August 3, 2023 • 27 mins
Today's guest is the widely-celebrated CEO Mr. Justin Turk. Jason joins host Ramses Ja here to discuss the origin story of his successful Black business, and the impact of Black people's role in creating a sustainable future.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Li Logistics is an award winning Detroit based MBE company
that is committed to automating tedious manual tasks and preparing
businesses for a sustainable future. After raising over six million
dollars in seed funding and procuring over twenty team members worldwide,
Logistics simplifies material management by providing an advanced platform that
(00:20):
enables real time tracking, streamline processes, and seamless digital transactions,
making it effortless for construction professionals to efficiently manage and
optimize their materials from start to finish. Today, our guest
is their widely celebrated CEO, Justin Turk, here to discuss
the origin story of the successful black business, how these
(00:41):
results can be replicated, and Black people's role in helping
create a sustainable future. This is the Black Information Network
Daily podcast and I'm your host. Rams's Jah all right,
mister Justin Turk, the CEO himself, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
How you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Man?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
All right, man, I appreciate it, Thanks Rams, just for
having me on. Definitely excited to be here, of course.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It's a joy to have you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Obviously, you've been accomplishing some amazing things. So what we
like to do around here is we start our stories
at the beginning.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
What's a favorite?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit
about your upbringing and what led you to becoming the
CEO of Logistics.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Definitely, definitely so. Born and raised in Detroit, third generation entrepreneur.
I grew up in a family that was heavily involved
in construction. We had a company called Turks Paving. I
can remember being a five year old sitting at the
desk with my father and my grandfather. You know, that
business was pretty successful. It was a large minority owned
(01:44):
as Fall Paving company in Michigan, and then it went
out of business and I didn't know a lot of
reasons why, but I knew when it was time to
go to college. My family didn't encourage me to go
into construction management.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It was tough.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
They had obviously some wounds from what happened with the business.
I had an uncle who lived in Silicon Valley. I
was on vacation right before football camp started, and he
taught me into going to computer science. That was his background.
He was a tech guy. I went to college and
that was kind of my path. But while I was
playing ball, I interned a lot in construction and turned
(02:17):
a lot in computer science, So I saw both fields.
I'm working in both, but my bloodlines and my energy
always brought me back to construction. I was part of
a company for over a decade, and from growing from
a project engineer to leaving its vice president chief estimator
of that company. A lot of the things that I
found out in that industry, being one of a few
(02:38):
minorities working in the construction field, negotiating large contracts, litigation's lawsuits,
it led me to understand that technology needed to be
vastly introduced into the construction industry, and a lot of
the things that were affecting our communities, specifically in urban
settings disproportionately, were things that we could solve with technology.
(02:59):
So I saw an opportunity to check both boxes, and
that kind of led me to starting logistics and venturing out.
And I still got support from that original company I
work with, still Route a Song that's still my longest customer, ironically,
but that's kind of my origin story on how I
got to the CEO logistics.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Sure, sure, and I think you touched on it a bit,
and of course we touched on it a bit in
the introduction, but do us a favor. Even though we've
described what logistics is, logistics is sorry, give it to us.
In Layman's terms, break it down for our listeners. What
is logistics? What does logistics do?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
A great question because in the construction industry it can
be a little complicated. So in Layman's terms, think about
there's so much paperwork, so much the construction industry is
fifty percent contributed to waste in our country, and it's
because it's a very disjointed, disorganized industry with a lot
of chaos, but also a lot of pass that runs
through it. So when you think about the supply change
(04:00):
from what happens in the field what happens in the
back office, there's really been no consistent way to streamline
that process from supplier all the way to my back office.
Logistics takes that and makes it completely digital where you
can actually procure materials through our platform, manage it in
the field, manage it in your office, manage it all
the way to your back office. And we do that
(04:21):
not just for contractors. We do it for transporters. We
do it for major suppliers and landfield corporations across the country,
and they all see great value individually and they collectively
joining the network. We see it as a great opportunity
to improve efficiency on job sites, improve performance in the field,
and also push for a sustainable future because we are digital,
we are reducing waste, we are very efficient when it
(04:43):
comes to drive time, you know, things that are important
in the construction industry. So hopefully i'll summarize that right,
But no, absolutely it makes life easier.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
For our industries and we're excited about it.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And you know, the thing is, you know, on this show,
we talk to a lot of titans of industry. We
talk to a lot of accomplished people, and we talk
to a lot of innovators. But it's really that connection
between the listeners. What do people who wake up in
(05:17):
the morning, they go to work, and then they come
home and they make dinner and they just live their lives.
What connection can we make to those people. Well, one
of the things that I like about what it is
that you're doing is that you're helping facilitate perhaps one
of this country's biggest problems, or the solutions for one
of this country's biggest problems, which is a lack of housing,
(05:41):
certainly in a lot of huge population centers and stream
By streamlining the construction process, you're making it easier and
more environmentally friendly for these folks to do the building
that is necessary. And as we know around here, disproportionate
(06:02):
housing is definitely an issue that black and round people
facing this country. So I commend you for being you know,
forward thinking and for anticipating the need for this and
then afterwards pioneering and championing this effort to where it is.
