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June 17, 2022 • 52 mins

Ally is joined by Brooklyn legend Angela Yee of The Breakfast Club to discuss her origins, running multiple businesses at once, finding time for herself amidst the chaos, and giving back to the community.

This episode was produced by Isaac Lee of Koldwater Audio.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today's podcast is sponsored by Sea Geek. If you didn't know,
see Geek is the official ticketing partner of the Brooklyn S.
Whether you're trying to go to a Nets game, Liberty Game, concert,
or any other event at Barclay Center, you really only
need Sea Geek. Welcome to Courtside Conversation. I'm your girl,

(00:32):
Ali Love. After years on the Heartwood as the in
arena host for the Brooklyn Nets, It's time for me
to take a courtside. We're here with artists, athletes, and
all of our favorite people to break down the game
called life. We're getting real about the grow up and
the glow up, so let's take a seat. Our next

(00:58):
guest is more than just a radio person reality. This
female powerhouse is a philanthropist, an entrepreneur, and a host.
Raised in Brooklyn, she has received wide recognition for her work,
including receiving the Gracie Award for the Alliance for Women
in Media and being inducted into the Radio Hall of
Fame along with her co host for her widely successful
morning show, The Breakfast Club. She even has her own

(01:20):
designated day in New York City. We talk coffee. Saving
your money to buy a house, and much more. Let's
take a courtside with Angela. Ye, Angela, ye, my girl,
I am so thrilled to have this conversation with you,
to welcome you to courtside conversation. It is long overdue.
Uh so let me just give you a quick rundown

(01:40):
on how this is going to operate. Their four quarters
in a game. We got four quarters and a half
time today and we're gonna throw it back, we're gonna
bring it forward, and we're gonna walk away with the
w Are you good with that? I'm good with that,
all right? Um So, in terms of taking it courtside
to this conversation, I always like to start from the beginning.
I think, giving inside and throwing it back to exactly

(02:00):
how we got to where we are is the information
that most people don't have access to. And when we
think about a game and we think about the game
of life, it's always how we shift our mindset and
how we apply ourselves that yields the greatest outcome or
the highest output that's aligned with our goals. And so
thinking of that capacity, let's throw back to your formative years.
Was hosting always in your blood? Did you always know

(02:23):
you wanted to be a correspondent to host a DJ,
like someone who was just in the seat hot seat,
asking the questions, having the conversations. Not I really always
was more of a behind the scenes person, and so
when I went to school, I really thought I would
be a writer. At one point I wanted to be
a teacher, and so for myself, even when I first

(02:43):
started doing radio, I remember um Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's manager,
he was like, are you gonna be okay with talking?
I know you're not really like that type of person
that wants to be out there. I actually had written
different articles, and I was doing some journalism and I
was writing bios for artists. So I was always more
behind the scenes, and even when I started radio, that
still was kind of a behind the scenes job as

(03:05):
far as you weren't out there like that, Like people
didn't know what I looked like for a long time,
just because it wasn't so visual like today everything is,
you know, Instagram and they want to see your pictures
and people around TikTok and they're filming things and putting
it out and so I think what changed that for
me was like when world Stars started getting popular and

(03:26):
then people started seeing videos of um, you know, I
had like my lip service as serious or like my
interviews that I would do and then those would get
picked up on World Star. So that's when people started
feeling like they cared more about visuals and you stream
was out. That was like the original when people would
stream themselves, it was this, um, this thing called you stream.

(03:47):
So I would you stream sometimes when I was at work,
and I would be at work, like literally in my pajamas,
no makeup. You know, you're not done, because that's how
you could show up to radio. And now it's like
it's a whole different day and age. It's it's a
new day and age. Um. But one of the where
our worlds collide is as the host of the Brooklyn Nets.
Obviously growing up in Brooklyn, I mean sometimes and I

(04:09):
can only think about my childhood. I didn't know the
opportunity sets that were available for me or to me.
For example, I didn't know that I can carve out
a space and create my own career. I only knew
what I knew, and my extent of information came from
my family. Tell us we can give us a little
insight of of your childhood growing up in Brooklyn and
what that looked like for you. And even before I

(04:30):
say that, I have to say, you definitely have created
an amazing space for yourself. Just to see everything that
you've done, you know, me being introduced to you, just
um working at the Barclays and for the Nets, and
then seeing everything you've managed to do from that, I'm like,
first of all, I gotta get into these Peloton classes
do so. I think that's amazing though, So I just
wanna say that for you first and foremost and thank you.

(04:55):
But yeah, for my family. I mean, my mom has
had the same job since I was a kid. She
works for an York City trans At authority and that's
where she's always worked. And then my dad was more
like a bounce around person. He worked for like a
T and T, and then he worked for um like
a bunch of different phone companies. And now he works
with my uncle who was a dentist and he manages
a dentist office. And so it wasn't really for me

(05:17):
growing up about entrepreneurship. But I will say that my grandfather,
he's from the Caribbean, and that mindset is always save
your money, buy your house. And he used to say
that to me so much when I was growing up,
if I did anything like went to the store and
got a piece of gum, he'd be like, save your money,
buy a house. I'm like, can I get a piece
of gum? So everything that was always ingrained in me

(05:37):
from when I was young, that you have to save
your money and buy a house. And so even the
house that we lived in growing up in Flatbush, it
was a two family house. My grandparents owned it, so
I always did see that. And then when they moved
back to Monterette, they gave the house to my mom
and my dad, you know, for us, and so it's
so nice to see that they were able to pass
something down to my parents, you know who. Then they

(05:59):
ended up later on selling the US and moving into Jersey.
But even having that is a huge deal. I think
owning anything is a huge deal, especially like coming from
where we come from in terms of like that childhood,
the kind of the hallmark that you mentioned is like
save your money by a house. Were there any of
those moments that you can recall potentially in like those
formative years, maybe middle school or high school, that you

(06:21):
adopted yourself, maybe that you didn't get from your family.
For example, when I was growing up, one of the
things that I used to tell myself is everybody scared,
even if I didn't know that was true. I just remember,
you know, becoming a dance. I knew I wanted to
be a dancer after I got hit by a car
at a young age. And you would go into these
auditions and I'm like thirteen years old and fifteen years old,
just nervous out of my pants here, and I would

(06:44):
tell myself, everyone is scared. And I feel like that saying,
or that mantra, even though I didn't know that's what
it was, was a mantra at such a young age,
but kind of like that mantra that I held close
to my heart actually pushed me to a position where
when I came to New York for school and I
got suthing through Alvanley, I was like, everyone's scared. And
it's still something that i'd say today. I'm like, everybody's scared.

