out from a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of debt.

Genein:
And once again, there’s these underlying issues that’s tied to the racial inequality of: student loan debt, which affects all races, but the Black and brown communities and first gen communities have that extra weight of not having other wealth-building assets in place like the white community or the Asian community might have in place.

Genein:
And so, now you tackle all the student debt. So with that, I wrote a book about how I realized that even though I had a UCLA degree, I was still financially illiterate. And this is just another thing that tacks on to the whole racial inequality conversation. So, it’s all tight and I’m so glad that your company and now so many other companies are realizing that this is a systemic issue that’s been prevalent for 400 years.

Genein:
And this is a shift. 2020 is a shift. I look to be a forerunner as a voice to make sure that we’re shifting in the right direction so that my child and your children and all of our kids can continue on and push America forward to the great, creative power that we are supposed to be, where everyone has the equal opportunity to shine bright like a diamond. Thank you so much, and have a wonderful rest of your day. Bye.

Keenya Kelly:
Hey guys, I’m Keenya Kelly of keenyakelly.com and ifyoubrandit.com. I am a branding and marketing consultant and I’m an African American entrepreneur. I’ve basically been an entrepreneur pretty much my entire life. And the reason why I got started as an entrepreneur is it’s, I mean, it literally is in my DNA. I used to sell candy for 25 cent that I bought for five cent. But as of recent or five years ago, I launched my branding and consulting business because I felt like I had something to offer that I spent many years, at least 18 years, in network marketing and business, teaching people how to make money.

Keenya:
People would always call me for advice, and I just wouldn’t charge for it because I didn’t realize that I had anything. But since doing all of that, I’ve had amazing success on social media, giving people clarity, helping them with their branding and all types of things. But I would say as a Black entrepreneur, I’m a more so neutral type of person. I don’t feel like opportunities are… I definitely didn’t get them because I was Black. But I feel like there were times when I did not get opportunities because I was Black.

Keenya:
I don’t have the stance that I think that all people are racist. I can’t say that. I don’t label people as racist. I think that sometimes people have prejudices. And so, when I think about the opportunities I have not had, I’ve pitched myself like crazy to many stages and all that. And I find myself not hearing back from people or just not getting opportunities. And unfortunately this sounds really bad. It’s not until a white person says, “Oh, this person is great.” And then people follow, and then people begin to reach out and want to have us speaking and teaching or what have you.

Keenya:
And honestly, it could just be because we haven’t invested the time that a lot of these big people have done, or put in the dollars in marketing. So, I can’t say that it’s all because people had put us on stages, but I do have those moments as an entrepreneur where I’m like, “I wonder if I was white, if things would be different.” I got on the TikTok recently and in two months we got 20,000 followers, but I watched some people, they got a million followers much faster than I have.

Keenya:
And I didn’t say, “Oh, it’s because I’m Black,” but what I have started doing on TikTok is I’m like, “Okay, if I copy the same content, do the exact same thing that this person did within the same timeframe, whose video is going to get the most views, the most engagement and more follows?” And unfortunately, I have seen some videos where people that are not of color have more success.

Keenya:
And I mean, that could be because maybe there’s more non-people of color on the platform, but I don’t know. And so, just as my experience, I have had moments where I have wondered if I’m not getting opportunities because I’m brown, because I’m Black. My personality is a little bit different. I am somewhere where I’m like, “I’m going to fight for it.” Meaning, I’m going to build my own stage. I’m going to come into an arena, come into an area, like when I moved to California and I’m like, “I’m not going to demand that people put me on their stages. I’m just going to build my own, but I’m also going to make beautiful noise. I’m going to make beautiful noise and make people see me in a way that’s nonthreatening.”

Keenya:
I’ve come into the city a year ago, Redding, California. And I’ve just been making so much noise with who I am, and what I do, and serving people even without being paid, that all these folks are like, “Who is this girl? Who is this girl?” And it’s not because I’m saying, “Come see me. Put me on your stage. Make me do this,” I’m just like, “No, you’re going to see me because I’m going to do what I do. And everybody’s going to be talking about me because of what it is that I do.”

