Walking Through The Journey: A Conversation with Femme It Forward Founder Heather Lowery

So Funky Monday is an ignorant conversation about wellness.

About what?

Wellness.

Oh, okay. Great to know.

Good to.

Good to know.

Good to know. What we talking about?

Oh, that's not what we're talking about, though.

What are we talking about?

You. Yeah, what we're talking about. The topic of the day is.

And we are back with another episode of Fuck U Money with Ty and Yo, I'm. Yo, I'm Ty. And we have a special guest today.

Yes, we do.

Please introduce yourself.

I'm Heather Lowry. I'm the founder, president and CEO of Feminine Forward and the founder of Next Gen Femme.

Yeah.

We are so happy to have you, Heather.

I'm happy to be here.

Thank you. She don't do this. So we.

I do not do this.

She's more of a behind the scenes. I get that money.

Yeah, she do the work.

Exactly.

So being right here is not the most comfortable, but, you know, we like to make you feel. We brought some roses.

The reason I'm here is because of this guy right here.

I appreciate her.

And I was. I was gonna ask, can you tell me how you met Ty?

Oh, man.

How did we meet? We met Tuan me.

We met through Shawnji.

We met through Shawn G. We met.

Through Shawn G. Shawn G introduced us. Yes, he did. Because I remember talking to him and he was like, yo, you got to meet my partner. I think this one. I think Live Nation Urban had just started. I don't think Live Nation Urban had been around that long because he was like, this is my partner. We do all the college stuff together. And I brought her over with me to Live Nation Urban and I remember him us being on the email.

So I remember I started at Live Nation Urban in 2017 after running my agency for 12 years. And I knew Sean because I ran a recording studio in Philly and Sean was like the business manager for all the artists there.

Yeah.

So when Sean was starting Live Nation Urban, he hit me up, was like, I'm starting this company. I joined venture partnership with Live Nation. I want you to be on my team. So that was 2017. I came in and I don't remember him introducing us, but I do remember the first time that we sat down. Maybe we met before we sat down, but I remember seeing Jane come into my office.

That was 2018.

Was that 2018?

Yep.

So. So, yeah, I couldn't remember how, but I do remember sitting down with you guys in my office. We went to dinner.

Yeah. We went to, like, this, like, Chinese restaurant.

It was like Thai was a Thai food restaurant.

That's what it was.

Do you remember your first impression of Thai?

I thought Ty was different. I'm like, who's different? Like, just, just not your ordinary guy. Like, it's just so much of, you know, authenticity and just different. Like, he's just not your standard industry guy. And then now that I've gotten to know him over the years, it's like he's definitely, definitely not your standard industry guy. Like, he is a rebel, he's a disruptor. Like, he's kind of all the things I am, but different because I'm not as risky.

I'm risque. I'm real risque.

Ty, like, really, he makes his own rules, he does what he wants to do and it's. It's great. I love it. Like, I love that about Ty. But sometimes in business it's like, God damn, Ty. Like, can't you just, you know, like, he does not do things the way that they should be done. He does things the way that he wants to do them.

After this interview, Live Nation gonna know that they gotta talk to Heather to get me to do anything. They don't know that now. I mean, yeah, they do, but they barely know.

They barely know.

They really, they really gonna know. It's, it's. You know, when you are walking through this journey of like, entertainment or just life, you come across like different people that you really respect what they do. And Heather was one of those people. Once I got introduced just before I met her, how she was introduced was like, in a very respectful way, like, this is a person that really, you should meet this person. Then when we did finally meet, you know, over the years we've tried to figure out different things together. We just did some work on the Brent tour together when we. I've never done any long term deals with nobody, right? So the first thing we did on the touring with Brent was in 2019 for on the Fuck the World tour. And I remember Calendar, our booking agency, he be Calendar was talking to somebody and I was like, man, y' all better make sure Heather involved that, oh, I ain't gonna answer the phone. Because my thing is what we have to do a lot more is like, not everybody is going to just wake up one day and just start building their own business. There's going to be people that go through the career path at these companies and for us on the outside, whenever we do have leverage, whenever we do have a certain level of power, we got to empower them in their chairs that they're sitting in while they're there. So I was like, yeah, man. Plus, Press is a R B. Then she runs a company that focuses on women. That's our core audience. Why y' all haven't put this together? But, you know, that's just the lack of foresight that a lot of people in different companies have. Some things just make sense. So over the years, we've always just connected, find ways to work together on the live side. And.

And honestly, that's what I love and respect about you is, like, I call Ty Tribe. Like, it's only a few people I can say that about, but he's going to make sure, like, you know, he's loyal, too. And it's just like, if I need to be in a room, like, it's like, I'm not talking to nobody unless she's involved. Like, he's like, you know what I mean? And that's, I think, how us as black people need to support one another.

The Jew way. The Jew way. That's how the Jews do it. Kind of. The Jew way.

The Jew way. The Jew way. But, no, that doesn't happen a lot in this industry where people really have your back and people are like, all right, we're in this together. We're going to support one another. I'm building a business. You're building a business. We're going to do this together and support one another in it. And it's. It's been that way since day one of me meeting Ty and like that. That you do not. I do not. Like, I can name the people on one hand that are like this in this industry. So that. That's what sets him apart and makes him so special. And, like, Ty is like that. That is why I'm here.

Absolutely.

Because otherwise I'm like, no, I got. I got too much to do. I can't sit down and on camera interview what. I'm like, so much behind the scenes. Like, no, but I got so much. All right. And I know it took us a minute to get here.

