October 29, 2021 • 23 mins
We are joined by the former mayor of Atlanta Kasim Reed. He sits in to join us to talk about his journey to becoming the major, and his reason to run again for a third time. The value of mentorship, how he mixes entrepreneurship and politics. The future of Atlanta and its position as one of the top cities globally for creatives that want to build money.
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Guest Twitter: @KasimReed
Guest IG: @kasimreed
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, money Movers, Welcome to the Money Moves podcast powered
by Greenwood. We are being joined by a very special
guest today. He is the former mayor of the City
of Atlanta and is now back in the race to
win a third term in office. Money Movers, Let's welcome
(00:26):
former Mayor Cassine Read to the podcast. Hello married, how
are you? And welcome? Hello Taniel, how are you welcome home? Well,
thank you so much. We are to have you joined
us today. And I know you are super busy with
your mayoral campaign and we don't want to take up
too much of your time because it's not easy being
a front runner in such a tough race, but we'd
(00:49):
love to hear more about you and how you got
to where you are today. Well, I got to where
I am today because Atlanta is a city where you
can bring and build your dreams, the city where your
life has no roof on it and you literally can
achieve anything and go anywhere where your talents can take you.
And when I was a thirteen year old kid, I
(01:11):
met a man named Ambassador Andrew Young who was the
mayor of Atlanta, and uh and got to know him
and really patterned and built my professional career after meeting him,
and he stayed in my life up until that time.
And then when I was twenty years old at Howard University,
which is where I went to school, I was getting
(01:33):
ready to take a job at at time Warner in
New York, and he said, you should come home because
the city's gonna need a mayor like you in twenty years.
So when I turned forty, I was the second youngest
mayor in the history of the city of Atlanta. And
when I found out that I had won the election,
Ambassador Andrew Young was sitting right beside me at the
(01:55):
Hyatt Hotel. You know, speaks to actually like, this is
not a job for you. This is not something that
you talk in. This is truly a calling from a
young age, and you know, a calling from you know
above that helps you to serve us. And we are
so grateful for that. Um And I mean not that
really is resonates with your love for the city of Atlanta.
(02:17):
Like this is a love story. It really is a
calling of the heart. I mean, I had no intention
of running for Mary. You and I know one another well,
and the fact of the matter is I was focused
on investing in technology businesses and really starting to enjoy
that space in that lane and being an advisor to
really talented entrepreneurs and helping helping them intersect with government
(02:43):
and UH And when Mayor Bottoms made the decision to
move her life in a different direction, I felt that
because of the surge or crime and violence that is
destroying the national and international reputation of our city, that
given the fact that when I was mayor before I
made it the safest city that it had been in
forty years, that I owed it to myself and to
(03:05):
my daughter Maria Christian and to my family to leave
the city through through some very very difficult times, you know. Married.
I think back to the two terms that you served,
and you were always so focused on building Atlanta for
as a city of opportunity for all its residents and
everyone that inhabited. And especially because I've spent so much
(03:27):
time in the technology space, entrepreneurship for you seemed like
a clear path for so many of us to be
able to build wealth for our families and generational wealth.
Can you talk about how you sort of view entrepreneurship
and access to entrepreneurship and different forms of business growth
for UM, the constituents of Atlanta tell you Atlanta is
(03:50):
an intentional city, and it really was built by women
and men that foresaw creating a place where you and
I could come and where our talents would be appreciated
and embraced. For me, it was all about being the
city where you would go if you wanted to have
a fair shot, in a fair shape, a city where
(04:13):
talent ruled the day, in a city where you didn't
have to wait in a long line to enter the
mainstream of city life and leadership and art and culture.
And so I governed with a genuine openness and we
had a really phenomenal track record during that time. I
(04:33):
mean I was elected during the same time that President
Barack Obama was elected, were in the midst of the
Great Recession. He would he went into office and on
nine I went in and on ten. So we were
dealing with record high unemployment, record foreclosures, a spike in crime.
The city was broke. And so we managed that. And
(04:54):
on the day that I walked out of office in
twenty eight team we had two hundred million dollars in
cash reserves, the largest amount in the city's history, and
we had attracted seventeen regional and u S headquarters not
to the suburbs of Atlanta, but into the heart of
the city, and one of those was in cr which
is right across the street from you and Paul's old buildings.
