October 13, 2020 • 30 mins
My next guest Randy Williams is the President of Talley & Twine, a company that designs and manufactures luxury watches and accessories. Since starting the company in 2014, Randy has gained national media attention with features in Men’s Health, Black Enterprise, Huffington Post, Essence, Blavity, New York Magazine & Cosmopolitan. The company’s name comes from an intersection that was formerly the center of a notorious, crime-ridden neighborhood in Virginia. In recent years, the neighborhood has been completely revitalized and those same families now have the opportunity to own. A place with a dark past now has a bright future; Talley & Twine represents that future. It's not about how you start, it's about how you finish. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Randy Williams.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Money Making Conversations. I am your host, ras
Sean McDonald. I recognized that we all have different definitions
of success. For some exercisable paycheck, mine is helping people
wake up and inspiring them to accomplish their goals and
live their very best life. These are my passions, and
that's what I'm going to do for you. I want
you to stop tripping over small challenges and prepare to
(00:21):
rise above the bigger obstacles that life will present to you.
My next guest, Randy Williams, is the president of Tally
and Twine, a company that designs and manufactures luxury watches
and necessaries. Since starting the company of fourteen granted this
game national media attention with Features and Men's Health, Black Enterprise,
Huffing and Post Essence, Levity, New York, New York Magazine,
(00:44):
and Cosmopolitan. The company names comes from an intersection that
was formerly the center of a notorious, crime ready neighborhood
in Virginia and reacent. In recent years, the neighborhood has
been completely revitalized and those same families now have the
opportunity to own place where the dark past now has
a bright future. Tally and Twine represents the future. It's
(01:04):
not about how you start, it's about how you finish.
Please welcome to money Making Conversations. The Owner, Founder, CEO,
all the titles to go with the leader of the pack,
my man, Randy Williams, thank you so much for having
me great intro. Submit that you got Stephen A. Smith
doing your intro. That's legendary. Man. I love that. Hey man.
(01:26):
The first of all, I love when people recognize his voice.
That's my man, man, and he lays it as only
Stephen A. Smith concern I'm not broke, that's true. Well,
this is this is what this show is about, talking
to people who are trying to gain their footh haul
and in the financial community, especially people of color, they
(01:48):
have kind of like been left out over the years.
We haven't been giving a blueprint or had the necessary
means to figure out figured it out. You know, they
tell us to go to school, we get an education,
but that that'sn't a blueprint for success. That's until had
to become an entrepreneur. Tell us how I got started
for you, Randy, A lot of trial and error, and
you know, like you said, there isn't a blueprint. But
(02:09):
if you want to become an entrepreneur, you gotta go
out and try a few different things and kind of
learned along the way. So you know, fail fail that
business a lot, and all you need to be right
is one time, right now, be right now. You're an HBCU. Okay,
WHU for your education? Yeah, well it's not a deep
(02:32):
answer for me. They're the ones who accepted me. You know,
it was close to home. It was affordable. You know,
as a as a young man being raised by my grandmother,
can't have a whole lot of money saved up for
me to attend college. So I was less enough to
have a decent g p A. And you get into
Albany State University, man, so I had to. Um. I
(02:53):
was thankful for that opportunity. It gave me a great
cultural experience. You know. Um, I actually didn't recognize the
value of hbc US until I attended one man. But
it was a great experience. When you said, the value
what does that mean when used the value of an
HBCU until you attended it. So basically, like I said,
they let you in. You were thankful you can continue education,
(03:14):
but usually understand the other things that it brought to
the table that now you see as a benefit. Yeah,
it was a huge cultural experience. You know, it's a
celebration of blackness, and it's an environment where instructors and
professors make you feel seen, and that's something that's missing
in corporate America. It's they're kind of like UM an incubator,
(03:36):
Like they have business incubators for businesses that kind of
give you a great push to start. That's what it
does for Black American man HBCU as an incubator to
prepare you for the corporate environment that you're gonna face
after graduation. And now that's called life after college, which
we were talking about now now and one of your
questions that said you had previous businesses that have failed.
(03:56):
Can you talk about those before we got into the
success story of Alley and Twine. Yeah. Sure. Um. The
biggest filuer I had, I guess in terms of money
was up you know, trying to get into real estate
right at two thousand seven and two thousand eight, Um,
right where you are in Atlanta and losing my shirt.
You know. So that was one of the biggest lessons,
(04:20):
is you know, hopping into stuff without taking the time
to properly educate yourself. On how to do it. So
basically you saw an opportunity, didn't do your research, like
you said, and that that that famous year two thousand
and eight, and when everything went from success to horror,
I mean from a nightmare was find Nobody could explain
(04:41):
it because they they had already the system had already
had kind of like pushed this limit on loans, pushed
this limit on corporations and needed bailout. And the stock
market was the bubble burst, and you part of that.
I was part of America, was part of that. Nobody
was left, you know, you were by Oprah. However, valued
just dropped and all these major players in the tech
(05:03):
game started suffering, and all that those those levels of
income that they thought we're gonna be there forever went
away went away. Tally Entwine, Now, I'm gonna tell you this,
We're I'm not trying to be negative or anything. And
I just I wasn't wearing watches at all. I had
in my mind. Um, I just didn't where I watched.
(05:25):
I stopped waring to watch probably about in the eighties six,
I stopped wearing to watch and uh and then um,
because somebodw I can always find the time, you know
you're having phones you have I'm very good at knowing
my time where I'm at, and so that's where I
would perceived watches to be time. Now. I look at
watches now as accessories, as as part of the as
(05:47):
part of your style, part of my culture now. And
so a friend of mine, uh she executive producer a
family few as a birthday president president she Christmas, and
he brought me a watch, and I let it sat
there that I was determined just to hold true to rushan,
I'm not gonna wear watching I bought all these years
(06:08):
watched I watching that, and I and I and I
realized that sometimes you have you have to change goals
to be successful, you have to change your the way
you do business. And putting on that watch really changed
the way I I did business and how I approached
myself became more flexible. And so I I used that
as a as a lead into the conversation that sometimes
(06:29):
people who might say, what does the watch bringing to
the where I did? The where I watched, Where a
watch changed the way I approach life, Randy, And and
if it allowed me to be flexible, it allowed me
to be fashionable because I got like three different ones,
you know, and I've just found about your brand. So
I'm about to perch me a couple of your brains.
That's how I've gotten that. You know what I'm saying.
(06:51):
And uh, and so so let's talk about you heard
my story and how the impact of who the watch
can have. It made me. I felt it made me
made my because I wear suits all the times. Tailor
made suits, so it made my my my my clothing balanced.