We were.

Because I had so much going on, but I'm here.

This is what's important for us to realize. And I was just having this conversation with a merchandise company, being an executive who. Especially when we dealing with live. It's a extreme sport. You know, we deal with athletes. Amount of. The amount of traveling we got to do, the amount of back and forth we got to do, and when it's all said and done, we're going to lay on the cross for a lot of talent. But then we look up 10, 15 years and realize that we could have monetized our lifeliness by being a little bit uncomfortable. A little bit a year, once a year, twice a year, been a little bit uncomfortable. We can monetize our likeliness so that we can decide what we want to do with that value that was created.

Right. Long term.

Long term. And I think that it's a struggle for us because we do the work, and it's been shone upon to be in front of the camera. You know what I'm saying? It's like, oh, you trying to be.

Dancing all in the videos, right?

Yeah. Dancing all in the videos, Right? Right now I'm dancing in the videos.

But I ain't dancing in the video. Yeah, you deserve to be okay. I guess I am.

I know you desperate to be okay, but the fact of the matter is being that that was shone upon. Now, managers, agents, they are so important to the business growth of not only the companies that they represent, whether it's their own company, but the artists that they serve, you know? And so moving forward, at least for me, I'm going to find every opportunity to speak and show that I'm articulate, to show that I work, to show the work that I've done. Because if I don't do it, somebody's gonna take credit for it. That's the business world. Absolutely. That's the business we're in now.

I don't want to jump too far ahead. I wanted to ask Heather, do you remember the first person to empower you in this business?

There's like two names ringing through my brain right now, and I'm trying to think about the word empowerment and what that really means. Right. Which is like, what? Giving me an opportunity, lifting me up, helping me.

Yes, ma'.

Am. In this business. Woo. So why is this hard? It's like easy and hard. I'm trying to think back to the first. Take this question. Very literal.

Well, what I loved about your journey when I did my research was that you went to Spelman and you were thinking about being an attorney.

Entertainment. Right.

So we. Okay, yes, Entertainment attorney.

We do research. Yeah, we do.

So we're taking it back. Then I would say this woman, Carolyn, her last name is leaving me right now, but she was a successful attorney at Fox television stations, and she just took me under her wing and she kind of, like, just taught me everything that she knew. And she was the very first person to kind of like, show me the way. And, you know that I would say that gave me an opportunity and empowered me.

Right.

Within your senior year, you Decide to change your career path.

Yeah.

Correct.

Yeah.

So that I think it's so interesting that you did find someone to empower you and you changed your mind a bit about what you wanted. How hard was that to pivot?

It was hard because I thought that. I thought I knew that I was into music and entertainment, and so I'm like, my whole life, I'm like, you know, I want to be an attorney because I like to argue, I guess. And it was more so from my parents, you know, that wanted me to do that. Not necessarily coming from me. I'm like, okay, how do I merge my interests with the career field? So it just sounded good. And I got to my senior year, and all the attorneys that I met, besides that one attorney, they all told me to make sure. Make sure. Make sure. Because they were also miserable. Not that it's a miserable career, but they were miserable. So it made me look internally and really question if it was something that I really wanted to do or if I was doing it because of, you know, it just sounded good or that my parents wanted me to do that. So I decided. It was my senior year. I decided, like, nah, I don't think this is it for me. Let me just take some time off to really explore and figure out what it is that I want that I want to do. So I didn't go. But it was definitely difficult to make that decision. But I knew it was the best decision because I just. I couldn't answer that. I 100% wanted to go that route. So I'm like, before I go to law school and pay all this money, let me just make sure it's what I actually want to do. So now I feel like I'm doing the things that I thought I wanted. I'm doing those things that I could have been doing as an entertainment attorney, but just not having to take that specific path.

I think it's great that you knew internally that you wanted something else and you were brave enough to go for it.

Yeah.

So as I read, you went back to Delaware.

Back to Delaware.

And started working at a studio.

A recording studio.

Recording studio. They didn't have a job at first.

Nope.

And you were a receptionist? Yeah, Yeah, I did my research.

I mean, they didn't have that job.

It's a great story.

Like, he was like, the man, the owner, Larry Gold, bless his heart. He didn't have anything available, and I was like, I'll see the floors. I just. I'll answer your phones. I'll do whatever it takes. I just knew That I just had to get my foot in the door just so he can understand, like, who I was and the value that I would bring to his company. So, yeah, that's what happened. I started as a receptionist probably, like, a couple days a week. That grew into five days a week, which grew into 12 hours a day, which grew into me ultimately being the general manager of the studio. So that was, like, my first real job in the entertainment industry.

I just love how you take an opportunity and then you do the work. Like, you almost overdo the work. Gotta do the work to climb up the ladder. Yeah, right. Yeah. Just how important is the transformative aspect of working to get to where you want to go?

I mean, it's. It's very important. That's the only way, like, you got. I mean, it's like, I don't understand, like, how do you get there if you're not doing. I feel like if you skip steps, like, you'll get to places that you'll get in rooms that you're really not supposed to be in, so. And then people are going to see, like, ultimately, it gets revealed that, oh, shit, like, you. She. Whatever you haven't got.

I don't know how they got there.

