June 17, 2025 ⢠49 mins
On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, sits down with Ryan Wilson, co-founder of The Gathering Spot, to talk about what it really takes to build power through community. Ryan opens up about the early rejections, the hard conversations, and the moments that shaped his vision for one of Atlanta’s most influential spaces. They talk Black excellence, business strategy, and why The Gathering Spot was never just about networking—it was about shifting access to capital, creativity, and collective power.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
In my situation right now, my family situation. Shoot, we
just got here wherever here is so like and there's
a lot of work to still do to get to
this place where we can start talking generationally and like
for for generations. You know, I yet seen and all
that like a generations. Yeah, see, I'm talking about generations
that are like yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's like about generational wealth. We talking about like right now, We're.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Talking about like like like yeah, like not even like
right now, but like right right now, like like my
kids need to take this baton and be able to
push it further.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Everybody, Welcome to another episode of butter Nomics Amia. Host
Brandon Butler found the CEO of Butter atl and today
we got a special guest in the building, really special
guests in the building. One of the man who's literally
just bringing everybody together, the founder, co founder of the
Gathering Spot CEO, mister Ryan Wilson.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Ryan, how you doing, Bro, I'm doing great. It's good
to see you too.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Man. It's good to see you outside of TGS for
a minutes. It's good to see outside of ts. I
wonder man, you had like a bed in there or something.
I know they got like a little one.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Mistake I made. Man, we didn't build any like any
place to sleep, so I have taken a nap in there,
but it's not it's not official designated space, which I regret.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah, Man, I imagine that you had like an office
like a pastor to church or something like that, where
you know, you can just kind of like go in
the back and just but no, you got to actually
leave at certain times.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I do these days, life has changed a little bit.
In the early days, I truly we were there. Yeah,
if you know early gathering spot, we were there. I
have spent the night inside of TGS many nights.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, that was what it launched, you know, twenty sixteen, right,
twenty sixteen, Man, what do you remember about that time?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
There was a lot of energy. Man, we didn't know,
Like I'm grateful for that time period because we didn't
know what to be afraid of, right, So it was
just pure and we were just pushing, matching the gas,
trying to go as fast as we could go. And
I hadn't lived in Atlanta at that point in almost
eight years, right, so like coming back to the city,
(01:57):
just meeting people in rapid fire. Right, So I was
twenty four in the Gathering Spy Open. Looking back on
that time now, it's just like I can't I cannot
believe that all that's happened over the last almost decade
we've had the opportunity to do. But that time period
was just trying to make it happen. We didn't have
(02:17):
a lot of resources when we started, and so you
had a hustle.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
May I always remember.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I've seen I think the letter that you wrote the
TK about the idea in the beginning. I think it
was always interesting too, Like I've read like the letter
from the original founders like Airbnb, and like it's always
interesting right to see like what idea like started a thing?
Like when you what do you remember about writing that letter?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It came out of a real moment of urgency and paining. Frankly,
I was in law school, so quethbacks. I grew up
mostly in Atlanta, went to school in DC and was
in law school and so was doing some community organizing work.
To make a long story short, when George Zimmerman was
acquitted of Trevon Martin's murdered I got an email from
(03:00):
some friends that was like, Hey, what are we going
to do? And I responded back, saying like, we need
a physical spot to have this conversation. So I wrote
a paragraph I said to one group of friends, and
then I sent it to TK and I was like, look,
I think this is a business. Helped me build a
business model to make this thing in reality. And that
was a summer of twenty thirteen, so I haven't done
anything else. I graduated from law school in fifteen. We
(03:22):
started construction that year, and.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So you were literally on track to be a lawyer,
be an attorney, and all of a sudden you just
had this idea based on this moment in time, this
moment in culture, and everything just kind of change.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, I always I mean the reason why I wanted
to go to law school was that I thought that
was the best way to be helpful, right, and I
thought that I could use the law to change the
things that I wanted to change. It wasn't until I
got to law school that I was like, I don't
know if I want my work to be focused in
this way every single day. And so when Zimmer was acquitted,
(03:53):
it was like, well, what do I want to do.
I want to like, I want to bring people together.
I want to talk about how like how we're doing
first and then don't want figure out what we're gonna
do about this, but like we need a space to
have this conversation. Yeah, it was a really really simple idea,
but that was what kicked off the process. And so
t K started to come to my apartment every single night, right,
And we were still living in DC at the point,
(04:15):
and our goal is to try to take a step
every single day. And we I mean, as cluche as
it sounds like, you just look back at a certain
point you're like, wow, like we actually might be doing this.
He always wanted to work in finance, so he had
a job in that space. He quit his job though,
and the day after I graduated from law school, we got.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
In the car and moved to it lann along the
way again. Like building anything, I think people see those moments,
you know, they see the videos and the photos and
the Drakes and the Lebrons and all these moments that
have happened, right, but like even getting there, people don't understand. Man,
it takes a lot of nose to get to those yeses. Right, Like,
I'm sure you heard a lot of nose even in
what you've built today. Right when you go back and
(04:57):
look at it, like and try to really like this
thing to fruition.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I mean like those are part of the game.
I frankly, when we started, I was not prepared for them.
Right they were they were. There were emotional experiences for me,
like people would say no and I would really be
like what, like it was? It was hard, yeah, But
then I changed my mindset about it. Midway through the process.
We had pitched a bunch of folks and it just
wasn't going well. And at the same time, the number
(05:24):
was growing, right, so we thought we needed like a
million dollars. A million quickly became two million, and then
I remember I got the call and it was like, look,
for you to do this project the way that you're
talking about, it's gonna be north of three. And I
got some really important piece of advice. My parents are entrepreneurs,
so I called them, called my dad specifically, and it
was like, look, I don't know what we're looking at
right now. This number keeps getting larger and people keep
(05:46):
telling me that we should probably just scale back and
do whatever version it's possible we can get it out there.
And he was like, look, son, small ideas will keep
you small. You have to fight for the best possible
version of this idea, and so that at that was
a three million dollar version. We kept pitching counted right
at that point because we wanted to know how many
no's we were collecting. It was ninety seven straight nose
(06:09):
before the first person said yes. But look, as sad
as that sounds, genuinely, our mindset was, we're not the
ones that are crazy right now. These folks just don't
see it, and that, honestly is a good thing because
if they could see it, that means they probably have
seen it somewhere else in the world, and we're not
doing anything that's really that unique. So we were just
(06:30):
collecting them, right Like I would get a no and
then would flip in that conversation and be like, hey, thanks,
is there anybody that you would like would be interested
in referring me to? Most of the time people would
say yes. So like, once I stopped being emotional about it,
it really changed the entire process, and like we started
to get to some yesters and like, you really only
(06:51):
need one Again that's cliche too, but like you need
one yes, and that domino is oftentimes the only domino
that really matters in the early days. But I mean
I love that time period. I I miss just the
experience of being able to start and like not knowing
if it's going to Like for anybody that is in
that stage of the game, I know it's painful in
(07:14):
some parts, but like enjoy it as much as you can.
Because that first album energy, like you mentioned like the
Nicks on the bron that first album energy, like the
when you're trying to like prove it to the world
and yourself when you finally get it out, there is
nothing like that first album dropping to me and I
you know, There's been other stuff that's happened that I'm
(07:34):
excited about, but like not the first album right like that,
it doesn't nothing touches that experience.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, man, well, look, one thing to be excited about
is the Retreat you know, congratulates. I mean, and for
full disclosure, I am a member of the Gathering Spot.
I think I remember the Retreat eod, but like, how
did that like what's the vision behind that, Like how
did that come together?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
And why is that different from the original Gathering Spot.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I mean time and place? Right, So when we started
to mentioned it was a three million dollar project, and
for us that was like as much as we could
get our mind around. We've always though wanted the community
at TGS to have access to the best stuff, right,
So we're aware of all the other places that were
being built, right, but financially right it just like we
(08:20):
I mean, we were grateful to try to get to
the three million that I'm talking about. Some of our competitors, man,
they would open a project and put twenty forty one
hundred million in depending on where we're talking. And so
the Retreat for us is about now again a decade
in finding a location that really is world class. It's
(08:41):
a rooftop, it's got a pool, but it's like it's
it's great space. Now. The community, to me is what
makes TGS what it is, So that's what we're ultimately
focused on. But we want that community to be in
spaces that are inspiring to them and that are comparable
to anything that you're going to find out in the world.
And that's that's the retreat. So we're we're gonna open that.
(09:04):
We got the summer kind of lined up for a
bunch of cool activations and the plan is to continue
to build gathering spots and retreats, because the retreat for
us is the retreat for the gathering spot community. So
it's very well and its focused. Again, it's got the pool,
but like we're positioning this as an escape away from
the work and the hustle that happens in a lot
(09:25):
of the clubs on a daily basis. This is about
us just being able to sit back and connect with
one another.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Do you see this as like a potential model that
you could also do an other cities, because obviously I'll
have TGS locations in other cities. I mean I've been
to the openings in LA and DC myself, you know,
and those are amazing experiences. Like do you think that
there's an opportunity to kind of do something simile in
those other cities as well?
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah? No, absolutely, I Mean, like our interests at this point,
it's always going to be about community for us, right, So,
like we're trying to find yes spaces, right, but like
build experiences that help people connect with one of like
those those experience when we open DC in LA. Yeah,
Like it's one of those things again it's like you
don't really know what's happening when it's happening, but then
you look back and you're like, whoa, we really like
(10:07):
go over till where ADULTA played, flew all of our
folks in and had a weekend together. Like yeah, I
haven't seen anything like that since, right, So we have
that same sort of intensity and focus with the retreat.
We're gonna do some things up there. Like I don't
think people nothing new under the summer. We're gonna do
(10:27):
some things that haven't been seen in a minute.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
One of the things that's interesting too, just again like
being a member of TGS and also just is also
seeing some of the things that have come out of it.
