Wake me up before you go go. I bet y'all weren't expecting.
I was asking for it. I was like, ready to go go.
I know that is totally Mandy's fault. Before we started recording, she said are you ready to go? Go? And I was like, oh snap, she started something. Now, Hey, ba, I hope you guys are listening and enjoying. We're back, like that's where we all have. I used to be like so into like in high school, I was so into Garth Brooks, Like he's like a country music star.
It's like the one country music star that like black people can love. I feel like Garth Brooks is universal, is he?
I don't know, but I just really like Garth because my sister liked it and I was just like totally into Garth Brooks and I was like, yeah, that.
Was done things.
This weather is gorgeous, Yes it is, honestly, and that was actually gonna really my round. Boost.
Well, don't give it out away, I know, but we're here now. Too early, too early, save it, save it. I got lost. I got so lost on the trains today. Thank you New York City subway system. I appreciate that, but I almost didn't mind because it was so gorgeous outside.
Right, where were you going?
Well, I was on my way. So my couple of my good friends had a fundraiser for Hillary, you know, whichever your political weaves are. We had they had a little fundraiser. It was like, it was cute. They they made crapes. It was like a brunch mimosas thing, and you know, everyone kind of kind of donated to the Hillary Clinton campaign. And it was fun because I haven't really had a chance to get super political so far
in the season. I've sort of been watching and like shaking my head and like just feeling the pain of what's whatever's happening on the Republican side, and it hasn't really I haven't really had time to like think about.
You know.
My whole thought process so far has been like just vote for anybody on the Democratic tracket. Just anybody, Yeah, Ernie Hillary, a sock puppet.
Who like somebody's newborn puppy whoever.
Yeah. But it was nice. I mean, how many chances do you get to sit around like just with with your girlfriends and there's some guys there too, and and and talk about politics and the election. It was it was kind of nice and it was fun.
I did yesterday, I got a I got an award from you. Have you ever heard of Jack and Jill the Bar? No, Jack and Jill of America. It's like a I guess it's a social club, I guess. But the purpose of Jack and Jill of America is just to promote strong black families.
I think, oh, yeah, okay, you got a very bored Yeah, I know.
Honestly, it was really weird, not weird, but in a good way, because you know, it was nice to be honored, but it's like such a I mean, if anybody knows me, I'm so silly. And it was so everyone there was so refined, and so my husband works golden sacks, you know, and so it was weird that I was like, do they know who it gave you award to?
You feel a little bit of an imposter syndrome coming on? I was like, why did you overcome it?
Honestly, you know what I loved because at first, when you first came in, it was very very much like the Hues who of Black of Black society. You could tell they do like cotillions and stuff like that, you know, and then they had this amazing band and when that woman saying like old school like black hits the dance floor, let me know, Oh no, no, we're dealing with folk.
So it was so fun to see, like you know, it go from the cocktail every hour where everybody was like because the name of the event was called rims and bow Tie, so you had to wear like big hats and all the men wore bow ties, so it was very fancy. But then the music came on and they got on that dance floor like it was nineteen eighty five, and I was like, look at my folks, no matter what, you could be the CEO of Goldman Sacks and you always hear torking on a dance floor.
So it was fun, so much fun honestly. Of you know, I go to a lot of like you know, award dinners or whatever not that not necessarily.
For me too all the time, you know, and most of the time of them.
Exactly, but honestly, this one was really good. It was mostly dancing. They honored three people, me a gentleman I forget his name, but he's the president of the Black Chamber of Commerce, and Alfred Edmonds, he is the senior by president. Yeah Black the three of us and we just it was just every we each had like five minute speeches and it was just dancing basically. So it
was actually really fun. And I just want to thank Jack and Jill Off America, the Central New Jersey Chapter for the award, for the dancing and for the yummy food.
Congratulations.
Donka.
Let's talk about some craziness happening in the news this week. Where I was, I was going between two different headlines that I that I've noticed. One of them was Scarlett Johanson is playing a Japanese anime character in a movie. Her and till this win. Two white women are playing Japanese characters in this anime movie and people are losing
their minds. And then the second one is Kobe. Kobe's I retired this week, and you know, of course she has a long, illustrious career in basketball, but people sort of drudged up from the nineties Woman's two thousand's his sex scandal. So yeah, which of those two shall we dive into.
I'm curious about this Scarlett Johansson. So is she so it is she just a voice of the character or.
Is it like, no, no, no, she is the character. They have that there's a photo of her, and I'm not familiar with this particular Japanese movie, this anime, and you know, all anime is is is a mostly is Japanese. But I'm not familiar with this this anime. But she's
playing a character and the photo that I've seen. What they did is they released screenshots from the movie and she has the same haircut as a character, and she sort of looks like the character, but she's not Japanese, and people are sort of like, why would you go out of your way to cast her? And then there was there was a story that there was a rumor that the whatever studio was financing the film had had like experimented with CGI to make her look more Japanese.
Is okay?
It's called ghost in the show.
I wonder because I was gonna say, I know, I like, I've seen some of these these anime characters and I don't I'm like, are they like it's the anime character itself Japanese, because sometimes it doesn't seem like the character itself is Japanese, because they'll have like, I don't say Japanese, you know, So I'm always confused. Yeah, I don't know.
So much about this has been written. I'm sure it's been written a bet or talked about. But yeah, I mean I used to be a huge fan of Sailor Moon. I mean you see, okay, real talk. I still am, like, I love Sailor Moon. I was obsessed. But all I mean, the main character is blonde and blue eyed, and they all have huge round eyes, and I haven't I don't
think any of the characters in the whole show. I think only the evil characters when I think back to it, that evil characters had like not the huge eyes, but like more almond shaped eyes. And I don't know what. I don't know what is why. I don't know why anime characters sort of lean that way. But there's all these like cultural stereotypes about in Asian culture and all these sort of I think the same way that you have the light skin debate European beauty standards in the
black culture. I think, I mean, the most popular surgery, the most common surgery now are becoming the most common surgery is like eyelid surgery for people of Asian descent who want to make their eyes look round her and more American. And uh, I mean maybe the studio thought, oh, well, she has big eyes in the anime, so we'll just make her American.
Yeah, but I'm gonna know, I'm gonna google. I'm gonna hit the Google and see what to be about.