I don't know how they got here, right? And then that turns into a whole nother thing. So I don't know any other way. Like, my mom, like, she raised five kids, and she. I mean, I just saw her hustle and hustle and work and, like. And I just. I have that in me, and I knew I wanted out. Like, I didn't grow up rich. I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth. So for me, I'm like, all right, I. There has to be another way, because I'm not. I'm not doing this. Like, I want a different life. So for me, I'm like, I got to do the work to get to where I want to be so that I can change. Like, you can either continue the cycle that you see your family in, or you can break the cycle. So for me, I wanted to be. I wanted to break it. I want it out. So I had. I have to do the work to get to where I want to be. Like, I understand that very clearly because, you know, I watch my mom do it and never really make it out. You know what I mean? So I'm like, that won't be me. Like, I want. I actually want a better life. And I actually want. You know, I want all the things, generational wealth, and I want all the Things that I didn't have growing up. I want to be that leader in my family that finally achieves that. So doing the work is. I mean, it's. There's no other way.

So when you. I wanted to talk about doing the work right, because my mom worked hard. It was no if, ands, buts about it. My mom worked hard. And I remember talking to somebody about how hard my mom worked, but where she put her efforts at did not benefit, truly benefit the family. It benefited the moment because the bill was paid. It benefited the bills.

Right, right.

But, like, that work ethic, when targeted the right way, you go so much further. So I remember asking one of my. One of the. One of my mentors recently was like, man, what happened when you knew that you was making more money than everybody that you grew up on? What did you do? Like, who did you talk to? What was your actual aspects of it? Right. So with you, what was your emotions or your feeling when you realized, like, dang, I'm actually doing way better than my entire family when I was coming up, like, this is not what your son is experiencing, is not like, what you was experiencing. Not that your parents was, like, bad parents. We're talking about what the results are because of the risk that you take. Right. Rather, you knew they were risk or not.

Right. I mean, you're asking me what it feels like.

It's hard to describe what it feels like. It's like, when did that click when that awareness hit you? You were like, dang.

It hit me probably when I was in college. It hit me when I graduated from college. I was the first in my family to graduate. So I think at every point in my career, my journey, like, you know, after college, I realized that I was that person in my family, you know? And, I mean, I have. I'm the baby too, right? I have older brothers. I have an older brother who, you know, I inspired him to finish college. Like, I finished. He dropped out, but he went back and he got his PhD after he saw me do it. So it's just like, I think I can be an inspiration of hope to, you know, my family. Although I am the youngest, I feel like if I can do it, like, we all grew up the same way, right? I can do this. Like, that's why, I mean, like, to little black girls in Delaware, where everywhere, I'm like, if I can get out of where I was at and be here, anybody can do it.

That's a great.

I'm definitely grateful to be in this position and proud. But, yeah, I think I got tunnel vision with it. Like, I just. I wanted it so bad, and I understood that, like, there's a different way, there's another alternative, and there's a way out of this. And so that was my focus.

It's just like, when did you realize.

This is when you're gonna start asking the tough question.

Yeah, I want to ask, when did you realize you could help someone else that had that same drive that you had and helped bring them up?

I think I realized I could help other people is when I got in a position of power. It wasn't really until I started my. Well, it was actually before I got my JV. So the way that feminine 4 came about was I was at Live Nation Urban at the time, and I did a panel for Billboard. Like, it was a Billboard music summit. And I got asked what I was doing for women in the space, and I really didn't have an answer. So it was just. I had to figure it out because I wouldn't do anything. So I created Feminine Forward. It was initially a series, a live series to get more women on stage performing with one another. So it's like, all right, I'm gonna give these women opportunities. They say, we can't do it. We can't sell out shows. We can't. And I'm like, watch. Watch what I do. I'm gonna put everybody on stage and we're gonna sell out. So I kind of curated about 12 show mix of shows and panels. And it went up and it went up. It was like the industry supported it, the fans supported. It was like, hashtag, Feminine Forward was like, growing, and it was like, oh, my God, what did I just do? And it was only initially to give more women opportunities to perform on stage. But then I realized very quickly, like, this is. This is more than a series. Like, this is a movement. This is a business. So when I started Feminine Forward or closed my deal as a. My JV deal at Live Nation, when I got into more of a position of power, I realized I was in a position to help other people and uplift them and give them opportunities. Feminine for, like, it wasn't really planned. Like, none of my. That's why I know I'm not in control. I'm not. This is not me. Like, I'm very clear, right? We're not in control at all. And I'm very clear that I'm a vessel. Like, it's not even me, because none of it was planned. Like, I thought I was gonna be an attorney. Look where I'm at now, But Feminine four was not planned. Next Gen Femme was not planned. Give her flowers. This is like, none of this wasn't. Like, I sat down and was like, all right, I'm going to build this and build this and build this. Although it's important to have a business plan, the way that my life and my guide works, like, it's just. That doesn't matter. Like, I don't. It's just when I'm inspired to move, I move. Yes, ma'. Am. And this is where it led me. So I feel like, yeah, with Next Gen Femme, I wanted to create. I wanted to give these young women a program that I would have wanted when I was younger. And I wanted to get my peers also. I wanted to give them a lane or a vehicle to be able to tap into and support and uplift women as well. So I don't even remember what your question was, but.

Oh, you answered it.

I got lost in it a little bit.

That's great. One of the things that is two questions I have. One of them is not a question. It's more of a seed to plant. The second one is a question. The seed to plant for you is if telling your story more in whatever medium you decide to can change a thousand women's lives every single time you do it, that is how you should approach these type of opportunities.

Absolutely.