(07:05):
I just gotta get out there and do it. Did
you have any of those that kind of carried you
through into this adult life? You know, it's funny when
you talk about fear. When I was younger, I feel
like I was a lot more fearless, like I wasn't
really scared to do things. As I got older, I
feel like we kind of get more in our heads
about things, and then I get more scared now to

(07:26):
mess up than I did when I was younger. But
I did used to tell myself that, um, everybody makes mistakes,
because that's something that's a part of life, and it's
also something you have to own. I think a lot
of times people make mistakes and they try to act
like they didn't and just keep it moving and not
acknowledge it. But I had to learn from when I
was young it's okay to mess up and to acknowledge it.

(07:47):
It's part of being a human being. And so that
was something I used to always send myself. Everybody makes
mistakes and it'll all be over soon, nothing less permanently.
So sometimes, like even now, if I have to get
up in front of people and speak, cause I still
don't really like having to speak in front of people,
I get nervous. I could do like that when you
do this basically every day and you still get nervous

(08:08):
at times. Well, I don't talk in front of people
every day with them looking at me. It's different, I
see what you're saying. So that's always been kind of
harder for me. And it's also harder for me to
talk and not have anybody to talk to, you know
how sometimes you have to get up and like give
a speech, and so I just had to do that
the other day. I feel like it was so horrible.

(08:30):
I got um. I was at my college and it
was reunion weekend and it was they gave me their
Distinguished Alumni Award, and so it's like a several people
that get it, but a lot of like lin Manuel
Miranda was there, who wrote and did Hamilton's. He was
in the audience because one of the guys that he
worked as we all went to the same college, was
getting the award also. And my parents came, and you know,

(08:55):
some of my friends came, and I had wrote this
whole speech and I was like, man, it doesn't even
feel right anymore. And so I kind of just winged it.
And you know, everybody's like, it's really good, but you
tell yourself, it was really bad. And I was so
nervous the whole time that I was doing it, and
I was like, feel like I was just flustered and
all over the place, and this is something that is
still hard for me. But I always tell myself, well,

(09:16):
this is only gonna last fifteen minutes and then it's
over and I can move on with my life. And
things that are a big deal to me might not
be a big deal to anyone else. Like it can
feel like the end of the world when something happens
for me, but everybody else is like they don't really
care that much. You mean in that moment, you mean,
like when you're getting up there, the anticipation of the anxiety,
it's like, oh my gosh, this is like one of

(09:36):
the worst things that are about to happen, and you're
just trying to handle You're just trying to get through
it and everything, Like sometimes we have a bad day
or we make a mistake, or even after this speech,
I'm like, that was awful, even if everyone's telling you
how good it was. But it's also like to me,
I might think about it for like the whole day,
but no one else is thinking about it. M I mean,

(09:57):
it's fair if lim him, well Miranda was in any audience,
I would be nervous as well, because I'm like, I'm
like the biggest Hamilton fan and now a Conto fan,
and I just I was at the j LO premiere
last week and I saw him across the like auditorium,

(10:17):
and I like looked at him, and he looked at me,
and it was one of those things where you don't
know if a person knows you, like I'm not ANGELI,
Like people aren't just like, oh that's Angela and you
know that they know you, you know, as a Pelicane
instructor is great, like people do know us, but I
don't know if they really really know us, right, So
I'm like looking at him, he's looking at me, and
then he like wait, lifts his hands up to wave,
so you know, I give the check around, like is

(10:38):
it is there someone behind me? And it was no
one down against them all, so I waved back and
that was like my moment. I was already sweating in
that moment, so I cannot imagine. So I'll give you props,
because it's not easy speaking in front of people who
right and listen keenly for a living like that is
that is hard, and you do it. I was gonna say,
I bet you have some feak out moments where people

(11:00):
that you would never think would know you though because
Peloton has such a huge following and and all different
kinds of people. So I'm sure you've been places and
they've been like, oh my god, if you know what
I do, and it's a way to I will say,
I try to always say humble in my career, but
but mindfully humble is I will always reintroduce myself. And

(11:22):
even if they say like, oh I know you, or
they say my name, I will always resay my name
just to make sure that I didn't get it wrong
or I heard my name, or do they really know me?
Or do do they think I'm someone else? Just because
because I do get surprised. It's like almost a shock.
Do you think our membership base is so broad and
so vast in terms of somebody that lives clear across
the world or somebody that lives right down the street,

(11:43):
and you're just like, oh my god, this person knows
who I am. So I always say, you know, thank
you so much, I'm Ali love, like what's your name?
Just to make sure they didn't get it wrong. They
thought I was somebody else. Now they know you girl?
Now no, um, but no, let's let's keep talking about
this because the reason is I followed you for a while,
and I remember our first time meeting. I don't think

(12:04):
you're gonna remember this, but as we step into like
you know, the second quarter and talking about really what
define and define and shaped your career and continues to
do so. I remember it was probably like my third
or fourth season at the Brooklyn Nets, and I'd never
host or done anything in terms of public speaking before
this role. Two thousand twelve, in the middle of the season,

(12:25):
like December, I walk on the court and they had
already had a host, but they you know, we're looking
for a new host. I walk on the court. I
went from speaking one on one in my room to
my friends to eighteen thousand fans, and I was terrible
at it, let's be honest. So shout out to the
Brooklyn As for giving me an opportunity to grow up
until this point, like this is a big deal, but
it was actually free or four year seasons in and

(12:45):
they're like, you're gonna meet Angela, Like it was in
the middle of the game. You're gonna be Angela and
you're gonna introduce her. Girl, Girl, girl Girl. I was
so nervous to meet you because I have so much
deep respect for what you do and who you are
and how much you've grown on. And then I was
even much more nervous to introduce you because it's like
what if I get it wrong? Like what if I

