- 11 hours ago
Opportunity in Uncertainty
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Give it up for him. Come on.
00:03How y'all doing today?
00:06I want to welcome everybody to the In His Own Man Experience.
00:09After having an amazing time, I have one request.
00:12We're going to be live streaming all day.
00:14So could y'all try not to block the cameras so everybody in the world can see it as well as y'all too.
00:18So, as previously stated, my name is Oakland Jones.
00:22I'm the entertainment editor here, Essence.
00:24And today, we're going to talk about an amazing, life-changing experience.
00:28And that's how to recognize opportunity.
00:31Specifically, we're going to recognize opportunities and how to make smart financial decisions
00:35to set you, your family, your circle for not just immediate success, but success lifetime.
00:42So here to speak with that with me, I have sports manager and entrepreneur, Ray Rushing,
00:47and Brenda Wise CEO, Jeff Osuji, and actor, rapper, and filmmaker, Malcolm Mays.
00:53I want y'all to give it up for these gentlemen.
00:58All right, gentlemen.
01:22So my first question is actually for all of you.
01:24We hear a lot of people say if I had this amount of money, I could triple it and do
01:29all this with money and everything.
01:30But sometimes people fail to realize that it takes a lot of work and ethic, you know,
01:35for the long-term investments.
01:37So I want to start by asking each of you, what was the first thing that got you interested
01:41in learning more about investing?
01:43I'm going to talk to you first, Jeff.
01:46One, two.
01:46How's everybody doing?
01:47Y'all good?
01:48Can y'all hear me?
01:48I would say the first thing that got me super interested in investments was seeing the success
01:54of Damien John and FUBU and how much money he made, and then also seeing how people were
02:00making a lot of money off of real estate just by owning your home and being able to eliminate
02:03your rent, how that can have a huge impact on your financial well-being.
02:10Ray, what you got, man?
02:11How y'all doing?
02:15I think my thing was basically just hanging out with different athletes, you know, athletes
02:22I was working with and just being in that space and just seeing how, you know, everybody just
02:30focused on telling them they need to invest, they need to do this, athletes lose their money
02:35and do this.
02:36So just being in the background, just thinking about, you know, what I can do and what I need
02:41to do, you know, in preparation for my family, I think that's what really started me for
02:46thinking about investing.
02:49All right, Malcolm, how about you, brother?
02:54Can y'all hear us?
02:55Is this too low?
02:56Y'all can hear us?
02:57All right.
03:00What got me first started thinking about investing was a black woman.
03:06Ironically, we're here at Essence, and my mother, she had Essence magazine delivered to
03:10the house quite frequently, as I'm sure all of our mothers did at one point.
03:14That shit just kept coming.
03:15You didn't want it to keep coming, and it just kept.
03:17And she had Oprah on the front of her cover, and I think she used that as her true north
03:22as a woman of color who was interested in owning her narrative, who was interested in
03:27being beyond our current situation, and she saw me as a conduit for that.
03:31So a black woman poured independence into me, poured freedom into me, and the vehicle for
03:36that was always investments.
03:39That's dope, man.
03:41So, Jeff, last year you were one of the recipients of the Google Startups Black Founders Fund.
03:46Oh, congratulations, my brother.
03:48Hold up now.
03:49That's big, y'all.
03:51Congratulations.
03:52Congrats on that, brother.
03:54So as a business owner, tell people how do you find out about opportunities like that
03:58and where they can search that out?
04:00You know what?
04:00Everything's available on the internet, right?
04:02And as people that are often under-resourced, it's accesses about your resourcefulness.
04:07What I did was I actually was able to bring on a virtual assistant that would just search
04:11for opportunities.
04:12But on top of that, I've been networking.
04:14People don't know we applied three times for that.
04:17We also, in the Techstars Accelerator, we applied three times for that.
04:20So we showed up.
04:21We were consistent.
04:22But I also had a team that was supportive in making sure that we were applying, that
04:26we were meeting the business metrics that they required.
04:28Because when we first applied, we weren't there.
04:31So having the right team on place is definitely all.
04:34Now, Red, this question's for you, my brother.
04:37I know you got your start in professional sports and then went into sports management.