You know, it's it's the same thing happened with Emma Emma Stone in that that movie about Hawaii. I don't ever watch it, but she played like a Hawaiian princess, right, No, not a princess. I think she was in the military or the air force. But good guess.
No, there was a movie about a Hawaiian princess, and I thought, that's what it's.
Oh, I excited about that though. That's the Rock. The Rock is doing that. It's like a Pixar movie. I think with the first Hawaiian princess or something like that. They's still royalty in Hawaii. Did you know that?
Yeah? I think I cause I had watched I had watched like a documentary of like a Hawaiian princess or queen or something like that. It was really interesting. I thought maybe they were doing a big movie on it.
There was a Hawaiian dynasty. I don't know whatever, I'm not so okay, fine, forgive me. I'm not a Hawaiian Royalty expert. But yeah, so Emma Stone was cast in this movie and she's supposed to be like one quarter Asian and she's clearly not. I just don't see why Hollywood continues to think they can get away with this, that they won't get dry for it.
Yeah, why don't care?
Why not just go find a Japanese actress? I mean, I see why. Scarlet Johansen is fucking beautiful, like gorgeous, hot, sexy, huge fan base, so why not put her in a movie? But I don't know what the rest of the cast looks like, but they could have done a better job, probably representing the Actually, they.
Clearly didn't see that movie. Remember the movie? I think it was Christian Bale. Didn't he play like Moses?
I think it was called Like, wasn't it called Moses?
Yeah? Well whatever, you totally Yeah. People were like, oh, so we refuse, We're not going to go see it, and it bombed. So maybe that's what needs to be done, Kings. Yes, if just don't go and then they'll they'll learn today because money makes the world go round, So it's movies like that, don't get supported with your dollars. They'll stop making them.
That's why I spent my money on Big Fat Greek Wedding too, although I knew it was going to be a terrible movie and it was a bad movie, but I went anyway because I had a female lead and she's Greek and I I love her, and I went anyway. It was fine. You just had to like lower your expectations a little bit.
And you have the buzzworthies.
Kobe Kobe. Well, I would just a quick word on Kobe because the whole thing is, you know, he's retiring. He had this, you know, the high this highest rated game I think in ESPN history was his last game last week and I was at work and I was, you know, we have a group chat and people were talking about him. Someone was like, oh, why is he called the Black Mamba And people were like, oh, the
Black Mama was fierce animal nature blah blah blah. And I was like, yeah, and just like black Mamba, you can sexually assault someone and get away with it scott free and have a great career and come out on top. And one of my coworkers was just like, I was like, oh God, what do we have to bring up his sexual past? Just get over it. It's not a big deal. It is a fucking it is a big deal. And why why it's a disservice not to talk about it.
You know, I'm sure the girl he raped, it's not like, oh my god, I'm over it, Like what it's so easy to say, But if that happened to you and someone raped you and had sex with you against your will, no matter no amount of years, it's gonna erase that. No matter how many like games he wins, I'm not gonna say, like, oh my gosh, that guy who raped me. But you know, he's a really good basketball player, so
I'm over it. Like that doesn't It's just so crazy to me why people can't see like, yes, we can acknowledge Kobe's a good basketball player, but I can also say, hey, you know he did this to this woman. It's not okay, Like yeah, that's just so crazy, Like, oh, god forbid, we should bring up that he did something terrible, but he did.
You know, Alegedly have a hard I think people have a hard time. You want. It's naive to me. You think that your hero has to be perfect, and why can't you accept the fact that your hero who's an amazing basketball player, is also has his dark side, and the fact that he has been you know, you can say it's a symptom of how he's been, you know, from
his early twenties. Is like rock Star, who's gotten everything he wanted and won all the games and been entitled to everything and the millions of dollars, would that would somehow, you know, lead him over to his darker side of feeling like entitled to a woman's body. I don't think it's so far fetched. I don't see why he can't be both. But we can't celebrate the good without I think recalling those darker moments too, because it just sort of like it does that young woman a disservice. It
reminds me of all the Bill Cosby stuff. People just want to throw it under the rug and say, oh, well, he's something so much good. Doesn't that just like make up for this little, you know, little moment of indecency. I just think it's bs.
Yeah. I mean, I'm sure Hitler did a lot of good too, but you know.
Okay, I don't know, well, it's not He's not like Hitler. I don't think.
I'm just saying that, like it's not like because you know, I guess what.
I'm saying is, yeah, what are you saying?
I know, I'm just saying. And like it's no one is all good or all bad, you know hardly. I mean do you definitely get some super evil people, but for the most part, we all have that, like both of us. And it's okay to recognize, you know, this is kind of messed up, like the whole African Bada like stuff. Have you been Have you heard of this?
I heard it? Yeah? Is this the guy who goes Africa? Is that the guy you like? A singer? Okay, never mind, maybe I just made it.
Yeah, so he is a song He is like an old school like legend and like hip hop like community, like you know, just like just very well respected and apparently, uh, a young man came forward recently to say that African Babada sexually assaulted him years ago, and of course everyone was like the lies you tell. And now three other young men have come forward because especially in the hip hop brown community, and you know, homosexuality is not something
that's openly discussed. And then on top of that, you know, like I don't know if I can't remember that the men were under age, but pedophilia possibly, And so people are of like because he was like mister black and I'm proud and you made me feel like proud to be a part of this hip hop culture, to be black during a time when it was not easy to say that, And so people are very torn because he was like a hero in the community basically, right, Yeah, so yeah, exactly.
I just don't take it. I just don't think people are I don't believe that everyone's perfect. Like it doesn't surprise me. I feel like every famous I'm just waiting. I'm just waiting. Okay, he's big, now he's famous. Great, let's just see what he's done. What skeletons in the closet. It reminds me of that movie. Remember the did you watch the movie about the Catholic priests in Boston That was like a huge story in the early two thousands that just dozens and dozens of Catholic priests in Boston
had been sexually molesting, molesting young boys. And it went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. And anyway, it was a movie recently, and I think it was the same thing. You know, not that Kobe or this you know, hip hop star or like on the level of Catholic priests. But it's it's it's not out of the realm of possibility that these men, when you put men in places of power, that they'll take advantage of you know, weak people.
