Full Episode: E.M.M.Y Award-winning journalist, Shaun Robinson discusses hosting the latest season of "90 Day Bares All". Also, Marcus Davis celebrates 20 years as Founder & CEO of The Breakfast Klub.

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There's a monumental shift in power at work. Employees are
speaking up, Turnover is rising, salaries are increasing, hiring is tough,
and burnout is real. It's time to unleash growth. It's
time to transform your HR from powerless to powerful. Join
a DP on February. Reserve your spot now. Go to

(00:24):
get the Plan dot IDP dot com to register for
the Work Interrupted Summit. The Black Effect Presents features artists,
conversations and exclusive interviews. A space for artists, everyday people
and listeners to amplify, elevate, and empower black voices with
great conversations. Make sure to listen to The Black Effect

(00:45):
Presents podcast on I Heart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcast. Look for your children's eyes and
you will discover the true magic of a forest. For
into forest near you and start exploring and discover the
forest dot orgon brought to you by the United States

(01:05):
Forest Service and the ad Council. Welcome to Money Making Conversations.
It's the show that she has the secrets of success
experience firsthand by marketing and Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I
will know he's giving me advice to many occasions in
occasion didn't notice I'm not broke. You know, He'll be
interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry decision makers. It's what

(01:29):
he likes to do, It's what he likes to share.
Now it's time to hear from my man, Rashan McDonald
money Making Conversations. Here we come. Welcome to money Making Conversation.
As you know, I am the host from Sean McDonald.
As I say every time every episode, I always tell
people stop reading other people's success stories and start writing
your own. And when you talk about gifts and passions,

(01:50):
and if you have a gift, leave with your gift, pleople,
leave with it. Don't hesitate, don't let your age, friends,
family and coworkers stop you from planning or living your dreams.
As you know, money making Conversations. My interviews are with
celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs, and people I like to call industry
decision makers. Next cast is a dear friend. Her name
is Sean Robinson. She's an Emmy Award winning journalist, television

(02:12):
personality author, producer, philanthropist, girl powerment activists, and executive producer.
Let's put that out there early in the credits Okay
shows a true role model. Shaun is the host and
the executive produce of the Naty Day Bears All serious
streament on Discovery Plus. She is a proud graduate of
HBCU Spellman University in Atlanta, George. We always talk about

(02:34):
that every time she comes into the show. Shun the
Stabled the Seaun Foundations s h a U N for Girls,
which nurtures and supports underserved and underrepresented girls and young
women in areas of stem health, arts, unity and neighborhoods.
Please welcome to money making Conversations again. The executive producer
and hosts of Naty Days Naty Day Bears All series,

(02:58):
Sean Robinson. How you doing, Sean? I love my friend.
How are you? I'm good? You know. So the beauty
of our relationship is that it continues to grow and
you're and and and that's something special because you always, uh,
our relationship goes over twenty years now and so now
I was thinking, I was wondering how long you and
I have known each other. It's been, um, well, I

(03:21):
came to Access Hollywood in so it was since then absolutely,
because that's when I first met you. I remember we
first met and uh, and and was just watching you
and uh, and right now I feel that you know me.
We would all take a job. But now I feel
like you're starting to control your narrative and talk to
us about that. Because there's a journey to all of this.

(03:43):
There's the points where you don't know who you are.
I remember when I stopped manager Steve Harbor, I could
tell you I didn't know who I was. I was
still cared the title of manager of Steve Harvey, former
manager Steve Harvey, and that was a burden of understanding
what I could do or what people expected from me.
And so and you was award winning television host for
a long time, tied to a television series. How are

(04:04):
we able to develop the brand of Sean Robinson? Well,
thank you so much for saying that. And you know
about the journey of being connected to UM, Yeah, something
that is so big, and may be concerned about stepping
out of that UM and wondering who you are away

(04:25):
from what people knew you was doing, and so I
saw so listen. I'm grateful for the sixteen years that
I was at Access Hollywood, and I felt that I
achieved a lot. I came there before social media before Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
all that, you know, and it was a time when uh,

(04:47):
entertainment shows like that, we're really in its heyday because
if let's say, if Beyonce wanted to talk about her album,
she would come to and Access Hollywood and get the
word out. Now, all she has to do is tweet
it and then you know, she's selling a hundred million copies.
So it's different today, and so I'm thankful that I

(05:10):
was at this entertainment show during a time when it
was like, you know, much different than now. I mean,
now you have a lot of different outlets, a lot
of different shows, podcasts, all of that, which is great. Um,
and so the world, the universe has definitely expanded. But
I remember when I was at Access Hollywood for many
many years and I was just kind of getting burnt

(05:32):
out and just was like what is next, but afraid
to separate myself from that entity. And I remember I
went to see a life coach Rashan, and she said
she took out a piece of paper, she had a
pencil on her hand, and she put it a gigantic
circle on the piece of paper and she said, sean world,

(05:57):
Access Hollywood, It's like a little tiny dot in the
whole world. And I remember that because I was like,
there are so many more things that I could be doing.
And when I did leave, there are a lot of
people saying, Okay, what are you gonna do now? How
do you know? I wish I could leave my job,
but I'm afraid I don't know what there is for
me on the other side of this. And I say

(06:20):
to everyone, you are in control of your destiny, and
your destiny doesn't look like what anybody else thinks. It
looks like, it looks like what you think it looks like.
And I was just having a conversation with a girlfriend
of mine. She was interviewing me at a conference. She said,
you know you would reach the brass ring and what

(06:41):
was on the other side of that. I was like, well,
brass ring, I'd be a brass ring and somebody else's
book or it may have been a brass ring at
one time, but the brass ring for me now is
controlling my own destiny and writing my own stories and
having a boy as in the types of shows that

(07:02):
I produced and host so UM. And it's so interesting
because when I started UM the year after I left
Access Hollywood, Uh, left in two thousand and fifteen, my
father just passed away. It was just a really uh
it was a really tough time for me, and a
time when I said, oh, okay, okay, times of Chicken.

