Technology And Collective Action Can Shrink The Wealth Gap with Ghian Foreman

The South Side story most people never hear is the one built on ownership, pride, and neighbors choosing each other on purpose. We’re joined by Ghian Foreman , President and CEO of Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative, to talk about what it really takes to generate community wealth in Chicago’s Mid-South Side and why the economic ripple effects around the Obama Presidential Center have to land beyond a single campus.

We get into his path from early real estate investing and corporate mergers and acquisitions to leading mission-driven work where  breaks down how leadership changes when you’re accountable to a community, why planning high matters, and how mentorship can’t stop at “my own kid.” If we want safer neighborhoods and stronger Black entrepreneurship, we have to share information, open doors, and treat young people like the future workforce and founders they already are.

Then we zoom out to the tools shaping what comes next: AI, technology adoption, and the practical skills needed to stay competitive while closing the racial wealth gap. We also talk about the emotional side of building in real communities including trauma, therapy, and what it means to redefine wealth as health, relationships, and collective wins. You’ll hear concrete examples like vacant land activation strategies that reduce violence, plus why Black businesses matter through cultural competence, local hiring, and an ecosystem that finally gets to be in balance.

Subscribe, share this with someone building something, and leave a review so more people find these stories and put them to work.

Transcript

Episode Kickoff And Season Theme

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Black Businesses Matter, a podcast about why Black Businesses Matter and the benefits of collaborating and advocating for Black businesses to drive impact. Each episode will cover legacy, hope, black joy, funding sources, cultural shifts, equality, and so much more. We will provide inspiration and action while spreading some joy to a thriving community of black business owners and leading company.

SPEAKER_06 0:29

My name is Lavenna M. Lofton Arnold, the founder of the L3 Agency and the host of Black Businesses Matter podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Known as the brand maiden who transforms organizations with their storytelling promise, meet Lavenda L. Lofton Arnold, host of Black Businesses Matter, a podcast about why Black Businesses Matter and the benefits of collaborating and advocating for black businesses to drive impact.

Early Hustle And Money Mindset

SPEAKER_06 1:02

You all know this season is all about the evolution of entrepreneurship technology. What does that look like? How it's influencing, how it's impacting, what does that look for? What does that look like in several ecosystems? So we've had several service-based businesses. And I'm probably always head over heels when we bring over, you know, CEOs and founders of service-based businesses, because that was the basis of this podcast. This podcast was literally to showcase thriving Black businesses, ways to collaborate, ways to um build a partnership, ways to be part of supplier channel, ways to be able to say, hey, I'm looking for something. Let me learn about their stories. This is what this platform was for. And so in our season, we're now in a season 11. So we've been doing this, I don't know how close to four years now. I think it's almost four years. And so it's crazy. I think I've talked to what, 150 people. Now I got 100, you know, 154 people. In my mind, I'm like, these are people I know. And that's what's dope. So my next guest is a peer friend, known him from high school and all the things. But now he is and always has been a boss man, literally. He's always giving information, always having us level up, looking at different things. He's advised me in some areas. So I'm just excited that he is on the show today. Guillaume Foreman is the president and CEO of the Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative, which generates community wealth and amplifies local culture through shared pride, power, and investment for Chicago's Mid-South side. So, those of you all that are in Chicago, he's gonna break that down a little bit because I know I've got listeners all over the world. Emerald South attracts and coordinates investment through community convening and collaborative partnerships that increase local ownership and prosperity. Foreman prefit previously served as the executive director of Greater Southwest Development Corporation. He sits on several boards, including the Chicago Rehab Network and the High Park Arts Center. Foreman is also an adjunct assistant professor of strategy at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Welcome to the show, Keon. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um, okay, we're gonna just dive right all right into this. So, Keon, I know a little bit, but I don't think I know all of it. What was Gion like as a little boy?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Man, pretty much the same person now.

SPEAKER_06 3:42

I knew you were gonna say that, Gion. I knew it. I knew it.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

But tell us what you've always been a hustler. I got in trouble one time. My parents were lawyers. I got in trouble one time. I set up a stand outside of our apartment selling their law books. Wow. Two dollars each.

SPEAKER_06 4:03

Are you serious, Gion?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

However, I could get money. Yeah, so I started investing in the stock market when I was in fifth grade. So I've always been interested in capital and how money works.

SPEAKER_06 4:16

You really have. You really have. And teaching every. I mean, so what? So as a little boy, what did people call you though, Gion? What did they call you on the streets?

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Ghee. Yeah, just saying, same.

SPEAKER_06 4:34

So y'all know Gian forman is really Ghee, okay? Just for the record, because Gi, it was that. And it is that. And I think partly Gion, I think people didn't know how to pronounce Gian. So I think it was that was easy to say Gee. Um, and so from that early, right, hustling today to leading Emerald South. Um, and I know you have had several business ventures over your career. How did you land in this space? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

So, I mean, I think it's a culmination of everything how I landed in this space. I was an early investor in real estate. I bought my first house when I was 17 years old. Continued to invest in real estate both in Florida, New York, Chicago. I started buying buildings, uh, eventually building new construction, starting to buy bigger buildings. And um went to University of Chicago for business school, worked in mergers and acquisitions for the largest bank in the world. At the same time, I was still developing real estate uh nationwide, really. Had partnerships with uh some NBA players, and so just kind of taking the Magic Johnson model and uh applying it to the cities that that I knew and I understood. Um when the real estate market crashed in 2008, I was kind of sitting on the sideline. There was no deals to do. I got a call from a nonprofit organization called Greater Southwest Development Corporation. And Greater Southwest uh and its founding executive director was pretty legendary in Chicago, but I didn't know it. It wasn't a space that I worked in. And uh they needed to reposition some of their real estate. And so I figured, oh, this is pretty easy for me. I could knock this out kind of with my eyes closed. I thought I would be there for a year or two, and that was it. Ended up being there for eight years. I really love the work and and the impact on community. Now, all the while I'm continuing to invest in real estate and companies um closer to where I grew up in Hyde Park, Washington Park, Bronzeville, Woodlawn, Kenwood communities. And um when President Obama made the decision to bring the Obama Center to the South Side, they wanted to ensure the economic benefit was felt in the communities, not just all on the campus. And so uh so they did a job search. And when I saw the description for what they were looking for in the leader, I kind of felt like they made the job for me. Um, it had that kind of neighborhood impact that I like to have. And so uh, so I, you know, I applied for it and I was the uh the first CEO that they hired.

