Empowering Voices and Igniting Change w/ Dan Smith

Ever thought about what it takes to rise from humble beginnings to becoming a prominent figure in the non-profit sector? Tune in this week as we navigate the transformative journey of Dan Smith, an entrepreneur whose heart beats for the Black and Brown communities. Born and bred on the East side of Kansas City, Dan has weathered life's storms, emerging as a beacon of hope and perseverance. Experience his raw and powerful insights about his life, the impact of generational trauma, and the importance of venturing beyond one's familiar surroundings. 

In our heartfelt conversation, we unravel Dan's path from struggling with poverty to becoming an inspiring father and a successful entrepreneur. We discuss his experiences in the cutthroat world of corporate America and how it's compelling companies to rethink their strategies and amplify the voices of their employees. Together, we explore the sacrifices he's made, his involvement in outreach programs, and the honor he received through the Community Giver Award. 

Dan's remarkable journey is a testament to the power of sacrifice, struggle, and unyielding dedication. His story reminds us that embracing technology and stepping outside comfort zones are crucial elements on the entrepreneurship trail. Prepare to be moved as we delve into his passion for creating positive change in the Black and Brown community. Join us as we share, learn, and get inspired by Dan's relentless pursuit of his dreams and his unwavering commitment to making a difference.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

In a world where success often steals the limelight, the stories that truly inspire, that truly matter, are left behind in the shadows. I'm your host, wesley Hamilton. Welcome to the Out of the Shadows podcast. We need people that don't fit to challenge what we're doing and how we're doing it. If there are systems and policies that are in place that are impeding our progress, then we need to figure out what those systems are so we can make sure that we are making room for a diverse system of thought. Yo, what's up everybody? This is Wesley Hamilton. Welcome to the fifth episode of Out of the Shadows.

Speaker 1: 0:51

This week we're going to shed light on important issues within the Black community. Today I have my guest, dan Smith, who is an entrepreneur very passionate we're giving back. Born and raised on the east side of Kansas City, dan is just involved in a lot of things. He's a mover and shaker in Kansas City. I'm proud to call him a friend and I'm just ready to dive in. Dan does a lot of work when it comes to entrepreneurship and then also making sure that entrepreneurship is impacting the Black and Brown community. So, dan, thank you for being on the show. Man, it's an honor. What's up, bro Dude? I am so excited just to be able to be in your presence, man, you are a phenomenal cat man. Appreciate the opportunity to come on to your show. I know it's new, so, man, to be one of the first guests? I don't know, I'm not the first guest. One of the first guests, it's an honor, man, it's an honor, so I appreciate the invitation. Now I'm after sure, bro, you have a powerful story and this platform that I've created is focused on those who stories are being shared into the world. But making sure that you have a platform that always speaks your narrative, I think that's the most important part, and through my journey of entrepreneurship and philanthropy and being a celebrity now and in so many areas, I've just learned how to keep your narrative so that you can stay authentic to your vision and stay passionate about your work. So now let's dive in. I do want you to share a little bit about your backstory. I've known you for a few years and now you're within this entrepreneur setting. But who is then growing up and got you into this lifestyle, the show? I do some of these interviews, man, and I'm humble and very appreciative because, especially like in West, I respect you and your work, but the dope thing about it is, I don't feel like we're doing anything special, I just think that we're just doing right the act of doing. But anyway, we'll dive in. And now, yeah, born and raised 33rd and Jackson man, you know, my mom still lives there.

Speaker 1: 3:14

I went to Miltonmore Elementary School, which was a Spanish magnet elementary school, so half of our instruction was in Spanish, believe it or not, and I can speak very little Muy poquito español deal to this day. But I remember two things that stood out. You know, as we'll normally get into all of this, but you know I'm with family, so like I could do all of this right. So the fifth of May, single the mile, like we used to get the canyadas feel a little candy and do all that, and we used to swing the bats. I was the best time. And then field day. Field day was the. Those are the two days in elementary school that stood out the most. I know I'm not the most studious person at all, so field day was dope, field day was dope. But then middle school, I went to Paul Robison Middle and the sixth grade building was right down the street from my house, which ends up turning into a apartment complex now. And so my elementary school closed down. So now it's WBD boys learning, similar overall, for by all in wood Paul Robison closed down. So Paul Robison is no more and it's like I said, an apartment complex on the other building was. It's a vacant land, just a land.

Speaker 1: 4:26

And then I graduated from from Hogan, from Bishop Hogan High School, so a Catholic private school that my mom, because I'm going to Central High, my freshman years I was a central cat. My mom was like, nah, it's the same, we got to get you out of there. So she actually paid tuition for me to go to Hogan, which my mom didn't have a lot of it. I was single parent household. My mom struggled but she put me through private school. My little brother went to Lincoln. So you know my mom is so dope, but anyway, yeah, and now Bishop Hogan is closed, but they had a charter. Now you know the charter had took over, but we don't consider that. If you want Bishop Hogan, I mean we do, we do we family, I can't do that, I can't do that, don't get it. No, brother is not the same. Yeah, it's not the same. It's not the same, yeah, man.

Speaker 1: 5:16

So and then through school, man, I went to a few colleges, man, and finally ended up getting my undergrad, got my master's degree, got my MBA and went into corporate America. And it didn't work for me, man. I had a lot of issues with corporate America. I'm a hard worker, but stuff don't make sense to me. I don't just, it's hard for me to just keep keep doing what doesn't make sense. Right, I challenge, I start challenging those games and you know a lot of businesses don't want to be challenged. You know business managers and mid managers and all that other stuff Just doesn't work.

