Angela Yee, Way Up with Angela Yee

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ANGELAEE is a.

Radio Hall of Fame inductee and multi business entrepreneur who runs companies in variety of industries.

She recently started her own solar radio.

Show Up with Angela Ye after a long tenure at the Breakfast Club. As an entrepreneur with many holdings, I asked Angela how she determines what kind of businesses interest her. Definitely, she gets pissed all the time on new startups. What catches her attention?

Well, I think for me, the core things that are most important to me have to do with nutrition, and has to do with education and with finance, and so I look at those different fields and if something.

And a lot of times I actually pursue things that are interesting to me.

So it's not always that someone comes to me, but if I see something that I think is interesting or that I want to support, then I'll reach out about that also. But like I started the Press Juices Company on my own with the juice bar, that was my idea. With the coffee company, that was an idea that got sparked in a meeting, and then with Stellar Fie that was something that I had been working with the founder le Mean on other things that he was doing, and then when that.

Opportunity came, I was all in.

So usually it's a combination of relationships with people, but I think I make sure that people know what my different fields of interests are.

So we've had a lot of conversations on this podcast about you know, black people and people of color period, having an opportunity just to be opportunists and so many things that we're told. It's like, you know, you should lean into things that you've been passionate about for a long time, or like what did you grow up wanting to do? But we're not told like our counterparts are that you can just find an opportunity and jump on it. When you think about that, like how do you think

I'm I'm great with getting a bag as long as I don't feel like I'm compromising anything.

And so I don't want to get a bag.

Like promoting a cigarette company or something that I really don't believe in, and certain things I feel like aren't realistic, right, Like people know I don't eat pork and I don't eat seafood, so it wouldn't even make sense. And so if it's me endorsing something that everyone knows, hey, she doesn't really do that, then that's I wouldn't do it.

But if it's something that maybe I don't know a lot about, but I.

Feel like, okay, this could be you know, like, for instance, one of my friends Topeka, we're working on a project together right now, and she has a whole program that's based on women who are formerly incarcerated, and so I know for people that's like a hot topic right now, and it's not something I knew a lot about, but after speaking to her, it's something that I did get more passionate about. And that's just when my conversations with her, and so I feel like we're always expanding and growing.

But it has been working for me thus far.

But I do feel like I could have, you know, passed up onto opportunities.

You know, there's a lot of people who have really really great jobs, maybe golden handcuffs, and see like they may have to take a leap and not not do that anymore and jump into an entrepreneurship.

But can you talk a little bit about how.

You think about leveraging your current opportunities to fuel the opportunities that you want to pursue and you don't necessarily have to quit what you're doing today.

Yeah, I feel like me having the platform that I have only amplifies all the other businesses that I'm trying to do. And really I'm trying to take advantage of it.

And so it's.

Great because I'm on the air every single day and I have my social media platforms, but we also have partnerships with people who want to endorse different things, and if I can cross promote my product with something else, then that's an ideal situation for me. If I can, you know, get my coffee to be part of a program that someone else is doing and now they're paying for the coffee and I'm getting free advertising. That's like a win win win across the board, and so I

And you know, you are somebody that's in the public eye. But if an entrepreneur or would be entrepreneur comes up to you, it's like, you know, I think I got to quit my job to go chase this thing. What would your advice be for somebody who's not in the public eye necessarily that maybe you don't need to quit your job, but maybe you need to figure out how to do it from five to nine, you know, instead of nine to five.

I always feel like it's important to make sure you plan, and that means that you.

Have to have a business plan.

You have to have strategically figured out this is how I plan to launch. I'm a big fan of starting something while I have my little cushion, So starting small and then letting something grow.

So put it out there, launch it do. I love a soft launch.

Because that's a great way to find out what's working, what's not working, so that you can fix those things before you go full force out to the public. And so I would tell them, launch whatever it is that you want to do, and make sure that you're saving and aggressively saving, because I've had to do that too. You know, when I bought my first house, I was working NonStop because I had a goal in mine and a number that I knew I needed to hit. I knew I needed to get to. I think it would

And so for me, that was like two.