It kind of makes me wonder like would some of
these businesses and companies even exist in the version they
do if like what you all built didn't exist. Like again,
I know I've spent many times there working on butter
and other things, you know, I know justin from Render,
you know, he launched Render there. Like what do you
(10:52):
think about when you just think about some of the
things that have kind of grown out of TGS.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
The first thing that comes to mind is like, I'm
really humbled by just even the fact that that's a
true statement, right, the fact that we can look at
an idea and say, no, there are legitimate businesses. There
are people that have found I was speaking at an
event a couple of weeks ago and learned of a
project that I had heard about before, but the founder
stopped me and he was like, my first ten thousand
(11:18):
dollars check. I got at the gathering spot and I'm like,
so there's all sorts of things that we don't even
know that have happened just because people have been able
to connect there. I never really fully could have predicted
just the diversity of those experiences, right, because yeah, it's
startup and tech stuff, but it's also like political stuff
and it's big business stuff. And like we've been able
(11:40):
to successfully have a little bit of everyone spend time
with one another. Youngest members twenty one, oldest is in Basador,
young who's ninety three, right, so everybody in between now
ten years of time of being able to connect with
one another. Yeah, there's I mean, there's all types of
stuff that's happened, and we've got I went to a
(12:01):
gathering spot, wedding. We've got gatherings about kids, truly. I mean,
like the wedding I went to last year. A TGS
member who was based in DC met a TGS member
based in Atlanta on the La trip. Okay, so they
met in Los Angeles and they got married last year.
I mean it's just like, yeah, I never fully could
(12:23):
have imagined, like when we started this, that it would
be able to become important, right because no matter what
happens to the business, those marriages, those businesses, like those relationships,
those things will go on for forever, which is dope.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah. I mean, Also, one of my favorite moments is
when the community really rallied around at that time counseling
Andre Dickens. I mean I remember seeing and again I
called him Dre still but yeah, you know I remember
saying like just hanging out and in the restaurant and
talking and all that stuff. And then you know there
was that moment I remember you hit me up and
like just the whole community came together and said, you
(12:57):
know what, we're all gonna get behind this person and
he'll help him get into worry you know, where he
needs to be as far as the mayor of Atlanta.
Now he is Mayor of Atlanta, you know, hopefully getting
ready to have a second term coming up soon. Like again,
like even situations like the head head is an announcement
his you know, acceptance speech essentially at TGS, Like like,
how does it even feel? Again, like knowing that you
all are not only just shaping business but also helping
(13:18):
shape politics.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
The political thing has always been important, right, Like, if
we're going to make a difference in the community, you've
got to talk to the people who are shaping the
policy and talking about what's going on. So I've always
taken that super seriously. And there's a lot of businesses
where that's like, you know, don't talk to the politician,
and I don't. I think it's all politics, right, like
everything it doesn't You could point to anything and like
(13:40):
there's a political decision that has influenced how this thing
got there or like how it was made. So like
we've got to lean into just participation but on the
personal side, right, to be able to watch people take
on different roles. I mean, in the case of the mayor, right,
like I'm you like I remember when he was the
(14:04):
highly effective member of the city council, right, and so
now all the time like I see, I mean I
saw the interview that you just did with him at
State Farm in front of a packed arena and I'm
like that that's drem for me. I met him at TGS, right, so,
like that's dre from the events at TGS. Like, wow,
(14:27):
that's also like the mayor of this city. You know,
it'll be a two term mayor here coming up. So
we have never shied away from it, and I believe
it is part of our responsibility to lean into the discussion.
I want to talk to these folks about why they
want to run, and then I want to bring them
back and hold them accountable to all of those discussions
(14:47):
that we had previously. Right, So we've been able to
do that on super local races like school board, I
mean here over the last couple of years, all the
way up to the presidency, right, so, I mean President
by Vice President Harris visited TGS many times, but they
were there to connect with the community. I Mean, one
of my favorite moments was watching President Biden was there
(15:10):
for something else. He just walked out into the dining
room and started having like one to one conversations with
members talking about what was going on. I'm like, we're
talking to the leader of the free world here that
in the gatherers bart right, that like we didn't even
know if we were gonna be able to have enough
money to build this place, and like Secret Service has
(15:31):
just locked this building down, right. It's just it's a
it's an interesting journey. But like I'm not I'm not,
I'm not playing in the political space. We're about to
like continue to make a big push there. There's a
lot on the line right now, and we really really
need good leaders that are genuinely seeking to make a
difference in the positions that they're seeking, and we've got
(15:53):
to inform that discourse. I think people get the Order
Operations wrong a lot, Like it's like a an idea
sometimes that the politicians should be delivering to us, which
is maybe okay part of it, but like I look
at it like we should be delivering what we want
to see to the politicians. And to do that, you
(16:14):
have to be a relationship with.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Them, Yeah, and you have to be active. You have
to help make sure get people in there that represent
you know, your needs and your community and your culture.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
That's why that's why I gain, That's why I love
the stuff that Dray does. Right, It's like he comes
from this community community, yea, and so he's going to
see it from a different perspective of somebody that you
know comes from somewhere else, and now you're trying to
convince them as to why they need to be supportive
or you know, get involved in something.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Totally a great I mean, look, I say this to
folks all the time. Politicians don't like old people, I
guess not a natural like old people vote right, like
seniors vote. And so we have to just use that
very simple frame and understand that if like all of us,
are engaged in the process, they're going to be paying
(16:55):
attention to the people that are there playing the game.
So TGS takes that responsibility seriously, and not everybody who's
always liked that. I mean that I kind of is
what it is to me. But if you're in business
and you're in a people business, you've got to be
talking about what's going on, and especially right now, like
(17:16):
right now is like the most critical time ever to
be very specifically focused on where are we at and
where are we going and bringing everybody to that table
to have the discussion.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
You build something that brings people together across all industries
and different identities and backgrounds and communities. But yeah, from
your seat, especially in Atlanta and in culture at at large.
I guess, like, where do you think things are right now?
Both cultural and economically.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Look, I pride myself being optimistic, right, so with any
of this stuff, right Like I again, there's a difference
to me about between like where we are and where
we have the potential to go to. Right, So there's
you know, there's the world as it is, and there's
the world as it could be. The world as it
is right now? To me, we've got some serious work
(18:19):
to do. I don't think that we've recovered coming out
of the pandemic, not from a culture or creativity since
from even like if you look at the businesses that
are being created, it's not the same as it was
right before the pandemic. I mean we were cooking, right,
I mean I think that's going to be seen as
one of the golden ages of Atlanta. I mean, yeah,
(18:41):
a ton of things like how long has butter been
in existence?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, we launched like twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
That was the window, right like that that window you
just saw so much stuff happening. No, a lot of
those efforts are still around, they're still going. We're here.
We need to continue to push the pace with with
new stuff, and I'm not seeing the same consistent like
we're not consistently producing you know, the same sort of
(19:10):
efforts at a at a clip that I'm comfortable with.
You add that plus like real economic pressure that we
don't really talk about in the way that I think
we need to. This is a tough moment, right, but
we'll be okay. I mean, I think what history shows us,
what are the overall tradition shows us that, like, we
will figure our way through. But you've got to acknowledge that,
(19:30):
like we're not at the top of the This isn't
the the best place that we could be in right now.
We've been in better, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
And I mean it's it's always interesting too because people
talk about, you know, Atlanta specifically is the Black mecca
and culture and all these opportunities. But yeah, when you
kind of start to peel the thing back a little
bit and ask yourself some hard questions like Okay, who
actually owns what out here? And you know, who's actually building,
who's actually in control, Where's where's the actual money coming from?
Like those answers aren't always the answers people want to see.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I don't one just this sounds sad but like again,
I think it's just a reality. So our new location,
you can see the entire city from Buckhead all the
way through downtown and beyond. And when I look at
that skyline and the community that I serve the most,
or I'm focused on Black folks, nobody black owns most
(20:22):
or any of that skyline. So here we are right
in a culture capital, in a what is seen as
a black mecca. But if they just look at the dirt, right,
like we're not, We're not owning much of any of
the dirt, right. We can do that same sort of
analysis across category. And that is what makes this moment scary.
(20:45):
So no, we're not any less creative than we've ever been.
But there's being creative and then there's the business of creativity, right,
and unfortunately here those checks aren't aren't the same. I mean,
we have a location in LA. It's obvious, right when
someone is thinking about doing even an event in Atlanta,
you get in Atlanta budget, which is very different than
(21:08):
an LA budget, despite talking to very similar audiences. Right,
So like the business of how the city moves right now,
we've got to continue to shine a spotlight on that.
A lot of our creatives are as capable, more capable producing.
I would argue, the best stuff that you're going to
(21:28):
find the cash that's in the city tied to that
doesn't match at all. And so I mean, again, if
we're going to get to where we need to go,
we've got to acknowledge that fact. And there's some work
to do on all sides, but like, simply acknowledging that
reality is the first step to me. And we get
so caught up in these narratives of like, oh no,
(21:49):
we've got it all figured out here in Atlanta, and
it's like we've got the number one income inequality in
the country right now. We don't have it figured out now. Look,
I love this the city tremendously, right, But because I
love it, like, I've got to talk about how how
it could be better every single day. And I've got
kids here, man, my kids are I want to stay here,
(22:10):
but I want them to be in a version of
Atlanta that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah. I was talking to Milton Little, CEO of United Way, right,
and I think he said something on the lines of, yeah,
from an upper mobility standpoint in Atlanta, Yeah, you know,
if you're born in poverty, there's like over a ninety
percent chance that you will stay in that for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
There are a lot of terrible stats like that. I mean,
life inspectancy on north side of town is like ten
years more than the south side of town, like miles
away from one another. We're not talking about like like that.
This is I mean barely hitting traffic distances and yeah,
total differences in life expectancy. Where I spend most time
is in the small business kind of part of this conversation.
(22:49):
Ninety six percent of our businesses don't employ anyone, right,
So if you think about what happens when a community
doesn't have the ability to employ itself, terrible consequences. Right,
Like you, you're not able to impact the community in
the same way. And really everyone is dependent upon either
government or the rest of the private sector to supply
(23:10):
nearly all of the jobs. Right, So we've got to
talk about this stuff differently, not as a point of shame, right,
Like I've said this that before and people are like,
what are you trying to say about I'm trying to
say anything about your business. I'm trying to say that,
like we zoom out, ninety six percent of the companies
not employing us, not one person, is not a sustainable
(23:32):
statistic for us as a culture capital like that, that
isn't something that we can continue to just be okay
with you add that plus some other stuff. I mean,
I saw stat a couple of months ago forty three
percent of black at lantn's have delinquent debt, not debt
like delinquent debt. So we start adding this all together.