(07:24):
You know, life is short. Got to get out here
and just see what I can make happen. And um,
ninety day TLC had reached out to me about hosting
this tell all reunion show for ninety Day Fiance, and
I was like, nine Day Fiance, what's that right? So
they sent me some clips and I was like, okay.

(07:47):
I said, this will probably last like maybe one season
or something, and I'll do the tell all and maybe
do one more. I said, will probably be canceled after that.
And here, okay, now we're you know, many not that
long later. To tell All that I host is consistently
the number one show in cable on the nights that

(08:11):
they air. It's seen in a hundred and sixty eight
countries and territories. Okay, My d m s are international.
And the first show that we did out of the
um during the pandemic when everything was virtual. Everything everybody
was going virtual, and I remember the verse first virtual

(08:34):
tell all that we had to do and I was like,
nobody's gonna watch this. It's all on you know, all
on Zoom. Nobody's want to watch this, and meaning the
interviews that the world we're on Zoom and Rishan that
show that aired in the first the first show we
did in the pandemic, it was the number one show

(08:56):
in the country. We beat ABC, NBC, all of them. Okay,
And here it was me taking like just think, not
knowing this door was going to open right to all
of these other shows and all of these other possibilities,
and I'm thinking, okay, wow, now you know, like you know,

(09:19):
it's funny because like somebody will see me and they'll go,
you know what you know, Ash, you look familiar. We're
not know you from an access to Hollywood for sitting
there like, oh no, that ain't it. You know. So
that's how it is. You know, you take a chance,
and you know it's you never know what's on the

(09:40):
other side of you know, that leap of faith. We'll
be right back with my Emmy Award William journalist, host
an executive producer of Discovery plus series Nati Days bear
All Sean Robinson. It's finally here. The season of Celebration
and no matter how you celebrate with family and friends,
whether you're preparing for rays magos or ramu lighting the Manura,

(10:01):
are going to midnight mass, Coals has just what you
need to make those traditions special. Plus you'll find gifts
for all your loved ones. Send warm wishes with cozy fleeces, sweaters, loungeware,
blankets and throws. Support minority owned or founded brands by
giving gifts from Human Nation and shame moisture, or treat
them to everyone's favorite activewear from top brands like Nike, Adidas,

(10:25):
and under Armour. And in the spirit of giving, Coals
Cares is donating eight million dollars to local nonprofits nationwide
committed to the health and well being of our communities.
No matter how you celebrate, when you shop at Coals,
you're right where you belong. So this season, give with
all your heart with great gifts from Coals or Coals

(10:46):
dot Com. Hi everyone, i'l roker here as a guy
with his own catchphrase. I appreciate that Smokey's only said
only you can prevent wildfires, But I'm filling in because
there's a lot more to report, like when they're parched
or windy conditions out there, You've gotta be extra careful
with things like burning yard wadge. After all, wildfires can

(11:06):
start anywhere, even in your neck of the woods. Go
to Smokey Bear dot com to learn more about wildfire prevention.
Brought to you by the U. S. Forest Service, your
State Forrester, and the AD Council. If I could be
you and you could be me for just one hour,
if you could find a way to get inside each
other's mind, walk a mile in my shoes, wacome mile

(11:27):
in my shoes shoes. We've all felt left out, and
for some that feeling lasts more than a moment. We
can change that. Learn how it belonging begins with us
dot org, brought to you by the AD Council. Welcome
out in the machines. This is ra Sean McDonald. Welcome

(12:14):
back to money making Conversations as I continue my conversations
with Emmy Award Winnie Journalists, host and executive producer of
the Discovery Plus series Nati Day's Barrels All Sean Robinson.
Now I'm watching this series. I'm gonna just tell you
why I feel you all this while you're the perfect host.
I'll tell you why you're the perfect host, because yes,

(12:35):
and that's important because I don't feel that, you know,
if you had a high energy host or a host
kind of search out for selacious information. You know, you
are hosting it from a dignified standpoint, and that allows
us to stay there because I know sometimes when I'm
watching you, you kind of like caught off guard or

(12:58):
what to say next? Because this doesn't make sense in
your mind, this doesn't make any sense. Well, yeah, you know,
let'st I was raised in the church. Yes, they first
came to me. Um, you know TLC. Howard Lee, the
president of TLC, came to me with this show idea.

(13:19):
I was like, I said, can we get away with that?
Are you shore you want me to host stuff? Yes?
They do, Yes they do. So it was a show
for people who don't know Bears all another spinoff Fiance
has like I don't know, it's so popular and it
has like I don't know, ten ten spinoffs now ten
s on something like that. That way, this way is

(13:43):
Days Happily. Ever after the other way we got Pillow Talk,
Single Life. We have I mean there's so many um.
So the show is produced by TLC and it airs
on Discovery Plus. Discovery is the parent company, uh at
you know of TLC, HDTV, the own network, the food network,

(14:06):
I think, uh Animal Planet or something. Um, yeah, so
it Discoveries the parent company. So Discovery launched their new
streaming platform called Discovery Plus. And so TLC produces ninety
day bears all for Discovery Plus. So it's streaming, which
means we don't have the same rules as they have

(14:28):
on linear TV. You can say anything, but show anything.
Anything goes and so yeah, so fan base, now our
girls classy. Now, they don't just go crazy showing you anything,
but they do take you to like you for real. Really,

(14:49):
we're gonna we're gonna see that occasion. Caution, the moment
with Brandon and Julia, the young lady from Russia. You
know what I'm saying. They was in the car. Okay,
now out they don't show what went down, but you
pretty much know went went down, and you pretty much
know it went down in front of the cameras because
the cameras in the car right in the car, yes,

(15:13):
or like there are uh, there are strolls through sex shops. Okay,
Like a couple may go into a sex shop and
they showed the stuff in the sex shop. Yes they do, Yes,
they do. You know they're talking about David and Andie.
I think that's David and Andy from Thought Thailand, Thailand.

