Hip-Hop and High Fashion: The Success Story of Floss Magazine's CEO

Ever wonder what it takes to build a unique brand in the world of publishing? Join us as we sit down with Paris, the trailblazing CEO and Chief Editor of Floss Magazine. He talks us through his transition from the music industry to the cut-throat world of magazine publishing, and how he expertly merged the sophistication of GQ and Vogue with a hip-hop twist, creating a unique brand that stands a class apart.

In our chat, Paris pulls back the curtain on the challenges he faced while creating Floss Magazine, and the bold strategies he used to overcome them. Listen as he shares how featuring 50 Cent on the magazine's cover was a daring gamble that paid off, leading to their top-selling issue. We also delve into the fascinating intersection of fashion and music, examining how fashion influences an artist's image, and how hip-hop artists have shaped certain fashion brands.

But there's more! Not content with just publishing and fashion, Paris shares his passion for community service and his experiences in Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Hear about his heart-warming contributions to Inwood House and how his magazine is helping aspiring models gain exposure and confidence. As we wrap up, we probe the impact of fashion and culture on Kanye West's life and career. Be inspired by the tales of entrepreneurs who braved limited resources and immense challenges to taste success. Prepare to be moved and motivated by Paris's journey, a testament to the power of perseverance, creativity, and calculated risk-taking in carving a successful path.

Buzzsprout - Launch your podcast
Start for FREE

BOTTEGA BOYZ
The Elite Liquor Ambassadors | Building Brand Awareness

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo yo. What's up, it's your boy swag 100. Man, we live good vibe interviews. Man, y'all know what we do All big business, fashion and entertainment man, and no other than today my guest CEO, chief executive, editor of Floss.

Speaker 2: 0:31

Magazine. Yo, what's up y'all? This is Paris editing, chief CEO of Floss Magazine. I mean, like your swag man, thank you for having me. You know what I mean. It's a pleasure to come up here and just kind of chill with you in your studio and your environment.

Speaker 1: 0:44

Yeah, definitely, definitely, definitely. No, we definitely thank you for even coming and just taking the time out with us Paris, so you know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 0:53

That's real humbling and I'm very appreciative of that. All day man Same here, Absolutely. But yeah, I just I'm going to dig right in this will be doing Goat Vibes. So just let you know, Goat Vibes is for the legends and the future legends. All right, you know, and Goat Vibes, you know, we try to get enough information that's going to be impactful for people that might be walking in your shoes later on.

Speaker 2: 1:17

Absolutely. Let's do it so.

Speaker 1: 1:18

I'm going to dig into the business a little bit. Let's do it, let's do it. So how did you wind up just deciding you, you know? Can you give us a background on the magazine game? How did you decide you wanted to become a publisher or involved in the publishing world? You know of publications and magazine and fashion Right?

Speaker 2: 1:43

So you know, I was in the music industry for a long time. I did production, did a bunch of different things in the music industry. Then I got a job with an independent label as an A&R Because I figured, you know, I work with the independence, that's where I work my way up. But I got more control over what I'm involved with. So, long story short, a lot of the artists kind of didn't understand the game you know what I mean. Like the studio became like a hangout spot smoke, weed, chill with girls or whatever. And I'm like yo we here to work and at some point I just felt like I was in this dark place where I had no control of my own destiny. Right, because I was dependent on the artist to create the lyrics, I was dependent on the producer to create the tracks. I was dependent on the studio, the mix downs, the masterings, the DJs, the play and everything. So you know, I had to find something that I can do that I had complete control over, and music was one of my things. I grew up loving it, doing production. I got family members in music. I always loved fashion and it was just like yo there's nothing out there that's combining the music and the fashion together. You know what I'm saying. Everything else was just like hip hop. So I came up with this concept to create a magazine that will be the cross between GQ Magazine and Vogue Magazine, with a hip hop flip, you know what I'm saying. That would address men and women.

Speaker 2: 3:02

And for a long time I sat down with a friend of mine a good friend of mine trying to come up with a name. I started studying colors, like all the different colors of what they meant, and I came up with the red color, because you know, traffic lights, like when people see red, they just stop. So I'm like all right, I don't have the money to do the major marketing to go against my competitors, so I'm going to go with this red color. And then my boy came up with the name Floors. You know, we used to be out in Cali a lot and that was a big word. Everybody was throwing up, throwing up, you know, throwing around up there. So we just went with it. Man, it was like Floors Magazine the red, the white background and everything, and that was it. We went on from there and just kind of launched it, man.

Speaker 1: 3:40

Right. So I see, like you know, throughout the beginning stages, man, you all had some major placements. Yeah, could you elaborate on those? As far as the covers, yes, the covers.

Speaker 2: 3:54

So, like as far as the covers you know, like again, I used to work in the industry and if I went in the studio back in those days it was almost like competition or whatever. Nobody wanted you to hear what they was doing because you know they don't want it duplicated on your stuff. You know what I'm saying and so, but once I started the magazine I actually really got fired from that label. Also to continue to push me will help push me to start the magazine, because at a certain point all I was doing was just researching colors, researching fonts.

Speaker 2: 4:25

Like what the fonts on the front of the magazine was going to look like. And then after a while it was just like yo, you know, we can't work here. No, you can't work here, no more.

Speaker 1: 4:32

You were so focused on building your brand? Yeah, because I knew they could see.

Speaker 2: 4:37

Right, right, and because I knew those artists at the time and they had like, right now you could go on YouTube and a bunch of other places they got people are posting the songs, the songs got 137,000 views as being sold or whatever, but I knew they didn't understand the moment that we were in at that time and that wasn't the place where I needed to be at. You know what I mean. So now, when I started the magazine, you know, luckily, our first cover we launched with was Jay-Z. Right.

Speaker 2: 5:07

Jay-Z was on fire Like and not like. That was a blessing because we didn't need to do much marketing. Like people saw that white cover Jay-Z sitting there yeah. The red floors behind him. He had the American flags wrapped around his arm because this was like less than a year or about a year after 9-11. You know what I mean. So it was just like the sky was the limit after that.

Speaker 1: 5:30

Right, yeah, and so. And the relationship with Jay-Z gave you the relationships with the Yays, with the record labels, right.

Speaker 2: 5:39

Gave me the relationships with the 50 cents, the con Not so much really, but it gave floors, that recognition as a brand and I like we need to be there Right.