And then. Right. That's the seed.

That's the seed.

That's the seed.

The question. The question. I know. That's when the hard questions start coming. You start stuttering a little bit.

I think I got you, though. Hit me with the question. Cause I'm already. I'm already here.

Right. So the question is, what is the plan or what inspired the mentorship program? Because I learned about the conference that you all did in Atlanta, and I was like, how many people came down? Like, I was so, like, impressed by how many people showed up for the mentees, for the overall program. Can you talk about that? Because I think that's something that is very, very important. That is the seed. Like, that is why I put them.

Together that you talk about the seed. Because we just had the gala, and it was about giving her flowers. Right. But I was also talking about seeds and planting seeds. And one of my seed and my biggest flower is my son. Right. But also feminine Ford. Right. Feminine Ford is my daughter. Like, she's almost five, but also a seed. So I look at it the same way, is, you know, I'm planting seeds with Feminine Ford and with Next Gen Femme. And I started it at a time where we were shut down. Like, everything was shut down because of Pandemic. And I was like, what am I about to do? Right? So we curated all the female battles of verses.

Oh, I remember that.

And then we released the album. This guy helped me. Like, he was kind of like my consultant when we worked on that album. Like, how you. And he kind of held my hand and walked me through the whole process, but also started this mentorship program. Like, I feel like I didn't have a lot of mentors. Like, growing up, I didn't, you know, it was like, I didn't have someone to kind of. I had a couple of people, but, like, the one Caroline I had. But I didn't really have a lot of support, right? I didn't have a lot of people support me and hold my hand and, like, help me. I remember people that wouldn't support me and people that rejected me or people like, I can't help you because I'm trying to help myself. Like, that stands out the most. And so I always knew that I wanted to give back and help women. So when the Pandemic happened, it was just like, now is the time to release this program because I have the time and space to work on these other verticals that I want to build that I don't know how, you know, I never had the time to even think about. And So I called 100 of my colleagues, associates, friends, people I knew, vaguely people I knew a lot. I called 100 top women execs in the industry. It was just a phone call, text, like. And I remember people telling me, you're starting too big. It's too big. It's too much to manage. But I was very clear, like, I want to do a mentorship program, and we don't have to do a lot of manage. It's one on one, because you don't ever see that. You see women giving advice through panels and through big forums. But, I mean, how many people have an actual mentor that they can actually call on the phone and have monthly meetings with? Like, it just doesn't happen. It didn't exist when I was growing up. It exists now because I created it. So I feel like. I know I call you a disruptor, but I am in the same way, if it's not in existence and it's just like, it's necessary and it's needed. And this is something that was definitely needed. Like, I see how much girls struggle because I struggled so much and I needed so much help. And there was just Not a lot of people that could call on or could tell me and show me the way or help me learn and grow, like, I had to figure it out. So it was important for me to, you know, to give back in that way and help girls, like, figure it out, see their value, and, like, really have someone, like, hold their hand and walk them through the process.

Now, since you didn't have a mentor, what do you think makes a great mentor?

Like, the qualities of a great mentor, a great mentor? I think it's like, you know, a great parent. Just like, attention, attention. Listening to, answering the phone, being attentive, just giving you time, right? So whether you're talking about, like, you know, how do I fix this resume? Or how do I approach this person, reach out to this person, or even personal. Like, I try to. We try not to get into the personal stuff, but it's a part of, like, we're all human. We all go through experiences, right, where it's personal. But sometimes it's just that person where you can bounce and you can ask advice and that, you know, someone that's done, been there, done that, and can help you advance, you know what I mean? And grow and evolve and learn and change. It's attention first and foremost.

I think the mentorship. The mentorship aspect of it is so important. People always talk about, like, oh, you all are independent, and you did this and you did that. But one of the things that I did a lot of, I always leaned on information from, like, n. That did it already. You know what I'm saying? I didn't lean on it enough where I'm like, do it for me, right? But I was just almost like, hey, man, y' all did this. How did you go about that? And if they was open enough to give me the information, I would find some way to, like, reward them. Not that I had to, but. But I was just like, oh, man. Like, in my brain, I'm like, what if I. It's like positive reinforcement, right? Like, they gave me some information. I was able to go do this different thing. Let me see how I can add value to their business, right? What I started to realize as a mentee, right? Cause I didn't get mentees till I was successful. None of that shit happened when you was goddamn fucked up, trying to figure it out. It didn't happen until you was actually successful, Which I still appreciate, because what it taught me was that through that process, you're learning. People are learning more about you, and you're spending time with them for them to Better understand you to know what you probably should do or shouldn't do, right? And for them to tell you, like, hey, man, I seen this route before. You shouldn't go down this route. This might be something that is going to be detrimental to you, right? Or even being there to be a protective protection for you. And so I've used it in all different ways because I've been, you know, I people to say some to me, and I'd be like, what? And I have to call my mentors, like, yo, y' all gonna have to walk me through this, because what I want to say, I feel like it's gonna everything, right?

It might be detrimental.

So I think. I think y' all need to, like, let me know, like, what is the best course of action.

Has that helped you Ty being able to do that?

