Get Your Hustle On!

And we're on episode two now, yes, yes, into two episodes and enjoying and having fun and unfortunately we can't talk about it. Yes, we're not gonna talk about it, but we just appreciate all the love we got, so much social media love. Um and y'all are like here for Potomac this season, So we just want to say thank you. Yes, yes, yes, thank you, thank you, thank you, and of course thank you for listening to reason Reasonably Shady.

Yes that means you just could not get enough of us, all right, So we have our reasonably Shady Moment of the week. Do you have one? Because you forgot I think, yes I do. So I had one that I was going to share last week and I forgot it, so now I remembered it, so I'm just gonna share it. So my reasonably shady moment went to my scale, as in your what you would you stand on to determine

your weight? Oh lord, oh lord, you stand on? So I usually weighed myself every day, but when I went out of town, I was gone for like a whole seven days, and I didn't weigh myself for those seven days. So then when I came home and I stepped on the scale, the scale was like, bitch, where you been at because you weigh because you are six pounds heavier. Okay, So the shale escaping all the food you ate shade

the scale shady? Okay, Okay, the scale is shady because it missed me and it was like just trying to, like, you know, get in my head. So, yes, I was six pounds heavier when I got back from vacation. Okay, So I mean, are you doing anything about it or do you care? I'm like down three down three okay, So do you swear by the scale? Because I heard you're not supposed to live by the scale. So I

weighed myself all the time. And I know people say, oh, you know you don't want to go by that because you could, like you know, your muscle could weigh differently, right whatever, Yeah all that, but no, I like every day after I eliminate in the morning, and I want you all to know I'm probably probably too much information. Robin has a whole elimination plan and schedule daily. Yes,

I'm very regular, and if it gets interrupted, I'm very angry. Yes, um so I think one time she was angry at me and I don't know how I interrupted that, but okay, yes, yes, yes, so the scale, So yes, I get on the scale like every day, just so I know like where I am. And if I see it like creeping up, I'm like, oh, shoot, you gotta do something. You gotta tailor back. Okay, you gotta push back from the table, as my father would scale shady scale, shady scale. Al right, so my reasonably

shady moment. And I normally don't do this because this is not what I'm into. I really am not into negativity on social media, right, yeah, yeah, you kind of just mind your business. You keep it moving, keep you post pretty pictures and you and you and keep it pushing, keep it moving. Yes, yes, yes, However, um, this one in particular, Oh, I was on I was on the Instagram and my d M. Okay, and this one in particular was like, this is not only shady, this might

be valent. This might be I need to go to c I A and you need a restraining order. I might need a restraining order against this said person. Okay. So, and by the way, y'all people out there who are just trolls and hated y'all funny to me. I get a good key keyp I crack up, crack off, and then you say like, well you did you really spend your time to like type my name in write something really mean and nasty like you don't like me, but you're here, yes, very strange. Okay. So I'm gonna read

it to you all because this person is shady slash psychotic. Okay. And I'm not even gonna tell you who they are because we're not gonna give them any energy like that. But just know that this is what's going on in my d M s sometimes to see the penis pictures or this. Okay, are you already Okay, your soul is so ugly. You're a dumb old, dry bitch home who need to be beat within an inch of your life. Damn, I couldn't do me how you do those? First of all,

where's your grammar? Okay, but that's the whole other story. Okay, I couldn't do me how you do those other women, because I would put you in a coma bitch girls, she told you. Listen, y'all, people that define the time to write this nonsense. Y'all funny to me. Just know, like you're not hurting our feelings. No, you're making us laugh. Okay, but you Instagram stalk control. You are my shady moment of the Yes that yes, that's scary. That's psycho. That's

not even shady. That's psychotic. That's psychotic. But you know, y'all can have at it, you know, if y'all want to send more feel free. But y'all, y'all got problems. Y'all got issues. Has anyone ever made you feel like you wanted to send a message like that? Never? Like, not even Donald Trull like never. Okay, Oh my gosh. All right, so we've got so many hot topics this week. We've got hot topics. We've got our business guru who's here with us. So we've got a whole lot going on.

Because the title of this episode is get your hustle on. Okay, get your hustle on. We know about that, yes, So before we start talking about getting your hustle on, okay, a couple of things, A couple of things robbing and this is like when I saw this in the news, I thought about you immediately, all right, um, because you know your your your boots wan and wanted to play basketball and you know he's a coach and blah blah blah. Okay. So the US Olympic team, right, they are currently scrimmaging

the basketball team. Yes, yes, the US men's basketball team is currently scrimmaging and getting in my right to play in the Olympics to represent the United States of America. And they suck. They've lost several games. I know what they lost to Nigeria, yes, okay. And I understood that they lost Nigeria because they lost a brother. They lost, they lost like some other brothers. Have never in my life heard of Nigeria having a good basketball team. Was

it Nigeria or Jamaica? I think it was Nigeria. Okay, okay, but they kind of game a pass Nigeria. You don't get a pass for losing to Nigeria. You don't like that. No offense to Nigerians. But like Nigeria has in my like as far as I've never had a strong national basketball team. How many Nigerians are in the NBA? Probably not one? Yeah, but I mean right that Sergey Goop guy who I want to marry, that is he from from?

