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We talked about why Art, but you talk about South Africa and give an insight because you have a relationship with the country from a variety of different standpoints. So how what do you see as far as opportunity in South Africa is an interesting place because you know, it has the largest economy I think of Africa, but it's
mostly controlled by white people. So you know, everybody knows about apartheid, or they should know about apartheid, and you know, the formal system was broken, but the economic system never really changed, so you still have the minority in rule of the majority when it comes to the economics of it.
So a lot of people don't even.
Look at South Africa as like a true African nation, but I would like your perspective from actually spending time out there.
Yeah, I mean lessen, South Africa is absolutely a true African nation.
It's Africa, and you know the I think the.
Effects of apartheid are still very apparent, just like the effects of slavery here in the US are still very apparent. But I certainly know that there is this younger generation that's so clear about the fact that they're about to change their own personal situations and change the climate of
the country. And those are the people that I've been able to connect with, you know, specifically, in my journey to Launch's Wine, I connected with a twenty six year old winemaker, black South African winemaker Hayley September who graduated with a wine degree going back to get our masters. And you know, it's those kind of stories that are going to change the situation for South Africa. But there's a lot of work that needs to be done. There are still so many issues, I mean so many issues.
I read Trevor Noah's book, have read that. No, it's actually really good.
So we talked about even like the different Like I guess we wouldn't be considered black and South Africa colored.
We'd be colored, right, Yeah, so it's.
White colored and it's black.
Correct.
Talk about that because that's interesting. People from America probably can't understand that. I mean, we understand light skin, we know that, but we don't have like set different classes as far as Dad's concerned.
I'm going to talk about it from my own personal experience. For instance, the young lady who I was just talking about, she would be considered colored.
I never call her colored.
I'm like Hayley's black South African because that's not my reality. And it's not that I'm trying to be disrespectful, but it's just it's not the reality that we live in, but it's real for them. There's so much colorism, you know, is wild. And again, what I can tell you is that the younger generation is so aware that a lot of that is just a trap to keep you know, their minds stuck in a certain place, to see us different when we should all see ourselves the same.
But it does exist.
And I think the beautiful opportunity for black folks in America and Africans is that.
Our stories are so similar. You know, there's varying degrees.
But I feel so at home when I'm in South Africa, Like I've sat with brothers in South Africa that remind me of you two, you know, so I think dispelling the myth that there's so much different, and I think also dispelling the myth that Africa isn't this, you know, incredible place with so much wealth. I mean, there's so much wealth in Africa. It's wild and a lot of people don't know that. A lot of people still believe that, you know, the only thing to do there is safaris
and you know, they're starving children. It's like that couldn't be farther from the truth. And like any country, there is poverty and there are issues, but it's beautiful, you know. And I think the last thing is again the notion that somehow South Africa isn't part of, you know, the African nation is wild. It's crazy, and I think it's hurtful to Africans in South Africa.
You know.
I've heard them say, like, I don't know why anybody would think that, you know, and.
So they are aware of that.
Yeah, oh yeah, for sure.
And I mean that's that's like saying if you're black and you didn't grow up in the hood in the US, that like somehow you're not black. It was like we all black when we walk up, everybody just right. And so I think it's even hurtful for me to hear that because I've spent so much time in South Africa and it's absolutely Africa. I've been to Ghana, I've been to Nigeria, I've been to Africa, and I'm never in South Africa like this is in Africa.
You know.
It is very much so Africa, you know, and.
The tradition and the beauty of the tradition, it's just very powerful. And so I think my biggest thing with ibest Wines is also showing black Americans, we should be doing business on the continent.
So I think it's interesting because when you create business, you have an opportunity to create a narrative, right and so with I Best, how do you intertwine right ingrid story, this region story, this cultural story together. How are you navigating that? What is the story of I best that the world needs to here?
Yeah, the story is really is it is a blending and a celebration of culture.
That's really what this is.
And so for me, you know, really telling the story of like here, I am a black woman from America who went to South Africa and just fell in love and felt at home and then quickly understood that like I could do business, I could do business here, you know, like this is this place is ripe for us to go and do business.