04:41Then you got your own fitness brand.
04:43We'll wait no more.
04:45So what are some things you consider deciding on what type of investments you want to make next?
04:49We all know investing is tricky.
04:53You know, it's a risk.
04:54It's a risk.
04:55But with me, as far as taking the jump to fitness, which coming up, I hated.
05:02In college, I hated working out.
05:05My strength and conditioning coach, he hit me.
05:07He said, you're the last person I would have ever thought have a fitness brand.
05:11Because I hated going to the gym and everything.
05:13But it became a passion.
05:16And I think that word is real important when you, you know, starting an investment and different
05:22things like that.
05:23You want to find something you're passionate in.
05:25Because, you know, some investments are long-term.
05:28They don't, you know, you don't reap the rewards immediately.
05:31So it's something you got to do over time.
05:34So you want to find something that you're passionate in that, you know, regardless of how things
05:39look, that passion is going to keep you going.
05:42Keep you, you know, keep the wheels turning.
05:44And, you know, I think that's something I found with Wait No More is a passion for me.
05:49It's a passion for helping people.
05:50It's a passion for wanting to push my culture, wanting to push my community to, you know, get
05:56active and just live a healthier lifestyle.
05:58So Malcolm, first of all, I know everybody loved watching you in Raising Canaan and in
06:05Snowfall, you know, so yeah, clap it up.
06:09But you're also a filmmaker and a musician, too.
06:12So I want you to talk to us a little bit about the importance of diversifying your income
06:16He was about to play the song.
06:17I don't know why he did that.
06:19It's too late, niggas.
06:20Let's do it later.
06:22You going to play it while we up here?
06:23That's crazy.
06:25Wait until after, bro.
06:26Thanks.
06:27So talk to me a little about the importance of diversifying your income streams and investment
06:32portfolio.
06:34I think it's important to simplify terms like diversification.
06:38So I'll say this.
06:39How many of us know what diversification is?
06:42And it's okay if you don't, because I didn't.
06:44How many of you know what a portfolio is?
06:47All right.
06:48So basically all this shit is just really complicated.
06:50White people talk to tell you, don't fuck up.
06:54How do I not fuck up?
06:56How do I put my eggs in different baskets so if one egg breaks, my other eggs is safe?
07:01It's very simple.
07:02So right now there's a writer's strike in Hollywood.
07:05Maybe some of you are aware of it.
07:06Which means we can't act, we can't write, we can't direct, we can't do shit.
07:10Luckily, I have a real estate investment trust, which is building homes in the Hollywood
07:15Hills.
07:15Like me and my brothers got together, we got a syndicate.
07:17Me and my niggas, we bought houses, we flip them for a higher price.
07:20We take the delta, reinvest, do it again.
07:22We got, I have a fintech company I'm invested in, which you do startups so you know how big
07:26that is.
07:27So I'm invested in that.
07:29Right now I got a music project out with Lil Baby called Not Luck.
07:32Y'all need to go download that right now.
07:34Not Luck, me, Lil Baby, it's going crazy.
07:37I got an album out called Street Journal.
07:39I've been nominated for a Grammy.
07:40And all of this may sound like people telling you you're doing too much, but I don't care
07:43if you both fix cars, fix radiators, fix houses, whatever you do, if something go cold, you've
07:50got to be able to still stay high.
07:52You know what I'm saying?
07:53And women know this best, and we at Essence, so I'm going to speak the truth.
07:56Women know if you got one and he acting up, you got what?
08:00All right.
08:01That's what diversification is and that's why it's important.
08:04In case one man ain't feeding you, the other one will.
08:07That's it.
08:11So this question is for all of you gentlemen.
08:14I want to know what are some lessons that you have to learn the hard way to help you
08:18make better investment decisions in your future?
08:20I can start you, Jeff.
08:22Some great lessons that I learned.
08:24Number one, the biggest investment that you can do is invest in yourself.
08:28I want people to know that, so make sure your health is right.
08:31Also, if you have a business, make sure you're reinvesting your profits.
08:34One of the biggest lessons that I learned is that when you start a business, you don't
08:37want to seek to compete.
08:38You want to seek to win.