SPEAKER_06 7:20

Yeah. Wow, that's incredible. I'm I'm taking a breath because I need people to understand this is the presidential center, y'all, that's coming to Chicago in three months. Because you know, folks don't, you know, we know Chicago, we love Chicago, but the world just is this is about to hit different because a lot of people love Chicago but have never been to Chicago, you know?

SPEAKER_01 7:42

And for many people, if they have been to Chicago, they've been downtown. That part, well, thank you for it. If you're not from Chicago and you only hear it on the news, you hear about Chicago, you think violence. You hear about the shootings, right? Um but there's violence everywhere. It is. And so you know, you could be in Beverly Hills, there could be a shooting, right? Yeah, but I think that part of what we're doing is is showing people there's another side of the south side. It's not to say the violence doesn't happen, but this would be a real sense of pride where people can come to the south side and see what we see.

From Real Estate To Community Development

SPEAKER_06 8:15

Yeah. And I think you have um, I think your approach is, or at least I think as a marketing person is very authentic. So by choosing you, it was an authentic move, right? They didn't find someone, and and again, no shade to anyone else that was outside of Chicago, right? Because that happens, or someone that's outside, they got someone who is a real native who's invested both real estate, but in people and in community. Um, and I think that's that speaks to um, you know, I think your leadership. But let's talk about leadership. How has your approach to leadership and economic development evolved over time?

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I don't come from the nonprofit world, right? I come from the for-profit world. Um, and so much of the way that I operate from a business perspective is really been kind of shaped from corporate America. And kind of, I think what I've learned there was how to use systems, right? Efficiently and effectively. Um but when working in community, efficiency is not always the best way. And I give you a good example. I ran a counseling center. When I started at Greater Southwest, I came in and I broke it up into three business units the same way I would do it at the bank. I worked in mergers and acquisitions, so I would go buy banks, figure out how to set these companies up to operate profitably. And I couldn't get this counseling center at Greater Southwest to be profitable. And so my solution was we're gonna lay some people off. Um my board pushed back on me and said, it's not all about profitability. You know, when you're working in community, you have to think about the overall outcome, but our goals are larger than just profit. There's a significant part of the work that we do that means that we have real impact in community. And so, you know, I think that was shaped by that. I think a part of my leadership style has been shaped by how I was raised, right? I was raised in a village. I got thousands of cousins, they even if they're not related to me, right? That's my auntie, that's my uncle. Um, and my dad was raised on a reservation in Oklahoma. So I was growing up understanding, you know, the ways of Native Americans and kind of all that we've been through. I went to African-based school growing up. So understanding the we is way more important than the I. And so I think that those are the things that really have kind of shaped me and thinking about you know what's best for all of us rather than just what's best for me.

SPEAKER_06 11:02

That's good. And I think one of the things that um I do like the fact that you've shared that your pivot, right? Of I didn't work in nonprofit. And I think that the world believes, and I want to say this, Keon, is that the world in the for-profit world believes that nonprofit work doesn't, and I'm using this word because this is what they say is this, you know, if I work nonprofit, I'm not gonna get paid. Is it like, is that true?

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Well, come on. Yeah, it's kind of true. I think it's all relative, right? It is agreed. If I were still working in corporate America, I probably would be making a million dollars a year. And I don't make a million dollars a year, right? But I probably get paid most more than most of my peers, right? In the nonprofit space. But I'm also an investor, right? So I make my other money a different way. I don't necessarily need the nonprofit to pay me to make up the difference because I'm an investor. So so yes, you'd certainly get paid less in most cases, not in every case, but in most cases.

SPEAKER_06 12:14

But it's meaningful, it's it's meaningful work too.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

But it's meaningful. So I teach at booth, and many of my students want to work in social impact. And you know, so I use the example of this. When I was working at HSBC, are they still around?

SPEAKER_06 12:33

Are they still around?

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Number one bank in the world.

SPEAKER_06 12:36

Okay, yeah. They're just on the on the New York kind of east coast. Um, are they here in Chicago? I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

I don't know that we have any branch banks. Got it. Okay, from their branches, yeah, East, got it, international, but on the investment banking side as well. Got it. Okay. Um sometimes I work 80, 90, 100 hours a week. My daughter was born, and I don't know that I necessarily saw her awake for a year or two because I was never home. I was working all the time. So I shifted to nonprofit and I walked to the school every day from preschool to eighth grade. So was giving up some money worth it for that. I think so. I don't think I could put a value on those memories of us. If you step on the crack, you break your mama's back. You know what I mean? Like to me, that was worth whatever dollars I get.

SPEAKER_06 13:34

Yeah, yeah. And I think we need to see perspective like that today, right? And I don't know, you know, um, Gian, you've had a very unique experience, and I think it's great, which allows for you to have, I think, a very diverse perspective too. Um, and I think that hearing the story is what we need to hear today. Like, I think we need to hear that today. Um, we grew up, right? And and we still chasing and doing all the things, but when you can you can never get the time, and and people always say, like, I was with some students some years ago, not some years, some weeks ago, and they were saying, I just the best part of you know, college is remembering the times that my parents took me to school. And now I have to get there on my own. I was like, that's dope. They remember that piece. Like it was that point that was like that was their memory, but that was what they missed. Yes. And that was so it was, and I I don't know. Sometimes I feel too, we are not as business owners able to tell that part of the story, too. Um, as because we're doing this work, we're forgetting about that other part of the work. And that's the other part of the work, um, especially the work that you're doing now, right? It's really seeing Southside residents from an economic development, but again, they see you like they see somebody look like you.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

That's right.

SPEAKER_06 15:11

That's that's huge.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

I went and spoke to a group of young men about two weeks ago and had the conversation, walk through my whole story, you know, some of the deals I've done. I've done over a hundred million dollars in real estate transactions. Wow, you know, work with number one draft pick in the NBA. I was on Mayor, Mayor uh uh Lightfoot's cabinet, Mayor Emmanuel's cabinet, mayor Daly's cabinet, mayor Johnson's cabinet. So I'm going through all of this with these young men. And I said, you know, we have to have opportunities for us to get to know each other, right? And I said, so if you see me in Mariano's or Jules, you know, I mean, speak to me. I might not remember you by face, but if you remember me, come up and speak to me. We have to have an environment where we know each other, right? And we have to be able to share information with each other. Um, you know, I'm kind of seeing this now as I get older and learning different things. I try to pass it to the young guys because nobody passed it to me. How do we learn things? Um, and I also get the the pleasure of teaching at booth, and you know, we're talking entrepreneurship. And I never forget when I broke out on my own, I left the bank within a year. I got sued. And it was a lawsuit, hard. I prevailed. And I saw one of my professors, and I said, Man, y'all didn't teach us this in school. He said, Yeah, well, if we taught you that, you never would have been an entrepreneur. But everybody goes, and I'm like, Wow, okay. But he didn't want to scare us away from not becoming an entrepreneur because we think that the path is gonna be a straight line and it's gonna be squiggly and it's gonna go backwards and it's gonna be up and down, and sometimes faster than you think it's gonna go. And you have to be prepared for all of that. The only thing you can be certain of is that there will be uncertainty.