Yeah, not just men, but just anyone in place of power, taking advantage of vulnerable people, you know, but mostly men. Yeah, I'm trying to make I'm trying to make up for the Hitler common Okay.
It was mostly men in power, So you do the math.
Yeah, this is true.
Oh, speaking of that, I was just just a quick shout out so for actually for the same story. So I it's the same story that are our guests on today's show that I interviewed for. I also talked with Stacy phil Brown Philpott whose name you may not know, but she was formerly the CEO of task Rabbit. You know, do you know task Grabbit, Yeah, for sure. So she was a CEO and I COO, and I interviewed her for my story on black business leaders that are changing
Silicon Valley because there's just so few of them. And I just found out last week she got it was announced that she was promoted to CEO Chief executive officer of task Rabbit, which was a huge win, which is which is awesome. And there's just so few. I mean, talk about how few black leaders there are in Silicon Valley, but then talk about black women leaders and it's the pools even smaller. So just quick shout out to Stacy, say.
Stacey, congrats, that's awesome. A lot of them people I know, I know a lot of like folks in my DreamCatcher group. A lot of them use task Rabbit. I think a lot of them have signed up to actually make extra money during that.
You know. One of my favorite things that she told me in the interview for the story, at one point in her career, she decided to move to India. She was working at Google way back when, and she decided to move to India. At the time, she was married to her husband and she left him behind. And she talked about how her entire family just couldn't understand why would you move to India to run Google's sales ops
and leave your husband behind? And she talked about how it's she U shouldn't be afraid to ask for what you need, both at home and at work. And she talked about how for her and her husband moves a personal decision and they decided they were going to make it work together, and she felt empowered to make this career move. I mean, obviously it worked out for her career wise to make that you know, risky career move that wouldn't have been as popular, you know, a couple
decades ago. So I like that. I like what she had to say about that.
I like that too. That's dope.
Not that I'm moving into India anytime soon. Yeah, I'm not, but you know, and did you see the what do you? Did you see the BuzzFeed video?
I honestly I have to. It's like watching Rosewood, you know, or like Twelve Years a Slave. I always tell myself cause I've heard so much buzz about it. I was like, yeah, I don't know if I'm ready for those emotions. You didn't want it now, I know, but I just I've been feeling really happy lately, and everyone it's like every time somebody posted, it's clear that they're like pissed off
about it. So I'm like, yeah, I just I just gonna wait until I'm not feeling extra happy and I'm really yeah, so like, tell me about it.
Like you know so, well, I'm gonna tell you about it.
Yeah.
Basically, well, Buzzfe's done this before. I think they had a video where it was like questions white people have for white people and it was like, why are you so racist? Why do you know that kind of stuff?
And they did the same thing for it was like questions black people have for black people, and they had I mean, I watched a lot of BuzzFeed videos, so I recognize a lot of their black talent, and they had a bunch of their you know im pretty much like Look, they pulled out every single black reporter and producer on their staff and just had them ask questions they're just dying to know about black people, and it was but the questions were fucking acinine. It was like
why do we like watermelon so much? Where did that come from? Why can't we be on time? It was like every stereotype you've ever had or seen promoted in the media, it was these and it was what was made it painful for people was that it was black people ask you yes questions.
You're like, why did you let them why?
One of the questions was like, am i un fleak? It was like my grandma wrote these questions, and you know, God rest her soul. I love you, Nana, But like, what was BuzzFeed thinking? And I think they rightfully got dragged. I mean, the video is still up there. I mean, I'm sure that they knew it was gonna be controversial
when they put it out. I'm sure they got record page views, good for you, Happy for you, and millions and millions of clicks, but it didn't do any favors to people black people in general and the stereotypes that are out there as told.
Yeah, I wonder if there's anybody in the office who's like, yeah, I'm not gonna do that.
You know, my friend, I should have asked my friend Kevin. So, my friend Kevin, Hey, Kevin Kevin Smith. He's a senior editor at BuzzFeed, and he's been in a couple of their videos. But he was not in this video. And I should ask him because he's a I should ask him why he wasn't in it. But I can't imagine I would have my hand for that video. I'd been like what, but why? But what do you want me to ask? I wonder if those were actually questions they had, you know, yeah, at any rate, tis what tis and
I will stay on the on the whole. I mean, BuzzFeed has the fact that they even had like, I mean, it looked like they had ten, you know, five to ten reporters who are of a color on the video, and that's pretty rare in newsrooms. So the fact that they even have that many black people working for them is something too that it tells me that that should never have happened.
Yeah, bab you're right, because yeah, you're right. Because what it's like, oh, wow, you guys have like a nice little mix of people. Then it's like, wait, nobody said, hey, not the best idea.
No, that got green lip. I don't know why, And I think it's all for Buzzworthy. We could talk about the Nina sim Own movie. You know, I realized we haven't talked about that yet.
Yeah, we'll say that for next week.
You just like, I'm ruining your happy mood.
You're supposed to be into.
Are your happy topics? Do you have any?
Yeah? And I'm just like, I've just been enjoying the weather. So I'm just like, that's not a happy topic. So let's let's say let's say that Zoe Saladonna or whatever the heck, your last name is Zoe, Zoe, Zoe whatever, close enough Sally's and we're gonna save you that dragging for next week when I'm in the dragging mood.
But let's move on to brown breaks.
What's my brown break gonna be or my brown boost? Do you want to go first? I don't really have one.
I don't think hmmm, my brown break.
Positivity, And it can't be your workout routine or taking your break from work because that's been your brown boost for like five weeks.
Okay, so the police, all right, so my brown you know I'm actually gonna take a brown break from I don't know. I feel like so I just got like a petticare and a manicure, and you would think that like I moved, I, like, you know, cured cancer, when I such a big deal that I have to get a pedicare in manicure. I mean, like, I mean it's not to say I'm like ungroomed. I just usually just
cut my nails down and then that's it. But like, I don't know if that's such a big deal, Like why is that like boyfriends I've had in the pasta like you don't get regular pandicares and manicures. I'm like, I wash my feet, I cut my nails like boyfriends said that, Yeah, like you don't get paid. Like like I don't know. I've like had boyfriends be like like Tiffany, I never see you go get a pedicure of manicure. I'm like, yeah'm my my feet are fine, Like you know,
I don't. I've only I only will do it if I'm going away on like a vacation or if I'm gonna be in somebody's wedding and I'm like, well let me get fancy for but on a regular you know. I'm just like I just scrub down my feet in my hands and I trim my nails. I just don't see, like why, like why is that like a rite of passion? I guess it's like, you know, is it the same
thing like packed underwear? Like it's tack for me to like, you know, move on to like, but I just don't understand, Like it's so crazy because I'm like, when did all my friends start getting regular petticure manicers, even my friends who were not like fancy girls or whatever. It's just like girl, I always get my petty and nanny, even if it's not like you know, they get tips or whatever. And I'm like, really, when did I No one, I didn't.