Is he like Cameroon? Let it? Let her? Now? I'm looking for him, okay, I'm looking for who I think is sexy, like a nice draft, nice piece of chocolates. Yeahs type pants? Yeah right, but how do you know he wears type hands? Anyway? I look at packages and the package is right, okay, be delivered to my house? Package good? All right? And then the second time they lost was to austra Australia. That's when I was like,

y'all done, y'all good play. That's the thing Australia I understood more than I understood Nigeria, Like Nigeria was like what the that was? W tf? Australia understand there are actually a number of good professional Australians. Okay, yeah, so, I mean, but still that should not be happening, not when you have the likes of like Kevin Durant, Bradley Bill, like these men that are making hundreds of millions of dollars to play in the NBA, Like that is definitely

not okay. It's not okay. And I'm here to say y'all right now, the US men's basketball team is being shady and y'all better reasonably get it together before the big starts. You know, they're they're gonna get it together. But I feel like, I mean, are we saying, like, are they telling us something like they need Lebron or something like worse, they need braun Bron, they need Lebron. They might even need to get people that have have retired bring back Michael Jordan, Jordan with his knees that

are all messed up. Think but you know what, I think it's telling of just where the game of basketball is right now, because you will you do see more and more international players in the league, and I think it's just showing you that basketball is becoming the talent level is becoming a little more like even the field is even and out um so well, maybe it's a sign of the times. But if y'all don't get it together, we know that Stephen A. Smith will talk about you

are really bad. And I'm bringing him up. And he's the commentator on ESPN because he was backlash demolished. Everybody came for him because he talked about the Japanese guy. Okay, so there's a Japanese baseball player. I can't remember who he plays for. I'm gonna say to doctor place in the MLB. Okay, yes he's in. He plays baseball and he can't speak English. Oh okay, but the he's like the best person on the team. Okay, and so when he does interviews or whatever, I guess there has to

be a translator. And Steven A. Smith's position is like, look, we're not going to rally behind somebody like Bryce Harper. We're not gonna rally behind somebody. We rally behind Bryce because he's an American boy and he can do press and we can get behind that. So Stephen A. Smith is like, we can't get behind this because he's Japanese and he don't speak English, and so yeah, he's not us. So he's pretty much saying like so this player is

like really good, he's the best. Okay, so he's saying like I don't care how good he is, Like I'm never gonna give him any He's saying he can't be a franchise player. He can't be a Michael Jordan for that for the baseball team, he can't. And Okay, So this is a tough one because it makes sense when you talk about it, but it sounds very racist. It sounds very racist, And maybe he was coming from an aspect of like, you know, when it comes to a

marketing standpoint, you know where those players are. You know, you have the Lebrons who are you know, they're the face of Nike and they're doing all, you know, all the ads and media appearances and stuff. I think he's maybe coming from that standpoint versus like just letting his play speak for itself. It's like almost like two different things. But I don't kind of I don't even understand, Like why does steven A even have to say this exactly? See,

I need to read more about this. I don't want to sound I just want to say that he always is borderline. I'm wrong. So he got backlash, Yes, huge, I guess it's okay, let's let's flip it. If we were in Japan and you had an American player that couldn't speak Japanese, how would the like with that play? But he was the best player in the league, you probably feel certain kind of way. I see that, you know what I mean? I don't know, like I I we we're on a fence on this, when y'all we're

on a fence on this. But I can't say that. We're always quick to like jump down people's throats for like saying what sounds to be politically incorrect stuff. But you know, maybe he was his brain was just thinking was going somewhere else. I'm gonna give him a pass because I met him actually, and he knows how to wear a suit. He looked really good. Doesn't really look good on TV, but he looked really good in that suit.

I know. It's it was very strang yes, from that that that tie was tied right, the shirt was right, that that suit laid on his body very right. Yes, But that's where he's like a good suit, Okay, good suit. Yes, a man with a suit on that does something for me. So my next man, you better know how to wear a suit anybody, because we got some men that listen. Okay, all right, so we're gonna stay on the look. Instead of sending your dick pics to sell, send your soup picks. Yes, yes,

you might actually get a response. Alright, So we're gonna stay on the baseball theme a little a little longer because Drake decided to woo his current girlfriend by buying out Dodgers Stadium and like having people come and like give them this fine tablecloth meal, fine dining experience, Yes, at a baseball stadium. That if any man did that to me, I would be like, this is not turning me on, right, And I'm sorry, isn't. Didn't Kanye West

proposed to Kim Kardashian at the Dodger Stadium. You're stealing Kanye's b Like, hello, the original something else? Can find something else. I unless the woman really liked baseball and the Dodgers, like if that meant something to her. But Drake, be a little original, be original, and um for that, we say, once again, yeah, just stick to music. I would rather him take the money that he spent on renting Dodger Stadium and buy me like a whole bunch

of stuff. You or the girl he's dating. Oh, I'm sorry if I was her, yes, okay, but side note, I got a little t inside tea. So he met her because I think Drake it sponsored her son's basketball team. Okay, I'm getting a yeso here from our director of operations. Guys. We do have a director of operations. Her name is Carly and she's with us all the time. And she said to us, this is totally aside note. She's like, what is my title? Like, I'm here all the time

and I'm doing everything for you guys. And I was like, dun Dune director of operations, that was your title. I gave that to her. Oh I thought she came up with that. No, I gave that to her. And she's she's been doing so much more for us now just because she got a title. So you know, just word to the wise, just get people titles. Okay. So anyway, the tea is that he found this woman because he's sponsoring this um I think this club basketball all team.