(15:33):
Oh we're shot, you know, David and Annie and Thailand. Yes, yes,
she's banks it with a little whimp, you know what
I'm saying, A little whimp, you know, because you know,
for you know, they missed a couple of days and
then they make up for them one day. They may
do it three or four times that day. Yes, he's
kind of overweight and she's kind a little bit of

(15:55):
her said, got the eyebrows done. Yes, I do know
about David and Need from Thailand. Continue, continue what you
do with Sean and acting like I don't know my girl?
Right right? I could tell you are up to date.
You tell your research. So yeah, so it's fun. You know,

(16:16):
we're talking to husbands, husbands and wise boyfriend and girlfriends
and they're just talking about all the stuff they do
and you know, listen, Okay, but let's sen ry like
on the real tip here. When you think about it, Rashan,
you know, sex obviously is a very important part of
a successful common relationship. However, they define that to be. Okay,

(16:38):
whatever type of level of intimacy they defined that to be.
And so as you know, uh, this show is called
bears All, So they're bearing all. They're telling us what's
going down, uh in the relationship and so and it's
funny we play games and you know, we have uh

(16:58):
different you know, we have on TestU Chantelle and Pedro,
a very very popular couple of Shantalas from Atlanta, Pedros
from the Dominican Republic, and they they have their own
spin off, the Family Chantelle. And you know, they came
on and they are talking about, you know, how they

(17:20):
keep things hot in the bedroom and yeah, you have
to see translations sometime. But we also have we also
have breaking news on the franchise. We advanced the story.
You may have seen you may have seen a couple
on the tell All and they want to know what

(17:41):
they're doing today, and so we talk about we give
folks updates. We give the audience updates on the lives
of the ninety Day Universe. Uh. There is I don't
know if you remember, uh George George and Anfisa from
I forgot what season they were on, but they were
like when I first hosting the shows. George and Anfisa.

(18:02):
They were this you know, wild couple. They had all
these ups and downs. They fought, they broke up. Uh.
And then George was arrested for marijuana possession and he
spent like, you know, a couple of years in prison.
Well he just got out and he's telling me about

(18:23):
what went down and how he had all there's marijuana
on him and how the police dog tracked him down
right right right right when you know, you know, you know, Sean,
you know nowadays when you when you said somebody goes
to jail from marijuana, you know, you know, you know
you're not just smoking it. You're not smoking it for
massent on reason. You actually are selling. So if a

(18:46):
dog tracked him down, dog tracked him down, and he said,
I said, well, what happened? Or you gotta watch the show.
You gotta watch the Uh. I said, what happened? George?
He said, the dog got me? He said, he said,
they felled the dog to go around the car. The
dog like if the dog sits that lais down, they

(19:07):
know that there's something in the car. And the dog
was going around the car and that dog just laid
down like this see see this is just the just
the fun part. And who was watching the interview now
she is having a lot more fun with me that
she's having on the show, all this extra animation. She

(19:28):
she has the maintain a decorum of professionalism when she's
looking at these people going, I would just tell you.
It was a couple of times where I just laughed
at you. It was the it was the it was
the on this on this season. It was when uh,
you know, Brandon and Julia, when you actually said, dude,
you know you can't and then this food Brandon goes.
There was more roll more tape. Remember he said roll

(19:52):
more tape. There was more white Yes, he said roll
more tape. And I was like, oh my god, they're
more Brandon and Brandon. This little like a little cute,
a little buttoned up kind of guy. And he was, yeah,
super freak. He was Rick James. He's a white Rick James.
That's what he was. He was a white Rick. He
was a boy, was a super freak board on the

(20:14):
farm and looks like his dad and mommy Betty and
raw Horny too, you know. And don't want to have
him make no noise over there one because they're making
all the noise over there in their room. But it's
a it's a fun show because you know, you get
to see the you know, like like Terek, uh, you know,
poor poor poorl Dean when he talked about his brothers

(20:34):
so bad, talking about he a fifty year old rapper,
you know, I know, and you know what the conversation
between Terek and Dean. At first they were so close,
but then there was some brotherly rivalry going on there
and then they you know, separated, they didn't talk to
each other. So you know, having you know, having both

(20:56):
of them, one in the studio the other fun video,
and they were going at it, going at it, and
you were like, you were hoping that these brothers could
mend fences. But that was a really supertense moment on
bears off and then and that's what you're talking about.
And if you're talking they crossed shows in there because
they fell out on Pillow Talk, right right exactly. Pillow Talk. Yeah.

(21:20):
So Pillow Talk is another spinoff of ninety Day where
people from the ninety day universe. It could be like
Trek and Dean brothers, or it could be a husband,
wife or boyfriend girlfriend. They sit in the bed and
they watch the show and they give their opinion about
the show. Like every time something happens, like if David

(21:41):
and Annie where to go in the sex shop, one
of them might shout out, oh my god, I can't
believe they're in the sex shop or whatever. You know,
they will say, well, the you know, if you if
you saw the conversation, you know, Terek's version was that
Dean was pellous of him. Okay, he was jealous of

(22:03):
the attention that he was getting. Dean's version is that
to Reek would steal some of his lines that he
during Pillow Talk. And so something happened after that last
taping of Pillow Talk and they just completely fell out.
So it was it was bad, and so we brought

(22:26):
the brothers together on Bears all and they were hashing
it out, you know, hopefully they can come back together.
And then another brother joined in the conversation and that
was more drama because that was kind of like they
crossed episodes. Yes, well yes, because they were on um
I think it was. They were on ninety Day, to

(22:48):
Read and Hazel were on ninety Day, then on Pillow
Talk and then they were on Bears also. Yeah, so
is We bring together everybody and you will see different
matchups on bears All. You will see people from different
shows come on bears All for the first time. So
that's what's fun about it, bringing people together that you

(23:10):
don't expect to see together. We have some things out.
You need to see my conversation with Brittany. Boss Brittany,
uh another one. You talk about Instagram. You talk about
Instagram bootylicious Brittany, Yes, yes, Sean Robinson, about bears All