1,000%, yes. Because I've not said things that I really wanted to say that probably would have ended because I'm not an industry guy. I didn't work on a record label. I didn't have no internships. I didn't do none of that shit. So I don't really know the value of it. But I also didn't come from that level of fear, so I didn't come from that level of worried about something that's gonna be done. I ain't got nothing anyway. You talking to me crazy. Crazy, right? So. And then it was a respect thing. A lot of people don't have a lot of respect. They're not respectful. In this business, people respect more so the things you've done. So if you're attached to somebody that's successful, they want us to respect you then, right? But if you just graduated from college, top of your class, got a bright spot about you, they don't respect you, even though you might be smarter than the individuals that they're interacting with every single day. You know what I'm saying? So I tell people all the time from a mentorship perspective, I answer the emails to people that don't got nothing. Like the people that's like, I got this big artist, they hot. They want to do this. I don't even open their emails. But I'll literally find, like, the most random person that hit me in DMs and be like, yo, what's up? What you trying to figure out? That's interesting because my thing is, like, if you got an artist that you can email somebody about, that got an achievement, you so much further along than this kid that's, like, trying to figure out what publishing even Means.

Right.

You know what I'm saying?

So you try to reach back to the people that really need it.

Yes, because it don't really matter about the. Like, Russell is an example of that. Sent me the most longest paragraph in 2018. Same thing happened with a guy who was working with name Rahm Gold Rum. Sent the most sophisticated email. I was like, how you even know to do this? You know what I'm saying? And so for me, I'm gonna always pay attention to the people that feel like they put time into it. Recently, I did an interview with Medium, and it was a software engineer that reached out to me and was like, now, I've been following your journey. I read your book. I've been looking at all the videos and the interviews. And, man, I'm a software engineer, and I'm just trying to be down. I work at this company. I went to school. I've literally, I want to be in business with somebody like you. And I'm reading this shit like, I'm like, nigga, I need a software engineer right now. Like, right now you're talking to me as if, like, you're looking like this, but I'm looking like this. I'm like, nigga, I need a software engineer because I don't got time to learn how to code.

Right?

You know what I'm saying? But if you do, I know I'm gonna honor your skill set. I'm not gonna treat you like you knew. I'm gonna treat you like the value that you bring to the table. And so what I had to come to grips with is that I wanted to get this information out. All of these things that I'm learning, I wanted to get it out. So I was like, either I gotta write a book at that time. I ain't writing no fucking book. This is before I met him. I'm gonna write a book. And I'm definitely not trying to do no interviews. So all of these different things. So I sat with myself for a very long time. Damn, I'm learning all of this information. How am I supposed to share it with people? Because I can't talk to all of these people. It's impossible. So now with the book out and we're gonna do these series and we're gonna do these different things, I'm not gonna be answering too many more emails because I'm giving so much information. It's the same with Jay said about the 500,000.

He's like a dinner.

Just take the money and buy all my albums. All my albums. Tell you what I'm gonna tell you anyway, right? And so the mentorship is very important. I think that you do a great job with it, specifically women, because I think women need to be running the world. These niggas, I don't trust them. I just don't trust the penises. They, they, they, they, they. They don't make good decisions. You know what I'm saying? And it's a lot of ego clashing versus community building. I was on a call today with a woman that's similar to you. She pretty much runs the department that she works in. And the guy that works for her was a guy named Tim. And I asked her, I said, yo, you gonna be at the Super Bowl? Elizabeth, you gonna be at the Super Bowl? She was like, I hope so. Right now, mind you, she's a boss at what she does. She's talking about she hoped that she's gonna be at the Super Bowl. When I tell you, Tim, this guy, you're gonna never really hear me say this. What I'm about to say. This man was like, oh, she's gone. I'm gonna make sure she's there. She's incredible. She is the boss. He went down and he was campaigning for her so hard. I was like, is that your wife? That's what I was thinking about in my mind. I'm like, only her husband gonna go that hard.

You know what I'm saying?

But he was literally like that. And I told him on the phone, I was like, man, I admire that. Cause they've worked together at the company they worked with before. So he must have followed her over. He is literally a topiar. The way that he was campaigning, that. And I don't see that a lot with men when it comes to women. So for me, I'm real big. Just like we talked about the gala. I was like, yo, like, they. I'm getting the women. They taking ass over there. Somebody, they gonna. Jane, y' all better figure it out and go over there and support this cause. We'll buy a table. I don't want to hear all that. I was never, ever planning to go, because I already knew my schedule three months out. When she gave me the date, I was like, yeah, I already know where I'm gonna be at on that day. That ain't gonna work. But I knew that the women that work here that are going to benefit from the things that she's building, y' all need to go support, you know? And now that's gonna be something that's gonna be on Our. Our annual calendar that makes sure that people that we're sending, our staff member there, that we're bringing our partners there to be able to donate, because. Cause at the end of the day, mentorship don't just help the mentee, it helps the mentor. It's just. That's just what it is. I know that as a fact, because of the mentors that I speak with, they be paused. Don't even know how to respond to certain things. They're like, I ain't never had nobody that just, like, didn't want anything from the transaction. Right. You know what I'm saying? And I think that that's the most impactful thing. Thing that people that have become successful start to realize through these mentorship programs that it's helping them more than it's helping the.

If not more than it's mutually beneficial. Like, I'm. I learned so much from these girls. Like, it's just, like, it's helping me as much as it helps them. Like. Yeah, I agree with that.

Yeah.

Now, the gala. How did it feel to build this gala for women?