(05:18):
So we focused on it like a laser. We built
the motion picture and television industry alongside the Governor Nathan Deal.
When we started, that sector was a four hundred million
dollars sector in the state. When we finished, it was
nine point five billion, employing thirty four thousand people. And
if you look at the ten biggest movies from a
(05:40):
revenue basis, um three of them, all of the Marvel
movies were filmed in a plant. A Black Path that
was filmed in Atlanta, part of the Fast Spirit series
was filmed in Atlanta while I was the mayor of
the city. In fact, when you're watching the movie Black
Path to Turn you the final scene where Chadwick Boseman
has given us beach, that's actually the Atlanta City Council chambers,
(06:04):
so they were actually in city Hall. And then the
technology sector is something that I always believed in strongly
that I had some really terrific mentors, Paul Judge being one,
of them, Bill Newdy, who was the CEO of NCR
being another, and then corporate leaders like Richard Anderson who
(06:25):
was the CEO of Delta Airlines, and together we negotiated
a twenty year lease with Delta with a tenure option
and kept Delta headquarters right here at home. So I
loved the job, but I had just gotten over not
missing it, and then a lot of folks that I
care about in respect called me and asked me what
(06:47):
I consider running again. So that's what I'm doing. Mary Read,
you have been pivotal in bringing so much business to
Atlanta as well, But I want people to understand, apart
from being an excellent and visionary politician, and you're actually
incredibly talented business mind and entrepreneur in your own right.
Can you talk about how you've sort of applied that
(07:09):
to um, you know, bringing so much more wealth to
the city, and how that's helped you to grow both
our tech industries, some of these Fortune one thousand companies,
and how you've kept and rude business people to come here.
But I think that business and the capital that comes
with business goes where it is cared for and stays
(07:30):
where it is needed and cared for. And so my
strategy with entrepreneurs UH is to make sure that they
know that everything that a city can do to support
nurtured them and strengthen them. UM, we will do. And
because I spent an awful lot of my life as
(07:51):
an entertainment lawyer, I'm working with many entertainers who are
in fact entrepreneurs, and many entertainment businesses which are more aggressive,
fast paced UM where their assets of human beings who
walk around UM on the street every day, which is
a little different kind of business model. I think that
(08:13):
it gives me an instinct and an ability to respond
to business with speed and acuity. And business understands yes
or no, but hates them maybe. And so the biggest
thing that you can do for UH an entrepreneur is
to create stability and in an environment where their business
(08:36):
can absolutely thrive. And Atlanta is a unique place in
the world because the city is literally surrounded by bright, talented,
vibrant colleges and university and so the city to the southeast,
to the northeast, to the northwest to the northeast, everywhere
you go, there's a great universe. So all of this
(08:58):
talent is pouring in to the Atlanta that you and
I know and love every single day. We've known about
it for a long time, UM, but America is now
catching up with us. They sure are. And you know,
one of the things I want to highlight UM in
this is we've got the talent. But one of you know,
so many of our audience members are budding and aspiring entrepreneurs.
(09:20):
And one of the ways that you've supported that infrastructure
for success is by creating access to capital. And a
perfect example of that is the Engage UM, the fund
that you created. Can you talk a little bit about that,
because this really highlights Atlanta and your vision for creating
wealth and opportunity here, but access to capital so that
(09:42):
we can grow our businesses. So UM, that came about
via a trip to San Francisco Pala Alto in Silicon
Valley when I decided that I wanted the city to
be a bigger player in the technology space. So as
you know, they have these circles which show the amount
of capital that comes out of San Francisco, Palo Alto,
(10:05):
the Silicon Valley, and the amount that came out of Chicago,
the amount that came out of Los Angeles, the amount
that comes out of Boston, and our circle was too small,
and I wanted to grow that share of the pie.
And so what I did was I called my friends
who were in Silicon Valley, Palto Alto, because Palo Alto,
because Georgia Tech has so many students at these places.
(10:30):
I really got a warm reception. And what I realized
was the city of Atlanta didn't have adequate early stage investment.