Keenya:
And so, don’t get me wrong. I do have my moments, but I will say that I’m really, really excited, shocked, and amazed at what’s happening now. I’m watching people on TikTok choose to not share their own content, but to share our content. And it’s causing us to reach thousands more people. People are doing podcast interviews and just all of these stuff I’m just watching people go: I didn’t realize that this was a thing. I didn’t realize that you guys felt this way and that this was really happening. And I’m just watching us have way more opportunities. So, I would say that this is prime time for all entrepreneurs, but if you are a non-person of color and you haven’t highlighted people that are African American or what have you, I would say, this is your time. This is your moment to do so.

Keenya:
And not just anybody, but the ones that have your same message. I don’t think that anyone should invite someone onto their stage that’s saying a whole different thing or someone that is doing the same thing that you’re doing, because it can obviously affect you from generating the income you want to generate in your business. But I would definitely say inviting people that are good at what they do, that have amazing value for your audience. Intentionally going, “Okay, for the next 30 days, I am going to find and I’m just going to do this and this is what we’re going to do even if people don’t understand it or we get backlash or whatever.”

Keenya:
And so, yeah, I’m proud to be African American. The song I’m Proud to be an American and I’ll just build my own stage and if I don’t give opportunities. And so, that’s been my experience.

Sean Rogers:
Hi Pat Flynn and Smart Passive Income, this is Sean Rogers with the Smart Money Cafe. I think this is phenomenal what you guys are doing. This thing that you’re doing with the Black Lives Matter donations, and just the fact that you said you guys are open and ready to listen. This is the first time that I can recall ever that other nationalities are truly fed up and horrified with some of the horrible things that have happened to Black people in recent times and in past times.

Sean:
I can remember as a kid growing up as far back as elementary school, probably second or third grade, I knew the relationship between us Black people and the police wasn’t as rosy as it was made out to be on television and movies. And when they visit the school and everyone’s smiling. I can remember that we were playing football, catch, in the front yard of my friend’s house. There were about four of us kids just playing catch like we did every day. And the police came up and they just stopped their car right in front of the house and just stared at us. And believe me, we weren’t even in a bad neighborhood or anything like that. We were in a middle class, nice, clean neighborhood, just playing ball, probably second grade. And they stared at us and we all stopped and just froze. And then they said, one of them yelled at us and cursed us out and said he’ll get out of the car and kick our little blanks.

Sean:
And we just stood there frozen and didn’t say a word. And then he just drove away. And we were like, wow, being threatened around the front yard of your best friend’s house in elementary school. Can you imagine that? And I remember as a young adult being followed all the time, being pulled over. I had a nice little car, had a nice little job, nice little BMW. And I got pulled over so many times that I had to get rid of the car.

Sean:
Had to get rid of it because it was just, I don’t know, I guess I hit that age over 21 that if I was seen in a nice car, I was getting pulled over or followed. And so I got rid of that car and bought myself a Toyota, I think, 4Runner. And I had less incident. But it’s too bad that a young, clean-cut, college-educated Black man from a good family has to drive around in fear that he’s going to be followed or pulled over. And it seemed like back then it was just a case of, if you were pulled over, they gave you a bad time, sat you on the curb, ransacked your car, and sent you on your way.

Sean:
If you were more of an edgy Black person, they probably beat you up or gave you a bad time and sent you on your way. But in more recent years, in 2020, it seems like even if you are okay, or you’re nice, or you just comply, you could end up dead anyway, as a Black man. Just like Floyd did, just like he begged for his life and he’s still dead.

Sean:
So, thank you once again, Pat Flynn and Smart Passive Income. I appreciate you. And that’s it. I don’t want to take up too much time. Like I said, I’m with the Smart Money Cafe. I’ve taken your lessons, Pat, you’re doing a great job. You’re an inspiration to us. And I’m just so happy that you took the time to listen and so many other people are listening and taking action too, standing with us because I think the biggest threat seems to be for us Black people is the police and fear of going outside.

Sean:
And it’s like, “Wow, will my son run into that wrong cop? Even if 90 percent of them are good, if he runs it to that wrong one, he may not make it home. If I run it to the wrong one, I may not make it home.” Anyway, God bless you, guys. Thank you. Bye.