And that brings me to my next point. You know,
we mentioned that you've raised over I think it's six
(06:24):
million dollars in seed money, So tell us tell us
the story about your early success with logistics.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So I've got to go back to, you know what
I was.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Even in my previous post, we did a friends and
family round and I talk about this a lot where I.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Didn't know what a pitch deeck was.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
I didn't know a lot of the terms related to
venture capital AGEL investors.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I knew that I had a.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Background in computers, and I had a background and civil engineering.
I had a lot of experience in that field, and
I saw an opportunity to improve a process. And one
thing I'll say, Ramses, is that for us that process
includes and cleaning up a lot of neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
You know, we're involved in blight.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
We're being able to monetize materials that usually go into
people's backyards. Going to Alley's tires is a huge commodity
right now. But that's that's just a part of the process.
So we did a friends of family around and friends
of the family were raised over one hundred and forty
thousand dollars, you know, And that was literally us presenting
a presentation myself mostly and presenting the business opportunity and saying,
(07:28):
this is what we're going to do, and this is
the opportunity in front of us. And we got a
lot of people who are involved, and I've got family
members who are you know, original investors of logistics. That's
something I'm really excited about because I think success, you know,
can have so many different facets to it, and if
you're successful alone, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
So I wanted to open it up as an opportunity there.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
From there, we you know, were fortunate enough through our
tech town here in Tech County, Trait get introduced to
black ambition and never heard of it. It was an
inaugural year and for those who don't know Black Ambition was.
It is Pharrell Williams Felicia Hatcher's brainchild where they invest
millions of dollars annually in minority owned entrepreneur businesses.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
We were inaugural.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Winner, so we won a million dollar prize in twenty
twenty one. Over two thousand companies across the country and
we were chosen as the first one. And I will
say this one of that million dollars. The network that
it opened up, the people, the resources forrel belish our
amazing individuals. Still get in touch, keep in touch with them.
I was just texting Felicia last week. I saw Pharrell
(08:32):
a few months ago. They really cared, so I was
the one thing to see him on TV. But the
network they opened us up to the people I get
to talk to, the advisors I have now that network
has been tremendous. In one of those investors who's a
part of that network introduced me to led our c
round of six million dollars. So you can imagine going
from a friends and family around where I just sat
(08:53):
at the table and talked about our business with my
family and a few friends and going to winning a
Black and Basic petition that's still you know, going on
annually that I still support holistically and then getting introduced
to a lead investor. We've been extremely blessed for a
minority business to be able to raise that type of funding.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
We are here today with Justin Turk, the CEO of Logistics,
the award winning Detroit based MBE company that is committed
to automating tedious manual tasks and preparing businesses for a
sustainable capture. All right, so you mentioned winning the million
dollars that and the backing that you know, the relationship
(09:39):
with Pharrell and Felicia afforded you. But that I believe
is just one of the many awards that LI Logistics
has won.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
So I don't want to stop there.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
I want you to share some of the other accomplishments, awards,
you know, accolades that.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
You have received with Logistics.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
We won an up and Coming Tech Company Small Business
Award in Michigan. We've been we we won an award
with along with tech Town, the in the the IDRIS
Award out of Atlanta, as far as the uh the
International Development, Infrastructure and Sciences Award. We've been extremely blessed.
(10:24):
We're in the certified company here. Locally, we've been spotlighted
as a company up and coming.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
We've been named one of.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
The top fifty places to work for in uh in
the in the in the Midwest. Recently, yeah, we've been
named the top ten startups to walk to watch, not
only just in infrastructure and technology, but just across the
across the world. Uh So, we've been extremely blessed, unfortunate,
and I can just I can go on and on,
but you know, it's it's almost you know, I finched
(10:53):
myself because I love what I do.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
We work extremely hard, but I get to work.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
With great people. I get to shake hands, I get
to to row my sleeves up, and I'm in it.
I'm in it every day. And I just I know
there's a lot of people and a lot of talent
who maybe is working in nine to five, who thinking
about stepping out on their own. The one thing I'll say,
you know, with the awards and accolades, I mean, we
want to dash up award and I can. I said,
(11:19):
I can go on and on about the different accolades
we've gotten, but there's so much opportunity out here.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I think specifically, our community needs to.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Know the resources are out here, and historically they're not
going to us, and we're not necessarily searching out for
them because we feel like the options are limited. But
I've been introduced so many places that I know that
it's blown my mind about what's really out here as
far as capital resources, how businesses to see, how much
(11:47):
support they get, core success, what goes on behind those scenes.
It's definitely different than what we've been told and what
we've grown up to be raised about.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Fantastic. I love that.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I want to ask you another question, because again,
day to day people they live their lives, they go
to work, pick up the kids. You know, they may
not be thinking about tomorrow when they got bills due today.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
So this is a lot of a lot of people, right,
But you know, we all live here, we all more
or less understand what's going on, and you're in a
perhaps a better position to answer this question than anyone else.