(13:05):
say something like what if I just mess up? And
everybody in the arena knows who you are, so it's
like they're listening. But I just remember one of those
moments in my life. It like shapes those moments shape
your career because it's through the nerves. When you push
through the nerves, when you push through the anxiety, especially
public speaking, you're better for it. It's memorable. Um. And
so in terms of like having some of those moments

(13:27):
of struggle or those moments of um, sweaty armpits like
I did, how do you encounter that you and you
interview and get introduced to so many incredible people. How
do you handle it? Um? I think preparation is always important.
And like you just said, right, you get nervous, like
what if I mess up? And I remember because I
do remember that was my first time meeting you and

(13:49):
having it because I get nervous having to get up
in front of people. I never assumed that, like these
parents are all gonna know me? What if she introduces
me and then it's mad quiet, you know, so um
and I you know, you were very professional, so I
thought it was very smooth. I would never have been
able to tell that. But for myself, preparation is important
because you don't want to mess up right, Like you

(14:10):
want to make sure you say the person's name right,
you introduce them properly, and as far as interviews that
you have good follow up. And part of that is
you can have a list of questions and somebody hands you,
but actually doing the research yourself helps me a lot
because that way if a I never trusted people due
to research, right, and so because there's been times that
people in might hand you something and there's something wrong

(14:31):
on there and that will just set the tone wrong.
So even if I'll take those questions, I make sure
that I also have done my own research so I
could like, oh no, that's wrong, you know, And that's
happened to me so many times because a lot of
times that work. It's like, you know, we have different
interns that come in and out, and other people don't
research like you do, and sometimes people just get wrong information.

(14:52):
There's wrong stuff on Wikipedia I hate when people just
look on Wikipedia and they're just like, this is all
the questions, you know, and so at think that I'm
it's important to just prepare yourself, do the research. If
it's a book, try to at least read some of it.
If it's you know, a TV show, make sure you
watch and familiarize yourself with it, even if it's hard
for me. Sometimes I was just thinking about, like even

(15:13):
these past couple of days, all the things that I've
had to do, Like, you know, today, we have Kirk
Franklin on. He has a new album coming out Friday.
They sent it to us yesterday, so now I'm trying
to make sure I listen to that so I familiarize
myself at that. But then we have Bank Crump on
he has, uh, you know, a Netflix documentary that's coming
out this weekend on Juneteenth. I want to make sure
that you know, I watched the documentary because I want

(15:35):
to be respectful of the work that he does. But
then at the same time, on my podcast, I had
you know, um, Uncle Clifford and Mercedes from p Valley
on the show. So now I got to make sure
I watched, you know, the first two episodes of like,
it's so many different things and this is all happening
in the span of two days, and so even trying
to prep for what it is that I'm doing, I
always try to make sure I'm at least like pulling

(15:56):
from different places and doing the best that I can,
because I never went anyone to feel uncomfortable, and that's
when things don't go right when you're not prepared. I
hate when people are just like, so, what you got
going on? Like that's never a good feeling to somebody
who's being interviewed, because then you feel like this person
didn't even do any research, you know, And so I
think that's the most important thing to feel more comfortable
is to at least have done some research, has some

(16:18):
good questions that you know you want to ask, and
that way, if things straight off in a different direction,
you can be more conversational because you've done the work.
Today's podcast is sponsored by seat Geek. If you didn't know,
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(16:40):
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the web in one place to make buying simple. Speaking
of doing the work, let's take that work internal because
you are and I don't like to use the word

(17:01):
balance as much because I don't think we balance things.
You know, everybody sometimes has a lot of balls in
the air. How do you find harmony in protecting your peace? So,
like you said, you've had a full two days and
you want to show up prepared because that's your love language,
which is awesome, my love language. You want to be prepared,
you want to do your job. Well, that's the way
you show mutual respect um. But how do you take

(17:21):
care of yourself knowing that there's a list of content
that you need to consume, that you need to also
prep that you need to look good, Like you said
the day and age, it's not just audio only now
it's an audio visual component. So there's multiple layers to this.
How do you protect your peace? And and how have
you done so over just I mean a long career
in terms of making time for yourself. I do try

(17:42):
to balance things out, like I know these pasts um,
like even last week I was in In the span
of like five days, I was in d C. Then
I was in Atlanta, then I was in Orlando, you know,
all different things. Um. Working and so I make sure
that I haven't had a day off and maybe like
the past twelve days. But you know, on Friday, I

(18:04):
just depared my hole schedule, so after work, I know
I don't have to do anything. And then Mondays is
a holiday for us, so I know I have Monday free.
So I always like to give myself things to look
forward to. So that might mean like we have the
week of the fourth of July off, I'm definitely gonna
like try to do something, um, you know, like go
somewhere or go away. Sometimes it's hard to even do
that because you know you have so much work and

(18:24):
you feel guilty like should I be leaving and taking
care of myself. But that's important if you want to
be able to keep going because you'll get burnt out.
Like there's times that I just feel burnt out where
I'm like I'll come home and sit on the couch
and now I have to do something in like an hour,
and all I just have to just sit on the couch,
like doing absolutely nothing until it's time to go again,
because I just feel burnt. But you have to acknowledge

(18:46):
that about yourself and know, like, all right, I'm gonna
get a face show on Monday, and I'm scheduling that
right now because I need that and it's gonna be
like an hour of peace and my pores would look
better for it. Is that like kind of yourself care thing?
Are you like traditional self care like massage facials, like
getting some of that physical attention, or is there are

(19:06):
there other things that you do a little more mindful
because mindset in terms of game time is always so different.
Like when you're on your on your mindset is gonna
be a bit different than when it's time to go off.
I think, Um, I love doing yoga. I haven't even
been doing it that musslately, and I need to start
doing it at home or just because when I have
a chance to like go do a class, it's so
good for me. It's hard for me to like focus

(19:27):
and do it at home because like I said, I'll
just sit on the couch in that move, But um,
that's good. I like to run, like I love going
running in Prospect Park that it's a big thing for me,
So whenever I have a chance, like I already was like, okay,
so Friday, I'm definitely gonna go for a run and
then I'm gonna do this another thing I love to do.
I don't really love to do it, but it helps
me to clean my house. And I am like, because