So this is before um Paul started doing what he
is doing in the early stage investment space. Was I'm
so proud of with soft Bag and other folks started
(10:51):
focusing on the early stage investments space. When I got
to San Francisco, I was having dinner, everybody said that
you all have the third largest concentration of Fortune five
companies in the United States of America, and those businesses
don't invest in your startups. And if any of those
businesses ever got in order from a Coca Cola, an
(11:15):
order from a Sun Trast bank at the time, in
order from a ups, it would cause path breaking change
for those young entrepreneurs. And so I called all of
the leading CEOs in the city of Atlanta, Marty Flanagan,
who's a terrific leader of Investo, which manages a trillion
dollars right in midtown in our city, UM, and I
(11:38):
asked them to help, and that help came in the
form a fifteen million dollars that they put up for
early stage investment, which was a glaring hole in our
entrepreneurial ecosystem. And so as a result of that investment,
it gives them a direct relationship with some of the
(11:58):
leading businesses not only in Atlanta, Georgia, but around the world.
And in addition, it gives them access to capital, and
it gives them access to a future customer. And because
our environment has gotten so competitive, so many other folks
have been acting aggressively in this early stage funding space.
(12:20):
It's really just a special time to be in our
city in the work that you do candidly as an
advocate for spreading the word UM that is the city
of Atlanta and our technology ecosystem. So you are the
pied piper message carrier on the city of Atlanta. Well, no,
(12:41):
I mean, but this is why this is such an
incredible time, an incredible place to build business. And I
think it's so inspiring for so many of us. And
there's so many hurdles and obstacles, But when you have
a city that backs you UM and there's programs out
there to give increase access to capital, like you've got
all the proponents to just in and accelerate. I want
(13:01):
to touch on another piece that I think is so important,
and you've talked about UM in this in your success
as well, which is mentorship. Yes, and I think you've
had some incredible mentors along the way, and you've been
an incredible mentor to so many. Can you talk about
how important that has been in your success? I think
(13:21):
that is path breaking. I think that if you want
to bend time, which all of us want to do
in some form of fashion, most folks that have high
achievement early in their lives have a mentor that has
a hand on their show that and it cares about
I've been really fortunate because I had a number of them,
(13:42):
because I was a member of Howard University's Border Trustees
when I was a student, and then I was on
the Border Trustees there when I was an undergraduate. So
I really was raised around wonderful men, and so as
I have gone through life, any time I had an
important or constant cuential decision to make, I had people
(14:02):
that had had lived the life that I wanted to live,
or carry themselves in a manner that that I aspired
to carry myself in, and they helped me avoid so
many mistakes and pitfalls. But for them, m I probably
would not be um where I am today, in the
(14:23):
position to offer myself for a third term as mayor
of what I believe is the most important city to
black people in the United States of America and the world. Absolutely,
and I love that you say that, And you know,
something really struck out to me. You know, as a student,
these are long term relationships that you've called. Absolutely, people go, well,
(14:43):
how am I supposed to meet Ambassador Andrew Young? But
it sounds to me like you really humbled yourself and
you grew these relationships over years. You were volunteering, you
were serving, You were putting yourself in the room with
a lot of people so that they took note of
this young driven Cassine read. It wasn't just an overnight thing.
You said, hey, will you be my mentor? And I
think people get caught up in that a lot. Yeah,
(15:04):
I think you're right to Kenya. I also think that
people who have done what you're trying to do, recognize
people that are gifted and who may be ready, or
people that they can help, because obviously all of us
are inundated with requests to mentor people. And so the
process for determining whose life you're going to tie your
(15:26):
life too, I ought to be a rigorous one and
it ought not be something that occurs easily, and you
just really have to stay at it and nurture it
and and garden it. As I say, you've got to
work at it with affection. You've got to pour water
on it and uh, and they'll change your life. Yeah.
(15:46):
Now I have the ability to improve people's lives behind me.
And so you certainly understand when you've been blessed in
that fashion, that the ladder of opportunity has to stay
down for other folks. And you do that, Paul does that,
Ryan Glover does that, and so that's why when you
(16:07):
all extended the invitation to come and have this conversation today,
I immediately said, yes, well absolutely. And you know, with
greenwood and money moves like, our real goal is to
help our community black and brown people build generational wealth
for years to come and lay out the foundation for
them to understand how to build businesses, how to be successful.