SPEAKER_05 17:01

That's good. Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_06 17:04

Let's talk about technology and the evolution, right? Yeah, as entrepreneurs, you know, folks was hustling CDs today. We own technology selling, you know what I mean? But hey, if I put this on a streaming platform, how much money I'm gonna make, right? It's we've literally shifted in that space. Um, and I would like to know in your space of technology, right, how is it impacted, how is it influenced in this space that we're in today, especially now that, you know, we're on the South Side, South Side typically don't have all the access to all the things that we see in Chicago, right? So we're dealing with that. But really, I want to, you know, get your perspective on this technology and and the evolution of it.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Yeah. So so much of the conversations that we have over the last several years is about closing the wealth gap. And if we're serious about closing the wealth gap, technology has to play a role.

unknown 18:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

If you think about it, 1990, if somebody would have said to you, Go on the internet and go do some research for me, you wouldn't have had a clue of what it was. But the internet was around, we just didn't know what it was. So if you had an opportunity to invest in the internet in 1990, we wouldn't be sitting talking today. We would be on the beaches of Saint Tropez right now.

SPEAKER_05 18:29

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

And that's where we are right now with AI. Um, it's going to change things drastically. This conversation in five years, it'll be the same conversation. It'll just be your digital twin and my digital twin having a conversation at the same time while you're doing something else. And it would be given the same answers I would normally give. It just won't have the uh's and uhs that humans tend to do. Right. And so we again when we talk about efficiency and effectiveness, this these tools will allow us to do more. But it's critical that we stay on top of this because it's moving faster than we can keep up with. And so if we want to be competitive, we have to use the available tools. We can't say, uh, that's the that's the that's I'm gonna leave that for the young people because we'll be left behind. Because the young people are even having a hard time keeping up, right? And so this is gonna be a really, you know, world-changing experience for us. And so um, you know, you can't even imagine, you know, normally I'm talking to young people, what do you want to be? I want to be a rapper, I want to be a basketball player, I want to be a singer. I want to be a content creator. That's a real job now.

SPEAKER_06 19:48

Yeah, it is, it really is. And it's interesting because in my space, we went from, and you kind of know this, we used to call these taste makers. So it was tastemakers, that was one, right? Then we kind of call them like these ambassadors, like we went through all these terms, right? So now we're content creators, but then we're gonna call avatars too. We're gonna be called avatars, right? So the whole thing is that that is where we start and we have to stay on top of the trends. And I'm glad that you know, you're for it. I was, you know, as I'm talking through this in this generation, Generation X, I say is the invisible generation. Um, marketing was a lot of marketing dollars went way more into millennials than it did in Gen X. And we spent a lot of dollars. And we even as an agency, we spent, we did a lot of marketing to millennials. And I remember when I would say, you know, there's the Gen X. They are the largest segment of educated um individuals with disposable income. So that came with that, right? But the bad part about it is that they didn't see it as value, right? In their minds, millennial was a new trend. It was like, oh, we gotta go here, we gotta, we gotta see where they're doing, and realizing that we, right, the the numbers show that they weren't buying at the same at the same pace and realizing Gen X. And so in this ecosystem that we have, what we're learning though, I think, with Gen X is that Gen X, you're Gen Xer, Gen X, right? We know how to orally communicate and we know how to use technology, right? So what we're battling with with some of these generations is that we are not able to communicate because of technology. And so that is, you know, posing a problem because we are not able to, so I'm saying that from a prompt standpoint, we don't know what to tell it to be able. To give it the information that we need because we don't know how to communicate.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

So so here's the thing this is where we have to invest. The way this thing is going, you don't know how you don't have to know how to program Python or anything like that. This new thing, you may have heard the term vibe coding.

SPEAKER_05 22:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

You tell the program what you're thinking and let it will translate it into that prompt for you, right? Because someone has figured out exactly what you just said. We don't know how to do that. Okay, well, we figured figure that problem out. The basis of the class that I teach is from a quote that I read in 1993, and this quote really stuck with me. Wealth is the byproduct of solving problems and creating value. When you do both of these things effectively, you create a high rate of return. So you just talked about the fact that there's a communication. So somebody said, let's figure out how to solve this problem, let's do it effectively, create some value, create a high rate of return.

Redefining Wealth Through Collective Action

SPEAKER_06 23:11

Yeah. That's what you're in business for. To solve the problems, create. Yeah. I mean, that's that's what you're in business for, right? That's right. From there. And so tell me this. How do you think about building? So we think about technology, right? And then this place of impact. How do you think about building community wealth in this work? And what does that look like in practice?

SPEAKER_01 23:34

So this is your this family conversation, right?

SPEAKER_06 23:37

Come on. It's by network. I'm not tied to anybody. So yes, please.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

I think we have defined wealth incorrectly. I think we define wealth based on what white people have. And I don't consider that wealth.

SPEAKER_05 23:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Right.

SPEAKER_05 23:56

Okay. I like it.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

I think there's a difference between money and wealth.

SPEAKER_05 23:59

Yes, Ski. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

I I I go I do a lot of volunteering. People ask me, man, how do you find the time to do this? And I say, Well, look, check this out. If if we just had a good talk for the last hour, you you found some value in this. If I was homeless one day and hungry, you think you would give me a sandwich? Well, of course I would. All right, then food. I got that off the table. Right? In Oklahoma, where my dad grew up on a reservation, somebody goes fishing, somebody else grows tomatoes. Y'all switch. You got everything you need. I stopped driving for three years and only rode my bike. Yes, you did.