So rather than ask a question, what I want you
(12:40):
to do is if you will discuss for me, in
your vision, what black people's role is in creating a
sustainable future.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Wow, that's that's a that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I have some thoughts too, but I'll let you go first.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
When I think about sustainable future, so that comes in
so many different layers, when you think about operations, when
you think about community.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So let's pull it apart though from the stands that
I'm just gonna look.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
At resources and what our country is looking at down
the pipeline. You're talking about less than one percent of
venture capital funding goes to minorities, and that number is
even smaller for our black community.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
But every business is a tech business.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Like I don't care if you're a nail shop, if
you're a hair salon, you are going to become a
tech business. I mean, look at what Amazon did with
grocery stores. They're introducing tech. So the idea that we
can sit on the sidelines is just a thought that
doesn't exist. You're either going to be working for somebody
or you're gonna be running your business and they're gonna
be in the tech field.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That's the future.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
But when you introduce AI to this where AI is
leading us right now, it's going to be extremely important
for us to get involved and get off the sidelines
because they're going to be able to provide to humanize
AI to the point where I'm sustainable ability is going
to be income in so many different various terms. Is
it going to involve our reduction in labor for it,
(14:06):
because there's an argument that if we have less people
on the road driving, then we're going to reduce carbon emissions.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We have less people going to work whatever replacing them with.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
So if you're not involved in tech that standpoint, you're
sitting on the sideline. Is it going to involve the
different ways that we build our buildings, the different ways
that we include housing in our neighborhoods because they're going
to become a lot more sustainable. What materials are being
built for, How are we going to house people as
our country continues to grow? What role do we have
when it comes to sustainability there if we sit on
(14:37):
the sidelines, So knowing about what's going on is really important.
The other part is about sustainability is that there's a
lot of equity involved in it. Inclusion diversity is an
extremely important part and I come from an industry in
construction where diversity and inclusion is something that's been celebrated
on the front end, but it hasn't been sustainable on
the back end. Right, There's been a lot of you know,
(14:57):
this is what we want to do, but when you
pop hood, it's never been done. And a lot of
the things that the reasons people appointed to this, and
this is politicians leaders, is that we have not created
an infrastructure to have minorities involved, that the capacity needed
to check those boxes. So I can talk some different
ways about sustainability. You can go into waste, about what
(15:20):
we do at the landfills, about how we track waste,
how we know that the amount of waste that is
going to go into our landfills is going to be
reduced substantially, and it's becoming commodities.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I mentioned tires earlier.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
There are companies right now that are becoming businesses because
they're taking commodities out of landfills and they're creating businesses
for themselves. How many communities do we live in My
father's from Pittsburgh. I was there last month and there's thousands,
hundreds of thousands of higher sitting in some of these neighborhoods.
Well on the other side of the country that's selling
them in their recycling materials and they're creating million dollar businesses.
(15:50):
So we think about sustainability, there's opportunities obviously, for you
to be involved on the environmental side, there's opportunities for
you to be involved on actually creating a new business
that's going to lead to sustainable future. We look at
commodities that need to be take repurpose and ups or
recycled for various purposes. There's diversity and inclusion that it's
(16:10):
going to come. It's something that I don't think the
country even has come to grips with what's coming after
this affirmative action.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
But that's a whole different conversation.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
But if diversity and inclusion is part of sustainability, what's
our role in creating a pipeline to make sure that
we check those boxes Because that's going to happen, it's
an essential part of it. So for our communities, I
think we need to understand that sustainability comes in multiple
different facets. It's not just environmental, it's not just community.
You know, there's so many different layers to it. And
(16:38):
then we need to find out what role can we
play in growing ourselves, you know, financially, emotionally, spiritually, so
that as sustainability becomes a part of our country, that
is just you know, our lifeline that we make sure
that we're have a seat at the table.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Well, sir, I'm glad I asked you first, because, yeah,
the picture perfect answer to that question. You know, my
thoughts tend to go to so I do a lot
of work in the social justice space, and so environmental
racism is something that I've been studying pretty closely and
(17:22):
the effects of that on black and brown people and
for our listeners that aren't intimately familiar with it. In short,
there are rules legislated into being that allow mostly businesses
to pollute or to discard waste in certain areas. And
(17:48):
you know, it tends to follow the wealth line, which
tends to follow the color line. And when it doesn't
follow the wealth line, it still follows the color line.
And so the long and short of it is that
that black people end up in environments where it affects
you know, healthcare outcomes, and it affects you know, reading
(18:11):
levels and development levels and children and and you know,
these sorts of things that are the physical well being
of these black and brown people from these communities that
are affected by this form of racism, environmental racism. And
because as often as as is often the case, we
(18:31):
end up with the worst case scenario in this country.
As a people, we have to really look at sustainability,
We have to look at we have to take these
things seriously. Now, far be it from me to put
onto black people. Hey, if you recycle, then we'll be
doing our job. These are corporations, these are you know,
(18:55):
huge enterprises that are really polluting our planet. And then
we're bearing the brunt in our communities. That is, that
is the truth of the matter, full stop. But our
role in a sustainable future, I believe needs to be
reconsidered because many people accept this as well. This is
(19:18):
just the bad part of town, This is just the
poor part of town, and many black people don't realize, No,
this is the black part of town. That's why it's happening.