I think the boy's name is Amari Bailey. The t is Amari Bailey is completely embarrassed by his mother dating Drake because all of his friends founding him They're like, but have you seen his mom? She's like a hot Instagram model. I didn't want to say that. I was gonna let you say, big boobies, big booty. She's typical looking it up for Instagram. Yeah, she looked like the last one that was a stripper that he had the baby. Yeah, very similar. Yes, yes, he has a type. He has

a type. He found the type, and the son is embarrassed. I'm the son. I'm just I probably would be more. I would probably think it was cool that my mom was dating Drake, but I probably would be just embarrassed that now all these eyes are on my mom right and they're all commenting on her having a fatty, right

exactly because my kids, I don't have a fatty. But if if I'm like showing any type of skin, They're like, um, where are you going, like want me to go around in a mum Like listen, boy, moms have a hard time out here. I wouldn't know, but you know, Robin's boys beat her up, Oh my god, like pieces. But but you know what, so this is what I really love about them. They prefer me all natural, So like if I have makeup on, they'll be like why do you have all that makeup on? And then when I

take it off, they're like, Okay, that's so much better. Really, yeah, so I love that. I love that too. They just want their mom to be just you know, fresh face friends, like one of their friends. They I mean, they want me to look like their friends so I can like wrestle with them. Oh okay, yes, just something we don't do over here in the girl house. Okay, So a couple more things that like really inspired me. So Alison Felix, she's actually another Olympiad partnered with Althia' is that how

you saying? Oh, athletic athleta to make sure that women who are Olympiads Olympiads Olympics like Olympiads Olympians Olympians have childcare at the Olympics. Fantastic. So they're putting up two dollars.

She is a black woman and she's doing some black girl magic, right, yes, well, you know, I think, um correct me if I'm wrong, But I feel like when she was pregnant, wasn't she dropped by Nike or something because she was pregnant or something like that, or she had when she had her baby, she was dropped, So she definitely went through some sort of like issues when it comes to being a mother, and so this is a great way to support these athletes and say you

know you have support. Yes, she is our black Girl, Magic Girl of the Week. Yes, and like, I'm sorry, anyone who can push a baby out and then go run in the Olympics. Hello, And she's what she's like, she's in her thirties, right, Yes, I mean that's awesome. So props to her, Props to her, Props to her. Another guy, I hate to talk about it's fifty cent. You don't like Curtis Jackson. Um, he just comes for

people on I feel like he's like a bully. Yeah, he's a big fat bully And I don't like to talk about what we're gonn talk about him today because he's actually on the right side of right this time. Yes, So Lego, No, Lego didn't come out with it, Okay, I'm sorry, Lego did not. Okay. So there's a gun out there that has that looks like Lego covering it and it looks very child friendly, right, but it's I can show it to the camera. Yes, it is very

child friendly, right, it looks child friendly. It looks like something a kid would play with because it's colorful, it looks like legos. Yes, let's see look at this. Yes, it's literally oh my god, it's horrible. It is horrible. Okay, can we see this? Look at this? Yes, why would anyone even think let's make a gun that looks like a toy that a kid would play with. That's absolutely horrible. And this is a glock. And for one, I'd stand in the streets. A glock can really kill you. This

is a Block nineteen firearm. Yeah. The U. S gun company Copra Precision said it's customized Block weapon nickname I mean named Block nineteen was developed to highlight the pure enjoyment of the shooting sports. That's disgusting. The Danish toymaker Lego wrote the company, demanding that it stopped producing the weapon, which is covered in what looks like Lego bricks. Right, yeah, this is problematic, that's probably. But VIGGI sent brought it out,

you know, he said, look at he brought attention to this. Okay, yeah, he said, look at it. This is not cool. And I I once again, Curtis Jackson's not my friend. He's in your good graces. But that's good he brought attention to it. Hopefully this gun does not see the light of day, yes, because that's a disaster waiting to happen. One. It's like, no matter how diligent parents try to try to be and protect their kids or something like that, sometimes you cannot. You like, you can't protect your kids

from that. No, you can't. And and let's say a kid was out playing in I don't know, a field or something, because we've had this happen and they were holding that, right, they're going to get shot by the point, or they're holding a gun that looks like they're holding a toy that looks like that, that looks like that,

they're going to get shot. And then the police are like, well, I don't know if that's that's a real, If that's real and right, it's terrible now, So just keep the damn guns black and heavy and keep it moving like and keep him out of people's hands that should not have them. Right, Yes, all these people are here. Okay, one last thing, guys, Because I was traveling, and I you know, when I travel i'd like to watch a little Netflix and get that in. So I watched this

show called Something Something Pop. Our director of operations gonna look it up because I can't remember what it was. It's something something pop, right, so Google that's something Something Pop. R and um. This particular episode was about Tea paying and what he did to the music industry because everything. I was very upset with him because he introduced Autoto to the world and he really didn't yang that was

the song. Okay, So they showed the history of it, and to be quite honest, Share kind of introduced auto tunes. Remember that song do you Believe? After Love? After Love? After Love? Yes? You so long story? Shut um? Something Something Pop is really called This Is Yes Yes, Okay. The show on Netflix, guys, it's called This Is Pop. And okay, So I'm building up to the story here. So te Pain recently came out and said he is so angry with all of these rappers out here right

now because they all sound the same. There's no originality, you can't tell them apart, and he's sick of it. Okay, I agree, Okay, hold on, hold on, But before we get there, I want you all to understand the genesis of why Tea Paine is so angry. Tea Paine started auto tunes so that he could be different, so that he could have a different sound. And now they're all doing auto tune, and well no, and now he's saying, I y'all were sothing ad at me because I did

auto tune. But I did that so that I could have a career, right, And and so now we get, you know, I don't know, twenty years later, and all y'all still sound the same again, So all the tune or not? Right, So I think that's a okay. I would say the music today all sounds the same. It's the same, like like and that's that's women rappers and

men rappers sounds the same. But I feel like I sound like my dad, honestly, like because I remember being young and I was, you know, love the music back then, and my father would be like, oh, this music is trash. It all sounds the same. Who's who? Like, I don't know, you know, this is just terrible. There's no talent, they're not. So I feel like it's just like for us, as we get older and as t pain gets older, the music does not sound the same as what we enjoyed

it to be. So okay, okay, I can give you that but just kind of come up with different names because I don't know a little baby from a dumb baby, from Grandma baby, from who baby win Baby, Like, I can't figure it out that. There's that, there's the meat goals. I can't really figure them out either. There it's just come up with some different names. There's money bag Yo, g Herbo and little little Vert. I mean the thing like one of those things I love to do. You know.