SPEAKER_06 24:43

Yes, you did. I saw it. People here selling the church.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

I got so much richer. Not just because I didn't have speed and tickets and red light camera tickets and maintenance and gas, four dollar gallon gas. But being in nature, going through neighborhoods and people saying, Man, what up? You see me on a bike, like what you just said. I got richer because of that. So our relationships, I think we really need to redefine what wealth means for us and our community. To me, I think that means collective action. I can't say, Oh, because Larvetta got this contract with Coca-Cola and I didn't, that I lost. No, I won because you got it.

unknown 25:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Right. And one of those agencies downtown didn't get it. That's a win for me. And I think that when we start to look at ourselves as one collective body, we win. I just learned this term. It's called the Gestalt philosophy. And basically what it says is that the sum of the parts are greater than all of the individual parts. And we work together as a unit, like Voltron. One plus one plus one does not equal three. It equals significantly greater than three when we look at ourselves as a unit.

SPEAKER_06 26:01

Yep.

unknown 26:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 26:03

Oh, I love this, Keanu. I love this because I feel that wealth, I love that you said that because we have, I do think that that was a white term. Like wealth is, you know what, no shade. But when I go to the doctor and they said Larvetta, your blood is good. Like you, whatever you do, and keep that scene, that is wealth for me. For me, right? Absolutely. Because that means I'm optimally living. I'm just not living, right? And so I think that that's, and I think we've, but I can I say this too, Gion, though. I think in some spaces we weren't given permission to share that part of wealth too.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Agreed.

SPEAKER_06 26:48

You know? Um, and so now that we have, you know, and I think integration kind of, you know, I think there's places where we were and then we weren't. And now we're coming back to it, you know? That's the way that I see it.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Um, it's probably easy for us to look back and say, nah, we want integration, right? When you look today, you're like, damn, man, we messed up our community. I mean, we we don't have the strong business. I don't really want to eat no place that nobody don't want me to eat. So, you know, but but but this, but I wasn't living at that time, right? So we can look back at the effects of it and we can make a call, but we weren't in it at the time.

SPEAKER_06 27:30

We weren't. We weren't. It's something to be said, um, Gee. I was on the campus of Bowie State, HBCU in Baltimore. Oh, in Bowie, Maryland, and they had a dorm named Harriet Tupman and a dorm named Alex Haley. I was so mesmerized by that. Like I just wanted to just, I just, I just felt it. I wanted it. I just wanted to take it home with me. I just did it. And I feel like it's those moments where you just want to immerse, immerse yourself in that culture and that history and just live there. And I literally was, and so they were redoing Harriet Tupman, um, the dorm, so I couldn't go in there. But um So you went to Clark.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

I went to Fam View. We had Jennifer.

SPEAKER_06 28:18

You know, you know, of course he was gonna say that. I was waiting for that. I knew you were, but um, gonna say that. We did not. So that right there was a moment where I was like, okay, this is what I missed at. Yes, I did. Um, and so I love, I, you know, I love the rattlers, you know. I do, I do. I love y'all. Um, HBCU, we love it. You know that gate. We love it. Um to the core. And it's it's a it's a culture that to your point with integration, like that was a place where we could be ourselves and we can be great. Um, you know, Dr. Kimbrough, I'm sure you know him at Clark Land. I mean, he just helped us shape entrepreneurship and how we show up. Like he like you designed the life you want, Larvetta. You, you like it was like you left there, like, okay, I can go rule the world. You can. Like you really can.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

And so speaking of that, I want to, I wanna, this is one of the things I was hoping we would get a chance to talk about. Yes. I got a story from business school, and I love telling this story. We had A's are really hard to get at the booth. Yes, yes, it is a forced curve. So, in a class of uh 20 people, it might be one A.

SPEAKER_06 29:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Because it's a forced curve.

SPEAKER_05 29:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

And so I really enjoyed this one class, and I said, you know what, I'm gonna get the A in this class. So I really worked hard. The professor gave us uh uh an assignment. You had to write a personal business plan. And he gave a couple of examples, but that was the only thing. And I said, All right, well, I want this A in this class, I'm gonna work really hard on this assignment. So I broke it down to what I was gonna do in one year, two years, three years, four years, five years, ten years, fifteen, twenty. I broke it down to financial, health, you know, family, all kinds of stuff. And so every year I would, you know, plan like I was gonna look at this. And so a couple of weeks go by, I'm trying to figure out if I was gonna get the A. I say, Professor Davis, man, what's up with that paper? You didn't give it back. I don't know what grade I got. I said, Well, this was a personal business plan. How can I grade that? I kind of felt like, damn, I wouldn't work so hard on it if I would have known that you weren't gonna grade it. But since I worked so hard on it, let me just go ahead and follow it and use it. A couple of years go by, man. I traveled the world, been to Africa, Europe, all over the United States, bought a house, had a kid, made a couple of million dollars. I see my professor, I say, Professor Davis, you're not gonna believe this, man. Everything I said I would accomplish by year five, I accomplished by year three. And I was expecting a big hug and oh, congratulations. And he told me, Maybe you didn't plan high enough. And my heart was kind of broken. But I thought about it and I said, Whoa, what if I would have planned higher? I planned based on what I thought was possible, based on my environment. And I exceeded that. I don't know how I exceeded it, but I did. So what if I had planned higher? I probably would have hit that too. So for all of us, I think the key is to make a plan, review that plan, work the plan, look back and say, Did I do what I said I was gonna do? And now let me look forward. Adjust when you need to adjust. And uh and I I found that that served me really well. One of the things that I said that I was gonna do is retire at 53. I'm 52.

SPEAKER_05 31:53

You got one more year, G.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Right. So this is where a plan comes in. I can retire, but I don't know that I want to retire. Right, so so I have the ability to adjust that plan as necessary. And I think that as business owners, we have to allow ourselves that grace to adjust the plan as things happen. Yeah, I love that. My 28-year-old self thought 53. Yeah, a whole different thing from what I know it to be.

Join The BBM Fam Club

SPEAKER_06 32:26

Yeah. And you're 53 optimally living, right? That's the other part of it too. Um, you you've appreciated nature as part of wealth. And I think that that's the part that you've added to your ecosystem as part of your pathway. And I think we can't lose sight of that as part of it too, you know? Absolutely. Because, you know, if you're a 53 flying and jumping, I mean, you're doing all the things, but you you also are adding things that I think heals, nurtures, comforts, you know, um, gives you vitamin D, you know, gets you moving. So all of that keeps us going. You're listening to Black Businesses Matter, and we will continue our conversation in a second. But first, take a listen to this special message for our BBM Fam.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

We know how important it is to stay connected. So woman joined our BBM Fam Club for special announcements and exclusive offers by texting BBM FAM to 312-300-1300. That's BBM FAM to 312-300-1300 today.