Speaker 2: 5:49

And then also like going back a little bit, since I didn't have the money to do the marketing promotion against my competitors. I remember something. I think it was from out of the Bible Somebody I don't know if it was Moses. They said if you can't bring the mountain to you, then go to the mountain, right. So I tried to figure out, like, where is this mountain that I can make promotional copies of this magazine, this concept, this idea? Where is that mountain that? And I kept picking my brain that whole summer and almost like this time of the year around July, I realized I found that there was something in Las Vegas called a magic show, where it's like a fashion. It's like a fashion thing. They have one stadium for men, one stadium for women, one stadium for kids and all those fashion is still a lot of music people there, because they got to see what's coming out for the artist to dress them in black.

Speaker 2: 6:38

So I brought the magazine there 10,000 copies and for like a week we went around from booth to booth to booth and we gave a copy to everybody and took their business cards. Then when I got back to New York, all I did for like that next two, three weeks was call hundreds of numbers Like, hey, remember us Floss Magazine. They're like, yeah, I remember you were the editor, you also the bottle, the photographer, whatever, right right, you know being silly about it. Yeah, that's all the love developed.

Speaker 1: 7:05

So, yeah, man, I understand actually being hands on when you're dealing with your brain, because actually putting yourself in front of those people with your product and then you got the right people on the cover, got some good stories in the inside, they're going to bite down like yo we, this is something we've been missing. Like where was this? How come? I don't know about this. So you was actually like a direct marketing, you know, with a purpose, though.

Speaker 1: 7:34

You know what I'm saying, because some people don't even know they direct marketing and if they doing a positive thing or a bad thing doing it. But you sound like you had your plan already and worked in your favor because you did another form of marketing. You was doing cold calls. You know what?

Speaker 2: 7:47

I'm saying, as far as you're looking at it like that, we've been looking like that.

Speaker 1: 7:50

I look at it like that. You know, I'm a more time media specialist, so I got to focus on a lot of marketing strategies and skillsets and look at different things like that. So when you was explaining it to me, I'm like yo man, that was brilliant. I didn't even know, you didn't know that you was doing that, but that's what you was doing. Yeah, to that extent, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:10

It was just, you know what I'm saying. Like when your back is against the wall, man, you got two choices you could stand there and die or you could fight back, right, no matter what. You know what I mean. So at that point, like my back was against the wall, my mom told me to hang in there. My sisters told me to hang in there. Like whatever you need, we got you this and that, just hang in there. And I told them my idea. Like I told the idea to a lot of my friends. They're like magazine, what you know about a magazine man, you're not a publisher, you don't know this, you don't know that. But it's like whatever you don't know, you can learn. Right, you know what I'm saying. And also you can learn from your failures. Like failure, the best thing that can happen to an entrepreneur is failure, because you learn from it. You know what I mean. You get up, you dust yourself off, you learn from it and you move forward. Right.

Speaker 1: 8:50

So how do you feel about is it a down grade or is it a up scale With today's game as far as magazine, because a lot I see that a lot of print magazines. They don't even, they're not even in rotation of print anymore because of online, the online game. So you was able to see both sides, you know.

Speaker 2: 9:14

Yeah. So the way I see that man, it's like a, you know, it's like a hill in the middle of the fight, right. And then you just got to get over that hill. So for a while we kept printing. When everybody else stopped, we kept printing, and then it got to the point where it didn't make sense no more. So now we had to rebrand and kind of learn the new terrain that we were fighting on, right, you know what I'm saying? And that terrain is digital. So now we're just going full. Whatever we were doing in print, we're just going full digital with it Right.

Speaker 2: 9:42

Because we always just you know, me and my team, we would sit back and talk about it. We always just say you know what, let's hold back and we'll come out with one or two print issues a year. But it's like things change. You got to roll with the punches. Right.

Speaker 2: 9:54

Another one of my boys told me like if you look at a tree in the storm, the tree sways right Because the storm. But if the tree stood still, the storm would break it, it would snap Right. And so that's what we've been doing, just trying to sway and find our way through the storm. You know what I mean. Right, right, right.

Speaker 1: 10:09

Yeah, because, well, one thing to look at the digital side of it is that you can get a lot of stories out at once. Right, that's great, because I know with print I'm not going to say you're unlimited to clients, but you only going to put and publish so many Right. Right, but with online you're allowing some of the writers to get stories in. You probably wouldn't get stories into the publication. Right. So I feel like that's on that scale, I feel like that's major. You know a good change, you know yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:49

You feel that way? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And I'm even print man. Like when print started dying, a lot of the printers went out of business. So, like we started printing from China. But the way I found out about China is trying to find, you know, because we couldn't afford, like the printers that were around. Right.

Speaker 2: 11:04

Because many went out of business. The prices went up, so we call up a couple of prisons. I call up a couple of prisons trying to see if they have print shops that could print magazines. Right, I found one in Texas and the guy told me, yeah, they could print it. But you know, these are prisoners. So if you have contact numbers and emails in there, they may try to scan these people, so I wouldn't advise it.

Speaker 2: 11:22

So he put me onto the printers in China. Ok, like, why don't you print? Look at China or India or whatever. And I went towards China, got some good, positive feedback about their quality and that was it, man. Like their stuff was dope. I think the first issue that I printed from China was probably the Kanye West cover or the Fabulous cover, one of those two, but it was. You know what I mean. Like their quality was dope. Everything was like really really dope. So but yeah, with digital, like in print, you could do so much, so many pages, right, and you got to pay for all the pages, shipping, pay for customs and a bunch of other distribution and a bunch of other stuff. But with digital it's just all right there. Right, the costs are lower. Yeah, income is lower also, but the cost is lower.

Speaker 1: 12:06

Yeah, yeah. So let me ask you this right Um, what do you like about the game more? You like the music side of it or you like the fashion side of it? Wow, that's a dope question, man.

Speaker 2: 12:24

That's a rough one. Wow, man, that's a hard one. If I had to pick one, I would probably say the fashion side of it. You know what I mean. And the reason why is because fashion is just everything. Fashion is the way people see you, the way you see yourself, and without fashion, the music, the artist wouldn't really be idolized, probably to the extent that they are, Because every artist has an image and that image is based around their fashion, right? You know what I mean. So fashion was like a very I saw when I came up with the idea it had to be a combination of the two music and fashion. Right, because fashion is very, very important. You know, there were times when I would go to showrooms, like some of the times, we would pull stuff, deborah, getting your artist's hair. Shout out to Deborah, our stylist premier. Yes.

