- 2 days ago
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LifestyleTranscript
03:11Everybody good?
03:13Yeah?
03:15I will ask if you're standing to take a seat, please.
03:19Please do so.
03:20If you're standing, please take a seat.
03:22We have these phenomenal speakers up here.
03:24We'd love to give them, show them respect.
03:26I appreciate it.
03:28This conversation for me is very interesting because obviously, for those of you who don't know, my name is Jabari Young, and I'm a magazine writer at Forbes, and I cover business.
03:38And so having this particular conversation with these three phenomenal speakers is very good because I'm getting a diversity of thought.
03:46It's a lot of conversation we was having in the back about strategic ways, solutions, about black and brown businesses in 2025, what the state of them are, solutions that we need to move forward.
03:59We obviously know DEI has been shredded to pieces, but how can we move forward?
04:04Immigration right now, our Latino community, our brothers and sisters in Latino community are under attack, right?
04:10How can we unify and help them move forward?
04:14And I want to start this conversation.
04:16I want to ask, what if black and brown businesses in this country were equitably representative, right?
04:22What if we had just as many black businesses as we have black people in this country?
04:28We make up about 14% of the population here.
04:31So that's 1,615,000 jobs or businesses that would be created.
04:39$1 trillion of revenue generated if we had enough black businesses to match our population.
04:47So this particular panel, we will tackle that, drive prosperity, impact the black and brown businesses on the economy.
04:57We'll briefly focus on the vital role that minority businesses play in driving economic and innovation, with economic growth and innovation.
05:07And we'll also explore some of them who are shaping the financial landscape, right?
05:11So if you're a black business owner or a Latino business owner, who are some of the people that you can mimic in your business to help you scale it?
05:22First, some data, right?
05:23There are about 8.7 million black and brown businesses total across this country.
05:308.7 million black and brown businesses across this country.
05:34I get that right, Juan?
05:35That's right.
05:35That's right.
05:36Juan told me that stat just behind the stage.
05:38The average black employer business has about $850,000 in annual revenue.
05:45That's what they make.
05:46Compared to our white brothers and sisters, they have about 2.4 million.
05:50So there's a big disparity there, huge disparity.
05:53How can we make that up?
05:55Ninety percent, 96 percent of black-owned businesses, and here's the problem, sole proprietorships, right?
06:02That means that it's only one person running the entire operation.
06:04How can we better improve and create more black employer firms?
06:10We're talking about in areas like oil, mining, manufacturing, things that get out of the consumer packaged goods space, right?
06:17How can we be better at scaling those other businesses and other sectors?
06:23Hispanic-owned businesses, they represent about 8.2 percent of employer firms, right?
06:29Just some data.
06:30How many of you can guess what the best state for black employment is?
06:34You will never guess this, right?
06:36See the sister raising back here?
06:40Georgia?
06:41No.
06:41Nevada.
06:43Can you believe that?
06:44Nevada.
06:45Yes.
06:46Nevada.
06:47And this is according to the Center of Economic Policy Research.
06:50I'm not making this up.
06:51Nevada, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, the best states for black employment.
06:56The worst, Arkansas, Michigan, Illinois, right here in Louisiana, and where I'm from in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
07:04Those are the worst, right?
07:05Very interesting data.
07:07I want to start this panel off by asking each of you one word to describe the state of black and brown businesses here in 2025.
07:16Juan, I'll start with you.
07:17Thank you very much.
07:18So I would certainly say that...
07:21Just one word.
07:22Assault.
07:23Assault.
07:24Why assault?
07:24Because the government and the policies that it has been implementing, you know, going after D and I policies, for example, puts our community under assault.
07:34The big, beautiful bill, the big, bad bill puts our community under assault.
07:39Yeah.
07:39And so that's my one word for the government.
07:42Assault.
07:43Robert, what you got?
07:44Fertile.
07:45Fertile?
07:45Why fertile?
07:47Because everything is within us.
07:49Like, when you say all of those numbers and the lack of funding that there is, and we're still able to make those level of results, to me, that says the soil is ripe for opportunity.