Crazy. Like, it's. I'm almost getting emotional right now because I'm like. To think about it, it's just like, it's unreal. Like, it really. Give her flowers just started as a hashtag on Instagram. I'm feminine for his Instagram. And I just wanted, like, give her flower. Like, look at you. Give her flowers. Give her flowers. And now it's. We're in our second year, and I mean, the love. Like, you guys have to be in the room next year. You have to be in the room because, I mean, it's for women, but we have our allies, our men that support us, that are in the room. But it's just something that you have to experience to really understand. Like, it's just like, I'm overwhelmed with love right now because that's what it was in the room. It was love. It was beauty. It was a room full of evolution. You had your, like, your lowest aspiring executive and your people that are aspiring to be in these places, all the way up to the women that are running shit. And you have your ones to watch, artists or women wannabe artists, all the way up to the artist that's nominated for nine Grammys, all in the same room on the same stage, giving one another flowers. It was beautiful. It was beautiful. And it was just like, whoa. Oftentimes I try to. When I accomplish something or something, I execute a big idea. It's always like, on to the Next on to the next, on to the next. Like. But yeah, it's like I wanna sitting in this for a minute, like just feel it because it, it feels really good. And I'm just very proud and very grateful to have created something so beautiful.

It's a lot of the things like for me, I'm very. How do we support one another? Cause I'm only here because of community, you know what I'm saying? Like having seven, eight producers be like, you know what, we'll produce on this project and not charge you no money. And trust me that I was gonna do them right? And that started build a lot of the long term partnerships and friendship that's built from those aspects, like a snowball effect. But it's all been like a couple community aspect of it, right. And when we talk about like the gala, we talking about these different nonprofits, we don't even understand the power in nonprofit. We don't understand the power in philanthropy. We should understand it. When you read things like Bill Gates is going to donate all of his, all of his net worth to his nonprofit. Right. He's going to give it out to different nonprofits. We should understand how empower, how powerful it is, but we really don't, right? And this event is just another, you know, example of how powerful giving and foundation work and philanthropy work is in the form of acknowledgment. You know, this is a form of gender equality, right? All of these, the education, you know, because you got mentees that's coming to these events who they probably would have never even like, I know some of the women that work with us, they was like, oh my God, like, this was amazing. Like, you know, that was the feedback.

From what the women were.

They were like shocked when they get in the room, especially mentees, they feel like they don't belong in the room. And they're so honored that they were a part of it. So it's like. But even all the way up to Sza, you know what I mean? Like really having so much gratitude for black women who supported her and feeling the love in the room. And Brandi, you know, we honor her as our first muse and her just, you know, I got a message from her manager today, just thanking me because she really felt seen and honored and appreciated.

Sza. And I'm not saying this because I know Punch, but Sza is literally one of my favorite artists.

Yeah.

And it's not because solely of her music. I have watched and I've heard about the stories on how Sza treat Her fans, Right. And you know, artists don't always understand that they're servicing their consumer by how they treat their fans. Right. So when every tour and she's doing all these meet and greets where her team has to pull her like, hey, we gotta go, we can't keep hugging people. You're sick. You can't keep doing this. And for me, knowing the level of entitlement that new artists have in this era, not wanting to do certain level of work because they feel like they're too cool for it. I've had artists that's not even popping, that didn't wanna come out and sell their own, stand by the stage, stand by their merch booth and promote their merch. Really. But you got an artist who's that big, who's sending out arenas, who they gotta pull from, meet and greets.

Yeah.

You see what I'm saying? Who will show up for a gala.

Yeah. And the crazy thing is she headlined Camp Flognog Sunday and we were there, I took my son there, I'm like, we gotta go because the let out is crazy. So we started leaving and he wanted to stay, but we got home. Since we got home, I got a, like it was a. She responded like, I posted her like her moment. She messaged me, thanking me like, I mean you just got off a stage like and you take the time to thank me. Yeah, it's just like she's definitely, she's definitely a real one with real character, 1000% her.

Tyler, the creator, like these level of art, they are the generation next because not only are they great creators, great talent, they're great partners to their fans, you know what I'm saying? And to the people who believed in them early, buying into certain causes because you best believe everybody that saw her there, young mentees that changed their lives, guarantee that changed their lives.

Absolutely.

You know what I'm saying? And so for me, when we are being positive role models or positive influences in these different artists lives and their journeys, it's important to highlight these different things and really talk to them about yo, like, nah, like you shouldn't be doing this. This is important, you know, you should think about the young talent, you know what I'm saying? I've talked to many older artists that's trying to do music independent now and they will ask me like, what should I do? I'm like, pull in young talent. That's no knock to your OG homies that you've been building with. Pull in new talent. That keeps you young. It keeps you fresh and it gives opportunity. Give opportunity. Opportunity comes back to you.

Comes back, yeah.

Point blank period. It comes back to you. And so.

So we have a documentary we've been working on, this little brother. There's a scene where a mentor talks about. He would call me his mentor, but I'm more of a comrade, right? And I see, you know, he was like, I see what you need, and I'm gonna make sure you get to where you're going because you deserve to be in this industry. I'm gonna also teach you how to build up new talent, because that's how you extend your run, right? You gotta build up the next guy. There's a moment where you have been the guy, but you get 10, 20, 30 more years when you start building up other people and knowing how to do that. And that's what makes you a comrade to somebody. That's how you become somebody's mentee. And every time I watch it, I found that so inspiring to know there's people there that wants to help the next guy. Because sometimes you get lost, you don't know where to go. You don't know how to be your next self. Did someone help you when you were trying to figure out, okay, I know where I'm at now, but where am I going? Did you ever feel like you needed someone to point you in that direction?

I did. I didn't happen.

You didn't just have that.

Okay.

No.

So now.

So I am that person for everybody else, you know, and for me, it's not, like, strategic. I don't think about it like that. I don't think about it like, I'm helping these women so that they can help me. It's just, you know, I don't even. I know these women need us and that's it. You know what I mean? But I didn't have that person. I didn't have that person. So I had to. I had to create. I had to create that person.

And that's so incredible. And I know it's not just about, like, helping somebody for the sake of helping yourself in that way of being like, oh, I know I need this. But more so how fulfilling it is to know when you do that, it's going to help you internally, you know? Like, it's spiritual, right?

It is spiritual. And I feel it. Like, I feel it. Like, I don't feel. I can't. I know that I'm doing all this work, right? But I don't see it, really. I can't see it. But then I feel it sometimes. And I feel it when, like, young women come up to me crying and say, I changed their life. Thank you so much. And, you know, when I have events like the gala and then I feel it and I see it then. Otherwise, I'm just like, you know, sleeves rolled up, doing the work, just trying to make sure more and more women are supported and, you know, get great mentors and can grow and learn and involved. Like. But, yeah, I don't live in that. I don't sit in that. But when I. When I get to experience it, it feels amazing. Like, I remember you had. You had a party during Grammy week, and the line was absolutely ridiculous. I think it was at Lemon Peppermint.

Yeah, it probably.

And so I pull up and I'm with a couple artists, by the way, I pull up and I don't know if it was your team or who it was, but they were all at the front. Like, how the. How the. Like, And I felt like a celebrity. Like, I was, but I wasn't. And so it was interesting that you. I feel like you yelled. You got mad at me because I went to the front of the line. I'm like, I didn't go to the front of line because I went to the front of line. Like, everyone just called me the girls that are being helped in this program or want to be helped or whatever. Like, I see it then, and it's funny. I see it when I walk in a room, and it's just, like, the love that I feel. It's weird. It's very weird, because it's not that I want that. You know what I mean? But. Or I asked for that. Or it's just what it is. And it's definitely an amazing feeling.

Mentorship is a part of my wellness plan for myself. I won't be. I don't think I will sleep well if I don't push it forward. Like, it's one of those things where I got, like, 6,300 emails, and so I don't. I only answer emails. Like, I go through my emails, and there's so many trans. Because there's so many people working. Right. And some of these things are not even addressed. I'm just. It's a lot of visibility emails, but I literally check all my emails, just trying to figure out, like, who actually need help. That's figuring my email out. Because my email is not easy to figure out. It's just really.

It is kind of hard.

It's kind of hard.

I would have never emailed you. I would have Never found out.

Right. So. But, like. But I'm not hard to find, so that's the interesting part about it. You do make a good.

Did you email him?

No, no, no. We got connected through a story I was writing.

Yeah.

Oh, got it.

And it's so interesting. Ty was talking about how he didn't do interviews, but he wanted to share information. Cause the first time we spoke, I asked one question and he talked for an hour. True story. And the funniest thing was Ty was so transparent with me that I thought he was gonna tell me at the end of this rant that this was going to be off the record. And then the interview would start after that. And Ty was like, all right, you good? My good. I can use this.

He was like, yeah, my contrast didn't know what author recommend.

He didn't know I was recording him. Like, this is how much he doesn't do interviews that. Like, that's so funny.

I didn't know it was getting recorded. In my mind, I was like, ain't no way this nigga got all this shit.

So if you'd known that it was being recorded, would you have?

Nah, I still would have said the same thing. I would have just been more knowledgeable on the process. I didn't know that it was a process. And plus, I thought I was getting interviewed to be a part of a story. Because the way it was pitched to me was like, hey, we're interviewing about four or five managers to get these different pieces. I said, oh, I seen these type.

Of stories before, right?

But the only reason that I did the interview is because we have a new album coming out, and I was trying to create more marketing around the album.

Gotcha.

So I was like, I'm gonna do an interview rent. Probably. I'm just gonna try to do things right. So that's how we even got to it.

And this is what's crazy was he's right. It was supposed to be, like a group of managers. But I called my editor. I was like, we gotta run the whole thing. The whole thing?

The whole thing.

Because I've never heard someone that transparent before. And he was kind of like, are you sure? So then I transcribed it and I sent it to him. He was like, the whole thing. And, you know, the interview comes out, and it's about Ty kind of unveiling behind the veil of the music industry. And I guess I totally did not tell you they was coming out. Cause he found out looking at his.

Phone while I was in a meeting, my phone was blowing up. I thought Brent had said some shit, got us counseled. I sent a Twitter and it was like, it was like, you know how you look up Twitter if you look. And it's like, it was like a hundred plus acts. I was like, what the.

When was this?

This is what, 2017? Yeah, 2017.

And I was like, some bullshit. So I was like, I opened it up and it was like, brent, fast manager. Unleash that. I closed the phone. I ain't looking for the rest of the day.

Why not?

Cause I was like, bro, I don't know where the fuck this is.

That is so funny. And you've been talking ever since?

Pretty much, yeah.

And then like two years later. We was talking before then, but we did like a review, like. Cause I said, when we was talking, I said, yeah, I'm probably gonna do another interview till I made like two. Made like a million dollars or something. Then two years later, that's when he.

Hit me and was like, I need you from la, you know. But at the time, Ty didn't tell me that he met Jay Z because of that first interview.

Really?

Yes.