Get that memo.
No one told me to the side in gym class.
I think it's a personal thing. I think so sorry. I think it's a personal thing where Actually what's funny is I also got a Mani petty yesterday. Okay, but just because I knew the weather was going to be nice and I just want to treat myself. I was supposed to go to the dentist, but I woke up and I was like, I'm going to cancel that appointment and go get a Manni pettist. Toothache be damned, and my two still hurts my feet as so judge me
as you want. But you know what I think I've talked about that before is during the recession, the number of women who spend money on menies and petties like skyrocketed. And it's because it's sort of a small treat you can give yourself. It doesn't cost the world. I mean hopefully, I mean for me, it was like thirty bucks and I had two hours of relaxing time at the nail
salon and it's just a little treat for yourself. I don't think it's mandatory, but I think women do it because it makes them feel nice.
No, but I've actually had people like shake my hand, like grown women who are kind of like kind of know, they're like, ooh girl, you don't get manicures on my geez. I judging, I know, very judging, And that's why I guess that's like kind of like my I don't mind
a petticare madicr. But I know some people are like, oh my gosh, they like live by because I get my eyebrows done and where I get them done is a petty manny spot, and so I see women in there, you know, they go regularly, and I'm just like, I don't know, like when I get them done, it's it's cool, but it's not like, oh my gosh, this is my peaceful time, this is my like you know, wu sah. I don't know, it's just kind of like all right, they're done, Like I like taking walks, that's my USA.
So yeah, so I'm just taking a brown break from the judgment of I don't get regular and it's a pays I'm sure if you see me in the street to can be looking at my toes in my hands and I don't care.
Okay, well, I guess it's kind of a brown boost. I just want to give a hey for It took me a long time to master to figure out how to use credit cards. No one ever taught me this, and I fell into the same pitfalls after collars, and
I think a lot of people do. Where I was earning like no money when I, you know, lost my job in New York, and then I was for a whole summer just out of work, and I foundally got a job that paid me like practically nothing, and I was starting to lean on my credit card and the limit, thank god, it was really it was low. It was
something like two thousand dollars. But I would constantly, like have one thousand, nine hundred and ninety dollars on the card, and then I would buy lunch, and then I would pay it down and I'd buy lunch like it was max out all the time, and then I would get interest fees. And it took me, I don't know, like up until three or four years ago to finally understand how to use credit cards. So I'm really proud of
where my credit score is now. I've I've I've mastered the art of giving yourself a budget for your credit card that is actually what you can afford to pay off every month, because I've had friends who've like one of my friends told me, hey, Mandy, I you'd be so happy I got a new credit card and I already, you know, almost maxed it out, and isn't that great.
I'm like, no, why do you think that's great? He's like, oh, well, I heard that if you you know, you carry a balance every month, and that looks great better to credit credit agencies. And I was like, no, no, honey, who need boo boo child? No, Like you put money on it and you paid off immediately every month, you don't get charged interest fees. I like to say that, like every card is zero percent interest. If you paid off every month, like they won't charge you fees. That's how
it works. But doing this for like the last three years, just putting a little bit of money on there, I put like my cable bill, I put my my cell phone when I used to pay for that, I put it on my phone and I just paid off every month it and I figured out exactly what I couldn't afford to pay, and it's working out great. My credit
scores in the high seven hundred's almost eight hundred. And what I'll say about having a high credit score is it doesn't really matter, like in terms of of day to day stuff, like I don't need to have a super high credit score. It really only matters when you're looking for credit or you want to take advantage of the perks of credit. And last week I had to put my deposit down on our wedding venue mm hm. And this is like, I mean, I'm putting down like
thousands of dollars at one time. And I was like, Okay, they're gonna charge me a processing fee for using a credit card, so let me try and find like the sweetest, sickest rewards credit card on the market. And I don't really, I don't. I don't condone signing up for all these credit cards that have bonus offers, you know how they are like, oh, if you just spend five thousand dollars and three months and we'll give you fifty thousand miles.
Like I don't think it's right because you get caught in that trap, you know, are you really gonna spend five thousand dollars in the next three months, Like I probably don't spend that much on an average basis, so you end up spending money just to get money, which doesn't always add up. But for this purchase, I knew with my I was going to qualify for rewards on the this one credit cards called the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
It has awesome rewards benefits, and I was like, let me get this card and put this deposit down, and I, you know, with approofd for the card, and I put the deposit down and I immediately paid it off with my wedding savings and I got like fifty thousand miles which I can use on my honeymoon. It's like over six hundred dollars and travel rewards that I'll get to
use toward airfare or my hotel for the honeymoon. And I feel like, I feel like this is something I couldn't have done, like three or four years ago, when I was had terrible credit and I hadn't figured out how credit worked at all.
So yeah, I was super smart.
Yeah, it was a proud moment, and I paid it off, and I feel like I feel like I'm like, yeah, screw you credit company. It's like, I'm not going to pay interest and I'm taking my bonus points. So thank you very much, Thank you, Chase. I appreciate it. On today's show, I'm really excited about today's guest. I've been wanting to talk to this person for months and months and months, ever since I interviewed her for a story on Yahoo back in February. But she was like, I'm
taking a little bit of a media break. Can you talk to me in April? And so I put a calendar reminder for myself to email her, and I'm really excited to have her on the show. It's Morgan Debon, who you may not know, but you may know her company. It's called blavity dot com and I mean, I'm obsessed with Blavity. I go to it every day. It's it's
one of the only black media sites. Well it's one of the newer black media sites that I follow, and I think it does a really like a fresh look at you know, what people are talking about and what is buzzing and what's viral in the black millennial space. So we're joined today by Morgan Debon. Just a little bit about her. I know exciting, right, So she's at
the tender age of twenty six. She launched Blavity in two two thousand and four with the co founder Aaron sam Samuels, after realizing she was she She talks a little about this later in the show, how black people at her university in Saint Louis congregated together no matter where they were, cafeteria, the classroom, We all kind of
came together. Two years later, she after bootstrapping the company themselves, Blavity is one of the you know, a fast growing media company, and Morgan's joining us to talk about how she launched Blavity, how she's raising capital in a man's world in Silicon Valley, and about a really exciting venture she's launching in May called empower Her and they Empower her conference.