08:04Elise?
08:06Unfolding.
08:07Unfolding.
08:07That's interesting.
08:08Why unfolding?
08:09I believe because we are, right now, shifting to the real power.
08:15We are understanding our power.
08:18We are going further.
08:20We are fertile.
08:22So we are literally unfolding the power that we have to go further.
08:27Yeah.
08:28I want to stick with you for a minute because I want to ask each of you to give the audience a status report on your company.
08:33They may not know what your companies do.
08:35They may not know who you guys are.
08:37At least I'll start with you.
08:38Give me a status report on NVH Studios.
08:40This is a global group that designs lifestyle brands, right?
08:45Give me a status update and what the business mission is, as we say here in 2025 at NVH Studios.
08:51The business mission is not changing from what we wore before to this week, right?
08:59So we are a Kenyan brand.
09:02So let me start with Enda.
09:05So Enda is a sportswear brand out of Africa.
09:10It's the first sportswear brand going out of Africa that is going global and, you know, playing or competing in the global stage.
09:20And Enda is proudly part of NVH Studios, as you were saying.
09:26That is a holding company that has other two lifestyle brands.
09:32One is Eferino out of Brazil.
09:34The other one is Twins for Peace.
09:36Twins for Peace, it's a French boutique brand.
09:39And right now, what I would tell you that our mission is it's to stay rooted but going global, right?
09:50The purpose of our brands, all of our brands, is really on the building community side of it.
09:58It is to support the community.
10:01It's to build ecosystems where we can be developing, right?
10:05So it is not just marketing.
10:08It is not just being there for status.
10:11It's literally supporting and being part of our community.
10:15Juan, League of United Latin American Citizens, otherwise known as LULAC.
10:22Well, LULAC is the country's oldest Latino civil rights organization.
10:25And so right now, we find ourselves really focused on what we can do to help support Latino and minority communities across the country.
10:33And we're doing so primarily in a completely different way than we have in our past, which is fully intersectional, working with our African-American partners and allies, with women-led organizations, with GLBT groups as well.
10:46We're here to advocate for small businesses.
10:49We're here to advocate for Latinos and minorities across the country.
10:53And where we need to, we will stand up and we will fight through litigation in order to ensure those rights are protected.
10:59Robert, what's going on over at the Broadway Collective?
11:05You got to give it up for Robert's outfit, too, man.
11:07Come on, man.
11:07That brother, look at that outfit.
11:09I was all, I'm like, man, you going to upstage me?
11:11I done got a new suit made and you come in there with this.
11:13But you look great.
11:15Well, I appreciate it.
11:15You look better.
11:16You look better.
11:17So one of our programs is called Strength on Stages.
11:20And our mission is to help black and brown female entrepreneurs take their side hustles and turn them into six and seven figure small businesses.
11:30So right now we're really helping them get their products and their programs launched because we know that when we change the economy in our household,
11:42we're able to change our communities and we're able to change truly what's happening at the state and national level.
11:48Robert, I want to stick with you for a minute because we had a pre-call this week and we were talking about some of the things we wanted to discuss on this very panel for you all.
11:55And you were very passionate about black women being underfunded, being underrepresented.
12:03And, you know, you just had that passion.
12:05And what is keeping you up at night when we talk about the underrepresentation, the underfunding of black women?
12:11It kills me because it's like looking at my mom.
12:17You know, I work with mainly single moms who really want a different world for their kids.
12:26And, like, I'm the person who went to all of the banks and every bank from my house denied me.
12:31But it was a black funder that actually helped.
12:34Right. So what's keeping me up is making sure that these women have the skill, not just the skills,
12:42but really the tools to help grow their businesses when they cannot get the quote unquote traditional funding that many business owners will go and get.
12:53And so something that I love Jabari asked on our pre-call was then what is the solution?
12:59You know, it's so we always hear what the problem is.
13:02And I really believe that the solution is already within ourselves and within our communities.
13:08And what would happen if we start looking at our black brothers and our black sisters?
13:13And instead of going to big companies, we go to them.
