Operation Hope Explained

If you've been listening to Money & Wealth for a while, you've heard John talk about Operation Hope several times. But what is Operation Hope? In this episode, John will explain what Operation Hope is and how it's here to help you forge your path to financial freedom! 

To learn more about John's Operation Hope initiative, visit: https://operationhope.org/how-we-help/credit-money-management/

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome the Money and Wealth with John Hobryant, a production
of the Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Yo, Yo Yo.
This is John Hope Bryant, and this is Money and
Wealth on the Black Effect Network on iHeartRadio. This is

(00:23):
season two and this is a special bonus episode that
I really thought I would never do, in part because well,
I was just wrong. I assumed you knew all this
stuff about Operation Hope, and I don't know where I
got that from. I don't know why I would have
assumed that you would know all that Operation Hope does.

(00:44):
I've never taken the time to actually unpack and explain
it to you. I just assumed, because you know me,
you know it. And for that I'm wrong. Because when
you assume, you make an ass you and me. It's
literally what it's spells out. And so you should never
assume anything. And I tell people that all the time,

(01:04):
but I didn't practice what I preached, So for that
I apologize. So today we're going to well set the
record straight and we're going to get on a whole
new trajectory here by breaking down the tools and shovels
of Operation Hope, because really, the world owes you an apology.
People will say often I hear them say I hate

(01:27):
capitalism or I hate I hate rich people. And my
response often is, well, no, you don't. You hate rich
people until you become rich. What you hate is a
game system. What you hate is a system that is
seems to be somehow rigged against you. That know how,

(01:49):
no matter how hard you work, no matter what you do,
you can't seem to get ahead. You've got too much
month at the end of your money, can I get
an amen? So it's not you. The system is sort
of rigged against you because you never got the Memo
that was my fourth book. I also assume you read

(02:10):
all my books. By the way, there was Banking Our Future,
there's Love Leadership, There's How the porkin Save Capitalism a bestseller,
There is the Memo bestseller. There's Up from Nothing that
was a bestseller, and then the sort of the rocket
ship bestseller. The one that's out now is Financial Literacy
for All, which has been a bestseller for going on

(02:33):
fifteen months now on hardcover and now paper books, paperback,
and you get it at Walmart or Amazon, or you're
a local bookstore, your local bookstore. If you could give
a black bookstore, you neighborhood, you should support it. By
the way, if you if you know a person of color,
or a woman's own store, a minority a small business bookstore,

(02:58):
you should support it. So anyway that I've outlined this
and unpacked sort of the how to of how we
got here in my books, I've described how we never
got the memo, why in many ways we make assumptions
about this. That is what we don't know. That we

(03:19):
don't know this killing is what we think we know.
We assume that we've got the memo. We assume that
we understand how the system works. We shouldn't assume anything. Again,
I've the society assumes that about us, and I assumed,
by the way, as I said earlier, that you knew
all about Operation Hope. Both of those things are wrong
and you should not feel ashamed. As I keep saying

(03:42):
in this podcast episode in series over the last two years,
you should not be ashamed because it's because you don't know.
It's what you don't know. That you don't know this
killing you. But you think you know, but no one
ever taught you to know better. If you knew better,
you do better. How do I know that because as
you've already proven it were, the rules are published, and

(04:02):
the plainfielder's level, you kill it, you succeed. Let's give
some examples the arts, professional sports, faith, politics. The rules
are published, the plainfool's level, you killed it, you succeeded. Now,

(04:23):
about six thousand years ago, we had a choice to make,
and for a range of reasons, our season was culture.
We decided to become an expert in culture, and that
became the definition of cool. And we are the definition
of cool all around the world. Well, our mainstream friends,

(04:47):
and this includes our Jewish brothers and sisters, by the way,
kudos on them. They decided to major in capitalism, and
so you have commerce and capitalists on the on the
on the one side, and commerce and kosher and cool
on the other. They're all good. None of this is
bad stuff. They're good in different ways. But the problem

(05:07):
is that if you're rocking the mic but you don't
own the stage, then you're renting your future. If you're
rocking the mic but you don't own the stage, right,
then you're renting your future. And that has been the
storyline of all these achievers who confuse making money with
building wealth. You make money. During the day you build

(05:29):
wealth and your sleep. Because again, no one taught us
how this system works. No one taught us this game
of capitalism. So we are about getting that ball to
get that dollar, getting that bag, getting that cash, getting paid. Okay, great,
that's called a contract an opportunity, and you mayet rich
for a moment, but you won't be wealthy. And if
your outfloaks is your inflows and your overhead, it will
be your downfall. So if you're making money, I don't

(05:51):
care how much money you make, how little or much
you make. If the income stops because the contract or
the agreement stops and your expenses continue and you don't
have something offsetting that, which is a level of wealth
you've been able to create, then you're going to go
broke slowly, or in some cases, when it's a lot

(06:12):
of money, you'll go broke very fast and very in
a spectacular fashion. So there's nothing wrong with us. We're
not dumb, we're not stupid. We have too much month
at the end of our money. Seventy percent of this
country is living from patrick to paycheck as everybody but
half of black folks have a credit score below six
to twenty we're the lowest in the country on average.

(06:33):
And again we're not dumb and we're not stupid. We
were enslaved on American soil. It was illegal to teach
us how to teach us how to read. Forget teaching
uspential literacy, that was a big no no. And capitalism,
forget about it altogether. We were, in fact we were
capital So I don't want you, I want you. I
don't want you thinking there's something wrong with why you

(06:53):
don't know this, and I don't want you ashamed to
have these conversations. And that is in part why I'm
doing this episode because not only do I want to
inspire you with the lessons every week about how the
systems work U and I want you to master the system.
Don't be upset by it, because once you understand the rules,
I think that you will kill it. In this area

(07:13):
as well. I mean I joked that black folks you know,
found tennis and killed it. The Williams sisters we found
f one racing you know, Lewis Hamilton and killed it. Right,
We found uh, you know, soccer killed it. All these
areas where we golf, you know, Tiger Woods. We're not

(07:35):
normally at we've found these areas. We figured out the
rules of engagement and playing the rules, playing by the rules.
We killed it. And you're now seeing blacks and NASCAR racing.
You're seeing black Okay, So we can. We've proved we
can do it this success thing everywhere. Why couldn't we
do it in capitalism and free enterprise. It makes no

(07:56):
sense that we cannot. It makes every sense that we can.
That's the system that I want to teach you. I
also want to create a network of resources and services
and programs to help you, not giving you a handout,
but a hand up. And by the way, our service
is available to everybody, black, white, red, brown, and yellow.