(23:32):
than anybody or a side you just want to tell
yourself about. I'm gonna tell you something about Brittany When
she when you asked about the cheat a profound statement
about Black Girl magic. You know what I'm saying. She
was like, you know, because I am a woman, and
a woman should be able to show herself as all people.
She has the right and the will, and I would
not be She said a speech and a Brittany all

(23:54):
this bs, but you're really good. They have come up
for all that on the spot. That was really profound.
When she said, could you looked at it? Win? You
really believe all that? But you're good? You're good, right right? Right?
So Boss Brittany, she gets to say her piece. You know,
she was supposed to be on one of our last
tell alls and she didn't show up. Conversation about why

(24:18):
she didn't show up to the tell all. Okay, okay,
here's the funny part about the show, the fund to
show that makes me funny when you bring in the
translators because you have the angry pe and you see
the words, you know, just translated undeath them, you know,
and then the translator has to translate it, and then
they have to and then they don't translate it all correctly.
Then you got the angry, non communicating person trying to

(24:41):
talk back after translator who in turn translated back. That's
the funny that, right, there's another show. That's another show. Yes, yes,
you're absolutely right. That could be ninety day translation. But
you're right, you're right, Rashan, because Adam, our translator for
ya Zon, Brittney's um boyfriend, I mean, Yazon and Brittany

(25:03):
were going at it. I mean they were calling everybody,
calling each other everything but a child of God, and
that Adam had to sit in the middle and translate
and they had to apologize to Poet of Sean. They've
told me, I've extended my time. I apologize. She producing
team you know I love you as owner Discovery Plus,

(25:23):
She's an executive producer and host of Nanty Day's Barrel.
Don't miss It is fun, is good fun television. If
I watch you, just to watch her blush. Just watch
Sean Robinson blush. Thank you, girl, I appreciate you. We
will be right back with more Money Making Conversation with
Rashan McDonald. You are now tuned into the Money Making

(25:46):
Conversations Minute of Inspiration with Rashan McDonald. Hi, Rashan McDonald
from Money Making Conversations with your daily Minute of Inspiration.
This week, I sat down with Janine McLean, President and
managing partner of multimedia powerhouse My Brother's Keeper Entertainment. Now
that she's currently being celebrated for creating numerous branding opportunities
for Grammy Award winning singer songwriter her, Janine is offering

(26:10):
advice for young people seeking careers in music and entertainment.
You really do have to be so focused on the
talent that you work with. I mean, that's that is
the job. That's the job is within that though. You
have to have the balance of time. You have to
time manage so that it's okay to say from the
beginning that we're gonna respect each other's you know, needs

(26:34):
and and and cover up that space if you were
to hear this full interview with Janine McClean is available
on Money Making Conversations dot com. What grows in the
forest trees? Sure you know? What else grows in the forest,
our imagination, a sense of wonder, and our family bonds
grow too, because when we disconnect from this and connect

(26:58):
with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is
closer than you think. Find a forest near you and
start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot org brought to
you by the United States Forest Service and the AD Council.
What grows in the forest trees? Sure no, what else
grows in the forest, Our imagination, our sense of wonder,

(27:22):
and our family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect
from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other.
The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
near you and start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot
org brought to you by the United States Forest Service
and the AD Council. Look for your children's eyes to

(27:45):
see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook
world for them. You look and see a tree. They
see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched
to the sky. They see treasure in pebbles, they see
a windy path that could lead to adventure, and they
see you. They're fearless. Guide. Is this fascinating world? Find

(28:07):
the forest near you and start exploring and discover the
forest dot Orgon brought to you by the United States
Forest Service and the Council. Now let's return to money
making conversation with Rashan McDonald. My next guest is Marcus Davis.
He's an HBCU graduate of Texas Southern University. He is
chief steward of the Breakfast Club, host of Fish, Grits
and Politics. He's an entrepreneur, restaurant owner and what I

(28:30):
love ab bottom. He's a motivational speaker, the spirit of entrepreneur,
mastermind behind the Breakfast Club, Reggae Hood Cafe. Marcus Davids
is best known for his charismatic and you've seen it too.
I love this dude. For many years when I had
my comedy globe, I used to love listening to motor Radio.
He's the love laughing at me, but I love listening
to him on Sunday mornings. He's authentic. He loves customers
who really understand the value of what he's trying to

(28:52):
do from them. He's committed. Everything starts with a K
commitment community. He serves the successful. His restaurant has led
to the develop at the branded consumer with a K
products for the home that include the Breakfast Club coffee,
which I got along with the waffle and pancake mix
which I don't have no more have to re order
because I used it all. I ate it. Okay, it's

(29:13):
that easy to make sold for a savory season. He mixed.
I got some mixing. If you got the video you're
watching us on TV Video one. I got it all
on my desk because I love promoting something that is successful.
He is not celebrating. Get to check this out in
September one. It all starts twenty years restaurant service to
the community with a cave Please welcome to money making conversation.

(29:36):
I like to call him the chief steward of the
Breakfast Club. My friend Marcus Davis, Hey, Marcus, Hey, Marco,
what's that too long? Man? You know, because you know
we're battling off a man, don't say that long intro
because I'm think of christ Mattick when I introduced people. Man,
how was that? Man? You laid it out, brother, and

(29:56):
I appreciate it you laid it that way. I appreciate that.
I appreciate it much. Well, you don't think that the
thing about I gotta go way back, you know, to one.
I know, I was in l A at the time,
Steve Harving, I was doing radio in l A. So
we were starting our dream. And when you start a dream,
it always is just something just doing. There's no set

(30:16):
where you're gonna be five years from now, ten years
from now, or even twenty years from now. What you
are right now? What was the plan when you just
owned those stories twenty years ago of the breakfast, And
what was the plan? Um? You know? In in nine nine,
I set out and UH wrote the vision and made