So, without further ado, we present.
Morgan Morgan, thank you for joining us.
Thanks for having me.
Yes more, we have to come up with a new babe, new babe, like like a button we can press Mandy.
Like a big like a foghorn or something, or.
A something that said like new fave. So that way people you know are well where it's a new fave.
Well, you know, one of the first things I do before we even do the podcast is I checked Blavity. I'm like, what's happening in the world, let me go check blavity real quick.
So writers so quickly, so fast that I'm always like, wait, did that happen? Did we cover that yet?
Oh?
Yeah, it's been done. So tell me tell me about Blavity. When did it start? How did you start Blavity? Where did the concept come from?
Yeah?
So you know, I say Blavity started like I don't know seven years ago in my brain. I went to Washington University in Saint Louis for college, and I had an amazing experience there with my co founders, Jonathan, Jeff and Aaron I went to school together. And you know, I tell this story a lot, but it's just so true, Like we had this moment every day at the black table. Was it in the cafeteria exactly? And I think a lot of people have similar experiences, regardless of whether you're
black or not. I mean, you know, the Korean students sat together, Hispanic students sat together. It's just kind of what you do, right, And but that moment of like, you know, I was the only black person in like an econ class or whatever, and then you go to the lunch table and you're like, hey, guys, how's your day going, you know, and it's a mix of people from different classes. You know, we're talking about what the
outfits did last night at the step show. You're talking about you know, that racist thing that somebody said in class, and it's just a great kind of like opportunity to get outside yourself and to embrace the diversity of what at that time was college. You know, you have people coming from different parts of the world and the country. People who grew up in all black communities are people who are just now discovering their blackness and stepping into that.
And those emotions that you go through, you know, those are the emotions and the process that we are developing and designing online with Glavity. Right, So people use Glavity in very different ways. You know, you ask somebody who follows us some Instagram, you know, what do you like about Blavity, They're going to give you a totally different answer than somebody who life tweets with that song when we watch scandal, Right, And that's okay, Like, that's how the company is designed.
It's designed for.
Black millennials in the world and figuring out how we can build shared experiences and build connections with each other. You know, we're starting with content, which is the version of the company that you all see, and you know, very quickly moving into other spaces as well to try to figure out what our group is in this market.
So you're question.
Man is the interviewer, But I'm like, I got questions. Mine is not experience. I just want to know, Like such a cool name, glavity, Like where did that come from?
Yes, glavity means black gravity. It's the term that we used at the black table. So it was like, you know, one person sat down, then like three people will sit down. Then all of a sudden, you've got like twenty five people on a table that only fits like fifteen, and you're like, where did you guys come from? Like didn't you have class on the other side of campus? Like how did you get over here so quickly? So it's kind of like the bat signal, but the black signal.
So I love that black gravity.
I like that it's nice to have a name for it. I never because I feel like it happens everywhere you go, but it's nice to have like a term for it. I never heard that before before blavity.
Yeah, you can be able to you can say Glavity's happening.
Now, let's talk about it. I mean, I was just reading there was an article in Chicago Tribune last week, you know, about black business owners and especially black startup owners, and how they can sometimes be afraid to market themselves, like put their face on the company's website to say this product is made with the intention of serving the black community, because they're afraid that as soon as customers and potential investors see that it's owned by, you know,
owned buy and for black people, that they won't want to take part, contribute invest Is that something that you've confronted or thought about as you're you know, moving forward with glavity.
Yeah.
Absolutely, I mean I think it's a reality of the world that we live in that every business owner should be at least acknowledging.
You know, that doesn't mean you.
Have to consider it and how you move in the business world, but you should at least acknowledge that it's a reality. And for me, I mean, white people love glavity like they love it, and they should because it's an authentic point of view that it's unapologetic and consistent,
and you know, we tell it like it is. And I think a lot of the voices that are able to use the platform appreciate that it's a space designed for black people specifically, and so there is no sense of explaining, you know, we can use gifts and you know, all everything that you guys know of without having to worry about how are white people going to like digest this information on glavity. We don't care. We're not thinking about it.
I love that is the money following. What's the reception you've gotten from investors? Are you actively raising capital? And can you talk about that process, because that's sort of the ugly side of you know, launching a startup. It's so competitive, you know, when you're reaching for those investment dollars, it.
Is incredibly combetitive, particularly in the media market. And yeah, I mean, who isn't always raising? I mean, as a.
Startup founder, you always have to be raising, and I mean.
It's a challenge. You know, I've been raising quote unquote for since the company launched. In a lot of ways, you know, we don't actively have a note that we're trying to fill. We've already raised around of funding, but you're always in discussions with people trying to get a sense of industry, what the financing market looks like, what kind of partners do we need to bring on so that Glavity can get to the next level and scale quickly.
And as it relates to the fact that the majority of investors don't look like me, you know, I think what I try to do a lot of my meetings is help them realize how much they have personally been affected by black influences.
Right.
So I asked them about, oh, are you big on Twitter? You know, I asked them about are you what are you listening to right now? Right? What did you watch on TV last night?
Right?
And I try to help them see how the market is actually incredibly large because the influence of people of color, of the DIASCA specifically is huge. Yeah, and it takes a little bit, you know, not everybody gets it right off the bet.
What's your proudest moment as it relates to Blavity, Like, you know, you're proud, it's like, oh my gosh, I can't believe we're here a moment.
Well, right now I'm sitting in our new office and this is pretty weird.
That's awesome, It's very cool.
It's kind of it's in like construction notes, it's kind of a disaster. But I'm just so proud that we've been able to get to this place from a financial perspective that it makes sense and it's good for the business for us to actually have a physical location. You know, for a while, I thought we were going to be a remote company because of the speed of media and because of you know, you don't necessarily need to be face to face for everything, particularly when you're thinking about engineers.
You know, a lot can be done actually when you've got engineers on different production cycles and sprints, and same thing with media, right, having somebody on the East Coast is actually really important for news cycle and or having someone in London. So it's it's been an interesting transition to be like, yes, we have a physical location and you know you can come you can come find me on any given day.
So where are you guys based. You're in California, right.
Yeah, my first office is actually in la even though I started the company in San Francisco.
Okay, congratulations, Yeah.
That's awesome. That is like a very big, like you know, it's like when you hire your first employee, Like I can't believe.
Yeah.
Yeah, when we last, when we last talked, you had I got the impression that you were doing this kind of like in the wee hours of the morning after work and you were juggling a full time job. Is that still the case? What's your what's your schedule? Like these days were able to work on blavity full time?
Yeah, I quit a long time ago. I still work wee hours in the morning and at night and on weekends, but that's just what we do, right, Yeah.
Yeah, I quit.
I can't even remember, like October, not this year, but the prior year. So yeah, no more salaries.
What was it like to quit your job? When did you get to the point where you you knew it was time?
Yeah, it's a question I get frequently, and there's really just no good answer. Like, at the end of the day, I was working on Blavity so much that it was emotionally and mentally too tiring to switch back and forth. And I was already doing my bear so my bare minimum,
but I wasn't focused on my day job. And I think that's okay to some extent, But if I had taken it any longer, it would have just been like morally not okay with me personally, Like you know, I didn't go out to happy hour and like let's go get a beer. I'm like nah, like I'm good, Like I'm gonna go right And after a point, like I would have I rather even those like six hours that those solid six hours that I was working at my
day job, it was just too much. It was six hours that I needed and wanted to be doing something else.
Yeah, that's awesome. I just remember those days. So I have a question because I was talking to my entrepreneur friends and I most of my really post friends own their own businesses. And now we're at I call it beginning mid level. So you know, the beginning level when you're like, girl, you got one hundred dollars, look at you, you know, and then you kind of pass the like, oh my gosh, you don't have you know, I'm lucky
to have enough money to pay my bills. And then you enter into mid level where the money's pretty consistent. You know, you're not worried about bills, but now you're just trying to like strive to like build just like that next level company so most of us are in that beginning mid level. So I was talking to my friend this morning and we were talking about the good, the bad, the ugly, and that most entrepreneurs not most,
but many will only share like the good. And so I would like to ask you that, like, you know, just because I know a lot of our listeners are curious about entrepreneurship or want to become entrepreneurs, can you tell us, like, you know, one really good thing, one bad thing, and one ugly thing about like doing what you do.
You gotta spend money to make money. That's the first thing. Is like I'm incredibly cheap and frugal and can not anybody on that team, or my boyfriend or my parents talk with anyone. And I'm like, oh, I don't really know if it's necessary for us to turn that light on right now, but we can perhaps this window.
That's the good of the bad. That's the bad thing.
I think it's bad in a lot of ways, at least in a company that I'm building, Like I think it was great in the beginning because we're bootstrapping and so everything be mattered, But now that we have a little bit of capital, like you're racing against the clock in a lot of ways, particularly when it comes to a media company where scale is key, right, So you
have to spend money to make money. Does it make more sense to spend five thousand dollars in Facebook ads today as opposed to spending one thousand dollars a month for five months? Okay, right, because you're going to get the same results, the same conversion rate. So what's the benefit of having you know, ten thousand to twenty five thousand more likes now than it would be to have you know, two to three thousand more likes month over
five months. Those are the equations and the things that we're thinking about right now, and it's it's been a mental shift for me to say, like, actually, it makes more sense for us it's been that five thousand dollars all at once right now than it does for us to spread it out over time, because now, you know, the bigger we are today, the more that I can sell, the more that I can connect with people, the more that we can get them into the Blavity family, as opposed to waiting.
So that's the bad. So what's the good and what's the ugly?
I mean, the good is like you get to wake up every day and do what you want, you know. I mean there's obviously pressures involved, but I feel completely blessed and honored, and I pinch myself frequently that like I can wake up and say, you know, today I'm going to send out an Instagram question about seeing the dopest like web series creators in Brooklyn, you know, and find like thirteen people I've never even heard of before, and then like talk to them and potentially help them
use the blavity audience to accomplish their goals. Like that's amazing. And the ugly with that specifically or in general, no, in general.
The ugly is it relates to your business.
I mean, the ugly is like I'm I'm ten thounds overweight right now. I'm not cute. I'm five feet for people that don't know, I'm incredibly petite and carvey, and so ten pounds like matters?
Is it? Like a happy weight?
Is it?
Because the business is going good.
It looks cute, like it's okay, But I prefer not to be overweight. And the ugly is that, you know, I'm working hard, and everybody is working hard, and it's not easy to always take care of yourself first. You know, you want to put the business first. You want to put your teammates first, you want to put your investors first, you want to put your users, you know, absolutely first. Right, So to make the decision at times to like go on that extra walk instead of just having it delivered
to you, the food whatever, Like, it's not easy. It's something that I'm currently trying to work on. But for the first year, Like, I don't think that I could have been as productive if I was like I'm going to work out for an hour every day, Like no, like I need to email people, you know, but you know there's an intended consequence with those decisions.
What is your schedule? Like walk us through a normal.
Day depends on a coast time on if I'm on the West Coast, I wake up feeling behind a little bit because everything's already happened. So I usually wake up around six five thirty just to check to see what's viral on the site if anything. If there's nothing viral, then I usually send off a few Slack messages to our team, like or check to see what's going on with our news team, like what are you guys writing
or are the headlines does something any sense. If everything's good and we're viral, I go back to sleep hour and a half and then I start I just start knocking out emails. Depending on the day, I usually block off like big blocks of time for projects. So for example, Mondays are my one on ones. I have one on ones with everybody on our leadership team and my direct reports. And then you know, Tuesdays are engineering, so I spend the morning thinking about features and writing up user stories
and designs things like that. So it depends on the day, but I try to do a block of emails and then a block of project and then usually it's the rest is just beatings.
Do you have an unplugged time? You know, I talked with Arianna Huffington. She's all about the sleep and the unplugging. But when you work for a digital media company, like when do you have time to unplug?
Yeah, I unplug on Saturdays. Our traffic also shows that we unplug on Saturdays at this company. But yeah, Saturdays are usually my like let's go for brunch day, you know, let's go frolic in the sand at the beach, right, and then at night I tend to unplug, you know, after like eight point thirty nine, and that she's kind of like personal me time. You know, I still might wind up doing catching up on some work, but it's
usually nothing that's related to anybody else. It's usually just something I want to think through or work on.
Wow, you're like speaking to my life right now. I'm like, oh my gosh, Like, do you have like a I So my best friend has a public relations company and we started at the same time, and she's like my talk me off the ledge partner. You know, when you're just like I'm done with this, I'm leaving, I'm running away, no one will find me. So when I'm like I need literally when your toes are at the edge of
the ledge and you're ready to jump. So she's like the person that I call because she's an entrepreneur as well. So I'm like, I need you to talk me off the ledge, and she would slowly talk me to backing up and realizing how much I love what I do. But do you have like you're talking off the ledge partner?
Yeah, I mean I have, you know, three co founders. So that helps because when I'm not feeling it and I'm like everybody, y'all are all crazy I'm good. You know,
I'll call up Jeff. Usually Jeff is our CTO, and I've known Jeff the longest, like barely the longest by a few months, but and I'm like, Jeff, help me think through why this is bothering me, because usually there's a reason why something gets me to the point where i'mum the ledge right, like there's something mentally that I can't work through, or I'm upset about something that I don't know why that requires me to reach that level. And he's just really great asking questions, kind of like
a therapist. I mean usually get to it after like a day or so or you know, an hour conversation. So he's he's one when it comes to like business things. And then you know, my girlfriends from college I'm very close with, and so I'll email one of them, I'm or text men we have like a group text and I'll be like, hey, so this is not going well and I don't know what to do. And usually they'll remind me of like random things happening to me and
me mar Chiff or something. I think it's great for any entrepreneur to, like one have people that understand the process that you're going through from a business perspective, because that's really helpful, and then too to I'll talk to
people who have like no idea what's going on. You know, one of my friends is in med school, so it's great talking to her because her reality is just so different than mine and her challenges are just very different than mine, and so we can unplug mentally by involving ourselves in each other's worlds.
Awesome advice.
One of the things that was really funny that you mentioned is that when you were and I did the same thing. Actually when I was in school when I was younger, is you started your own little kool aid selling business, like on the side and the lunch room. Is that right now?
Absolutely?
Talk about like where did you get the You say you have an entrepreneurial spirit, but who's been your biggest influence in that? In that way, because not all of us grow up saying I'm going to launch a company.
You know, I have to credit my parents, And I.
Don't even know if they like knew that they created like me this way, but they did, Like my dad and my mom and dad have been together since they were they've known each other since high school.
Being together since college, and they are just awesome people. My dad's a doctor and a researcher, so he's always writing grants, which is like such a hospital mentality, right, Like you don't just you get to use the money to fund your research, but you have to, you know, justify it and have a budget and write these intense documents with scientific backing. My mother is was a stay at home mom, and she was all about creativity and
teaching me to be my own person. And you know, so I was always in art classes and you know, I did taekwondo, I did feel nacky. I was, you know, your typical middle income black girl, right, just like thriving, but also had a lot of issues as well socially.
And do people know what that is? Because I feel like you don't see the typical middle income black girl so much. Do I feel that way in media? You really don't like especially know.
What that means. I don't know it means it's kind of spoiled, but like not too spoiled, because I.
Know what it means. I just don't feel like it's like represented so much in media as much as it probably should be, where it's like that's normal, but for people who you know don't see that in everyday life.
It's like what it's like Girlfriends. It's like the TV show Girlfriends, you know, like we need a more dramatized version of myself and lived in New York, Like I probably be like the girlfriend show.
You feel about what's your favorite show on TV right now?
I don't watch Blackish, which I know is unpopular with black opinion, but I don't I neither do.
I for a reason or just because you don't have time or it's.
Not feeling it. No, I watch TV. I watch a lot of TV. I'm not feeling it, Like it's just not I don't think I'm the target demographic. Like I don't have kids, so I don't need like a family friendly show, and I don't really find them all funny. Like I love them all as individual actors and actresses and I support their careers, but the show just doesn't really appeal to me. What shows do I like? I mean, I'm a huge Netflix person, so you know, I don't
know what do you guys think? Do you guys consider Netflix like real TV or do you consider it in this like hybrid world At this point.
I think that honestly, I don't really watch TV much, and so I'm really like a YouTube like Netflix, stream online type of girl. You know, I'm not loyal to like ooh every night. I feel like, I mean, my boyfriend does that, but I feel like it's so old school. You're like, I've got to sit down on thursday'st but I don't know what I'm going to be doing on Thursdays, so I need to be able to watch one I want to watch, you know, right.
Yeah, I'm the same way. I don't have a television. I haven't had a television in years.
Well really, since you admitted you don't like Blackish, I'll admit that I'm done with Scandal. I'm gone.
I've been done with Scandal. I checked out after season two. I was like, I can't. I just I need, I need to get my life back.
I watch it in solidarity. I don't watch it in real time, but I'll watch it like passively.
It's one of those things.
There's a lot of shows that I'll watch passively where I'm like, I'm going to work on this car point deck and like place can't watch Scandal play Scandal on the background.
Yeah, I mean, even though you may not like all these you know, we all have our own individual taste. You guys have a really good I mean not blavity. I feel like whenever you go, it's a pretty good mix of pop culture with more newer, newsier things. What sort of like balance do you try to strike with your content and what have been some stories that have done the you know, done amazingly well for you with your audience.
Yeah, it's interesting the ebbs and flows based off of what's happening in the world. So, like you know, last fall, we spent a lot of time thinking about Ferguson and Black Lives Matter and how do we elevate voices of activists, local activists that are doing the work and maybe haven't reached the media level that they deserve, right, So we spent a lot of time doing doing work with that.