(08:17):
I'm going to show you how to produce some green.
Whether you're black and brown urban or your poor, white
and rural and you live in a five under credit
cord neighborhood, you've got the same problem. You have a
check casher next to a patio on lender, next to
a render owned store, next to a title lender, next
to a liquor store, next to a pawn shop, right
and a church down the street. Trying to make you
feel a little bit better. Once a week you had

(08:39):
the military. You're the military installation, a military base. All
these predators are right there at the gates of the
military base waiting for you to come out, because they realize,
they know, they realize, they know, they're hoping you don't
realize that you cannot have defaults on your financial picture
if you want to keep your military credentials and your

(09:01):
security clearances. So they are going to do They know
you're going to do anything you can't have to to
clear up your debts, and they're going to try to
help clear out your pockets as you're doing that. So
we're all in this thing together. I believe that the
new movements in the suites, not the streets. The work
in the streets continues. Civil rights, as we can see

(09:25):
clearly now, is still very much needed. But civil rights
has to have a partner, and now believe that civil
rights si l v Er I believe the work in
the streets have to now move to the suites. A
protesting has to transition to partnership. That we've got to
go from just cashing a check to writing them this

(09:47):
and we've got to not just focus on red rooms,
which are rooms designed to stop discrimination, racism, biased, all
the bad things, but to point toward and hope, open
up and support and encourage and develop new green rooms, internships, apprenticeships,

(10:07):
places to create enterprise and entrepreneurship, places of education that
connects education with aspiration, giving people the tools and the
shovels to come up from nothing. You can't bootstrap yourself
if you don't have shoelaces. We want to give you
those shoelaces so that you can add to the American tapestry,

(10:28):
so you can complete the American dream. I believe this
is a third reconstruction. The first reconstruction was freedom Civil
War right after it, Frederick Douglas's Abraham Lincoln, etc. All
of the heroes and heroes of that era. Second reconstruction
civil Rights movement, Doctor Martin la King Jr. My mentor hero,
Andrew Young. Bastard Andrew Young, who's a global spokesman of

(10:49):
Operation Hope and the man who created effectively the only
international city in the South, which is a tenth lars
economy in the country, which is built on diversity and inclusion, Atlanta, Georgia.
And we're Operation to Hope in my company's Brian Group Companies,
Brian Group Ventures, etc. Are headquarters and then the promise
and the promise of the future, I believe is this

(11:10):
third reconstruction that we're in now, which is about moving
you from the streets to the suites, expanding the table,
adding a chair, including yourself in it as opportunity, growing
GDP for all of us in new colors, not black
or white as in race, or red or blue as
in politics that define the first and second reconstructions. This
third one, I believe the color is green. Where we

(11:31):
go from a history of bad capitalism, slavery being a
really good, bad example of that, to a history of
good capitalism where bad capitalism is where I benefit and
you benefit. Sorry, I benefit and you pay a price
for it, and good capitalism is where I benefit and
you benefit more. Can I get an amen? So we
can do well and do good too? Right, we can

(11:51):
have the system of good capitalism, but you've got to
understand the rules of the game. Somebody's got to give
you the memo, somebody's got to lay the framework out
for you. And beyond that education and an aspiration, you
need tool services in a platform. So when I said
I want to become the federal Reserve of the hood,
that was all disrespect to the Federal Reserve. I think
the Federal Reserve is fantastic, and it's not it's not

(12:13):
lacking in any way. It's a standard, a ghost standard
for the world, no pun intended, good standard. But there
is another America that that seemed to can't even get
to the benefits of the Federal Reserve because they live
in another hood. They've been left behind by the neighborhood,
by the systems. You're not broken, the system is. And

(12:36):
so I decided to create economic plumbing for underserved America.
That is a vision of Operation Hope. So if you're
looking at this on your video feed, or you're listening
to this on your podcast network, you're going you're you're
listening to this on your way to work, or you're jogging,

(12:57):
or you're cooking, or you're with the girl or your buddies,
and you don't have a lot of time, or you
want to send this to somebody else and they have
short periods of time, tell them to go to the
minute thirteen. And that's where John Briant goes in on
the what, because when you finish this podcast, I want
you to have the tools and the shovels you need

(13:18):
to literally empower your life with the information that I'm
giving you. So I'm going to punch through this pretty
quickly because you're really smart and you don't need to
handhold you. So we're not just helping people. We're rebuilding
the operating system of American capitalism, inclusive economics. I call
it inclusive capitalism. I call it. It is expanding the

(13:42):
lens of free enterprise. It is, to quote my friend
Stephanie Rule, expanding the table and adding a chair. So
Operation Hope that I found it thirty three years ago
in south central Los Angeles after the Rodney King riots
of nineteen ninety two. Pristion Hope is leading the civil

(14:03):
rights movement s I l V e R and now
the Third Reconstruction in my opinion, along with other noteworthy
and important organizations that are doing great work in this country.
By the way, Bishop T. D. Jakes and his Good
Soil Organization, there's so many more Van Jones and all
the heroes and heroes Susan Taylor. There's so many people
who are doing really important work. It's not just us

(14:25):
but leading this helping to lead this important work at
this important time that's platforming economic growth for this next
generation for this country, because literally, this country cannot continue
to be the leader of the free world without the
least of these gods children joining the party. And this
is an old story, by the way. In other words,

(14:46):
the country has always had the bottom lift up from
the bottom to the top. The latter has just broken
now and we need to rebuild it for us. So
Main Street needs the same resources as Wall Street, Okay,
and so Operation Hope is this economic plumbing, this Walmart
for financial literacy, this Starbuck of financial inclusions for the country.

(15:09):
Fifteen hundred offices. It will be fifteen thousand by twenty thirty,
but we currently have two day fifteen hundred offices and
forty two plus states. We're opening an office on average
every two weeks. Think about the major banks in this corporation.
Most all of them are for our partners, and they're
not doing one officer too. In the case of Truest Bank,

(15:32):
they're doing eight hundred, almost half of all their branches.
That's not charity. I don't want to get wrong in
the number off the top of my head, but I
think at this point we're well over fifty Bank of America,
same thing, US Bank on board. I mean you name
the institution, we have a relationship with them. Major corporations,

(16:03):
we have relationships with them. The Fortune five hundred. This
is not charities, major cities and the city, state, and
federal government. I've known. I've worked with twelve US Secretaries
of the Treasury. I've known nine US presidents. We've been
recognized by five US presidents by both parties. I've been
a credentialed advisor with the security clearance for three presidents

(16:24):
from both parties. I've advised officially and unofficially President Clinton,
President Bush, and President Obama. Been the chairman of the
the US President's Advisory Council of Financial Literacy and the
Chairman of the Committee on the Underserved. We've made it.
We created federal policy for financial literacy for the federal government.
Now we need tod that policy to include the people

(16:49):
in communities. Hopefully this means legislation sometime soon that will
be K through college at least K through twelve should
be mandatory financial literacy, I believe is a civil rights
issue this generation. We inspired the renaming of the building
on the White House campus called the Freedman's Bank. No
organization or individual has ever done that in the history
of this country, all up from South central a and Compton,