I felt because I didn't have anything, because if you
don't have anything on your wrist, it's just naked there.
(07:11):
It's just it's just just skin. Now I have this watch,
and I can't tell you. Sometimes your people see me
as I like your watch, and I don't even know
because I because I'm a guy who pointed out them
very active with my hands. And then on my other
I'm a cancer survivor. So I have this little chain
on my right hand, on my right hand where it
reminds me and asked me about it. I always tell
(07:33):
them about surviving. And so I have a watch that
is on my left which talks about my culture, my balance,
and my watch on my right I got a risk
chain that talks about survival. And so when I when
I when I when the opportunity came about to interview you,
I just really wanted to know what was the driving
legacy of watches for you and the impact it can
(07:55):
have them a person like me. Yeah, most of our
customers have that same story as you have. Somebody got
it for him gift as a gift and they weren't
really into him, but once they started wearing, it's kind
of one of those things where you feel like, man,
I don't want to go out without one now. And
my personal story is during our senior trip in high school,
(08:16):
went on the cruise, went to the Bahamas. I went
in to one of these little local shops and they
had uh A fifty dollar guests watching there and I
had never won a watch before, but buying that, I
spent my last little money that I had. I bought
that watch and to bring it back home. That was
the first time I felt like a grown man, you know.
(08:36):
I felt like I have become a man, and now
I can go on to college and face the world.
And that kind of was coinciding with me going to college.
At the same time I got my first watch, and
so that it became important to me for that reason,
you know. So again, just like you, I was a
business major and we wore a lot of suits, and
(08:57):
I felt like that watch really in hand and sad
and gave me that professional police that I was looking for.
And um, how did you get in the watch business?
You know? Like I said, you know, people, could you
know that doesn't the first African American? Okay, and you
you're getting into the watch business and talk about that
step because of course, you know, it's just natural conversation
(09:20):
to you. We're don't money making conversations. So I'm trying
to walk people through the steps of how you can
get to your dream. And it's not normal because you
just can't go to the next door and just talk
to somebody. I want to start. I want to get
in to watch it. They look at you like, okay,
now you talk about the Bahama trip. Okay, that's a
long way from what We're a long ways from Bahama
because of the fact that you know Tally and Twine.
(09:42):
We talked about how that is from from a street
name in the neighborhood. Like my business is thirty fifteen media,
thirty and fifteen media. The number three fifteen is from
the home that I was born in that was in
the hood and uh and it was six bed room,
it was what it was there with six six sisters
and two brothers, my both my parents who lived in
(10:04):
a two bedroom shotgun house. So when I read that
talent and trying, it's a lot of thing that you're
doing in your life that's very relatable to what I
do and what I what I stand for. And that's
why I feel that I always want to keep you
in my life because I feel that we have a
certain kinship. But again, you young man, wanted to do
go into the watch business? How just want to get
(10:24):
into the watch business? Yeah? Through um so, through a
lot of trial and error and other businesses, you realize
that in order for a business to be successful, you
have to fulfill a need, fulfill a gap. So there's
something missing or there's a market that's not being served
that could benefit from what you have to offer. And so,
as a consumer of watches, and I think a lot
(10:45):
of our people should really take note of that is
a lot of things that you consume um represent an
opportunity for you. And so I was collecting a lot
of watches, but I figured out something most of the
brands that were affordable meeting under a thousand dollars, they
were just mimicking the more expensive brand. So it was
(11:06):
a lot of repetition in the market, and I wanted
to wear something different, you know. I said, if I
had to watch, I would change this, I would change that,
my band would look like this. And after while, I
realized that that represented a huge opportunity for me to
get into business and designed my own watch. Now how
I was gonna do that, I had no idea, and
so that's when I went to YouTube and Google University
(11:28):
and kind of figured out the steps to step by step.
I started with a sketch and then I eventually contacted
the manufacturer. UH. They helped me bring that to life,
order some samples, and once I got the samples the
way that I wanted them, you know, over the course
of about a year year and a half, that's when
I decided to launch, and we launched via the crowdfunding
(11:49):
site kickstarter to raise money for our first shipment. So
you went out there. I've heard people say kick started,
what what engaged people wanna tribute to your brain? What
did you do? What was it? What was your platform?
What was your what made them want to go, wow,
I want to I want to contribute to this. And
how does kicks Started work when someone contributes to it?
(12:10):
Do they are they part owners? They have a little
percentage of your brand? How does that work? M hm um? Well,
my platform was just what I told you, So here's
something new for the market. Here's something that is not
going to be a replica of all the other watches
that are out. So that was my main platform. And
then also I started with the interchangeable band, So I
(12:33):
have these canvas bands that we can change. You can
give your watch a completely different looks. So those are
my two platforms. And then the way kick Started works
is it's basically a pre order system. So in order
to get your products early, people will pay um ahead
(12:53):
of time and they'll get a discount off of the
retail price. Right. So let's say my goal was the
raised five thousand and so I knew I needed I
think maybe a hundred a hundred and fifty backers to
pre order the watch, who believe in what we were doing,
who believed that we would be able to get the
main manufacturing process done to go ahead and pre order
(13:14):
and an exchange they were able to get a steep
discount off of the initial watch. But no, they are
not part owners, so they just they basically we just
ordering their product at a discount. Yes, sir, there are
some crowdfunding platforms that work like that where you do
get ownership. But I didn't do that. Absolutely, you didn't
be thankful for it, aren't you? You know, because we
(13:39):
all have dreams. And the thing about when the dream
that comes successful and then people look around going tapping
you on the show talking about what my chick it's
about a hundred and fifty of them? Ready? That that
gets pretty ugly real fast man, Well, hut where my
check at? You know? Look, man, look let me give
you back in two Okay, you can go about your
(14:01):
business all right. Sorry, no, no, no, that's not what
my contracts say. My contracts say I owned some of
this and I want my share. Man. You're here for
screaming up and down. Now when I'm looking at these bands, man,
you know because on your site, right and the different
look it's what you know, the large face is they're
(14:21):
very clean. Your you're watches, uh don't have numbers on them?
Was what that was? That the look that you were seeking. Yeah,
that's the look that I was seeking, because again I
wanted to do something that wasn't traditional. And you said
it earlier. We don't really use our watches for telling
time now, it's more of a fashion accessor, and so
I wanted to give it a unique look. So we
(14:43):
only have the number seven on all of our watching
And why is that? Well, the number seven represents completion.