I'm always on a road trip when I'm with um, you know, for the basketball team, and I have all the kids in the car and I'm like, Okay, guys, who is this? Who's better? So we'll literally like listen to like a playlist of little Baby, and then we'll listen to a playlist of Baby, and then we'll have a debate like yeah, no, we liked the baby like that. So I think I think I can't remember which one. I can't say A little Baby just came out with that song with Kirk Franklin, that gospel song with Kirk

Franklin for Space Jam love it that. I do love that, and you know I'm a Kirk fan. See that our reaction was different. I think it's like we put it on. We were like, oh, it's a new song, and we put it on me like next, Yeah, it was positive and uplifting, Rob, I don't want to hear that. And your kids don't want to be positive and uplifted. They want to hear shake your booty, that booty fatty fatty pop that booty fatty. Okay, my kids do not want

to listen to the aut alright, alright, we digress. Okay, We've got some serious business happening on this episode, and it is called the business of Business. So wait, before you keep talking, I want to say. We got a comment one day that was like, you know, we we we we like to have fun, laugh, joke. We talked about all different types of stuff and someone was like, you all need to talk about stuff of substance, like business and this and that another. And I'm like, damn,

like can you be patient? Started here? Yes, this is episode what eight whatever? Next a minute, we're gonna we're gonna talk about a variety of things, some being fun and trivial, right right. That was like the first twenty minutes, yes, and some being actually use useful for your life. And I want to say, also, I want to read this one comment that I got, but I've had people say

like thank you for you know, just brightening my day. Right, So if we can just write in someone's day by being ourselves and being silly, then that's what we're gonna do. Mission accomplished. Mission. But I'm sorry, it's okay to the It's okay, yes, the topic because the topic is get your hustle on, and we're gonna talk about the business of businesses and being an entrepreneur and just getting your

grind on. So we have an expert with us today. Yes, um, we have somebody who actually knows a whole lot more about business than Robin and I do, which speaks of volumes because we got our business hustle on. Are you going to introduce her? Yes? Okay, Will Okay. So, first of all, Vicky Irvin is my friend. I actually met

her on a business level. You probably actually if you go back to season three where she was pre isn't during my entrepreneurship event, my My She Is Empowered event where I was talking about entrepreneurship and women and all that good stuff, Because I myself was very interested in being an entrepreneur and I kind of sought out Vicky for help and advice, and I thought, oh my gosh, so many other women want this same advice. So um, Vicky has been a great resource for me when it

comes to business. Um, so I'm gonna read her bio real quick. Vicky Irvin is a business consultant and expert marketer for six and seven figure business owners and entrepreneurs. Her very first entrepreneurial endeavor created a multimillion dollar business within twelve months. Vicky has consulted with over two thousand people and celebrities on how to increase their own wealth, boost their profits, and employee marketing strategies that few have

been exposed to. The success of Vicky's consulting business is built on her targeted focus of dream client attraction, sales conversion, and branding. She teaches both online and direct mail marketing using a diverse array of cutting edge advertising methods. She is the creator and founder of the s w L Cosmetics Collection, a full service cosmetics company in Line that has sold worldwide and caters to women of color. So everyone, welcome Vicky Irvin to the stage. Vicky, thank you so

much for joining us, Thank you for having me. You have been such a valuable resource to me, um, whether it's just motivating me to start my business. You've been very helpful with my Facebook ads. It's like anytime I have a question about business, I'm like calling Vicky, like what should I do? You know, what do you recommend? Um? She's been an amazing resource for me. So thank you for being here. Yeah, so Vicky's about to drop some knowledge people, So get your pen in your paper, get ready.

I know we have a list of questions, but I think the first thing to say, like, first of all, there's I would assume with our listeners there are a number of people listening. One there's people who are not entrepreneurs but would love to be one or would always here. You know this talk about having multiple streams of income and you might have your nine to five, but they might have dreams to start their own business. So we

have those types of people. We have other people who do have their own business and you know, hopefully they're successful flourishing. But as a business owner, I can say myself, you're always looking to learn more and you're always looking to be like motivated, re energized. And then you might

have people who are entrepreneurs but are struggling. So how do you how what advice would you give for somebody who's they have their nine to five but they want to start their side hustle, but they're scared to like jump out there and take that leap. First, let me say this, like, I think there's a lot of pressure for people to be entrepreneurs today, and every body doesn't

have to be an entrepreneur. It's like with social media, is like everyone has their own business and you're looking like, well, what's wrong with me? But you don't have to be an entrepreneur. I think sometimes people kind of put this slant on it where if you're not an entrepreneur, then you're like failing in life, and that's not so. Some people really enjoy what they do at work in the nine to five in their job, and that's fine. So

a lot of people sometimes feel pressure for that. But for the person who does have that, you know that curiosity like what can I do? I want to do something else? Or I hate my job? What can I do a lot of times most entrepreneurs end up getting into a business that they're kind of already have some type of expertise, and they don't really say, oh, well, I want to be at this. I want to be at that. They already have some type of skill set

of background. Is something. Even if you're like an accounting network, you might want to start your own accounting business. It usually pops off from there, right, So if someone's looking to do something different, is it first starts with what? What? What are you good at? Because you have to be good at something or I feel like you have to feel it. You have that passion. Yeah, I have a

passion for it because you're gonna work hard. You're gonna work hard than you're nine o five as an entrepreneur. Like all this stuff about or making money in my sleep and all this stuff, A lot of that is just marketing because think about it, nine o five, you can shut off at five o'clock. Entrepreneur never all. So there's a reality to it, and you have to be able to distinguish like the fantasy and the marketing hype of entrepreneurship versus the real hard work that it takes.