13:18Right. And that is that's what I want to fight for right now.
13:23Yeah. And add a little bit more context.
13:25Yes. I'm not sure how you all know, but two point one trillion dollars.
13:29A 2026 that is what the black community, that's the spending power of the black community, two point one trillion dollars.
13:36Think about that. That is bigger than the GDP of Mexico, bigger than the GDP of Canada.
13:41We spend more money than countries. Right.
13:44And so what Robert is talking about is instead of going and asking people for money,
13:48we can do that amongst ourselves and work amongst ourselves.
13:50One of the things we hear on Wall Street is how black and brown businesses, we don't talk to one another when it comes to doing business.
13:57We seek other outside businesses, but we don't talk to each other, knowing that we have two point one trillion dollars of spending power.
14:05Think about that. Robert, I want to take it to you, man, because that's a piece of data.
14:09And we were talking in the back about the data that the Global Black Economic Forum, as well as LULAC, came up with.
14:15Give me some numbers that stood out to you.
14:17What surprised you about that report, that economic data report?
14:20Well, you know, I would say that the combined buying power is five point one trillion dollars.
14:28Combined with black and brown. Black and brown.
14:30And so for far too long, we've been looking at both communities in silos.
14:35We talk only about the African-American community and the Latino community.
14:39And we don't talk about them combined.
14:41If you were to go to Walmart, they would tell you we have 20% African-American employees.
14:47We have 30% Latino employees.
14:49But really, you have more than 50% black and brown employees.
14:53The same thing basically with Amazon, the second largest employer in the country.
14:57Over one million employees.
14:59Those are warehouse jobs.
15:01They're over 50% Latino and African-American communities.
15:06So we need to exercise that power.
15:09We need to talk about it in unity.
15:12And we have more power when we go to the table together.
15:15Myself and Alfonso or Derek Johnson or Mark Morial.
15:19We really need to work more closely together and be committed to it as a community.
15:24Yeah.
15:25Elise, I want to shift to you because we were in the back talking about opportunities in Brazil
15:29and looking at this thing from an international standpoint.
15:32But before you do that, you talk to constituencies around the world.
15:37When they look at the U.S. and they look at DEI being shredded, they look at the immigration
15:41politics, how are they viewing us?
15:44Because I watch Bloomberg all the time and I'm staying up at night and I'm seeing all
15:48these other countries looking at us and just laughing at us, right?
15:51Europe, Africa, all of them.
15:53They're just sitting there laughing at us.
15:54What are you hearing when you go around the country with NVH studios around the world about
15:59how they're viewing the U.S. when it comes down to black and brown business?
16:02I wouldn't say they're laughing.
16:04It's actually a concern because we also have to understand that the U.S. is a model to other
16:12countries.
16:13So, for example, I'm from Brazil, from a very small city in Brazil, in Minas Gerais.
16:17And the dream of most of us is to come to the U.S.
16:21Yeah.
16:21Is that still a dream?
16:23It is not.
16:24It is changing a little bit.
16:27So, for example, for, you know, I'm going to talk about us, about the black and brown
16:31community, right?
16:32So, right now, if you see a young Elise over there, it is dreaming to go to Africa.
16:40The U.S. is not the dream anymore.
16:42Like, the American dream is kind of shaking because people are concerned.
16:47Am I safe?
16:48What am I doing?
16:49Is that really where I'm going to make the money?
16:52Or is just where I'm going to survive?
16:55Am I going to survive?
16:57So, I wouldn't say that it's left, but it's really a concern around the world.
17:01And you see in Africa, it's still, I spend a lot of time in Kenya because of ANDA.
17:07And it's still between UK and the U.S.
17:14But you see people shifting.
17:16Maybe home is where we should be.
17:17If we develop over here, if we grow around, you know, our community, if we do more for
17:26ourselves, maybe it should be the best place to be.
17:29So, that is my understanding, my view.
17:33It's me talking to people around the world.
17:35And it is also my personal opinion.
17:38That's how I see.