(19:48):
I feel so disorganized if my house is messy, and
so you know one thing that if I'm home and
I know i'll be home if I can clean my house.
And I it's not like it's fun, but I just
appreciate the results of having a clean house. I agree,
I don't love organizing and cleaning the house, but I
do know you know what it is. It's not that

(20:09):
I don't love it. It's just that it's some once
in a while you get that itch and then you
just be in the zone. You be in the cleaning zone,
and your house clean, your life feels in order. You
just feel like you got it all together when you're finished.
It's just that the zone is very rare. There's it's
far few and between you. You can't just yield it. Yeah,
you can't yield it, Like I can't just like wield

(20:31):
the zone to happen for cleaning, I gotta actually like
sometimes you just gotta do it. Um, speaking of things
you just gotta do. Struggle this is we talk about
this a lot, and this in courts that conversation because
the guests that come on, whether you know they're artists,
are athletes or like you, some of our favorite people
who we listen to, who we consume, who we respect. Um.

(20:51):
Sometimes it's all really shiny on Instagram or you know,
everything sounds so good or looks so good when it's
on a social platform when it's out there. But what folks, well,
I think helps folks is when we get real right.
Quartik conversation is about real people connecting and really focusing
on that mindset. And one of the things that I
do think unifies all of us is that some capacity

(21:14):
we have dealt with, are dealing with, and continue to
deal with struggle. Um, how do how do you define struggle? Um?
So for me, struggle is you know what there's times
that I just be like, I want to just cry,
and that's hard, you know. For me, I think being

(21:34):
an entrepreneur as a struggle. And I know people throw
that word around a lot of entrepreneurship is so empire
and it's amazing. It's great. You make your own schedule.
You know, you're working for yourself. But that's a struggle
every single day. Like one reason I can't ever even
relax is because I have different businesses and there's always
something going wrong. Like I guarantee you for me finish this,

(21:54):
and I look at my phone. There's gonna be at
least eight text messages I promise you, like not and stop.
It doesn't matter if I'm on the air, if I'm away,
if I'm with my parents. You know, it's always something
going on, and sometimes that could be really really overwhelming.
And so you know this, and then also not making
money from your businesses, you go through periods where I

(22:15):
you just hope you do eventually make some money. There's
you know, I started a coffee business. I haven't made
money from it, and I've invested a lot, and so
it hasn't been that long yet, and I understand that,
Like I have a lot of patients, so I know
that while something might not work now, you know, I'm
looking forward to five years and now when I can say, okay,
we have a whole franchise business that is doing well,

(22:36):
and I don't ever expect anything to happen for me
right away. But it's so much working. I'm really hands
on and involved, Like I put up my own money,
I know all my employees. I go there when I
do payroll, like I do everything, and it's not easy,
and a lot of times, you know, it might be
payroll coming out of your own pocket because you didn't
meet your goals for the week, or because something unexpected happened.

(22:58):
I mean even you know, during the pandemic, I was
on the air one day and somebody broke into the
juice bar the night before and they called me, like,
oh my god. That so then I had to be
like I gotta go, guys, and like just get off
the air, burn over there, get somebody to come and
fix the glass, clean it up. They stole the cash register,
and now I'm doing police reports. It's just, you know,
something that you can't even really ever feel like, Okay,

(23:19):
I can just relax because I might be off from
this thing, but then I also got this thing to
take care of. So I think that's probably the hardest
part is that you're never really a percent at peace
because there's so much going on. But a lot of
what you do is trying to lay down the groundwork
so one day it won't be like that. You're building
that legacy, and sometimes that struggle is what helps to
find that legacy and an establish that narrative. You spoke of, Um,

(23:41):
so your owner of Juice for Life, which is your
juice bar and Bedstar. Um. You also have the coffee
shop Coffee Uplifts People Coffee Shop. Also on best side,
you're also the owner of We the Well Read a
it's a black owned health and nutrition business that serves
the community of sports Brooklyn. Obviously, yes, we know one
of the hosts of Power one of five point one
Breakfast Club. But I wanted to get back to when

(24:02):
you were talking about the coffee shop. Why coffee, Like
usually businesses come from have a story, right, whether it's
something you grew up with, something that you think is lucrative.
You're like, I'm gonna invest because I think this is
gonna have a great return when it comes to you.
You were very thoughtful around the ventures you pursue, who
you're around what you say. You're very strategic in that,

(24:23):
which is again attribute to who you are and why
are you're so good at what you do? Um, but
I remember listening to your story, but I want to
hear more about like coffee uplifts people. Well, first of all,
to be honest, I was not a coffee drinker until
a couple of years ago, and so it was something
that I always had. The relationship with coffee is nasty

(24:44):
and like my mom withing coffee every morning and breathe
in my face, and I hated the way it smells.
You'd be like, get out of here, you know, as
I never had like good connotations, and I think I
was programmed to think that coffee just really wasn't good
for you. And so after doing some research, um, you know,
I found out a lot of things about coffee that
I didn't know, and then I was able to really

(25:05):
experiment with it and see. The history of coffee was
first and foremost important to me, just because it was
discovered in Ethiopia, and it's something that I feel like
was taken from black people and we're not as involved
in the business as we should be at all, not
by a long stretch. Even though who they market coffee too,
it's never to us, even though it is something that

(25:25):
like in Ethiopia, like over ninety percent of the population
drinks coffee every day and they have these whole coffee ceremonies.
And so for me, even if you go to Jamaica,
like they have amazing coffee and Haiti, they haven't in
Guyana and all these black and brown places. And so
we should be a lot more involved in profit off
of it because um, even just the whole way that,
like they take advantage of people who work um and

(25:48):
they actually picked the beans and all of that. It's
like a whole thing. So I want to make sure
that I get more involved in that whole process and
so importing, exporting and just knowing what's going on with that.
So I've been having some amazing meetings about that. But
the benefits of coffee too, just to your health, right,
like it helps prevent Parkinson's and type two diabetes and Alzheimer's.