(30:38):
it plain. I envisioned us being a staple for the
city of Houston. I envisioned us being UM synonymous with
the city. I envisioned us being known from UH coast
to coast, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. I envisioned
us being an intricate part of the community. And I

(31:00):
envisioned us being a source of inspiration for our community.
Knowing where we stood in this industry and what the
opportunities uh were, I envisioned to feel that that that void.
So I wanted to create this concept uh step out
on faith um and give Houston and and the AFFL

(31:24):
community what it deserves, what the what it deserves, what
you brought to the table. But when all, when you
have a product and you have to charge people for
that product, that always leads to mixed emotions because especially
in our community and on the beauty of the breakfast
club is that if you get in line, it is
one of the diverse lines in the world. Is everybody

(31:45):
that line his Spanish white? Sometimes more whites and live
than blacks. Okay, so he's serving that international customer that
he wants and so, but it didn't start out like that.
And so making that price point, how did that come
into play to You can make sure you're comfortable with
it because you gotta make money, but you also have
to make sure the cort doesn't feel offended. So let

(32:07):
me let me address the first half of that. Right
you talked about the diversity. I mentioned just a second
ago that I wanted to be UH synonymous with the city.
I wanted to be an ambassador reflection of my city,
and the city of Houston is was and is a
microcosm of the United States. It is a very diverse,

(32:28):
diverse city, and I wanted the concept to be just
as diverse. I'm gonna tell you something. I remember driving
bankers and potential investors crazy when you know this as
a businessman, you know this. I will go into the
banking or business plan and UH they would ask who
is your target audience, who's your target demographic? And I

(32:51):
told them anyone and everyone that wants to participate, we
are inviting to participate. And they would try and drill
me down or no, you gotta demonified target demographic. And
I insisted that I didn't. That I wanted to do
something different. I wanted the city of Houston to be
reflected in the breakfast club. And here's the example that

(33:12):
I told the bankers that never gave me any money.
I wanted a place where. I wanted a place where
UH college students from Malma Mata, Texas Southern and you
have Aged and Rice and you have AGED Downtown and St. Thomas,
all surrounding UH universities surrounding the breakfast club. I wanted

(33:33):
them to sit in the same space where Fortune five
hundred vps and c e O s sat for breakfast.
Because we were on the outskirts of downtown. I wanted
the folks in the medical center to come and have
lunch with the people who work on the light poles.
I wanted any and everybody that wanted to participate in

(33:53):
this concept called uh fellowship. I wanted them in and
so uh that that's where the idea of the version.
Let me tell you some funny. I knew we had
arrived at what I had envisioned. The bankers told me,
hell now, the investors told me hell no. Maybe that's
why none of them gave me any money. Right, I
never will forget one day seeing um one of my

(34:15):
marketing folks, she could say, come here, you gotta see this.
This is this is what you envisioned. And I walked
outside and in the parking lot was a convertible Lexus
coop and the brother got out and he was clean. Right,
that's like what Sean. I was like, is that ver
Sean mcdonnet stop. He was clean, And right next to him,
this brother pulled up in a back home, and he

(34:35):
in his overalls and his boots and he got out
and he stood the writing line with that brother that
was in that our money. So now it's like that's
the breakfast Club. But you know, it's really tragic how
people will everybody each food, you know what I'm saying, Marcus,
But still they act like, you know, okaun, your food
has to have a certain market. You know. I don't
know anybody who just don't eat breakfast, you know, I

(34:57):
think everybody eats breakfast, you know, but when you up
African American mayor walking in there, you must be just
targeting black people, Okay, and then do what you say that,
then they're gonna trap you even more because they're gonna
tell you how much you they think you can make.
Once you say you just targeted, I marketed, they don't value.
So that's always smart to hear that on this show,

(35:17):
and coming from a person who said, no, I my
brand and my customer base will be everybody. If you
hold on to that dream and don't let anybody just
do your dream. That's why I say up top, don't
let nobody alter your dreams and your plans. You know,
So going I started this thing off, talking about bitch
and a couple of concepts. I want to make sure
that we worked through today. Brother. You know you know

(35:39):
I'm a son and grandson and great grandson of Baptist preachers.
So I have I have my points, right, I got
my not absolutely, I love it. You know when you
called me, said Richard that we're talking Mark David based
and used to Texas. So you get part great breakfast
and part motivation depending on what day you get him.
When he called me, rich you said the twenty years
is coming up. I come back, I said, Marcus, you

(36:01):
don't have to push this conversation when you want to
come on. So get the preacher, brother. And and here's
why I thought that was important. And when I when
I started this business, when I started working on the plan,
I ran into all the statistics, right, all the statistics
that see it. Restaurants has the highest failure rate arong
along with clubs and bars. Right. Uh, it's a miracle
to make it past the first twelve months. It's a

(36:22):
miracle to make it past twenty four months. If you
hit five years, you're doing something miraculous. And here we
are four times that sitting on our twenty year anniversary,
twenty years of inspiring entrepreneurship in the city of Houston.
And that's a testament to a number of concepts, and
that starts with the first thing that you said, opening
was vision right and believing whole hardening who you are

(36:43):
and what you've been called and created to be, and
not letting anybody deter you because absolutely positively folks will
try to deter you. Now it's not out of anything.
And I'm not big on this hater thing and people
hating on you and stuff like that. What I am
big on is understanding why they don't agree with you,
on why they don't see what you see. Your vision

(37:06):
that was gave to you, that was given to you,
was only given to you. The Creator made it, Taylor
made specifically for you, and it is not and it
has not been exposed to the rest of the earth
because you're the one responsible for developing it. You're the
one responsible for going into the dark room, taking that

(37:29):
negative and turning into a positive. I know, I speaking
foreign language because we don't develop a lot of feeling anymore.
But you get the concept right, that picture that the
creator gave to you. You are the person responsible for
going into the dark room and developing it. So the
people that that that don't say a man in your corner,
the people that do not agree with you, the people
that are not backing you up, it's not because they