Speaker 1: 5:52

So nonprofit went to nonprofit work which evolved into me. I started me and Sharron. I started in the Porter House KC and then it's just, you know it's, it's we're having so fun in the last six and a half years. You know, yeah, before we go in, and you know break down like what the Porter House KC is because of the dope organization, you know in Kansas City that everybody should know about it. But you know, like, going back into like you know your journey, because of course I'm not going to say we have a little age difference, but you know like my journey was a little different. You know it was definitely East side and I feel like majority of the schools, I stayed on the East side unless I went to, like, I went to Longfellow for elementary school, which was cool it was. It was definitely everything changed.

Speaker 1: 6:51

So talk about, like you know, growing up, you know, in the inner city, you're connected with all these different schools and, yes, they all do have different, they have a different, you know direction, you know you went to a Spanish magnet, you went to the Catholic, but you were also still, you know, in a space that I'm assuming right and I want you to emphasize, but I'm assuming that the spaces are semi filled with black people because of the area. Yeah, so the influence, right, the inner city influence, and how did you was able to kind of break away to explore schools, like you know? Like you know, because a lot of people don't get a chance to have even that length of a journey that you've just shared. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that acknowledgement, man, you know, the crazy thing is man, honestly, like and I start doing these, these, like having these epiphanies, and you know, when you get older, you start reflecting on things and stuff like that, and I had some, I had some reflection time and I realized that my experience is built from my, the people that I had in my life that helped raise me. So my grandfather had a really strong impact. He passed away a couple of years ago. My mom had everything to do with all of this and then my grandmother, like I, had a core. We had a core group of people that just kind of poured it to me and made sure that I was right and that I had these experiences.

Speaker 1: 8:18

Like, even though I came from the East side, even though, like we were, I grew up in single family household, my grandfather and my uncle they owned a lake house down in the Ozarks. So in the summers I got to go down to the Ozarks, I got to experience lake life, boating and jet skiing and motorcycles and all these things that you know it's not normal. We'll quote, unquote we figure out that, we realized we're normal and at that time I didn't even look at it like this was, like you know, not a normal experience. I just looked at it. As you know, I was having fun, right, it's just you get opportunity to have fun, right. So, yeah, man, I, you know, I wasn't what we consider a product of our environment, right, I did live a different life, but I was a fool too. I was silly too. I was out on the streets too. I did stuff you know like.

Speaker 1: 9:06

Even with those experiences, I still was a knucklehead, you know, and I still was doing things that I shouldn't have been doing in the street, but it was all self-imposed. It wasn't things that I felt like were because of my environment. It was me reaching and looking for these things and the people that I was attracted to, the homies that I had at the time. And we all, like I got homies that went to jail. You know, obviously you got her. I'm in the prison. I got people. I got homies that killed, I murdered. I got homies that committed suicide.

Speaker 1: 9:32

Bro, my first experience of suicide was in sixth grade. My best friend we were in sixth grade, we walked home together. He was scared because he got in trouble that day in school. I never forget this. His name was Eric. He was scared that he was going to get in trouble from his dad, so he went home. We walked home together. I went to my house. He's he's got it. Next day we come to school. I'm gonna find out that grievance people there and all this other stuff didn't know what happened Took his own life that had a shotgun and took his own life because he was afraid of getting in trouble.

Speaker 1: 10:08

Like that was my sixth grade was my first experience, man, it was just. You know, I lived in it. I had guns caught on me. I've gotten, you know, we've gotten in situations where folks are shooting at us. You know what I'm saying and luckily, you know, none of those instances, anybody that we were around, got hurt or anything like that.

Speaker 1: 10:31

But I just but I didn't let that be my circumstance and it's just a matter of perspective. You know, perspective and influence, you know, because I think what I'm hearing is a great way to, you know, go into the next conversation. I'm like you know, it's a lot of homes that are fatherless. There's a lot of homes that don't have the right type of influence, you know, which leads to being a product of the environment. Like you know, you've been able to go down to the Ozarks. Like I seen a post one day on social media and it says something right.

Speaker 1: 11:06

You know, our family trip was like to Mississippi every year, where it was yours, and as a person that now travels a lot, I do see the power of being exposed to certain spaces and areas and what it do to your mindset, you know, and it doesn't limit you to the limitations of your surroundings. And so then you have another group of people that have maybe been generationally traumatized through fear of going outside of the area. So I think about, like my family and my group that I grew up with off of 36 in Euclid, but I remember my grandmother passed at 90 and I can't really tell you when she left the house, those 50 years, you know, like I just, and it didn't hit me for a long time, but when I think about being a part of my environment, it comes from that side of the family. You know what I mean, and that was the family I was attached to. But if you know that bread and butter like if that person isn't moving the chicken and exploring and playing, sees outside, then you do become a part of that environment, you become. So now, man, I appreciate you sharing that, because I have family members that I think get a little bit of exposure or opportunity to go somewhere else and they have became more than others right Like. And so it's crazy how our community is one of the most easiest influence, but we also are the ones that you know, can create a lot of influence. And so I think, just kind of going into that, you know, because I just want you to kind of speak on, because your father, your husband, you know, you know what's the importance of that, because we family, I'm sharing more than I normally share, but even with my situation, so, like my early 20s, I didn't have what we didn't have.