And so for me, as often as is necessary and
as I can, as often as a topic comes up,
I do my best to alert my people to this
phenomenon that has been happening for you know, forever in
(19:41):
this country and now we're seeing the effects of it,
specifically in healthcare outcomes.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
And so this was my take on it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But for you to consider the fiscal benefits and obviously
having you know, some sort of seat at the table,
I think that's how you mentioned it, and being able
to decide what our role is going to be and
how we will be affected as a people, and in
what a sustainable future looks like, and then of course
the technological implications and so forth. Exceptionally thorough responsor. My
(20:11):
hat's off to you. I commend you, and I'm glad
I asked the question. So that brings me to my
next My next question, what is the future that you
would like to see? What is the future you would
like to create with Live Justtics.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
So so I want to layer this because I think
I had the opportunity to sit in in Palm Springs
last year and listened to the CEO LinkedIn and one
of the things he talked about, and this is I
believe this, and I think it's important, is that you
can be a business mission driven business.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
You can be very successful and be impact for at
the same time.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
So from the business side, you know, we've got some
huge opportunities that.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
We've been working on that are come to fruition here.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Sooner we're gonna be able to release some news on
so on the business side, you know, our goal in
the next three years is to be integrated in over
six hundred landfills, and if I pulled out apart and
talked about what that meant from an infrastructure perspective, you.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Touched on some of those things. We eliminate a legal dumping.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
You know, we're going to be involved in a reroute
of waste into areas where it can become a commodity
and who benefits from that. So holistically, for our financial side,
I want to make sure that our business position to
where when people are making decisions that impact their bottom
line economically and it impacts the environment, logistics is a
(21:34):
hub that allows.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Them to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Because construction only cares about making money, we can talk
about other things. But while we encourage them to make money,
they can as so improve the community. They can improve
the environment, and those things are not mutually exclusive. I
think we want as a business now on the other
side of that, For me personally, you know, I know
that my role, I've been very blessed to just see
(21:57):
see the other side of the coin that I didn't
know existed. And just one of the things that Fell
always says is share the codes. So I'm very intentioning
and making sure that people who come behind me or
come with me are where everything that I've seen, what
I've heard, what i've what I've witnessed, what I've been
through from the lens that is a minority that is black,
because it is a little different from the perspective that
(22:18):
you're going to have. And seeing as many people succeed
in this, in this startup entrepreneur world as possible, I
want to be a part of that as well. And
I think the two of those can exist. At the
end of the day. If we're doing our job on
both of those, then we've got a cleaning, more efficient community.
We've got more startups who are benefiting from things like sustainability,
and we've got an infrastructure that's leading us to a
(22:41):
point where we're able to reinvest dollars back into communities
and people who want to start their own business and
introduce tech, introduce some type of solution that's going to
be both benefit so for them and beneficial for our
communities as well.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Just in Turk, two things I want to say to you.
You are a brilliant man, You are a brilliant mind.
And I hope that you receive this the way that
I'm intending it, because when we don't know each other,
but I'm very proud of you, sir, I appreciate I'm
(23:20):
sure that there are other people that may feel the
same after listening to this conversation we've had today, and
we don't want them to remain disconnected from you and
what you have going on at present and what you
will have going on in the future, which I imagine
is exceptionally right. Will you do us a favor and
(23:41):
provide any sort of social media, any sort of website,
any way that folks can tap into learn more about you,
watch you grow, watch you develop, watch you thrive.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Our website is www logestics dot com. There's a lot
of different ways to get in touch with us through there,
whether it be our chat or through some of the
email channels that exist on their social media. We are Logistics, Incistic, Loveistics,
l I V E G I S T I C
(24:16):
S inc S on Instagram, On Twitter, We're logistics, same word,
uh and.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Same thing on Facebook. Obviously you can follow me.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
I'm on I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on all the channels
justin turk uh and obviously the CEO Logistics I'm easy
to find.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
But yes, I'm I'm I'm wide open We're wide open
as a team.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
You know, we're we're a bunch of uh, you know,
tech enthusiasts and construction experts that think that there's an
opportunity to be impactful and be useful in an ever
growing community of construction and infrastructure change. So I definitely
appreciate man coming on and talking with you and just
being able to share our story, you know, share our
(25:01):
or what we've done so far. We're just getting started.
Like I said, we got some We've worked on some
amazing things. We got some news that's coming and you know,
it's a blessing to uh, you know, sit here and
I'm thinking about where where I started, where we started,
some of the things that you know, have been you know,
put in front of us, some of the opportunity that
we rolled up our sleeves and we we worked hard
(25:22):
to get. But the reality is that we know, we've
got a whole community rooting us on.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
And I'm not just saying that because they want to
see live just to succeed. I want people to be
encouraged to you know, start that business, step on on
their own, whether it be moonlighting.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
You know, you're going to be two years old, on
no matter what you do. So if you got a vision,
you got an idea, be two years further along in
that mission on that vision than you are right now,
and go out and take it. Because the world is changing.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
It's changing fast, and it's changing a lot of times,
and we're not seeing it. It just looks up and
to happen. So we got to be prepared, we got
to lock in, and we got to be a part.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Of that change.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
So well, thanks again, well said.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I can't thank you enough for your time and of
course for everything you're doing with Live Logistics and just
you know, living in an inspired life and having an
inspirational story that certainly matters to me. So yeah, thanks
again man, and once again, today's guest is Justin Turk,
the CEO of Lovegistics, the award winning Detroit based MBE
(26:25):
company that is committed to automating tedious manual tasks and
preparing businesses for a sustainable future.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Thanks a lot, appreciated, Ramses, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share? Use the red microphone talkback feature
on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to
hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your host,
Ramse's job on all social media. Join us tomorrow as
we share our news with our voice from our perspective
(26:58):
right here on the Black Informations Network Daily Podcast
Li Logistics is an award winning Detroit based MBE company
that is committed to automating tedious manual tasks and preparing
businesses for a sustainable future. After raising over six million
dollars in seed funding and procuring over twenty team members worldwide,
Logistics simplifies material management by providing an advanced platform that
(00:20):
enables real time tracking, streamline processes, and seamless digital transactions,
making it effortless for construction professionals to efficiently manage and
optimize their materials from start to finish. Today, our guest
is their widely celebrated CEO, Justin Turk, here to discuss
the origin story of the successful black business, how these
(00:41):
results can be replicated, and Black people's role in helping
create a sustainable future. This is the Black Information Network
Daily podcast and I'm your host. Rams's Jah all right,
mister Justin Turk, the CEO himself, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
How you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Man?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
All right, man, I appreciate it, Thanks Rams, just for
having me on. Definitely excited to be here, of course.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It's a joy to have you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Obviously, you've been accomplishing some amazing things. So what we
like to do around here is we start our stories
at the beginning.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
What's a favorite?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit
about your upbringing and what led you to becoming the
CEO of Logistics.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Definitely, definitely so. Born and raised in Detroit, third generation entrepreneur.