(23:54):
We've got businesses that don't employ anyone right, one hundred percent,
reliant on nearly everyone else for all employment opportunities, and
almost half of the population has money that's owed somewhere.
There is a path forward, but like that is our
reality right now.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
It's interesting, man, Like you hear about, you know, black
businesses being under capitalized all the time, Like we hear
those stats. But the thing I always wonder about is like,
what would radical support for these businesses look like?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Like, what would it look like if Yeah, like you know,
you made an interesting point me.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
We were talking offline and you said, you know, the
stuff we do with like with butter dust four a
four day with a four four collective is amazing. But
you were like, well, what if y'all had the budget
of a Coachella, and even for me, it kind of
you know, there are certain questions that kind of like
break your frame for a second. You're like, well, damn,
what if we did have that budget for a Coachella, Right, Like,
what would radical support look like in a city like
Atlanta if we could actually get access to that kind
(24:50):
of capital and really build up the kind of businesses
and infrastructure that reflect what we talk about Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Is the good news if we were able to get
to this place, is that genuinely a lot of people
would be able to participate in the win. I think
part of the reason why we don't get there is
that people assume that that would be a brand in
win and it's like, no, no, no, that like cool, like
and actually yeah, like it should be a brand and
win like you thought of something, You've produced, something that
(25:17):
the city appreciates, and like you should reap all of
the rewards for that accomplishment, Right. But I think it's
also fair to say that if we could get four
or four a day to be Coachella esque, think about
the small businesses that benefit. Think about all the jobs
that would be created in that effort, right, Just like
all of the things that would be necessary in order
to make that statement a true statement are a ton
(25:40):
of people that is a net positive impact, right. That
is that is truly like everyone is going to get
a piece of this pie situation. And that's how we
have to think about what support. We're in a really
really weird spot with support where we like kind of
hold it as this like chip in our pocket and
like I don't I don't know if I'm gonna pull
(26:02):
it out and supports you and it's like no, no, like,
like think about that differently. Support actually is not only
just helpful to you the individual, but it is helpful
to the community because it is helpful to you the
like Yeah, it truly is a collective, collective thing, and
I think we talk about it like it's it's very
(26:22):
like one directional, like I'm I love what you're building here, right,
but like this platform continuing to grow is beneficial to me.
I want to see I want to see this happen genuinely,
like like that that that that is helpful to this
entire ecosystem to watch you continue to to scale this thing.
(26:42):
Any other version of this conversation to me doesn't make
any sense. It doesn't at all, right, and like so
I being a supportive of one another. I think we
make it like it's some hard. We accept impossible things
all the time, like especially right now, like we we
have companies telling us every single day. Where this really
(27:04):
clicked in for me. I remember when Amazon said that
they were about to do the drones to drop packages,
and I was like, if we really accept that a
company is going to drop a package at our door
like jets and style, all of what I just talked
about is far from impossible, right, Like if you look
at all the advanswers that are happening in technology with
AI right now, we've accepted that, like we don't know
(27:25):
if the music we're listening to any copy that we're reading,
Like we don't know if any of this stuff is
actually going to be created by people anymore. But like
the idea for for being Coachella esque is like that's
the impossible people, No, Like that's totally possible. What actually
is crazy is that I can put four words into
(27:46):
an app and it create like a whole video experience.
For me, that to me is where I'm like living
in the twilight zone, not watching companies grow. So you've
got to talk about it with a spirit of possibility,
and I believe that it's more than possible, like it
should be what we're triving to do.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Why do you think it's so hard for like us
to talk about some of these things publicly, because again
only outside you know, when I look, I go out,
people having a good time. I see everybody partying every weekend.
We talk about just you know, everybody's got nice cars
out here. But a lot of these businesses, you know,
even there, they're struggling. And I'm sure you see a
lot of these from your perspective as well.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
We got to we have to have some more spaces
to get to know one another, right, so that there's trust,
and then with trust you are able to have a
real conversation. I think that the fact that there's all
of these kind of images out there that don't actually
represent the reality of what's happening, why those are so prominent,
is that like that lets me know that a community
fully isn't in sync with one another, because if we
(28:44):
were talking to one another, the type of conversation we
would be having would be very different, right. It wouldn't
be about trying to stone on one another. It would
be like, how can I help you? Right, I heard X, Y,
and Z is happening. Is there a way for us
to be supportive? Right, like genuinely supportive? So I try
not to pay attention to all that stuff because to me,
(29:04):
it's not even important to shame the folks that make
that sort of content so much. Is that, Like I
want to be clear that, like the reality is not
that it's not even the reality for those people. The
reality really is that we're all trying to figure it out,
like every single day we don't know, right, the people
that you admire, they don't know. They woke up this
(29:27):
morning just like you and are trying to figure out
how to make that thing more of a reality. Now,
there may be some people that are three steps ahead
because they started. And this is the other thing that
there's a lot of times forgotten. You've been at this
for almost a decade. Yeah, right, so people experiencing you
now with some overnight no thing.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
It's like.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
At night, but not overnight, right, Like this has happened long,
long nights. But like, so keep that context and know
And I don't feel like even saying going on a
limits not even the right way to frame that every
day you're trying to figure it out. Every day I
am trying to figure it out. I've made a crazy
number of mistakes, right Like, probably have a mistake that's
(30:10):
being made like right now is we're having this conversation
like it happens all the time. My job every single day, though,
is to just stay rooted in the idea that like,
I'm not having a unique experience. I'm just like everybody
else right now, doing the best that I can. The
more that we can acknowledge that in one another have
some grace we live in. I mean, like the amount
(30:33):
of hate that we are very comfortable sharing about and
even to one another should not be normalized. It's like
it's not a normal thing to start to just critique
openly thing. Now, look, we should hold people accountable. If
somebody does something wrong, we should absolutely talk about that.
(30:53):
But you look at half the time what we spend
time talking about it isn't some like deep dark It's
a lot of times a person that tried a thing
and it didn't go exactly how they planned, but they
had it, they did it in good faith, and we
should say, hey, look that wasn't that wasn't really what
we were looking for. You didn't really handle that the
right way, but like, keep going because we need to
(31:16):
see you be successful. I appreciate every single person that
has given us that opportunity. Made a mistake, but I've
been able to look them in the eyes said I
didn't mean to do that. I'm genuinely sorry about it.
Give me an opportunity to have an opportunity. I will
put my best foot forward. Thank god. There have been
a lot of people that have been able to say,
all right, cool, like let's try it again. If we
(31:37):
all moved more like that, you would see people have, frankly,
just even the confidence to get in the game, which
a lot of people don't even want to play. They
don't even want to try those stuff because they read
these things.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
And they're like and they know they know that if
you if not even if you fail, but they know
that there are people out there that'll take any little
hiccup and hold it up as if you had some
level like maliceon tent behind it.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
I don't want to deal with that.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Man.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
They're very talented people that are like, I don't want
to sign up for that. I want my idea out
in the world. I'm really And so there's some people
that would hear me say that and be like, oh, well,
that's what you sign up for. Why why have we
accepted that that's what you're signing up for if you
are trying to put an idea out in the world
that you have to take hatred. Now, I think we
can acknowledge a lot of people just seem to carry
(32:23):
that with them. But like, I'm not going to normalize
that as like the expected and almost right response to
I want to see people, especially here in Atlanta, do well,
and that is not some altruistic thing. I want to
live in a city where people are doing it well, right,
(32:43):
Like that is a better place for me and my
family if you and your family and everyone that is
listening to this their families are doing better. But that's
not going to happen by osmosis. And that's a mistake
we make a lot here, Like we think it's we
just you know, hit like enough times that like all
(33:04):
of a sudden, that's how platforms grow. And it's like, no,
it takes real intentionality, Like it takes like you have
to you have to like will that into existence, not
just all right, good luck. That version of our support
in Atlanta to me has to die, which is very common.
You know, we'll see a thing, congratulations, go eat there
(33:25):
like this weekend, right, like like someone dropped a product, like,
go buy it. Yeah right. I mean We've had a
bunch of friends over the last several months write books,
Go buy them, and yes, go spend the rest of
the year trying to read them all but like, go
buy them. I got a stash right now of books
that like, I absolutely intend to read. But what was
(33:46):
more important is that I know that sales of these
books are they need to happen. Yeah, and I could
I could, unfortunately in a position to make that purchase.
So let like that's what supported is. It's not these
grand acts we don't need. It's not billboard work. It's
just I see what you're doing. I'm gonna pull up
at it and spend whatever, a couple of dollars that
(34:08):
I have to make that thing be more successful. And
I'm genuinely interested in watching you. I'm not threatened or
or like anything by watching anything else grow, because that
is what is good for the for us collectively, and
that that's what's most important, especially in moments like right now,
you're not you haven't been interested in collective action before,
(34:30):
Like this is the probably the best moment in your
lifetime to go ahead and jump into the to the game.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
I had an interesting perspective from a friend of minees
that you know, even when you think about it, for us,
a lot of us again we're first generational still, you
know what I mean when it comes to just access
to these things and resources, Like I know, for me,
my mom grew up still drinking out of black only
water fountains in Alabama. And so again when you think
(35:05):
about these things, like it's not like these were hundreds
of generations hundreds of years ago, generations ago, we're still there,
but like now we're the adults now, and so we
now have to like start to set up that next generation.
So we got to give ourselves a little bit of grace,
but we also got to be honest about where we are,
like how we can move forward?
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Right It's I had a similar comment the zact same
comment I was. I was having lunch with THEMANI who
is the great founder of Founder Culture con and she
said that at lunch, she was like, oh, is it
crazy that like we're the adults now and it hit
I was like, I was kind of enjoyed being a kid.
I really thought about it that way. But no, this
(35:42):
is this is the moment, genuinely where we've got to
step up and and participate. And I'm not trying to
boil the ocean. I think sometimes when you talk about
these topics, they just feel like really big and you know,
very grandiose, like like what really does it look like?