Speaker 2: 13:16

You know, thank you for all the times and everything. But we would go to showrooms. Sometimes I would go to the showroom by myself, even if it's to pull something or return something. I'd be in Tim's the baggy jeans, the baggy T-shirt. Right.

Speaker 2: 13:28

Get on the elevator and people are clutching their purses, you know what I'm saying. Then I get on the elevator like this, so I go in on a meeting like this, it's like, hey, how are you doing? Excuse me, sir, who are you here to see? Now, I'm a sir. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 13:40

Yeah, man, they definitely play the switch up game, because sometimes you've got to change your appearance to be accepted, a certain type of way. Right, I mean sometimes you belong in certain rooms but you're not dressed and you're not prepared to be in that room, Right To get accepted in that room, Right you? Know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 13:56

Yeah, man, I definitely know about changing up the look. I always look at fashion like it's a freedom of expression without words. Right, that's dope, you know. Right, like you said, it shows you who you are, right, I mean, and it's crazy, I really got a broad mind. Like you know, in Philly you really could tell what part of Philly somebody's from by how they dress. Oh, or you can.

Speaker 2: 14:21

Oh, that's what's up there.

Speaker 1: 14:22

Like I could tell this person from Uptown, or this person might be more from North or South Philly. You know what I mean. Yeah. I mean, even when you travel, you start to notice, like people, regardless if this side of Kali dressed different than this side of Kali. Me being from Philly, I know you from Kali when I see you based on how you dress.

Speaker 1: 14:44

You ain't even got to say nothing to me, so I don't know if it's other people out there like me, but clothes and objects or an abstract and all that, that's an identifier for me, absolutely, you know. Yeah, yeah, man, you know fashion is definitely. I would say I'm not going to say it's bigger than music, but I would say I'm more so compelled to music as fashion as well, more than music, right?

Speaker 2: 15:14

Right.

Speaker 1: 15:14

And if you look at some of the big. I'm sorry man Go ahead.

Speaker 2: 15:16

No, no, go ahead. If you look at some of the big brands right now right, a lot of them, not even right now, man for, like the last two decades, a lot of their creative directors, hip hop artists that they snatched back, like Kanye, like Pharrell, you know what I mean Like, and the list just goes on.

Speaker 1: 15:32

A-Side.

Speaker 2: 15:33

That they snatched right like A-Side right, to come back and put that touch to bring, to bring now that music touch into the fashion. Or kind of you know what I mean. So it's like, yeah, that was a dope question man.

Speaker 1: 15:46

My next question might be dope too. What artist do you have in mind that has that perfect mesh and marriage between music and fashion?

Speaker 2: 15:58

Man, that's hard to say, Like a lot of the new artists. You know, people call their music all types of music or whatever. But I just me, I just adjust to it and I just learn to love it. You know what I mean, For what it is, for what they're putting out there. So it's hard to say. You have like a lot of got a dope sense of fashion, Music wise, sexy, red, mad raunchy. But I kind of like her vibe, Not necessarily fashion wise because she is what she is, but I mean I can't put my finger on it.

Speaker 2: 16:31

A lot of people have different tastes.

Speaker 1: 16:34

But see this wise goat vibes. This your truth. It's not nobody else's truth Like for me I would look at on that fashion side. Michael Jackson was high in on fashion, but it's like he had the music to go with it, though. You know what I mean. Like a lot of his songs, he come out with the shiny stuff on the soups and all that. You know what I mean. That was his sense of fashion.

Speaker 1: 16:55

You got Andre 3000. He make idol while he showed a lot of fashion with the music, but his whole career he always shows you fashion with the music prints, fashion with the music. So I was trying to see if you had somebody that had a perfect.

Speaker 2: 17:09

That's my top three, even going that far back.

Speaker 1: 17:12

Yeah, it doesn't matter. Like who do you think music and even fashion is just like they both, is bold, like the fans can be just as bold as the music, or the music just as bold as they fashion. Like it's a perfect marriage between music and fashion, I would say and that's a hard one.

Speaker 2: 17:31

I would say probably like the whole thing that did he was doing. I mean because he said like did he probably? And then Jay Z, because he said trends. You know what I mean. Like he said trends. And so the J like J came out and said something against gold and everybody stopped wearing gold. Right everybody started wearing platinum for like two decades, like I just started wearing gold again, right, you know what I mean. And if you couldn't afford platinum back then, you were white, white gold white gold, so that was like an impact, like that's boom, change the game up.

Speaker 2: 18:02

Same thing with Puff, like when he came out with like Mary J, like Joe to see, and Mary J blodging them with the Doc Martin boots, the baseball short shirts, the baseball jersey, I mean, and so forth. That's where everybody was rocking Right.

Speaker 1: 18:16

You know what I mean. So they kind of what I was calling the, the Nike's hoes.

Speaker 2: 18:21

Yeah, yeah. So they change. They literally like flip the whole industry upside down and it became especially for whole. It became like detrimental, like you don't want him to say nothing against your brand, right, because your brand will be basically dead almost. You know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 18:35

Like I think we would have to throw Nelly in there then, because he went crazy with the Air Force ones, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 18:40

True, there you go, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1: 18:43

So, you know, I see the way you dress today, but like what's more of your fashion attire, you know, give me, give me three, three ways, you know casual like you, chilling, you know, or like a relaxed day, you know what's your? Fashion on that day.

Speaker 2: 19:01

I like sweats. Like I came in today, I sweat sneakers. You know a T shirt or something on top of the T shirt, you know something like that. Sometimes I mix it up, like I throw on sweats, I throw on a white business shirt, but I roll the sleeves up and make sure the shirt is like just fresh out of the wash, right? I ain't done nothing so it wrinkled up, you know.

Speaker 2: 19:20

Just, it's just like whatever Fashion is almost like. It's a funny thing, right? Because whatever you wear, if you're comfortable with it, people are going to find a way to be like yo. You know what? That's just kind of dope.

Speaker 2: 19:30

Right you know what I mean. Oh, that's fine, I'm going to try that you know what I mean, or they're going to twist up their own joint to it. But yeah, that's you know. Like I go to the clubs or the lounges like this if I have means, I throw on slacks instead of jeans and like a full suit or whatever. But most of the time if I'm just running around, I run around like this when we're doing photo shoots for the magazine and stuff, I'm like in sweats and T-shirts, right. But then, like yesterday, we interviewed Jair McQuarron. Shout out to J Fubu, fubu, fubu shout out to McQuarron or you buy us baby.