So I told myself when I started Italian Twine, I
was gonna finish what I started. You know, you know
a lot of times with entrepreneurs, we started stuff and
be sitting around the house and thinking of he be
thinking of stuff, though I love you boy. Number seven
(15:05):
you know, you know, seven days in the week. You
know what I'm saying, You got to complete your problems,
that's right. And then there's also something very recognizable. Man.
I imagine people being out in the store looking over
at somebody's wrists and seeing that seven and saying, hey,
is that Italians one? So you know it's entrepreneurs. They
go why just or creature conversation, you know, or as
(15:27):
a conversation piece, exactly what type of watches? Because that
in the end, man, that's really all you're trying to create,
like I said, you know, people trying to create ice breakers.
And first of all, it's a beautiful watch. And then
that number seven on it. You know if somebody wise
it's just or seven, then you explain it. Then you
get to a conversation with somebody and now all of
a sudden there's a great ice breaker. But the but
(15:48):
the look in the fashion is really so this is
really I think a very timely watch. So we went
the official launch date for this watching Randy we un
in November two thousand four, November, right before Christmas. Smart
move right, Okay, so everything's online, correct, Yes, sir, We
(16:12):
sell direct the consumer. Um, we don't do any retail
right now. Okay, So COVID hit, the pandemic hits, the
country shuts down. What does that do for your brain?
We saw increase in sales, you know, because people were
at home. Um. And unfortunately, the social unrest also added
(16:33):
a boost to our business, you know, as people begin
to seek out black owned businesses, you know. So you know,
it kind of validated my thinking from the beginning was
that you know, eventually traditional retails gonna continue to continue
to slow down and people gonna want to owner their
products online. They're not gonna want to put up with
the higher prices at retail. They're not gonna put up
with the bad customer service they get at retail. UM
(16:56):
And so I kind of pushed off my chip to
the table to be saying that we're gonna do direct
consumer and sell online only. We actually turn out some
some major contracts from some traditional retailers to keep our
brand intact. When you say that, what do you mean
you to keep your brand intact? What does that mean? Yeah,
meming UM, Let's say we we got a um A
(17:18):
purchase order from from North from rely and we chose
not to do it. Because when you shop at North
from your North froom's customer, they control the social they
control the customer service, They can talk to you how
they want to, they can ship in whatever time frame
they want to, and ultimately you become their customer. As
a directed consumer business, you maintain the connection with all
(17:42):
of your customers. So I can say, hey, Mr Williams,
thank you for your purchase last month. You want to
know if you'll be interested in one of our leather
bands to accompany the watch that you purchase, or I
can send you a card on your birthday, or I
can send you a free gift in the mail prior
to the holiday. And ultimately, the value in today's market
(18:02):
is having that customer base. There's no need to give
it away to somebody just because you know their name
and they've been around for a while, because you're ultimately
providing the value. Wow, I'm talking to Randy Williams. He's
the president of Italian Twine, accompanying designs and manufacturer luxury
watches and accessories. He's started November fourteen. And you're really
(18:23):
good at getting um media to look at your brand.
How you're accomplishing that task, because that's the number one
talk that people talk, right Man, I can I can
I get promotion I can get from I can get
all the cole written on my product first of all
around to have a good looking product. But you're you
when I look when I when I'm doing this interview,
you have a very interesting personality. What interesting meaning? It
(18:44):
is good because you have a plan, you have a conversation,
you know, you're you're you have all the right things
to say about who you are and why you're doing this.
You know, like that number seven is really slick, you know,
interchangeable watches. You know. I know when I was Markeny
Steve Harvey's first book, they always put out a little
phrases out of the book so you can when you
(19:06):
go to an interview. These are buzzwords and people jump
on them. So what is your degree in, Randy Mark?
My degree of that marketing? So all this, this is
all part of the big plan. Really, you know what
I'm saying, part of the big plan because everything you
do and it's like not I won't say marketing one
on one, but guess what, you have all the right
(19:27):
little layers and buzzes and statements to be able to say,
I'm an interesting guy. You can put me on TV,
I can talk if you write about me. Guess where
I got stuff to put in print? And it all
comes back to a product that looks outstanding. Man, Thank
you man. I'll tell you what it's like this, Um,
I think I like it to I attributed to self awareness.
(19:50):
So it's just like when you go from being a
young man to an older man, you understand who you
are more and you understand why you're doing what you're doing.
You're not just doing something to make money or He's
not just doing something for attention. And I wanted Italians
wanting to be a brand like that that understood it,
so that had these principles and these values that were
built into the brand, and we weren't kind of following
(20:11):
the trends and following what was popular. And so that's
how I think about it. And to answer your question
about how we got the media, I have no idea.
We have never had a pr agency. We don't reach
out to media outlets. Somehow we get UH coverage and
I just consider it a blessing. I just say that
that's God's grace. And I really don't have a strategy
(20:33):
for that one. But I go to the website, I
see everybody. You know what I'm saying. I see I
see the strategy. You know, from the marketing standpoint, I
see Men's Help, Black Enterprise. He posts Blavity Bashable, they
not New York cost Bollom ebony. That right there, let
everybody know we're brand is being recognized by all the
(20:54):
top media outlets. That means that you are you're very
much aware of who you are and the story you
trying to tell. Now you have a men's line and
you have a women's line. Okay, I'm assuming you started
with the men's line first, correct, Yes, sir, when did
you get smart? And I gotta bring it on the
women because they're the one they're they're the ones who
really they're the ones who buy two or three things.
(21:15):
You know, they got a dress for this, they got
a dressed for that. You know when when when did
that pop up? Realize that the women? I'm assuming that
the women are the biggest buyers. Correct, it's about okay, yeah,
which I which I like because that means that you
have a pretty much established, especially on the men's side,
a certain dollar value customer. Yeah, yeah, I would say so.
(21:41):
I think two years in I started, I couldn't resist
it anymore because I wanted tally trying to be men's brand,
because that's who I knew how to market too. I
was so afraid of trying to market the women. I
didn't want to mess up in the way that I
was communicating with them. But after a while, man, after
get email and email and all and call, it was
(22:01):
women buying gifts for men as much as there were
men shopping on our site, and so it just represented
a no brainer. I mean, the people act for and
they wanted a watch that match their husbands. They wanted
to gift set. And so I just kind of took
that feedback and you know, I had to slap myself
against the head and like, what are you doing? You know,
(22:21):
why aren't you selling women's watching or so we rolled
that out and you know, it instantly wasn't hit. And
what I love about having female customers is when they
love a product, they are going to talk about it,
They're going to discuss it, they're going to share it,
and that's really one of the things that has allowed
us to grow. Well. You know, the thing that I
really like about what I'm seeing here in on your
(22:42):
line is that, man, these watches look sexy man, you
know because you know, I I here's a guy, like
I said, what inten I put a watch back on
my body, okay, And so I'm watching these watches. Man.