Years of just going really hard and getting money, stacking money, doing extracid gigs and everything. So I think stead of going set a number and then when you hit that goal, it's time to go.

But in the meantime, launch it.

And let's take the opposite of approach of that, because there are sometimes you do need to take a gamble on yourself and you know, possibly give up something that other people would see as a really coveted thing.

So what would you.

Say to those folks whore like you? Noah, if you really believe in yourself and you really are passionate about this thing, you might have to give up what other people will be like, you're crazy to give that up.

Yeah, and listen, there's times that I've done things spontaneously because my gut instinct told me to do it.

I feel that I trust that.

It's like I love to gamble, right, and when I play blackjack, there's certain times when you have to figure out am I gonna hit or am I gonna stay? And you have an option because you could go either way. You could bust or you could beat the dealer. You don't know, and so sometimes you do have to jump out there and take that risk. But I also say that you have to know a like try to make sure that you lessen whatever chance of failure, that there is everything that you can to get your ducks in

It's not the right time.

And I do pay attention to science because it's helped me a lot.

You know, there was an interview I was watching that you did and you're talking about, you know, there.

Was a previous job you had.

Where you had a bad manager days it yelled at you at one point and you were like, you know, you were you were doing marketing, I think, and you're like, you know, I'm out.

And the clients you were working.

With like they going with Angelot, Like they left that company and decided to work with you, separate from your relationship with that company.

So can you talk a little bit about knowing your value.

It's particularly in the world we live in today, to where there's so many people who could work freelance and work for themselves, but feel like, you know, they need that security of an employer.

You know, at that time, I didn't know my value. I had no idea that would happen. That was an emotional decision. I never one thing that's like a deal breaker for me when it comes to work, when it comes to.

Relationships is don't.

I don't deal with people speaking to me in a disrespectful way or yelling at me, because that's not the energy that I give. I know, some people are okay with that, and some people, you know, communicate that way.

That's not me, and I'm very clear about that. And so I had been working.

Really hard and not getting paid a lot and bringing in a lot of business.

And he was just.

Upset that I was doing these side gigs because I wasn't getting paid a lot. But I was honest about it. He only knew about it because I told him, and he said, that was fine, because you're not paying me what I should be making. And so when he blew up on me because of the same thing that I had been honest about came to him about and that he had approved, I just got my stuff and left. I already was fed up, and so I just walked out, took my laptop because he didn't even have computers for us.

So I took my laptop.

It got out of there, and you know, to me, I did bring in a lot of the clients, and I did write up the whole marketing proposals, and I was the person everybody was talking to on a daily basis. So when I left, everyone was reaching out to me like, well, we really enjoyed working with you. And that was a learning lesson from me to know that I could do something on my own, because you know, I had always

Wow, yeah, you've been in radio. I think what twenty seven years now?

Are more?

How long have I? No, I've been in radio for nineteen.

Years because you did morning shows, afternoons shows, and other things like. There's an important part of research that you have to do daily to be up on what's happening in the world, and it requires you to know a lot about a little You know a little about a lot of things.

I should say, you know, how.

How would you say that research experience that you've had has helped you in business? Knowing a little bit about a lot of different things.

It is great.

Like I had a meeting with somebody the other day and we were talking about boxing in the meeting because he owns a league, and so I know, you know a bit about boxing because I enjoyed the sport, but because I've also interviewed a lot of boxers and I pay attention to that, and I watch the fights, and so you get in certain situations where just being able to add to the conversation.

That's why I tell people.

When I was younger, I really didn't watch the news and pay attention to what was going on. But I tell people all the time, just make sure you keep up on current events. You don't have to, you know, deep dive into everything and know all but be able to have a conversation, know what some of the main headlines are, because those things really do help when you're at a dinner and people are talking and you don't want to just be there, have no idea what's going on in the world.