Speaker 2: 20:00

Absolutely. Shout out to McQuarron. Mcquarron is a creative and executive producer of Godfather Harlem. So when I got when we already get on the set to do the interview I threw on like a suit, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 20:11

Right.

Speaker 2: 20:12

We change it up. It depends on the situation.

Speaker 1: 20:15

So let me ask you this right, because I did get to see you show me some behind the scenes footage today. Now, when you get somebody like this that's coming up to the magazine, do y'all always do an organic shoot Like do y'all set the scene, do you suggest with the client she'll wear, or we have this imagery idea for the cover, like what's the process, or is that too much to give out?

Speaker 2: 20:45

No, no, I could give it out Because it's a little bit of both. Right, so like usually. Like I said, fashion is almost like a person's thing, right, so like usually, if we're doing a cover shoot, we let them their stylist style them. Right.

Speaker 2: 20:58

But if it's something we're doing, like with the model shoots, you know I'll leave it up to the stylist. Like a Deborah Gignard she's done Destiny's Child, like her list just goes on and on and on. So it's like whatever she's going to put on them, I know it's going to be dope, it's going to hit that spot. You know what I mean. And then, as far as the setup, like in the studio where we're shooting out or doing an interview at, we usually I usually have an idea of what we're looking for right, what we're looking to shoot. But then we're also open for ideas, like yesterday when we posted behind the scenes stuff. You'll see a lot that McCoy's brother, who also works on a set of Godfather Harlem, was directing them a lot. Yo, pose this way, right, and wear that instead of that, put that on with that, like so. And then we just you know what I mean Because it vibes that way it's like you get everybody's ideas and everybody's concepts and stuff, you get that creativity flowing.

Speaker 1: 21:47

I got a chance to work with Deborah Gingier as well, so she'll tell you that day was like super creative. You had the cameraman, you had all the clients, the models, all the staff. That was be. Everybody Just put their heads together, because a lot of stuff changes sometimes too. So you got to go on and go. Yeah, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:09

Like when we did the Birdman cover, we shot Birdman in Miami. They were down there for something a little while I don't know if it was birthday party or something they were doing. We shot him in Miami. He comes on a set with this Gucci bag it's like a one-of-one Just got it made, especially made for him. And the middle of the shoot he jumps up like yo, I'll be back. And we're like yo, we looking around Like what's going on. This dude comes back with a stack like a plastic bag full of money $1,500,000. And he dumps it halfway in the Gucci bag and dumps the rest like out on the plastic on top of the bag.

Speaker 1: 22:42

We were like oh, oh, we ain't using no prop money, we using real money.

Speaker 2: 22:48

So he took that cover shoot to the hole, like almost everything we shot before. Then we deleted. Right, he took that cover shoot to the whole level, to the whole next level, and that's what we came out with. So yeah, I just you know what I mean. Like we just go with the flow, because you could never tell, like if you don't want it, you don't use it.

Speaker 1: 23:02

You know what I mean? Right, Right, that's awesome man. Well, you know Birdman, he like that next level guy anyway, yeah absolutely. Absolutely Every sit there. I'm probably like a one of a kind you know what I mean With Birdman.

Speaker 2: 23:15

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 23:17

So how, like? How is it? Because everybody act different when they deal with clients. You know, right, have you ever been starstruck with a client before? I know you've been in the industry already, so you've been around a lot of them, you know. I give you a prime example my favorite artist of all time is Rock Him or Love Right. You know, right, I go down to the show and prove. You know, the year before last, you know, and my enlightener, my brothers. So it's like I meet them, I don't just meet them, I chill with them, you know, to stay everything. You know. So it's like I got a full experience, you know, and he left me with a lot of jewels. You know, I left with a lot of jewels. So I couldn't show that I was starstruck, but at heart I was starstruck. You know what I'm saying. So, like, I know how to keep my composure, but I was starstruck. Was it anybody that you ever met during the magazine era that you was like yo, I can't believe this going on, yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:22

It happened to me twice, right. So it happened to me with Tony Braxton, like when they were doing the Braxtons and they had, like they were, premiering one of the seasons for the show. And so we come in there having this big dinner and she walks in with the rest of her family and I'm just, I'm just sitting there like just days Like I can't even describe the feeling.

Speaker 2: 24:43

I'm like, oh my god, this is Tony Braxton. He listens to all music in college and this and that and that, and she walked by I swear to God, and she's like I smelled her perfume. I'm like, oh my god, she's gorgeous. Then I got a chance to take a picture with them, with the family, later on, so I made my way from the end of the picture, got somewhere where Tony was and one of the other sisters was, and it was just like you know, it was just like, yeah, I was starstruck, Right, you know what I mean? There was not too many words coming out of my mouth and they were complimentary.

Speaker 2: 25:11

Right right. The other time that it happened to me was probably Ice T and Coco. We were shooting Coco for a spread in the middle of the magazine and Ice T was there. I was always one of my favorite West Coast artists, Enough respect to him. Ice T and Coco and then I'm just sitting there and I'm bugging out.

Speaker 2: 25:30

I'm like Ice T is answering Coco's messages on my space that was the MySpace days and he's like man, look at these dudes, man. They over here talking about yo, ice T, my boy, and all that. But F him Like you bad, holl at me. And he's answering them back. Oh, I'm bad. Why don't you buy my calendar? It just came out and I was just sitting there just like Mesmerize at Ice T and Coco.

Speaker 2: 25:53

You know what I'm saying, like the whole and it was like a different type of starstruck, but it was like the whole picture of how they vibe. Ice T always proclaimed to be a pimp, right, you know, he really lived it.

Speaker 1: 26:05

He really was living it on that level, he playing, he acting, like he heard yeah, buy my new cover. He wasn't even mad.

Speaker 2: 26:13

He was like yo, you know what I'm saying. Like you, just like, yeah, you love me and all that. Well, buy my calendar, this and that. I'm like yo. You wrote that he was like yeah, he started to computer me. I'm like, wow, ok, that's what's up. Right, right so right.

Speaker 1: 26:26

So what do you think? Some of the hardest challenge? I mean, you did speak slightly on it, but what is the hardest challenge in the magazine game that you faced, since you know?