17:39Let's suppose all of these people here that they were entrepreneurs and they may be looking
17:43outside of the U.S. to do business.
17:45Which country outside of Africa would you recommend?
17:48Brazil?
17:48We were just talking about that.
17:49Just because I'm Brazilian.
17:52But Brazil is definitely a good place to go to invest.
17:57If we are talking about our community, Brazil is 56% black.
18:0356% black in Brazil.
18:0556% black.
18:06That is what the data say, the official data say, but we know that it's more.
18:11Brazil has the blackest city in the world outside of Africa that is Salvador and the blackest
18:16state that is Bahia.
18:18We have opportunity to connect directly to ourselves.
18:25We don't have to go around.
18:26So, NVH Studios, one of our businesses is in Brazil with this purpose, right?
18:34There is other business in the whole group that is also based in Brazil.
18:39Our headquarters are there.
18:40There is a huge opportunity to connect, to grow, to build.
18:45And I would say that the doors are open.
18:48We just have to talk to each other.
18:50We have to connect.
18:51We have to do better.
18:52Yeah.
18:53Africa, Brazil, two countries, one continent to keep an eye on, right?
19:00Juan, I was listening to your interview on Tavis Smiley to kind of shift it back.
19:04We've got about nine minutes left here about the unity between black and brown communities
19:09and how we don't talk to each other.
19:11We spend more time maybe going at each other instead of talking to each other to do business.
19:14Again, $5 trillion worth of spending power there.
19:17And the quote you said is, for the African-American community to get where it needs to get to,
19:25it needs Latino support.
19:28For the Latino community to get to where it needs to get to on immigration reform,
19:32we need African-American support.
19:35Elaborate on how we can better strengthen that unity between the two groups.
19:39Well, we can strengthen it through conversation, through dialogue, through forums like this,
19:46where we can actually share ideas.
19:48You know, look, there has been a lot of tension within the African-American and Latino community
19:52for a long time.
19:54You know, Latino men voted overwhelmingly for this president, and they found out.
20:01They found out.
20:02Yeah.
20:02Right?
20:03But we need to break that cycle.
20:05We need to start working together because we're not going to be able to get to where we want to get to.
20:10There's just so much that connects us from a health perspective, from a small business perspective,
20:16and that's really the gap that I'm basically trying to address.
20:20And there's two sides to this conversation.
20:22There's a workforce component to it where we make up over 50% of the workforce,
20:27but we're also the consumer side of it.
20:30Okay?
20:30We're setting trends.
20:32We're setting cultural trends, for example.
20:35You know, from a fashion perspective, the African-American community leads that,
20:39from a music and entertainment perspective.
20:41What would these corporations do if they lost a million customers tomorrow?
20:47Because that's what Trump is talking about.
20:49He's talking about deporting a million immigrants.
20:53And they're not just Latinos.
20:55They're black from Haiti, from Ethiopia,
20:58and they're Muslim from Eastern European countries as well.
21:02Yeah.
21:02You just mentioned a big, beautiful bill.
21:05We can talk all day about what's wrong in it.
21:08Is there anything right in it that will help black and brown businesses that you've seen?
21:15And it just was passed last night, so, you know, if you don't have it, that's fine.
21:18I mean, look, there's $168 billion appropriated to immigration enforcement.
21:23Literally more than will be appropriated to defense of this country.
21:27That's a concern.
21:29The short-term tax benefits are short-term.
21:32They will expire in two years.
21:34You may get a tax saving of $400,
21:36but you're going to have an increase in health-related costs of over $4,000 per family.
21:42So we don't think it's good at all.
21:45They are restructuring the levels of power and the redistribution of wealth.
21:50Make no mistake, that's what this bill is about.
21:53Robert, I want to shift to you, right?
21:55We can look around the world or look around and stay in this country, as a matter of fact.
22:00Again, so many black and brown businesses, 8.7 million total.
22:03What's one that's doing it the right way, overcoming the odds, and they're thriving economically?
22:10They're doing it the right way that somebody in this crowd can look at that company and mimic.
22:14Who you got?