(17:10):
California to now the largest on the ground footprint for
economic empowerment in this country. Fifteen hundred physical offices, three
hundred offices that are manned by my employees, and then
the rest are helped twelve hundred are through our partners

(17:30):
who help us with their employees and with volunteers and
through technology. So by the end of this episode, you'll
know exactly how to download hope into your life, your business,
your school, or your community. And we're not selling a dream,
We're helping you build yours. So here are the tools
and the shovels of your life. So for individuals and families,

(17:53):
I'm literally going to break this down. So put out
your pen, your pencil, your digital platform, your iPhone, notes, whatever,
and let's get at this hope inside we have. This
is where we have fifteen hundred offices. Hope inside of
bank branches, hoping side, hoping side of churches, hoping side
of grocery stores, hoping side of community centers, hoping side

(18:16):
of government offices, hoping side of the fire department. I
believe we're doing that in Atlanta, hoping side a police
department hoping side. So these hope inside offices to make simple,
make things really simple, are doing some straightforward things. They're
raising your credit score fifty four points in six months,
lowering your debt thirty eight hundred dollars, increasing your savings

(18:39):
twelve hundred dollars between six and twelve months. If you're
making forty eight thousand dollars a year, fifty thousand dollars
in this example, this just changed your life and made
you bankable. Did you get that point? All right? Just
doing that transforms your life. So the bank can't tell
you yes, you think the bank is racist. They just
might think you're a credit risk. By the way, the
bank who knows the banker might be racist. I don't know.

(19:01):
All I know is if you go to that computer
at midnight and you punch in your information, you have
a seven to twenty credit score and you're asking for
a sub one hundred thousand dollars credit line, mortgage line,
credit card, whatever, the likelihood of that computer saying yes
to you, irrespective of your color, your gender, or your
geography is very very high, like above eighty percent. So
the color is green, not black and white or red

(19:24):
or blue, and we're going to help you to access
some of that green by making yourself attractive a bank.
There's a joke in banking. A banker will lend you
money you prove you don't need it. It's a joke,
but it's not far from it. In other words, it's
about it's a joke that every banker recognizes because bankers
are not in the risk business. They're in the risk
mitigation business, the risk management business. And you need to

(19:47):
show that you're managing risk your own and those you're
associated with very well, so they can trust you with
loaning you money because they have got to get it
back because because most of their money is to positive
mone me and if you fail, they fail. So the
only benefit if they make you a loan and you
pay it back and they and they cannot profit unless

(20:10):
they're making loans. So anybody that says, well, the bank
is just doesn't make loans. That's not right. That's not
true that the bank wants to say yes, but they're
forced to say no if your credit score stinks, if
your debt to income ratio stinks, if your credit is
tow up from the flow up. My daddy used to
say he doesn't have credit. He had credit that his
credit was bad, right, and no banker wanted to live

(20:30):
and lend him money. It was a nice guy, ever,
didn't matter. You go to church every Sunday and be
the nicest person on the planet. If your credit is
toe up and you have a five hundred credit score,
they're not giving you a loan. It's not racist, it's
it's just a smart credit decision. So my credit score
used to be eight hundred. Now it's in the high
seven hundreds. Because I'm an entrepreneur and I use my

(20:52):
profile my platform to support operations ope with a lot
of my ventures. So it moves around. But the anything
above seven hundred is smooth. So we're going to help
you get to a point where the bank can be
in the yes business. Yes we want to make you
a homeowner. Yes we want to make you provide your
consumer credit card and so on and so forth, versus
turning you down. So we got to turn the green

(21:13):
lights on in underserved communities so that we can say yes.
So I wrote the business plan for America. I wrote
this tied dream forward. Doctor Kings the anniversary of his
assassination a fifty seventh anniversary April fourth. I wrote a
series of business plans. Business Plan for America, Everybody, business
plan for Black America, a business plan for Rural America,

(21:34):
a business plan for Women, a business plan for Latino Americas,
a business fan for Asian America, the business plan for
Native American Indians. I probably missed a group off the
top of my head, but they're all online. Go to
dream Forward. Everything i'm telling you right now is downloadable,
searchable while while i'm talking to you. Go online and
just type in dream Forward business Plan for America, our

(21:57):
John o'pbrant business Plan for America, our Operation Hope dream Forward,
any of these iterations, our John O'Briant business plan for
Black America, or a business plan for women, business plan
for Rural America which includes my poor white brothers and sisters.
All of these will pull up these business plans. I
want you to read them, I want you to print them.
I want you to share them with everybody. This is

(22:17):
open source. I'm not hiding anything from anybody, right and
then I want you to tie those business plans into this.
If you go to a Hope and Side location and
you raise your credit score, and then everybody in your block,
raise your credit score in your neighborhood of your family.
Here's what you find out. If you hang around nine
broke people, you're going to be the tenth. The opposite
is also true. You hang around nine rich people, you're

(22:40):
likely to be rich and wealthy too, at least rich.
You hang around nine aspirational people, you tend to be aspirational.
You model what you see. Let's change what we see
and who we model on who we hang around. So
if we infect everybody with an increased credit score, what
we found is over twenty years time, if we do
nothing in Black America, our net worth will be about

(23:01):
zero by twenty fifty three. Okay, so that's a little
bit more than than twenty years time, of course, but
you get the point by twenty fifty three, well within
before you know, within thirty years the network back. If
we do nothing, but we're doing now, the network of

(23:22):
Black America will be zero. If we raise credit score
for one hundred points to an average of seven hundred,
as I'm suggesting, you pick up seven hundred and fifty
billion dollars in wealth creation just by doing that. You
then use that credit score to then access home ownership,
because you're because now you're a prime credit risk. That's

(23:44):
eight hundred billion dollars, right, So just those two acts,
which doesn't require any government intervention, that's one point five
ish trillion dollars of wealth creation in twenty five some
odd years. So this is the power when I'm talking.
So these Hope and Side locations are helping you to
raise your credit scores, lower your debt, increase your savings

(24:05):
on an individual basis to making you bankable so the
bank can get in the yes business and out of
the no business. And if somebody discriminates against you after
you've done all this, you come see me right. In fact,
we have a rule of operation Hope. If the bank
turns you down, will fund your loan, in other words,
will approve you subject to the resolution of your primary
denial factors. That's right, we OPPREI will approve you, and

(24:28):
we've approved. We have facilitated four point five billion dollars
plus of investments and underserved communities primarily through major banks
that I'm talking about here at prime rates, and we've
never had the fund the loan. But our promise is
if the bank, if you do what we tell you
to do and the bank does not fund your loan,
will approve you. If the bank doesn't fund it, will

