00:00Alright, we're here just a few weeks after the Summer Olympics in Paris with one of the
00:10biggest stars from the Games, SubDog.
00:12Thanks for joining us here on Forbes Live.
00:14Thank you for having me.
00:16It seems from the outside, you know, that kind of the public perception, the public
00:20image of SubDog has changed, obviously, over the past 30 years.
00:24What I'm curious about is, was there intentional effort put into that or do you feel like kind
00:29of the world changed around you?
00:32I just think when you're organic and authentic to who you are, eventually the world will
00:37catch up.
00:38What I didn't do was try to, you know, follow the fads or the trends.
00:41I just stayed me the whole way.
00:43Even when it was rocky and when it was bad and I wasn't as hot or successful or liked
00:48or loved, I managed to continue to be me and that's something I want to say to everybody
00:52that's watching.
00:54Stay you at all times.
00:55Ain't nothing wrong with being you.
00:57Find a way to be you and master that craft and stick with it.
01:05One example of that is kind of, I think, the way that perception of cannabis or the marijuana
01:10industry has changed, you know, in the past 30 years and obviously now you work in the
01:15jails.
01:16Yeah, I would have been in the jails if we had been doing the interview 15, 20 years
01:17ago.
01:18They'd be taking you to jail because I'd have gave you all this dope and said it was
01:21yours.
01:22When you think about it from like a...
01:24I'm just fucking with you.
01:25You're good, you're good.
01:26I'd be like, oh my god, mom.
01:27Please, no.
01:28When you think about it from like a business perspective, yeah, to now be someone that
01:33works in that field and is making money in that field, I guess like how do you process
01:38kind of, yeah, that change over 30 years?
01:41Well, I wasn't here when Prohibition happened and alcohol was illegal, then it became legal,
01:46but I look at it as the same sport, you know, something that the government definitely had
01:50to get control of and once they was able to, you know, tax it and monitor it, I knew it
01:55would become legal and once it became legal, I did all of the proper steps to make sure
01:59that I was able to get into the industry and, you know, not just be used as a victim or
02:04used as a face, but I went and met with the MEDs when this thing first started and I sat
02:09down with them and got a real understanding on what I was about.
02:13I was about the medical side of it and making sure that we reached the right purpose and
02:16the right intentions and we did things where we reached out to the elders and the patients
02:21that really needed it, which showed our true interest as we was trying to show that this
02:26is something that could be used for medical purposes and not just for recreational and
02:31once the business, you know, became the business, I was looked at as someone who really cared
02:35rather than just trying to come in and steal money because I was an advocate.
02:39No, I really cared because I had family members that really need this and needed this to survive
02:44and they was dealing with cancer and dealing with certain diseases and this got them through,
02:48so I wanted to be a voice for it and that was the best way I could do it.
02:53A lot of artists kind of have that wide appeal.
02:56Why do you think that you're able to appeal to all different kinds of folks?
02:59Well, I got something for everybody.
03:01I do things for kids because I have grandkids and I know how influential they can be and
03:08then I got relationships with people who may be considered as like, you know, elders, like
03:15your grandmother, you know, she may be a fan of Martha Stewart and Martha's a friend of mine.
03:22At this point in your life, you got grandkids, how does that change kind of your perspective
03:26on the things that you want to do and your businesses and, you know, adventures and things like that?
03:31I really think about my grandkids and I think about them having kids and I think about like
03:40in the perspective of the Olympics, I think about running a race.
03:45When I was given the baton, most people were already around a lap four or five times, but
03:54now at the pace I've been running, I've lapped them four or five times.
03:59So how do I give the baton to my grandkids to where they ahead of the race and they're
04:06not behind?
04:07And it's a race of not just finances, but a race of stability, peace and love and harmony
04:14and that's the race that I'm winning right now.
04:16So I want to be able to pass that off to my great-grandkids so that way when my spirit
04:21drifts away, they'll continue to move in the spirit of me.
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