You who's ever taking these photos? Man? They really know
how to make these watches look. Man, I want that
to watch with my risk. Man. I mean these are
(23:03):
I mean, these are some attractive looking photos that look
So are you involved in the selection, you know, like
when I look for let's go back when you have
had this Playball magazine. You know, he went through all
the pictures. He's made all final selection on the photos
that went on into the magazine. How involved in you?
Because I'm just telling you, man, this is the these
(23:24):
these photos with the watch, it almost like, man, I
can put that watch on my all right there with
that shirt. I put that watch with my blue suit.
This is what you're selling. You're selling is not I
don't need to see the full body. I just need
to see high looks on my wrist. And that's what
you're doing. Somewhere along the line, Randy, you've tapped into
something man. And uh and I'm just trying to m
(23:47):
and this. I know it's I know over time I
figured out. But his interview. You're special, dude. You're special
and understanding what excites people, what what you're making a
watch value to me. You're making me want to buy
your watch when I go to this website. You're making
me want to like, not just one watch, I want
to try a couple of them, you know, two or three,
(24:08):
because you know black goes are black or gray, brown
goes to blue. You know browns can go with great.
So you can't just put a watch on with everything
I've learned that you know, you like when you have
a value customer. Like I said, you go in my house,
I got like four or five watches because I got
my silver, my platinum, because different suits I put on,
I have to look a certain way. Now. My two
(24:29):
favorite colors are my black and my brown wrist bands.
But one of the big sellers for your watches that
you can interchange bands, correct, yes, sir, yes, sir. So
let's go back to the selection of these photos and start.
I forgot about that. No, I didn't forget about that.
How did these pictures get on your website? Because they
are they're like making me want to like pull out
(24:50):
my American Express to start dying. And right now, I mean,
you're making me sick right now, Randy, I'm telling you, man, brother,
I got I will be buying a couple of these watches. Brother. Well,
it's it's an important part of the process. So, like
you know, you like custom suits, and you go in
and you get greeted by someone, They measure you, they
ask me questions, they find out about just a really
(25:11):
personal experience. And so as an online business, we don't
have that person to person touch point. So we have
to try to make the website as attractive as possible
so that people can understand the real value of the
watch that they're going to be getting. So we try
to photograph it from all angles. We try to photograph
have photographs of people wearing it in their element so
(25:31):
that we can really tell that story without having that
one on one contact. So that's one of the hurdles
that we have to get over. So that means our
website has got to be ten times better and more
attractive than it would be if you had that in
story experience. So yeah, I'm really involved there today with
the marketing and the photography and video selection, and I
really enjoyed that part of my business. The business is
(25:52):
actually my favorite part, absolutely absolutely. So what is the
warrantye I buy to watch? You? You know a couple
of watchers that I really like that so sold out
already on top of so what's just what? Just what
do you select to watch? What's the window and what's
the warranty on your watches? We have a two year
warranty on our watches. The big thing happens, get it
(26:13):
get replaced, which is unprecedented in our Pride that's incredible.
Two years, two year warranty. And also you can return
a product and definitely you know, if you got it
and you haven't used it, as long as something you
will always be able to refund you or exchange it
(26:34):
for you. So we have a very generous return policy
because we really believe in our product. Now this this
this black metal band, the one that sold out, you know,
of course it will be you know, you know I
would pick the one that's sold out, you know, crazy
like that that that charcoal band on it. That's cold
right there, man. I just love the women, the women lines, man,
I love that. That that that pink band, that blue band. Man,
(26:58):
you know you you're just making to kill that pink
watch right here. Man, the pink leather band. That's out standing.
It's a pre order shipping by octobers. That mean pre
order shipping by October. The roles go, what does that
mean when I see that? Well, um, we were expecting
to be a hundred percent improvement over what we did
(27:19):
last year in terms of sale, but somewhere in the
first three months of the year, we that catapulted over
year and uh we sold out of everything man. So um,
we had to start making them available for pre order. UM,
so we'll be shipping those pre orders are actually within
(27:39):
the next couple of weeks UM, and then after that
hopefully we can have them stopped and we'll be shipping
directly from the site. We know on this shipping two
to three business days. But you know, the man has
been so strong this year that we've had to switch
over the pre orders. Well, Randy, all, I gotta say, Man,
all right, if you don't mind, I'm I'm gonna put
you in my news letter goes out the eight thousands fibers.
(28:00):
So kay, I'm gonna put you on my shopping on UH,
which is on my Money Making Conversation and also on
my m Money Making Conversation as well as on my
um my HBCU Awards UH website that I just launched
this month. And my whole thing is that you have
a great business. I am a customer, and you my
(28:20):
name will pop up on your site as a as
a buyer because of the fact that, UH, you're special man,
not just a just special from a standpoint of the product,
but if you have unique qualities and a unique understanding
of how you want to be viewed. It's not about
to check. It's about the brand. I always tell people,
always tell people this. You know, I don't really chase money.
(28:43):
I changed relationships and I changed and I control my brand.
And if you do all those things, then you will
make money and you'll be able to control your destiny
and your future. But if you start giving away your
brand for a check, then gets what you have to
cater to them. And you're absolutely right. It's like it's
like I always always go back to what I should
do with uh with with krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme, man,
(29:08):
when that little sign came on, you stopped. You had
the best hot downer in the world. Then they start
going in the grocery stores, they start going to stops
and you grab that don up Cole was hard. And
that's what you're saying about Northstrom. I don't want anybody
to market my brand along with a lot of other
watches and make it competitive and telling you this is
this and this does this come to me. I'm gonna
(29:30):
give you two years, I'm give you loyalty, I'm gonna respect,
and I'm gonna tell you the truth about my product.
And that's what you're doing. On Italian twine. I respect
that and I love you for a brother. Thank you,
Thank you man, thank you for the kind words. I
appreciate you. No, no, we were looking at that kind words.
I gotta start marketing. I gotta jump up there. I
want my little money making conversations go up there with
a huff post and uh ebony and you know I
(29:53):
gotta do that. I gotta, I gotta get up there, man, talent,
come on. But thank you for taking the time to
come on this show. And I appreciate at your man
and uh mad respect and I will always and like
I said, everything I do on money Making Conversations, there's
no check attached to It is about promoting positive individuals
who are trying to make a difference. Because you you
create taxes, you create employment, you can an opportunity to
(30:14):
make this country a lot better. That's what entrepreneurs do.