Speaker 2: 26:44

The hardest challenge is probably getting a distribution deal. You know what I mean. Like you young, you black, you rambunctious. Like you know, some of your ideas sound crazy to these people that distribute magazines, all the big name magazines and everything. And then finally it was like God brought this gentleman in my life that was in the magazine industry and we sat down. He invited me to dinner. We sat down you know he's Steve Grogan. He wanted a lot of money to put the magazine, you know, to get us a distribution deal. I told him I don't have that kind of money. I also told him, like my vision, what I wanted to do and I showed him the sample of the magazine that I put out. He's like you put that out by yourself. I was like yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:27

He's like all right, give me some of those copies. And he took those, went and held a meeting on his own, invited me to the meeting a couple of days later and that was it. They gave us a distribution deal With a little bit of money up front to help us to get the printing done. Not all of the money, but a, and that type of a deal was unheard of, you know what I'm saying there was another gentleman, john Blassen game.

Speaker 2: 27:48

Steve Grogan was white, by the way. There was another gentleman, john Blassen game, who's black and he's like old school, he's like the king of urban publishing, you know, called me up the first day in business and congratulated me. Hey, I mean the first day our magazine came out. I say your magazine on the stand. He calls me doctor, congratulations, doctor. I seen your magazine on the stands, this and that Wanna meet with you. Maybe there's some things we could do. And you know, other than that, the major hurdle from that point on then was just keeping the distribution. Right.

Speaker 2: 28:21

Like when we put 50 cents on the cover. You know, 50 cent was like brand new. Nobody even really seen them. He just had like go, shorty is your birthday. That song was on like they were spending that song five, six times in a club the same night. Right. You know what I mean. This is gonna be it Like this kid is gonna be dead.

Speaker 1: 28:39

He came in like a smoking gun.

Speaker 2: 28:41

Killing it, still killing it to today. You know what I'm saying. And when we put them on the cover it was like oh, this is not gonna sell. This is from the distributor, the big meeting, all of them in the room. This is not gonna sell. Look at this guy. No one knows him. He's dark skinned. You can barely see his face. This and that like the whole nine yards, bro. And they threaten to drop us. I'm like yo, just, please, just, put it out. If it doesn't sell, we're the ones, I'm the one that paid to print it, right, if it doesn't sell, whatever the distribution cost is, I'll pay and y'all could drop us. And that was our number one selling magazine.

Speaker 1: 29:14

You know what I'm saying. Let's see like it take a vision. It take a vision and like basically what you did. You were sitting at a poker table at that point. You put all your chips in, right.

Speaker 2: 29:28

I was scared, though you know what I mean. Like it's not, you know.

Speaker 1: 29:31

You said hey, I'll pay the distribution and y'all can drop me. You put all your chips in, right? You know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 29:38

And my heart was jumping out of my chest. I was sitting there scared, but I knew that. I knew that it wasn't gonna be what they said it was, and I knew that they didn't understand the game that we were in Right, you know what I'm saying. And they didn't understand what that artist, who people was just getting ready to know, was about to do to the industry Cause my next question was gonna be when did you give yourself that look like you?

Speaker 1: 30:05

You know like this is it. This is the one, but I was going now my question is gonna be refreeze to was that the moment you started getting your respect?

Speaker 2: 30:16

I don't know, man. I think, like from since we dropped the first cover with Jay-Z, with Jay-Z, you guys already had your respect.

Speaker 1: 30:21

Yeah, I'm saying from the distributors, oh yeah from the distributors. Cause, I know, dealing with music, you know you can satisfy so many people, right, but you can't satisfy those distribution companies Like that's really the bread and butter. You know, on certain things, certain angles, so that's what I meant. Like you know, you felt like that was the day you got to respect from the distributors.

Speaker 2: 30:42

Most definitely, yeah, most definitely. But then they wanted another one of those. You know what I'm saying. So first you can't satisfy them, and then you can't satisfy them. So now they wanted another one of those and I'm like this is anomaly, Like this, only like an artist like that only gonna come like once in a while.

Speaker 2: 30:59

Yeah, once in a while, yeah that's not a, this is not an everyday dude that's just gonna come out and just like, all of a sudden he comes out. First album, second album, he's doing a movie for the album. You know what I mean? Like just doing mad things like that, Like this, is a different type of dude. It's a different type of animal Right.

Speaker 1: 31:17

So you know, how do you feel now, like today, 2023, to be like the real competitor to the magazines that you already was thinking about. Like I can't compete with these competitors, but like right now you know you either superseded some of them or your name's staying right there with them.

Speaker 2: 31:41

Right, you know no matter what.

Speaker 1: 31:43

How do you feel having that like as of 2023?

Speaker 2: 31:46

I feel grateful, man, you know what I mean. Like I feel grateful. Like last night I came out of the photo shoot and I'm standing like two o'clock in the morning waiting for my car to pull up and I was like, wow, man, I'm like yo, thank you God, you know what I mean. Like thank you God for like putting me here, for giving me this opportunity, for, like, you know, putting the people around me that you put around me to make this all happen. Right, you know what I mean. So that's how I felt, man. I feel really, you know, I feel really really grateful about it. I'm really thankful to God for that opportunity. It's a struggle.

Speaker 1: 32:16

The struggle will never stop, but what is in a struggle, right, right, yeah so Now some companies, you know they do sponsorships, they do give backs, you know giveaways, things like that, and those are those other things that we can highlight.

Speaker 2: 32:32

So you mean as far as like community service and things like that.

Speaker 1: 32:35

Yeah, like you know, do you get the company, the brand, you know, if I then give, backs, give away, give service, things like that, and we can highlight on the show.

Speaker 2: 32:44

Yeah, absolutely. We've been doing that from since almost day one. Like in school, I pledged a fraternity Kappa Office. I fraternity and that's something they always like embedded into us as community service. You know what I mean. Like I was that type of person even before I pledged, but that just made it, took it to another level. So one of the one of the places we used to do was a place called Inwood House in Manhattan an.

Speaker 2: 33:07

Inwood House house young girls from like age 11 to 17. That were pregnant. Some of their pregnancy is like you know, they're older guys messing with them or whatever, or a kid their age and they just happen to get pregnant, get kicked out of their home, right. So they would house, like those girls. They I think they had 75 girls at a time. Deborah also participated in that with us and we would, you know, like Valentine's Day, mother's Day, we did dinners for them, right, you know, just to make them feel special. Right, we did, like Valentine's Day, we'll bring flowers, do a fashion show, have dinners there for them, or whatever. And we call the program Woman to Woman.