(37:51):
have any ill will. It's because they haven't gotten the
picture that you're responsible for painting. And that's the most
important thing is that you have to be willing to
under stand that it all gonna fall back on you.
So a lot of people, when they have their dream,
they want people to feel sorry for them when they're
doing bad, and they want to be excited for them
when they're feeling good. I keep a medium roll in

(38:11):
my whole approach to life, and plus I don't try
to share too much excitement, and I never share failure
because sharing failure with somebody when they feel you're supposed
to be successful will only create doubt in your circle.
And so that is what happened a lot during the pandemic,
because we had a year in twenty where there was
nothing but doubt, there's nothing but uncertainty. They shut down

(38:32):
your business, like all businesses around this country for two months.
How did you come out of that with the same
enthusiasm that that that natural enthusiast I see all the time,
and you for your business to breakfast club. That was
your primary business, of course, but how did you survive?
So you know, it was only one of the things
that I'm grateful for. There's a there's the thing going

(38:53):
around on social media and and and it's interest and said,
I asked for courage, so I was giving things that
would frighten me in order to developed the courage. I
asked for uh strength, So I was giving heavy weight
to carry in order to make me stronger. I don't
know where it came from, but I thought it was
it was. It was pretty elegant. The reality of it
is the Breakfast Club not only we celebrating twenty years

(39:14):
in business, two decades of inspiring entrepreneurship on the corner
of Travis and Alabama, but we are also proving what
it means to be battle tested. Right. The pandemic was significant, Right,
It was a very significant, spectacular event and and detrimental
to a lot of businesses. One of the things that
I am grateful for is that it was not our

(39:34):
first rodeo was at our first pandemic, of course, but
we opened this business underpression. We opened this business when
the streets wanted construction. We opened this business on the
heels of Hurricane Allison, which hit our build them before
we got to serve sale one grid. We opened this
business when Hurricane I was here and Hurricane Harvey came through.

(39:57):
We opened this business and in ruin crashed. We all
in two weeks before UH nine eleven hit, which was
a big deal because because downtowns in a lot of
cities took a decline, because folks were scared to go
into work if you worked in the major metropolitan city.
So we on the on the hills of in run
crashing UH nine eleven happening, Uh Alison. Then I. Then

(40:21):
you had that little thing in two thousand and seven
where gas was sky high. Yeah, the other thing where
food jumped up two thousand seven, two thousand and eight,
bringing in the recession where folks are getting laid off
left and right. Uh. You move on down to Hurricane
Ike where we were closed for five whole days, and
then Hurricane Harvy. We are battle tested at thirty or

(40:42):
seven eleven, Travis, and that's what prepared us for what
came forward in one We've been through the Royal Range.
We've been through the storm and my team, uh we
we've developed a certain amount of diligence where we can
perform under the pressure. Our metal has been tested. I'm
so grateful uh that we that that we had the
ability to to perform. And I'm extremely grateful catch this

(41:06):
that the community uh soft fit to sustain us during
that time. And that's what good will would do for
you Absolutely do good in writing just by the people,
then prayerfully most times off times they will respond, they
will And I'm fortunate that the people responded uh to
what we needed them to respond to. But lets just

(41:29):
change something about Marcus Davis and his his personality, his
willingness to answer the call for promotional opportunities. You know,
when I just Steve Harvey Shaw owned National Syndication, called Marcus,
he didn't like, go let me think about it, what time?
When do you want to be there? Because he under
you understood the value of the moment and a lot

(41:50):
of people understand the value of the moment. But more
importantly about Marcus, he knows how to take up possitively
advantage of that moment. And that really I'm not saying
that's one of the the rememberable moments in your business.
But you have a lot of them in there, like
with Oprah to Steve Harvest talk about how you and
let me just tell y'all strategically, I may have asked

(42:12):
him to come on to Steve Harvey Talk show, but
he had a strategy as to why he was coming.
My correct, Marcus, But I mean, you're you're absolutely correct.
And I know this is and I know this sounds
a little far um, but there was a time where
you didn't have the world at the touch of a button.
That was a time when you didn't have the East

(42:34):
Coast and the West coast available to you via Twitter,
vi Instagram, their Facebook. That was the time where you
had to bust your butt in order to get that
type of recognition. And you had to also be lucky,
uh as a result of the good work that you've done. Right,
So the hard work that we put in uh, combined

(42:54):
with relationships that we had built UH allowed us to
have opportunity is where someone like yourself did pick up
the telephone and say here we go. Yeah, man, it
was it was it was all right real quick. So
at the time they had this morning show on on radio,
was the time John the Morning right that that that

(43:17):
was I don't were you in radio then, because it's
a one or two point one? Yeah yeah, so uh
the time Join the Morning Show. And I sat there
and thought, man, how in the heck am I gonna
get on Tom join the Morning Show. I ain't got
to them joining the money, right. I know I can't
run national advertise, right, I don't have Twitter and I

(43:37):
don't have i G so I can't push these buttons.
So I came up with this idea, and um, the
idea was to go buy a hundred and to Neon
Bright Neon shirts and to pass them out to a
hundred two people standing in line and tell them to
wear that shirt and if I see you wearing that shirt,
that I'm buying you grits after the end of the show.
And man went all one hundred and two of those

(43:59):
folks lined up and running the breakfast club after that show.
And then your boy Jay Anthony came through, and then
they started mentioning this on on on the show, and
Tom start mentions on the show, and then I was
like hot, damn Rashan and called we will be right
back with restaurant tour motivational speaker, founder and CEO of

(44:22):
The Breakfast Club in Houston, Texas, Marcus Davis. Adoption of
teams from foster care is a topic not enough people
know about, and we're here to change that. I'm April Denuit,
the host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented by
adopt Us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling, real life
adoption stories told by the families that lived them, with

(44:42):
commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org, slash
podcast or subscribed to Navigating Adoption presented by adopt Us Kids,
brought to you by the U. S Department of Health
and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, and the
ACT Council. And we're live here outside the Perez family
Home US waiting for the and there they go, almost