Speaker 1: 12:51

Like Sharad and I started a business at like 20, 19 or 20, it was a maintenance company and it was just because we saw that there was a need, right. We went to a short story. We went to an apartment complex of a friend. His uncle was the maintenance manager there and he was just frustrated that day, just pissed off, you know, and we're like what's up, like what's wrong with you, bro, and he had some people call in maintenance workers folks, as supposed to be in there. It was a section eight apartment complex, so they have to like get these apartments turned over quickly because the char wings, you know it's extremely hot. And so we left like man, what if we did that? You know what I mean. What if you did that? You give us a contract, we do it, and there's no like sick days, right, we just got to get the work done, or if it's not us, then we'll hire some people to get it done. And so we faked it.

Speaker 1: 13:43

We put together this whole business plan we, my artworks, that is, print shop. She gave us some Smith and Thompson polo that we, that we wore. We did register the business. We went out to the end. It was so easy to register the business right. So we went out. We got our LSD, he got our EIA and all that stuff. Went to Google, pulled up some pictures of before and after a bathroom before and about through after, and said, yes, this is what we did.

Speaker 1: 14:12

Got a conversation with a black developer. He all they own six or seven different not yet like 10 or 12 different complexes in the Kansas, missouri side. Got a meeting with him, pitched it. He said, yes, I'm going to give you two of my development. We were like, ok, now what? Literally had to go get plenty of supplies at our parents' cabinet Literally we're using like bleach and we had no clue how to do another stuff. So we started researching it. This is after we already got the contract. So we were in here painting. We're doing all this stuff that we had no clue how to do, made more money than we had ever made before in our lives.

Speaker 1: 14:50

To that point, the goal wasn't to be an entrepreneur. At that point, the goal was just to get money so we can go to the club because we was out in the street. So if we get a check, we go cast a check and she runs at the bar buying the bar up for everybody. It's a dog Made this money cleaning cleaning booboo off the stairwells of a apartment complex. Well, yeah, no, it was fun, man.

Speaker 1: 15:10

But we my wife we met during that time and she's an educator down in Florida. She lived in Florida at the time. She went to the Baton Company, she went to the HBCU, she did the Greek life down there. She's a day. She got her whole thing and then she would come back. She's from Kansas City, so she would come back and we ended up meeting at a party or something like that and I was trying to be you know whatever she would or whatever, and so I hollered at her and we ended up developing a full relationship. But fast forward a year. So she ended up coming to Kansas City and, like I said, I'm sharing this because we failed. We ended up getting her pregnant, my wife pregnant.

Speaker 1: 15:49

We weren't married at that point in time and I had a moment of. I had a fork in the road. I was doing party promotion too at that time. I had a marketing company that we had started with some business owners and my all boys, chris Johns, lester Johns and George Forte. We had a company called X-World Marketing Group. He was out here in these streets, right, and I had a fork in the road.

Speaker 1: 16:12

I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and I realized, you know, I found out that she was pregnant and I was like there's no way possible that I can allow any, any, any seed that comes from me to be raised without a father. Right, because I was in a father was half. So I literally, probably within a week and a half two week timeframe, decided I got to go to Florida because I didn't have as much stability as she had. You know what I mean. She had a full time job, she had everything going on, and so I left and we ended up dissolving the company, and it was.

Speaker 1: 16:47

It was hard, it was probably the hardest thing I've ever went through in my life and I ended up having having our son down in Florida, stay down there. A little while we realized that you know all our family's up here, we can't have this kid down here and not, you know, get to know their family, grandma, you know all that good stuff. And so we moved back. We ended up moving back to Kansas City. After a while we ended up getting married, had another son and you know it was just the best thing that ever happened to me. And the funny thing is we me and my wife had these conversations where we love when we were in that process. Nah, it wasn't a strong love, right, but we liked each other, right, there was, there was that, but we fell in love. And you know, that's my age, that's my rider. But I've had a lot of turning points in my life. I had a lot of points of fork in the road either make this decision or make that decision, and that's one that I, you know, would never, I wouldn't change from the world.

Speaker 1: 17:47

So, got a son. He's a senior in high school. Got my younger son he's a sophomore in high school. It's my guys, man. They both play sports, both smart, way smarter than I was when I was their age. Yeah, man, you know I appreciate it because I respect you, I respect your journey, I respect you as a father and a family man that I see. I feel like you do try to highlight that as much as your entrepreneurship journey.

Speaker 1: 18:13

And so just hearing that, and then you know, I think you know, for a lot of black men, you know, we do have that mindset of wanting to fulfill the space that we didn't have feel when we were younger. You know, coming from not having a father and wanting to set the tone. I feel like I had the same type of mindset when it came to my daughter. I just did not with her mama, but with my daughter. I feel it. I feel it.

Speaker 1: 18:43

I got so custody, you know, very quick, but of course I would have done other things, but in all honesty, it was all because I'm like, what can I do to make sure that I am in this child's life and there is nothing going to alter that, you know, as a black man, a black father, knowing that there are so many systems in place that can deter that and make you where you're, out of thought at home. So, yeah, no, I, you know, I think I've got that in my journey and I always tell people before I could actually really become a father. You know my situation happened to me and you know I believe it was just more of a wake up call because I had already made the commitment to be a better father. But the only way I was going to be a better father was finding a way to become be outside of my, my environment, right, and so, of course, you know everything. You know keeping on with the year, but I definitely see my life story as a blessing and, if anyone knows it, it was my daughter that allowed me to actually become who I am today. So there is power in making that mindset to say, okay, this is what I'm going to do and then so, yeah, so let's go right into that man, because I, you know, even like for me, when I think about, like my daughter empowering me to, you know, wanting to be who I am, it really allowed me to know that like it's bigger than me, right, like you have these eyes, how did we make an impact into this child's life? How do you create a new generation of thought leaders and things like that? And so from me, it was well, I'm going to entrepreneurship and I know you shared a little bit about the corporate. You know world and how it wasn't for you, and you know I wasn't a corporate worker per se not my whole life but I did, you know, go and get into like, get a full-time job at a, like a couple of call centers and things. And you know, during my injury I was working but for me the barrier was my job wasn't accustomed to working with someone with a disability, so I ended in to fall back because I was dealing with real life issues that my job didn't understand and so eventually I got pushed out and I was kind of forced to be on disability. And you know I'm in my 20s, you know. So you know that was for me like that was.