22:15It's Hello7, and their CEO is Rachel Rogers,
22:20and she wrote a book called We Should All Be Millionaires,
22:24and they recently had a conference two weeks ago, 500 black and brown women together,
22:30many of them that haven't yet left their jobs.
22:33But what she is doing at that company is taking these women through a 12-month business accelerator program.
22:43And people that have been through that program have started, you know,
22:48leaving jobs that they weren't even making six figures at.
22:52And within 9 to 12 months, they've gone from multiple six figures,
22:58some of them even reaching seven figures.
23:00And I love the most about it is that it's not just about wealth building for your family,
23:07but there's a huge foundational aspect to how they run their company.
23:13And so a lot of the money in that company goes to their foundation that really helps black and brown women
23:21when they are in the hospital giving birth.
23:24And I just think they're absolutely doing it right and how they're working together with communities.
23:31Juan, do you have a Latino company that's doing it the right way that maybe black Americans,
23:36that we can mimic them?
23:37You know, there is, and I feel really terrible because I can't remember their name,
23:42but let me tell you the outline of it.
23:44Two Latinos from Chicago started an AI chat company.
23:49An AI chat company?
23:50An AI chat company that has raised over a billion dollars.
23:54Wow.
23:55And you forgot their name?
23:56In four years.
23:57I know.
23:58That's escaping me.
23:59But listen, they're not hard to find.
24:01I'm going to get it to you, Jabari, so you can write about these two gentlemen.
24:05AI and technology really is changing the landscape.
24:08Look, I started a technology company back in 2002.
24:12And here's what I'm going to tell you.
24:14I bought a $1,000 laptop, and I wrote a million-dollar proposal, and I sold it.
24:20That's it.
24:21I didn't have to go out and get financing or debt financing or friends and family.
24:25If you have an idea, and it's a good idea, and you can sell it,
24:31you can start with paying customers on day one.
24:34And you can grow, and you can scale that.
24:37Yeah.
24:37Well, I want to stick with you for a minute because I would be doing the crowd a disservice
24:41if I do not talk about the incoming technology, talking about agentic AI.
24:46How many in the crowd raise your hands if you have on your phone right now Google Notebook?
24:52Right.
24:53I know one person does.
24:54I told her about it.
24:56That's it.
24:57It should be more people with their hands raised.
24:59That is a very powerful app.
25:01If you've got Instagram and you've got all those other social media apps,
25:03you should be having Google Notebook.
25:04You can download a 50- or 100-page PDF document, upload it to Google Notebook,
25:10and it will spit out a podcast talking about that which you just uploaded in five seconds.
25:16Think about what I just said.
25:18Right?
25:19That will help customer service.
25:21Right?
25:21If you're a small business, agentic AI will help your customer service.
25:25You need to invest, and you need to be playing with Google Notebook.
25:28Right?
25:29Gen AI is one thing.
25:30Agentic AI is another.
25:32Right?
25:32When I mention those two texts, Juan, what would you tell the audience about making sure
25:36that they keep up with AI tech?
25:39Because black and brown communities seem to be the ones that's lacking behind.
25:44Absolutely critical.
25:45Not just from a business perspective, from a community perspective.
25:48Our children need to know this.
25:51We will be left behind if we do not embrace this technology revolution at the end of the day.
25:58And for me, that's the biggest concern.
26:00There are laws that haven't been written yet that will discriminate against our community.
26:05They will.
26:06So we need to get out there.
26:08Look, the free versions of these things are great.
26:11It's a good place to start.
26:13But Chad GBT has something called deep research.
26:16It's $200 a month.
26:17It is incredible.
26:20You would literally have a PhD working side by side with you for $200 a month doing all
26:27your reports, all your analysis.
26:29I use it to analyze the bill.
26:321,100 pages.
26:34It turned back an hour of full analysis of the impact on immigration, for example.
26:39These tools are absolutely incredible.
26:41Use them.
26:43Take the time.
26:43It will pay off in spades.
26:46Yeah.
26:46Elise, the incoming technology.
26:48You're in a consumer goods space.