(45:02):
on time. This morning. Mom is coming out the front
door strong with a double arm kid carry. Looks like
dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear.
Oh but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys
are everywhere. Oh but mom has just nailed the perfect
car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest

(45:23):
daughter who looks to be about nine or ten has
secured herself in the booster seat. Dad SIPs the bag
clothes and they're off. Ah, but looks like Mom doesn't
realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of
the car and there it goes. Ah. That's a shame
that mug was a fan favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff,
just nailed the big stuff, like making sure your kids

(45:44):
are buckled correctly in the right seat for their agent's eyes.
Learn more n h t s a dot gov slash
the Right Seat visits h s A dot gov slash
the Right Seat, brought to you by MIZZA and the
ad Council. Look for your children's eyes to see the
true magic of forest. It's a storybook world for them.
You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled

(46:06):
face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky.
They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path
that could lead to adventure, and they see you. They're fearless.
Guide is this fascinating world? Find a forest near you
and start exploring and discover the forest dot org brought
to you by the United States Forest Service and the Council.

(46:41):
This is ru Sean McDonald Welcome back to money making conversations.
As I continue my conversation with restaurant tour motivational speaker,
founder and CEO of the Houston based Breakfast Club restaurant
Marcus Davis. See strategy, always have a strategy, but you
gotta have the product and you gotta have the service. Okay.

(47:01):
So so when you come there, now, if that be
a lie, guess what, that's what happened. Properly, you're popular,
but they friendly as soon as they see you, soon
as you're coming that door, air conditioning, work the menu,
and they don't go and go, hey, we don't have
that on the menu today, not not not at the
breakfast Club. If it's on the menu, they got it

(47:22):
and it serves over because because black restaurants get a
lot of because we have to say that too, you know,
black restaurants can't get a bad restaurant, and our black
people will carry bad news faster than good news. And
so now let me let me, let me, let me
put a pin in that because I have I have
to say this right and I'm not stating what you're
saying is is untrue. It's absolutely true, but it's also

(47:44):
true of none black restaurants. I went to a restaurant.
I went to a restaurant the other day that was
none black owner was right on, and it's made the chain.
And out of the eight things on the menu they
didn't have they only had three on them. Right. But
we're conditioned to believe a certain thing about our businesses.
That's the condition to believe about the other uh business all.

(48:05):
All I'm saying is we gotta keep that same energy.
So when Pope Eyes tell you they ain't got uh
no more chicken, then you know we gotta keep You know,
it's terminal terminal where you went on? Hold? Can I
can I go back to somebody say, because I don't
want to miss it. You mentioned you mentioned about the product,
right you You mentioned about having the product getting in

(48:26):
that space where people make the calls and you get
some national recognitions one thing. But having the product to
get you there is a whole another thing. And the
three things that that that I share with my team
from day one, these are my my key principles for success.
Quality product, quality service, all the time. Quality product quality service,

(48:47):
and do it every freaking time you unlock that due
that's not the same. Mistakes are not gonna happen. But
your goal, your mission, should be to make sure that
every time you unlock the door, you deliver the quality
product through the hands of great people. And you're doing
it each and every single time. Now, why is that important?

(49:08):
Because if folks come to the breakfast club today and
they go out and tell their moming them and they're
cousin them and niecing them, when leasing them, come nesing them,
are gonna be expecting the same grits that they got
that the that there you know, that aren't told them around,
or that they got last time. And so you have
to be able to deliver those things. When I say
quality product, brother, that there is an attempt, there's a

(49:30):
temptation right to want to change and move things around
just because somebody come to you and tell you, hey, man,
I can get you some cheaper, cheaper wings, and that
are they the same size, are they the same quality
of meat? Right? And will they be consistent? Those three
things are important to me before I before I jumped
to price, because price is one side of it. But
if you're giving me eight ounces wings one day and

(49:52):
two ounce queens the next day, I can't deliver that
to my guests. If you're delivering me, you know, high
quality wings one day, or catfish one day, in low
quality catfish another day. I can't deliver that to my guests.
You have to stay consistent in the quality that your
guests deserved. That's important that you say that, because it
was uh, you know, twenty years the quality product, quality service,

(50:13):
all the time, all the time. Consistency. Construction. I got
daddy behind consistency. I forgot about this street construction on Maine. Man,
that was that was a terror. Man, when you was
dealing with that, you know, you know, look, look people,
you know that was a big deal back in there, right,
How are you surviving under construction? Man? We went in
knowing construction was coming, right, you know, I pulled the

(50:36):
Bernie on it. I was like, I ain't scared no construction.
That O faces me, right, I look, I looked forward
to the future, not the president tents. And what was
the future? Yeah, they told Maine because they were building
the rail, the future was that was gonna be a rail.
That's there. You get what I'm saying. You know, they
flowed Travis because they wanted to widen the street. I

(50:57):
could have looked and said, I can't go on Travis
because the tann the street up the future was You're
gonna have a wider h lane with You're gonna have
a wider street, more lanes with no botto holes. You
gotta look forward to the bigger picture and be willing
to take the sacrifice at the beginning or somewhere in between.
Now surrounding myself with all this great product. You know, man,

(51:18):
you know you're stealing that. Man, you need to be
cooking something. Look at you know, like you know it's
first of all, you know you know my wife, you
know she likes to bake everything. Now you know so,
And I'm just tell you how something it say, it's
fried on the back. It works great baked because I
hit but I hit it with some of mine you
know that some oil, sure, and then put it on

(51:39):
four hundred degrees. See, I would tell you something. Man,
what you're not gonna do is stop me from eating
great food. This is great seats, real simple, you know,
put it put it in that or or you want
to put butter on it, drop it in there and
put it in four hundred degrees. Then spray olive. All
That's what I'm saying. Spread with that olive, I can
look hands spray cold it four hundred degrees and by