08:40So work in a business where you have an unfair competitive advantage, right?
08:43It's great to have competitors, but it's great to dominate an industry.
08:47So when I talk about the biggest lesson I learned, I quit my job right before the pandemic
08:51and focused on a vineyard, which is an event-based company, right?
08:55And I didn't have anything else to lean back on.
08:59And so what I learned was the importance of pivoting.
09:02Ticket sales went down to zero after it was booming.
09:04And I said, you know what?
09:05My friends who've been partying in the clubs are getting older.
09:08You know what they're doing now?
09:09They're buying homes.
09:10The real estate market was booming.
09:11It's one of those markets that doesn't have that elasticity, which means that when demand
09:15goes down, the price goes up.
09:17People are always going to be in health care and real estate.
09:19So I actually got a realtor degree, helped over 40 friends and family get their first
09:23homes.
09:24I was able to pivot to get money to support and pour back into a vineyard, all right?
09:29And so it wasn't until I started booming as a real estate agent, became a top 10% realtor,
09:34I was able to focus on a vineyard and we won a Mountain Dew pitch competition.
09:38And that gave us more of the funds that we needed to help grow the business and build out
09:42the software.
09:42So I would say be ready to pivot for sure.
09:46Red, same question, my brother.
09:49I'm going to piggyback off of him and say, invest in yourself.
09:53You know, you have to invest in yourself.
09:55And that's what we do with my company as far as, you know, the health and wellness.
09:59We have to take care of ourselves.
10:01We have to focus on our health.
10:03And the thing about fitness, it makes you feel better about yourself.
10:08You know, when you start looking good, when you're healthy, that makes you a better person
10:12in the boardroom.
10:12That makes you a better person at home.
10:14That makes you a better person at work.
10:16And, um, and also I think having a niche, having a niche, you need a niche in whatever
10:25you're doing, you know, starting a business or whatever.
10:28Like mine was, I have an amazing wife that had my back.
10:32You know, she has a huge following and stuff.
10:35So it was easy for me.
10:37It was easy that we already had a platform.
10:41We already had a base of people to speak to.
10:45And once you have that, now all of a sudden you just need a good product.
10:49You need a good product or you need a good service.
10:52And, you know, that's what we do with Wait No More.
10:54And so I just think investing in yourself, you know, first, and then just finding that
11:00niche, finding that niche.
11:01And I think you'll be all right.
11:04All right, Malcolm, same question, my brother.
11:06What was the hardest lesson I had to learn in investing or just in life?
11:10Invest in, you know, you could do life too as well.
11:11It was the same thing.
11:12So I think the hardest lesson that I learned was pain tolerance, was learning that just
11:23because you can't take it don't mean you should take it.
11:25You feel what I'm saying?
11:26Like, just because we come from, I come from blue-collar people.
11:29I don't know if anybody else does.
11:31But if you come from blue-collar people, you mistake that hustling and putting your nose
11:35to the grindstone and hitting the ground running and working crazy hours is how you make this
11:40money and how you get rich.
11:41And I had to learn that that's actually the counterintuitive thing to making money.
11:48With investments, you need to be as lazy as fucking possible.
11:52That means the more of your time that it takes versus the amount of labor that it takes for
11:57you to get that dollar, the more you should shy away from it because you already laboring
12:01to get the capital, which is your initial money.
12:03So the money you're about to invest, that's what you labor for.
12:06That's what you put your nose to the grindstone for.
12:08But I had to learn that once you earn that money with your sweat, your tears, and your
12:11time, it has to now get legs.
12:14It has to now go work for you and get back your time.
12:17And if it's not doing that, you're doing yourself a disservice because you'll sit there.
12:21I have a high income.
12:22So people think, oh, Malcolm, you rich.
12:23I'm like, no, I'm not.
12:25Because high income means I got to go get up and go to work every day.
12:28And if I die, what's there for my family?
12:31What's there for my legacy?
12:32What's there for my friends?
12:32What's there for my niggas that I take care of in a pen?
12:35How they going to eat if I'm still ripping and running?
12:38What if somebody take me out of here?
12:39God forbid.
12:41Your money will long live, if it's properly invested, will long outlive you.