Vacant Land Programs That Reduce Violence

SPEAKER_06 33:38

Quick pause. If you're enjoying this conversation, take a second and subscribe to the Black Business This Matter podcast. It helps us keep telling these stories. Now let's continue. It was like a wellness, you know, like your regular doctor. She's regular um doctor. She's a black, black physician. And she said, I've never seen um a black person have this the highest number of vitamin D. What are you doing? And I told her, I at the time I was walking a lot, like I was walking everywhere. I was, I was probably tapping into all these parks around the city, but I was also taking my vitamin D. So I was doing it on top of that, and I was walking. She was like, I've never seen it. I said, see, that's the problem. We've been told like it's not possible. And I was like, okay, Mia, I know you say that's for black people, but we're gonna figure out you're gonna know one, and now you know one, right? And we have to, you know, adapt that to know that even though you may have this history within your family, you can shift that. You can adapt that. I think it's the same way from businesses. So tell me this. How, and I know this, but I would love for listeners to know this. How have you seen people engage with or respond to your work in the community?

SPEAKER_01 35:02

You know, it's it's a it's a mixed bag. I think that some of the work, there's one program we have called Terra Firma. Okay. And it's a program to clean, clean, yep, beautify, activate the vacant land. In our communities, the black and brown communities is typically across the country where vacant land exists. And those are the same communities that have the highest rates of violence, high worse health outcomes, education outcomes, every negative factor you can think. But I'm a real estate investor, and so land is important. Um, I I saw a study from Philadelphia that that talked about the fact that they put up fences and kept the grass cut and planted flowers and put up murals, and violent crimes in those communities were reduced by 29%. Um, significant entrepreneurship and employment gains, mental health improvements of over 69%. And so I said, okay, we're gonna replicate that. So if you've seen any of those split rail fences, it looks like you know, where you put up a horse should be living on this vacant lot. Chances are we put those fences up. And so some people are like, this is great because it looks like somebody is taken care of. And other people are like, that doesn't fit this neighborhood. That looks like that should be in Kentucky, you know, and uh you know, beauty is an eye of the beholder, and quite honestly, I don't know that I did it for the beauty reasons, I did it to try to see if we could help to reduce some of this violence in the neighborhood, and so you know, some people understand it and and some people don't. A lot of my work it really has to be around how do we come together to get solutions, and so it takes communication. Um so so yeah, it's a mixed bag, but I think that people generally understand the direction that I that I have in mind, and yeah, I try to incorporate the ideas that they have to make sure it's not just my idea, but what can we do together?

SPEAKER_06 37:01

Yeah, I love it. I mean, I had that's why I said I kind of know the answer on my own.

SPEAKER_04 37:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 37:06

Because I think it is. I mean, I remember um, yeah, with some work we did with Comet some years ago, and we did a qualitative research um focus group bringing black families into the ecosystem. So from the parents to the kids, we allowed them to tell us. And young girl, she said she went to school. She lived in Bronzeville, and she went to school on the north side. Um, it was a private school. And she said it's so, she said, what makes me very sad is why can't my neighborhood look like where I go to school? Yeah. It makes me happy when I walk in to my school because it's flowers and they water it and there's not debris, there's not trash. It's just, she said, it makes my learning experience so pleasant.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

That's right. Two years ago, we did a project with the artist, Amanda Williams, called Redefining Redlining. Amanda's an artist, but she's also trained as an architect. We planted 100,000 tulip bulbs in the shapes of the buildings that once stood on this vacant land in Bronzeville. So we invited community to come out and do the planting. We could have hired a landscaper to do it, but we invited community to come out and do this. So you think about the impact that that has on that kid whose whole life they've been looking out at this vacant lot to see neighbors come out, come together, and then nothing happens for several months, right? Because the tuna bulb is doing what it does underground. Then you see a field of green when the plants start coming in spring, this time right now, and then one day a sea of red, 100,000 table bulbs. It's more beautiful than Millennium Park, but it's in our hood. Yeah, right. That's beautiful, and for the most part, this is on city-owned and private land that we're saying this belongs to us. So if you want to take your mom a flower, cut one, but don't cut them all because leave this for all of us to enjoy. But yes, you should have a piece of this because this belongs to you. Yeah, and so the impact that we hope that this has on community is to say we can work together and improve our community. We don't have to, I don't care who the mayor is, the alderman, the president, come on, we have the ability to change our own situation.

SPEAKER_06 39:31

Yeah. I I totally I totally agree um with you. And I think we need to stop saying my word is they. How about we? They need to, we need to, not they, we.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

That's right.

Using Your Voice To Lift Youth

SPEAKER_06 39:45

Um, because the they takes it off of us as a collective, to your point. So I'm gonna ask you this. Um, because I really wanna, I think the work that you're doing, everything, and I want to ask you this question. How do you think using about using your voice? Like, Guillaume, this is big for you. Like getting you here and using your voice and your platform or this platform to contribute to broader conversations around economic development and equity. Because the reason why I want to ask you this is because when I do sit up and look at research and no shade to the people that have really sat in that role, Jack Rogers. I mean, it's a bunch of people, and I love them all, right? No, nothing is. But it is time for, I would say it's a new tribe. It's the tribe that was here, but it's time for us to lean into that level of experience. And how important is it to use your voice to bring that level of impact um on these platforms?

SPEAKER_01 40:43

Yeah, so so it's interesting. You know, I served on the Chicago Police Board for 14 years. Uh served as the president for about eight or nine. And um people would always call me a community leader. And I didn't see myself as that because it was just what I did. And so, yeah, I mean, there are some names that that that we could name and say, Well, what are they doing for our communities? But I think it goes back to what you said. I don't think my voice is any bigger than your voice because I'm on TV or in the newspaper where I talk to President Obama. I think my voice is the same as yours. I think I might be able to get into a different room, right? So I let let me use the skills and talents that I have to bring something to the table. You use the skills and tools that you have. Frankly, I think all of us should be focused on our young people. Let these young people understand who we are, what we've done, how do we get here to inspire them to do even more? Okay, and we gotta do more than just let me help my kid, and I hope my kid does this. No, I gotta take her friends and sit them down. Yeah, um, I just volunteered, I just sent two kids to uh to Africa to spring break. They couldn't afford it to go with their class, and so I paid for it. And the only thing I wanted was a one-page report on what that expectation was like.

SPEAKER_06 42:12

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 42:13

Right, because that's who leaders will be.