Speaker 2: 33:45

Right so us guys just used to come to set up, make everything look right and then leave, and then, like the first one I did, wendy Williams hosted it I forget the lady's name from the WNBA. She was a big star back then. She hosted it.

Speaker 1: 33:59

Don't tell me.

Speaker 2: 34:01

I think she played for one of the New York team. Deborah might remember her name, but I forgot her name. But you know. So that's what we used to do Just let the ladies all talk to each other and we will come back to clean up, and at times, ladies left out of there with tears in their eyes.

Speaker 1: 34:17

You know, I mean, I appreciate it. Yeah, I mean worthy or something.

Speaker 2: 34:20

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And another time where we stayed Deborah. I had Deborah put together a fashion show there and I spoke to the people that ran the place and I said the girls, five of the girls that have the best grades in school, we're going to put them in a fashion show, but don't tell them, just wait till the end of the year, whatever. Collect their report cards, see what they got. So, long story short, we put the fashion show together. These girls are all pregnant now right, all right.

Speaker 2: 34:46

We pulled them backstage. They, friends in the front, don't know nothing. We have regular professional models, six feet and better. With them. They're all styled up, dolled up by Deborah, everything Everybody is, and the show starts and they come out, the regular models come out, and then in between them is one of the five girls.

Speaker 1: 35:02

Oh, man, that was awesome.

Speaker 2: 35:03

The girls seen them, bro. They lost their mind and they go crazy like crying everything. So you know we do a lot of that man. We go out Thanksgiving, feed people, help people. You know what I'm saying? Like that's. I feel like that's important yeah that's, that's very important.

Speaker 1: 35:21

You know I mean to give back to the community and you know people, you know that's a need. You know especially the women, homeless women, you know absolutely I mean the men needed to don't get it wrong, you know what I'm saying. But pregnant women, that's homeless, you know. Homeless with kids, you know we, definitely you know they, they the ones that's actually, you know, raising our future.

Speaker 2: 35:43

So you know we got to make sure they secure Absolutely and that's the way we saw it Like they're raising, they're raising a future, and we tried to, even if we were just for that moment, just show them that they were another side to everything. Right, I mean not just the hard times, or, or you can get out of that hard time, you could grow out of that. You know what I mean. So, yeah, Right.

Speaker 1: 36:03

So I do want to ask you this we talked a lot about the artists you know. Let's talk about some of the models you know. Speak, speak on some of the models you work with, the magazine work with or who you would like to work with.

Speaker 2: 36:18

So some of the models we worked with a lot of models, some of them. Unfortunately I never got a chance to know their names, okay, but one of the ones that sticks in my head is as the backster. Like, I think one of her first publications was Floss Magazine and then from there, show Magazine and some of the other magazines noticed that we did a bikini shoot. One of my guys in Florida did, and they noticed that and then things just went on from there, right, you know what? I mean, but we worked, we worked.

Speaker 2: 36:48

We were fortunate man to work with a lot of models. Some of them you see on TV Love and Hip Hop or other TV shows. Some of them went on to become actresses Right, some of the guys actors. Justin was on World Walk Empire. I forget Justin's last name, but he does a lot of stuff, yeah. So you know there's a lot, there's a. I mean we've we've worked with like hundreds of models and it's hard for me to kind of remember the faces and all the names.

Speaker 1: 37:15

Right, right, right, you know what I mean. But are there any particular models, male or female, that you would like to, you know, be like? You know what, if I had the chance to get in contact with their people, or just lining up, or you know, somehow they come to our us, you know, is there any particular models or artists that you can be like? Yo, I wish they was on the cover. Yeah, coming from you.

Speaker 2: 37:38

Yeah, all this while there's a few I'm tossing around, but they're like from this, from this young generation of rappers. Okay, you know what I mean. You know, I think that was the way we did it. The way we do it or the way we did it, was more authentic to me and not to say nothing against the professional models, but it was like we went and found those diamonds in a rough that would probably not have otherwise gotten that chance. See, I like that.

Speaker 1: 38:02

Yeah, I like that because it's a lot of beautiful models, but not just the beauty, though. Some of them really, they got that craft on. Pack Right, right it, you know, because I'll be around a lot of models and I know, with certain little things, that you got to keep a secret if you know how to do it, because this particular skillset get passed down. You know what I'm saying. So it's like a lot of the younger ones that's coming in that got it and they can be that next it Right, oh man, they get that gate keeping situation going on, they get the blockage or they get the older models hating and stuff you know what I?

Speaker 1: 38:40

mean. So that's good, that y'all give the diamonds in a rough a chance, absolutely Like.

Speaker 2: 38:44

We'll be at shows, sometimes in Fashion Week, and the show's over and a model of run up. Oh, my god, you don't remember me. I'm like, no, I'm sorry, I was in your such and such issue, this and that. Yeah, I was the first one to let me do, um, walk on the runway doing New York Fashion Week or that stuff. You know what I mean. So and they move on. You know what I mean. Once they get that, once they get that exposure, they get that confidence, they move on and they're going to do you know, bigger things or other things, which is really dope.

Speaker 1: 39:09

Right, so now they'll be in a digital state, right, we talked about being in. You know the digital world online state of, you know, magazines, you know um, I want to say go. But like you know what's the next step? For floss, you win, floss, you know.

Speaker 2: 39:29

So the next, the next step for floss is to get back to what we do best, and that's publishing. Just continue to publish, like bring revolutionary changes to the digital platform of publishing. You know what I mean. So, in addition to the magazine, we're also going to be trying to sign deals or authors certain authors to put out their books digitally on the floor is publishing, okay, and just do some different things within the digital magazine. You know, like there are a lot of things. I looked at a lot of digital magazine and it's like so you still feel like there's elevation.

Speaker 1: 40:04

That could be, you know, um, it's still um, I want to say elevation, but it's still a lot of innovative ways to go about online right or digital printing, you know, because is it getting boring or is it like, you know, just something need to change, because I'm starting to see that too. Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2: 40:26

I think there's room. I think there's room for change, or room for creativity, or room for your flavor.

Speaker 2: 40:32

You know, I mean like something different, like whatever your flavor is Not even nowadays. I mean, competition is not even just other magazines, but competition is also social media platforms. You know what I mean? Because you talk to an artist and probably everything that they can talk to you about they've already posted, right? So it's not really much else to say now, unless you're very innovative with the interview right, you know what I mean and get other things out of them that may not have been shared on social media. Right? Because once that happens, what's the use of doing a cover Like it doesn't, or even putting them in the magazine?