(26:08):
There's all these different studies about how you know, coffee
can improve improve your health. And that's also if you're
not adding like a lot of sugar and a lot
of cream and things like that to it. And so
that was fascinating to me too, because I don't hear
that enough right about the benefits of drinking coffee. For
some people. It's also an appetite suppressant, and it also
definitely gives you energy. And so after learning all of

(26:30):
those things and then also seeing the value of coffee shops,
of all the business that gets that gets done in
a coffee shop, all of the meanings that can happen there.
A lot of people are working from home now maybe
they want to leave the house and go to a
nice coffee shop. And so for me, I just wanted
to build something in bedstide Um in my neighborhood in
Brooklyn that I felt like was beautiful, that was a

(26:51):
great hangout space that also has some history to it.
And so that's how the coffee business came about. It
was it was definitely very intentional me of why I
chose that. Um, I don't even want to say that
I love this story. I know my assistant Donna, who's
sitting over here while we record, loves the story because
I give her so much. She drinks so much coffee,

(27:12):
Like she's a daily coffee drinker. She's like, I can
tell you right now, she's probably already Google like yep,
gonna go to the coffee shop. She is always trying
to I'm not a coffee drinker. I appreciate them. And
that's why I said I wanted to share this story
because the point of it is a diversification, right Like,
what I like is what I like, and what I
what I don't like is what I don't like. But
I love this story because I do think it's it's

(27:34):
reclaiming agency, right a business that reclaims agency. What I
mean by that is you're creating a narrative and reclaiming
agency because I you saw something, you saw space, and
you said, I can be a black owned woman business
owner in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, give back to the community,
but also reclaim that narrative of this is where coffee,
This is what coffee means, is where it comes from,
comes from, and this is who it's for for for real.

(27:56):
And so I think that of the businesses for me
that story. While I am not a coffee drinker, I'm
sold on it and I love the energy behind it
because I'm all about reclaiming that agency and rewriting the
story and telling a narrative that's honest and pure. And
so I can't wait to give you some coffee girl,
like you don't you don't even let me. Let me
tell all y'all that are listening. You don't want to

(28:17):
see all you love on coffee. I try to print
in college. It is a site to behold. Like it is.
I have natural energy, my energy. I don't drink coffee.
I don't have like the energy drinker red. But I
don't even know any of that. Yes, I don't have
similars on drink sodas. I have that natural annoying energy,
the energy that when you work with me, I email

(28:38):
us six am, destiny, destiny. Um, you don't get tired ever.
Come on, I do get tired, but you know what
it is. I have a radical sleep like routine. I
go to bed at nine oh three unless I'm working. Obviously,
you know we got nets games and something's happen at night.
But if we're home, like if I don't have a

(28:59):
dinner or an event or work in the evenings. On
my evenings at home, I'm not just up lolliga. I
can't watch on TV. I have got to say nine three.
My body tells me it's not o'clock. I go to
sleep and fight it. I want ride the wave. And
when the body says get up, usually I'm again annoying.
I get up at like five thirty six o'clock or
four thirty to be honest, again, super annoying. I ride

(29:20):
the wave. I get up when the body says get up.
I'm not like, let me take an extra nap or
like lay down longer. But you're gonna say, because you know,
the darker the roast, the less caffeine in the coffee.
So the latter roads actually have more caffeine that doctor
Rose has less, So I think that also matters too.
That's what I'm saying, Like for me, when I do something,
it is an education process because I also feel like

(29:40):
a lot of people don't know sometimes like people just
do like the regular cake cup and that's not gonna
be the best coffee for you anyway. But when you
have like a fresh that it sounds like that's the
one where you just put it in the machine and
then it makes it but instead of like the real
whole being, because you know, the way that I have
it at home is like I have the whole beings
that I have the grinder and then it's a whole process.

(30:02):
But it definitely tastes better. And the only thing I
put in it is oat milk, you know, and so
it tastes good. And I have chocolate oat milk too,
so it actually ends up tasting good. But there's all
different kinds, so you never know. But we're gonna tie
it with you. Oh God, y'all better get you all
videos ready. It will be excited people. See. This is
why courts our conversation. It is like digging, digging deeper
into the things that we don't always read about, that

(30:23):
we don't always hear. But I want to step into halftime.
Half time is always fun. It's entertaining. We're already talking
about energy, We're talking about coffee, and I'm already wired.
I'd love to do some even it's rabbit fire, but
I always call it fire rabbit and then ask you
some funny questions. Okay, now with with the rapid fire,
you gotta tell me quickly, you know, thinking about it. Okay,

(30:44):
first one, here we go music radio, talk radio, music
radio running or red carpet running, interviewing or being interviewed,
interviewing book or audio book. Buck Oh, okay, sing or

(31:04):
dance sing. We gotta talk about this later. Sneakers are heels.
Sneakers beach your mountains beach and the last one night
in or night out, night in, She's night. My answers
are so boring. That's good. I love it. You're like,

(31:28):
I'll go running, I'll stay on the couch, I'll read
my book. I love any No, but I love you
for reading a book. Look at that. I don't think
I know anyone who still reads a book. No, people
do whole library behind me? You do you do? Look
at that? Look at that. I feel like reading a
book is a luxury I can't afford. I am a
huge audible person. I read. I listened to all audio

(31:49):
books because I just feel like, you know, that cleaning
book that we talked about, I'll put it on. And
I was just like, listen to a whole book and
clean the whole house. But now like you're hatched. That goals.
I love to touch a book. I think books at
like artwork to me, and so I love like to
have like a beautiful book. I was just looking at um.
This author, Jasin Nabongo, she has this book out that
she did with National Geographic. She's a black woman. She

(32:11):
went to every single country in the world, a hundred
and ninety five countries that she visited. Um the cat
to me if you can. The book is so beautiful
because her pictures and her you know, all the different
places that she's been to. And I do love Audible,
but I will say, like there's something to be said
for being able like that. You can't get that experience
if you're not like you know, flipping through the pages

(32:33):
of the book and seeing it and I read. I'm
like a speed reader. I was an English major in college, right,
and so the secrets come out y'all over here have
me feeling bad about myself. But you have you got
some special superpowers. That's what it is. Now. I read
so fast because and it's good because I'm always working
and doing things, so I can I know you can
speed up, you know, the reading. I remember we were