And if you fail and you have nothing else to fall back on, you know that that check is not coming every week like you're nine five. You know you might be eating beans one week, right, So you have to be really realistic about um putting in the work and the grind that it takes the start of business. But I would definitely say to think about what you're

already good at. That's the greatest starting point. To think about what you already have a skill set, and how can you build a business around that, versus just randomly saying, oh, I think I want to do this, or I think that I know a lot of people say that they get the fear sets in yes when they feel like, oh my gosh, I have to have X amount of

dollars to start my business. I have to have like this huge number, right, And so that fear sets in, like I'm never gonna have that number to start my business. But I always say like just start yeah right, yeah, yeah, So okay, here's a little reality on that. You are gonna need some coins, right, You're gonna need your points. But my thing is this, like stay at your nine to five and fund your business with the money that

you're getting from your nine to five. A lot of people say, oh, just step out there and go for it. You don't need a plan B. There's never a plan B for me. It's only eight. I'm like, no, I'm more like to keep your plan. B. When I started my first business, I was I stayed at work. I was making so much money. I was still showing up to work, and I had all these radio ads coming on like because I was I was teaching will to stay investing at the time, but I was still showing up.

One day, my boss came and it was like, you don't think I hear you all a little. He's like, why are you still working here? And I'd like, freeze me because I think we all, you know, we're bred to go to work and stay there and you know, get your pension and your security. I was, I was scared to leave, even though I was making more money in a month that I was all year. Right, but it's still a way to fund your business. So I don't quit. Don't say I'm going to use my life

saving support into this new thing. Be smart about it, you know what I mean. Expand your nine of five and gradually build that right and and some um. When I give advice, which I'm not an expert, but one thing that I like to tell people is don't start a business and then think like, oh, I'm just going to be making so much money right away, Like actually

start like really small goals for yourself. Like even if it's like, okay, I just want to make two hundred, and then you make that two hundred and the okay, now I want to make two dollars. And I think sometimes it's like we get caught up in seeing people on social media and they're like, oh, I started my business and I made a million dollars and they're like showing you screenshots like their account. It's a it's a

right for that. For that, I always say, you know, grow as you go, yes, and the money that you get always invested back, put it back into the business, right and then just grow as you go, and you don't have to remember this with every Hugh Like, you know, we had to decide how many excus we were going

to start, and that's expensive. You know, if you want to start with um, ten items that you're going to sell at one time, where you have to get all ten of those made manufacturer distributed, it costs a lot of money. So you know, the thought was like we'll just grow as we go and add more to the line. Um. That's that's one way to do it, because yeah, don't get caught up in the social media lie game, and it was a good What you were saying, Robin is

good because you need to see what's possible. If it's just two hundred dollars, it gives you the confidence to say, wow, like somebody bought my thing they really wanted, and that motivates you to keep So just those small winds go a long way and keeping you going forward. Right, So what industry do you feel like people should stay away from? And then what do you think would be great for them to start a business. And I don't necessarily think

there's any particular industry you should stay away from. My biggest thing is like a lot of people always say, well, the market is so saturated, there's so much competition, But if you do the numbers, we only need a certain amount of customers to make our own money. Like everyone you know with the cosmetic line, Like you know, everyone doesn't want to buy Finty, everyone doesn't want to buy Mac,

everyone doesn't want to buy the big ones. People say, oh, everyone has a cosmetic company, but when they find the one that they love, they're gonna stick there. And I don't need the same amount of customers as Rihanna. You know what, I mean, and so don't worry about market competition because no one person can service everybody in the world. That's why we always see McDonald's and Burger King by each other, like my we we don't say, oh the god are so many Burger Kings. It's saturated, you know

what I mean. There's competitions so many restaurants because no one restaurant can service all the people, you know what I mean. So actually, if you think about it, if you see an industry that's saturated, it's saturated because there's money to be made there. So it's actually good to dream. Okay,

Vicky Droppings some knowledge. So for people who okay, so say someone has a product idea, um and they're looking for manufacturers, I feel like that is where people a lot of people might stop because like where do you find manufacturers? Where do you how do you know which ones are reputable and trustworthy? And you know that. To me, it's like I have tons of ideas of products that I would like to, you know, do or get into,

but I'm like I don't. I just don't even know where to go, you know, like like is there a trick or is there a resource or something people have for different industries. Like I see out there people you see people selling like their vendorless and stuff like yeah, and I I don't know there's like vendorless Like say you want to go into selling, like like you want to open air or hair? You know the hair here, Well,

where do you get the good hair front? You know what avengers that you go to who you know are already tested, improven. So a lot of times people who are already established, we'll sell their vendor list and you know that you can see that they're already a good business that's going on, and they'll give you their vendor list for that's good. Yeah, okay, and that makes it.