(52:03):
forty minutes later, bam, it's outstanding. This is what I
said to y'all. He see he just got fried, old
school fried. Back here. I'm talking about young cat right here.
I beg all this great stuff, great chicken, great fish.
All that is beautiful. I put my I put my
season right here on my beans. That's why I just

(52:23):
love it. Because see, I was laughing myself the other
day because my wife or son that she was at
the office and I made some beans, some red beans,
and made some corn bread. And she's what you put like?
She said. She's a perfect clue. She said, it isn't
that that place he used to said, yeah, she said,
point you get everything. I said, that's my boy, Marcus. Seriously,
I use your stuff. And she asked me what I
put in it? Because she's she's now she's like meat

(52:43):
in her beans anymore. So I just put this in here.
You know, I throw a little hallapeenions in there, you know,
pickle hallerpeen. It's a little stanger in there, and brother outstanding.
But you make a great product. You make a great
service to your customers. One of other things you got
on Horizon right quick, Marcus, for we close out, man.
We got all the great things that we've been doing

(53:04):
for the last two years. We gotta continue to do them.
We got h we got a food truck coming out,
so stay tuned for that. We're working on a day
of inspiration where we're going to do our best to
inspire Houstonians with local Uh, Eustone with Eustonians. Right, Eustonians
inspiring Eustonians. I had to get that out grids taking
my teeth. But you get what I'm saying. Uh, and

(53:26):
and and more. Man. When when our food truck comes out,
we're gonna put that bad ball on the road. We're
gonna go on a little tour. I might even stop
in your city. Well, first of all, just let me
know something, come get it because I love good food.
I'm gonna tell you, Marcus, I do just love it.
I love you and love what you're doing. On Mondays,
I do my month motivation on Monday, and I feature
like last week was Risk, this week was Will Packer uh,

(53:49):
and last week was Rick Rowls. Just some of the
names I feature. I want to feature you, man, on
Monday in the month of October. I want to celebrate
your twentieth anniversary with you with all my followers, man,
And that's why I've been just right down all these
great fools, because you you're a great words smith. I
like to write down what you're talking like, you know,
twenty years, quality product, quality service all the time. So

(54:10):
if I have three hurricanes, a pandemic, street construction, and
got now you got a food truck, hey, man product,
I'm gonna celebrate you my own way with a big
thank you because when you started social media wasn't there,
but it's here now. So what's better way for a
friend to say thank you to another friend and an
entrepreneur who's making a difference in the community with a
k my man, Marcus hey building with kinda one grid

(54:36):
at the time. That's what we're doing over here, Hey, Marcus,
thank you for calling me man. I always appreciate your brother.
But I'm gonna send your link to you so you
know I do what I say. Man. But again, everybody
spread that bad boy. If you don't want to fry,
you know, got a little old, just put this bad
boy into with with that meet up man dip that
in the big old bowl. Check it up and want

(54:56):
putting a little plastic bag so you can coat it
all up. Then hit it with all of our spray.
Just get off the chef in the store, coded all
the way around. Set that up and at four hundred degrees.
I swear to you. Fourty minutes later, outstanding chicken. If
you're a fish person, outstanding fish. If you want a
round the mill, get that white rice. Put you some

(55:17):
Peto beans, all black eyed peas. Drop a little hallapenio
that's pickled in the hallapenios. Oh Lord, have mercy breakfast club.
You got baby. I'm just telling you, man, I love
what you do. And uh and my whole thing is
that you know I'm going up to Napty in January
by my show Rashawn Kitchen, and I'm gonna feature a

(55:38):
lot of your products man on my show when it
launches a syndication. Two. Okay, I love you, brother. Thank
you for coming to Money Making Conversation. Okay, if you
want to hear seeing in my interviews for money Making Conversation,
please go to money Making Conversation dot com. Ra Sean McDonald,
I am your host. You've been listening to Money Making
Conversations with Rashan McDonald. Please join us next week and

(56:01):
always remember leading with your gifts. Money Making Conversations is
a presentation of thirty and fifteen Media Incorporated. You are
now tuned into the Money Making Conversations Minute of Inspiration
with Rashan McDonald. Hi, I am Rashan McDonald for money
Making Conversations with your daily Minute of Inspiration. This week
I sat down with Assistant vice president of Marketing for

(56:23):
the third Goood Marshall College Fund, Dana Brown. Not only
do we discuss how they gave away five million dollars
in scholarships last year to over two thousand recipients, but
we also break down how college bound HBCU students can
get access to funding. As a high school senior or junior,
you should be thinking about not only where you want
to go, but how are you going to pay interesting things.

(56:45):
We have a lot of those programs Um Apple, you
have Apple scholars Um. As you mentioned, I managed the
Hennessy Fellows program and that was for graduate students. So
even in graduate school, we have programs where there was
an opportunity that the Hennessey team saw to unlock the
Sea Suite if you want to listen to this full
interview with Dana Brown is available on Mindy Making Conversations

(57:07):
dot com. In this season of giving, Coals has gifts
for all your loved ones. For those who like to
keep it cozy, find fleeces, sweaters, loungeware, blankets and throws,
or support minority owned or founded brands by giving gifts
from Human Nation and Shame Moisture, and in the spirit
of giving, Coals Cares is donating eight million dollars to

(57:28):
local nonprofits nationwide. Give with all your heart this season
with great gifts from Coals or coals dot com. Piece
of the Planet, Charlemagne to God here and you don't
want to miss Hello Somebody with Senator Nina Turner on
the Black Effect podcast Network. I love Hello Somebody simply
because I love Nina Turner. She's fearless. I'm Nina Turner,

(57:50):
hell raising humanitarian sister in the struggle and recovering elected official.
Listen to Hello Somebody Everything, or stay on the Heart
Radio at Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
We've all felt left out, and for people who moved

(58:11):
to this country, that feeling lasts more than a moment
we can change that learn how it Belonging begins with
us dot org. Brought to you by the AD Council

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Host

Rushion McDonald

Popular Podcasts

24/7 News: The Latest

True Crime Tonight

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes