Vegas Circle

Beyond the Hustle: Wayne Lewis on Style and Building a Powerful Network

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When does a "bad employee" become a trailblazing entrepreneur? Join us as Wayne Lewis shares his captivating journey—from enduring cold calls in the insurance sector to breaking into the fashion world with a touch of audacity. With products like his eye-catching "Retired Drug Dealer" hats gaining Forbes' attention, Wayne exemplifies the power of resilience and creativity in entrepreneurship. His story will inspire anyone who seeks to transform rejection into opportunity and follow a path that defies conventional career norms.

Las Vegas, a city of dreams and diversity, becomes our lens for exploring cultural dynamics and the future of urban living. We unpack the idea that the city's lack of a singular culture is its greatest strength, offering a rich melting pot of identities and beliefs. With sports teams like the WNBA and hockey teams emerging as cultural anchors, we discuss the city's potential to rival global giants like Dubai. As we venture into the realm of content creation, we highlight its pivotal role in shaping modern narratives and business landscapes.

Our conversation turns to authenticity in the digital age with insights from James Trader of Kase Sake and Sushi. From curating a unique omakase experience to leveraging social media for brand visibility, James emphasizes the importance of staying true to oneself. We also tackle the complex nature of debt in business, showcasing how strategic financial decisions can propel growth. Emphasis is placed on mentorship, daily preparation, and securing strategic partnerships, with inspiration drawn from dynamic figures like LeBron James and Rich Paul. This episode promises insights into brand management, sponsorships, and the blueprint for long-term success.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Vegas Circle Podcast with your host, paki and Chris. We are people who are passionate about business, success and culture, and this is our platform to showcase to people in our city who make it happen. On today's podcast, we'll be delving into an entrepreneur's insight on branding culture why specific podcasts succeed. So please welcome to the circle Mr Wayne Lewis man. What's up? What's up? Thanks for having me, bro. I got to say this to his face man so.

Speaker 1:

I was wrong about this brother man. I got to tell about his face. We had a great conversation over the phone, but let's jump right in. Man, so, originally from Los Angeles, yes, how'd you get into business for yourself? I've seen you've done a lot.

Speaker 2:

I think business just kind of came natural, just being a bad employee, bad student. So it's like where do you go? I'm always questioning rules and authority and just always asking why and I'm not really understanding why. But why got me in trouble a lot of the time? Got you, you said being a bad employee.

Speaker 1:

I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that. No, for sure Is it because your mind was somewhere else, Like you always had another vision out there, like hey, I want to do this.

Speaker 2:

or I always had this that I'm working towards, I think just because of me wanting more and trying to figure more out. I'm just my mind just running rampant, always thinking about other things outside of what I'm doing. It was too simple and repetitive, so I wasn't meant for me to do it. I just I got bored, real easy with everything and I just I wasn't the guy for that. For it, I wasn't the guy for that job. Got you? Yeah, nah, for sure.

Speaker 1:

So you kind of got your. Is it your first start, kind of, in the fashion industry, right? So you guys had like, what was it?

Speaker 2:

My first start was insurance, insurance, okay, yeah, yeah. So I got my property, casualty, life and health and my surety, so I had my, I had an insurance agency, like that was I was calling. I would do door-to-door sales, but I was calling like 150 people a day.

Speaker 1:

Wow. Yeah, and then sitting at the dealerships and that basically transitioned into sitting at the dealerships and then learning to sell. And then you know, clocking, clocking. You could learn a lot about what you just said. Yeah Right, docking on doors, learning people being a chameleon, learning people's energy, people turning you away, learning no, you know what I mean. And just moving on to the next one, probably helped the foundation for business for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that was the footwork I did, probably the hardest thing to do and that is to try to sell blindly and cold call and do all those things because I wanted to sell that bad, I wanted to make money that bad. So I did everything that I possibly needed to in that day to get success that day. So, whether it was going door to door calling 150 people just for one sale Because I knew one sale a day was 30 sales a month, but then in insurance, as you know, you got auto home and life, so I would upsell them on auto home and life, so technically that one sale was three Got it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So it went from one sale a day to six to nine to you know, it just kept going up and up and people are like, how are you doing it? I just stayed at it, super, super, super, super, super resilient, consistent and just determined, like you know. Yeah, I always felt, like you know, I was owed something, but not in the sense of entitlement for it to be given to me, but I want what's mine. You know, I put the work in.

Speaker 1:

I want what's mine, but you seem like too, you're very good with like the energy of reading people too right. Very good at networking that whole setup. Do you think learning that process of you know probably getting hung up on and all the different things or knocking on doors and stuff like that, people telling you no to your face was it just kind of make you where you're, just like nothing is going to bother me?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think you get used to no, so no, it doesn't resonate with me the way it does with everyone else. I don't give a fuck about no. Yeah, I feel you. You can tell me no, and that's cool, but I want to know why. Why did you say no? And if they're able to explain it to me, I'll say okay. So I always end it cool, okay, cool. So just let me know if you need me later, you know is it?

Speaker 2:

okay if I keep your contact. So I still sold them in a way of selling myself, maybe not on a product at the moment, but I still sold myself. And then I also still quoted them at that same time. And you know, in insurance that system is like pipeline, so even every quote I put in there they automatically get a mailer. Got it? Yeah? So I would just go the extra mile to make the sale. I mean, the sale may not be made today, but the sale in my mind was made as soon as we spent 15 minutes on the phone. I mean, I made the sale and I was able to meet you maybe a month from now, two months from now, six months from now, but that A-ball is in already.

Speaker 3:

That month from now two months from now, six months from now, but that eight ball is in already. That's what's up. So what about the fashion show.

Speaker 1:

I've read an amazing article on you about Forbes right. I think it was the retired drug dealer.

Speaker 2:

I thought it was very interesting the hats and how you guys played the marketing on that. How I got into fashion was I started a couple different brands prior to the retired drug dealer, which was one product of a conglomerate. So the first company I had was a company called Famous Nobodies that I basically kind of used the same method as the insurance just kind of handed out a bunch of shirts, just making my brand appear bigger. Then I met my business partner and best friend today, which is Al Madden, and we started a backpack line together and then it's pivoted into everything else that we've done. So the retired drug dealer hat was a five minute design that I did. I made that design in like five minutes on, like Halloween Eve, got it Randomly and um, it went viral and should we?

Speaker 1:

sell it Jay Z? Yeah, all type of people wearing this stuff right A year.

Speaker 2:

Today we think we sold like 59,000 hats.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, at $60 a pop.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, $56,000, $57,000, somewhere around there at $59,000 to $60 a pop. Wow yeah.

Speaker 1:

And that's extremely hard in the fashion industry just in general is one of the hardest businesses from my understanding.

Speaker 2:

Well, fashion is very, very tough because you have so many different aspects to it. You know you got seasons, you have colors, you have trends, you got understanding the market, you got the competitiveness of it. You know you got you're competing as a small guy with the bigger brands for consumers. But really it's really all about authenticity and doing what's true to you and telling a story through your fashion, because fashion is merely just speaking without speaking.

Speaker 1:

Love that. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

It's your version of what you feel like you want to say that day. That's what fashion is. It's merely speaking without speaking. That's beautiful.

Speaker 1:

I like that man. What's your perspective on the Vegas culture? Because originally from Los Angeles but it's kind of got that flavor.

Speaker 2:

Vegas don't have a culture. We just got a baseball. Well, we just got a soccer, I mean a hockey team we just have. We just got a women's team. We're getting a baseball team. The culture is being built and designed, but it's no culture here. Yet we never, no one never, supported UNLV until they started winning. Vegas isn't really like a culture. If it's anything, it's entertainment. That would be quote unquote culture. But I think Vegas is more of a place you come to have fun. To live here is cool, but even with that, what's the culture of living here? You guys are in your own space. I'm in my own space, never really crossed paths. So the culture of Vegas is that there is no culture and that's the culture. You think so right.

Speaker 1:

So I feel like I always had these arguments with the barbershops, right, because you know you get into so much in a barbershop, so shout out to Cut Above. I was going to them for about 14 years until I started Cut my Own here. But you know, timo Kurt over there, I don't know if you know, them but, they're a staple here in Vegas. Right, they've built. I think they've had probably five or six barbershops throughout the whole valley, but it seems like the culture was built and things like that.

Speaker 2:

No, I think it's a multitude of cultures. That's why there is not a culture here, because you get it's like a gumbo you get this person from here, this person from here, this person from here. They all live by different rules, morals, beliefs, so it's no culture.

Speaker 1:

And a lot of international folks too, yeah nobody stands for one thing here, everybody's, individuals.

Speaker 2:

I think once you start bringing teams here, the culture starts being there, because now we are cheering for something together. So right now our culture is the hockey. We're a hockey town, mm-hmm.

Speaker 1:

I'll be honest I never went to a hockey game in Toronto In a WNBA.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I forgot the NFL team, the Raiders, Correct. Yeah, we're not like a real Raiders fan. Everyone at that stadium comes from Oakland. We have some people here go. Obviously you have a certain percentage, but a lot of those people fly in to see the Raiders play.

Speaker 1:

Or they fly in to see their home team or whatever Right team or whatever right.

Speaker 2:

so for the weekend, for now the most winningest team is the wmba team and our hockey team. So we're, uh, so our culture is our, we're a wmba town.

Speaker 1:

I guess, if you aces town, I guess, if you want to call it, do you like it, just because of the fact of yeah everything that you're seeing in the network and stuff that you see here well, I like vegas just because of um it we're spoiled.

Speaker 2:

It's a place that you can get up and go get. You can go to the strip club, get cocaine and go to a club and have a burger all within that four in the morning and still be able to go to work at nine. So it's a place that we're spoiled in a sense of time, cost of living, taxes. There's a lot of things that goes into it, especially from a business standpoint. So I think Vegas is a cool place. It's something to do when people fly in. You're never bored with them, you just drop them off.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's too much to do.

Speaker 2:

It's not a boring place.

Speaker 1:

I like it for the fact of like. You're always going to see your favorite musician here.

Speaker 2:

you're always going to see your favorite musician here, You're always going to see your favorite comedian here At some point yeah, yeah, they're always going to come here at least once a year.

Speaker 1:

You know what I mean. So that part I like. But like you were saying, we don't hang out on the Strip.

Speaker 2:

Nah never.

Speaker 1:

Especially as locals. You don't go unless you're going to something Never. I never do. What do you see the future of? I think.

Speaker 2:

Vegas is going to be a super city. I think Vegas is going to be the US version of Dubai, outside of Miami. I think it's going to be Miami, and Vegas is the hitters, simply because the direction that Vegas is going, they're very forward. They're bringing in a lot of you know, architects and engineers from Saudi. They're getting a lot of their ideas from over there, so they're building something that is going to stand out and that's going to make you want to live here, simply because it's going to be undeniable, vegas is becoming that city that, forced to be reckoned with, a lot of companies are coming out here. I think it's one of those places. I think obviously it's Vegas, miami. I think it's one of those places, you know, I think obviously it's Vegas, miami, austin, texas in general, houston, dallas, austin, but that's going to be the those are going to be the US spots.

Speaker 1:

Yeah to me, sure, yeah. Do you like the idea of like content creation? Do you think we need more content creators because you have more?

Speaker 2:

of the food scene and things like that. I think content is king. I think if you haven't implemented content in any of your business, when it comes to marketing or growing your business, I think that you're lacking. It's just huge. Content creation is big. You know to tell a story through your lenses and to allow people to see that and for them to, you know, take what they want to take from it is super, super important, and most people still haven't graphed that concept yet. Content creation I mean content creators are the ones you know living how they're supposed to be living. You know ferraris lambos. You know they're living a good life. So, yeah, content creation, content is king.

Speaker 1:

Yeah what's amazing to me is, like you know, my kids a little right, 10 and 8 years old and like their heroes, now are YouTubers. Yeah, kai.

Speaker 2:

Sinat.

Speaker 1:

InstaVees Everybody.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

What's your take on that? Because you're kind of in between, aren't you? You're in mid-30s right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah Okay so YouTube I mean content creators is everything as far as the lifestyle and being able to show the real or what you want to be able to show, right To be able to build that brand. And I know you're into like the monetization side of it. You know what drives traffic with brands and things like that. What do you think they need to do better here in Vegas on that side? Because I know bigger marks like LA, you know they extremely well with that, you know, as far as the TMZs of the world and things like that, what do you see happening?

Speaker 2:

I don't think Vegas needs to do anything because, aesthetically, it's built for content creation. So I just think it's more so the people here or content creators moving out here, establishing themselves, getting rooted here and creating content, vegas doesn't need to do anything. I mean, if you look at this place, aesthetically it's built for a camera 100%.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's 1,000% want you to take pictures of these things. 100% yeah, it's 1000% want you to take pictures of these things. We have, you know it's, it's just art everywhere in a sense, you know, from, you know the architecture to the things that they create, and just attractions everywhere. So I don't think Vegas needs to change anything. I just think it's all about the people here and wanting to do content.

Speaker 1:

Yep, that's for sure now this podcast space has absolutely exploded. I know you've been doing it. For how long have you been in the podcast?

Speaker 2:

I've only been in the podcast space a year and maybe like seven, six months.

Speaker 1:

Wow, I would not have expected you to say that yeah so during the pandemic, were you thinking?

Speaker 2:

about podcasting in 2020 no, I got thrown in. I got thrown in the podcast space because my PR shots out to Danielle and lots of yeah.

Speaker 1:

You perfect for it.

Speaker 2:

Cause you're so honest and that you know you'll sugarcoat nothing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but how do you feel about the podcast space?

Speaker 2:

I think it's important. You know it's the new media, it's the new broadcast and um, um, I like it. Um, granted, everybody's not cut out for it. So right now you're kind of doing, uh, the who's who's kind of deal, doing the who's who's kind of deal. You know some people are going to fade out, Some people are going to stay, but really it's truly, it's all about having those great conversations and being authentic and giving your honest opinion. That's the new thing. But as far as a podcast space, I think it's a great space. I enjoy it myself, so I can't knock it. I don't really even think it's competitive.

Speaker 1:

How so.

Speaker 2:

Because I like where you're going, Just because you have what you got 2.5 million podcasts, right yeah, and then you got 90% of them not making it past episode three. Exactly yeah, other than they all fail Right and then 90% of that 10 don't make it past like episode 20, yeah. So it's really not competitive when you look at it from those numbers. So you're competing with what? 30, 40 000, no you can't compete when it comes to radio. What are you actually competing for?

Speaker 1:

that's a great question.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, people gonna listen to what they listen to, bro you may listen to taylor Swift and I may listen to Chris Brown.

Speaker 2:

She ain't competing with him, that's a very Unless we drop our albums on the same day, or unless me and you purposely, intentionally are competing like that. So me and you are doing the same, we're shooting the same day, dropping the same day with the same guests. Yeah, then we're intentionally competing in that case. But in the podcast space, people are want to listen to what they want to listen to, because there are genre based that's true and we're all not the same person, where we don't all speak the same and we're all not under the same genres.

Speaker 2:

So competing is like crazy, right, that's like yeah, how can? You like. Well, what are we actually competing with? And for it like? There's so many radio stations, there's so much of everything.

Speaker 1:

I love that you're bringing this up, because it's true what draws your attention? To invest your time and to listen to a specific podcast.

Speaker 2:

Something catches your attention, yeah my interest is is is great conversation and um and I and I and honesty. You know I like um, I like listening to a good conversation, I like insight. But also it depends on the guest, because sometimes you have guests that I'm truly not interested in. Then there's some guests where it's like yo, I like that, or the host. I'm not interested in the host, so I'm annoyed by the host. So, being in this space, you know I study the host, not too much of the guest, but I study the host and if he's annoying I can't watch it. Or if she's annoying I can't watch it, or she's not really pulling like she should. You know, I technically can't watch it. So what draws me to um, a, um, a good podcast is just having a good conversation. It's always not about the guests. Sometimes the host is like interesting to me, like my guy, my go-to is Joe Rogan. I like Charlemagne a lot.

Speaker 1:

I like both of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're both amazing. Yeah, what do you like about them? Is it just because, like for example, Joe Rogan, is so educated?

Speaker 2:

right, right. He knows so many layers to him with a lizard and it'll make sense yeah, yeah, charlemagne is an amazing guy, just because I've seen how he's adapted well he's, he's super adaptive, but he's also like um, he's taking on the villain, truthful, honest role, in a sense of how he approaches it. And um, he's very well open and he's willing to take, you know, whatever criticism and scrutiny that comes with it. So I like, I like charlamagne a lot.

Speaker 1:

What's your take on the monetization side? And people are I mean obviously the Joe Rogans of the world and people like Black Effect and things along those lines. But the people that are starting out right, because this podcast is starting every day. What would you say to them? Is there real money?

Speaker 2:

in this starting out? Yeah, well, I think there's. I think obviously you have to invest into your craft, but there is money in it. There's money in everything. If you seek money, there's money there.

Speaker 2:

But it's just understanding your platform and your power. If you, whatever you, whatever platform you create and you have an audience there, then there's your power May not be in syndication aspect, because you may not have, you know, the ad rev or anything like that, but your power is the audience. So giving the guests a stage to speak, whether they're mine, whether it's sell the product, whether it's religious or rock stones, crystals, potions, whatever giving them that platform to speak and have people watch them, there's your power there. So there's money in that. So you can charge for people to come on, you can charge on a monetization in on whatever platform and then you can get picked up by a streaming service or some kind of company or maybe like a company that you know that buys and sells podcast episodes or episodes shows. You know I'm saying so, yeah, it's a lot of different aspects to it. Once you understand media and television, it's, it's a lot of money in it. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, I would say there is. I love it. And it's still early. It's extremely early, yeah, I mean, look at our mics. Our mics are still like this, the cameras are still like that. So it's extremely early. I mean, our headphones still have cords on them. So, understanding that, like shit's going to change and get better and there's going to be a lot more innovative ways to communicate and a lot more creative ways to do it, I mean we're at the cusp of this, bro.

Speaker 1:

I mean, look, all this is connected wires and everything, all these Bluetooth speaking Right.

Speaker 2:

So it's going to evolve? Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1:

You know I love podcasts, and just because of the fact that like the networking side of it right Like there's so many ways you can get into certain rooms, right People, that you can build relationships with Just really cool people, right? We started this what? Six years ago now and it's been. Not that it's fun right, because it's fun, but it's mainly like you learn so much of what people are doing and it's motivated. It's mainly like you learn so much of what people are doing and it's motivated because you could see that, like this person might have energy and they, you know, battery in a backpack because they got this concept, and then seeing them go through fruition, like you might have them on the podcast and they're saying, hey, this is what's coming out a year from now and they explode on it. To me that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love being able to see that man. Yeah. What's been somebody that you sat down with that you just really enjoyed talking to them. It's probably one of your best podcasts that you've had, because you you said that with a lot of people. Um man, I don't know, it's kind of tough because I I doing so many podcasts.

Speaker 2:

All the guests have their own, like superpowers okay um, they're all special, special people, so, um, I think the most impactful one was when it comes to health. It was Gary Brecker. I think Gary Brecker really resonated with me simply because he raised his eyebrows when it comes to health. There's a lot of people out there that disagree with what he says, but he's a human biologist. He's the guy who he worked for an insurance company, so he literally told life insurance companies how long a client was. People are depressed depressed and depression medications actually were created around a certain time that they started using the spray on the weed and that's how it they were able to. The pharmaceuticals were able to sell their depression medications because it was the side effect on what they sprayed on the crops. So it was so like, like. When it comes to information, it was just a lot of information that I really like. I listened to it. It was like, oh, this is crazy.

Speaker 1:

I heard about him through. I think it was Dana White. Yeah, dana White blew him up Right and that's how he got in really amazing shape. Yeah, do you do? Have you? Do you do any of his tests or anything? Was it the?

Speaker 2:

tip. I haven't did the 10X test but I definitely took on a lot of things that he said when it comes to what black people are deficient in, definitely stepped away from, like pastas and all that other stuff. Still kind of dabbling in bread, but you know sourdough bread because it's really good for gut health, okay. But you know D12 vitamin is D12 and K2. You need both of those as African-Americans because we're deficient in those, because our skin repels the sun.

Speaker 1:

That's what's up?

Speaker 2:

Okay, yeah so it's a lot of things that stuck with me when it came to him. But, granted, every guest that I sat down with was super special and super interesting, just because they had their own way of thinking and their own superpower. So I don't really think there's like a special special guest. I just think they're all interesting in their own right. I mean, it's conversation. So it's like you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so branding, I know is big on your part. Right, you're doing, you know management and branding. You've done an excellent job building your brand. What do you think people are doing wrong on the brand side? Where they're you think they're being too fake and trying to act like they aren't who they say they are, or is that a good play? Welcome to a special edition of Vegas Circle. Behind the Lights, we've got our guy, james Trader, who's actually the owner of Kase Sake and Sushi, talk a little bit about your restaurant. How this?

Speaker 4:

all came together. So, Kase, we're a casual omakase experience here in Las Vegas. Omakase literally means I'll leave it up to you, so leave it up to us to curate your experience here. One of our most popular menu items is our amori. It's a seven course plated meal, and with that you'll start with a seaweed salad, sashimi special, 10 pieces of fresh nigiri and two hand rolls.

Speaker 3:

And this location is fantastic. The environment is lively yet intimate. I think it's great for date nights. The overall experience has been extremely positive. If our listeners could choose one thing on the menu that you'd recommend, what would it be?

Speaker 4:

Definitely my favorite is our A5 Wagyu Flog Raw. We serve that with a cherry amaretto jam and that's just to die for.

Speaker 3:

You and Pac, you're both big sake fans. We drink it all the time Dig in a little bit on what that sake experience is like here at Kase.

Speaker 4:

So we have a great selection of sakes here, from Junmai to Junmai, daiginjo's and even a few Nigoris. We also have a server pick three sampler where our servers will curate, depending on your taste and your meal, a few glasses for you to enjoy and try to just see the depth that different sakes will have as far as flavors go.

Speaker 1:

So you guys, got to come down and check out Kase. They are located off of Jones, north of 215 Freeway. Check out kasesakesushicom.

Speaker 2:

So fakeness plays a certain part until it doesn't Because, although you have followers and stuff like that, like they're not dumb, they know their followers know they know that you don't talk like that, you don't act like that. They're gonna call you. I may be cool for the time being, but you know it can.

Speaker 2:

It can hurt you, I think people are drawn to more authenticity now than ever before, because there's so much fake shit online 100%. So I believe that when it comes to your brand, whatever that may be, I just think that it's staying true to it. Yeah, and understanding who you are as an individual, and stay true to that specific thing and be that, and be that only.

Speaker 2:

I agree, no, just be you Don't be no one else and people are going to fuck with you. You have a camera in front of you. Be you. Speak how you speak. Be you so that people can like you for who you are and go from there. Be you unapologetically.

Speaker 3:

Be you a thousand percent.

Speaker 2:

You know what I'm saying and have fun with it. But use the internet, understand the power of social media and use it, you know, to your advantage. Don't just, um, uh, just be on there playing around I mean, you can do that, that's leisure, you know but if you really want to build your brand, you can't do that. Social media allows you to do that. Now, with all these platforms, I mean shit. Why not you selling something, or you want to be something, whether it's a rapper, a singer, a content creator, a YouTuber, a porn star, a photographer or whatever, be that to the fullest. Social media gives you exposure.

Speaker 1:

What platforms do you like the best as far as the Instagrams and the TikToks and Facebook?

Speaker 2:

So I think, obviously you got your pioneer brands, which is the Instagram and the TikTok. I mean the Instagram and Facebook, but TikTok is spoiling the content creators right now, and even Twitter, twitter is like a free space too, so it's just using those platforms consistently.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I agree. Yeah, do you like X? Do you like the whole setup of just the simplicity of just getting it out? I mean, people do it extremely well where they can just answer stuff real quick. Yeah, I mean why not?

Speaker 2:

It allows you know fans to get involved with their favorite artists. It allows fans to see what their favorite artist is thinking, how they feel about certain things. I just think, yeah, you know, obviously you know how you speak and what you say can get you in trouble. Now, yeah, why not? Why not allow the fans to feel like their favorite artist is that they're talking to their favorite artist? I mean, that's big. That's not something that people had access to before. For sure.

Speaker 2:

I feel like artists were bigger a long time ago than they were now, because they're so accessible. Now you can just go see what they're doing on live. And yeah, you couldn't see what michael jackson was doing, you couldn't see, no clue.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no clue. Michael jackson, michael jordan.

Speaker 2:

He was surprised when you say, oh there he is. But now you can like, you can live vicariously through them by just watching them every single day, yeah, and even with playing them online. Playing the video mean you can play against LeBron on these games and your favorite basketball player. They're just so accessible now and I think it's cool. It kind of builds that cult following, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's amazing because of the fact I get motivated from that, like when you see people, not that you get jealous. I get motivated because I'm like damn man they're just just man, just like me, so I can be able to motivate and try to figure out other things to be able to invest on. You know what I mean, and you can learn a lot of stuff that way as far as brand management right. So who are you working with now?

Speaker 2:

I remember we were talking a little bit For now, because he has a big fight ahead of him. It's Edgar Belinga, so that's the focus right now when is that fight?

Speaker 1:

September 14th Okay so it's coming up fast.

Speaker 2:

He's fighting Canelo Alvarez, so that's going to be a blockbuster fight. I feel like I think everybody's underestimating Edgar and saying, oh, he should have waited or he should have. This is not the right time, or Canelo's going to do this and this and that, but it's like when is the right time? If now's not the right time, then when? Yeah, how old is he? 27. Right, so with boxing there's a window. Boxing is a young man's sport, right. So you're talking about from, let's say, from 18 to maybe 32-ish, and 32 in boxing is old you know what I'm saying, especially Floyd Right.

Speaker 2:

Even Floyd. You know it's different, you know so you have to take those opportunities and leverage them and blow up off of them. You can't just wait. Oh, I'm gonna wait and fight some more guys. That shit don't work like that, like nobody's fighting, nobody's waiting for you to be prepared. You got to go out there and be ready, you know Did you play sports before.

Speaker 1:

Did you hoop or anything? I played football, you played football. Okay, where'd you play at?

Speaker 2:

Played in California.

Speaker 1:

Okay, were you good, could you play?

Speaker 2:

I think I was good, I just didn't, I okay there's a difference.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love watching it.

Speaker 2:

I just okay. My thing was like being like the guy in the suit, okay. Okay, like being a coach and yelling and being a player. That shit was cool, but fuck that yeah I can say less.

Speaker 1:

I already know what you get. That, yeah, say less. Um, what's success mean to you, man? Because I know you're in a lot of different rooms. You have a different perspective on life. So what's success mean to you, man? Because I know you're in a lot of different rooms, but you have a different perspective on life. So what's success mean to you?

Speaker 2:

I think success is subjective. To me, success is a daily thing. Success is routine. You know, success is how you think. It's how you feel. How you think, how you feel. Some people base it on like the monetary aspect, but it's really like that's a small ROI on success. Success is just like how often can you do the right things right and succeed at them? That's success. And it could be anything. You know what I'm saying Because, again, people correlate success with money and not all the time that there's money involved with success, you know. So success is whatever you want it to be, but for me, success is freedom. I agree with you 1,000%. You know, success is freedom, and not just from a financial standpoint, but from a mental standpoint, from a peace standpoint, from a just like time standpoint, from a stress standpoint from you know.

Speaker 2:

You speak about language, brother Getting up doing what you want just being who you truly are, just being ultimately free, and not just free financially. Or you can get up and buy shit, because there's people who can get up and buy shit and still like hate their life.

Speaker 3:

You know it's being free, like just free.

Speaker 2:

That's what success is now. Will any of us ever probably see like 100 freedom? Nah, because success is um well for black. It's handed to you on the string. Why do you say that? Because it is Because our success can be taken from you. I already knew what you were getting at, right, you know what I'm saying. So for us, we have to work twice as hard, or 10, 20 times as hard to get there, but then work 100 times hard to stay there, because success is handed to us on a string and it can be taken away from us by just making the wrong gesture, hugging a woman wrong, or saying the wrong things about a certain community, or speaking about political views, or saying something they feel like you shouldn't have spoke about, and then now you're no longer successful. I mean, look at Puff. I mean look at a lot of other people and, granted, you know I'm not, you know, justifying anything Puff did, but had Puff been anybody else that looked like anybody else, we wouldn't give a fuck.

Speaker 1:

But he's also social figure. You know what I mean? The whole nine, yeah, but it doesn't matter.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it doesn't matter. Success is still handed to him on the string, that's true. And it's been, it's definitely going to take it away from you.

Speaker 1:

You think Puff is done.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, of course that's what they wanted. That was a goal. You can't be a fucking. Look at kanye. They put his mind no they ain't let him lose his mind. They pulled his string and made us believe he lost his mind but he's mentioned that.

Speaker 1:

He's mentioned he's had mental issues, of course, but I know, I know what you're getting.

Speaker 2:

I can say I got mental issues too. I've died in the. I already knew yeah, this is chess, this is definitely chess. So can you? Yeah, granted you, he may be off in a lot of aspects due to whatever he's into or whatever he's been given, but you know, at the same time, success is still handed to a black man on a string. Yeah, so just know that.

Speaker 1:

Well, you saw that with Adidas. You saw that immediately. What happened with Adidas and that relationship?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it can be he pulled from me. His account was free. It was froze. Did that money ever even exist? That's a great question.

Speaker 1:

That's a very good question, I mean even 50 just recently said.

Speaker 2:

He said he's in no rush to become a billionaire.

Speaker 1:

The best best, no, or just in general. He said that on the show, okay, so success is subjective.

Speaker 2:

I like that. And once you start to what success is, it's not what's painted, it's what you consider what success is. So just focus on what you consider what success is, and then you're successful.

Speaker 1:

What's your take on nine to five and building your side hustle? What's your perspective?

Speaker 2:

I think it's important to have a nine to five, because a nine to five is leverage, so that job can be your bank. The most thing that people complain about when starting a business is obviously money right or taking a loan or whatever.

Speaker 2:

the scenario is Right and not understanding that right, so you can use your nine to five as leverage, because you get paid first and the 15th or every two weeks, or $7,000 a month, $5,000 a month, $4,000 a month. You can use a portion of that money to fund, set your budget up Right, so you can work that nine to five and work your five to 10, right, and still be happy and make an extra 10, 1500 a month or 15,000, however you choose to set up. But a job is good because when you got benefits, it's structured. You don't have to work hard because they give you eight hours to finish a task and they give you that eight hours every single day, right. They give you a lunch, they give you eight hours to do one simple task that most people will never finish or complete and they pay you for doing half-assed work. So, if you use that time and that you know what they're paying you to leverage and you know, invest in your business, and there you go. But then in the meantime, be understanding what business credit is, understanding your credit is and how powerful that is, and then going to the bank and setting up bank accounts, getting business funding and then using that money also to fund your business. So it's a lot of different ways that you can use a 9 to 5.

Speaker 2:

A 9 to 5 is not a bad thing. It's just been painted as a bad thing because everybody paints entrepreneurship like it's a good thing. And being an entrepreneur, you gotta be a fucking suicidal, you gotta be a psychopath. You have to be a real fucking psychopath and really, like you know, a real life narcissist I like when mark cuban was breaking that down right you're in competition, man, people every day are there to kick your ass.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, yeah, but I like the fact that you brought up, you know, use it as almost like your own bank, your job right because he was mentioning being a billionaire. No, don't take the loan out and I like that perspective of because taking that debt and then you already have to have that payment coming up and you might not have money coming in.

Speaker 2:

That stress well, it depends on what your view of debt is. The USA is in debt, yeah. So how do you look wanting to become a millionaire or a billionaire or a hundred thousandaire, not considering debt? Everything you do is debt. School is debt. Car note is debt. Everything has debt attached to it. Car notice debt. Everything has debt attached to it. Also, not in understanding, again, how debt is perceived, because debt is perceived in our community as a bad thing, but in other communities, debt is needed. They understand that. It's taught. You don't need to be able to afford the debt, you just need the loan. Once you get the loan, you put everything in motion. If you miss 30 days or the first couple payments, who gives a fuck?

Speaker 1:

yeah, that's true, because you can set loan, you put everything in motion. If you miss 30 days or the first couple of payments, who gives a fuck? Yeah, that's true, because you can set it. Yeah, you can recoup.

Speaker 2:

If you know in 90 days you're going to be making $3,000, $4,000 and a payment on that debt you took is $700,000, then just pay them back the $2,100,000 that you're behind and continue to move forward. But debt is needed. I high and continue to move forward, but debt is needed. I agree. When you have a millionaire and a billionaire and a hundred thousand there, there's debt. I haven't met one without debt, I don't care who you are or what. That's true. Yeah, that's true. That's you. Paying with everything is everything with cash, and most millionaires and billionaires are not paying everything with their cash. They're using someone else's money and most of nine out of 10 times it's the bank's money or some money guy.

Speaker 1:

So, everybody has debt.

Speaker 2:

I consider debt. You have to consider debt. Like even if you have $10 million cash, why invest your own money in something when you can go into debt and pay them back monthly and hopefully this business takes off in six to eight months?

Speaker 1:

You know one of the first people I heard. You know the artist russ yeah I love what he was saying on there. He was basically saying look, I'll take a load out on a million dollars and make that payment so that I could keep the cat, keep everything low, keep the overhead low. And I was like damn, I don't think I ever heard artists he's independent, so you have to.

Speaker 2:

you know I, we, me and my business partners fell into that using our own money trap and you know, you get. You get lost, man, you get that. Those losses hit the account. They don't hit the bank's account. The losses hit your account. So you spend a lot more time trying to recuperate those funds because you lost them. You know versus. Oh well, shit, it's the bank's money. I'll pay them when I want to. All they're going to do is blow my phone up, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I got the money in the account. I'll pay y'all when I'm ready. Yeah, that's true. Those are your options, but when?

Speaker 1:

you are losing the money. It's like shit I'm going broke, but when it's their money.

Speaker 2:

It makes you feel better about it, or not even better. Just, it's a safer thing to do. It's the logical, smartest thing to do. Now, some people will disagree and say no, that's not smart, I'd rather do this, I'd rather do that. That's cool. Well then, prove it.

Speaker 1:

Show it. Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and there's some people who, even when you sit on Shark Tank all the time, they've used their own money until this point. Now they want the sharks to invest. They're in debt to the sharks. They're giving up equity and a piece of their company for expansion or to leverage. That's to get to the next level. You have to give up something to get something. It's the cost of opportunity. Who's in your circle of speaking in your life man to keep you sane and keep you on the right direction? Well, I tend to listen to people who only are walking in the shoes that I would want to walk in one day and have done the things that I aspire to do or making the money I aspire to make. So I only speak to those people. But in Vegas I've had a couple of mentors and I've had some celebrity mentors. I've sat down with some and chopped it up and they've poured into me. Has some? Yeah, like yesterday, shit out talking to mike rubin that's what's up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a big flex, yeah, you know. Yeah, so how did you get connected with?

Speaker 2:

um, just, I was at a private event, okay, you know, and I had met him before my favorite people to listen to.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I have?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I have one of my, one of my boys, Q, we had went to a dinner and Joel and B, like I think it was in bachelor party or engagement dinner. He was there, okay, and we had chopped we had in, so he got himself in trouble a little bit man, just yeah, but I but I like what he was saying. I even told him. You know, I told him last night. I'm like breakfast. Yeah, I said you wasn't wrong and he's like I know, but I got a call from somebody.

Speaker 2:

I said I know that right, but I said it wasn't his place to speak. I said but if they're not speaking on it, then why aren't they speaking about it? We know our community's fucked, but no one says anything about it. But as soon as somebody from another race said it's like blasphemous, like oh, you shouldn't be speaking on that, because, bro, if it's put it like this, if our shit is so bad, a white person saying hey man, y'all got to do better, then it's a problem Because, think about it, they truly don't care, it's not their problem. But when somebody of another race sitting back like hey, y'all better stop.

Speaker 2:

This is becoming a big problem in y'all culture. It's wrong for him to say that because he's speaking from a third-person perspective. He's not in or of the culture, but he's watching from a bird eyes view. That's just like if a pigeon say, hey, you got a lot of shit outside in your backyard, what I'm gonna say you ain't, you don't live here, so you can't. No, I mean, if that's his perspective of my backyard, then maybe I need to correct something you know. So I I don't feel like he was wrong. Yeah, you know he's. I mean, I think he should have stood on what he said. I mean apologizing to the, to the community or to the culture for saying, like yo, we gotta do better.

Speaker 1:

It's crazy I feel like nowadays everybody's got to say sorry just because of the fanatics. And he's probably no and for sure, and I understood his stance.

Speaker 2:

I understood his stance. He was protecting his, his his brand and his business. You, I get that, but at the same time I still feel he wasn't wrong and I stand on that. I get what he said. I get his part. He's like I shouldn't have spoke on it, but shit.

Speaker 1:

It is what it is. It's out there, it's on the internet.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it is what it is yeah, you said sorry, but you still feel how you feel.

Speaker 1:

You still feel like what he's doing just because of the fact that michael rubin, like you were saying, people that you look up to or maybe you see him from a distance, you got a relationship with him, but I love the fact that he is the type of person he is. He don't seem like he's fake.

Speaker 2:

No, no, he's super authentic bro. Last night he has ice on like he, he's, he's, he's he. I think he's just at this point in his life I think he feels like you know, and I don't know, I'm in depth, I just feel like he's just having fun and I think, I think it's dope, you know.

Speaker 2:

But as far as mentorship, I feel like, um, as a growing person, you should always seek out mentorship because we don't have all the answers.

Speaker 2:

I agree, and I think people are so caught up in this way of thinking like, oh yeah, I could do it on their own. No one has done it on their own. So it's go get the right help and get the right voice, and you know somebody who has some of what the right answers are. Maybe the answers were right in their time and maybe they're a little bit skewed or jaded now because times have changed. But you can still get someone's perspective on what you're doing on the journey that you are about to embark on, so that you can be ultimately prepared from a wisdom standpoint on how to deal with those adversities when you're maneuvering through the process and understand how, what roadblocks you're going to run into and how to handle those. It's like in preparation. They're giving you directions on how to maneuver through the bullshit. I agree, because that's really what mentorship is. They're not teaching you how to be successful. They're teaching you how to maneuver through bullshit when becoming successful From an experience.

Speaker 1:

From an experience standpoint yeah, for business advice. Right, I know we've talked a lot, we've kind of went on a lot of rabbit holes. But what would you share for somebody right now?

Speaker 2:

Maybe they're listening to you right now and they're saying, damn, I want to put my vision out, man. What do you say to them of what's the first thing that they do? Uh, first thing that you do is start to educate yourself, I think, um, obviously, correcting yourself and becoming better every single day, and whether it's a couple, a couple percent better, maybe, reading books, or learning how to read, or learning how to tie a tie, moving in the right direction, losing weight, it's making yourself feel better. So what are you doing every day to prepare yourself? Every day, whether it's, you know, hanging around the right people, even going to multi-level marketing, you know those cause, those things can be very, very inspiring and uplifting. So it's, what are you doing in preparation for the larger grand scheme of things? What are you doing to prepare yourself every single day? Because success is not, it's not going to knock on your door, especially if you black. That shit is not knocking on your door.

Speaker 1:

All we got is today. Yeah, we just got today, just the present.

Speaker 2:

Right, what are you doing right now for tomorrow? And what are you going to do tomorrow for the next day and the next day and the next day? How are you making everyday count? You know what are your goals. Or you want to make a million dollars. You haven't mastered making $50,000. So how the fuck are you going to?

Speaker 1:

make a million or $5,000. Right.

Speaker 2:

So master making the smaller micro numbers so that you can master those numbers prior to getting to the larger numbers. You had to take steps. So I just think it's just taking the right steps planning, understanding what your goals are, and are your goals too big? You know, mapping everything out and writing it down and really just locking in. And what are you willing to give up? You know everything comes with a cost. So if you're young, you had to give up your young years. You know if you, if you're older, you're going to have to change some habits and become better. You know what I'm saying. If you're afraid, you got to become less fearful, less worris. You know you can't. You either gonna have faith or have fear, but you can't have both I agree, just transition a little bit.

Speaker 1:

Man we always talk about I'm a big foodie man and um food in vegas is just getting excellent. It's getting so much better, man, but what's what's your favorite restaurant in vegas?

Speaker 2:

um, shit, I don't really don't have a favorite, but um, what's your go-to? You want to get some good food? Well, damn it, it. It changes so much because right now I'm on my, I'm on like bison, okay, but um, if, if, if I was to, you know, I would uh probably uh go to my family's by hattie marie's okay, shout out to them shout out to hattie marie Marie's. But everything changes with me, so I'm not never like the same, like right now I'm on bison and eggs, okay.

Speaker 1:

Every day you eat that. Yeah, oh, wow, okay, your blood pressure ain't going up, nah, crazy.

Speaker 2:

Well, because. So what I'm learning is how good you know why I'm bringing that up?

Speaker 1:

because heart disease with black men man, it's crazy.

Speaker 2:

No, for sure. But with bison and eggs it's large protein right. And it's, lean it's very very, very, very, very, very lean. It's expensive meat but it's very, very lean and I mean you can get heart disease from anything. True, it's anything. It's higher in black men because of how we eat and hereditary.

Speaker 1:

no, it's not why do you say that nothing's hereditary? My doctor literally okay nothing's hereditary.

Speaker 2:

What's hereditary is diet. So we're all beasts because we all eat the same shit. We all got diabetes because we're all eating the same stuff. Yeah, it's all diet, but you're born. You're not born with diabetes if you're born you're not born with diabetes. If you're born with diabetes, that means whatever your mom was eating gave you that At the time. Yeah, I don't, but you can change. That is what you get.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but this is and again I can be wrong. I know some people are going to argue the fact, but I go off of what I was just arguing with my doctor about this. I go off of what science says. And science says that we're all born clean. Now you get some kids who got asthma and all the other stuff, but you have to look at the parents. So yes, he was born with asthma, but look at his mom.

Speaker 2:

Now a sickle cell. When it comes to stuff like that, that's more genetic, because you're talking about like tainted cells and the structure of them, but when it comes to like stuff that's preventable, like obesity, diabetes and cancer and all that stuff like.

Speaker 2:

So all that's just hereditary. Granted, it's in the air, it's in everything we eat and breathe. So if our whole family got it, then look at the products we're using, look at the household that we're living in. We're all breathing and eating the same air and eating the same things. So, yes, it's going to look like it's hereditary, but really it's the fucking pine salt that did it. That's a good point.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, I mean again, hindsight, I did it. That was, that's a good point. So yeah, I mean again, I don't know, but just going off of what science says and you know, just reading again, you have different aspects of you know, it's all subjective. Science is subjective, the truth is subjective. So but I will go with subjective science versus what someone's saying oh you obese, that's hereditary, like skinny people, just not in your family. I think it's subjective.

Speaker 1:

I get it, man. What else is on the horizon for you, man? You're a busy man man, so you're moving and shaking man, and there's a lot to pay attention to.

Speaker 2:

Well, my goal and obviously in a space is to sign a mega deal. I've seen a lot of $100 million deals being done. I want one of them and I will get one of them.

Speaker 1:

I'm with you, man, that's on that side.

Speaker 2:

But on the brand, like the brand management side, sponsorship side I'm collabing with a bunch of different guys that I know in the industry.

Speaker 2:

Shout out to Orly Orlando over at N Sharif, over at Sarisa Rum we just came together with them, did a partnership, my dude, rick Ray Randall, helping me lock in eventscom and stuff like that. So I want to become one of the biggest uh brand sponsorship agencies just dealing with athletes and talent in general. That's my goal is to build that out um, not really to sell it, but just to build it and to you know, help people understand that bridging the gaps between athletes and and brands is super important, because most athletes they think that, not think that they feel like once they get signed, like that's it, that money's good. But these brands are going to outlive you and the only way that you're going to become a billionaire in this is if you attach a product to you. And even when you look at LeBron, lebron said and I said, lebron's a billionaire. But understanding what's attached to LeBron when it comes to his investments, you know private equity, his franchise and his products that's what makes that man a billionaire, you know.

Speaker 1:

So I mean, just that's somebody. I really respect Him. Rich Paul, that whole team, everybody had just a base with what they were able to do, doing their thing, and he empowered the whole team, so definitely shots just out to them, yeah. Well, good stuff, man. I'm glad we had a chance to sit down, man, and be able to just pick your brain and what you represent man. I'm glad you hit on a bunch of those things especially black people. Yeah, Shout out what's your social handle and everything, it's at the creators.

Speaker 1:

T-H-E-C-R-38-T-O-R on. Well, check us out at TheVegasHardcom and pay attention to Wayne Lewis man.

Speaker 2:

Appreciate you, man. Good luck, Thank you brother, yep Good stuff.