And I had, I had no idea. I'm sitting there thinking, we just had a good interview. And he was like, I met ho crazy.

Oh, wow.

So doing another one with him, I was like, okay, if that first one had that kind of impact, not only did we do like, I was with Ty maybe like two days, and he gave me like, man, it had to be like 14 hours of information that we broke down into a five piece series, which is the culture playbook. The original was like, yeah, it was all from like two days. Talking with him was everything that people got out of that experience. So, you know, it's. You go from one interview, two days with him. Now we have the series where we got 24 episodes. Like just the ability to expand these conversations. He's always got some more game to give. He's never, he's never ran out. He's never like on either.

So this is so funny, right? Because you know, we always talking about we don't want to be podcasters, right? Yeah. And it's important, it's important to understand I would have not did this with nobody else. It literally wouldn't even make sense in my brain. Right. Because I'm a time guy. Right? So you talking about 2017. I met you 2018.

Yeah.

So it was like 2017 is this article that goes viral multiple times, right? Then I'm talking to him like, yo, you should be knowing what your fucking data is. Oh, yeah.

Nah, he was some bullshit.

That was no fucking DJ booth. I'm on the phone going off on him.

Cause I didn't have the data. And he was.

You didn't even know what was happening.

No, to this day, we don't know what the actual impact of that article was.

Because where I was working at, that's not information they ever provided the writers. And that was my first job as a journalist. So I'm thinking this is just regular protocol that you write stories. And the only thing that I really had was the Twitter metrics. Like, seeing how many people engage with the story was all I really knew. And when Ty. Like, again, me and Ty, our conversations have been very casual. But when I told him I didn't have that data, he went off on me. And I was kind of like, j, I feel depressed. But then I also had to kind of think about, like, dang, he kind of. Right. I don't know anything. And when I asked about the information, they got weird about it. So it was kind of like a light bulb for me that, okay, this is one. This is not normal for people to ask about it. But to Ty, this is like essential information you need to have. Because if you don't have this information, how do you know your progress? How can you gauge your progress that you not have? I probably worked there for another year, if that. Yeah, by 2020, I had. It was like around the same time that we did this book. Tahi hit me was like, hey, you know, I want.

Of course.

This is yours right here.

I have been meaning to get this thing.

We got it somewhere.

We got it for you. But no, we had one with him.

That was a pin in it.

Yeah, we already. We already got one. We got one signed for you.

No, it was a. It was a pin that.

I don't know why we signed one for you.

I'm like, can I have a signed copy?

So the funny thing about it, the reason I said that, like, me and yo probably, I was just telling somebody this. We probably got about yo probably know more than me, but just my head. We got about no video. We got about 15 plus hours of us talking. Yeah, it's probably more than that, right?

Because before we did this, the video set up, we did series with Ant, which was the first season of Fuck you, Money, was us just talking for an hour. How many months was.

It was 18 episodes.

18 episodes. So we did that first. And Ty said he didn't want to do no guests for season one. He just wanted me and him to talk. Season Two, they get the guest. AMP doesn't even exist anymore. But the fact that Ty still wanted to keep this going was what I always appreciated. Because he's like, these conversations are important. Regardless if we do it with Amp or not. I think we need to keep this going.

So this is now, before we did that AMP show, he just told you he had 14 hours of conversation that we broke down into essays. Right? And so it's one of those things where, like, I said, this wouldn't even happen if both of us wasn't doing it together. So it's kind of be like it's a chemistry thing. It's like the person that's, like, understanding what questions to ask. And I'm gonna be sitting here laughing.

So I'm like, what made you choose him? Because, like, that was your first. But you were so open. Like, he didn't ask him to do it.

Cause Amp came to me. Amp came to me asking if I want to do, like, an album review series.

Right. But you asked him to do it. And he was. He wasn't a talker. He was. That's.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

But he ended up talking to you a whole hour, thinking off the record. But I'm asking, what was that like?

Well, for me, the first interview, it was. It was. It felt organic, right? And then I had a. I had a. I had a. I had a motive. I was trying to promote an album. So I was telling this story about how we got to this actual album once it came out. And it was so impactful. I was like, shit, me. I'm like, I'm gonna go do it again. Like, I'm not finna, like, try to, like, talk to somebody else. I don't think like that. So I'm like, well, shit. We had kept conversations, but the whole time I didn't know that not only were we both from Atlanta, our mom stayed down the street from each other. Yeah.

Around the corner.

We didn't know that until, like, two years later, three years later. Facts, right? And so when he hit me about the AMP show, I knew we had the books, and we was trying to figure out how to promote the book. So the show that launched last year was to promote the book. And this show that's gonna launch in January is to promote the new book that we still gotta write.

That's another book.

Yeah, it's gonna be four volumes.

This is volume one.

Oh, wow.

So it's just me telling this story about this business journey through music, outside of music. Just giving people more context on what the foundation of the book was built on.

I love that.

And the cool thing about this book is Ty wanted to write it from the perspective of his come up. So he's not talking to you from someone that's already successful. He's talking to you about someone that's trying to get in, trying to break an artist, explain how important discipline is, how important communication community is. He doesn't skip any of the club steps because you look at him now and being like oh this guy must be so successful. But the book is not written from today. It's written from when he was hustling.

Yeah, I keep saying I'm gonna grab when he get it. I need to read it.

But oh no, we're gonna get you today.

We're gonna.

But is there any last things that you want to say to anybody?

Any final thoughts?

No.

That's the end. That's it.