Speaker 1: 21:07

My push into entrepreneurship was because, again, I probably could have settled it by the end of my life, probably to be like you know, like this is a thousand dollars a month, I'm going to give me good, but yeah, it was like this is not going to be able to take care of my home, this is not going to be able to allow me to raise my child like I want. Maybe this is set up for someone that doesn't have a child or something like that, but this is not set up for a father or, you know, like a family in here, so push me into that. You know so. For you, you had all these different things that guided you into entrepreneurship. How has we're going to shift a little bit, but how has that experience pushed you more into that nonprofit work? Yeah, you know, and the funny thing is I'm glad you shared that about your work, your work situation, because enough had these conversations directly with what some CEOs and founders and whatnot.

Speaker 1: 22:03

When you get hired, when you get interviewed and say, you know, like, towards the end of the interview they'll say you know, we'll try to see if it's a good fit right, if it's a good fit for our company and our art, what the team that we're hiring you into, if it's a good fit right and normally what that good fit means. That's like for me and you know I could be, you know I'm just putting it out there For me, good fit means you got to fit it. You see, somebody that's going to fit into the mold that we already have set for our environment rather than being open enough and realize that bringing we don't. We need people that don't fit to challenge what we're doing and how we're doing it. If there are systems and policies that are in place that are impeding our progress, then we need to figure out what those systems are so we can make sure that we are making room for a diverse system of thought. Right, a diverse system of thought. And a lot of these companies don't? They want to find somebody that that's cookie cutter, that I could put in, that I can mold, and that we can tell what to do and make more robot, right.

Speaker 1: 23:11

But I think that corporate America is kind of going through that shit. It's gone through that shit and there's more honest and there's more, because there's more jobs available now than there's ever been and they will in a long time. Right, there's a lot of of wage wars, dollars, I mean. There's a lot going on right now workforce development and I think that that's a good thing Because it forces companies now to not just kind of sit on this middle management thing. You're where the middle managers, you know, get to like pull the strings and do all that stuff and then you know completely silo off the front line employees from the exact company executive.

Speaker 1: 23:54

So, so it's a good thing, right, and back then I was in a position kind of probably similar to yours, that I Didn't feel like I had a voice. Yeah, right, I didn't feel like my voice matter, be it because lack of experience, lack of knowledge, like history, and all those other things that everybody Wants to throw in your face as to the reason why you can't and you shouldn't, right, yeah, I'm not about the kids in the, I'm about. I'm about how do we figure this out, right, and so that's kind of what would drill me into the space that we're in now. Man, but there was this huge conversation about ten years ago about Google fiber coming to Kansas City Big, you know, the Tavor, the city council, everybody was, oh my gosh, care cities about the just I. We were about to be the next Silicon Valley. 100%, we were, we were it right. But that conversation wasn't being added over in the communities that we come from. Right, and I wanted to figure out why.

Speaker 1: 24:55

Because I, like I said, I've been an entrepreneur, fired to this, but nothing like widely successful I, you know, banked a lot of bread or anything like that. But but I have been on that entrepreneurial journey and I had experiences at the Lincoln building. Our first Office was at the Lincoln building the city of Kansas City used to do an incubator a best for all business incubator years ago, and we were and we got to benefit from Working out of that space man. We got to meet Jackie bikes who was the owner of server cleaning back in the day. I used to work for Jackie. She was a dope entrepreneur. We followed her. That's why I learned, obviously, the realization that I come to later, but that's where I learned a lot of my the hustle and the grind and what's necessary was needed to be an entrepreneur.

Speaker 1: 25:40

But anyway, we try to figure it out. We couldn't. We. We had all the right answers, right, we knew what it was like a network, lack of capital, lack of access, lack of education, lack of lack of black Right. So we went down that trail. So we have, we have a lot of friends, that's our consummate professionals through I mean that we have met through A various channel school, I mean professional environments of where we're both me and Sharon are both members of capital of the side turning, incorporated, and so we would bring in some of these cost of a professional to teach Marketing, teach grand management, teach accounting, just the principles of these things like workshops out there, and and that was all our plan was. It wasn't to grow it into what we are in now, but there were some challenges that put on that will put on a table. We got introduced through the coffee foundation, through Courtney. Courtney was a business owner.

Speaker 1: 26:41

You might, if I use I, tell these stories. Disease stories are important, are they very important? How many? So I used to go every Wednesday morning to one billion cups back when it was, you know, they're Religious Lee, religious Lee, yeah. And I'm telling, yeah, and and you're, we used to see each other there, right, like, all the time, like, and so this, this lady by the name Courtney, she just came up to me. I was like, hey, you look interesting, what do you do? And I was like, nah, this ain't the same. Like couple of teens, you know, I'm just here to soak up knowledge, meet some people and that's it. Honestly, I am a introvert. I'm an introvert by heart, but I forced myself to learn how to be out, right, yeah. And so she walks up to me and I'm like disengaged. I'm like, no, I'm okay, it's cool, you know.