12:47It will be an optimum premium on all of your time, your labor, and your sweat.
12:51So for me, the hardest lesson was learning that you can't just outwork this beast.
12:55This system ain't set up for us.
12:56You ain't going to outrun it.
12:58But your money can.
12:59So that was my hardest lesson is that hard work ain't it.
13:02You got to hard work and then compound your investment with that hard work and capital.
13:06Passive income, y'all.
13:07Passive income.
13:09And then Malcolm, I'm going to start with you on this last one, man.
13:12For anyone in this room right now that's serious about starting on this journey,
13:16what's the first step do you think they should take when they want to start their investing journey?
13:23Well, it's different for everybody.
13:24But I'll say most of us got real lives.
13:26And everybody online be telling you, take your money and then just go buy a house and then you'll get your money back.
13:32Like, bro, that shit.
13:33Y'all got bills.
13:34My cousin just went to jail.
13:36My mama got health bills.
13:37How am I supposed to save up enough money?
13:39So what I would say is your first thing I would say for investment is get yourself a safety net first
13:44so that anything else after that you can invest.
13:47But get safe.
13:48Get secure.
13:49Get foundational.
13:50Establish what's important.
13:51Establish what you can't go without.
13:53Take care of that and then go start playing these investment games.
13:56But don't do it without it because you're going to be stressed out.
13:58We black.
13:59We don't get that luxury.
14:00So that's me.
14:01That's what I would say.
14:02All right, Ray, what you got, my brother?
14:04I like that.
14:05I think the security part of it, you know, finding being able to be secure so you're able to go and invest.
14:12And once you get to that point, my thing is, and I solely stand on it, like find that niche.
14:18Find that niche that you have where you can invest, work hard.
14:22It's not boring to you.
14:23You know, a lot of people, we're stuck in jobs that's boring that we don't want to do.
14:28We don't want to go to work.
14:31We don't want to do this.
14:32But just find something.
14:34Find a niche that's something you enjoy.
14:36Because if it's not turning over as much or it's not turning over as fast as you think or fast as you feel it should, you have that passion for it.
14:45You have that passion for it.
14:47So you're not so easy to give up because investing don't have, all investments don't happen overnight, regardless of what you read, regardless of what you hear.
14:56Yes, it's some overnight stories or whatever, but majority of investing, it don't happen overnight.
15:01So find that niche.
15:02And like my bro said, man, find that safety net.
15:06All right, Jeff?
15:06Man, I got to piggyback because whatever you love doing that you will do for free, turn that into a side hustle.
15:13All right?
15:13I love hosting parties.
15:14I did it in high school and college.
15:16So I started hosting parties and turned it into a business.
15:18From there, we started a ticketing company.
15:20I own a lounge as well.
15:21We vertically integrated.
15:22But you're going to become good at it.
15:24It's been nights where I lost $5,000 of a party.
15:27It's been nights I lost $10,000.
15:28But it's been nights I made more.
15:30Each time I treated with the same because I loved what I was doing.
15:33So the first thing I would say is find something that you love doing and figure out how you can monetize that.
15:38Right?
15:38I always had a 9 to 5, but then I always had my 5 to 9, which fueled my ability after 10 years finally to quit my job.
15:45I also invested in an IRA, $200 a month.
15:48Over 10 years, it gave me enough money to give me enough money to pay my rent and comfortably leave.
15:53Right?
15:54So I would just say whatever you love doing, pour your heart into it and figure out how you can monetize it.
15:59Read YouTube, Google.
16:00We got so much information on the internet to figure out how to sell whatever you're good at.
16:06All right.
16:07I think we got time for a couple questions, too.
16:09You know, if anybody on the crowd has any questions for the gentleman up here.
16:12Anybody?
16:12Want to ask a question?
16:15Don't be shy now.
16:16We got like five minutes.
16:17Come on now.
16:18Let's do it.
16:20The floor is yours.
16:22No?
16:24All right.
16:24Well.
16:25No, don't do that.
16:26No, somebody got a question.
16:28Go ahead and ask that.
16:28Go ahead.
16:30For someone who's looking to build investments but is working in the cash business, the same entertainment, making a lot of money, and then you need to invest it, but you also need to live off of it.