I always felt like the whole manufacturing process was just overwhelming. Right, you can get so stuck and being overwhelmed that you quit, Yeah, that you quit. Yeah, And so what we can't do is entrepreneurs and it's and it's hard. It's to struggle. Of the time is let like a little hang ups shut you down, because there's always going to be something where you're like I don't get that, I can't get that. I don't get that, and it will stop you. You'll

get distracted and you'll go do something else. But you just have to push through those things. Um, you know, it's it's not the end of the world. It's not the hardest thing you're gonna have to face in your business. You can find a freaking manufacturer, right, But people are actually they are. They're selling their vendor list and they already are in business using these people, and it's it's kind of a way to find like it's like a

referral almost. It's like I didn't know anything about one a long time ago because I thought I wanted to open a clothing boutique and so I opened a vendor list of clothing manufacturers. Yeah, but I've never did anything with it. Okay, So you have businesses that are seasoned, they've been around for a while, how and they're they're stuck in not being able to grow. What what advice would you give? Yeah, So that's the phase where you're

trying to scale up and that's a doozy. I'm not gonna laugh because you know, we talked about putting the money back in the business, and then what happens is like you've reached this point where the demand gets higher and you're not used to putting out that much money. To get the product back in, and you're like, I want to fulfill the demand, but where is the money going to come from? You get stuck in this cycle, right, And so that's where people start to look at getting funding,

you know what I mean, getting funding or partnering with people. Okay, that's a good way to grow. It's a good way to grow otherwise, and if you don't like take the plunge and fix that problem, you're gonna stay stuck in a circle. So it's it's always the push pull of oh my god, people want this stuff, demand so high, but I can't keep the product coming in as much, and you're not have talked about this definitely yea, And

I feel her on that. It's like, I don't want to order like a million of this, even though you know good and well the trick on the sellout every time, they're still cling to this thing. But what if I don't, I'm stuck with this in and then when I don't have inventory, I'm sitting staggered and you're missing out on sales,

and you're missing out on sale. So you're basically telling Rob and she needs to partner with someone or get some funding, or get some funding or or get some help or or or take the plunge and just like put all the money over there. Because you've been that, like with your hat business for a while. You know how you're stuff. You have a little bit of um, you know, data to tell you how your stuff is

gonna flow. And you know like, Okay, if I if I spend more to get more product, and I know I'm going to sell this because when I keep doing this, I sell out and then I'm not making any money and everyone's mad at me because I'm sold out. They're sitting waiting like I always sold out, and then you lose customers. Yeah, I call that sales prevention. Yeah, I definitely,

I've definitely been in that hamster wheel. I'll say. Um. But I guess another issue for people who are stuck in their businesses is the marketing aspect or you know, getting the word out or get or getting new customers. So you know, they might have the product sitting or they might have you know, they if they're offering services, like they're waiting for someone to call them. So what do we do in that situation? So marketing is like to me, a business owner entrepreneur needs to spend the

majority of their time on marketing. Already know you have a great product, We already know people want it, it's good. But how you're gonna let you know more people know about it? Right? So that's where you need to put most of your money is and client attraction and building your clients. But what does that look like is that social media? That's then that's paying for advertising ads on

Facebook and social media platforms. Um, that's probably the biggest thing that people are doing right now is actually paying for ads. And that's the whole and and so you also need to invest in yourself to learn those things, to learn how to do them because again, as an entrepreneur, you need to spend the majoy of your time generating sales, right, And how do you do that? You run ads? Well, are you gonna pay somebody to run the ads for you?

Are You're going to learn how to run the ad yourself? Right? And you have to make sure that ads are quality that people are going to look at. Yeah, and that's a whole learning what ads work because there's data out there. Like the people who teach how to run Facebook advertising, they know what works. I mean, they're always testing, right,

because the ads have something they call ad fatigue. And you can run an ad that's a hit for a week and it's just boom and it's just hitting it, and then after a week it stops working because people have already seen they've seen it reaches a point where fatigue sale. You got to change the Sometimes it's the headline, sometimes it's the picture, sometimes it's the copy. All those

things get played with all the time. And Facebook advertising, and so I tell people, like, everyone's not going to be able to do just organic sales, right, that'd be great if you could just start an Instagram and just close up or whatever, you know. And everybody doesn't have a platform of TV either, right, And I think sometimes we see other celebrities on social media and their promote stuff and the boom, but they have a platform and their average person as an entrepreneur is not gonna have

a platform. So we're gonna have to pay. Or you can partner with those, you know, people on social media who do have a following, influencer marketing and stuff like that, as well as as white you know of doing that as well for advertising. That's another big thing people are doing Facebook advertising and partnering with influencers who have a

proof and track record of, you know, pushing sales. What else gonna say about Robbins embellished is that it was ingenious that she has the satin inside to have, right, that was like ingenious. Nobody's ever seen that before. It's so necessary and needed expressly for black women and her hair. So I was amazing, But that that was something that wasn't out there in the market, and you feel that need.

Earlier today I was talking to Vicky and she was telling me something that she's working on that's not out there yet, and so she's filling a need. So a lot of times I feel strongly about um people feeling a need that is not already in the market. When you're thinking about starting your own businesses, You're exactly right, you want to fill a void. You kind of look out there and you say, well, what's missing? Like there may be a million hat companies, right, but what's missing

from hats for black women? We're so crazy about protecting our hair from getting dry. I might add a satin line that one little thing well differentiate you from everyone else who's selling hats, and that becomes your hook or your unique selling proposition called the usp that becomes your thing and that is what you know pushes you out there. And when we were talking about I was telling them launching a company called Black Women Lifestyle. It's like a

supplement company with like meal replacement, protein shake. You know, you range your reds, but there's nothing out there that caters to the needs of Black women particularly. I was telling her, we're deficient in vitamin D as a culture Black people, right, and so if people to G n C, they're just gonna have the normal amount of vitamin D.