Speaker 1: 27:24

And then, so the next week I came back. She said you came back, you're here again, like what we're so like, what do you do Like no, like seriously, like I don't have any, you know. It sounds like, alright, this is, this is what we're trying to do. She's like, well, would you like to pitch? And I'm gonna be cause. Like no, this is not my crowd we work with or work for. And I was like I'm good, you know. And she said well, okay, she's like all right, so the next week, cause, and I'm there again and she comes to me. She says, hey, I got somebody want to introduce you, so all right, okay, who was this first right? And so it was Aaron Aaron Jenkins, that she at that time she was a program officer at the coffee foundation and so we got to get coffee and I kind of told her about location and where we're trying to accomplish. She's like, hey, because you're not anything, probably gonna give you some sponsorship dollars because we have been paying.

Speaker 1: 28:20

We had, it was on the bus line and we had that we paid for out of our own pockets. We had, we had, we did all the marketing, we pay for all the marketing on our pocket. And again, none of this was to create a business, it was literally just to try to help solve a problem and we felt like was there. So we weren't trying to gain nothing out of this, we were losing. So, courier, so, so everything to us and say, hey, we can get you a $5,000 sponsorship Just to help with the food and things like that Massive. That's what we could do right now. So I'm grand, like what? Like let's go. Oh, we got a paper, this out of pocket. Oh, my gosh, this is the best thing. I was like, what is he unheard of, right? And so we did that. We start with paper now we pay for some more advertising. And so we from there we got challenge.

Speaker 1: 29:06

She said there's more to this is the ESO, and if you don't know what entrepreneurs, support organizations are, you need to do your research, you need to look it up. You just figure this out. And so that's what we started doing. We started going down this, this rabbit hole of ESO work, and that's when we came upon a vector 90. That was Nipsey Hussles spot in a content that he had created for young folks. It wasn't specifically just an ESO, but it was a part of Of that system. They did that digital education as well. But we found this group water up. We found black tech week down in Miami. We found all these groups all over the country doing these things and we just like, mind blown, right, fast forward.

Speaker 1: 29:49

A couple of months, the guys from water came to Kansas City because they were a coffee-funded organization. We didn't know that. I Aaron call me said hey, I got the guys from water. You're only gonna get five minutes, but I want you to inch, I want to introduce your team, it's okay, you know, literally got in front of them, met him. Instead, next week we're coming up to Cincinnati because we want to know more. And they were like, yeah, right, okay, if you come, you come, we'll old street, okay.

Speaker 1: 30:20

I had a friend of mine. They didn't know. My fraternity brother lives in Cincinnati. So I caught him up. I said shit, need to play to stay, bro. I broke. I ain't got no money. We can play this babe. We want to meet these guys. Whatever she was like, bro, we got a basement pump. You know what I mean? Like, come hang out. We literally drove up that next weekend to Cincinnati, manchurian. It was crazy rain and it was steep. It met them, they tore us around, they were very hospitable. We came back with a vision. We came back with a vision and it was just from there the work and saw work been all worked. Yeah, all one. Hey, you know what, man?

Speaker 1: 30:59

And I love that you shared that, because that's I mean, it's always power in the story and there's definitely power in yours, I think anyone that first of all, shout out to One Million Cups, because One Million Cups is a solid platform. It definitely was better if you didn't add Kauffman. It was definitely dope at Kauffman, but yeah, anyway, it's a good platform. But then, like this, having the ability to make the sacrifice right, like, that's the thing. Like man, a lot of people don't understand that sacrifice Like, and all you deal with is allow someone to doubt you enough to pursue what you believe could be more and then make them into believers of you and then allow you to even be a believer of what you could create. And I think that I'm a story guy, so I appreciate it. I apologize, I appreciate it, but I want to share another really quick story which was like after reflection, was like seriously, Like I used to.

Speaker 1: 32:07

So when we moved back to Kansas City, I couldn't find a job. Right From Florida, I couldn't find a job. I got a kid, got a wife that's an educator. She's doing her, she's in line already. Everything's dope. I just, I was struggling, right, hershey's in the right. So I had to go to a temp agency, right. So I worked for Xerox through a temp agency. I worked for Xerox in Black and Beach right. So Black and Beach contracted Xerox to do all their mail services and everything else. So I worked in their mail room and the experience was like wow, I just saw, you know, all these blueprints everywhere and mail and all this other stuff. And so I was like this is not. You know, and you know, we all have these moments of there's more to this, there's more to life than this, right, and I couldn't figure out life, but the life of me, what the next thing's going to be. And this is way before any of where we are now happened. But fast forward to last year.

Speaker 1: 33:11

I got an opportunity to speak at the Civic Council's Thrive event, or not Thrive the Civic Council's there's an annual event. I'm having a brain fart right now, but there's an annual event. It's really dope. They bring the top CEOs, presidents, leaders from around the area to come to these meetings. It's kind of like a you know what we're doing now, what we're focused on for next year, you know those types of things and they like to bring in some folks and join some things really. And so I got to speaking. It was dope.

Speaker 1: 33:45

But afterwards the CEO who's retired now, but the CEO came up to me from Blackin Beach and told me that he was inspired by my story, appreciated me speaking and was like hey, we need to connect. The CEO of Blackin Beach, where I worked at Xerox for a tip agency, tell you love to me after speaking and literally waited to talk to me. And that was like for me, like and I'm not big on like, I'm not big on like celebrity status or any of that stuff right, yeah, but that moment, like a reflection, was just like. That was crazy for me. Yeah, yeah, it was crazy for me.