(24:50):
fund it. We'll put up our own balance sheet. And
I'm the largest black mail founded community based nonprofit ever
stood up and operated in an American history on a
sustainable basis, based on our annual budget and based on
the investments that we've made in communities. So I'm not
selling wolf tickets here. I'm telling you what we've done
for thirty three years and I've never had to write

(25:10):
a check because the banks always want to make a
good loan, and if they don't, again, somebody discriminated against
you will be staying right there with you to walk
you through back through a re look at your file
number two. So we're doing free financial coaching. It's not

(25:32):
really free. It's sponsored your scholarship. So we have Hope scholarships.
So it cost us money to and our partners cost
us money to do this. But we will give you
a thousand dollars scholarship good for twelve months to do
your free financial coaching, get your credit score, debt savings inline,
create a budget for you. Things like that just by

(25:56):
calling Operation Hope or downloading the Hope in hand app
or calling one hundred number or going to our website.
All right, so this is the first gift to you. Now,
I want you to go to the Whole Financial Wellness
Index and type in your zip code, because I'm going
to tell you what your credit score is, and you
tell me your zip code. I'm gonna tell your credit score.
I'm gonnaell you how you're living. You tell me your
zip code, I'm gonna tell you your credit score, and

(26:18):
then I'll tell you how you're living. So if you
type in that zip you type in your zip code
and it tells you that you're in a six' ten
credit score, neighborhood it's not, horrible but that will tell
you a lot of things about what's going on in that.
Neighborhood if you live in a five hundred credit score,
neighborhood you lived at sixty one years of. Age by the,
way its retirements not sittinguntil sixty. Five, Okay so you're

(26:40):
paying all this money in the system and you're dying
before you even, retire and can benefit from it because
you're in a surviving. Mindset to cover that in the,
book my book From, nothing see how these things are
all typed in my. Books my speech is the podcast
The Working. Operation we see how this, stuff civil rights
movement for the Third. Reconstruction all these things are tying in.
Together it's all one. Mosaic so. Uh and if you

(27:02):
live to if you have a seven hundred credit, score
by the, way you live to eighty one years of.
Age so we found that across this country about fifteen
minutes apart from in this example Of, chicago from you,
Know Garfield, PARK i believe it's, called and then you
Have Lincoln park fifteen minutes apart between a five hundred

(27:23):
credit score and a seven hundred plus credit, score night and.
Day like the tell of two. Cities same thing In,
atlanta same thing in la same thing In New, york
same thing in you, Know, detroit doesn't, matter, Right and
you lived eighty one years of age in a seven
credit cord neighborhood across the country and sixty one years
of age on average and a five hundred credit cord

(27:43):
neighbor credit creditcore. Neighborhood so it's it's like it's it's
not an exact. Science like for every fifty point increase
in your credit, score you, know you get five years
more of length of, Life so twenty sixty one years
of age versus eighty one years of age, right And

(28:08):
Operation hope is helping you to resolve something like this
on your. Own you don't need anybody else to do.
This you can do it by. Yourself so what happens
when you walk into A hope in side. Location let's
be specific about. This you're a single, mother you've had a,
divorce you got divorce ten years. Ago you walk in the.
Bank the bank manager pos your credit. Report he or

(28:30):
she knows if they put that, application file that, application
which is your, right you're going to get a decline.
Notice they don't want to issue decline. Notice it's bad
for their, record and you're gonna be upset with. Them
so if there's A hope inside inside of that bank,
branch they're, like look you see that guy over, there he,
said lady over. There once you go see, THEM i
can't tell you to do, it can't force you to do.
It but they don't work for. Us they work For Operation.

(28:51):
Hope they're not a bank. Employee they can do things we.
Can you come over to see. Us another, example and
let's say the lady's name Is, Mary Mary Jones in this,
Example jones comes and meets with one of the, coaches
maybe that coaches. Me at this, Example Mary jones sits
down in the old days opera. Show that was that,
coach by the, way was me Or Lambs triggs or
one of the historic legacy Employees Rachel dos other, things

(29:13):
other folks who were around long time. Ago so you
sit down with us and we pull your credit report
and we, go, ooh, baby that looks like a bus.
Accident now a banker can't do, that BUT i. CAN
i don't work for the. Bank you, Know i've asked
you for permission to advocan a conversation with. You you, said, yes,
whoa my, lord this is a tour from the flow
up what's going on? Here and we both have a

(29:35):
nice laugh because it's no mystery to. You did your
credit is probably tore? Up in, fact in this Example
Mary jones she hasn't even checked her credit in ten
years or five years because she was ashamed to look at.
It she, said, YEAH i got divorced and it was
horrible and it didn't work out very. Well and and
what's on? There, WELL i don't, know there's a there's

(29:55):
here one thousand dollars charge off from pack. Bail oh my. God, Yeah,
WELL i lived In, Oakland, california and we had a
phone bill and my husband didn't. Pay it was in
both of our, names and, yes it's one thousand. DOLLARS
i can't pay. It, well Pac bill sold their company AT.
SBC Sbc communication sold that company TO at AND. T

(30:17):
at AND t chased you for that money and could
not get a hold of you, because to Quote Chris,
ROCK i don't you, SAID i don't know nobody with
a one eight hundred. Number when somebody was calling from
the one eight hundred collection agency FOR at AND. T you,
LIKE i don't know anybody with eight hunred. Number i'm
not answering the. Phone so went the voicemail for ten
years or five, years ever, long and they. Sold they

(30:37):
got tired of chasing, you and they sold that it
was called Bad debt for five cents on the. Dollar
they sold it for fifty bucks To Joe's Bad Debt.
Company AND i know It's Joe's Bad Debt company because
it says that in the memo under the. Record so

(30:59):
well we, said let's Call Joe's Bad Debt. Company So
Mary jones gives us. Permission we Call Joe's Bad debt.
Company joe answers the. Phone what CAN i do for?
You i've got you know Miss jones, here we're looking for.
You we're looking for. Her, well she's looking for. You
what do you? Want, well we want our we want
our hundred. Bucks now he didn't say one thousand, dollars,

(31:21):
right he SAID i want my one hundred. Bucks why
did he say one hundred? Bucks because he bought the
debt for fifty. Bucks they won one hundred percent, profit
so fair, changed no. Robbery we, say we're not gonna
pay you one hundred. DOLLARS i knew this is a. Problem, no, no,
no we're not gonna pay you one hundred. Dollar we're
gonna pay you two hundred. Dollars what, Yep we're gonna
pay you. Double we're gonna pay you two hundred dollars

(31:43):
for Missus jones. Debt BECAUSE i need your cooperation AND
i want to speak to your. Supervisor let them know
that you were cooperative and working with. Us AND i
want a letter in writing saying that she is she's
resolved this. Debt once we become an, agreement you receive
payment and that you're going to do everything in your
power to make sure this is removed her credit, record
because we know that it's been there for ten. Years
it's going to. Stick you're going to take it. Off