(16:28):
And I think you have you know, epitomized this for
so many when you look at the city of Atlanta. Now, um,
what are your words of advice for young and aspiring
business people, men, women, young and old, um as they
you know, launched new businesses and try to increase the
wealth that we see in this city. My advice is,
(16:53):
now is the time being as aggressive and as focused
as you possibly can and plant deep roots, because, um,
if we deal with crime and violence, the ride that
we're getting ready to have, it's going to be a
phenomenal ride. The level of wealth that is getting ready
to be built, it's going to be a phenomenal amount
(17:15):
of wealth. And there is no other city like the
city of Atlanta in the entire United States, and I
believe the world. So plant deep roots. Don't sleep right now,
sleep later, dream and work, but work harder than you
dream right now because so much is happening. And the
(17:36):
only risk to that is if we're overrun by crime
and violence in our city breaks apart and Buckhead goes
and forms their own city, which then weakens the financial
base of the city of Atlanta, makes the city smaller,
less prestigious. If we're able to persuade our citizens that
(17:58):
we're better off together, and then in fact we're all
in this together, we're going to have an economy that
it is more dynamic than anybody envisions. Right now, we
have one major challenge that we have to address decisively,
and then we can come together and enjoy an economy
(18:20):
that I think is going to be second to none
in the Southeast. Gosh, I cannot wait, and I believe
I love to hear those words because I just think
coming from you, people need to hear at the time
is now, and just go forth decisively and don't look back.
There's so much opportunity that is just brewing for us
and just right for him. I have a whole, a
whole lot of time to look back to. And I
(18:43):
even love that you just say, listen, don't sleep. You
can sleep later, like the time is now. Married although
financial success and freedom is also the goal, can you
talk to us about how we can you know, we've
come out of a crazy couple of years with Black
Lives Matter, with COVID, with a global pandemic, how we
can all sort of take the time to pause and
(19:06):
come together with cohesiveness um to sort of join all
our communities so that we can you know, work together
to achieve financial prosperity and peace. You know what's Tanya.
I think it's important for everyone who watches this or
here is this to understand one simple thing. Now we
(19:27):
are the back room. So the change that we desire,
the future, that we have an interest in, what our
city is going to be like, what our community is
gonna be like, what America is going to be like.
We're the folks generationally who are poised to make that
a reality and a real possibility. And so we've got
(19:47):
to fully embrace that responsibility and all that comes with
that responsibility, and we've got to enjoy it. It's not
going to be easy. They're going to be difficult patches.
Some of it's gonna be hard. The country is intensely divided.
But the factor of the matter is we're all better
when we have a big, bold, vibrant view of the future.
(20:11):
And the even deeper fact is this is where the
country is going. So as uncomfortable as you may be
with it, this country is going towards being big, bold,
inclusive and dynamic. We're the ones who are responsible for
managing the conversations, managing our communities, managing our businesses in
(20:34):
a way that contemplates us and helps us get through
this intensely challenging transitional time. But the juices worth to
squeeze to guarantee you that our parents and our grandparents
would take the hand that they have created for you
and me every single day of the week. So we
(20:59):
can't complain, we can't get tired, we can't get bitter,
because we all need to go get a T shirt
that says we're the back room, the ones folks are
waiting for. We're the ones that are going to figure
it out. We're the ones that have to get it
right and avoid having the progress that was so hard
earned be pushed back against. Absolutely, And I love that
(21:22):
you're saying, because it's up to us as individuals. You know,
gone at the times where it's somebody else is going
to do it, it's somebody else's problem. Every single one
of us as citizens, as you know, whether you're living
in Atlanta or the greater US as a whole, it's
up to each one of us as individuals to be
bold and dynamic. And thank you so much for inspiring
us married thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for
(21:45):
being the pie piper of finance and technology and carrying
the voice of Atlanta all around America. Well, I love it.
And you know it's funny. In our family, you know,
we used to we don't actually say we wish you
good luck. We actually say congratulations on your preparation and
perseverance and expertise, as that will move you towards your goals.
(22:07):
And thank you so much. We will be watching out
for you as one of the forerunners in the amorial
Atlanta race. And we're so grateful for your time today.