Speaker 1: 41:09

right, it doesn't make sense. So how do you feel? You know, because I don't want to hold you too long, but how do you feel your competitors feel about you? Because I know that you wanted to be that bridge between Vogue and GQ, right, you know? Have you got the chance to meet the owner of Vogue or GQ or people from those platforms and hear the little gossip, or you know the talk that? You know every community got a community, right.

Speaker 1: 41:41

You know what I'm saying so I know you in the magazine community, so you know, like, how do you feel your competitors feel about you?

Speaker 2: 41:48

I mean I think successful black man right here. Yeah, I think some of them are closest competitors, some of them we were sort of a headache to them, and some of the other editors and chiefs right, because they have all this big budget, like all this money to do whatever they do. They have the big budgets and everything. They have the big salaries and the whole big staff.

Speaker 2: 42:08

But, then here's this little company that's coming out with very creative covers, very creative articles, photo shoots and then bridging hip hop and fashion. All right, you know what I mean. So I think we were like a headache to them. A couple of people got into issues with their bosses in certain publishing companies as far as like the GQs and the Vogue's. I've never had that opportunity, but being picked up by Kandey Nas was always one of my biggest goals. You know what I'm saying. Like to be that, to be that urban magazine on Kandey Nas, just to even have, just to even have access to some of their resources, which I think, because they're so big they don't realize some of the stuff that they take for granted or not are not using a really like big right A really like major and somebody with my hunger and thirst can come in and just kind of like take that little whatever they give us and just flip that into something crazy.

Speaker 2: 43:07

Right, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 43:08

You still got that hustler, hustlers mind set Absolutely, man, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 43:13

So what part of the world you came up in, because maybe that can help us understand the music you know in the fashion. We don't need no crazy stories because we don't do that up here on Goop Vibes. It's just like give us a sense of how you was raised to be what you are. When I talk to people I let them know it's the cheese sticks, the tasty cakes. You know what I mean. It's the dirty school kill punch water that we drink, you know. Like it's that.

Speaker 1: 43:44

it's that, philly, you know, yeah, so like you, know, give us, like you know where you from and that earlier hunger for you that made you be like. I ain't got no choice but to do this. This is the direction I'm going. Yes.

Speaker 2: 43:58

I was born in a free town, sierra Leone, west Africa. Ok, that's where they had the diamonds, the quote unquote diamond wars. Right, I'm Kanye and I'm wrapped about it or whatever. So that's where I was born in and my family, you know, we were pretty well off. So there was like two classes that have some have nots, but then there are those who had more, so we were not to have nots, so we were fine. My mother and father came to America and they used to send me and my sister's clothes like by you know stuff and send it back to us. My grandfather was a minister, so he would just open the bags We'll take pictures with the clothes on and then he'll put everything back in the bags and on Sunday he'll go give all our stuff away.

Speaker 2: 44:37

Wow people in the church. Wow, so being my sister used to be tight about it, right? And um, yeah, it's funny. I showed a friend of mine a picture of myself from when I was a kid. I had on a three piece suit. It's probably like 100 degrees in Africa. I had on a three piece suit. And because they always take pictures of us in the clothes and then send it back to my mom and dad and I'll have tears in my eyes and that's because my grandfather, I remember that day here with my behind because they wanted me to wear like a regular shirt, because it was so hot, right.

Speaker 1: 45:06

But I'm like, I'm not wearing that, I'm wearing my suit.

Speaker 2: 45:08

Y'all ain't giving this joint away, yeah yeah, I'm wearing my suit and that's that. So they finally gave in. Let me wear it after whipping my behind, let me wear it, or whatever. So I think that's where my, my love for fashion came from. You know what I mean. And my mother, she just always dressed Like she just she walks into the room, she kind of just always shuts it down even up to today. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 45:31

So I think that's where my love for fashion came from and my hunger came from. Growing up under that environment in Africa, right, With so many resources, Like if you got hungry, you just ran into the backyard. There was an orange tree, there was a banana tree, my grandparents were highest somebody to climb the coconut tree, like all that was right there. And then, coming to America as a kid, the first thing I remember was the cold. When that cold air first hit me Cause we got here like in the winter time and I never felt nothing like that before. And then, living where we lived at, I had to learn the ways of the streets quick, even though I just I was like in third grade, you know what I mean. So it went from oh you don't speak English this and that and that, and after a while it was like boom, all right, now you gotta learn to fight.

Speaker 1: 46:17

So that was a big culture shock for you. Yeah, absolutely, and you couldn't go outside in your backyard and pick no fruit. Right. You know what I mean. So you really had to figure out how you're gonna eat if you didn't have it Right exactly.

Speaker 2: 46:28

You know what I mean. And then like going to school and not being able to speak English. The language barrier. Kids tease you. Only way to stop that was to fight, right, so I learned how to fight and then I never became a bully, but I just learned how to fight. And then once they like, okay, he gonna fight you back, no matter what, the teasing stopped. Right, you know what I mean. And but that instilled in my head that, okay, this is the way to do things, right.

Speaker 2: 46:50

You gotta put your foot down. Somebody stepped to you. Gotta crush him. You know what I mean. And all that which ended at the same time that I always kept that fashion sense. So I always paid attention to the older guys. I grew up in Brooklyn, always paid attention to the older guys in Brooklyn. They always had some kind of fashion going on and I just like ran up with that. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 47:10

Oh, brooklyn, where is that man? Yeah, you know clothes and all that stuff. I mean, yeah, uptown Harlem and all that stuff too, but Brooklyn man, they definitely just it's like a different flavor over there, man. Yeah, you know what I mean. And you gotta be tough in Brooklyn.

Speaker 2: 47:23

Yeah, absolutely Definitely gotta be tough in Brooklyn, man Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 47:28

One more thing. So say we got a young, well, y'all say, y'all select the models right. Say you got a young artist or a young model, you know what will be. The criteria is, if they never this, they first adventuring, trying to get publication and they just stumbled across and they don't even know how big this floss is yet. But they might get a shot if they had these criteria's met. What would that be?

Speaker 2: 47:53

So, even if it's not floss right, what I always tell new artists and all people trying to do something new just do almost like what I had to do, right, it's just learn about it. So you wanna be a model, right? A lot of you can't just be a model just cause you're pretty. You can be and you don't have to be six feet to really be a model. There's so many different things that you could model.