And I just want to recognize you for your efforts. Man,
Thank you, and I love what you're doing. Man, keep
up the work. I know it's hard working into your schedule, man,
but we really need to continue. So thanks. I appreciate
all right there. You want to hear more money making
Conversation interviews, please go to money Making Conversation dot com.
I'm ras Sean McDonald. I'm your host.
Welcome to Money Making Conversations. I am your host, ras
Sean McDonald. I recognized that we all have different definitions
of success. For some exercisable paycheck, mine is helping people
wake up and inspiring them to accomplish their goals and
live their very best life. These are my passions, and
that's what I'm going to do for you. I want
you to stop tripping over small challenges and prepare to
(00:21):
rise above the bigger obstacles that life will present to you.
My next guest, Randy Williams, is the president of Tally
and Twine, a company that designs and manufactures luxury watches
and necessaries. Since starting the company of fourteen granted this
game national media attention with Features and Men's Health, Black Enterprise,
Huffing and Post Essence, Levity, New York, New York Magazine,
(00:44):
and Cosmopolitan. The company names comes from an intersection that
was formerly the center of a notorious, crime ready neighborhood
in Virginia and reacent. In recent years, the neighborhood has
been completely revitalized and those same families now have the
opportunity to own place where the dark past now has
a bright future. Tally and Twine represents the future. It's
(01:04):
not about how you start, it's about how you finish.
Please welcome to money Making Conversations. The Owner, Founder, CEO,
all the titles to go with the leader of the pack,
my man, Randy Williams, thank you so much for having
me great intro. Submit that you got Stephen A. Smith
doing your intro. That's legendary. Man. I love that. Hey man.
(01:26):
The first of all, I love when people recognize his voice.
That's my man, man, and he lays it as only
Stephen A. Smith concern I'm not broke, that's true. Well,
this is this is what this show is about, talking
to people who are trying to gain their footh haul
and in the financial community, especially people of color, they
(01:48):
have kind of like been left out over the years.
We haven't been giving a blueprint or had the necessary
means to figure out figured it out. You know, they
tell us to go to school, we get an education,
but that that'sn't a blueprint for success. That's until had
to become an entrepreneur. Tell us how I got started
for you, Randy, A lot of trial and error, and
you know, like you said, there isn't a blueprint. But
(02:09):
if you want to become an entrepreneur, you gotta go
out and try a few different things and kind of
learned along the way. So you know, fail fail that
business a lot, and all you need to be right
is one time, right now, be right now. You're an HBCU. Okay,
WHU for your education? Yeah, well it's not a deep
(02:32):
answer for me. They're the ones who accepted me. You know,
it was close to home. It was affordable. You know,
as a as a young man being raised by my grandmother,
can't have a whole lot of money saved up for
me to attend college. So I was less enough to
have a decent g p A. And you get into
Albany State University, man, so I had to. Um. I
(02:53):
was thankful for that opportunity. It gave me a great
cultural experience. You know. Um, I actually didn't recognize the
value of hbc US until I attended one man. But
it was a great experience. When you said, the value
what does that mean when used the value of an
HBCU until you attended it. So basically, like I said,
they let you in. You were thankful you can continue education,
(03:14):
but usually understand the other things that it brought to
the table that now you see as a benefit. Yeah,
it was a huge cultural experience. You know, it's a
celebration of blackness, and it's an environment where instructors and
professors make you feel seen, and that's something that's missing
in corporate America. It's they're kind of like UM an incubator,
(03:36):
Like they have business incubators for businesses that kind of
give you a great push to start. That's what it
does for Black American man HBCU as an incubator to
prepare you for the corporate environment that you're gonna face
after graduation. And now that's called life after college, which
we were talking about now now and one of your
questions that said you had previous businesses that have failed.
(03:56):
Can you talk about those before we got into the
success story of Alley and Twine. Yeah. Sure. Um. The
biggest filuer I had, I guess in terms of money
was up you know, trying to get into real estate
right at two thousand seven and two thousand eight, Um,
right where you are in Atlanta and losing my shirt.
You know. So that was one of the biggest lessons,
(04:20):
is you know, hopping into stuff without taking the time
to properly educate yourself. On how to do it. So
basically you saw an opportunity, didn't do your research, like
you said, and that that that famous year two thousand
and eight, and when everything went from success to horror,
I mean from a nightmare was find Nobody could explain
(04:41):
it because they they had already the system had already
had kind of like pushed this limit on loans, pushed
this limit on corporations and needed bailout. And the stock
market was the bubble burst, and you part of that.
I was part of America, was part of that. Nobody
was left, you know, you were by Oprah. However, valued
just dropped and all these major players in the tech
(05:03):
game started suffering, and all that those those levels of
income that they thought we're gonna be there forever went
away went away. Tally Entwine, Now, I'm gonna tell you this,
We're I'm not trying to be negative or anything. And
I just I wasn't wearing watches at all. I had
in my mind. Um, I just didn't where I watched.
(05:25):
I stopped waring to watch probably about in the eighties six,
I stopped wearing to watch and uh and then um,
because somebodw I can always find the time, you know
you're having phones you have I'm very good at knowing
my time where I'm at, and so that's where I
would perceived watches to be time. Now. I look at
watches now as accessories, as as part of the as
(05:47):
part of your style, part of my culture now. And
so a friend of mine, uh she executive producer a
family few as a birthday president president she Christmas, and
he brought me a watch, and I let it sat
there that I was determined just to hold true to rushan,
I'm not gonna wear watching I bought all these years
(06:08):
watched I watching that, and I and I and I
realized that sometimes you have you have to change goals
to be successful, you have to change your the way
you do business. And putting on that watch really changed
the way I I did business and how I approached
myself became more flexible. And so I I used that
as a as a lead into the conversation that sometimes
(06:29):
people who might say, what does the watch bringing to
the where I did? The where I watched, Where a
watch changed the way I approach life, Randy, And and
if it allowed me to be flexible, it allowed me
to be fashionable because I got like three different ones,
you know, and I've just found about your brand. So
I'm about to perch me a couple of your brains.
That's how I've gotten that. You know what I'm saying.
(06:51):
And uh, and so so let's talk about you heard
my story and how the impact of who the watch
can have. It made me. I felt it made me
made my because I wear suits all the times. Tailor
made suits, so it made my my my my clothing balanced.
I felt because I didn't have anything, because if you
don't have anything on your wrist, it's just naked there.