16:51What do you guys recommend?
16:52Discipline?
16:54Discipline.
16:54Don't be spending money on females and drugs.
16:57Cut expenses.
16:58Until you can afford it.
17:01Cut expenses, man.
17:02What are you spending money on that you cannot?
17:04I ended up buying a car because I was spending too much money on Uber after eight years.
17:07I'm like, let me just cut some costs.
17:08Saving $800 a month down.
17:10So, the biggest way to make more money is to cut expenses.
17:14Got a question.
17:23Hi.
17:23Thank you for joining.
17:24So, I had a question.
17:26I wanted to follow up on this statement that you made.
17:29So, you said, it's a really powerful quote.
17:31You said, you know, when things go cold, you need to have something to keep you hot.
17:36And so, I understand, you know, we're talking about how investment is risky and you don't know.
17:42You might lose money.
17:42What is the best way to sort of find that stable thing while pouring yourself into the passion project as well?
17:49Like, how do you balance in that?
17:51Well, once again, it comes down to your expenses.
17:52But staying hot, like, we got to look at money like it's not static no more.
17:55Money's not a dollar.
17:56Money don't stay in your pocket.
17:57It don't stay in your bank.
17:59Money has velocity.
18:00It has motion.
18:01And so, you're not playing a game of, like, one-to-one.
18:04You're constantly in motion.
18:05It's a bicycle.
18:06So, if your money is not having no motion, it's an L.
18:10Period.
18:10If your money just sitting there, it's an L.
18:13It doesn't mean you have to go get 100% return or your cousin got a business idea and you need to put your life savings into that.
18:19But there are CDs or certificates of deposit.
18:22There are T-bills, government bonds, where you can invest in a government that takes all your tax money and does bullshit with it.
18:28They can give you a return that is a safe return, 5%, 6%, especially really high right now,
18:34where your money just sits there like it would in a bank that you wouldn't touch anyway because you're scary,
18:37and you're going to make more money on it.
18:39It doesn't matter if it's $10, $100, $100,000.
18:41There are plenty of safe securities, funny enough is what they're called, stocks with dividends,
18:48or if there's a business, a cash-to-hand business in your local neighborhood, like we had the candy lady in my neighborhood.
18:54If I had $1,000, I would have invested in my candy lady because she always had a return.
18:58Anything of that nature where you know people are going to do it for real, for real, it's solid, it's secure.
19:02Take your little bit of money and go do that and don't touch it because that's how you're going to get motion.
19:07That's my answer.
19:09And research, research.
19:11Like he said earlier, there's so many ways that you can research and study and you want to be real sharp on whatever you're investing in
19:21and able to make your money work for you.
19:25You know, find something that you can, you know, that you can kind of bet on.
19:30Like I'm willing to bet on this.
19:31I'm willing to take this chance.
19:34But do the research.
19:35Learn, learn, learn, and just, you know.
19:38What are the products that you're using right now that you can't live without, whether it's your Nike shoes, whether it's an LVMH purse.
19:45I would say invest $100, $200 in those stocks.
19:48But also, I'm going to give you guys a website, startengine.com.
19:52For as little as $250, you can invest in multiple startups.
19:56It's also a way if you have an idea that you can have your friends invest in a startup that you're going to start.
20:01So we just did a campaign early this year, raised over $200,000 because venture capital money is down.
20:07But on Start Engine, we were able to raise money from our community.
20:10And you guys can also invest in different startups.
20:13So if you see something you like, check it out.
20:14I'm glad you said that.
20:15If you are under the age of 25 and you got a dream, go risk it all right now.
20:20You'll bounce back.
20:20You'll be fine.
20:22Do it right now.
20:23If you are north of 25 and you don't give a fuck, go risk it all right now.
20:29Unless you got kids or you got bills.
20:30But if you have bills and kids and you are north of 25, security, information, collaboration, these things, panels, YouTube videos,
20:41those are going to be your friends as you go along your investment journey to inform you what you should and should not be doing.
20:45But if it don't feel right, don't do it, bro, because you're going to be mad at your wife and you're going to be mad at your husband that you did something they told you not to do.
20:50So you have to be fully confident, win, lose, or draw, whether it wins or it loses, that you did something important with your money.
20:58So be researched and all that.
21:00All right.
21:01All right.
21:01We got one more question, fellas.
21:03Right now, the market is high on real estate.
21:06But right now, most houses you got now, a lot of families cannot afford a home.
21:11Okay.
21:12Get that right to his mouth.
21:13Go ahead, Ken.
21:13Rental properties is hot right now.
21:15A lot of people can't afford a home.
21:17So they're getting into that more than anything.
21:19And so buying apartments, homes, stuff like that, investing that is more marketed right now.
21:26Well, it's tough because the interest rate is whooping everybody ass.
21:30Excuse me for cussing.
21:31But the interest rate is crazy right now.
21:32So what that means is borrowing money is not smart right now.
21:35If you do not have, like, it's simple math, right?
21:38Like, if you can't get, if it says I'm going to make 10% return on this property, like all the other houses on the block say that you're going to make 10% retire,
21:45and then you only got a 7% interest rate or higher, bro, you can't do that.
21:51It's not worth the effort.
21:52I disagree as a realtor, though, because I do want to say it's a couple ways to make money on the property, right?
21:57So you can make it over appreciation over a long period of time.
22:01You can't always go for the quick flip.
22:02So I say if you're trying to make it quick in a couple years, no.
22:05But if you're cool with waiting and a little estate is a long man's game, right, it's a long women's game, you've got to wait.
22:11Appreciation over time, saving money on taxes, those are additional ways.
22:15Also rental income and rents raising every month.
22:18So, no, if you need the money back within a year or two, don't do it.
22:21Don't do it.
22:22However, if you're thinking long term, which you should be, if you don't have a property, you can get it at 3.5% with the FHA loan and eliminate your rent.
22:31It's still a good time because you can always refinance when the rates go back down, right?
22:36That was just very hard to get a property.
22:37I'm not going to disagree with my brother, but we've got to add information, right?
22:41That can be predatory because you've got PMI, there's a lot that comes with that FHA loan.
22:46You're thinking you're getting it at a lower percentage, and a lot of our grandparents are losing their house because of that.
22:50So, I just got to make sure, what he's telling you to do is if you are cash liquid, if you have enough to sustain problems and trouble, because your shit will break, and it will break you.
23:01So, only do what he do if you're responsible and disciplined.
23:03If you are not.
23:05And my bad, I mean, I didn't disagree.
23:06I mean, I want to add some more information.
23:08So, you're 100% right, brother.
23:09We can disagree.
23:10We're black.
23:10We love each other.
23:11I still say don't wait to buy real estate.
23:14Buy real estate and wait, but only because of my personal experience.
23:17Because I suggest you have six months of expenses saved up.
23:22To this point, liquidity is so important.
23:24But, you know, you've got to realize a lot of government now is giving you finance to get into the property.
23:29Correct.
23:30So, if you can get into finance to get your property, then that cut a lot of your costs.
23:34Correct.
23:35Correct.
23:36That's what I'm into.
23:37I've got a lot of property that government helped me to get into that now I just sit back, make sure everything roll.
23:44Amen.
23:44Amen, King.
23:45If you have the right realtor, they can negotiate credits, right?
23:49They can negotiate on your behalf.
23:50They can negotiate the price down.
23:51And also for that buyer to pay some of your interest.
23:54So, there's different things you can negotiate.
23:57All right, fellas.
23:58Malcolm, Red, Jeff.
23:59Thank you again for being here today, people.
24:01Can you tell the people where they can find you or where they can look you up?
24:04Just Google my name.
24:08Jeff Osuji.
24:09I'm at Vinwar on Instagram.
24:11Visit at Vinwar.com to host events.
24:12And at Jeff Osuji on Instagram.
24:15Fellas, it's an honor to be here with y'all, man.
24:18Mr. Rush Life on Instagram.
24:21Or you can find me at waitnomore.info.
24:25Mr. Rush Life on Instagram and waitnomore.info.
24:28That's the company name.
24:30Download Street Journal Value More.
24:31Appreciate y'all.
24:32Y'all give it up for the gentlemen, man.
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