And not only can I do.
Business, but I have the support of the people to do the business right. And so ives is really just a celebration of culture, global culture. I consider myself a global citizens. I've been all over the world. I love the world. I love traveling, and so I hope it's my way of transporting people to South Africa to experience South Africa just a bit. And I also hope that it's a way to have people understand that, Like the comfortable thing was Napa, the disruptive thing was South Africa.
So when Akorn has said, like, you know, everybody, every black person from America should go to Africa and start a business and you become a millionaire a lot. I was talking to somebody and I understand what he meant by that, But the how two parties do what's missing, right, And that's that's very important. So you, as an American who actually went to Africa and started a business, what advice would you give people from the States or from
anywhere in the ASP. But that's looking to tap in with Africa, Like as far as you know cultural experiences and how to network properly, how to communicate, Like what what would you give as far as advice based off of your own personal experience?
Yeah, you know, I think the first thing that I would say is specifically Black Americans, we do a lot of Caribbean, we do a lot of Europe, do.
Some Africa, just to travel and just get the lake.
Like the first thing is like go, I mean, as Americans, we have the freedom to travel anywhere in the world. Our passport That's one thing that you realize when you're in Africa that like the constraints for Africans to just travel around Africa is bananas. But that's by design, right, that's purely by design we have that freedom. And so the first advice would be, go, if you've been to Italy five times, it's time for you to go to
South Africa once. If you've been to Turks and Caicos six times, it's time for you to go to Ghana once. If you've been to think about where we all go and we spend our money, all of that. So my first advice would be go tap in and wait to be widely, wildly surprised by what you're going to uncover when you get there. The second thing is like our brothers and sisters in Africa are waiting for us to come.
So when we land, they're like, welcome home, you know, So understand that you're also going into an environment where people are welcoming you. They want you there, they want to connect with you. And then I think, like with anything, you're going to find your people. I found my people. It wasn't that hard, you know, So I knew that I wanted to do this business. I sought out to find the people that would help me do this business.
And so I just think that we've been taught that Africa is this really difficult thing for us to do, and it's actually much easier for us to do than we know.
And so I would say the first thing.
Is just like go, you know, yeah, So the majority of time is here or it is here right.
Last the last two years, the majority of my time with South Africa, people all but thought I moved there, and I all but did because I needed I needed to tap in, I needed to be there. It's been nice to be back home. Obviously I had to prepare to get the brand launched. Home is southern California. But now I'm gonna be on the road, you know, slanging wine. Able to taste the wine. I want people to experience
the wine. People are excited about it. I want to tell the story as well and just get you know, just help breathe some like fun new energy into the wine space. I think wine has been you know, marketed, and it's also been like looked at a certain way. And to me, this is like the A side and the B side of a really great record that I want everyone to hear.
Yeah, so, because I'm thinking to myself, the business formation is happening. Happened in South Africa. That means the trademark and the licensing, even the taxes are done there.
How's that experience been from knowing what you know?
You've been in this spirit's industry, like you said, for over twenty years here in America. How has that transition been for you from the legality standpop side in South Africa?
Yeah, so, I mean it's a dual path, right, because we have to do all that stuff here too. I mean, I'm an American, the business is also established here too. The trademark actually was surprisingly the easiest thing to get, and I thought it was going to be the hardest because the name best right, you would think I had already been sewn up fifty times and so that was
like the easiest thing to do. But I think in South Africa it hasn't been as difficult to navigate because remember the wine region and wine in South Africa is hundreds of years old, So it's not like I just came and I'm doing this for the first time. It's a very established business, very established industry. So it actually wasn't difficult at all to do because wine is what they do. It's one of the biggest wine regions in
the world, so it wasn't difficult. I'm sure in other industries, depending on what you're looking to get into, may be a little bit more difficult because you just got to figure out how to do it. But with the wine piece of it, it actually wasn't that hard. The hardest part for me was landing on the blends that I love that I was ready to feel comfortable to actually say this is the product. But I would say the foundational pieces, the legal pieces, they weren't difficult.
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