26:50So how is that, the new technology, helping NVH Studios?
26:54And what are you guys seeing?
26:55It is helping a lot.
26:57We are having right now a whole different approach to technology in the fashion company as well.
27:06But the group has also a technology company.
27:10So we can't, there's one thing that I said in the back, but I think that this is more to this conversation right here.
27:18We can't treat what they say that is gap in our community as something that is not opportunity.
27:26So we have the opportunity right now to change the game, right?
27:30The technology is there.
27:32Everything is there.
27:32AI is there.
27:33We can have a podcast in five seconds.
27:36Two people in a conversation seems real, very real.
27:41So customer service, but also the database, right?
27:46One thing that we miss all the time is that we don't have our own data.
27:52They have our data.
27:54They know what's the billions that they're making out of us, but we don't know and we don't control.
28:00We don't have the power over it.
28:02So we really need to start treating this, what is called gap, as an opportunity.
28:09This has to change for us.
28:10And it's changing.
28:11Our business is changing and other businesses, I would say, pay attention to it because it's reality.
28:17It's not a 2030 thought anymore movie theater.
28:21It is right now.
28:22It's happening.
28:23Yeah.
28:23I want to read this quote to you as we wrap up here.
28:26And this is from Robert, you know, in a 2024 podcast.
28:29Robert, your worth is not determined by who you're attached to.
28:34It's determined about how you feel about yourself.
28:38As we close this particular conversation, I'm going to give you the first word.
28:42Give some closing advice to these people that are sitting here today about just enhancing their business,
28:49enhancing themselves as we sit here in 2025, moving ahead, knowing that we have three years left of this current administration.
28:56We've got midterm elections coming up.
28:57We've got a whole much more to talk about, right?
28:59What's your closing advice to these entrepreneurs, these business owners?
29:03Get focused.
29:04I think we all play with time.
29:08And if I could go back or if I could be exactly where you were right now, I would get into a business coaching program
29:15or be with a mentor that has a proven track record of helping people.
29:20And I don't think we talk enough about sacrifice and it's going to cost, but the opportunity that's on the other side is what you have always longed for and always desired.
29:34And I truly believe, why not you?
29:37And so whatever it is, it's time.
29:40Get focused.
29:41Juan, you're closing advice.
29:42Get comfortable in uncomfortable spaces.
29:47Okay?
29:47Be comfortable in uncomfortable spaces.
29:50If you're the only Latino, if you're the only woman, if you're the only African American or black person in the room, get comfortable.
29:58Network.
29:59Ask for help.
30:00You will be surprised how many people will be willing to give you a hand and help lift you up.
30:05Yeah.
30:05Elise?
30:06Build your foundation.
30:08Build your foundation.
30:09Yeah.
30:10Never forget that your business is there because you had a dream, because you desire, because you have a plan.
30:16Build your foundation.
30:18Get focus is one of the things to do when you're building your foundation.
30:22Stay rooted.
30:23Believe on what you believe the first time.
30:26Make sure that your foundation is there.
30:29Process is very important.
30:32And make sure to connect within ourselves.
30:35Our community is here for that.
30:36We are here to develop a better ecosystem, to create it, to make it better for all of us.
30:43You know, we are not just one right now.
30:45We have to walk as a community.
30:47We have to walk together.
30:48So build your foundation.
30:50Stay rooted.
30:51And everything is going to work out.
30:52Yeah.
30:52And I will tell you all the follow-up.
30:55Right?
30:55What does that mean?
30:57Follow-up with each other.
30:58You're getting all these business cards.
31:00Don't be putting those in the drawer.
31:02Follow-up with those individuals.
31:03Talk to them.
31:04Beg them.
31:05Right?
31:06Get their time.
31:08Follow-up with each other.
31:09Talk to your Latino brothers and sisters.
31:11Right?
31:11Talk to the other black businesses and entrepreneurs.
31:14Follow-up.
31:14Elyse, Juan, Robert, thank you for the time.
31:16Jabari Young, thanks for listening.
32:21Bye.
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