(32:04):
it's going to come back and take it. Off these
public records are very. Stubborn it's going to come. Back
there's nobody doing it to. You it's just it's just stagnant.
Databases credit reporting, agencies, Experience TransUnion and. Equifacts they don't hate, you,
right it's not. Personal these are. Repositories these are databases
of your credit, files and it's going to take a
while to modernize that information and get it up to,

(32:27):
speed particularly when it's been bad for a long. Time so,
anyway the credit, agent the credit debt bad debt company, says,
sure that's a great. Deal in this, example you got
Miss jones got an eighty percent discount and the company
got one hundred percent of. Profit fair change is no, robbery, everybody,
One i've already told you a good negotiation is in

(32:48):
a prior podcast is AT a good negotiation is where
everybody leaves the table slightly. Annoyed okay, Again i'm bringing
all these these lessons together here with Operation. Hope what's capitalism.
Table you've got a consumer on the one side and
a seller on the other. Side the seller is trying
to get as much from you as they can while
giving you the least. Value that's the seller's. Job your

(33:11):
job as a consumer is to pay the lease by
getting the most from the. Seller everybody's doing their. Job
don't be mad At capitalism is not, personal it's just.
Business so you get. That everybody's doing their. Job so
this is example of the bad debt. Company they bought
it for fifty. Bucks they won one hundred. Bucks, great,

(33:32):
well you owed one thousand dollars ten years. Ago your
credit has been tow, up and you've certainly paid a
price for having horrible. Credit you paid, well you've paid
a price for. It now you're getting an eighty percent
discount because it's not a thousand dollars debt. Obligation it's
one hundred dollars. Obligation but we're going to pay two
hundred dollars so we can get the absolute cooperation from

(33:52):
this capitalist money charging company, debt this debt collection, company
who is used to chasing, people not used to. Cooperating
and so now once we get that filed with the credit.
Bureau your credit report goes, up your credit score goes,
up you, know forty, points so you know you got
it from five to eighty to six. Twenty, well what

(34:14):
happens to missus jones self? Esteem it increases her shoulders go,
back her head comes, up she's she's. Proud oh my,
god this is. GREAT i find in control of my. Life,
okay what else can we? Do we, Say, well what's
this on? Him Missus, JONES i don't know what that? Is,
great that's called him. Error you haven't checked your credit
SINCE mettheusda was told in, fables, right you haven't checked

(34:37):
your credit since there were dinosaurs roll in the, Earth
so you don't know what's on. There if you haven't
checked your credit in five, YEARS i guarantee there's an
error on your credit. Report, so Missus, jones what's? THIS
i don't. Know. Great if you don't know what that,
is that's called an. Error let's contact the credit. Bureaus
let's write a letter to each of the credit. Bureaus
and we write that With Missus jones assistance and the Law.

(34:58):
States silver right knowledge now not civil rights Silver Rights KNOWLEDGE.
Silvr you know, better you do. Better the law states
if the credit bureas cannot confirm that that is, yours
they must remove it within thirty. Days so we write
the letter typically in this example That i'm giving you
eighty percent of the, time the credit bureas cannot confirm

(35:20):
that that it Is Missus, jones and so it gets.
Removed that's a thirty point pop in your credit. Score
so now you've gone from five to eighty to six
twenty an, example because we resolve the bad debt charge off,
issue which is which is one of the worst things
you have with your credit. Report we did it. Legitimately
don't go to all these companies ask you to pay
them money to do some illegal stuff or people wiping

(35:42):
your credit. Report if it looks like something that looks
like a free, lunch it probably. Is it's probably. Stale,
also it's probably an illegitimate it's probably some frauds. Thing
just stay away from. It just do it. Right handle
you never go wrong doing. Right just do it the right.
Way and then in this example you can you've gone
to six from five eighty to six, twenty and now

(36:04):
you've gone from six to twenty to what another thirty
point Pop, hello six. Fifty, Right so now you're in
the sweet, spot your prime credit. Adjacent now we start

(36:27):
working it in your. Budget and in this, example you
make forty five thousand, dollars and we find that you
go To starbucks three four times a week and you smoke.
Cigarettes we do some simple math and figure out you

(36:47):
spending six thousand dollars a year on fancy coffees and
no disrespect To, starbucks fancy coffees and, cigarettes which the box,
says this stuff will kill. You so if we can get,
that get you to get a cured machine at, home
make your own, coffee and commit yourself to wellness and

(37:07):
maybe go back and watch The health And wealth Episode
The shape AND i did on on on your well.
Being All, right that six thousand dollars that you're saving
off of your. List make. This i'm gonna make this
really simple. Math thirty five or thirty thousand dollars of.
Income let's say you're just starting out in. Life six.
Dollars that's twenty percent of your. Income so there's two

(37:29):
ways to make, money make, more spend. Less in this,
example you did. Both now you can reprogram that money
to do something useful with, it which is pay down
some bad credit card debt or you, know and we
combine that with the Earning coome task credit where you
might get it back as. Much if you have three.
Children all my coaches do all this. Stuff i'm telling.
You by the, Way i'm just giving an example of what.

(37:50):
Happens was why he walks into an open side office
and this, example you've got three. KIDS i hope you
don't you know at this early in, life but you
have three. Kids at some point you have you make
a thirty eight thousand dollar a. Year in this, example
the government owes you about seventy five hundred dollars give
or take through something called The earning come a tax.
Credit if you don't have a tax pro you probably

(38:11):
never heard of eiitc one out of Four americans who
qualify for it never asked for. It read, black brown
people in underserved. Communities so if you've never asked for,
it you didn't know about. It it's retroactive for three.
Years that's. Right that's a check to you of almost
twenty thousand. Dollars now we're talking about real. Money you've,
saved you've. Reprogrammed in this, example six thousand dollars twenty

(38:31):
percent of your. Income you now got a check for
twenty thousand, dollars more money you've ever seen at one
time in your. Life if you are living in a
rural area or are a hockey puck, city which means
a city that you want to go where the pucket's
going on economic, growth it's not in La it's not
In New, york but it's it's not even In. Atlanta
maybe it's outside Of, atlanta you, know forty minutes or.
Whatever you can buy a house in the in the

(38:55):
southeast for you, know let's just say one hundre and
fifty thousand. Dollars so in this, example you now have
ten percent down payment to buy a. House and what's
the no more you build wealth In america home. Ownership
so we just put you in the sweet spot to get.
You by the time we finished with, you now you're

(39:16):
in a six 't eighty credit score or. Better you
can get prime credit sixt eighty seven hundred. Range you
might qualify For Community Reinvestment act OR fha Or fanny
Or freddie or one of these special. Programs one of
the future chances things times where accounts being black or
brown or underserved is These they are special programs that