And I used to be like that. I used to not have any idea.

I used to not pay attention to the news when I was younger, and when I started doing radio, I had to do all kinds of research just to know about the current events and the headline topics.

Yeah, there's this quote that I love from Steve Jobs, and he says, you can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect the dots looking backward. And what I get from that is you never really know why you're doing something in the moment until like later on it's like, oh that's you know, had I not done this thing, I wouldn't be able to be prepared for

Let's see.

Well, definitely the time when I quit my job and there was a I mean, let's see, there's so many times that I've just done. There was a time when I got offered a job, you know, at Hot ninety seven, and I didn't take it. And at the time, I really didn't take it for practical reasons. It was less than what I was already making. My name wouldn't have been on the title for the show, and so it was like kind of to me and my head to step backwards. But I feel like everyone else was like,

No matter what if it's worked or reship. Yeah, to show me you care.

And then when I left, I'm serious to go to iHeart. That was something that everybody was like, Oh my god, FM radio is dying.

Why would you do that?

You barely get to talk, and I was just ready to start something new.

They were the underdog station.

You know, if the breakfast club hadn't done well, that station was going to flip to a whole nother format. And so a lot was writing on that. But I feel like that's when you really are the best, when you can go with a company that is the underdog and come out on top, and then after that the

You know, you said something there where you talked about, you know, it's really hard to climb out when you start somewhere so low. Can you talk a little bit more about that and just conceptually talk about that.

Well, one thing I did learn is that a lot of times when we get offered something, people don't negotiate, and so it was really important to be able to negotiate.

And so.

When you start off, say somebody offers you fifty thousand dollars a year and you're like, okay, I'll take it. Well, then now next year, when I'm asking for a raise, I can't say I want one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

That just sounds like wow, you know, how did that happen?

So now you're like, okay, can I get sixty five thousand? And then the next year and so now you're climbing out of a situation where when they first offered it to you. If somebody offers you fifty thousand, that means that they have way more than that.

You know, That's what I always assume. And so even when.

Negotiating for bookings for different things, you know, people generally tend to start low because they anticipate that you'll come back high and that you'll meet somewhere in the middle. And so there's times that I've you know, negotiated and then they accept it too fast and I was like, damn, you know, and then there's sometimes that it's not about the money. And so if it's not about the money, then cool, But you also want people to know your

Ask each other.

You know, early in your career, you started out as an intern for the Wu Tang clan. Can you first talk about how you found yourself in these roles and what you feel like was the reason you took that role and why they accepted you in that role.

I think, well, for a lot of it was always relationships for me when I was starting out. So one of my good friends, Scottie, he actually owns the studio engine room where I do my podcast lip Service.

I knew him when I was in high school.

He went to Howard University and he was really good friends with my boyfriend at the time, and so that's how we met. Now, mind you that guy, you know, I don't talk to him at all anymore, but Scott and I kept in touch, and when I was in college, he was like, Hey, my friend worked at Wu Tang for Wu Tang Management and they're looking for an intern and I recommended you, So I think you should.

Go, you know, go do that.

And so I was a little nervous because Wu Tang didn't have the best reputation at the time. I was like, oh, they're kind of wild. I don't know if that's the environment I should be in. And so I went and then he called me. He was like, did you call my guy? And I was like, no, I haven't called him yet. He was like, Angela, please just call you know, at least do the interview. I told him you were coming, So I was like okay. So I went on the interview and as soon as I walked in and we

And then I started working there.

So it was a relationship that I had from somebody who thought that I would be good. And then afterwards when I graduate, they actually tried to get me to not finish college and come work there. It was my last It was the junior year before my senior year, and they wanted me to just work there, just come and not go to my last year. And I was like, no, I think I'm in finished. I only have one year left. And then when I graduated, I ended up working there.

Wow, what made you take that when so many other people would be like, okay, they want me full time. This is a music business. It's hard to get into any way. What gave you that said, you know, I'm going to finish school.