Speaker 1: 34:44

But, man, when you talk about like that sacrifice journey and you know I'll be real brief, but I always tell people, like you know, when I started to say, when I really was in the hospital bed, I knew there was a cause, I knew there was something, but it took me to go outside of my community, get into, like you know, make a sacrifice to go to CrossFitCon, learn what that vision was going to be and come back to Kansas City and implement that. But, as I shared, like you know, I was kind of forced into being on disability because I couldn't really find employment with a disability and I remember taking three, I had $300 left for my disability check and through one million cups I had met one of the like, one of the people that worked for WeWork, right Like, and I remember I mean they had a nonprofit discount, it was like 250 a month I could get an office. So I went on, got an office and that allowed me to be in a space where I could be able to share my story. Nobody knew my struggle, right. Nobody knew my struggle, nobody knew how to handle knowing nothing. I just thought at that point I was in alignment with everybody else, right.

Speaker 1: 36:00

And I remember we would do these outreach programs and I'm sharing this because there's power in not only knowing your vision, but there's also power in making sacrifice for the things that you want and there's even more about it and doing more even if you're not paid for it, right. So we used to do these. These called Hydrate the Homeless, and it was completely different than the mission for disabled, but not really right. It was a way to give back. That was different, but also provide an opportunity for people with disabilities to be involved in work. There.

Speaker 1: 36:41

It took I had got the office space in maybe August or September of maybe 2017, something 2018, and I remember about January they had reached out to me and said hey, mene, we love the work you're doing. We're going to nominate you for this Community Givers Award. There's about 200,000 members, all of this, but we're going to nominate you. And so they come back a couple weeks later. They're like Wes, you want it, you got this community, and just like, you're like you know. And they're like oh, I'm going to be in New York.

Speaker 1: 37:15

And I remember telling someone this is the first time I've ever been flown from somebody else's dorm. You know, I'm trying to act out. I've been trapped before, but I had never like I'm good, so I didn't know anything that was happening. I literally just thought I was going to get an award for giving back and I was happy for the trip, right. And so I remember man getting on stage and they're like hey, can you share your story? And this is my first time in like 2,000 people, I don't know like maybe a few seconds later, man, I get off of sharing my story and they like wait, man, wait a minute. The four of you it was four people out of 200,000 that was selected and they're like you know, we're going to give you $18,000.

Speaker 1: 37:59

And I'm like what you know, I remember like the video, like just capturing it, or like me just laughing because a lot of people didn't understand, like I had literally saccharine with nothing. I didn't expect anything. Like I was just like I want to create an impact, a woman's way of doing it, and like I was blessed with something that allowed me to like Go more into forward progress. Right Like, and keep Understanding that, as long as you start to create change, as long as you start to to have this vision and you're willing to sacrifice time, effort, passion into something that's impacted somebody else's large Like you, the lessons and things that come, or just, and you, you, you can't put nothing on it, right Like, it's just one of those things there's no value. So I just, you know, I I appreciate you sharing that story because I think that those are the things that people miss, right Like, when they think about entrepreneurship, they hear about the sacrifice, they hear about the heartache, but it's like man, if you have a true vision, like, the blessings will come, because the passion that you have is going to always fuel you.

Speaker 1: 39:08

You know I mean and, and, and I think Layla Ali says it perfect. She said you have to let your passion drive you, and so you know, when you're thinking about that car, your passion will drive you past anything that you have in your pocket, it, you know, like you, you you'll go and be like man. I can't even have this space, no more, because we can't pay rent, but I could sit down with people. You know what I mean and I could, I could tell them this knowledge. So I'm still sharing this knowledge, right, like. I don't need anything that impact the life with what I have appeared. Right, it only helps me To impact more lives with the support of many if they start to see my vision, right. So, and and you know what and you, you know what the, the in addition to that was what is, what is? Um, I don't think it's talked about enough Is everybody we want to frame things.

Speaker 1: 39:57

Everybody wants to be in a frame of something, right, like, and what I mean by that is like. If you do this, this will be the outcome, right, if you put this microwavable meal In a microwave and you get 30 seconds, you're going to get 30 seconds of heat on that, on that meal, right, but that's not how life really works. And there's some people that understand that. And then the folks that don't understand that are the ones that are really trying to fight within these systems, in these systems, and Really trying to change this. And then then, whenever and, and you know, nothing happens, it'll. I wonder why, like, why didn't this? Because this is not because systems are created to be adjusted, you know, to create something. A person created the system, or a group of people created by system.

Speaker 1: 40:50

That doesn't mean that that is law, that doesn't mean that that, even if it is, it doesn't mean that that's your, your, your life, right, yeah, so luck, work and luck, equal success. I see, if you're working, you get lucky. At a point in time when you're working, in some success may add through right, part way, luck and blessings. I I'll call it luck or blessing. You can insert luck, insert blessings or luck or blessings in prayer, but at the end of the day, if, if you're not doing the work, this point in time, that blessing, that luck, you won't find the success because you're out putting in the work. You know what I'm saying. Hey, the work, the work is the. I'm just. I'm just saying, if you're doing the work, you're gonna find some luck along the way and it's gonna potentially lead to some success. Or what about that work? You can't even get to the the end of the equation, but it's.