It looks like a lot of things. It looks like
calling your friend today and asking them how they're doing.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Right.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
It looks like finding a business that you want to
see continue to make it in the neighborhood. And my
least favorite things beat on the internet and we will
get the announcement of a business closing and people in
the comments are like, oh, I go go, it's not
that complicated. What happened? They weren't making enough money in
order to make that location viable. So like, if you
(36:26):
love a thing and it exists right now, go buy
that thing if you can. And look, I get it's
not every day, right, but like it doesn't need to
be every day. It just it needs to be all
of us consistently just trying our best, which the data
shows us. This is where opinions stop. The data shows
us that's not that's not how we're playing the game
(36:46):
right now. We allow things to just kind of sit
out there. I don't think we're wishing ill right on
a lot of these efforts, but we're not like doing
anything to make them successful. Like, and I think that
has to be the added Like I am going to
be a part of like willing this thing to a championship,
and my little piece of it isn't going to be
(37:08):
the piece, which again that's a lot of times the fallacy.
You don't have to be the the fifty percent kind
of participant in the process. The point five percent like mattered.
But to your point around you know, first gen and
second gen money, another tough conversation is that, like, especially
in the black community, there are a handful of second
(37:32):
and third generation situations. Anybody that you think has money
just got it. We're just like like and relatively speaking,
they probably don't even have that much of it, right,
I mean, respectfully, I don't like only problems, but like,
this is first gen cash. I mean I remember I
(37:53):
was sitting at a bank man, they were like, what
do you want your Atlanta legacy to be filling ropically.
And we were having this conversation like near Thanksgiving, and
I was like, respectfully, when I go to Thanksgiving in
a couple of weeks, there's poverty at that table, at
my table, at my fit like in my family right now.
(38:16):
So I can't sit here and have a conversation with
you about my my lifetime legacy. Like I get where
I get where this question comes from, but like in
my situation right now, by family situation, should we just
got here wherever? Here is so like and there's a
lot of work to still still do to get to
this place where we can start talking generationally and like
(38:40):
for for generations you know, I yet seen and all
that like generations. Yeah see, I'm talking about generations that
are like.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Yeah, that's about generational wealth. We talk about like right
now we're.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Talking about like like like yeah, like not even like
right now, but like right right now, like like and
so you know, I mean it's okay for us to
take a step back and be like, look, where we
are in the city is great, it could be better,
and we need to be setting up those second and
third generation opportunities. My kids need to take this baton
and be able to push it further and what conditions
(39:14):
need to be in place in order to make that
a true statement. But me falling in love with an
idea that actually is a myth isn't going to help
to facilitate that, right. So, I mean we're doing some
of us, which is a big the double underline the
sum are doing a little bit better, and we have
a responsibility to make sure that some more of us
(39:38):
are too, because this is no fun standing in the
in the It's not the old analogy like standing in
the club by yourself. Yeah, do you want to be
the person that's either paying for all of the bottles
that are coming or in the section solo? Or do
you want to be able to invite your community to
be able to have that experience with you. I think
(39:59):
that's the model that makes it.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yeah. Man.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
Now on the flip side, what do you you know?
What are you seeing in Atlanta and in culture? It
gives you hope, right, Like who's who's.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Getting it right? Like?
Speaker 3 (40:08):
What makes what are you seeing? It makes you feel like,
you know, we can get this thing right again and
get this back on track.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
The creativity has always been here and there's the same
people that have been building for a long time. We're
still building, right, So I'm excited about that, right, Like,
and that community knows each other. A lot of cities
do not. So what gives me hope here is that,
like you can get if I look at just like
even the guests on this platform, that's Atlanta. I don't
(40:33):
think you could do that in any other city, from
elected officials to folks that are leading really big businesses,
the people that are leading small ones, people like in
creative field.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Like.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Our superpower in Atlanta is the ability to be able
to do that, right, know each other across lines that
most other cities, those lines are never crossed. Right. We
do something really really difficult here, the big business CEO
types know the small business owners. That sounds basic, but
(41:03):
it does not happen in other cities. It just doesn't occur, right,
So we have the ingredients here and this to me
is one of the more important cities in the world
right now. We just have to put some more intention
around the together in this piece of it, like like
being very specific about how that works every day, and
to me, Atlanta it becomes will continue to be one
(41:25):
of the more consequential places around. We have the mathematics
here though to make that true. And other way there's
that other places don't. Man o, these cities you go to,
they're trying to figure out the basics of the how
they're gonna get the economy to work. We can't decide
if we're a fintech capital, like a startup capital, a
music capital, film Like we're fighting about like what actually
(41:46):
is the industry of the town where all these other
cities are, Like we need an industry. That's what gives
me a ton of hope, right because like it's it's in.
The ingredients are sitting here on the table. Got we
gotta go bake the cake.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Yeah. I always, you know, think about and talk about
kind of like Atlanta's things are still possible, Like it's
not perfect, but there's still possible. Like the beautiful example
I kind of give is the four or four day
parade we just pulled off. I was talking to my
daughter about this. I said, I had that idea a
year ago. Started with an idea, and because I have
a relationship with the mayor's office and the mayor hit
(42:22):
him up. He was like, let's make it happen now again.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
I paid for it.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
We get it clear, But I said, how difficult would
it have been? How possible would it have been to
do that same thing in a year in any other
major city.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
I'm betting I'm not betting that happens.
Speaker 3 (42:38):
Yeah, in LA, in New York, in Chicago, like, there's
no way that we could have possibly organized that kind
of event shut down the main street downtown and had
the mayor and everybody else out. And again that's where
I think you see the possibility of like what Atlanta
really and truly.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Is, man, you know, like for the Prey was dope,
But like I saw the conversation that you hosted and
all the creatives you brought together at State Farm. I
haven't seen that at Staples or whatever's called whatever called
or something like there's one of them for me, things
about Diehard. That's that's what with respect, right, Like there's
(43:18):
a lot of dem things that are happened in LA,
but like I haven't seen that. I can't point to
another city in the country where you're like the arena,
right like, which for us is like, oh that State Farm,
Like there are people in most of these other cities
that like have never been to the Garden, right have
never thought about going to I mean, like, what makes
(43:40):
Atlanta special is that it is accessible in some way,
shape or form. It's not perfect, but it like the
fact that, like you can see that as a as
a reality in this city to me is like that's
incredible that that's like a true statement. I watched somebody
that I see in my community show up and put
and take over the arena. It's like what I'm saying
(44:01):
with also the plane, It's like, only in Atlanta can
you call people at a major airline at a fortune
five and be like, hey, I need a plane and
to be like you to be clear, I pay for it,
but like I need a plane. That that is uniquely
what Atlanta is able to produce, and like we can't
forget that either, Like that that's what makes the city.
(44:23):
I'm not going I will never go anywhere, right, but
like it's this is a preservation project, right, So you
can't just fall in love with this version of it
because it's like anything in the start of life, right, Like,
there has to be some movement. So we've got to
continue to talk about what does that movement need to
be and who needs to be a part of that
conversation and for me, it a lot of it gets
(44:45):
down to the math. I just want folks to be
able to survive here, and it's it's not impossible. I
mean we're here, right, but like I think there's ways
for us to make.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
It a.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Little bit easier for a lot of people to enjoy
this experience.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, man, look before we get out of this has
been an amazing conversation. Again, Like we know all the
stuff you do with TGS and just all the connections
you have to entrepreneur, small business, politicians, just people up
and down kind of that you know, ecosystem of culture
and capital. Right, Like if somebody's listening to this and
they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed or just like unsure about
(45:19):
like what their next move is, like, what would you
say to them right now?
Speaker 1 (45:23):
I say two quick things. First, that experience is not
that different, right, Like embrace that, right that like not
being sure, feeling like you're not the right person, maybe
underestimating your qualifications. Like I've had the privilege, as you mentioned,
of meeting some of the biggest names of our time,
(45:44):
but when you actually talk to those folks, they talk
about the same things. They're having that same very human
experience of being like and now, look the stakes might
be a little bit different, right, everything is relative, but
like they're fundamentally experiencing the same emotions. I don't know
if I can get another championship, I don't know if
I can get my music back out there. Like it's
the same sort of fundamentals, right, but behind that, I
(46:08):
would say, genuinely, the world in this city, like we
need you to produce that thing. So like, please, there's
never gonna be perfect circumstances. You're never gonna have the
right amount of money, the weather's never gonna be the
it's not gonna be the I think sometimes people want
like birds chirping blue skies and like that's the day
to get started. That day's not coming today is here, though,
(46:30):
so like go make that thing happen and know that,
like you're in a context, especially if you're in Atlanta,
where people will will applaud and be excited to see
you you try, right, And so I mean, my my
biggest thing with TGS is like if we could have
an opportunity to have an opportunity, what a blessing that is?
(46:50):
If you have an opportunity to have one go try
to make that thing happen. A lot of times the
downsides aren't that they're not as scary as probably what
they feel like right now.
Speaker 3 (46:59):
Absolutely, well, look Ryan man, this is great man. Before
we get out of here, just I'm sure people some
people know. But for those that don't, Man, tell them
all the things. How can they support you? The gathering spot,
the retreat, how can they get involved in all the
different stuff you got going on.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
We're easy to find. We're at the gathering spot on everything.
We're a membership community, right so if you're interested in
becoming a member, go to the Gatheringspot, dot club or
find us on social It's pretty easy from there to
get in touch with us. I'm easy to find online
to Ryan Wilson on everything and on a certain platform
spot on ourw But like, we're not that difficult to
connect with. If you have an event or an experience
(47:32):
or thing that you want to just you need support
on give us a shout. That's what this business was
created to do. But I appreciate, I mean, in conclusion
and conclusion here to you and everybody that's been a
part of this experience. If you've attended an event, if
you've been a member of the club, I don't care
how you've connected with us. Thank you. It is still
(47:53):
surreal to me every single day. We a lot of
some of the big names that have come through TGS
what comes up, But it's those small moments just watching
people like sit at the bar and like talk with
one another, and I'm like, Wow, I'm really really grateful.
I've only had one job. This has been the only
thing that I've ever done professionally, so I really do
appreciate the opportunity to talk about it and for everybody
(48:15):
that comes.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Absolutely, man, well, thank you for all you're doing.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Thank you for what you're putting out there into the
culture to make these opportunities available and giving us a
place to gather. Man, we appreciate it all the season.
With that said, we out. That's the pod. You've been
listening to button Nomics and IM your host Brandon Butler.
Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show? Send
us an email today at hello at butteronomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by
(48:40):
Ksey Pegram, with marketing support from Queen and Nikki. Music
provided by mister Hanky if you haven't already, hit that
subscribe button and never missed an episode, and be sure
to follow us on all our social platforms at butter
dot Atl. Listen to button Nomics on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Oount count
(49:01):
pump count out,
In my situation right now, my family situation. Shoot, we
just got here wherever here is so like and there's
a lot of work to still do to get to
this place where we can start talking generationally and like
for for generations. You know, I yet seen and all
that like a generations. Yeah, see, I'm talking about generations
that are like yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's like about generational wealth. We talking about like right now, We're.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Talking about like like like yeah, like not even like
right now, but like right right now, like like my
kids need to take this baton and be able to
push it further.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Everybody, Welcome to another episode of butter Nomics Amia. Host
Brandon Butler found the CEO of Butter atl and today
we got a special guest in the building, really special
guests in the building. One of the man who's literally
just bringing everybody together, the founder, co founder of the
Gathering Spot CEO, mister Ryan Wilson.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Ryan, how you doing, Bro, I'm doing great. It's good
to see you too.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Man. It's good to see you outside of TGS for
a minutes. It's good to see outside of ts. I
wonder man, you had like a bed in there or something.
I know they got like a little one.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Mistake I made. Man, we didn't build any like any
place to sleep, so I have taken a nap in there,
but it's not it's not official designated space, which I regret.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah, Man, I imagine that you had like an office
like a pastor to church or something like that, where
you know, you can just kind of like go in
the back and just but no, you got to actually
leave at certain times.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I do these days, life has changed a little bit.
In the early days, I truly we were there. Yeah,
if you know early gathering spot, we were there. I
have spent the night inside of TGS many nights.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, that was what it launched, you know, twenty sixteen, right,
twenty sixteen, Man, what do you remember about that time?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
There was a lot of energy. Man, we didn't know,
Like I'm grateful for that time period because we didn't
know what to be afraid of, right, So it was
just pure and we were just pushing, matching the gas,
trying to go as fast as we could go. And
I hadn't lived in Atlanta at that point in almost
eight years, right, so like coming back to the city,
(01:57):
just meeting people in rapid fire. Right, So I was
twenty four in the Gathering Spy Open. Looking back on
that time now, it's just like I can't I cannot
believe that all that's happened over the last almost decade
we've had the opportunity to do. But that time period
was just trying to make it happen. We didn't have
(02:17):
a lot of resources when we started, and so you
had a hustle.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
May I always remember.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I've seen I think the letter that you wrote the
TK about the idea in the beginning. I think it
was always interesting too, Like I've read like the letter
from the original founders like Airbnb, and like it's always
interesting right to see like what idea like started a thing?
Like when you what do you remember about writing that letter?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It came out of a real moment of urgency and paining. Frankly,
I was in law school, so quethbacks. I grew up
mostly in Atlanta, went to school in DC and was
in law school and so was doing some community organizing work.
To make a long story short, when George Zimmerman was
acquitted of Trevon Martin's murdered I got an email from
(03:00):
some friends that was like, Hey, what are we going
to do? And I responded back, saying like, we need
a physical spot to have this conversation. So I wrote
a paragraph I said to one group of friends, and
then I sent it to TK and I was like, look,
I think this is a business. Helped me build a
business model to make this thing in reality. And that
was a summer of twenty thirteen, so I haven't done
anything else. I graduated from law school in fifteen. We
(03:22):
started construction that year, and.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So you were literally on track to be a lawyer,
be an attorney, and all of a sudden you just
had this idea based on this moment in time, this
moment in culture, and everything just kind of change.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, I always I mean the reason why I wanted
to go to law school was that I thought that
was the best way to be helpful, right, and I
thought that I could use the law to change the
things that I wanted to change. It wasn't until I
got to law school that I was like, I don't
know if I want my work to be focused in
this way every single day. And so when Zimmer was acquitted,
(03:53):
it was like, well, what do I want to do.
I want to like, I want to bring people together.
I want to talk about how like how we're doing
first and then don't want figure out what we're gonna
do about this, but like we need a space to
have this conversation. Yeah, it was a really really simple idea,
but that was what kicked off the process. And so
t K started to come to my apartment every single night, right,
And we were still living in DC at the point,
(04:15):
and our goal is to try to take a step
every single day. And we I mean, as cluche as
it sounds like, you just look back at a certain
point you're like, wow, like we actually might be doing this.
He always wanted to work in finance, so he had
a job in that space. He quit his job though,
and the day after I graduated from law school, we got.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
In the car and moved to it lann along the
way again. Like building anything, I think people see those moments,
you know, they see the videos and the photos and
the Drakes and the Lebrons and all these moments that
have happened, right, but like even getting there, people don't understand. Man,
it takes a lot of nose to get to those yeses. Right, Like,
I'm sure you heard a lot of nose even in
what you've built today. Right when you go back and
(04:57):
look at it, like and try to really like this
thing to fruition.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I mean like those are part of the game.
I frankly, when we started, I was not prepared for them.
Right they were they were. There were emotional experiences for me,
like people would say no and I would really be
like what, like it was? It was hard, yeah, But
then I changed my mindset about it. Midway through the process.
We had pitched a bunch of folks and it just
wasn't going well. And at the same time, the number
(05:24):
was growing, right, so we thought we needed like a
million dollars. A million quickly became two million, and then
I remember I got the call and it was like, look,
for you to do this project the way that you're
talking about, it's gonna be north of three. And I
got some really important piece of advice. My parents are entrepreneurs,
so I called them, called my dad specifically, and it
was like, look, I don't know what we're looking at
right now. This number keeps getting larger and people keep
(05:46):
telling me that we should probably just scale back and
do whatever version it's possible we can get it out there.
And he was like, look, son, small ideas will keep
you small. You have to fight for the best possible
version of this idea, and so that at that was
a three million dollar version. We kept pitching counted right
at that point because we wanted to know how many
no's we were collecting. It was ninety seven straight nose
(06:09):
before the first person said yes. But look, as sad
as that sounds, genuinely, our mindset was, we're not the
ones that are crazy right now. These folks just don't
see it, and that, honestly is a good thing because
if they could see it, that means they probably have
seen it somewhere else in the world, and we're not
doing anything that's really that unique. So we were just
(06:30):
collecting them, right Like I would get a no and
then would flip in that conversation and be like, hey, thanks,
is there anybody that you would like would be interested
in referring me to? Most of the time people would
say yes. So like, once I stopped being emotional about it,
it really changed the entire process, and like we started
to get to some yesters and like, you really only
(06:51):
need one Again that's cliche too, but like you need
one yes, and that domino is oftentimes the only domino
that really matters in the early days. But I mean
I love that time period. I I miss just the
experience of being able to start and like not knowing
if it's going to Like for anybody that is in
that stage of the game, I know it's painful in
(07:14):
some parts, but like enjoy it as much as you can.
Because that first album energy, like you mentioned like the
Nicks on the bron that first album energy, like the
when you're trying to like prove it to the world
and yourself when you finally get it out, there is
nothing like that first album dropping to me and I
you know, There's been other stuff that's happened that I'm
(07:34):
excited about, but like not the first album right like that,
it doesn't nothing touches that experience.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, man, well, look, one thing to be excited about
is the Retreat you know, congratulates. I mean, and for
full disclosure, I am a member of the Gathering Spot.
I think I remember the Retreat eod, but like, how
did that like what's the vision behind that, Like how
did that come together?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
And why is that different from the original Gathering Spot.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I mean time and place? Right, So when we started
to mentioned it was a three million dollar project, and
for us that was like as much as we could
get our mind around. We've always though wanted the community
at TGS to have access to the best stuff, right,
So we're aware of all the other places that were
being built, right, but financially right it just like we
(08:20):
I mean, we were grateful to try to get to
the three million that I'm talking about. Some of our competitors, man,
they would open a project and put twenty forty one
hundred million in depending on where we're talking. And so
the Retreat for us is about now again a decade
in finding a location that really is world class. It's
(08:41):
a rooftop, it's got a pool, but it's like it's
it's great space. Now. The community, to me is what
makes TGS what it is, So that's what we're ultimately
focused on. But we want that community to be in
spaces that are inspiring to them and that are comparable
to anything that you're going to find out in the world.
And that's that's the retreat. So we're we're gonna open that.
(09:04):
We got the summer kind of lined up for a
bunch of cool activations and the plan is to continue
to build gathering spots and retreats, because the retreat for
us is the retreat for the gathering spot community. So
it's very well and its focused. Again, it's got the pool,
but like we're positioning this as an escape away from
the work and the hustle that happens in a lot
(09:25):
of the clubs on a daily basis. This is about
us just being able to sit back and connect with
one another.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Do you see this as like a potential model that
you could also do an other cities, because obviously I'll
have TGS locations in other cities. I mean I've been
to the openings in LA and DC myself, you know,
and those are amazing experiences. Like do you think that
there's an opportunity to kind of do something simile in
those other cities as well?
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah? No, absolutely, I Mean, like our interests at this point,
it's always going to be about community for us, right, So,
like we're trying to find yes spaces, right, but like
build experiences that help people connect with one of like
those those experience when we open DC in LA. Yeah,
Like it's one of those things again it's like you
don't really know what's happening when it's happening, but then
you look back and you're like, whoa, we really like
(10:07):
go over till where ADULTA played, flew all of our
folks in and had a weekend together. Like yeah, I
haven't seen anything like that since, right, So we have
that same sort of intensity and focus with the retreat.
We're gonna do some things up there. Like I don't
think people nothing new under the summer. We're gonna do
(10:27):
some things that haven't been seen in a minute.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
One of the things that's interesting too, just again like
being a member of TGS and also just is also
seeing some of the things that have come out of it.