I grew up in a family that was heavily involved
in construction. We had a company called Turks Paving. I
can remember being a five year old sitting at the
desk with my father and my grandfather. You know, that
business was pretty successful. It was a large minority owned
(01:44):
as Fall Paving company in Michigan, and then it went
out of business and I didn't know a lot of
reasons why, but I knew when it was time to
go to college. My family didn't encourage me to go
into construction management.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It was tough.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
They had obviously some wounds from what happened with the business.
I had an uncle who lived in Silicon Valley. I
was on vacation right before football camp started, and he
taught me into going to computer science. That was his background.
He was a tech guy. I went to college and
that was kind of my path. But while I was
playing ball, I interned a lot in construction and turned
(02:17):
a lot in computer science, So I saw both fields.
I'm working in both, but my bloodlines and my energy
always brought me back to construction. I was part of
a company for over a decade, and from growing from
a project engineer to leaving its vice president chief estimator
of that company. A lot of the things that I
found out in that industry, being one of a few
(02:38):
minorities working in the construction field, negotiating large contracts, litigation's lawsuits,
it led me to understand that technology needed to be
vastly introduced into the construction industry, and a lot of
the things that were affecting our communities, specifically in urban
settings disproportionately, were things that we could solve with technology.
(02:59):
So I saw an opportunity to check both boxes, and
that kind of led me to starting logistics and venturing out.
And I still got support from that original company I
work with, still Route a Song that's still my longest customer, ironically,
but that's kind of my origin story on how I
got to the CEO logistics.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Sure, sure, and I think you touched on it a bit,
and of course we touched on it a bit in
the introduction, but do us a favor. Even though we've
described what logistics is, logistics is sorry, give it to us.
In Layman's terms, break it down for our listeners. What
is logistics? What does logistics do?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
A great question because in the construction industry it can
be a little complicated. So in Layman's terms, think about
there's so much paperwork, so much the construction industry is
fifty percent contributed to waste in our country, and it's
because it's a very disjointed, disorganized industry with a lot
of chaos, but also a lot of pass that runs
through it. So when you think about the supply change
(04:00):
from what happens in the field what happens in the
back office, there's really been no consistent way to streamline
that process from supplier all the way to my back office.
Logistics takes that and makes it completely digital where you
can actually procure materials through our platform, manage it in
the field, manage it in your office, manage it all
the way to your back office. And we do that
(04:21):
not just for contractors. We do it for transporters. We
do it for major suppliers and landfield corporations across the country,
and they all see great value individually and they collectively
joining the network. We see it as a great opportunity
to improve efficiency on job sites, improve performance in the field,
and also push for a sustainable future because we are digital,
we are reducing waste, we are very efficient when it
(04:43):
comes to drive time, you know, things that are important
in the construction industry. So hopefully i'll summarize that right,
But no, absolutely it makes life easier.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
For our industries and we're excited about it.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And you know, the thing is, you know, on this show,
we talk to a lot of titans of industry. We
talk to a lot of accomplished people, and we talk
to a lot of innovators. But it's really that connection
between the listeners. What do people who wake up in
(05:17):
the morning, they go to work, and then they come
home and they make dinner and they just live their lives.
What connection can we make to those people. Well, one
of the things that I like about what it is
that you're doing is that you're helping facilitate perhaps one
of this country's biggest problems, or the solutions for one
of this country's biggest problems, which is a lack of housing,
(05:41):
certainly in a lot of huge population centers and stream
By streamlining the construction process, you're making it easier and
more environmentally friendly for these folks to do the building
that is necessary. And as we know around here, disproportionate
(06:02):
housing is definitely an issue that black and round people
facing this country. So I commend you for being you know,
forward thinking and for anticipating the need for this and
then afterwards pioneering and championing this effort to where it is.
And that brings me to my next point. You know,
we mentioned that you've raised over I think it's six
(06:24):
million dollars in seed money, So tell us tell us
the story about your early success with logistics.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So I've got to go back to, you know what
I was.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Even in my previous post, we did a friends and
family round and I talk about this a lot where I.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Didn't know what a pitch deeck was.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
I didn't know a lot of the terms related to
venture capital AGEL investors.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I knew that I had a.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Background in computers, and I had a background and civil engineering.