Speaker 1: 41:58

It's important for people to understand that Focusing on the work without focusing on a success will only allow you to surpass the success that maybe you envisioned in the first place, because once you're ever becoming driven by the work, man, like harder work pays off. You know you could be, you could work smarter, not harder, right? We don't want everybody talking about 18 hour days if you ain't got to, but at the same time you use, you're sacrificing something for A greater good, and there's no way that the blessings Won't shower on you as long as you keep focusing On that vision. Right, like that's it? Like man? All right, this is a done like this has been fired, bro, I have a. You know, I have a couple questions that I want to kind of like be able to hone in our official. So, um, you know, how do you think? And this is, this is important, because I think, um, while we talk about entrepreneurship, especially in a black community, I'm I'm pretty sure me and you have received support and people have seen our visions that are outside of our community, right, um, yeah, so how do you think the black community can better support and foster entrepreneurship? Uh, particularly for the younger generation? Yeah, yeah, I think that we have to, not, you know, I've had this conversation recently. We have to not be afraid of what happens if something happens. Let me explain it. Um, so, like technology, I'll use technology. I'll use, uh, tick tock. Right, there's a lot of anti-tick tockers, right, and there were some people that were early to adapt to tick tock that are having monumental success. And you wonder why? It's because they were quick to adapt to the technology. Right, we have a lot of people that are live Well, I'm gonna wait and see.

Speaker 1: 44:06

I'm gonna wait to see how this works. I'm gonna wait to see if it's legit. I'm gonna wait to support. I'm gonna wait to get on. I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna wait. And then you wait and then you see everybody else winning Because you just and you decided to wait. Then you try to catch on and then it's too late and then you're like, oh my gosh, why can't I get this, why can't I get that? Because you can't wait. I mean, you know what I mean Like, at the end of the day, you're gonna, you're gonna lose. You're gonna lose way more than you in, especially in this entrepreneurship game. You know, let's understand that you're gonna lose.

Speaker 1: 44:39

Um, and just be willing to put yourself out there. At the end of the day, you guys will not even try to jump into the fight. Well, just just stay on the sideline, just wait and watch everybody else do what they do. If you're willing to lose, you're willing to be out there. You willing to connect, you're willing to look like a fool, you look, you're willing to be, uh, ostracized. You're willing to be, um, you know in these positions that you don't, that it's not comfortable. Uh, then you're right. Then get in the game and let's push. But if you're not, man, just just stay on the sideline. Man, don't, don't adapt, be on the sideline, don't worry about what we doing on tiktok. You know what I'm saying. You stay on facebook and and keep your stuff on facebook and we'll be over in tiktok lane trying to figure out ways to accelerate.

Speaker 1: 45:25

Man, I was like, you know kc yesterday and saw this new dope technology that's coming out. Man, if they're working on it in school of technology pro, like chat gbt, if you know, if you're not on, if you're not interested in and on, uh, figuring out what chat gbt does for you can't do for you. Instead of looking at it as a bad thing and how horrible it is, you have to start learning about it. We've got to figure that out because you're going to be waiting and you're going to be upset because your, your counterparts and people that are willing to look. We're going to find monumental success using the technologies and things that are out there. And it's free. I'm just saying it's free, but I'm passing, so let me die. You know my soul box, hey, but I'm there. I'm saying you know, but I like that. You know, I was definitely going to emphasize and see what you thought about the ai, but you know, like in the, in the sense of what I.

Speaker 1: 46:22

What I'm kind of grasping is that you know, at least at this moment, technology is such such a powerful tool at your fingertips, searching for support everywhere else outside of the thing that you utilize every day is just it's Out is mind-blowing. You can you, you can. You got free platforms that you can literally say hey, what's the best way to start a business? Am I in my state and can you provide links on where to go? Boom, boom, boom, boom, everything. Marketing everything is out of tool. It's like learning the resources Instead of being drowned, drowned into being a consumer to things.

Speaker 1: 47:04

Start to be a visionary and start to be a thought leader and see how you can utilize the crucial arms to support you right. The platforms that you're supporting can actually support you. They can give you the education that you need. They could give you a community that you want to build right, like. And so now, man, I really like, how did you share that? Because I think technology is one of those things that a lot of people can hone into and it takes away the excuses On a lot of levels. You know, now, if you're not tech savvy, I get it, but you know, even Apple do courses to teach you how to use they, they, they products right, and those are free to Be okay.

Speaker 1: 47:46

Being uncomfortable. Yeah, that's the thing. Be okay with being uncomfortable, because I think a lot of people don't become successful because they're worried about how people see them in the process you don't want. You don't want to pitch a business Because you might have a family friend in a room that might, you know, challenge the way you're thinking, but they might not know how you're thinking. Failure comes a lot because figure Right.

Speaker 1: 48:13

So, before we end up, man, I know, like you know, you share with me, you know your, your, some of your milestones and, of course, love the success in an up-and-down journey of entrepreneurship through you, what Porter house is doing. I want you to make sure you, you share, you know your programs, how people can be involved and all that good stuff. Yeah, right, because 20, 22, you know you, you've been proud of your impact in 2022. Can you share with the some of those accomplishments that you're most proud of and how they contributed to uplifting the black community? Yeah, we put it. I'm glad you asked that we put in some good work. This, this, you know it. We're often told don't, don't boast and brag about things that you've done. You know all that good stuff. This is not boasting and bragging. This is just being excited, excited about what, what we've been able to accomplish and what's to come.

Speaker 1: 49:08

So on our website, we have our impact report. So if you go to wwwporterhouseaccom. Go, scroll down, see the impact report you get. It'll pop up right there. But, man, we've had we've had a lot of dope success, which is a quote that I love, and it's at the beginning of our impact report. The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persist in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man, so we have this written on the wall up in our office and this George Bernard Shaw. I love. That quote is, though, but this passion man, we've been able to give out about 190, 90, 5000 plus of small, small business dollars, mostly small, small grants.

