00:00The city like Detroit when when I see those buildings I see it as an opportunity for the
00:09potential of either art or another business or it can either be better than it once was or be
00:15rehabilitated to its former glory. My mom just kind of took a notice of my artistic talents
00:23and nurtured that by essentially putting me in like art related schools and then from there I
00:29was training myself to go into college. Once I got there I just kind of understood that like it
00:35cost a lot to go to school and ended up taking what I thought was a break but ended up just being me
00:41dropping out. When you get out into the real world you understand that everything kind of just
00:49operates as a business and once you get that mindset and apply it to like a day-to-day kind
00:55of schedule a regiment you just get creative entrepreneurship. Some of the things that I do
01:01as a creative entrepreneur are based around mural arts, music art direction and design, community
01:08activism and leadership as well as my team who's a team of photographers, chefs, carpenters, music
01:16producers. I think just having a team of individuals that do what they love really gives a strong
01:23foundation for a sense of family and community and peer-to-peer mentorship that really helps
01:28guides us to be not only a better team but better individuals. We developed another program which
01:36was leaders amongst leaders and that started as an idea essentially to give access to the youth
01:43intergenerationally. Just being able to afford the opportunity for a high school kid that you know
01:49was probably in the position that I was in or my friends was in to have access to some opportunities
01:54they may not have been able to afford or their parents may not be able to afford and really give
01:59them that foot up into what their passion or you know career interests may be. My art is reflective of
02:08love and self and others in a sense that it pays homage to a lot of ancestral backgrounds. Not only the
02:16indigenous backgrounds of myself and my ancestors but those and others that I have met during my
02:21life so just being able to mix and mingle those tribes just kind of reflect and mirror who the
02:27people of today represent and it gives a sense of not only pride but royalty and and just understanding
02:33that royalty you you know that the future can only be brighter. So the approach I took to my van
02:40sneaker was essentially like utilizing that same sense of royalty and black excellence. The image
02:46that I put on the toe box is distinctive of a plant love symbolization and metaphor that essentially
02:53putting the roots in the ground understanding your roots planting love in your community planting
02:59and loving yourself when you know you styling up.
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