It kind of makes me wonder like would some of
these businesses and companies even exist in the version they
do if like what you all built didn't exist. Like again,
I know I've spent many times there working on butter
and other things, you know, I know justin from Render,
you know, he launched Render there. Like what do you
(10:52):
think about when you just think about some of the
things that have kind of grown out of TGS.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
The first thing that comes to mind is like, I'm
really humbled by just even the fact that that's a
true statement, right, the fact that we can look at
an idea and say, no, there are legitimate businesses. There
are people that have found I was speaking at an
event a couple of weeks ago and learned of a
project that I had heard about before, but the founder
stopped me and he was like, my first ten thousand
(11:18):
dollars check. I got at the gathering spot and I'm like,
so there's all sorts of things that we don't even
know that have happened just because people have been able
to connect there. I never really fully could have predicted
just the diversity of those experiences, right, because yeah, it's
startup and tech stuff, but it's also like political stuff
and it's big business stuff. And like we've been able
(11:40):
to successfully have a little bit of everyone spend time
with one another. Youngest members twenty one, oldest is in Basador,
young who's ninety three, right, so everybody in between now
ten years of time of being able to connect with
one another. Yeah, there's I mean, there's all types of
stuff that's happened, and we've got I went to a
(12:01):
gathering spot, wedding. We've got gatherings about kids, truly. I mean,
like the wedding I went to last year. A TGS
member who was based in DC met a TGS member
based in Atlanta on the La trip. Okay, so they
met in Los Angeles and they got married last year.
I mean it's just like, yeah, I never fully could
(12:23):
have imagined, like when we started this, that it would
be able to become important, right because no matter what
happens to the business, those marriages, those businesses, like those relationships,
those things will go on for forever, which is dope.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah. I mean, Also, one of my favorite moments is
when the community really rallied around at that time counseling
Andre Dickens. I mean I remember seeing and again I
called him Dre still but yeah, you know I remember
saying like just hanging out and in the restaurant and
talking and all that stuff. And then you know there
was that moment I remember you hit me up and
like just the whole community came together and said, you
(12:57):
know what, we're all gonna get behind this person and
he'll help him get into worry you know, where he
needs to be as far as the mayor of Atlanta.
Now he is Mayor of Atlanta, you know, hopefully getting
ready to have a second term coming up soon. Like again,
like even situations like the head head is an announcement
his you know, acceptance speech essentially at TGS, Like like,
how does it even feel? Again, like knowing that you
all are not only just shaping business but also helping
(13:18):
shape politics.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
The political thing has always been important, right, Like, if
we're going to make a difference in the community, you've
got to talk to the people who are shaping the
policy and talking about what's going on. So I've always
taken that super seriously. And there's a lot of businesses
where that's like, you know, don't talk to the politician,
and I don't. I think it's all politics, right, like
everything it doesn't You could point to anything and like
(13:40):
there's a political decision that has influenced how this thing
got there or like how it was made. So like
we've got to lean into just participation but on the
personal side, right, to be able to watch people take
on different roles. I mean, in the case of the mayor, right,
like I'm you like I remember when he was the
(14:04):
highly effective member of the city council, right, and so
now all the time like I see, I mean I
saw the interview that you just did with him at
State Farm in front of a packed arena and I'm
like that that's drem for me. I met him at TGS, right, so,
like that's dre from the events at TGS. Like, wow,
(14:27):
that's also like the mayor of this city. You know,
it'll be a two term mayor here coming up. So
we have never shied away from it, and I believe
it is part of our responsibility to lean into the discussion.
I want to talk to these folks about why they
want to run, and then I want to bring them
back and hold them accountable to all of those discussions
(14:47):
that we had previously. Right, So we've been able to
do that on super local races like school board, I
mean here over the last couple of years, all the
way up to the presidency, right, so, I mean President
by Vice President Harris visited TGS many times, but they
were there to connect with the community. I Mean, one
of my favorite moments was watching President Biden was there
(15:10):
for something else. He just walked out into the dining
room and started having like one to one conversations with
members talking about what was going on. I'm like, we're
talking to the leader of the free world here that
in the gatherers bart right, that like we didn't even
know if we were gonna be able to have enough
money to build this place, and like Secret Service has
(15:31):
just locked this building down, right. It's just it's a
it's an interesting journey. But like I'm not I'm not,
I'm not playing in the political space. We're about to
like continue to make a big push there. There's a
lot on the line right now, and we really really
need good leaders that are genuinely seeking to make a
difference in the positions that they're seeking, and we've got
(15:53):
to inform that discourse. I think people get the Order
Operations wrong a lot, Like it's like a an idea
sometimes that the politicians should be delivering to us, which
is maybe okay part of it, but like I look
at it like we should be delivering what we want
to see to the politicians. And to do that, you
(16:14):
have to be a relationship with.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Them, Yeah, and you have to be active. You have
to help make sure get people in there that represent
you know, your needs and your community and your culture.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
That's why that's why I gain, That's why I love
the stuff that Dray does. Right, It's like he comes
from this community community, yea, and so he's going to
see it from a different perspective of somebody that you
know comes from somewhere else, and now you're trying to
convince them as to why they need to be supportive
or you know, get involved in something.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Totally a great I mean, look, I say this to
folks all the time. Politicians don't like old people, I
guess not a natural like old people vote right, like
seniors vote. And so we have to just use that
very simple frame and understand that if like all of us,
are engaged in the process, they're going to be paying
(16:55):
attention to the people that are there playing the game.
So TGS takes that responsibility seriously, and not everybody who's
always liked that. I mean that I kind of is
what it is to me. But if you're in business
and you're in a people business, you've got to be
talking about what's going on, and especially right now, like
(17:16):
right now is like the most critical time ever to
be very specifically focused on where are we at and
where are we going and bringing everybody to that table
to have the discussion.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
You build something that brings people together across all industries
and different identities and backgrounds and communities. But yeah, from
your seat, especially in Atlanta and in culture at at large.
I guess, like, where do you think things are right now?
Both cultural and economically.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Look, I pride myself being optimistic, right, so with any
of this stuff, right Like I again, there's a difference
to me about between like where we are and where
we have the potential to go to. Right, So there's
you know, there's the world as it is, and there's
the world as it could be. The world as it
is right now? To me, we've got some serious work
(18:19):
to do. I don't think that we've recovered coming out
of the pandemic, not from a culture or creativity since
from even like if you look at the businesses that
are being created, it's not the same as it was
right before the pandemic. I mean we were cooking, right,
I mean I think that's going to be seen as
one of the golden ages of Atlanta. I mean, yeah,
(18:41):
a ton of things like how long has butter been
in existence?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, we launched like twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
That was the window, right like that that window you
just saw so much stuff happening. No, a lot of
those efforts are still around, they're still going. We're here.
We need to continue to push the pace with with
new stuff, and I'm not seeing the same consistent like
we're not consistently producing you know, the same sort of
(19:10):
efforts at a at a clip that I'm comfortable with.
You add that plus like real economic pressure that we
don't really talk about in the way that I think
we need to. This is a tough moment, right, but
we'll be okay. I mean, I think what history shows us,
what are the overall tradition shows us that, like, we
will figure our way through. But you've got to acknowledge that,
(19:30):
like we're not at the top of the This isn't
the the best place that we could be in right now.
We've been in better, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
And I mean it's it's always interesting too because people
talk about, you know, Atlanta specifically is the Black mecca
and culture and all these opportunities. But yeah, when you
kind of start to peel the thing back a little
bit and ask yourself some hard questions like Okay, who
actually owns what out here? And you know, who's actually building,
who's actually in control, Where's where's the actual money coming from?
Like those answers aren't always the answers people want to see.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I don't one just this sounds sad but like again,
I think it's just a reality. So our new location,
you can see the entire city from Buckhead all the
way through downtown and beyond. And when I look at
that skyline and the community that I serve the most,
or I'm focused on Black folks, nobody black owns most
(20:22):
or any of that skyline. So here we are right
in a culture capital, in a what is seen as
a black mecca. But if they just look at the dirt, right,
like we're not, We're not owning much of any of
the dirt, right. We can do that same sort of
analysis across category. And that is what makes this moment scary.
(20:45):
So no, we're not any less creative than we've ever been.
But there's being creative and then there's the business of creativity, right,
and unfortunately here those checks aren't aren't the same. I mean,
we have a location in LA. It's obvious, right when
someone is thinking about doing even an event in Atlanta,
you get in Atlanta budget, which is very different than
(21:08):
an LA budget, despite talking to very similar audiences. Right,
So like the business of how the city moves right now,
we've got to continue to shine a spotlight on that.
A lot of our creatives are as capable, more capable producing.
I would argue, the best stuff that you're going to
(21:28):
find the cash that's in the city tied to that
doesn't match at all. And so I mean, again, if
we're going to get to where we need to go,
we've got to acknowledge that fact. And there's some work
to do on all sides, but like, simply acknowledging that
reality is the first step to me. And we get
so caught up in these narratives of like, oh no,
(21:49):
we've got it all figured out here in Atlanta, and
it's like we've got the number one income inequality in
the country right now. We don't have it figured out now. Look,
I love this the city tremendously, right, But because I
love it, like, I've got to talk about how how
it could be better every single day. And I've got
kids here, man, my kids are I want to stay here,
(22:10):
but I want them to be in a version of
Atlanta that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah. I was talking to Milton Little, CEO of United Way, right,
and I think he said something on the lines of, yeah,
from an upper mobility standpoint in Atlanta, Yeah, you know,
if you're born in poverty, there's like over a ninety
percent chance that you will stay in that for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
There are a lot of terrible stats like that. I mean,
life inspectancy on north side of town is like ten
years more than the south side of town, like miles
away from one another. We're not talking about like like that.
This is I mean barely hitting traffic distances and yeah,
total differences in life expectancy. Where I spend most time
is in the small business kind of part of this conversation.
(22:49):
Ninety six percent of our businesses don't employ anyone, right,
So if you think about what happens when a community
doesn't have the ability to employ itself, terrible consequences. Right,
Like you, you're not able to impact the community in
the same way. And really everyone is dependent upon either
government or the rest of the private sector to supply
(23:10):
nearly all of the jobs. Right, So we've got to
talk about this stuff differently, not as a point of shame, right,
Like I've said this that before and people are like,
what are you trying to say about I'm trying to
say anything about your business. I'm trying to say that,
like we zoom out, ninety six percent of the companies
not employing us, not one person, is not a sustainable
(23:32):
statistic for us as a culture capital like that, that
isn't something that we can continue to just be okay
with you add that plus some other stuff. I mean,
I saw stat a couple of months ago forty three
percent of black at lantn's have delinquent debt, not debt
like delinquent debt. So we start adding this all together.
(23:54):
We've got businesses that don't employ anyone right, one hundred percent,
reliant on nearly everyone else for all employment opportunities, and
almost half of the population has money that's owed somewhere.