(39:38):
are set aside for people who are aspirational and who are.
Underserved so now you've got to get a really good mortgage,
product maybe some down payment assistance grants that are available
from banks in, city state and federal. Government did you
know that you got The in other, Words steel like
our financial. Concierge in this, example we're putting. Together we're

(40:00):
structuring a solution for you so that you can take
control of your life and get some ownership in your.
World and that's an example of What hope Inside uh.
Does i'm going to go through the rest of stuff
pretty quickly because we running out of time on this
episode AND i want to get through all of the
services we're providing and you want me to. Go if
you Think i'm talking too, fast it's Because Operation hope

(40:22):
does a, lot AND i want to make sure this
at least is one. Episode you're getting a taste of
it that you want me to go. Deeper please tell
me in the comments when you see me on on
social media, whatever AND i read the. Comments if you see,
responses by the, way that is from. Me tell Me,
john please do this Episode part, Two pie three and
go deeper on this part of operational. SERVICES i feel

(40:43):
a little bad Because i'm the founder of Operation. HOPE
i don't want to feel Like i'm selling you something
or shoving it down your. Throat So i'm talking really
fast BECAUSE i think you, know of, course as the,
founder i'd undervalue it if you, think oh my, god,
no this is go slow it, Down, john go, back repeat.
Down i'll do an episode just on the topics that you.
Want this is like a tree top Thing i'm just giving.

(41:05):
You i'm Going i'm just giving you the broad. Strokes hoping.
Side i've talked about that fifteen hundred offices in over forty, States.
Hope inside the, workplace we do that same work inside
Of Delta. Airlines all one hundred thousand employees Of delta Air.
Lines time you on A delta, flight ask them about
financial well, being coaching and counseling and the thousand dollars

(41:26):
emergency emergency savings grant they get from their. Employer my
brother Ed bash and they're THE ceo because his biggest
asset is not as planes as his. People and he
realized that that's why the, biggest, wealthiest most profitable airline
in the world and they do profit sharing with them as.
Well but, anyway we do that With, delta we do.

(41:46):
It we start doing it now With walmart, Employees ups,
Employees Venetian hotel employees In Las vegas Through apollo who
owns IT, kkrs it's one of our, partners and et,
cetera et, cetera et. Cetera open side the, workplace hoping side.
Disaster by the, way hoping side also is with The Birmingham,

(42:07):
Police i'm, Sorry Birmingham City, government the mayor, there who's
a great guy and doing a great, job and we're
doing that in the city Of atlanta as. Well And
Mayor Audrey dickens. Here, okay hope inside the workplace covered,
that hope and side. Disaster it is what it sounds.
Like we're partnered With Homeland security AND. Fema you can

(42:30):
download the E fact The Emergency Financial First Aid. Kit
it's free from THE fema website and it is a
way to put all your financial records, Together god forbid
in times of a disaster strikes you put that someplace
other than your. Home put it in a safe put
in a safe deposit, box put in your mother's, home
your sister's, home somebody you trust So god forbid disaster.

(42:51):
Strikes and you can digitize it. Too by the, way
put in the, cloud you can pull the records you're
gonna need for your insurance, agent for you, know the
financial institutions you're trying to access if disaster, strikes the
emergency financial First aid. Kit that's type To hope inside.
Disaster we're right now responding to The dena, FIRES la

(43:13):
fires as but one example of how we're here to
Help hope inside for. Kids we Have Hope business in
The box academies where we help young people start. Businesses
we Have Hope Child savors accounts for every kid at
kindergarten kid In Atlanta Public schools Through Mayor Andre dickens
Former Mayor Keisha Lands, bottoms who was the original. Idea

(43:34):
Andrew dickins continued it The City council The Atlanta Public.
Schools it's been a great partnership over ten five hundred
accounts for kindergarten, kids and now we're about to launch
financial literacy around. That studies have proven that if a
kid gets a bank account at, kindergarten they're fifty percent
more likely to go to. College if you put a

(43:57):
couple hundred bucks in that, account seventy virus is more
likely to graduate from. College isn't that? Remarkable so THIS
i mean you should you? Know And i'll go once so.
Further don't just give your kid a toy that they're
going to destroy very. Quickly give a kid a buy
a kid a share of stock through this company CALLED uh.

(44:20):
BUY i think it's actually literally called by a share
THAT uh. Gives you can buy a shriff stock and
they frame it, right send it to you for the.
Kid give as a gift. Wrap it's not only a
nice gift the kid and see. It it's, real it's.
Legitimate like and by the, way when you get one
share of stock of any pulpicly traded company you have
you have the rights to get access to all of their.

(44:43):
Financials did you know? That isn't that? Cool to give
something into your kid is going to grow over time
and literally is a living document and is a literal
a living financial literacy. Tool So Hope inside For kids is.
Multifaceted But hope inside hopes our child savors accounts and
whole business in the. Boxes but two of the examples
of what we do. There banking on our future is financial.

(45:05):
Literacy we teach in. Schools we taught over a million
kids financial. Literacy we're partner with doctor Bernicse A king
soon Doctor king's daughter to open up accounts in one
hundred cities to mark the one hundredth birthday of Doctor.
KING i believe that is the twenty twenty nine is
his one hundredth would be his hundredth. Birthday so we're.
Working you'll be hearing about that. Soon for entrepreneurs and business,

(45:27):
owners ONE, mbb the One Million Black Business initiative that
was launched in twenty, twenty goes to twenty. Thirty it's
a partnership With shopify put up one hundred and ninety
million dollars to help us create new black. Businesses why
do they do? It it's real. Simple they let's say
they own two to Three let's say they have two
to three percent of shops Under shopify that are black owned.

(45:50):
Businesses they want ten percent of their shops that they
are black owned. Businesses it's more profitent for. Them they
want more, customers they want new. Customers it's smart, business
so we're helping them to get new. Customers it's also
doing well and doing good at the same. Time but
by the, way if you're a white and poor rule
and you want to, help we've got a program for
you're you're a, woman you want to, help anybody can

(46:12):
call operat shop and access our small business. Services but
this was something we created because of, course blacks are
the bottom of the economic, pyramid and ninety six percent
of black businesses don't have employee and almost none of
them are on e. Commerce so the second largest e
commerce company in the world and the number one for
shops when they said they want to, help we're, like

(46:35):
what time and? When? Right so thank You, harley thank, You,
toby thanks, everybody cast everybody At. Shopify we're at four
hundred and fifty thousand black businesses in. Counting but you,
know and we're halfway through this. Experiment at twenty twenty
to twenty twenty, thirty we're twenty twenty, five at four
hundred and fifty thousand. Businesses we're about, WELL i think

(46:57):
it was like twelve percent of all black businesses in this.
Country i've got to look at the numbers, again BUT
i think there's like things are like three point one
million black business country and so you, know we're at
forty fifty, thousand so not, bad and we're not the.
Government we're just a nonprofit over killing, it killing the.
Game and you've got to access through that through ONE
mbb dot org or through the operational website to already