(07:11):
It's just it's just just skin. Now I have this watch,
and I can't tell you. Sometimes your people see me
as I like your watch, and I don't even know
because I because I'm a guy who pointed out them
very active with my hands. And then on my other
I'm a cancer survivor. So I have this little chain
on my right hand, on my right hand where it
reminds me and asked me about it. I always tell
(07:33):
them about surviving. And so I have a watch that
is on my left which talks about my culture, my balance,
and my watch on my right I got a risk
chain that talks about survival. And so when I when
I when I when the opportunity came about to interview you,
I just really wanted to know what was the driving
legacy of watches for you and the impact it can
(07:55):
have them a person like me. Yeah, most of our
customers have that same story as you have. Somebody got
it for him gift as a gift and they weren't
really into him, but once they started wearing, it's kind
of one of those things where you feel like, man,
I don't want to go out without one now. And
my personal story is during our senior trip in high school,
(08:16):
went on the cruise, went to the Bahamas. I went
in to one of these little local shops and they
had uh A fifty dollar guests watching there and I
had never won a watch before, but buying that, I
spent my last little money that I had. I bought
that watch and to bring it back home. That was
the first time I felt like a grown man, you know.
(08:36):
I felt like I have become a man, and now
I can go on to college and face the world.
And that kind of was coinciding with me going to college.
At the same time I got my first watch, and
so that it became important to me for that reason,
you know. So again, just like you, I was a
business major and we wore a lot of suits, and
(08:57):
I felt like that watch really in hand and sad
and gave me that professional police that I was looking for.
And um, how did you get in the watch business?
You know? Like I said, you know, people, could you
know that doesn't the first African American? Okay, and you
you're getting into the watch business and talk about that
step because of course, you know, it's just natural conversation
(09:20):
to you. We're don't money making conversations. So I'm trying
to walk people through the steps of how you can
get to your dream. And it's not normal because you
just can't go to the next door and just talk
to somebody. I want to start. I want to get
in to watch it. They look at you like, okay,
now you talk about the Bahama trip. Okay, that's a
long way from what We're a long ways from Bahama
because of the fact that you know Tally and Twine.
(09:42):
We talked about how that is from from a street
name in the neighborhood. Like my business is thirty fifteen media,
thirty and fifteen media. The number three fifteen is from
the home that I was born in that was in
the hood and uh and it was six bed room,
it was what it was there with six six sisters
and two brothers, my both my parents who lived in
(10:04):
a two bedroom shotgun house. So when I read that
talent and trying, it's a lot of thing that you're
doing in your life that's very relatable to what I
do and what I what I stand for. And that's
why I feel that I always want to keep you
in my life because I feel that we have a
certain kinship. But again, you young man, wanted to do
go into the watch business? How just want to get
(10:24):
into the watch business? Yeah? Through um so, through a
lot of trial and error and other businesses, you realize
that in order for a business to be successful, you
have to fulfill a need, fulfill a gap. So there's
something missing or there's a market that's not being served
that could benefit from what you have to offer. And so,
as a consumer of watches, and I think a lot
(10:45):
of our people should really take note of that is
a lot of things that you consume um represent an
opportunity for you. And so I was collecting a lot
of watches, but I figured out something most of the
brands that were affordable meeting under a thousand dollars, they
were just mimicking the more expensive brand. So it was
(11:06):
a lot of repetition in the market, and I wanted
to wear something different, you know. I said, if I
had to watch, I would change this, I would change that,
my band would look like this. And after while, I
realized that that represented a huge opportunity for me to
get into business and designed my own watch. Now how
I was gonna do that, I had no idea, and
so that's when I went to YouTube and Google University
(11:28):
and kind of figured out the steps to step by step.
I started with a sketch and then I eventually contacted
the manufacturer. UH. They helped me bring that to life,
order some samples, and once I got the samples the
way that I wanted them, you know, over the course
of about a year year and a half, that's when
I decided to launch, and we launched via the crowdfunding
(11:49):
site kickstarter to raise money for our first shipment. So
you went out there. I've heard people say kick started,
what what engaged people wanna tribute to your brain? What
did you do? What was it? What was your platform?
What was your what made them want to go, wow,
I want to I want to contribute to this. And
how does kicks Started work when someone contributes to it?
(12:10):
Do they are they part owners? They have a little
percentage of your brand? How does that work? M hm um? Well,
my platform was just what I told you, So here's
something new for the market. Here's something that is not
going to be a replica of all the other watches
that are out. So that was my main platform. And
then also I started with the interchangeable band, So I
(12:33):
have these canvas bands that we can change. You can
give your watch a completely different looks. So those are
my two platforms. And then the way kick Started works
is it's basically a pre order system. So in order
to get your products early, people will pay um ahead
(12:53):
of time and they'll get a discount off of the
retail price. Right. So let's say my goal was the
raised five thousand and so I knew I needed I
think maybe a hundred a hundred and fifty backers to
pre order the watch, who believe in what we were doing,
who believed that we would be able to get the
main manufacturing process done to go ahead and pre order
(13:14):
and an exchange they were able to get a steep
discount off of the initial watch. But no, they are
not part owners, so they just they basically we just
ordering their product at a discount. Yes, sir, there are
some crowdfunding platforms that work like that where you do
get ownership. But I didn't do that. Absolutely, you didn't
be thankful for it, aren't you? You know, because we
(13:39):
all have dreams. And the thing about when the dream
that comes successful and then people look around going tapping
you on the show talking about what my chick it's
about a hundred and fifty of them? Ready? That that
gets pretty ugly real fast man, Well, hut where my
check at? You know? Look, man, look let me give
you back in two Okay, you can go about your
(14:01):
business all right. Sorry, no, no, no, that's not what
my contracts say. My contracts say I owned some of
this and I want my share. Man. You're here for
screaming up and down. Now when I'm looking at these bands, man,
you know because on your site, right and the different
look it's what you know, the large face is they're
(14:21):
very clean. Your you're watches, uh don't have numbers on them?
Was what that was? That the look that you were seeking. Yeah,
that's the look that I was seeking, because again I
wanted to do something that wasn't traditional. And you said
it earlier. We don't really use our watches for telling
time now, it's more of a fashion accessor, and so
I wanted to give it a unique look. So we
(14:43):
only have the number seven on all of our watching
And why is that? Well, the number seven represents completion.
So I told myself when I started Italian Twine, I
was gonna finish what I started. You know, you know
a lot of times with entrepreneurs, we started stuff and
be sitting around the house and thinking of he be
thinking of stuff, though I love you boy. Number seven
(15:05):
you know, you know, seven days in the week. You
know what I'm saying, You got to complete your problems,
that's right. And then there's also something very recognizable. Man.