SPEAKER_06 42:15

Yeah, and that's how we use your voice. I mean, I think that that's you know, I tell my team all the time, sometimes it's so hard. I'm like, I want to see you win. I'm not just your boss, I want to see you win. Like, I want to make sure that if I need to get you in the right doors, I know you worked here. But the only thing I tell them all the time is if I'm putting you in a door, don't you embarrass me. I always say that. Um, meaning that show up the show up the way that you were taught here, right? So that they understand that there was some level of mentorship and there was something you learned something. And you said this. If this was something that you can go back and be like, oh, yeah, I've I I got a lot of value. That's all I want. You got a lot of value, that's all we want from that. And so that's right. Um, I'm very appreciative of just or not.

SPEAKER_01 43:02

Or not failure is okay too. That's true. I'm actually okay if you didn't get value. Yeah, what should we do differently next time? How could this be better? Right. So, so I'm not always expecting everything to go perfect.

SPEAKER_06 43:16

And Guyana, it's so funny. I had a guest um, and we talked a little bit about this, and I was just saying, hey, we got an RFP, we didn't get it, right? So sometimes I I get like I'm like, you know, you bringing in more people because I just need more people to help me out. Like I can't, we I'm just it's a lot, right? So then you say, Did you hire the right, you know, so you just go into this. But anyway, as I was looking at it, I just want feedback. But I realize though, Gianzo, while you say that, there's a skill to giving feedback. I don't think that people know how. I think we know how to give feedback when it is a real time. Like food. When it comes to service, it's a muscle and a skill that I don't know that we know. I mean, I will ask and they will say the same robotic answer. It was a hard decision. It was this. Okay, but what was your deciding factor? Like help us understand that. And we just and it becomes crickets.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

Yeah. Right. So maybe we use AI to help us to ask the question in a way. Yeah. That's what I just don't have that skill set. Let me ask this new machine to how can I ask this question of the person who could give the feedback in a way that I could get something that's actionable?

Police Board Lessons On Leadership

SPEAKER_06 44:42

I just put that like I just said, okay, I want feedback. This person probably don't have the skill. So can we do it? You know, I literally, because I said to myself, I want to know so that we can be better. Because I feel that when we have, when we have truth and feedback, we have the ability to course correct. I will tell you this, Guyana. When I work with Comed, it was in the thick of COVID. And one of their biggest comments, you know, they can't give us testimonies. They can't do any of that work from there. So he he said, he said, one thing I will give you guys is y'all course correct. But we are always asking, give us feedback. Like we're always like, so what was this that? So they were, we have, for lack of, we had pro, not I want to say program, but we had got them in the habit of giving us feedback so that we could course correct. We didn't do it at the end, we did it on the way. Yes, you know, and so it was better for them. And there was much value in that than getting the testimonial, if you make sense, right? It was more because we got the compliment, and so we had to move, you know. So then our goal was if they saw us as course correctors, y'all, we got a course correct. Like that's how they see us, you know, from that standpoint. So looking back, what stands out to you as a meaningful or defining moment in your leadership journey so far today?

SPEAKER_01 46:08

Um I would say probably one of the most meaningful pieces for me was joining the police board. I joined as a member, and within the first year, there was a shooting about a block and a half away from my house. And I knew the kid who was killed. I knew his father. And I organized all of my neighbors to show up to the police board meeting to say we gotta do something about this violence. And it was a packed room more full than it's ever been. And uh, and I got in trouble from the mayor's office. I said, Man, you you led a protest at the meeting, you're a member. And I said, Look, man, I'm gonna be a neighbor to these people far longer than I'm gonna be a board member. I didn't do anything wrong, and so I think that leadership is what put me in a position to become the vice president of the board. And I got to serve under Lori Lightfoot and it was a tumultuous time. Uh the Laquan McDonald shooting. Yeah, she couldn't lead it because she was on this other uh accountability task force, so I was kind of you know forced into this leadership position. But I had I was the youngest person on the board, but I had all of this expert advisors around me. And then when I became the president of the board, when Mayor Lightfoot ultimately became the mayor, the person who was my vice president was like a guru of Chicago politics. Her name is Paula Wolf. And I just kind of saw how in a way she was my co-president. She wouldn't make the decision. She kind of helped me grow to become this leader, right? And so, you know, I've had mentorship all along the way, and you know, I've had guidance along the way. And I think, you know, as long as you keep your North Star around doing the right thing, you know, those those doors open themselves for you.

SPEAKER_05 48:20

Yeah, that's beautiful. That's a horrible situation, but oh hell yeah, horrible situation.

SPEAKER_01 48:27

But but you know, it's interesting. I learned so much from it, I gained such a different level of respect for police and people doing work in community. And and again, when we start to see each other as as one community, you know, these problems of our communities, this is forever work. Yeah, right? Us improving our businesses and growing our businesses. This is forever work, right? And so it's worth the effort. And uh, you know, one day we'll overcome.

Trauma Therapy And Safer Choices

SPEAKER_06 48:55

One day we'll overcome. It's interesting, Gian, just very, very fresh. When you said shooting, we had a shooting on Saturday right across the street from the house. Like literally. It was the most frightening thing. I've never experienced um a shooting that close to me in real time there. And there were cops everywhere. Um, come to find out that the person assaulted a cop. That's why we had like, and it was something I think I I'm still emotionally, I think, navigating because I'd never seen that many cops ever in my entire life. Yeah. I saw it on TV. Yeah, it was, it was like, but there's parts of me, Yan, that I appreciated. So, you know, it was in a weird way, I appreciate it. Um, I mean, they went up our steps, like they, because they were trying to find, right? So, and so given the fact that we had a camera, but I also felt like they were trying to get to the person. And I think the thing that we don't understand, me as a business owner, as a homeowner, right, as an investor, as a link, all the things, we got to give them the information to go get it. And I think sometimes we just go back in our houses, shut the door, you know. And that's where I truly learned that I was going to help aid them in whatever they need to find. I didn't see it, right? It's not like I saw it, so I don't have any information, but I got technology that might give you the answer. And they did find the person, right? So, in some ways, you contributed to that. And I think that that's the things like our homes are our safe haven, but they're also homes of business owners who are trying to hire and and make the world a better place and you know, make this so that young man could have could we have found a way to hire him and get him off from you know, from that standpoint. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

Um, but it was a six o'clock in the morning, I was getting ready to go ride my bike on the lakefront, and I heard a construction noise outside. I look out the window, somebody's stealing my catalytic converter on my wife's car. Without thinking, I run outside. Hey man, what are y'all doing? What are y'all doing? He holds a gun to my head and says, Go back in the house before I kill you. I had no choice. I went back in the house, I turned around. Called my buddy, man, how much do you get on the streets for a catalytic converter? It wasn't much. A couple of hundred dollars. I got programs where we hire young men like this, where he could get a couple of hundred dollars on a regular basis. We teaching them how to use AI, we teaching them how to start their own businesses, right? So I'm grateful for sure that this young man allowed me to live continue to live. Yes, but how do I get that message to him to say, yeah, here's an alternative? Yeah, I mean, like if I would have walked out busting at him, then then then he would have lost his life. I would have been regretting it for the rest of my life over a catalytic converter. The other thing though that I wanted to say about what you just said, and this is not just you, this is for all of us therapy.

SPEAKER_05 52:18

Yeah, I do.

SPEAKER_01 52:19

That's a traumatic thing. We all grow up in these traumatic environments. I was 24 before I ever called the police for hearing a gunshot. I could tell you what kind of gun it is. That's not normal. That's not normal. We take that as normal because we're just used to it. That's the environment grew up in, but that's not normal. Vacant lots, that's not normal. You talked about the girls see flowers. That's normal. So, what can we do in our environment? But when you see these traumatic events, therapy, our police officers, they deal with this all the time. So we have to give them some grace and allow them the space to go get their therapy.

unknown 52:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:58

As business owners, you might be robbed, you know. I mean, you might see somebody die in your business or whatever, family members who die or co-workers. We have to have some therapy too.

SPEAKER_06 53:08

I agree. And I I literally tell someone this on Friday, I said, you know, been going through, you know, have had to have it through life challenges. And I said, after this, I feel like I need to sit to just process what you I was working, like working on a Saturday at 7:45, like trying to get, and I still feel like I'm catching up because I realized that I got a punch that slowed me down. And I'm, you know, and so it's it's a it's a thing, right? It's a thing where you're still trying to show up, you're still trying to do the best you can, but I realized that that thing, like when you were talking to me, I felt it. Like I went back to Saturday at 7:58 p.m. That's right. So I know, like, and I'm like, oh my gosh, like this is crazy. Not knowing that they were assaulting a police officer, which is why it was so many of them that showed up, right? And I mean, we had the yellow tape. I mean, just to meet, I mean, it was just a lot. So, um, why do black businesses matter, Gian?

SPEAKER_01 54:15

Why do black businesses matter? You know, I you are going to take care of me in a way that nobody else can. I worked in a Latino community. So they're Latino businesses. You said, Well, what's the difference? Well, they know that if you're from the north side of Mexico versus the south side of Mexico, you like this thing. I like that thing. Miss Lee's used to be a restaurant in Washington Park called Miss Lee's, and she made soccer tash, and it tastes just like my grandmother made it from Oklahoma. And so she only made it on Fridays. But for me, she would make it other days because it made me remember my grandmother, right? And so we had that bond, right? Black businesses matter because she's gonna hire people from the neighborhood, she's gonna understand that you know how when you're at work and you look at the bereavement policy, somebody die. It only counts if it's your mom, dad, kid, grandparent. Yeah, but Auntie, just important is me, even if it's my mother's sister or my mother's best friend, that's auntie. Yeah, that's that cultural competence that we have, and so we have to support each other, right? We're going to hire each other, we're gonna live in these communities, right? And so it's important that we support each other because it's an ecosystem. And when the ecosystem is not in balance, you see what happens to our world. You got global warming, the ecosystem is an imbalance, and so we have to support each other to have good schools, you know, safe communities, uh healthy communities. And so that only happens when you have these businesses that really care about the community. You know, speaking about my experience with the police, I called um a researcher one day and I said, Man, you know, we got all this violence, it's equivalent to uh armed conflicts. The numbers that we have is equivalent to armed conflicts that happen around the world some days. And so I said, I think that the issue is poverty. And the researcher said, you know, I understand why you would come to that conclusion, but we've studied places where everybody is poor and you don't have that kind of violence. We study places where everybody is rich and you don't have that kind of violence, you have this kind of violence in urban settings where poverty is in close proximity to wealth. So yeah, so it's these black businesses that employ people who get an opportunity, right? And again, once we start to define what that wealth needs, and you say, let's operate from a perspective of abundance, that I have everything I need. Not necessarily that I don't have what they have, but I have everything that I need. And I think black businesses give us the best possible shot of making that happen.

SPEAKER_06 57:38

That's beautiful. That's beautiful, Gian. Every time I ask that question, I get chills, and you gave me chills. Um, every time I ask that question to every guest, and I get a different answer, but it it's also the fuel that keeps me going. Um, it's the fuel that is that sound bite that says, okay, let's go to the next episode, right? What brings you joy?

Joy Future Plans And Connections

SPEAKER_01 58:03

Biggest source of joy for me, I think, is watching my daughter grow into uh uh a young woman. Yeah. You know, I I I often tell people who uh are having a kid or got a little kid to record their voices and do it at different stages of life. It's one thing to watch a video, it's one thing to look at a picture, but if you're forced to close your eyes and only listen, it makes you remember things in a different kind of way. Your brain activates in a different kind of way. So to hear her voice now, to see her, you know, in a professional setting, to see that she's using all these skills that we hope that she would one day master or she's in the process of mastering them. I think it's uh just kind of shows why we do what we do. So I use my daughter as an example, but you know, I think I feel the same way about the young man who I never even met, the two young men I never even met who went to Africa. When they send me this one page of to get that back and say, like, wow, I didn't have a passport until I was 20-something, right? And so these young men are going as high schools to Africa, right? So for me, you know, kind of seeing the future, seeing these young people makes me understand that the future is is bright. That's great, and then and and and and also just kind of looking back and looking at where we came from, right? And saying, Wow, how far we've come. Do I have everything I hope for, everything I wanted? Probably not. Had a good friend of mine who told me, man, I think I achieved everything I wanted in life, and very similar to my professor, I said, Man, maybe you didn't plan high enough because it's so much more that's out there, and so uh yeah, I think you know, my bicycle certainly is a mixed sense of joy for me. Uh, I'm gonna do 10,000 miles on the bike this year. I just finished a ride from Jacksonville to Miami four-day ride.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:02

Wow, that's awesome!

SPEAKER_01 1:00:03

Yeah, I'm doing Nashville to Jackson, Mississippi this month, and uh, I got a race out in California in May. So, so yeah, I'm gonna have fun on a bike this year.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:13

That's awesome, Gee. I love it. You're so dope. Um I'm proud of you, man. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you, and I'm learning to say that more because we don't know what life comes, and sometimes we need that little sound bite when life be life, as the kids say, right? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:32

So equally as proud of you to see you grow on this platform and growing your business because it was funny. I don't know if you remember this. Somebody in your staff reached out to me. Hey, I want you to be in this podcast. I looked at the name, it's like she didn't call me. Is this your people? He said, Yeah, that's my people. All right, cool. Let's do it then.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:50

You did it, it was so funny. And I said, That's key. I love it. Like he's like, Wait, hold up before I say yes, it's good. So thank God, thank God we africh. You'd be like, No, no, I'm not interested. So I'm grateful for that.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:03

No, but the interesting part is that when young people ask me to do something, I tend to do it. I receive young people ask me to come talk to them, and I was in Panama. I tend to spend a month uh somewhere else in the world every year, and they asked me to come speak to them. I flew back from Panama, spoke to them, flew back the next day.

unknown 1:01:22

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:23

Because if we're not investing in our young people, what are we doing this for? I I often say it's only money.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:30

That's it. I'm with you on that gear. I just I love the my team probably knows this. I love them and I love their brilliance, and I love their perspective. Um, and I think that's my life's purpose right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:44

You know, your team was on it too. They were again if you don't show up, you're getting a fine. Uh you gotta you gotta confirm by this date, we need your head. They was on it too, on it. I gotta hurry up and get this done.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:57

Let me tell them, let me give them a shout out because that's good, because I'm I'm on it, on it. So that makes me happy. You see, I joined early. You did, you did. I was like, I said, can I make it on it? They was like, uh-uh. They like basically like, yeah, we got this. I was like, okay, okay, I got it. So it does. It's it's I'm setting them up. I'm hoping they understand. Like, I'm setting them up. Hopefully they can take over L3 and learn that they can go and fly and do other things, you know. That's the goal. You know, I don't plan to do this forever. I promise you, I don't plan to do this until I'm 70. I really, I'm with you. I got about seven more years, but I'm with you. But I still love it, right? So that matters. Absolutely. Um, Gion, what's next? Um, as we close out, what's next? Anything that, anything? I know you sold us, which you're gonna be cycling. Anything that and how people need to connect with you, you know, you keep a low profile.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:50

This ain't connecting with me, but make sure everybody signs up for the Obama Foundation newsletter. Okay, it's critical. It's critical because stop calling me, asking me if I can get you some tickets. I probably cannot get you tickets to the grand opening, but sign up for the newsletter because that's how they're going to get the link.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:09

To get the tickets. Got it. Maybe even come to the opening weekend. Um, get that ticket, guys.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:15

Yes, let me let me make sure, guys. Obama is it's obama.org. Obama.org. Obama.org. Um, sign up for the newsletter and do not call Guillaume for tickets. Okay. Got it? Okay, got it. I can do that. I might be able to do that, but y'all can't do that. I'm just saying, I might. I might.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:34

Yeah, yeah. No, I'm still gonna direct you to the newsletter.

unknown 1:03:36

See what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:38

I love it. I might try to move you up on the newsletter. You might, you might, you might. We have an Instagram. Emerald South on Instagram. Okay, uh, we have some good information on the website. Um, you know, I mean, I'm around, I'm in the neighborhoods. Okay. So, so anything. What's next for me? Honestly, when I say I want to retire, you know what I want to do? What? I want to go teach high school.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:02

Oh, Keon, I can miss the four. I love that.

unknown 1:04:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:06

In fact, I was working on my curriculum today.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:09

You know how, you know how we like gangster movies, right?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:13

One of the best management lessons that you could read is not now, don't watch the movie.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:20

The book, The Godfather.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:22

Yeah. Read it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:24

It's a lesson in negotiations, it's strategy. So I was actually working on a little curriculum earlier today, just thinking about that. How to connect with people with visual now, right? So let's watch the movie. All right, you watch the movie, cool. You like the movie, good. Now let's read the book. Now we're gonna break it down to this uh what lessons can you learn? What lessons can you apply?

SPEAKER_06 1:04:48

And uh, you know, I could see that for you. I could totally see that for you. So I could see that. I could totally see that. So in your next, you would be that, you know, in no shade, the cool, you know what I mean? Like the the cool teacher on the skateboard, but you got your bite.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:04

You know what I mean? Like that's that's what I see. I think about me as a student, right? If I would have had a teacher that I knew was rich, boy, I would have followed what he said to a T.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:16

So I'm like, all right, well, what if I come back, teach something? I'm gonna teach a high school class, like a college class. I'm not taking no attendance. You know what I mean? I'm barely grading homework. This is about you're gonna get out of it what you put into it.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:33

I'm gonna connect you. Oh, you want to be a scientist? Boom, let me connect you to a science. You're interested in marketing, my homegirl Larvetta, she's gonna lace you. Yeah, you gotta come correct though. You gotta come correct. That question about why black businesses won't even be a relevant question because it'll just be.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:52

I would you just dropped a mic on like that. Would be what Larvetta. I mean, like if they were just to say that's my deal, was that? Just be that I mean, Gion, you just said it. Like I so as they say, best darn episode ever. Best episode. Guillaume, my brother, my friend. I'm proud of you. Um, thank you. Thank you for saying yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:18

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

Closing Thanks And Stay Connected

SPEAKER_06 1:06:20

Thank you. And he's a rattler. That's the other part, y'all. He's a rattler and we love him for it. Um, so thank y'all. Um, this has been such I would say a promising episode. I think this is the episode that you should share with your family, with your friends, with your colleagues, with your high school teacher, with your college professor, you name it. Um, because I think that Gion certainly talks to those that breath that diverse group of audience. And that's why it's important that you share this episode because I think everyone can walk away and gain value. Thank you for listening to another episode of Black Businesses Matter. See you next week.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:08

The L3 Agency has exciting updates and upgrades rolling out in 2026, and you're invited to stay in the know. Join their newly refreshed newsletter, The Unfolding Effect, and harness the power of storytelling to elevate your visibility. Visit www.thel3Agency.com to subscribe and stay connected.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:30

The Black Businesses Matter podcast is produced by the L3 Agency, a culturally sensitive influencer, marketing, and communications firm in Chicago, where relationships are our currency. Passion is our profit maker, and people are our bottom line. Follow us on Instagram at Black Businesses Matter.