There is a path forward, but like that is our
reality right now.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
It's interesting, man, Like you hear about, you know, black
businesses being under capitalized all the time, Like we hear
those stats. But the thing I always wonder about is like,
what would radical support for these businesses look like?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Like, what would it look like if Yeah, like you know,
you made an interesting point me.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
We were talking offline and you said, you know, the
stuff we do with like with butter dust four a
four day with a four four collective is amazing. But
you were like, well, what if y'all had the budget
of a Coachella, and even for me, it kind of
you know, there are certain questions that kind of like
break your frame for a second. You're like, well, damn,
what if we did have that budget for a Coachella, Right, Like,
what would radical support look like in a city like
Atlanta if we could actually get access to that kind
(24:50):
of capital and really build up the kind of businesses
and infrastructure that reflect what we talk about Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Is the good news if we were able to get
to this place, is that genuinely a lot of people
would be able to participate in the win. I think
part of the reason why we don't get there is
that people assume that that would be a brand in
win and it's like, no, no, no, that like cool, like
and actually yeah, like it should be a brand and
win like you thought of something, You've produced, something that
(25:17):
the city appreciates, and like you should reap all of
the rewards for that accomplishment, Right. But I think it's
also fair to say that if we could get four
or four a day to be Coachella esque, think about
the small businesses that benefit. Think about all the jobs
that would be created in that effort, right, Just like
all of the things that would be necessary in order
to make that statement a true statement are a ton
(25:40):
of people that is a net positive impact, right. That
is that is truly like everyone is going to get
a piece of this pie situation. And that's how we
have to think about what support. We're in a really
really weird spot with support where we like kind of
hold it as this like chip in our pocket and
like I don't I don't know if I'm gonna pull
(26:02):
it out and supports you and it's like no, no, like,
like think about that differently. Support actually is not only
just helpful to you the individual, but it is helpful
to the community because it is helpful to you the
like Yeah, it truly is a collective, collective thing, and
I think we talk about it like it's it's very
(26:22):
like one directional, like I'm I love what you're building here, right,
but like this platform continuing to grow is beneficial to me.
I want to see I want to see this happen genuinely,
like like that that that that is helpful to this
entire ecosystem to watch you continue to to scale this thing.
(26:42):
Any other version of this conversation to me doesn't make
any sense. It doesn't at all, right, and like so
I being a supportive of one another. I think we
make it like it's some hard. We accept impossible things
all the time, like especially right now, like we we
have companies telling us every single day. Where this really
(27:04):
clicked in for me. I remember when Amazon said that
they were about to do the drones to drop packages,
and I was like, if we really accept that a
company is going to drop a package at our door
like jets and style, all of what I just talked
about is far from impossible, right, Like if you look
at all the advanswers that are happening in technology with
AI right now, we've accepted that, like we don't know
(27:25):
if the music we're listening to any copy that we're reading,
Like we don't know if any of this stuff is
actually going to be created by people anymore. But like
the idea for for being Coachella esque is like that's
the impossible people, No, Like that's totally possible. What actually
is crazy is that I can put four words into
(27:46):
an app and it create like a whole video experience.
For me, that to me is where I'm like living
in the twilight zone, not watching companies grow. So you've
got to talk about it with a spirit of possibility,
and I believe that it's more than possible, like it
should be what we're triving to do.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Why do you think it's so hard for like us
to talk about some of these things publicly, because again
only outside you know, when I look, I go out,
people having a good time. I see everybody partying every weekend.
We talk about just you know, everybody's got nice cars
out here. But a lot of these businesses, you know,
even there, they're struggling. And I'm sure you see a
lot of these from your perspective as well.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
We got to we have to have some more spaces
to get to know one another, right, so that there's trust,
and then with trust you are able to have a
real conversation. I think that the fact that there's all
of these kind of images out there that don't actually
represent the reality of what's happening, why those are so prominent,
is that like that lets me know that a community
fully isn't in sync with one another, because if we
(28:44):
were talking to one another, the type of conversation we
would be having would be very different, right. It wouldn't
be about trying to stone on one another. It would
be like, how can I help you? Right, I heard X, Y,
and Z is happening. Is there a way for us
to be supportive? Right, like genuinely supportive? So I try
not to pay attention to all that stuff because to me,
(29:04):
it's not even important to shame the folks that make
that sort of content so much. Is that, Like I
want to be clear that, like the reality is not
that it's not even the reality for those people. The
reality really is that we're all trying to figure it out,
like every single day we don't know, right, the people
that you admire, they don't know. They woke up this
(29:27):
morning just like you and are trying to figure out
how to make that thing more of a reality. Now,
there may be some people that are three steps ahead
because they started. And this is the other thing that
there's a lot of times forgotten. You've been at this
for almost a decade. Yeah, right, so people experiencing you
now with some overnight no thing.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
It's like.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
At night, but not overnight, right, Like this has happened long,
long nights. But like, so keep that context and know
And I don't feel like even saying going on a
limits not even the right way to frame that every
day you're trying to figure it out. Every day I
am trying to figure it out. I've made a crazy
number of mistakes, right Like, probably have a mistake that's
(30:10):
being made like right now is we're having this conversation
like it happens all the time. My job every single day, though,
is to just stay rooted in the idea that like,
I'm not having a unique experience. I'm just like everybody
else right now, doing the best that I can. The
more that we can acknowledge that in one another have
some grace we live in. I mean, like the amount
(30:33):
of hate that we are very comfortable sharing about and
even to one another should not be normalized. It's like
it's not a normal thing to start to just critique
openly thing. Now, look, we should hold people accountable. If
somebody does something wrong, we should absolutely talk about that.
(30:53):
But you look at half the time what we spend
time talking about it isn't some like deep dark It's
a lot of times a person that tried a thing
and it didn't go exactly how they planned, but they
had it, they did it in good faith, and we
should say, hey, look that wasn't that wasn't really what
we were looking for. You didn't really handle that the
right way, but like, keep going because we need to
(31:16):
see you be successful. I appreciate every single person that
has given us that opportunity. Made a mistake, but I've
been able to look them in the eyes said I
didn't mean to do that. I'm genuinely sorry about it.
Give me an opportunity to have an opportunity. I will
put my best foot forward. Thank god. There have been
a lot of people that have been able to say,
all right, cool, like let's try it again. If we
(31:37):
all moved more like that, you would see people have, frankly,
just even the confidence to get in the game, which
a lot of people don't even want to play. They
don't even want to try those stuff because they read
these things.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
And they're like and they know they know that if
you if not even if you fail, but they know
that there are people out there that'll take any little
hiccup and hold it up as if you had some
level like maliceon tent behind it.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
I don't want to deal with that.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Man.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
They're very talented people that are like, I don't want
to sign up for that. I want my idea out
in the world. I'm really And so there's some people
that would hear me say that and be like, oh, well,
that's what you sign up for. Why why have we
accepted that that's what you're signing up for if you
are trying to put an idea out in the world
that you have to take hatred. Now, I think we
can acknowledge a lot of people just seem to carry
(32:23):
that with them. But like, I'm not going to normalize
that as like the expected and almost right response to
I want to see people, especially here in Atlanta, do well,
and that is not some altruistic thing. I want to
live in a city where people are doing it well, right,
(32:43):
Like that is a better place for me and my
family if you and your family and everyone that is
listening to this their families are doing better. But that's
not going to happen by osmosis. And that's a mistake
we make a lot here, Like we think it's we
just you know, hit like enough times that like all
(33:04):
of a sudden, that's how platforms grow. And it's like, no,
it takes real intentionality, Like it takes like you have
to you have to like will that into existence, not
just all right, good luck. That version of our support
in Atlanta to me has to die, which is very common.
You know, we'll see a thing, congratulations, go eat there
(33:25):
like this weekend, right, like like someone dropped a product, like,
go buy it. Yeah right. I mean We've had a
bunch of friends over the last several months write books,
Go buy them, and yes, go spend the rest of
the year trying to read them all but like, go
buy them. I got a stash right now of books
that like, I absolutely intend to read. But what was
(33:46):
more important is that I know that sales of these
books are they need to happen. Yeah, and I could
I could, unfortunately in a position to make that purchase.
So let like that's what supported is. It's not these
grand acts we don't need. It's not billboard work. It's
just I see what you're doing. I'm gonna pull up
at it and spend whatever, a couple of dollars that
(34:08):
I have to make that thing be more successful. And
I'm genuinely interested in watching you. I'm not threatened or
or like anything by watching anything else grow, because that
is what is good for the for us collectively, and
that that's what's most important, especially in moments like right now,
you're not you haven't been interested in collective action before,
(34:30):
Like this is the probably the best moment in your
lifetime to go ahead and jump into the to the game.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
I had an interesting perspective from a friend of minees
that you know, even when you think about it, for us,
a lot of us again we're first generational still, you
know what I mean when it comes to just access
to these things and resources, Like I know, for me,
my mom grew up still drinking out of black only
water fountains in Alabama. And so again when you think
(35:05):
about these things, like it's not like these were hundreds
of generations hundreds of years ago, generations ago, we're still there,
but like now we're the adults now, and so we
now have to like start to set up that next generation.
So we got to give ourselves a little bit of grace,
but we also got to be honest about where we are,
like how we can move forward?
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Right It's I had a similar comment the zact same
comment I was. I was having lunch with THEMANI who
is the great founder of Founder Culture con and she
said that at lunch, she was like, oh, is it
crazy that like we're the adults now and it hit
I was like, I was kind of enjoyed being a kid.
I really thought about it that way. But no, this
(35:42):
is this is the moment, genuinely where we've got to
step up and and participate. And I'm not trying to
boil the ocean. I think sometimes when you talk about
these topics, they just feel like really big and you know,
very grandiose, like like what really does it look like?
It looks like a lot of things. It looks like
calling your friend today and asking them how they're doing.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Right.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
It looks like finding a business that you want to
see continue to make it in the neighborhood. And my
least favorite things beat on the internet and we will
get the announcement of a business closing and people in
the comments are like, oh, I go go, it's not
that complicated. What happened? They weren't making enough money in
order to make that location viable. So like, if you
(36:26):
love a thing and it exists right now, go buy
that thing if you can. And look, I get it's
not every day, right, but like it doesn't need to
be every day. It just it needs to be all
of us consistently just trying our best, which the data
shows us. This is where opinions stop. The data shows
us that's not that's not how we're playing the game
(36:46):
right now. We allow things to just kind of sit
out there. I don't think we're wishing ill right on
a lot of these efforts, but we're not like doing
anything to make them successful. Like, and I think that
has to be the added Like I am going to
be a part of like willing this thing to a championship,
and my little piece of it isn't going to be
(37:08):
the piece, which again that's a lot of times the fallacy.