I imagine people being out in the store looking over
at somebody's wrists and seeing that seven and saying, hey,
is that Italians one? So you know it's entrepreneurs. They
go why just or creature conversation, you know, or as
(15:27):
a conversation piece, exactly what type of watches? Because that
in the end, man, that's really all you're trying to create,
like I said, you know, people trying to create ice breakers.
And first of all, it's a beautiful watch. And then
that number seven on it. You know if somebody wise
it's just or seven, then you explain it. Then you
get to a conversation with somebody and now all of
a sudden there's a great ice breaker. But the but
(15:48):
the look in the fashion is really so this is
really I think a very timely watch. So we went
the official launch date for this watching Randy we un
in November two thousand four, November, right before Christmas. Smart
move right, Okay, so everything's online, correct, Yes, sir, We
(16:12):
sell direct the consumer. Um, we don't do any retail
right now. Okay, So COVID hit, the pandemic hits, the
country shuts down. What does that do for your brain?
We saw increase in sales, you know, because people were
at home. Um. And unfortunately, the social unrest also added
(16:33):
a boost to our business, you know, as people begin
to seek out black owned businesses, you know. So you know,
it kind of validated my thinking from the beginning was
that you know, eventually traditional retails gonna continue to continue
to slow down and people gonna want to owner their
products online. They're not gonna want to put up with
the higher prices at retail. They're not gonna put up
with the bad customer service they get at retail. UM
(16:56):
And so I kind of pushed off my chip to
the table to be saying that we're gonna do direct
consumer and sell online only. We actually turn out some
some major contracts from some traditional retailers to keep our
brand intact. When you say that, what do you mean
you to keep your brand intact? What does that mean? Yeah,
meming UM, Let's say we we got a um A
(17:18):
purchase order from from North from rely and we chose
not to do it. Because when you shop at North
from your North froom's customer, they control the social they
control the customer service, They can talk to you how
they want to, they can ship in whatever time frame
they want to, and ultimately you become their customer. As
a directed consumer business, you maintain the connection with all
(17:42):
of your customers. So I can say, hey, Mr Williams,
thank you for your purchase last month. You want to
know if you'll be interested in one of our leather
bands to accompany the watch that you purchase, or I
can send you a card on your birthday, or I
can send you a free gift in the mail prior
to the holiday. And ultimately, the value in today's market
(18:02):
is having that customer base. There's no need to give
it away to somebody just because you know their name
and they've been around for a while, because you're ultimately
providing the value. Wow, I'm talking to Randy Williams. He's
the president of Italian Twine, accompanying designs and manufacturer luxury
watches and accessories. He's started November fourteen. And you're really
(18:23):
good at getting um media to look at your brand.
How you're accomplishing that task, because that's the number one
talk that people talk, right Man, I can I can
I get promotion I can get from I can get
all the cole written on my product first of all
around to have a good looking product. But you're you
when I look when I when I'm doing this interview,
you have a very interesting personality. What interesting meaning? It
(18:44):
is good because you have a plan, you have a conversation,
you know, you're you're you have all the right things
to say about who you are and why you're doing this.
You know, like that number seven is really slick, you know,
interchangeable watches. You know. I know when I was Markeny
Steve Harvey's first book, they always put out a little
phrases out of the book so you can when you
(19:06):
go to an interview. These are buzzwords and people jump
on them. So what is your degree in, Randy Mark?
My degree of that marketing? So all this, this is
all part of the big plan. Really, you know what
I'm saying, part of the big plan because everything you
do and it's like not I won't say marketing one
on one, but guess what, you have all the right
(19:27):
little layers and buzzes and statements to be able to say,
I'm an interesting guy. You can put me on TV,
I can talk if you write about me. Guess where
I got stuff to put in print? And it all
comes back to a product that looks outstanding. Man, Thank
you man. I'll tell you what it's like this, Um,
I think I like it to I attributed to self awareness.
(19:50):
So it's just like when you go from being a
young man to an older man, you understand who you
are more and you understand why you're doing what you're doing.
You're not just doing something to make money or He's
not just doing something for attention. And I wanted Italians
wanting to be a brand like that that understood it,
so that had these principles and these values that were
built into the brand, and we weren't kind of following
(20:11):
the trends and following what was popular. And so that's
how I think about it. And to answer your question
about how we got the media, I have no idea.
We have never had a pr agency. We don't reach
out to media outlets. Somehow we get UH coverage and
I just consider it a blessing. I just say that
that's God's grace. And I really don't have a strategy
(20:33):
for that one. But I go to the website, I
see everybody. You know what I'm saying. I see I
see the strategy. You know, from the marketing standpoint, I
see Men's Help, Black Enterprise. He posts Blavity Bashable, they
not New York cost Bollom ebony. That right there, let
everybody know we're brand is being recognized by all the
(20:54):
top media outlets. That means that you are you're very
much aware of who you are and the story you
trying to tell. Now you have a men's line and
you have a women's line. Okay, I'm assuming you started
with the men's line first, correct, Yes, sir, when did
you get smart? And I gotta bring it on the
women because they're the one they're they're the ones who
really they're the ones who buy two or three things.
(21:15):
You know, they got a dress for this, they got
a dressed for that. You know when when when did
that pop up? Realize that the women? I'm assuming that
the women are the biggest buyers. Correct, it's about okay, yeah,
which I which I like because that means that you
have a pretty much established, especially on the men's side,
a certain dollar value customer. Yeah, yeah, I would say so.
(21:41):
I think two years in I started, I couldn't resist
it anymore because I wanted tally trying to be men's brand,
because that's who I knew how to market too. I
was so afraid of trying to market the women. I
didn't want to mess up in the way that I
was communicating with them. But after a while, man, after
get email and email and all and call, it was
(22:01):
women buying gifts for men as much as there were
men shopping on our site, and so it just represented
a no brainer. I mean, the people act for and
they wanted a watch that match their husbands. They wanted
to gift set. And so I just kind of took
that feedback and you know, I had to slap myself
against the head and like, what are you doing? You know,
(22:21):
why aren't you selling women's watching or so we rolled
that out and you know, it instantly wasn't hit. And
what I love about having female customers is when they
love a product, they are going to talk about it,
They're going to discuss it, they're going to share it,
and that's really one of the things that has allowed
us to grow. Well. You know, the thing that I
really like about what I'm seeing here in on your
(22:42):
line is that, man, these watches look sexy man, you
know because you know, I I here's a guy, like
I said, what inten I put a watch back on
my body, okay, And so I'm watching these watches. Man.