(47:22):
told you about the small Business empowerment programs which are
available for, everybody and we work with THE, sba we
work at, banks a range of capital providers where we
get you, prepared getting your business, plan getting you, credits grew,
up getting your budget in place so that you can
be a first class business person right for, schools governments
and community. Leaders Financial literacy For all initiatives is co

(47:44):
chaired by me and THE ceo Of, Walmart doug. McMillan
if you know a major, company if you are a major,
company you're A ceo listening to this, podcast you can
now join this movement as we seek to embed financial
literacy into eighty percent of the fortune five hundred in this.
COUNTRY i believe financial literacy is a civil rights issue this.
Generation it's like what healthcare was forty years. Ago and

(48:06):
if you work for a major, employer go into YOUR
hr department or send a note to YOUR ceo and
suggests they become a member Of Financial literacy For all once,
again it's available on The Financial literacy for our. Website
we're easy to find THE Ai Ethics. Council this is
a partnership between me co chaired me And Sam, altman

(48:26):
WHO i think is The Steve jobs of this. GENERATION
i THINK ai and financial. LITERACY ai literacy and financial
literacy are like the big headlights for the, future and
you need both of. Them and we have THE ailp three. Project,
again all this you can access, online just simply search.
IT ailp three is a pipeline FOR ai literacy In

(48:49):
ATLANTA k Through college and we're on a partner With
Georgia State university And Dean phillips there to pipeline this
program that also Includes Atlanta Public schools and who's our partner,
there and The mayor Of atlanta and the chair of

(49:13):
The Atlanta Public schools and all THE HBCUs And Clark,
atlanta Doctor french and. Others so we're really excited about
this pipeline of prosperity project we've got around artificial. Intelligence
it's CALLED AI lp, three tied to THE Ai Ethics,
Council Hope Corporate Inclusion initiative works to get people of
color and underserved populations on boards of. Directors that's coming. Soon,

(49:37):
yes even in the current, environment we are because it's
just good For. America it's not about. Minorities it's about
demographics are destiny and forty percent of this country are,
black is black and, brown period and within ten years
will be a majority of. Minorities it's just, demographics and
we need to make sure that those at the bottom
can get to the. Top because my rich, friends my

(49:59):
poor friends do better if only to stay. Rich we're
all in this thing. Together we have for now everyone
who's interested in a stake and. Capitalism we have The Investors'
bill Of rights and this is for to help retail
investors to protect their, rights to make sure they don't

(50:20):
get trampled upon by very Aggressive Wall street. Players and
so we've gotten major brokerage, firms Including robinhood to sign
our Investor bill Of rights and we work with them
around a series of best practices and you'll see more
on that coming in the next year or. TWO Hope
Global forum is The dovos, meeting the annual Meeting Hope

(50:40):
Global Forum meeting For operation hope is The dovos for
the rest of. Us if you've never heard Of, dovos
look it. Up dovos is a meeting of the most
powerful people in the world every year In. Switzerland i've been,
there you, know eight ten times as a, speaker. Etc
the young global. Leader but you don't see many of
us us At. DOBBOS i REMEMBER i saw my Brother

(51:03):
Chris tucker there AND i was, LIKE i was joking and, saying,
oh what's Up Chris. Rock he, Said, hey what's, Up Jimmie.
Fox So i'm, like, okay good. One so where we
met and became friends by going To. Dobbos but most
people don't go To. Davos so this Is dobbles for
the for the rest of the. World and it is
held In atlanta every year this Year december one through the.

(51:27):
THIRD i believe you can't invite. Yourself you'd have to be.
Invited no amount of money will get you in the,
door even though each ticket is probably worth ten thousand
dollars each and you. Can but we sponsor everybody in
so it doesn't cost you to be. There billionaires next
to millionaires next to thousand aiars because somebody's trying to
buy some. There but it's about, relationship capital and, opportunity

(51:49):
aspiration and the right, culture and it's people who want
who are in it to win. It you can also
create a Little you can create a viewing party for

(52:09):
a Col global form in your community anywhere in the
world the country endorsed By Operation. Hope you can go
online To Whope Global form to submit your application for.
That you can also make A hope commitment to start
a financial literacy club or a viewing party or any
these initiatives in your local, community and it's A hope.
Commitment go on the website For Operation, hope look up

(52:31):
For Hope. Commitments make a commitment, you your, friends your, church your,
sorority your, fraternity, whatever and take your own initiative to
make financial literacy a civil rights movement in your local.
Community again This i've already paid for all this. Stuff
all this plumbing already. Exists you just need to access
it and operationalize. It so now let's talk about The

(52:54):
blueprint For. America i've written a business plan called The
Business plan For. America The blueprint For america is our
a series of business PLANS i wrote On Doctor kings
the anniversary Of Doctor king's assassination On april fourth of
twenty twenty, five and you can look Up Dream, Forward john,

(53:18):
O'Brien Dream, Forward Operation, Hope Dream forward Business plan For.
America business plan For, America john O'Brien business plan For,
America Operation, hope doesn't matter how you search. It and
there's a business plan For Black. America there's a business
plan For Rural, america the business plan for Women, Veterans
Native American, Indians Latino. Americans these are all individual business

(53:39):
Plans Asian. AMERICANS i want you to download, them look at,
them criticize them if you, like and let's start a
conversation in our communities about these business. Plans print them
out and then start mapping your own plan against the community,
plan against the societal, plan and then use my network of,

(54:01):
offices which is The starbucks Of Financial Inclusion walmart Of Financial,
literacy to begin to operationalize the vision for. Yourself so,
okay so now let's make this very. Personal this is
we're coming up on fifty five minutes. Here in a,
MINUTE i want to really cut to The have you enjoyed,
This by the, Way i'm trying to jam a lot
into an. Hour let me know so here for. Individuals

(54:25):
hey you take. Action visit a Local hope And side
location or a workplace. Location use A hope In hand
app okay on Your android phone or Your apple. Phone
download the app as. Free hope In hand is what it's,
called and sign up for. Coaching you'll get one thousand
Dollars hope scholarship to start good for one year for financial.

(54:47):
Coaching get your credit score, up debt, down saving, up
pull your, credit take control of your life and get
your financial literacy on the. Move get the Book Financial
literacy For, all WHICH i author and hardcover or paper
book or paperback or. Digital tell your friends to subscribe
to this, Podcast money And. Wealth it's. FREE a new

(55:08):
episode's Every. Thursday by the, way thanks for you all
from helping them make. It top one hundred business podcasts
In america On, apple top fifty for, entrepreneurship and it's
top two hundred in THE uk for, Business top two
hundred In Saudi, Arabia top top two hundred In, Chile Latin,
america top two hundred In South, africa so on every

(55:29):
Continent's top two hundred in THE. Uk IF i mention
that it's top two, hundred top one hundred. Podcasts well
thanks for. That tell everybody to get their. Subscription it's
free episodes Every. Thursday call for free financial coaching, service
a financial coach assigned to. You if you don't have a,

(55:50):
smartphone you can call on the phone to our one
eight hundred. Number the call doesn't even caution. Money even
the call doesn't caution. Money enroll your child in The
Hope business in The Box academy if we are in
a city near. You open A Child savings account In
atlanta Or, Aurora. Illinois just signed, up but we have

(56:10):
cities that will be signing up every month To Child savors.
Account if you're an entrepreneur or a desire to be,
one or a small business, owner you want an e
commerce business that's a standalone business or one that's a
complimentary to your existing, business because it can be something
to compliments your existing. Business do you contact one of
our ONE mbb partners we Made we made allocations to

(56:31):
them to help them help their local. Communities the partners
are listed on the ONE mbb website in the operation.
Website go to one mbb dot org to try to
sign up. Directly we will help you get AN llc form,
formed AN ei in, number your nonprofit, created, sorry your banking,

(56:51):
created YOUR ei in, number your, website you your payment,
systems your delivery, systems e commerce systems Of shopify. ACCOUNT
i mean it's any dang on. Cool two hours with an,
attorney two hours with an, accountant two hours with a,
lawyer a lawyer, attorney same, thing two hours with tech
professionals At. Shopify it is really an incredibly powerful program

(57:15):
for business. Owners well schedule a business credit review for nonprofit,
leaders go to Your hope in side in your city
and your church for your nonprofit and we will help
you partner With hope through financial literacy for all and
give you the tools To hope commitments to operationalize our

(57:36):
work in your community through a non financial MoU With Operation.
Hope if you're a corporate, leader you can you can
help your work for your workforce Through hope inside the
workforce corporate, leader our government. Leader you can join The
Hope Corporate Inclusion. Initiative you can be part Of Hope
Global form and do us doing you know and sponsoring

(57:56):
people to come there as delegates so we don't have
to charge anybody. Money so this isn't, charity. Folks this
is smart, economics and it's where we all. Win you're not.
Broken the system. Is you don't need a million dollars
to have a million dollar, mindset a million dollar state of.

(58:17):
Mind by the, WAY i did not wear THIS t
shirt on. Purpose coincidence Is god's way of remaining. Anonymous
is an, injury young. QUOTE i just happen to have
THE t shirt. On it fits the, moment doesn't. It
you don't need a, Handout you just need the right
tools and. Shovels you need a hand. Up it's The
James brown version of affirmative. Action open the. Door i'll
get it my dang. Self, right this is your call to.

(58:39):
Action let's dream, forward not. Backwards let's Build america two
point zero. Together we don't have to destroy. Capitalism we
can improve. It capitalism is like. Democracy it's a horrible.
System except for every other. System i've been to one hundred,
countries and as much AS i love these other, places
no PLACE i actually rather live or aspire or try

(59:02):
to thrive or succeed in this. Place the biggest economy
in the, world sole superpower in the, world and my
second great grandfather and second great grandmother were, slaves and
look at me. Now my GRANDFATHER. Rb smith was a, sharecrofter,
sharecropper and look at me. Now AND i got my
first financial literacy course WHEN i was nine years old

(59:22):
in that, classroom taught by a white man and a
bank of from Baa bank Of, america who taught me financial.
LITERACY i will never forget, that and thankful to. Him
and SORRY i never got his business card SO i
could say thank you to him or his children today
for what he did to change my. Life and it
made me not resentful of white. People my black friends

(59:42):
who had negative experiences a police officer thrown against a patrol,
car never got over that slight and that, interaction and
so then they had an attitude with white. PEOPLE i
didn't have such an. EXPERIENCE i got, lucky and so
race was just never a big thing with, me other
than we were just. Different and once somebody taught me
the language of money and financial. Literacy AND i started

(01:00:04):
my first business WHEN i was ten years, old neighborhood candy.
House you can read about. It up from, nothing AND
i put the liquor store out of the candy. BUSINESS
i was ten years. Old there was no stopping. Me
AND i was homeless WHEN i was eighteen years old
for believing a little bit to my own press and
pressing too hard on the possibilities. Button BUT i didn't

(01:00:26):
have a. BUDGET i didn't have financial literacy under wraps by,
then not sophisticated financial, literacy not business financial. Literacy so,
ANYWAY i was. HOMELESS i lost, everything lived At latier And,
airport buying an old At titian restaurant in my. Car
but ONCE i got over, That i'm, LIKE i take

(01:00:46):
no for. Vitasiness what are you going to do to? Me?
Now tell me? NO i had know WHEN i walked
in the, door like, YES i was, homeless and it
was embarrassing all that. Stuff but once you go through,
that what are you going to do to? Me now
tell me? No give me a rejection. Letter. No, no
success is a thousand mothers and failure as a bastard
child like no one remembers your. Failures to, stop SO

(01:01:08):
i want you to stop obsessing about. IT a failure
is a meaning about. You it's just an outcome to an.
Experiment So Operation hope is not just an, organization it's a.
Movement and today it belongs to, you. Right i've given
it to. You i've empowered you to take it and
use it for your own. Purposes my, Mother Wayda, Smith

(01:01:30):
God rest her, soul would tell me she loved me
every day in my, life and SO i NEVER i
had many problems with self esteem was not one of.
Them and one of the QUOTES i gave To OPERATION
I hope was there's a difference between being broken being.
Poor being broken was, economic but being poor was a
disabling frame of, mind a depress condition of your. Spirit

(01:01:50):
and you must vow never ever ever to be poor.
Again is not what people call, you it's what you
answer to that's. Important and never ever ever are out
of your. Name and if you do argue with a,
food it only proves there are two our, Brother Quincy,
jones one Said god rest is, soul that not one
out to my self esteem depends on your acceptance of.

(01:02:13):
Me so you have to know who you. Are you've
got to know Your god's. Child you're not as good
as your, compliments not as bad as your. Criticisms you are,
somebody though you are thus somebody That he made and.
Not your handprints are not duplicated, anywhere unique to. You
so let's make everything else unique to, you and let's
make your aspiratial success a reality to. You not just a,

(01:02:34):
PhD but a phdu To All, Right i'm. Preaching i'm,
Out john. O'Briant this has been an episode Of money And.
Wealth let me know if you liked, It let me
know if you want to continue or. Stop tell your
friends to subscribe to the. Podcast get the Books Financial
literacy For, all go to get your coaching, scholarship And Operation.
Hope download your App hope In. Hand this is a

(01:02:55):
civil rights. Movement money And wealth With john O'Brien is
a production of The Black Effect Podcast. Network for more

(01:03:16):
podcasts from The Black Effect Podcast, network visit The iHeartRadio,
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