(32:54):
before we interviewed President Obama. I was trying to read
his I was in the car driving in DC, listening
to an audiobook. I was like, this is happening too
slow for me because I just read so fast that
it's easier for me, and I retain information better that
way for some reason. So you know, I always love
a book. I did read Obama's book, and I had
to speed it up two point oh and he sounds
like he was talking normal. He's the fastest I've ever listened,

(33:18):
like not know. The book is like seven dred something pages.
It's not the fastest in duration, the fastest in speed
that I had to that I've ever listened to someone talk.
And it seemed like he was talking. I talked fast,
but it seemed like he was talking normal. But it's
so good, so good. Yeah, it was good. I was like,
it's gonna take me a month to listen to this audiobook.
It's like twenty nine hours. I was looking at it
the other day. It's twenty nine hours if you listen

(33:39):
to it. Yes, that's a lifetime. Okay. Biggest pet peeve?
What's one of your biggest pet peeves? Um? One of
my biggest pet peeves? Man, I have so many. I'm
so you know, I'm trying to think of what I
always say is the biggest one is um? But you
have so many? Really, yeah, I do, because I have
like a lot of little pet I'm like very controlling.

(34:03):
Tell me more, please please say more. I mean I
guess like people would tell you, I'm kind of o
c D. Like if you come over my house and like,
you know, things are out of order. I'm always like
behind you, like putting things back where they're supposed to be.
So I don't like people who are like, um, don't
clean up after themselves. I guess that would be a
pet peeve. You know, that's probably my biggest one for

(34:26):
some reason, like things like that bother me. I'm trying
to think with us people who are late all the time,
that's a pet peep too, because I always feel like
being late it's so disrespectful to everybody else's time. It's
okay every now and then, but you know, um, somebody
who you know, you know these people, You're like, all right, well,
I'm gonna tell them to get there at seven thirty
because it's really an eight like that, Like I want

(34:46):
you to be on time. I hate having to wait
because I'm always in a rush to go places and
my schedule is so busy. I don't like when people
throw me off. No, I think being on time is
is a sign of respect. I think it's going back
to being prepared. It's a sign of respect, and it's
fine to your point, like you have once in a while,
people are just naturally. We live in New York City,
and if you take the train. At some point something's

(35:07):
bound to happen, or even if you're in a car, like,
at some point, something's a bound to happen. But it's
like that inconsistency or or that consistency with being tardy.
You're just like you're not invited to the party anymore.
So read, oh another one, okay, since I know, but
when people send emails and they don't like spell check
or grammar check and it's all over the place and
it's a mess. I don't like that, Like, please proof

(35:30):
read and I get it, like, you know, sometimes we
send things and it's not a percent right, but like,
do proof read your email, especially if you're asking for
something that is on a professional level, like if you
want to get a job and you're sending an email
and it's not like because if I'm asking for something
or like sending a proposal, I send it to myself
first and I read it over, make sure it looks right,

(35:52):
and then like if it's something really important. You know,
if you're emailing your friend, no big deal, but if
it's like really important, and make sure that you're on point.
I have a similar and this is a great segue
into the third quarter. Um. But I have a similar
thing is that I don't like when people spell my
name wrong in an email, and it just reminds me
of Steph Curry when they, like, one brand spelled his

(36:13):
name wrong and he went with a different brand. That's
the word on the street one of the stories. But
I totally relate because I find that you didn't prepare
once again comes back to in preparation and you're you're
trying to like collaborate with me or work with me
or have a conversation, but you just spelled Ali A
L L I E. And I'm like, no, it's a
L L four letters, you know what I mean? Just

(36:34):
like that's it. Just for let I got Angela Lee
a lot you know Angela Lee. Are you available? I'm like, okay,
do you ever do you go in correct? Do you
go and correct them? Like do you like you see?
I just don't respond. I just like, there you go.
You just get to trash. So y'all out there if
y'all trying to work with her, she said, make sure

(36:55):
you get my name right or you're gonna get in
the trash. Delete delete, delete, But as we say, U
until the third quarter, let's talk about success, the metric
for success and our professional endeavors? How would you define
the metric for success? Because I mean there are moments
I can tell you that as you know entrepreneur, maybe
you feel similar that you just feel accomplished. You're like,
oh my gosh, I did that. That felt great, right,

(37:16):
certain interviews that you discussed like that felt great. I
accomplished something. And then there are moments where you just
feel like nothing is ever right or it's just I'm
never gonna get there. I'm never gonna be as good
as I could be. But in those moments, how do
you reconcile between those two? Um? What is? How do
you identify and establish a personal metric for success? I

(37:38):
think the best metric for success is how many people
you're able to help? Right, Because I think you feel
the most successful when somebody that came up under you
or that you took under your wing is successful, because
then that makes you feel like that's like what a
real legacy is, and that's what it really is successful.
How much to impact other people's lives? You know? I
was thinking about this like when Michael kay Williams passed

(38:02):
or even just recently when trouble passed and how many
people were like what a great person he was, and
interactions like especially with Michael Kay Williams that had nothing
to do with him being an actor, nothing to do
with those things, but all about him being a human
being and the things that he's done as a philanthropist
to help his community. To me, that's like success and

(38:24):
what I want to be able to do is yes,
of course, like I want to be successful and make
money in that way, but part of wanting to do
that is because you want to be able to help
other people. And so if I can be successful, if
I can you know, turn this coffee shop into a
franchise and then help other people become franchise owners at
a really low cost, and then they can become successful

(38:45):
and you know, make money to support their family and
buy homes and pass that down. Like that's how you
really measure success. How much of an impact what you've
done and what you've created impacts other people in a
positive way. Do you ever like a moment to recognize
see impact that you have on the community in terms
of what you do for the Morning show? I think that, um,

(39:08):
you know, I love when I do that segment, ask
ye and when I see people or they follow up
with me and they tell me how much it me
and meant to them, like the advice that I gave,
even if it's advice I gave someone else. And they
were listening and they were like, oh my god, when
I heard you say that, I really And there's like
real things that happened on that segment. You know. I
have a friend who is a therapist, and if it's
something that is above me, I'm like, okay, let me