Thembi Bheka:
Thank you for the opportunity to share this with your audience. Well, my name is Thembi and I’m the founder of Virtual Staff On Demand , an organization that trains abused African women and teaches them how to be virtual assistants and reconnect them with jobs. I know a lot of people are confused right now and probably hurt, and for the right reason. The emotions are very high for everyone.

Thembi:
And I just want to share with everyone, with the entrepreneurs right now that, first of all, this is the time to be graceful, to be kind, and to be patient. Everyone is going through emotions at a different level, so we have to be graceful, and kind, and understanding to everyone.

Thembi:
Having said that, when we talk about Black lives, like everybody else, whether you’re Black, you’re white, you’re brown, the human race, we need three things. The three things we need naturally, we want to be heard, we want to be seen, and we want to be understood. So, as you think of your community as an entrepreneur, think of how can you help them feel like they’re seen right now? How can you help them feel like they’re acknowledged right now?

Thembi:
And one of the things you could do is by just looking in your organization and see how many people of color do I have in my organization? If you have a platform like a podcast or physical stages, what is the percentage of your guests who are people of color and how do you support them as they come to speak on the stages? Because there’s one thing, having a stage, but if your stage only has one person of color when you have 20 people speaking, that’s like 5 percent, and that’s really not great.

Thembi:
And so, you want to try to involve them in that way of bringing more people to your stages, to your platforms, to your company, to your organizations, to your meeting. That is the first thing. And the second thing is, how do you hear them? How do you hear them? When people express concerns? I want to make an example with Pat Flynn here. When people expressed concerns about how they felt they were not being heard or how they felt that he wasn’t responding to what was going on in the world, he rose up and he said, “I’m giving you my stage. I am giving you my platform, come and share. I’m here to listen.”

Thembi:
And that’s what people want. And you don’t have to give people your platform, but just hear them. Hear what they say. He could have just done something else just to acknowledge that he hears us as we are crying. Hear what they say and listen to them so that they can feel like somebody at least is listening to them.

Thembi:
And then they need to be understood. You don’t have to agree with what we think right now. You don’t have to say “yes” or “no.” And yes, I know that obviously, if you are normal, you know that what happened with George Floyd is wrong or anything really, any injustice is wrong. But what you can do is to say, “Thank you for sharing this. I understand I am still learning.”

Thembi:
The thing which people are struggling with right now, your audience, is the silence. Silence does not serve anybody right now. Silence does not serve anybody. And actually, if you think of it, think of a friend who lost a loved one and you meet them at the grocery store and maybe you avoid them because they have lost a loved one. And you keep avoiding them and thinking, “Oh, maybe if I don’t see them, it’s going to go away.” It doesn’t go away. They still need comforting. They still need to hear from you.

Thembi:
So, you need to be speaking, whatever it is that you say, just speak to your audience. It could be a simple thing like, “I know a lot of people are hurt and I totally understand there is so much injustice right now. I just want to let you know that I stand for justice.” As simple as that. You don’t have to go into the whole thing of what happened, who did what, who did what? Just a simple thing just to make sure you hear, you listen, and you understand people. That’s what people want really.

Thembi:
So, thank you so much for listening. I want to end by this: I believe we truly can and will change the world. Entrepreneurs are the people who are going to change this world. And if you are listening right now, entrepreneur, you are the future of humanity. Help us change the world and help us make this world a better place. And everyone has a good intention.

Thembi:
I know Pat Flynn attracts people with good intentions. Everyone has a good intention. While learning, we are trying, we are still learning. Let us be graceful, and loving, and kind to each other. Thank you very much. As I said, my name is Thembi Bheka. I’m the founder of Virtual Staff On Demand , an organization that trains African women from abusive relationships to be virtual assistants. You can connect with us at virtualstaffondemand.com.

LaTanya White:
Hi Pat, my name is LaTanya White, and I want to thank you and your team so much for your message. I was extremely moved by it. I’ve been following you guys for a long time, and I feel so connected to you and so much more connected now that you’ve opened up this dialogue. Please do feel free to share this with the broader SPI community.

LaTanya:
I teach entrepreneurship. And I always say, “teach” and put it in air quotes. But I teach entrepreneurship at one of the largest, historically Black colleges in the country. And I’m also a doctoral researcher, a PhD student studying wealth inequality and its relationship to entrepreneurship.

LaTanya:
This is my second time recording this because I got so worked up the first time. I applied to my PhD program and it has a social justice lens. The program is on leadership and change. And what I have been studying is economic justice. And what I’ve learned about the wealth gap and wealth inequality, without criminalizing anyone, is that entrepreneurship, as we know, plays a significant role in wealth creation. And the wealth gaps that we are experiencing today has a deep correlation to entrepreneurial activity from the first Gilded Age.

LaTanya:
Of course, we think of the Rockefellers, and the Vanderbilts, and the Carnegies. And it’s not even about how they earned their money, it’s more about that they had access to building wealth that my ancestors, my students’ ancestors, the people who I’m connected to in the entrepreneurial ecosystems, our ancestors didn’t have access to those kinds of means to establish wealth, or at least not in such pervasive ways as the Rockefellers, and the Vanderbilts, and the Waltons and the Mars, and the Kochs, right?

LaTanya:
So, situating this entire, lived experience of African Americans and people of color, it gets to be pretty painful for me from the standpoint of entrepreneurship education, because we’re so far behind the eight ball, as far as access to wealth is concerned. Which lends itself to the creation of wealth, which you need in order to participate in the intergenerational transfer of wealth.

LaTanya:
And in my literature review, what I found is that you’re more likely to participate in entrepreneurship if you’ve been exposed to it. So, there are these economic dynamics from an entrepreneurial perspective that really impact the social perspective of the African American lived experience. In my naivety, I really thought very, very early on in my research, I really thought that if Black people had more money, we wouldn’t experience things like this, but it’s been a painful reality to know that that won’t change it.

LaTanya:
I will say that I am deeply committed to teaching the dynamics and the principles of dynastic wealth to people of color. And I appreciate everything that you have taught me in that and I’m a member of Power Up Podcasting. So, I’ll be using my voice to help do that. And I thank you for being my teacher.

Teia Jones:
Hi, this is coach Teia, a certified family life coach. I am a gratitude expert, a parenting coach, and a serial entrepreneur. I have spent many years working within families in some capacity to create effective communication, to create synergy, to help parents to learn how to parent using their strengths as opposed to their weaknesses. And my goal has always been about helping families become restored, be redefined, to help families be intentional.

Teia:
And as I see in just recent times, what’s going on in our world right now with the death of George Floyd, and so many others, I realize that the focus has to go deeper. My personal mantra has to go deeper. I currently have a podcast, Family Seasons By Coach Teia. And I have always been able to talk about different issues that are happening within not just the Black community, but in communities within itself.

Teia:
I’m now in a position where I believe that I have more work to do. I have more work to do when I see that so many still don’t understand the value when we hear Black Lives Matter. It’s not saying that all lives don’t matter, but what we were saying that Black lives matter also. And so, until I hear more people understanding what that means, I realize that I have much work to do.

Teia:
And so Pat, I thank you for this platform. I thank you because without this platform, all the things that I have accomplished, all the things that we as Black people have accomplished, they will still go unheard, still be unseen if we don’t have the proper platforms to share these messages with. If we want the world to change, and I believe that, we must be right there on the forefront to help create those changes.

Teia:
But one thing I understand is that when you’re talking about creating change, it means that all parties involved must realize that there is room for change, there is need for change, and then we gather together to figure out how do we make that happen? When I go into a family and I’m trying to help families realize what the issues are, the identified issue or the identified person, it’s important that I let them know that every person in this family has a responsibility.

Teia:
As a team, you all have a role and your role is vital. When you come together with those different roles and put it together, you have a winning team. That’s the same exact thing that we need in America. We need in our country, in our world. We need to know that we all have a role. We all have something that we are supposed to do. We all have some type of impact. We all have something that needs to be said, that needs to be seen. We all have work that needs to be done.

Teia:
And once we put that together, once we come together, we realize that we can win. We can finally, as I just hope and believe, we can finally overcome all the racism that is still alive and well. I had a great aunt that passed just last week. She was 106 years old. And of all the things that she saw within her lifetime, racism was one of the things that she saw. Racism was one of the things that she lived. As a Black woman, she saw that. She lived the experiences of racism. And unfortunately, even at her time of death, I am dealing with the issues of racism.

Teia:
So, that lets us know we still have work to do. It’s been a hundred years in my family and there’s still work to do. So, as a country, as a community, as individuals, as humans, if we focus more on what we can do, what we need to learn, we’re able to move forward. And that’s what I hope and pray that my entire goal, that my purpose will be heard and will be seen in a greater way so that we can move forward, so that we can finally stop seeing images of the white man’s knee in the Black man’s neck, so that we can finally see Black children and white children holding hands and really being able to live the American dream for all of us. Not just some of us, not some because of privilege and such, but because we all deserve it. That is my goal.

Teia:
And I’m grateful once again for being able to have this platform. I thank you. You can find me at coachteia.com or familyvision2020.com. Also, a podcast is available everywhere, it’s Family Seasons by Coach Teia. I am here to talk. I’m here to listen. I’m here to help this country move forward. Thank you once again for this opportunity.

Casanova Brooks:
Good day my brother, this is Casanova Brooks. And I just wanted to take this moment to say thank you. I’m sure not only me, but for many other Black creators and entrepreneurs, you’ve been such an inspiration. You’ve always led from the front and been a pioneer. And for me having a podcast now that just crossed the episode 100 threshold for the DreamNation podcast.

Casanova:
I remember back, probably three years ago, when I listened to my first podcast, and coming across your podcast, and coming across your content was definitely something that was an inspiration, not only for the podcast world, but definitely just for the business world and just for being someone who could lead and create a tribe. And so, I would say thank you. Thank you for always being a voice and thank you for standing up for what you believe in and what’s been right for all along.

Casanova:
And so, for me, I’ll tell you my experience as a Black man growing up to a single mom on the South Side of Chicago. And now having a biracial family, since my wife is white and both of my kids are half, I’ve always felt uncomfortable. And I made a video and also a podcast episode about this where I talk about when many people have reached out to me over the last couple of days and over the last couple of weeks to ask where my heart is, where my head is, and what specifically, if anything, they can do to help.

Casanova:
I always have referred back to the willingness to be uncomfortable. And I think that’s where so many of our problems stem from. Many people are not willing to be uncomfortable. Now, I think that there is definitely a need for protests, and even in some form force or riot. Now, let explain what I mean by that, because I never ever condone the tearing up of your own community or anyone else’s community, and definitely not the tearing up of small businesses, and especially Black businesses. Because I understand the plight, me being a business owner of multiple businesses now, of financing, of relationships, of just getting people to believe in your dream and believe that you can do something that’s bigger than you and have ownership.

Casanova:
And me also being in real estate, I understand how valuable ownership is, not only for real estate, but just for business and what that contributes to society and the country. But for many people, I think that the problem lies with not everyone willing to be uncomfortable. And more specifically, when I talk about being uncomfortable, I mean, in the silo conversations. The conversations that happen in baseball games for children. That happen in the small conversations of football, or at the water cooler, or at the office, or around the pool, or the campfire.

Casanova:
These conversations where there might not be a Black person, or person of color, or even the scenarios that happened in grocery stores or whatever, where someone sees that a situation is not right. Case in point, George Floyd. I don’t believe that all of those cops meant… I think I read that one of the cops, it was only his fourth day on the force. And when he took this oath, I’m sure his intention was never to have killed someone within that first week. Right?

Casanova:
And if he could take it back, I’m sure he would. But the problem was not that he had the intent to harm or even kill someone, it was because he didn’t speak up at a time where maybe he knew in his heart this is not the best thing to do. And so, I think, for me, I’ve always felt uncomfortable in so many spaces. Now I live, which I’ve always lived in the Midwest, but now I live in Omaha, Nebraska, which is a conservative Catholic state.

Casanova:
And again, I don’t say any of this, as I said in my videos and on my show, I don’t say any of this for sympathy, because I know that I’ve been very blessed and I’ve been very lucky to create the life that I have for my kids and for everything that I didn’t have growing up. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that every day when I turn on the news and I see someone who is being choked, out or someone who’s being a victim of police brutality, especially a Black man, that I don’t think that it couldn’t happen to me. I’m no different.