Speaker 1: 50:01

Nothing that we do is in a low form, so they're all grants. Yet the pitches we have pitch classes. So folks are, you're not, you're not just throwing up to try to pitch, pitch your business. We actually have a class that you go through to wire it how to pitch and then you get up there. So that's, that's things that to. You'll be back, and Jake Morgan Chase, we're there.

Speaker 1: 50:22

The support and also network Kansas we did some stuff over in Kansas as well as, as it relates to some small dollar giving. We also have a 15 week small business development class. We also have a mentoring program which is 12 months long that we do so the alchemy sandbox. We actually just close it. The new application will open up again for the next quarter. So every quarter we open up our applications on our website for the alchemy sandbox. That's the pitch, competition for the $5,000. But so we did that.

Speaker 1: 50:56

Last year we made a lot of connections. Our story is there not created 19 community partnerships? What oh? Eight funding partnerships? We always do 10 events. Man, it was just a lot, a lot going on, my man. We're really excited about it, but our hope is that we can continue this and we can continue to push.

Speaker 1: 51:12

Obviously we're still a fairly new, small-knob profit. We don't get a lot of Financial support. We'll get a ton of financial support, but the support that we do get from Kaufman and Jake Morgan and and you'll be Baye has been tremendous. Price we got to hire two employees, so we have a director of education and then we have a person that's going to be a manager and then we have a program manager and myself, and so, as Shiran still works a full time to nine to five and he's he's only participating With with the border high states and he runs black drip, set out to the run and but he's though, he's though too, but but yeah. So We've been able to do a lot, man, with a little, and we would continue to strive to try to get more. So we can, we could do more for the, for the both of you.

Speaker 1: 52:09

So we got a space that's opening up 31st and right up 31st and shrooms. That's a space that nine, nine different business owners are gonna be able to retail their products out of. They actually are manning there still is inside this space. Yeah, it's under construction now. We've been sharing some construction updates and stuff. So, really, geeked about that, man, it's coming, it's coming along. We, we rockin, we get not also twice five but spot actually sponsored, has sponsored five memberships for the last Five years of us being around, and so, like people, they get enrolled into our programs, get access, also get access to flex pot, which is really, though, and they've been a great spot for a while. So, just, you know we are trying to work. Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1: 53:01

So you know, if you're in the Kansas City, missouri area, you have a vision. You know you need some assistance. You know if you're representing different communities, like, definitely reach out to the Porter house, kc, their information to be shared on the you know, on our notes and all of that. Dan Smith, like, get a sticker to put on your laptop. Hey, man, before I, before I end, like Any any last words when it comes to like you know, I know you shared a quote, but do you have any other question want to share? Are there any books that you're reading that can that people can go grass to give them a session of inspiration? Yeah, I'm glad you said that I'm a book guy, but I'm an audio book guy, so I don't do a whole bunch of it, but this is all my audio books that I've been rocking with.

Speaker 1: 53:47

I'm currently listening to the autobiography of James Baldwin and so I'm really interested in James Baldwin in his perspective. Miseducation of the Negro Exactly, I'm on the same page. I'm on the same page. Exactly, rick Rubin. I just finished this book by Rick Rubin. It's called the Creative Act. I respect Rick. He's a co-founder of Dev Jam. He co-founded Dev Jam. Not a whole bunch of people know who he is, but Rick Rubin is a really smart dude and his book is dope.

Speaker 1: 54:22

I read Task System by Isabella Wilkerson, like really breaking down what task systems are across the world. And then Will Smith's book was dope man. I know Will's book was his thing, man, but his book was phenomenal and I still support Will man, even though we all go through our journeys. You know what I'm saying. We all have to figure life out and I hate when we make mistakes that we just kind of like push people to the side and it was a mistake. It was a mistake. You know Nipsey says it says it best. You know that we as a people have to learn how to react to disrespect and you know and that's something that we're still learning within the black community Thank you for sharing the books.

Speaker 1: 55:09

Thank you for sharing. Like. I'm definitely an avid reader. I always talk about. My growth came from reading books. So I'm going to share my two favorite that I think people can grab. So how to raise your own salary by Nicole and Miguel Very powerful book. Of course, I didn't say think rich, grow rich, because you need to know how to raise your own money first too. And then Black Magic. Black Magic is definitely a powerful book for any, any individual, black or brown. That's just trying to understand things, and it says what black leaders admire from trauma and try out. So definitely reach out and check out these books and I didn't want to share a couple of last words.

Speaker 1: 55:52

Like some of our comments on here. Here, it's just a portal into greatness. When you step through, you level up. Thanks, alex. What about it? You know, man, like I think that's. That's such a powerful thing, and sharing the struggles is just as important as the successes.

Speaker 1: 56:16

Another Nipsey also quote you know, if you're sharing your success and not just struggles, you're a fool. I'm a firm believer of that because you're missing out on reaching a lot of individuals that come on from your story, because they can see themselves from your, your, your past and your, your journey maybe not where you are right now and so make sure that you always bring that story out to shadows. And thanks everybody for checking us out. Until next time, appreciate it and thank you again, dan. As we conclude another inspiring episode, I want to remind you that success isn't just about the spotlight. It's also about the shadows. It's about the struggles we conquer, the unseen battles we fight and the silent victories we claim. I'm Wesley Hamilton and you've been listening to Out of the Shadows podcast, where we illuminate the stories of often left untold. Join me again next week as we venture back into the shadows and bring another amazing individual into the light. Until then, remember, no story is too small to inspire. Keep fighting, keep winning and stay out the shadows.