You don't have to be the the fifty percent kind
of participant in the process. The point five percent like mattered.
But to your point around you know, first gen and
second gen money, another tough conversation is that, like, especially
in the black community, there are a handful of second
(37:32):
and third generation situations. Anybody that you think has money
just got it. We're just like like and relatively speaking,
they probably don't even have that much of it, right,
I mean, respectfully, I don't like only problems, but like,
this is first gen cash. I mean I remember I
(37:53):
was sitting at a bank man, they were like, what
do you want your Atlanta legacy to be filling ropically.
And we were having this conversation like near Thanksgiving, and
I was like, respectfully, when I go to Thanksgiving in
a couple of weeks, there's poverty at that table, at
my table, at my fit like in my family right now.
(38:16):
So I can't sit here and have a conversation with
you about my my lifetime legacy. Like I get where
I get where this question comes from, but like in
my situation right now, by family situation, should we just
got here wherever? Here is so like and there's a
lot of work to still still do to get to
this place where we can start talking generationally and like
(38:40):
for for generations you know, I yet seen and all
that like generations. Yeah see, I'm talking about generations that
are like.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Yeah, that's about generational wealth. We talk about like right
now we're.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Talking about like like like yeah, like not even like
right now, but like right right now, like like and
so you know, I mean it's okay for us to
take a step back and be like, look, where we
are in the city is great, it could be better,
and we need to be setting up those second and
third generation opportunities. My kids need to take this baton
and be able to push it further and what conditions
(39:14):
need to be in place in order to make that
a true statement. But me falling in love with an
idea that actually is a myth isn't going to help
to facilitate that, right. So, I mean we're doing some
of us, which is a big the double underline the
sum are doing a little bit better, and we have
a responsibility to make sure that some more of us
(39:38):
are too, because this is no fun standing in the
in the It's not the old analogy like standing in
the club by yourself. Yeah, do you want to be
the person that's either paying for all of the bottles
that are coming or in the section solo? Or do
you want to be able to invite your community to
be able to have that experience with you. I think
(39:59):
that's the model that makes it.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yeah. Man.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
Now on the flip side, what do you you know?
What are you seeing in Atlanta and in culture? It
gives you hope, right, Like who's who's.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Getting it right? Like?
Speaker 3 (40:08):
What makes what are you seeing? It makes you feel like,
you know, we can get this thing right again and
get this back on track.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
The creativity has always been here and there's the same
people that have been building for a long time. We're
still building, right, So I'm excited about that, right, Like,
and that community knows each other. A lot of cities
do not. So what gives me hope here is that,
like you can get if I look at just like
even the guests on this platform, that's Atlanta. I don't
(40:33):
think you could do that in any other city, from
elected officials to folks that are leading really big businesses,
the people that are leading small ones, people like in
creative field.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Like.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Our superpower in Atlanta is the ability to be able
to do that, right, know each other across lines that
most other cities, those lines are never crossed. Right. We
do something really really difficult here, the big business CEO
types know the small business owners. That sounds basic, but
(41:03):
it does not happen in other cities. It just doesn't occur, right,
So we have the ingredients here and this to me
is one of the more important cities in the world
right now. We just have to put some more intention
around the together in this piece of it, like like
being very specific about how that works every day, and
to me, Atlanta it becomes will continue to be one
(41:25):
of the more consequential places around. We have the mathematics
here though to make that true. And other way there's
that other places don't. Man o, these cities you go to,
they're trying to figure out the basics of the how
they're gonna get the economy to work. We can't decide
if we're a fintech capital, like a startup capital, a
music capital, film Like we're fighting about like what actually
(41:46):
is the industry of the town where all these other
cities are, Like we need an industry. That's what gives
me a ton of hope, right because like it's it's in.
The ingredients are sitting here on the table. Got we
gotta go bake the cake.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Yeah. I always, you know, think about and talk about
kind of like Atlanta's things are still possible, Like it's
not perfect, but there's still possible. Like the beautiful example
I kind of give is the four or four day
parade we just pulled off. I was talking to my
daughter about this. I said, I had that idea a
year ago. Started with an idea, and because I have
a relationship with the mayor's office and the mayor hit
(42:22):
him up. He was like, let's make it happen now again.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
I paid for it.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
We get it clear, But I said, how difficult would
it have been? How possible would it have been to
do that same thing in a year in any other
major city.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
I'm betting I'm not betting that happens.
Speaker 3 (42:38):
Yeah, in LA, in New York, in Chicago, like, there's
no way that we could have possibly organized that kind
of event shut down the main street downtown and had
the mayor and everybody else out. And again that's where
I think you see the possibility of like what Atlanta
really and truly.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Is, man, you know, like for the Prey was dope,
But like I saw the conversation that you hosted and
all the creatives you brought together at State Farm. I
haven't seen that at Staples or whatever's called whatever called
or something like there's one of them for me, things
about Diehard. That's that's what with respect, right, Like there's
(43:18):
a lot of dem things that are happened in LA,
but like I haven't seen that. I can't point to
another city in the country where you're like the arena,
right like, which for us is like, oh that State Farm,
Like there are people in most of these other cities
that like have never been to the Garden, right have
never thought about going to I mean, like, what makes
(43:40):
Atlanta special is that it is accessible in some way,
shape or form. It's not perfect, but it like the
fact that, like you can see that as a as
a reality in this city to me is like that's
incredible that that's like a true statement. I watched somebody
that I see in my community show up and put
and take over the arena. It's like what I'm saying
(44:01):
with also the plane, It's like, only in Atlanta can
you call people at a major airline at a fortune
five and be like, hey, I need a plane and
to be like you to be clear, I pay for it,
but like I need a plane. That that is uniquely
what Atlanta is able to produce, and like we can't
forget that either, Like that that's what makes the city.
(44:23):
I'm not going I will never go anywhere, right, but
like it's this is a preservation project, right, So you
can't just fall in love with this version of it
because it's like anything in the start of life, right, Like,
there has to be some movement. So we've got to
continue to talk about what does that movement need to
be and who needs to be a part of that
conversation and for me, it a lot of it gets
(44:45):
down to the math. I just want folks to be
able to survive here, and it's it's not impossible. I
mean we're here, right, but like I think there's ways
for us to make.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
It a.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Little bit easier for a lot of people to enjoy
this experience.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, man, look before we get out of this has
been an amazing conversation. Again, Like we know all the
stuff you do with TGS and just all the connections
you have to entrepreneur, small business, politicians, just people up
and down kind of that you know, ecosystem of culture
and capital. Right, Like if somebody's listening to this and
they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed or just like unsure about
(45:19):
like what their next move is, like, what would you
say to them right now?
Speaker 1 (45:23):
I say two quick things. First, that experience is not
that different, right, Like embrace that, right that like not
being sure, feeling like you're not the right person, maybe
underestimating your qualifications. Like I've had the privilege, as you mentioned,
of meeting some of the biggest names of our time,
(45:44):
but when you actually talk to those folks, they talk
about the same things. They're having that same very human
experience of being like and now, look the stakes might
be a little bit different, right, everything is relative, but
like they're fundamentally experiencing the same emotions. I don't know
if I can get another championship, I don't know if
I can get my music back out there. Like it's
the same sort of fundamentals, right, but behind that, I
(46:08):
would say, genuinely, the world in this city, like we
need you to produce that thing. So like, please, there's
never gonna be perfect circumstances. You're never gonna have the
right amount of money, the weather's never gonna be the
it's not gonna be the I think sometimes people want
like birds chirping blue skies and like that's the day
to get started. That day's not coming today is here, though,
(46:30):
so like go make that thing happen and know that,
like you're in a context, especially if you're in Atlanta,
where people will will applaud and be excited to see
you you try, right, And so I mean, my my
biggest thing with TGS is like if we could have
an opportunity to have an opportunity, what a blessing that is?
(46:50):
If you have an opportunity to have one go try
to make that thing happen. A lot of times the
downsides aren't that they're not as scary as probably what
they feel like right now.
Speaker 3 (46:59):
Absolutely, well, look Ryan man, this is great man. Before
we get out of here, just I'm sure people some
people know. But for those that don't, Man, tell them
all the things. How can they support you? The gathering spot,
the retreat, how can they get involved in all the
different stuff you got going on.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
We're easy to find. We're at the gathering spot on everything.
We're a membership community, right so if you're interested in
becoming a member, go to the Gatheringspot, dot club or
find us on social It's pretty easy from there to
get in touch with us. I'm easy to find online
to Ryan Wilson on everything and on a certain platform
spot on ourw But like, we're not that difficult to
connect with. If you have an event or an experience
(47:32):
or thing that you want to just you need support
on give us a shout. That's what this business was
created to do. But I appreciate, I mean, in conclusion
and conclusion here to you and everybody that's been a
part of this experience. If you've attended an event, if
you've been a member of the club, I don't care
how you've connected with us. Thank you. It is still
(47:53):
surreal to me every single day. We a lot of
some of the big names that have come through TGS
what comes up, But it's those small moments just watching
people like sit at the bar and like talk with
one another, and I'm like, Wow, I'm really really grateful.
I've only had one job. This has been the only
thing that I've ever done professionally, so I really do
appreciate the opportunity to talk about it and for everybody
(48:15):
that comes.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Absolutely, man, well, thank you for all you're doing.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Thank you for what you're putting out there into the
culture to make these opportunities available and giving us a
place to gather. Man, we appreciate it all the season.
With that said, we out. That's the pod. You've been
listening to button Nomics and IM your host Brandon Butler.
Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show? Send
us an email today at hello at butteronomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by
(48:40):
Ksey Pegram, with marketing support from Queen and Nikki. Music
provided by mister Hanky if you haven't already, hit that
subscribe button and never missed an episode, and be sure
to follow us on all our social platforms at butter
dot Atl. Listen to button Nomics on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Oount count
(49:01):
pump count out,
Host
Brandon Butler
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