Casanova:
I grew up with all of the plights against me, and all of the struggles against me, and all of the odds against me to not be able to succeed. But as I’ve always said, the one thing that I can control is my energy, my effort, and my mindset. And so, that’s what I’ve always focused on. I’m very tired, I’m very frustrated because in some ways, and I’ve always been someone who’s been optimistic and hopeful, right? And I’ve always been someone who somehow I’ve just gotten blessed to build relationships in a meaningful way that’s allowed me to just give a better life to those who will come after me because of the relationships that I’ve built.

Casanova:
But at the same time, I know that we won’t have change tomorrow. We’re working towards a better future for our kids, but we won’t have change tomorrow. And the reason why we won’t have change is because many people, they aren’t willing to get uncomfortable. So, that’s always my call to action for anyone: When those silo conversations come up, and they will, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, families will get together and there’ll be conversations about Colin Kaepernick, or there’ll be conversations about Donald Trump.

Casanova:
There’ll be conversations about if kneeling in general is disrespecting the flag, when we know that it’s not. These conversations will come up and there’ll be people who have a stance on it, who feel that they know the right thing to say. They know that kneeling is not disrespecting the flag and that’s not the intent. They know that their great grandfathers fought in these same wars and that they would never want to disrespect their great grandfathers or anyone that’s in their family that has served in the military, but yet they won’t still speak up.

Casanova:
Those are the conversations that I think make people uncomfortable. And until people can start getting uncomfortable, I don’t know that we’ll really have the radical change that we’re looking for in the immediate future. For you, my man, I would say thank you for willing to be uncomfortable. Not only in just showing up consistently for the tribe Team Flynn and even I would say in a way myself, but just willing to always do what’s right.

Casanova:
Showing your son what’s right and voicing what’s right. I’ve been a fan for a very long time, as I’m sure many people have. And again, I always say that you’ve given me so much hope and inspiration. And the reason why is because when I looked at the level of guests that I’ve now had onto my podcast, the relationships that I’ve built, I think it all started—which is why I call it DreamNation—with a dream. A dream that no matter what the odds were against me, that I could prevail.

Casanova:
And I think you showed that in the beginning. And it did give me, even though we don’t look alike, but I felt like our energy aligned. I felt like there were so many characteristics in you that I was like, “Man, that’s pretty dope.” And it’s allowed me to have that, “if he can do it, I can do it” approach. And nothing’s ever been truer for the, again, relationships that I’ve built. I’m so grateful.

Casanova:
And again, I’ll always say thank you. And I look forward to the time, hopefully in the near future, that I can have you on the show and we can really chop it up and break bread and talk about so many things that I think the conversation will be phenomenal. So again, my man, I won’t hold up too much in this, but I appreciate you sharing your platform to allow African American, Black men, and even Black creators in general, men and women, a place to voice their struggles, voice their happiness, and just voice their day-to-day life.

Casanova:
So, I appreciate you, Team Flynn for the win. And I look forward to watching your growth. And I would just say, keep inspiring my brother, we need you.

Pat:
Hey, it’s Pat here again. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. I edited and I cut this episode myself. And first of all, I wanted to include everybody’s message, but it would have been a four hour episode. And we’ll bring back those whose messages had yet to be heard in the future, in the podcast, on other platforms. We’re not going to do a whole bunch back to back, but this is not the end. That’s for sure.

Pat:
And as I was editing this, as I was listening to every single person who spoke, I just spent some time reflecting on the messages that were shared and one thing definitely came to mind. These voices need to get heard. We need to have more conversation. We need to have more listening. And I’m so thankful that we have this opportunity here to come together to allow for this platform to share and showcase these messages and to listen, to learn, and to hopefully, take action.

Pat:
To everyone who shared their thoughts with us today, just thank you so much. And especially just anybody who contributed to the first round of messages, thank you. Personally, we couldn’t have made this episode happen without you and just let’s keep this momentum going, right? Let’s keep this movement alive in your hearts, and minds as you step into the world and lead, and participate in your communities.

Pat:
So, continue to sit in discomfort and continue educating yourself and those around you. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. I appreciate you. Thank you again for listening, and please feel free to share this with whoever you’d love to share it with. Thank you. And as always, #TeamFlynnforthewin. Peace.