You who's ever taking these photos? Man? They really know
how to make these watches look. Man, I want that
to watch with my risk. Man. I mean these are
(23:03):
I mean, these are some attractive looking photos that look
So are you involved in the selection, you know, like
when I look for let's go back when you have
had this Playball magazine. You know, he went through all
the pictures. He's made all final selection on the photos
that went on into the magazine. How involved in you?
Because I'm just telling you, man, this is the these
(23:24):
these photos with the watch, it almost like, man, I
can put that watch on my all right there with
that shirt. I put that watch with my blue suit.
This is what you're selling. You're selling is not I
don't need to see the full body. I just need
to see high looks on my wrist. And that's what
you're doing. Somewhere along the line, Randy, you've tapped into
something man. And uh and I'm just trying to m
(23:47):
and this. I know it's I know over time I
figured out. But his interview. You're special, dude. You're special
and understanding what excites people, what what you're making a
watch value to me. You're making me want to buy
your watch when I go to this website. You're making
me want to like, not just one watch, I want
to try a couple of them, you know, two or three,
(24:08):
because you know black goes are black or gray, brown
goes to blue. You know browns can go with great.
So you can't just put a watch on with everything
I've learned that you know, you like when you have
a value customer. Like I said, you go in my house,
I got like four or five watches because I got
my silver, my platinum, because different suits I put on,
I have to look a certain way. Now. My two
(24:29):
favorite colors are my black and my brown wrist bands.
But one of the big sellers for your watches that
you can interchange bands, correct, yes, sir, yes, sir. So
let's go back to the selection of these photos and start.
I forgot about that. No, I didn't forget about that.
How did these pictures get on your website? Because they
are they're like making me want to like pull out
(24:50):
my American Express to start dying. And right now, I mean,
you're making me sick right now, Randy, I'm telling you, man, brother,
I got I will be buying a couple of these watches. Brother. Well,
it's it's an important part of the process. So, like
you know, you like custom suits, and you go in
and you get greeted by someone, They measure you, they
ask me questions, they find out about just a really
(25:11):
personal experience. And so as an online business, we don't
have that person to person touch point. So we have
to try to make the website as attractive as possible
so that people can understand the real value of the
watch that they're going to be getting. So we try
to photograph it from all angles. We try to photograph
have photographs of people wearing it in their element so
(25:31):
that we can really tell that story without having that
one on one contact. So that's one of the hurdles
that we have to get over. So that means our
website has got to be ten times better and more
attractive than it would be if you had that in
story experience. So yeah, I'm really involved there today with
the marketing and the photography and video selection, and I
really enjoyed that part of my business. The business is
(25:52):
actually my favorite part, absolutely absolutely. So what is the
warrantye I buy to watch? You? You know a couple
of watchers that I really like that so sold out
already on top of so what's just what? Just what
do you select to watch? What's the window and what's
the warranty on your watches? We have a two year
warranty on our watches. The big thing happens, get it
(26:13):
get replaced, which is unprecedented in our Pride that's incredible.
Two years, two year warranty. And also you can return
a product and definitely you know, if you got it
and you haven't used it, as long as something you
will always be able to refund you or exchange it
(26:34):
for you. So we have a very generous return policy
because we really believe in our product. Now this this
this black metal band, the one that sold out, you know,
of course it will be you know, you know I
would pick the one that's sold out, you know, crazy
like that that that charcoal band on it. That's cold
right there, man. I just love the women, the women lines, man,
I love that. That that that pink band, that blue band. Man,
(26:58):
you know you you're just making to kill that pink
watch right here. Man, the pink leather band. That's out standing.
It's a pre order shipping by octobers. That mean pre
order shipping by October. The roles go, what does that
mean when I see that? Well, um, we were expecting
to be a hundred percent improvement over what we did
(27:19):
last year in terms of sale, but somewhere in the
first three months of the year, we that catapulted over
year and uh we sold out of everything man. So um,
we had to start making them available for pre order. UM,
so we'll be shipping those pre orders are actually within
(27:39):
the next couple of weeks UM, and then after that
hopefully we can have them stopped and we'll be shipping
directly from the site. We know on this shipping two
to three business days. But you know, the man has
been so strong this year that we've had to switch
over the pre orders. Well, Randy, all, I gotta say, Man,
all right, if you don't mind, I'm I'm gonna put
you in my news letter goes out the eight thousands fibers.
(28:00):
So kay, I'm gonna put you on my shopping on UH,
which is on my Money Making Conversation and also on
my m Money Making Conversation as well as on my
um my HBCU Awards UH website that I just launched
this month. And my whole thing is that you have
a great business. I am a customer, and you my
(28:20):
name will pop up on your site as a as
a buyer because of the fact that, UH, you're special man,
not just a just special from a standpoint of the product,
but if you have unique qualities and a unique understanding
of how you want to be viewed. It's not about
to check. It's about the brand. I always tell people,
always tell people this. You know, I don't really chase money.
(28:43):
I changed relationships and I changed and I control my brand.
And if you do all those things, then you will
make money and you'll be able to control your destiny
and your future. But if you start giving away your
brand for a check, then gets what you have to
cater to them. And you're absolutely right. It's like it's
like I always always go back to what I should
do with uh with with krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme, man,
(29:08):
when that little sign came on, you stopped. You had
the best hot downer in the world. Then they start
going in the grocery stores, they start going to stops
and you grab that don up Cole was hard. And
that's what you're saying about Northstrom. I don't want anybody
to market my brand along with a lot of other
watches and make it competitive and telling you this is
this and this does this come to me. I'm gonna
(29:30):
give you two years, I'm give you loyalty, I'm gonna respect,
and I'm gonna tell you the truth about my product.
And that's what you're doing. On Italian twine. I respect
that and I love you for a brother. Thank you,
Thank you man, thank you for the kind words. I
appreciate you. No, no, we were looking at that kind words.
I gotta start marketing. I gotta jump up there. I
want my little money making conversations go up there with
a huff post and uh ebony and you know I
(29:53):
gotta do that. I gotta, I gotta get up there, man, talent,
come on. But thank you for taking the time to
come on this show. And I appreciate at your man
and uh mad respect and I will always and like
I said, everything I do on money Making Conversations, there's
no check attached to It is about promoting positive individuals
who are trying to make a difference. Because you you
create taxes, you create employment, you can an opportunity to
(30:14):
make this country a lot better. That's what entrepreneurs do.
And I just want to recognize you for your efforts. Man,
Thank you, and I love what you're doing. Man, keep
up the work. I know it's hard working into your schedule, man,
but we really need to continue. So thanks. I appreciate
all right there. You want to hear more money making
Conversation interviews, please go to money Making Conversation dot com.
I'm ras Sean McDonald. I'm your host.
Host
Rushion McDonald
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