I even remember the college students at the Zoo and Yale and you see Berkeley, and so we spent a lot of time reaching out to those students and saying, hey, you know, if you have a point of view and you want to share it, feel pretty as lavvy will
help you write it, et cetera, et cetera. So those stories did really well, and then when Beyonce and Kendrick went ham during Black History Month, you know that would so it really I mean, the beauty of Blavity is that it's not necessarily about having a strict editorial content theme per month, or per week or per day. It's really a reflection of whatever is going on. And that's why we stay relevant because we have so much user generated content. So when something is happening, it's going to
be elevated on the website and on the platform. And we'll continue to do that because that's the only way I think a media company can work at this point. It can't be a top scout approach. It has to be Okay, something's happening in Detroit. Let's not just send like investigative, not investigative, investigatory reporters to Detroit. Now, why don't we talk to the person who's been there forever, put a camera in their hands and ask them what
they think and ask them to submit something. So, yeah, that's the way I approach it, and those are the stories that do well.
Now empower her. I'm really excited about this. So this is a conference you're launching or has it been around for? Is it first year? This year or has it been around for a while?
First year?
This year, first year really exciting. So talk about empower Her and how people can get involved with that.
Yeah, so this is like my baby right now. So empower Her is our first Glavity conference, and it's a conference for black millennial women targeted mostly at women who
are in the creative or technology industry. So folks who are influencers on YouTube, working on getting their startup off the ground, starting their own businesses, or thinking about making a career switch where they maybe worked in a midy like mid level at a corporate company, you know, they work for Bane or Deloitte or whatever, and they want to get into a different industry. And empower Her is all about helping these women and us realize our potential
and get to the next step. So it's about networking, it's about inspiration, and it's about coming away with like really tangible tips and tools on how to get to the next step. And that has to do with visioning exercises, hearing people's stories about how they have started their business and gotten to the next step. So we've brought an
amazing group of women together. Levy Meta, Hey Frien, Hey, Avida from the Madness Tribe, Kalichi from Zuva amazing e commerce website, Lenora Champagne who is a venture capitalist at six or five Ventures and just wrote a book. I mean, we just have some amazing lineup, Like the list goes on of women who are speaking and sharing their stories. So that's a little bit about the conference. And it's
in New York. It's May twenty. First people were a little sticker shocked at the price, but people have to live. It's in New York, and think about the women I just named. We got to get them there, right.
And what is how do you get involved? You have to have a business to come and participate.
No, you just there's there's no requirements beyond you have to just buy a ticket. And so it's all day with each breakfast and lunch and we have a little happy hour at night. And you just sign up on an event. Right, it's on our website and the homepage and it's all over our social media.
Gotcha, And it's okay, what's the what's the website where they can find out more? And I'll include a link to in the in the blog.
Yeah, it's empower for dot lavity, dot com.
Perfect so we have some of my faths on face Like I talked to Alvida and Lovey and just like bouncing step off of them. There's there's some of my like just entrepreneur French, what were like, huh so they're amazing?
Are lare an astron blackgiron Ome that's like my favorite Instagram accounts right now, just so many awesome Gabby Fresh, I mean, she's like blown up in the last two years. Just got to split a suit line somewhere line. It's amazing. So, I mean I'm looking forward to it. Like I was like, if I didn't, what kind of event can we plan that?
If I wasn't planning it, I would still go. Like that's what we always try to think of, was like, if you weren't the one doing this, would you still read this article or would you still go to this event?
Why do you think now is the time for an event like this? I mean, it's an obvious reason why you want to, you know, target an event toward black millennial women. But are what are some of the like why now? Why this year?
You know?
I think that's a good question. I guess a little bit to share about my personal journey, like I was, I don't know, never really like encouraged to be as ambitious as I've been, and that I am. You know, there's always a reason why it didn't make sense for me to to do something, whether that was to go to wash you or to run for student body president as a sophomore micro sophomore year in college, or to start Blavity without an MBA or without having raised capital
before or ever working at a startup before. There's always a reason why you shouldn't do something, and I think for Black women that list is always very long, given the statistics, And I wanted to create a space selfishly for myself to be affirmed by like awesome women who are doing these things and where it's normalized, where it's not an anomaly, and you're surrounded by excellence, and you're surrounded by women who are energized by the possibilities of
staff instead of the constant negativity and the constant reminder of why we aren't supposed to be as successful as we are. So in spite of all these things, we're amazing. We're the fastest growing population of women of entrepreneurs is Black women. We are the most some of the most educated people in this country, huge influence in terms of change in politics and education reform. I mean I literally I could keep going, and so to me, it's a space that needed to be created and I didn't see
it anywhere else, particularly for women our age. You know, I think Essence says an amazing job with Essence Music Festival. I went last year. We're going again this year with the Glavity House, but we wanted to do a more professional take on how can we bring people together and inspire these moments of like self fulfillment in a lot of ways.
Sounds like Brown Ambition to me.
Yeah, for sure.
Well, I'm so excited for you and for the conference, and I wish you guys continued success. I'll continue to be a fan and tell the Brown Ambition fan where they can find you outside of Glavity or social media and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah.
Absolutely. My social media is super simple. It's just Morgan to five everywhere on the internet. So Facebook, we'll actually don't Facebook for I mean that's weird. Twitter, Instagram, and then email, you know, same old stop just Morgan at Blaberty dot com. We'll get get you in my box. So yeah, reach out anytime, happy to chat.
Alike. How areright, guys? Another awesome show, another awesome guest. I'm so glad you guys were here. I know we have a bunch of new listeners, dreamcatchers. We welcome you. If you'd like to connect with us outside of the podcast, you can tweet us at the BA Podcast on Twitter and we're also on Facebook, Brown Ambition, and our email is If you have any questions, you can definitely send
them over. You want to send some praise, some high five, some we love you Mandy and tiffany emails, you could pertably send them.
At Brown Invasion Podcast at gmail dot com.
I'm gonna remember that one day. I'm gonna remember that.
No, we're really excited to have you guys on it. And as we say every week, please leave us a review on iTunes. It helps people find us, It raises us in the ranks on iTunes, and we are just a little podcast that could totally grassroots and we could use all the sport we can get, So please leave a review. Just take two seconds on iTunes. You will be your We'll just love you to death. We'll give you a shout out.
We will all right, Mandy all right, Tiffany, it's been real.
It's been real real, have a lovely week, Go out and enjoy this weather.