I'm gonna add to that. I know our culture is deficient in add more vitamin D to our stuff and have something called supplement coming their caters to the needs of Black women and things that we're deficient in. We don't need all the sugar they put in G and C because we're really supposed to diabetes and all that stuff. So we were talking about how that feels a void because I don't think anyone's ever done that from what I see, cater specifically to the bodies are made up

so different. Things like that, You're exactly right, can help when you enter the market do something different. And one of the best things says, find out what everybody else is doing and do the opposite, because anybody looks like it's like the phone book, maybe yellow something, date myself, but it's like pick a plumber, Like you open yellow, it's like you need a pumber, Like how do you know what you want to call? They all look the same, and that's how it is. But now everybody's the same.

And when you get in business, you tend to look at what everyone else is doing and you say, okay, this is what I should be doing too, And everybody does that, so they all look the same. So the person who dares to do the opposite is the one who's going to stand out and agree. And I feel like us as black people were so creative, like we make ship and kitchen all the time because we can't

find that at the store. Say whatever you want about Kim Kardashian, but when I was younger, I remember cutting my pantyhose or whatever because that had a slit in my dress. And so you know, she just happened to come out with it, you know, her skims shapewear. But that's like the one, the one with the one that done it. They've done it right now, why've done that was a need? So you know, I want to encourage

anybody who's at home. You're you're creating your own thing, You're making your own thing and your mama's kitchen, you're about to burn it down. Whatever it is that you can copton, you know you're probably using it for you, but it also can feel a need for so many other people. So get your business on. Absolutely, you gotta start thinking that way like and then move with it. Move with the idea because if you want somebody else will can always be on your heels. You're gonna be

like I could have been. Vicky is saying that there isn't anything in gn C that is specific for the black community, is like, that's like mind blowing because it's like, why why hasn't anything been created for us when it comes to our vitamins and what we need, especially with you we were talking about earlier, especially with COVID, so you know, we we we saw what we were lacking when it came to COVID and in the majority of

the people in hospital dying were black. So you know, if we can always get vitamins and nutrients and things that are going to help us up front, then that's that's half the battle. Absolutely. I love it when it's the launch on that. I don't know. I don't know I'm right speaking those formulas to get it just right, but I just you know, it's it's you know, we have to pay attention to our bodies, our culture, what runs in our genes and our genetics, and create products

that are healthier for the culture. Yeah. And I always want to encourage people like feel don't feel like whatever you're coming up with is stupid? Right, People always like, oh, this is stupid our own nobody's gonna buy it, are all I'm gonna waste my money. No, it's not stupid unless it really is stupid. I think what happens is you think it was like no, it was a no brainer for you, and so you don't think anyone else

is gonna recognize. I mean, how many times if you had a great idea and you think it's stupid and people are like, oh my god. You know. So you have to step outside of yourself. That's why it helps to talk to other people you can bounce stuff off of, because if we stay inside our own head, yeah we'll go now. Yeah, now, what is your advice? For for people who want to just you know, they get excited,

they're ready to be an entrepreneur. They got their little five hundred dollars that investing in their little business that get their business up and running, and they just don't want to ask anybody for help. They don't want to rely on anybody else. They don't want to you know, they have decided that they're gonna do it all on their own. What is your advice for those people? Yeah, there's a lot of people like that. Know, I know,

you can't. You can't do it along there's asked. There's many entrepreneurs who tried and they realize that they need help from from getting the idea out of your head. I mean, there's always something that you're not good at in business. You may be the brains behind it, but there's gonna be other aspects of the business that you're not good at, whether it's the marketing that that. So you have to bring other people in the fold to

execute everything right. You're not going to be the great marketer. And I created the product, and I did the formulas and I did that. Nobody does all them right. And I think sometimes people don't even know where who to go to or where to add like you know where to ask for help. But sometimes it's like, okay, what if you just go on your Facebook and put out a post and say, hey, I have an idea of you know X y Z. Is there anyone that can

you know, I can talk to you about. So it's like sometimes it's like where they say clothes mouths don't get fed. So it's just as simple as going to Facebook, making a post and see you might have one person respond, but that one person might point you in the right

direct shade. So open your mouth and ask I see it out of people sometimes say I have a business and my friends, my family don't support me, and you know, I get so much support from stronger yes, but I can't believe my friends don't support me, my family and I'm so angry and they're so in That kind of disappoints them to the point where it, you know, makes them shut down. Yeah, like shutting down because they're looking for the people around and support them. That's huge. It's huge.

Having coached people for so many years, it's like one of the number one things they talk about, the lack of supports from a spouse. Typically a lot of the times from a spouse, people tell them that they're silly, don't leave your job or whatever, and that you know it does a lot of people will never get started or they'll give up because of that. So I always tell people this, everyone's not going to get support and

it is what it is. You can't make anybody support you, right, Yes, so you have to be your number one cheerleader, you

know what I mean. You have to be a number one and strangers will egg you on and and and and push you before the people who you think are supposed to but people you think are supposed to the kind of don't want to say ahead, they hate and they're fine if if they're here and you're here, right, you have the potentially go here, right, they don't then let you blow up and then they're trying to want

to be alone. Just take you, just take people lest Yeah, you know, I think, yeah, I think you just have to keep it moving and you have to focus on those that support you. And you know, if people don't support you like you, just don't let that stop you and get and you know, cause hang ups and stuff.