I had a lot of experience in that field, and
I saw an opportunity to improve a process. And one
thing I'll say, Ramses, is that for us that process
includes and cleaning up a lot of neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
You know, we're involved in blight.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
We're being able to monetize materials that usually go into
people's backyards. Going to Alley's tires is a huge commodity
right now. But that's that's just a part of the process.
So we did a friends of family around and friends
of the family were raised over one hundred and forty
thousand dollars, you know, And that was literally us presenting
a presentation myself mostly and presenting the business opportunity and saying,
(07:28):
this is what we're going to do, and this is
the opportunity in front of us. And we got a
lot of people who are involved, and I've got family
members who are you know, original investors of logistics. That's
something I'm really excited about because I think success, you know,
can have so many different facets to it, and if
you're successful alone, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
So I wanted to open it up as an opportunity there.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
From there, we you know, were fortunate enough through our
tech town here in Tech County, Trait get introduced to
black ambition and never heard of it. It was an
inaugural year and for those who don't know Black Ambition was.
It is Pharrell Williams Felicia Hatcher's brainchild where they invest
millions of dollars annually in minority owned entrepreneur businesses.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
We were inaugural.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Winner, so we won a million dollar prize in twenty
twenty one. Over two thousand companies across the country and
we were chosen as the first one. And I will
say this one of that million dollars. The network that
it opened up, the people, the resources forrel belish our
amazing individuals. Still get in touch, keep in touch with them.
I was just texting Felicia last week. I saw Pharrell
(08:32):
a few months ago. They really cared, so I was
the one thing to see him on TV. But the
network they opened us up to the people I get
to talk to, the advisors I have now that network
has been tremendous. In one of those investors who's a
part of that network introduced me to led our c
round of six million dollars. So you can imagine going
from a friends and family around where I just sat
(08:53):
at the table and talked about our business with my
family and a few friends and going to winning a
Black and Basic petition that's still you know, going on
annually that I still support holistically and then getting introduced
to a lead investor. We've been extremely blessed for a
minority business to be able to raise that type of funding.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
We are here today with Justin Turk, the CEO of Logistics,
the award winning Detroit based MBE company that is committed
to automating tedious manual tasks and preparing businesses for a
sustainable capture. All right, so you mentioned winning the million
dollars that and the backing that you know, the relationship
(09:39):
with Pharrell and Felicia afforded you. But that I believe
is just one of the many awards that LI Logistics
has won.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
So I don't want to stop there.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
I want you to share some of the other accomplishments, awards,
you know, accolades that.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
You have received with Logistics.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
We won an up and Coming Tech Company Small Business
Award in Michigan. We've been we we won an award
with along with tech Town, the in the the IDRIS
Award out of Atlanta, as far as the uh the
International Development, Infrastructure and Sciences Award. We've been extremely blessed.
(10:24):
We're in the certified company here. Locally, we've been spotlighted
as a company up and coming.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
We've been named one of.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
The top fifty places to work for in uh in
the in the in the Midwest. Recently, yeah, we've been
named the top ten startups to walk to watch, not
only just in infrastructure and technology, but just across the
across the world. Uh So, we've been extremely blessed, unfortunate,
and I can just I can go on and on,
but you know, it's it's almost you know, I finched
(10:53):
myself because I love what I do.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
We work extremely hard, but I get to work.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
With great people. I get to shake hands, I get
to to row my sleeves up, and I'm in it.
I'm in it every day. And I just I know
there's a lot of people and a lot of talent
who maybe is working in nine to five, who thinking
about stepping out on their own. The one thing I'll say,
you know, with the awards and accolades, I mean, we
want to dash up award and I can. I said,
(11:19):
I can go on and on about the different accolades
we've gotten, but there's so much opportunity out here.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I think specifically, our community needs to.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Know the resources are out here, and historically they're not
going to us, and we're not necessarily searching out for
them because we feel like the options are limited. But
I've been introduced so many places that I know that
it's blown my mind about what's really out here as
far as capital resources, how businesses to see, how much
(11:47):
support they get, core success, what goes on behind those scenes.
It's definitely different than what we've been told and what
we've grown up to be raised about.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Fantastic. I love that.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I want to ask you another question, because again,
day to day people they live their lives, they go
to work, pick up the kids. You know, they may
not be thinking about tomorrow when they got bills due today.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
So this is a lot of a lot of people, right,
But you know, we all live here, we all more
or less understand what's going on, and you're in a
perhaps a better position to answer this question than anyone else.