(39:30):
link you with Dr Jasper and you can talk to him.
And like there was one guy that literally was like
I'm going to kill myself. Um, you know, I was
on probation and i got in trouble again and I'm
gonna go to jail and I'm not going to jail
killing myself. And so I was like, okay, this is
definitely above me. I linked them and he was really
able to help him not go to jail, talk to
the assistant disc attorney you know where he lives, and

(39:53):
help him like get past everything and find a solution.
And they still keep in contact. They flew out there
to see him, you know, and like things like that
is um is a real way that you can see
how much what you do can help somebody, even if
it's something small, like me talking about taxes and things
that you can do with somebody's Like, girl, I'm so
glad you said on the radio that helped me, you know,

(40:14):
financially or whatever is. You know, somebody might have a
book coming out and they come on the show, or
a listener might call in and promote the book and
it shoots up, you know, on the bestseller's list or whatever,
anything like that that makes a big difference in somebody's life. Like, yes,
we definitely do have an impact, and I appreciate it
and I'm grateful for it. I love that story that

(40:34):
do you ever have moments where you're a loss for
words on like on the radio? Um yeah, I mean,
you know, it's been a really tough time, especially during
this pandemic, with so many things happening and a lot
of suffering. And so when we interviewed um Ai Martinez
and I interviewed Brianna Taylor's mother to make a Palmer,

(40:56):
and that was really difficult because you know, and watching
Bankrumpt's documentary, it also makes you realize the amazing work
that he does as a civil rights attorney just to
be able to help coach people through what it is
that they need to do, because there is certain things
that you have to do. It's not like, um, it's fake.
It's just in order for you to get attention from

(41:18):
the media to have something done about an injustice that
was done to you. The family is going to have
to speak, and there are gonna have to be rallies,
and there is going to have to be media attention,
and there is going to have to be interviews that
you have to do, and you are gonna have to
showcase because you know they'll they'll show a person that
gets killed by the police in a negative light to
make the public not have much sympathy for that person,

(41:40):
and so you are going to have to show, Okay,
he was a great person, this is what he did,
this is what he did for people. Here's this picture.
You know, there's certain things and watching that documentary really
made me realize it. And there's been so many times
when you know, the news can be really depressing sometimes
when you see everything that's going on in the world,
and so sometimes it is hard for me to like

(42:00):
make it through certain stories talking about you Valdi, Texas
and the kids and Buffalo, New York, and and it's
in people getting killed that are just minding their business
and doing the right thing, and they have families. You know,
those things are really hard to even What can you say?
How do you prepare for those? Like obviously we hear
the outcome, right, so when you get on and and

(42:22):
there is a repetition that occurs in terms of you
know the sequence of the flow of work because you've
done it for so long, But you don't ever get
used to these kinds of stories. This kind of news
is especially um coming out of this pandemic. How do
you mentally prepare to go on and speak in front
of so many people knowing that literally the biggest part

(42:44):
of your job isn't You're not a news broadcast. You're
not here to stick just the news. You're gonna give
a point of view, and sometimes that point of view
is going to be a point of contention, um, and
especially on sensitive subjects. But how do you prepare for that?
I think the best thing to do is prepare are
for that, right, Like you never want to go. First
of all, you have to admit when you don't know something.
So if you don't know, you don't know. You can't

(43:06):
make things up. Sometimes people would do that and like
just be like, oh yeah, I think it was this.
You can't just say anything. You do have a responsibility
when you're on the radio to only say things that
are true. You can't make things up because we will
get sued, you know. So there's that. So just even
making sure that I do enough research and and even
if there's a story, I have to if it's something

(43:26):
really important, I have to really researches and look at
all different points of views and different articles, because you
can never just really one outlet about something. You know,
one person says something, you look somewhere else, it's a
whole another story. Then there's this part that got left
out of the story at this outlet. And so I
just try to make sure that I do whatever I
can to be able to present the story in the
most fair way possible before I assess it and give

(43:47):
my own point of view, because you aren't shaping how
other people feel about it too, do you? And I
guess I'm gonna I'm gonna dig a little deeper in
this questions. Do you have a routine that you do
before you get on air, Like I get what you're saying,
like or facts are things that come along with this,
But is there something that you do to get your
mind right so that you know that the words that
are coming out are flowing because it's it's heavy, it's

(44:08):
it's it's emotionally taxing and draining. You know, before we
get on the air, I've already been up for two hours,
and so in the morning, I watched the news. While
I'm getting ready, I always have the news on so
I can see what's happening. I watched the local news,
and then I also will watch like MSNBC or CNN
just to see world news. And then on the way

(44:28):
into work, I'm also like still listening and hearing what's
going on and make sure that I'm like very up
to date. And the night before I also send stories
in so there's certain stories that we know are huge stories.
Will be reporting on those breaking news, you know, like
it might be the January six hearings right now, and
so those are things that I know that we're definitely
going to talk about, and so I want to make
sure the night before I'm already prepared, so by the

(44:49):
time I get on the air, I've already been getting
started from the night before, from when I get up
in the morning. I get to work before everybody, and
so that's when those stories get printed out and I
look at them and then I compare to what I
already saw in the news, what I've already listened to
in the car. I think a lot of people don't
understand like the amount of work, you know, that I
have to do and on a daily basis, because a

(45:10):
lot of times I don't even have time to do
anything for myself, you know, because I'm so busy, like
preparing for work every single day, and so um by
the time I get to work, I've already heard a
lot of these stories, like over and over again multiple times,
and I always like to make sure before we go
up that I just like searched to make sure that
because things change like every few minutes, and so if

(45:32):
it's a big story, I always like google it to
see if anything happened in the past like hour that
I need to update. And so you know, that's basically
by the time I get on something's been I've already
kind of processed it and dealt with it, and you know,
because I do have a responsibility to make sure that
I'm as accurate as possible, but also to make sure
that like those important stories do get told. Yeah, I

(45:55):
appreciate that. I think that sometimes we just don't take
it for granted, Like I said, you own lea, see
what's on social or you only hear the product the output.
You don't see the preparation that goes into it. And
so it's not easy because there is an emotional and
um like a physical connection to what you do, right,
like you're physically performing your job every day, but there's
an emotional taxation that occurs, especially when the things that

(46:18):
we talk about aren't always pretty and then they're backed about.
I mean the luck we have the luxury of talking
about it because we're alive to tell the story, but
it is emotionally draining. And so I can only imagine
in terms of what you do because it's it's educational,
is informative, and it's entertaining, right, Like that's that's what
you do. It's like it's it's hitting on all touch points,
all senses. So it is amazing to hear you reiterate

(46:40):
like this concept. And I think this is a theme
of our discussion, is like there's an element of preparedness
that go on, whether it's in your personal professional life
or in the intersection of both those things. Like when
you take it, when you take it to to the
game of life, there's a preparedness that happens before you
step out of the court, the pitch or the field.
Um that puts you in a position to get to
find the wind. So let's let's roll into this fourth quarter.

(47:01):
The fourth quarter is always shorter because there's more life
to be lived, and I feel like we're gonna have
more conversations. And so in terms of what you do,
and you mentioned this a lot um, philanthropy is a
big part of of what you do. I don't know
many people who do it to the level that you
do it, to be honest, seriously, because ambassador of the

(47:22):
New York Public Library, one of the first ever I
believe for sure you do the five K. My girl
loves to run, but run with ye. All of these
things are example of you leading from the front of you,
involving the community, but also a form of giving back,
right like this is a physical and a mental approach
to sincerely giving back. Where did this all come from?
You also a part of the we are the family

(47:44):
foundation of probably that powers youth around the world. But like,
where does this come from? Where? Where? Where does this
impetus to give back so much in so many areas
come from? I feel like when I first said it,
finally making money, because I will admit that, like, until
I have money, I didn't even you know, I was

(48:04):
always struggling, like I gotta take care of myself. I
don't have anything extra that I can do. But once
I was in the privileged place where like, okay, you know,
I feel comfortable. I own a house and that's what
really made me feel comfortable, honestly, because I used to
be so concerned about like will I ever be able
to retire? Am I always going to be paying rent?
Will I ever be able to own a house? That

(48:25):
was always something that concerned me. Brooklyn's expensive, and so
I used to be like, man, what am I gonna do?
And so once I bought a house, I felt like, Okay,
I could breathe, and now what is it that I
care about that I want to make sure that I
can help other people with? And so I always feel like, um,
if I can be making money doing things, I can
also donate my time and my efforts and my money,

(48:48):
you know, for things too, because I feel like it's
a blessing to be a blessing, you know, tor fully,
and so you know that one of the first things
I joined was the American Foundation for the University of
the West Indies. You know, my mom is from the
West Indies. Education is super important to me, and so
you know, every every year I donate money. I always
am like hosting or doing different things for that foundation

(49:11):
because I get to meet some of the students that
they actually help with the scholarships and it's only five
thousand dollars for a full year for them to go
to college, and so that it goes so far for
them and to meet like these brilliant kids who go
on to become doctors and architects and all of that,
and sometimes you know, all they needed was some financial help.
Why should that separate them from being able to get

(49:31):
a quality education? And so that education is always something
that's important to me. I have my book club that
I started, and I just did that because I love
to read physical books, and physical books audiobooks are cool too,
but I just know how great it is because I
also feel like there's not a great platform for authors
to be able to talk about their projects and also

(49:52):
for people to be able to connect to some of
those stories. So I was actually doing the book club
in person. I just did one at my coffee shop
for the first time. Um too after the pandemics. Well
we're still in the pandemic, but you know, since it started.
That was the first one that I've done in person.
But we really did used to do them once a month,
and most of the times the author would come and
we had some really important conversations and so it was

(50:13):
like a town hall meeting. So I really appreciated and
enjoyed that. I mean, we talked about everything from like
we did Beverly Bond came for Black Girls Rock and
it was amazing. That was one of my favorite ones
when she came with her book. But you know we
did um Cecil Richards and her book. You know, she
was the president of Planned Parenthood, so she was able
to come in and discuss it. So those things to
me are important because they like, look at the discussions

(50:36):
that we're having now, you know, and so I think
we need to educate ourselves and those things so that
we could be more involved and speak at it from
a place of understanding and so um, yeah, it's just
whatever is important to me. I like to read. Um.
I'm a big proponent of the New York Public Library.
That's why that was important to me. I'm doing something
there today. As soon as I finished with you, I'm

(50:57):
going there and I'm talking to the kids about entrepreneurship
and um doing it in person and they're streaming in too.
And so if there's any way that, like I can
go to schools and talk to kids and providing type
of inspiration, those are things that really mean a lot
to me. And it's never about the money. It's just
about me being able to carve out time for that
and I always do well. I have to say, I

(51:18):
really appreciate you taking a seat court side with me
to have this conversation. I mean, save your money by
a house, you definitely have done that. Your community, continuing
the legacy of your family, giving back definitely rooted and
giving back um to your neighborhood and beyond. And then
this highlight of physical books, information and access information changes lives,
which is a big part of your story, and the

(51:40):
one that I like the most is understanding your pet Peeve,
don't be late. Don't beat late, okay, don't get and
don't call her Angela Lee. It's angel Yeah. You get
in a test right to it's not a L L E.
Why okay? But thank you so much, Ali Love. I
was really looking forward to being able to talk to you.
You know, y'all always have me on what side? Do

(52:00):
I be in court side with you? Yes? No, this
was This was honestly one of the ones I was
looking forward to the most. I have so many more
questions and it's just on a personal level, and so
hopefully I can have you back, even if it's for
a fifteen minutes segment, to take a little deeper. I
think getting to the house too, because everyone wants to
know the story. We're scratching the surface. As a new audience,
everyone's coming in. So again, we appreciate you taking the
courtside seat with me, and I look forward to potentially

(52:22):
digging deeper with you and learning more about you. Anytime,
we'll go sit down over some coffee. Oh, here we go,
y'all get the cameras creating Angelie. Everyone. Thank you, Angeline,
thank you Yea
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