Don't let that stuffing at all. Yeah, all right, So Vicky We're about to wrap this up, but I would love a couple of tips just for anybody who's a wants to give up, be doesn't understand how to grow, or if like you, you you are the bomb dot com and you your business is booming, Like, what would you tell those people? Yeah, so the people's businesses are booming and they want to go to the next level,

invest in scaling up, you know, core capital. If you're find yourself stuck in a cycle, that's for sure the person who wants to um you're just starting out. Consistency, staying at it, and understanding that it does not happen overnight. No matter what you see on social media. Social media is a fantasy land. Have the people saying their entrepreneurs still got jobs that you just don't know they're going to work every day, you know what I mean, Or

that they're living in their mom's. Yeah, so you have to understand, like looking at other people can really make you feel like you're so far behind the eight balls everyone else is balling. Understand that what you're looking at isn't true, right, that's number one. So you just have to stay consistent at the things that are going to grow your business and understand and have the expectation that it's not real. Businesses don't flourish overnight. Every once in

a while somebody gets lucky and blows up overnight. Anything else is going to take time, so we have realistic expectations. That's the biggest thing that you can do. Inconsistency is just the key. There's gonna be aspects of your business that you cannot stand doing, but usually things you can't stand doing are the ones that are going to grow your business. Right but unfortunately right So, I mean I can say just you know something Viggie that you would talk to me about. It's like I have to talk

about my business like all the time. I should be talking about embellished all the time. I should be posting on the time. I should be you know, making little videos. And for me, it's just I'm the type I'm like, oh, I don't want to get on people's nerves. Yeah yeah, your Instagram, but you're you're building, you have a following in your building and you're engaging with people. And I used to tell people all the time they were like

I didn't know. I didn't want to sell anything, you know, or speakers, they get on stage and they speak and they have the crowds clapping her hands, but they didn't want to sell a product. But then when they get off the stage, all these people run up to them and go, do you have anything I can buy? Do

you have a product? In a book? There? Like, oh my god, I felt so stupid because if you if you have something and people like you know what you're talking about, they're going to want to invest in what you have. Absolutely, and so you sit there some people are like, I had no idea. So it's your job as a business owner to promote your business. It's absolutely your job. It's not about bragging or people thinking, oh, like,

those people are gonna talk about your regardless. You've got to let everybody know about that, right, yes, yes, of course you heard. You heard my shady moment, that that direct message that I read. So those people are always gonna hate on no matter what you do, right, they don't care. And you can't give strangers and haters that much power to shut you down, all right, money, that sounds kind of ridiculous. Somebody you don't know, through social

media was able to shut your coins. Now, and my number one takeaway from what you've said, is like, you definitely have to be your number one fan, your number one supporter because in the journey of whatever business you're trying to start and and roll with, people gonna tell you know all the time, and you have to be your fan fan of yourself enough to keep yourself motivated to keep going because the nose are coming like fullforcement, and the supports from others isn't guaranteed. It's right if

you have it, but everybody doesn't have it. Right. When you believe and you have that feeling in you're good, you're going to get you'll get more nose. But when you get that one fact that yes, it's going to be all that you ever needed. A couple of things before we go, because I know you said marketing is

really big. What would you say, what percent of someone's budget just to give people an idea, do you think typically should go towards marketing sixty to eighty much as you got hot, Yeah, because you have to spend money. You have to. It's like lead acquisition, like the cost of a customer. And as you get data, you start to learn how much does it acquire for me to get a customer in my business? And then you know, and then how much do I have to charge? And

then how can I make my average order value higher? So, you know, with the cosmetic line, I don't want people to come and buy one lipsticks and put together bundles and you know, to make people buy more than one, right to make the marketing dollars pay off. Right, So if I spent, if I spent a certain amount of money to market, I don't want you to come that one person to come and buy one lipstick because I'm

not really gonna profit from that. But if I can push them and get them to buy something of higher value, that's when you profit and make your money back from the marketing. That yeah, that's awesome. And for people, you know, I used Shopify for my business, and I can say Shopify as an awesome platform because they offer so many resources, yes, oh my god, so many as we have, yes, but but they have so many like tutorials and webinars and

stuff like that. So just as a business owner, like seek information, you know what I mean, So as much time as you spend creating your product or whatever, like, you need to spend that much time also just doing research, seeking research and seeking information and understand that and getting new customers is something you always have to do, but also getting people to become repeat customers because it's just cheaper, more cost effective to keep the same person buying back

because they already trust you and no one like your product, versus having to start all over again with wooing somebody new to come in the door because it costs money to do that. That was key, and that was optimizing your website and making your website to the point where it's it's doing things to make the customer actually carry

all the way through the check out. There's things that you can do to optimize the website to make sure you're getting as many people as possible to actually purchase all the way through, right, and you can you can check the back into your website to see how many people drop off in the middle of itself because they probably got frustrated because I had to click too many too many times. So you have to arrange things on your site. So there's always ways to optimize and squeeze

more money and get someone to carry all the way through. Yes, before we go, Vicky, um, can you please tell everyone where they can find you? What you know? I know you have a lot of information and people might be reaching out to you. Absolutely. Yeah. You can find me on all the social media platforms at vicky irvan v I c K I I r v I N I love it to love it. So that's Facebook, Instagram and the Twitter twittery well, thank you so much. This has

been a wonderful business episode of Reasonably Shady. And all I can say is, you know, in this next week, live your life either reasonable or shady. Yes, yes, and send us your questions at what up at reasonably Shady, Send us your business questions, whatever your advice questions, whatever it might be, your shady questions. If you want us to reach your shady comment, we might and we're gonna

last yes indeed, alright, see you next week. People's Reasonably Shady is a production of the Black Affect podcast Network. For more podcasts from our Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows, and you can connect with us on social media at Robin Dixon, ten, Giselle Briant, and Reasonably Shady.