So rather than ask a question, what I want you
(12:40):
to do is if you will discuss for me, in
your vision, what black people's role is in creating a
sustainable future.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Wow, that's that's a that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I have some thoughts too, but I'll let you go first.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
When I think about sustainable future, so that comes in
so many different layers, when you think about operations, when
you think about community.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So let's pull it apart though from the stands that
I'm just gonna look.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
At resources and what our country is looking at down
the pipeline. You're talking about less than one percent of
venture capital funding goes to minorities, and that number is
even smaller for our black community.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
But every business is a tech business.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Like I don't care if you're a nail shop, if
you're a hair salon, you are going to become a
tech business. I mean, look at what Amazon did with
grocery stores. They're introducing tech. So the idea that we
can sit on the sidelines is just a thought that
doesn't exist. You're either going to be working for somebody
or you're gonna be running your business and they're gonna
be in the tech field.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That's the future.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
But when you introduce AI to this where AI is
leading us right now, it's going to be extremely important
for us to get involved and get off the sidelines
because they're going to be able to provide to humanize
AI to the point where I'm sustainable ability is going
to be income in so many different various terms. Is
it going to involve our reduction in labor for it,
(14:06):
because there's an argument that if we have less people
on the road driving, then we're going to reduce carbon emissions.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We have less people going to work whatever replacing them with.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
So if you're not involved in tech that standpoint, you're
sitting on the sideline. Is it going to involve the
different ways that we build our buildings, the different ways
that we include housing in our neighborhoods because they're going
to become a lot more sustainable. What materials are being
built for, How are we going to house people as
our country continues to grow? What role do we have
when it comes to sustainability there if we sit on
(14:37):
the sidelines, So knowing about what's going on is really important.
The other part is about sustainability is that there's a
lot of equity involved in it. Inclusion diversity is an
extremely important part and I come from an industry in
construction where diversity and inclusion is something that's been celebrated
on the front end, but it hasn't been sustainable on
the back end. Right, There's been a lot of you know,
(14:57):
this is what we want to do, but when you
pop hood, it's never been done. And a lot of
the things that the reasons people appointed to this, and
this is politicians leaders, is that we have not created
an infrastructure to have minorities involved, that the capacity needed
to check those boxes. So I can talk some different
ways about sustainability. You can go into waste, about what
(15:20):
we do at the landfills, about how we track waste,
how we know that the amount of waste that is
going to go into our landfills is going to be
reduced substantially, and it's becoming commodities.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I mentioned tires earlier.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
There are companies right now that are becoming businesses because
they're taking commodities out of landfills and they're creating businesses
for themselves. How many communities do we live in My
father's from Pittsburgh. I was there last month and there's thousands,
hundreds of thousands of higher sitting in some of these neighborhoods.
Well on the other side of the country that's selling
them in their recycling materials and they're creating million dollar businesses.
(15:50):
So we think about sustainability, there's opportunities obviously, for you
to be involved on the environmental side, there's opportunities for
you to be involved on actually creating a new business
that's going to lead to sustainable future. We look at
commodities that need to be take repurpose and ups or
recycled for various purposes. There's diversity and inclusion that it's
(16:10):
going to come. It's something that I don't think the
country even has come to grips with what's coming after
this affirmative action.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
But that's a whole different conversation.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
But if diversity and inclusion is part of sustainability, what's
our role in creating a pipeline to make sure that
we check those boxes Because that's going to happen, it's
an essential part of it. So for our communities, I
think we need to understand that sustainability comes in multiple
different facets. It's not just environmental, it's not just community.
You know, there's so many different layers to it. And
(16:38):
then we need to find out what role can we
play in growing ourselves, you know, financially, emotionally, spiritually, so
that as sustainability becomes a part of our country, that
is just you know, our lifeline that we make sure
that we're have a seat at the table.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Well, sir, I'm glad I asked you first, because, yeah,
the picture perfect answer to that question. You know, my
thoughts tend to go to so I do a lot
of work in the social justice space, and so environmental
racism is something that I've been studying pretty closely and
(17:22):
the effects of that on black and brown people and
for our listeners that aren't intimately familiar with it. In short,
there are rules legislated into being that allow mostly businesses
to pollute or to discard waste in certain areas. And
(17:48):
you know, it tends to follow the wealth line, which
tends to follow the color line. And when it doesn't
follow the wealth line, it still follows the color line.
And so the long and short of it is that
that black people end up in environments where it affects
you know, healthcare outcomes, and it affects you know, reading
(18:11):
levels and development levels and children and and you know,
these sorts of things that are the physical well being
of these black and brown people from these communities that
are affected by this form of racism, environmental racism. And
because as often as as is often the case, we
(18:31):
end up with the worst case scenario in this country.
As a people, we have to really look at sustainability,
We have to look at we have to take these
things seriously. Now, far be it from me to put
onto black people. Hey, if you recycle, then we'll be
doing our job. These are corporations, these are you know,
(18:55):
huge enterprises that are really polluting our planet. And then
we're bearing the brunt in our communities. That is, that
is the truth of the matter, full stop. But our
role in a sustainable future, I believe needs to be
reconsidered because many people accept this as well. This is
(19:18):
just the bad part of town, This is just the
poor part of town, and many black people don't realize, No,
this is the black part of town. That's why it's happening.
And so for me, as often as is necessary and
as I can, as often as a topic comes up,
I do my best to alert my people to this
phenomenon that has been happening for you know, forever in
(19:41):
this country and now we're seeing the effects of it,
specifically in healthcare outcomes.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
And so this was my take on it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But for you to consider the fiscal benefits and obviously
having you know, some sort of seat at the table,
I think that's how you mentioned it, and being able
to decide what our role is going to be and
how we will be affected as a people, and in
what a sustainable future looks like, and then of course
the technological implications and so forth. Exceptionally thorough responsor. My
(20:11):
hat's off to you. I commend you, and I'm glad
I asked the question. So that brings me to my
next My next question, what is the future that you
would like to see? What is the future you would
like to create with Live Justtics.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
So so I want to layer this because I think
I had the opportunity to sit in in Palm Springs
last year and listened to the CEO LinkedIn and one
of the things he talked about, and this is I
believe this, and I think it's important, is that you
can be a business mission driven business.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
You can be very successful and be impact for at
the same time.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
So from the business side, you know, we've got some
huge opportunities that.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
We've been working on that are come to fruition here.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Sooner we're gonna be able to release some news on
so on the business side, you know, our goal in
the next three years is to be integrated in over
six hundred landfills, and if I pulled out apart and
talked about what that meant from an infrastructure perspective, you.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Touched on some of those things. We eliminate a legal dumping.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
You know, we're going to be involved in a reroute
of waste into areas where it can become a commodity
and who benefits from that. So holistically, for our financial side,
I want to make sure that our business position to
where when people are making decisions that impact their bottom
line economically and it impacts the environment, logistics is a
(21:34):
hub that allows.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Them to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Because construction only cares about making money, we can talk
about other things. But while we encourage them to make money,
they can as so improve the community. They can improve
the environment, and those things are not mutually exclusive. I
think we want as a business now on the other
side of that, For me personally, you know, I know
that my role, I've been very blessed to just see
(21:57):
see the other side of the coin that I didn't
know existed. And just one of the things that Fell
always says is share the codes. So I'm very intentioning
and making sure that people who come behind me or
come with me are where everything that I've seen, what
I've heard, what i've what I've witnessed, what I've been
through from the lens that is a minority that is black,
because it is a little different from the perspective that
(22:18):
you're going to have. And seeing as many people succeed
in this, in this startup entrepreneur world as possible, I
want to be a part of that as well. And
I think the two of those can exist. At the
end of the day. If we're doing our job on
both of those, then we've got a cleaning, more efficient community.
We've got more startups who are benefiting from things like sustainability,
and we've got an infrastructure that's leading us to a
(22:41):
point where we're able to reinvest dollars back into communities
and people who want to start their own business and
introduce tech, introduce some type of solution that's going to
be both benefit so for them and beneficial for our
communities as well.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Just in Turk, two things I want to say to you.
You are a brilliant man, You are a brilliant mind.
And I hope that you receive this the way that
I'm intending it, because when we don't know each other,
but I'm very proud of you, sir, I appreciate I'm
(23:20):
sure that there are other people that may feel the
same after listening to this conversation we've had today, and
we don't want them to remain disconnected from you and
what you have going on at present and what you
will have going on in the future, which I imagine
is exceptionally right. Will you do us a favor and
(23:41):
provide any sort of social media, any sort of website,
any way that folks can tap into learn more about you,
watch you grow, watch you develop, watch you thrive.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Our website is www logestics dot com. There's a lot
of different ways to get in touch with us through there,
whether it be our chat or through some of the
email channels that exist on their social media. We are Logistics, Incistic, Loveistics,
l I V E G I S T I C
(24:16):
S inc S on Instagram, On Twitter, We're logistics, same word,
uh and.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Same thing on Facebook. Obviously you can follow me.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
I'm on I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on all the channels
justin turk uh and obviously the CEO Logistics I'm easy
to find.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
But yes, I'm I'm I'm wide open We're wide open
as a team.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
You know, we're we're a bunch of uh, you know,
tech enthusiasts and construction experts that think that there's an
opportunity to be impactful and be useful in an ever
growing community of construction and infrastructure change. So I definitely
appreciate man coming on and talking with you and just
being able to share our story, you know, share our
(25:01):
or what we've done so far. We're just getting started.
Like I said, we got some We've worked on some
amazing things. We got some news that's coming and you know,
it's a blessing to uh, you know, sit here and
I'm thinking about where where I started, where we started,
some of the things that you know, have been you know,
put in front of us, some of the opportunity that
we rolled up our sleeves and we we worked hard
(25:22):
to get. But the reality is that we know, we've
got a whole community rooting us on.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
And I'm not just saying that because they want to
see live just to succeed. I want people to be
encouraged to you know, start that business, step on on
their own, whether it be moonlighting.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
You know, you're going to be two years old, on
no matter what you do. So if you got a vision,
you got an idea, be two years further along in
that mission on that vision than you are right now,
and go out and take it. Because the world is changing.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
It's changing fast, and it's changing a lot of times,
and we're not seeing it. It just looks up and
to happen. So we got to be prepared, we got
to lock in, and we got to be a part.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Of that change.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
So well, thanks again, well said.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I can't thank you enough for your time and of
course for everything you're doing with Live Logistics and just
you know, living in an inspired life and having an
inspirational story that certainly matters to me. So yeah, thanks
again man, and once again, today's guest is Justin Turk,
the CEO of Lovegistics, the award winning Detroit based MBE
(26:25):
company that is committed to automating tedious manual tasks and
preparing businesses for a sustainable future.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Thanks a lot, appreciated, Ramses, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share? Use the red microphone talkback feature
on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to
hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your host,
Ramse's job on all social media. Join us tomorrow as
we share our news with our voice from our perspective
(26:58):
right here on the Black Informations Network Daily Podcast
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