My parents would have never wait for that. They would have never had the love that to happened. And you know, even like that was my first job, and I know people weren't making that much money there, and I was like, they're not gonna pay me enough for me to feel like I could survive on my own. And then I also felt like I'm the type of person I like to finish something if I started, and so I have one year left, and I was like, this isn't gonna, you know, go anywhere.

And I knew that I had other things.

I had interned at MTV, I had interned at a record label. So I didn't think that that was all I would ever be able to do. So I was I was just like, let me just get my degree.

I came this.

Farre Afrotech is a global gathering where inclusive tech companies meet innovators.

It's the only tech event you need all year.

Get ready for Afrotech twenty twenty three in Austin, Texas, November first through the fifth. We built a whole temper you can use to help you get your employer to sponsor your trip and enjoy experiences built for every stage of your career. Whether you're a college student looking for your next internship, or if you work in anvention capital looking for your next business to invest in, and if you're looking for a co founder a people that'sjoin your team,

If that's your route.

In an afro tech you'll make connections to help you get your next opportunity. Visit afrotech dot com Slash conference to learn more. People in the public spotlight like an angelinee, as you can imagine, often get asked to be a mentor to up in commerce. Angela takes the things though that you should bring something to the table as a prospective mentee. If you want someone to mentor, you consider what you have to offer, not just what you want Angela speaks on it.

Yeah, being a mentor is work.

It's a job, you know, because now you have a responsibility.

It's like having to, you know, show somebody the ropes.

Even when you hire somebody new, say as an assistant, that's a lot of work because now you're showing somebody how to do something in order for them to be And you have to be patient because everybody doesn't work the way that you work.

And it's a time consuming thing too.

And you know, as we get busier and busier, as you get more and more successful.

Time is really valuable. You know.

Time is money, they say. And so for me, it's like I don't have a lot of free time. I don't even have time to do things for myself, Like my nails will be raggedy because I don't even have time to go get a manicure, you know, I might get a facial like once every four months, because I just honestly for my own self care. I never have time to do the things that I want to do

I'm interested in your coffee shop. I have a coffee shop also, and I'm wondering, like when you were building yours, what did you feel like you would bring uniquely to a coffee shop experience. You know there's a million.

Coffee shops out there. What did you feel like you could uniquely bring to an experience?

Well, I love our coffee shop, but part of what we did was we really paid attention to the origins of our coffee and matching that up with the food and what we serve inside and even the music and the decor, and so we are.

It's in Betsy.

It's a beautiful location, brand new building on the corner, outdoor seating, but we also have things in there, like we have patties you're not going to find that at a typical coffee shop.

We have a lot of vegan options.

We have like a plant based BLT sandwich, we have a bun and cheese sandwich. It's a lot of Caribbean and African inspired items on the menu, and we also serve like eighty percent black and brown owned products in there. So it is a way because it is coffee, uplifts people. And at the same time that we're doing what we're doing with the coffee, we also want to uplift people who have their own businesses as well. And so before we open the coffee shop, we were doing these pop ups at another location.

We were calling them pop uplifts.

And so we were just highlighting other small owned businesses and letting them come in for the day, sell their products, promoting it and it did really well, and so we kind of wanted to go with that theme of all offering a space for these other vendors to come in and highlighting them. And then we have an amazing chef that's in there, and the quality of what it is that we do, from the avocado toes to the yogurt parfait is like top notch, and so That's basically what

Yeah, I love it. I love it.

You talked about what the franchise eventually, and like, you know, when you think about there being so many out there, how how do you know when you're ready to take that leap and what will make it desirable regionally or nationally this coffee house.

So what I want to do is because it's also a coffee company, So we're in Whole Foods in the New York area and some other stores and in some restaurants. So for me, the way I'm attacking it is, you know, getting into some of these major retailers so that the brand recognition is there, so that when we open the coffee shop, you've already seen us in stores, maybe you've ordered it, maybe you've made it at home home already, maybe you've had it at a restaurant.

You know.

We have our coffee in Tatiana's, which is Chef Kwame's restaurant in Lincoln Center. We're in mcgrill in Brooklyn, We're in black Swan in Maryland, so there's a few different locations that we're actually kind of more hand picking where we want to be at first before we Like I said, I'm a big fan of slow growth. We haven't had that company that long and so I'm not trying to do too much too fast, and so I feel like branding myself in that way, making it something that people

You know, if you can get a.

Great location, then that matters a lot too. And the opportunity and so you know, we have a lot of great part and partnerships. I think with the coffee, the partnerships and the collapse are going to be what really drives us to and makes us unique.

Yeah, I'm listening to you talk and I think I'm thinking about something we've been talking about so much and just mainstream, not even just in tech recently, and that's AI. And you've probably heard like these computer generated Kendrick Lamar records. And I'm wondering you may not have an answer to this, but because I'm know how deeply you thought about it, But I'm warnering, like what you think about personalities like yourself and the future of computer generated you know, angelaees.

I wish I had one right now.

But is that something you think about often? Well, increasing.

No, But you know what it is really crazy like to see even not even just that, but also seeing people like in the metaverse and being able to go and do that. But I mean, you know, we see so many things happening where it feels like, first of all, it feels like humans maybe we aren't going to be necessary for a lot of reasons, you know, just like money. I feel like at some point, like having cash is going to be worthless, you know, because people don't No one ever has cash on them anymore.

That's a fact.

And so yeah, so it's just a and I know a lot of people fight progress and fight like what's going to happen? In the future, chure, but you have to figure out what it is and how you can actually you know, benefit from it. And so let me go ahead and do some research on that.

Yeah, that's good.

Figure out how I can benefit from it.

And I mean to that end, what do you think how do you manage content ownership in your world? Because I imagine because I don't know what your contracts are, Like I imagine when you do radio, you don't own that asset at the end of the day, but maybe your podcast you might. And so I wonder, like how you think about ownership of content at the level of the game that you're playing.

I own my podcast and so the deal I have a deal with iHeart right now for my podcast, but all the content is mine and so there's but anything I do on iHeart like that I created while I'm there, they own. And so I had the service before that. I have that all you know, taken care of and they didn't even try to make me give up my rights to that, even like my Facebook page and all

Wow, And so that does really well for me also.

I believe it. I believe it.

Yeah, And it's.

Great because a lot of the content that I do, you know, it is kind of a way of me documenting my whole journey too, because interviews and things that I've done that's all on my Facebook page.

And so for me, it's.

Valuable in that way too, for me to be able to be like, oh, look when I did this interview and have those moments circulating.

Always one of the moreporant things when you're starting a business is good credit, and often even more than having the cash, having good credit is super duper important. What did you learn about this when you were starting out investing in buying houses and starting businesses? And you might have had the cash you talked about that two hundred something thousand dollars, but what did you have to learn about even the credit side of this game?

Yeah, I mean, listen, if you don't have good credit, you're gonna end up paying for it, you know, So either you won't be able to get a mortgage, or your interest rate will be so high that you'll be paying all this extra money that you shouldn't have to. And so I didn't even attempt to buy a house until I had good credit, and that meant a journey of me fixing my credit. So even if you're thinking right now, I don't have the money to buy a house, start working on your credit.

You could start working on that today. You know, figure out what it is that you need, and you could do it yourself. You don't have to hire anybody to do it.

These are things that you can figure out on your own and letters that you can write. You can find that online. If you need to contact any any of the negative reports on your credit score, you need to go ahead and do that. And so for me, I fortunately started working on my credit way before I knew I wanted to buy a house, for like two years before I even attempted to do it, because like I said, I had to save the money up. But then I also was looking and I was getting prepared for that,

I mean, why is this something that Angelie you care so much about, to the extent of you know, partnering to start a company around I mean I've heard you talk about financial literacy for a long time entrepreneurship because.

It's all things that I didn't know, and it can be really crippling. Like some people can't get an apartment unless they have someone co sign for it, and that's something that is like really difficult, because who wants to co sign for somebody? You know how hard that is to find. A lot of people can't co sign for somebody, and a lot of people won't because everyone will tell

It was really stressful. Like I thought about it a lot. We all have been in.

That situation when we all haven't but but in that situation where we know these creditors are calling our phone, we don't even want to answer the phone. It's embarrassing and it's also like, uh, you know, it's just so stressful, and then maybe you answer the phone by accident one time and then they're like, hi.

We're calling from Like oh my god. You know, but it's terrible.

It's not a good feeling, and so I think it's just important to face it and to work through it and to make it happen, because you know, it's just like the calmness that comes knowing that, like, okay, I have and if there's an opportunity, you're not going to be able to take advantage of it because you don't

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, because you've talked so much about financial literacy over the years, and increasingly about entrepreneurship, what is the difference in your mind between being broke and being poor.

Well being broke.

I always broke a long time, but I still had a good time while I was broke. You know, being broke is like I still was going out and eating because I'll go to all these events with free food and free drinks and you know, figuring it out and me and all my friends are broke. Yeah, being poor, I think, feels more like a mindset of I'll never get out of this, I'll never have any money, I can't do anything, and it can be like it feels like people look at that as more permanent. Being broken

I hate the term serial entrepreneur, but you know, for somebody who's just an entrepreneur, you have different businesses in different industries, you know, for people who have a lot of ideas and are really passionate about getting those ideas out into the world, like you have. What's some of the best advice you've gotten or you have for people who want to do two, three, four different things in different verticals. What have you learned about that in order to do it well or to stop from doing it

I would say, you have to prioritize at different times. And so when I'm starting a business, I make sure that's my main priority.

That is my like twenty four to seven.

You know, this takes priority over everything right now, way up within is the priority. So everything else has to work around that. So whatever time I have, if I have to be on the air, if I have to do this for my show, that's the most important thing. And then everything else, the coffee, everything has to be scheduled around that. I still do it, but it's not the number one priority. When I first opened the Juice bar,

For me at that time.

So I think when you're a serial entrepreneur and you're trying to juggle different businesses, being able to prioritize is one of the most important things that you can do. And then I think along with that is also having a schedule and sticking to it because you really have to a lot time for each thing and make sure that you're like, okay, and I literally set my alarm, like I know, from twelve to one, I have to do this one o'clock.

Okay, one to two thirty. I'm working on.

This, set my alarm, and I give myself ample time to travel or do what I have to do in between things. But it's all about just scheduling your time and prioritizing and taking care of yourself because you.

Have to get into.

Black Tech Green Money is a production of Blavity Afrotech from the Black Effect podcast Networking Night Heart Media. It's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with additional production support by Sarah Eric and Rose McLucas. Special thanking to Michael Davis and Vanessa Serrano. Learn more about my guests, other tech diswelics and innovatives at afrotech dot com.

Enjoy your Black Tech Green Money, Share this with somebody, Go get your money, kes some luck.

Afrotech is a global gathering where inclusive tech companies meet innovators. It's the only tech event you.

Need all year.

Get ready for Afrotech twenty twenty three in Austin, Texas, November.

First through the fifth. We built a whole.

Temper you can use to help you get your employer to sponsor your trip and enjoy experiences built for every stage your career. Whether you're a college student looking for your next internship, or if you're work in a venture capital looking for your next business to invest in, and if you're looking for a co founder a people that's join your team, there's no better.

Place to be.

The massive corporate layoffs of twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three have affected our community in a big way. An Afrotech wants to help you get back on your feet with skill development, making it easier to switch industries.

If that's your route.

In an afro tech you'll make connections to help you get your next opportunity. Visit afrotech dot com slash conference to learn more.