Speaker 1: 48:14

You can be a model journey.

Speaker 2: 48:16

Exactly right. So nowadays, with YouTube, I would suggest they go on YouTube and just watch a bunch of videos and just learn. Learn how to walk, learn how to do whatever. If you're trying to be an artist, listen to all the other artists. You know what I'm saying, cause, like I've got people that run up and like yo, I'm the dopest, everybody on my block tell me that okay. Well, has anybody outside of your block told you is the dopest? Shit. You know what I mean. You're the fastest runner. Have you raced against people in the Bronx? Yet? Have you raced against the fastest runner in Jersey, yet? And Philly? Yet? Then you don't know if you're the fastest.

Speaker 2: 48:48

So I would say, like, research it, you know what I mean. Like, go YouTube, there's Google. All this stuff is mad easy today. Like you can just Google these things and just learn about it. Whatever it is that you wanna do, you can do it. You just have to learn about it. And then, when you get started, you're gonna fail a couple of times, you're gonna run into the brick wall a couple of times. So you just gotta get up, dust yourself off and try again. If you did something that didn't work, you do it differently.

Speaker 1: 49:12

What type of story will compel one of your editors you know if, or yourself, you know if your editors bring something to you that's fresh? You know what I'm saying, but it's not really like how the distributors started about 50, you knew about it, you know, but this person, do your editor have to be that confident, like you worry about it, or do that story have to be compelling?

Speaker 2: 49:34

Yeah, I mean I just kinda have like an open door policy with those things like bring the story, the idea, whatever, and we'll work it to where we can use it. And if we can't use it, then we both gotta be, you know, able to be like, well, all right, let's put it to the side for now. Right, you know what I mean. Or that's not gonna work, or it's not our thing. Like, our thing is flaws. So if you're bringing me a story about something that ain't flaws, like I'm not gonna do it. You know what I mean. Like one of our editors had a story about a young kid who just started a clothing line and she just thought, like this kid was just like the most amazing, had the website and everything. But then I went on the website and I'm like he only has one T-shirt right now. Right.

Speaker 2: 50:14

And that's not a problem, but let's put him to the side.

Speaker 1: 50:16

So he built this inventory.

Speaker 2: 50:18

Yeah, cause I have other kids his age or younger that have more than one T-shirt. It doesn't make them a phenomenon because they have a website and one T-shirt, right. And again, there's no disrespect to that kid, cause tomorrow that kid could be like the next biggest designer in the world, but right now he's not what we're doing. Right.

Speaker 1: 50:38

I mean, you've been giving us so much drills this whole entire interview. You know what I mean. I really appreciate it. Just one more question. It's not even a question, it's really for a statement. It might be a young lady, a young man or somebody of age. They might be stuck among somewhere. You was on your journey, right? You know, you're the goat. You're the goat of this. You're the goat of this for us. Thank you, you know what I'm saying, you are.

Speaker 1: 51:12

And I appreciate you for being here, but you definitely the goat to us when it comes to like you have a goat in the urban publications to you Right, you know, but to us that would be you, Cause I'm a journalist and I write and I know everybody I speak to. That's where they want to be at. They want to floss, floss floss floss.

Speaker 1: 51:33

You know what I mean. So it's like what I got to do to being on floss. You know, is everybody I speak to when they're doing a magazine run, they trying to figure out how to get them floss. So you are a goat. I appreciate that you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 51:45

You're for the culture to us.

Speaker 1: 51:47

Thank you, man, thank you. So what advice would you have? And it can just be so basic, but what advice would you have for somebody that's alone your journey, male or female, young or old? You know what would be that one advice, and it only can be one, one piece of advice, and it's like that's the only thing you could give them, cause you know how sometimes you only got that five minutes to get somebody some juice. Yeah, this, that five minutes, right here. You know what would you tell somebody that's like literally in your same steps?

Speaker 2: 52:20

Yeah, I would say whatever you want to do, just do it. You know what I mean. The most important thing is to learn about it and look at the people who did it before you, right? Like when I started Floss, I looked at all the people that did magazines before me and I looked at all their fonts and there was something all their fonts had in common. I looked at the way they did things, the way things were structured. So, just like, whatever you want to do, just look back.

Speaker 2: 52:41

Like, if you want to rap, if you want to be a model, find a couple of models or a couple of rappers that you look up to as role models and then take a piece of them and put it together for yourself and take a piece of them and make it your own. Right, you don't necessarily have to mimic anything, but just make it your own. But most importantly is like, if that's what you want to do, no matter what happens, you just keep going. And when I say keep going doesn't mean like keep going to the studio smoking weed, like drop a verse and then fall asleep and then studio time is up and then you do it again tomorrow. That's not keep going, like that's not a serious, that's not work ethics, right, you know what I mean. And if you don't know what work ethics is, you got to get around somebody that works hard, like they, just constantly working, and then you'll look at yourself like, oh damn, I thought I was working, getting up at 11 in the morning and going to sleep at six in the evening. You know what I mean. So that will be my advice, man Just keep going and realize what it takes to get there and also keep in mind that there's no one that is successful that didn't go through that path. Right Yesterday I spoke to two gentlemen.

Speaker 2: 53:49

We interviewed two gentlemen that are multimillionaires right now, and one of the biggest things that I picked up in the interview is one of them ate twice a week when they didn't have no money. When they wanted to come up, ate twice a week and it was chicken, wings and pork, fried rice and 50 cent beer, and any other time that he had actually a couple of dollars to eat something differently, stomach hurt. The other gentleman was on ramen noodles, sleeping on people's floors. He's a multi. He's paying people millions right now to do what he hires them to do.

Speaker 1: 54:19

Right. So keep going, definitely, definitely. Man. Y'all hearing it first. Right here, paris CEO, chief executive, flaws Magazine. Man, send right here Goat Vibe. Goat Vibe interviews. Man, make sure y'all go to flawscom. That's what it is.

Speaker 2: 54:38

Yeah, that's the website flawsmagazinecom. The social media is at flawsmagazine.

Speaker 1: 54:43

Yeah, make sure y'all do that, man, tap in, tap in. So now let's just say cause? Let's just say this, though you know, if somebody wanted to reach you, you got an email, you got a secretary email that they can. You know just say hey, paris. I love your story.

Speaker 2: 54:57

Yeah, yeah, my email address is just parriceatflawsmagazinecom. Okay, definitely definitely yeah parriceatflawsmagazinecom, or shoot us a message on social media, you know.