Thank you for having me. As we approach election day,
I would ask you to share with us your social handles.
Tell us the date where we need to make sure
we're at the polls um and tell us again where
(22:27):
people can find you on social that's so kind of you.
You can follow me at Cassine read, on Instagram, at Twitter,
and on Facebook. Is simply my name k S. I
am read R E D dot com and I would
appreciate that very much. As we go into the home stretch,
the election is November two. Early voting starts October thirteen.
(22:53):
As Cassine read, alright, so get out there and early vote.
Your vote is your power. Thank you so much, Mary
read shooting you the best and have a great day.
Thank you for joining us. Thank you, thank you so
much for tuning in Money Moves audience. If you want
more or a recap of this episode, please go to
the bank Greenwood dot com and check out the Money
Moves podcast blog. Money Moves is an I Heart Radio
(23:20):
podcast powered by Greenwood Executive produced by Sunwise Media, Inc.
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podcasts from.
Hey, money Movers, Welcome to the Money Moves podcast powered
by Greenwood. We are being joined by a very special
guest today. He is the former mayor of the City
of Atlanta and is now back in the race to
win a third term in office. Money Movers, Let's welcome
(00:26):
former Mayor Cassine Read to the podcast. Hello married, how
are you? And welcome? Hello Taniel, how are you welcome home? Well,
thank you so much. We are to have you joined
us today. And I know you are super busy with
your mayoral campaign and we don't want to take up
too much of your time because it's not easy being
a front runner in such a tough race, but we'd
(00:49):
love to hear more about you and how you got
to where you are today. Well, I got to where
I am today because Atlanta is a city where you
can bring and build your dreams, the city where your
life has no roof on it and you literally can
achieve anything and go anywhere where your talents can take you.
And when I was a thirteen year old kid, I
(01:11):
met a man named Ambassador Andrew Young who was the
mayor of Atlanta, and uh and got to know him
and really patterned and built my professional career after meeting him,
and he stayed in my life up until that time.
And then when I was twenty years old at Howard University,
which is where I went to school, I was getting
(01:33):
ready to take a job at at time Warner in
New York, and he said, you should come home because
the city's gonna need a mayor like you in twenty years.
So when I turned forty, I was the second youngest
mayor in the history of the city of Atlanta. And
when I found out that I had won the election,
Ambassador Andrew Young was sitting right beside me at the
(01:55):
Hyatt Hotel. You know, speaks to actually like, this is
not a job for you. This is not something that
you talk in. This is truly a calling from a
young age, and you know, a calling from you know
above that helps you to serve us. And we are
so grateful for that. Um And I mean not that
really is resonates with your love for the city of Atlanta.
(02:17):
Like this is a love story. It really is a
calling of the heart. I mean, I had no intention
of running for Mary. You and I know one another well,
and the fact of the matter is I was focused
on investing in technology businesses and really starting to enjoy
that space in that lane and being an advisor to
really talented entrepreneurs and helping helping them intersect with government
(02:43):
and UH And when Mayor Bottoms made the decision to
move her life in a different direction, I felt that
because of the surge or crime and violence that is
destroying the national and international reputation of our city, that
given the fact that when I was mayor before I
made it the safest city that it had been in
forty years, that I owed it to myself and to
(03:05):
my daughter Maria Christian and to my family to leave
the city through through some very very difficult times, you know. Married.
I think back to the two terms that you served,
and you were always so focused on building Atlanta for
as a city of opportunity for all its residents and
everyone that inhabited. And especially because I've spent so much
(03:27):
time in the technology space, entrepreneurship for you seemed like
a clear path for so many of us to be
able to build wealth for our families and generational wealth.
Can you talk about how you sort of view entrepreneurship
and access to entrepreneurship and different forms of business growth
for UM, the constituents of Atlanta tell you Atlanta is
(03:50):
an intentional city, and it really was built by women
and men that foresaw creating a place where you and
I could come and where our talents would be appreciated
and embraced. For me, it was all about being the
city where you would go if you wanted to have
a fair shot, in a fair shape, a city where
(04:13):
talent ruled the day, in a city where you didn't
have to wait in a long line to enter the
mainstream of city life and leadership and art and culture.
And so I governed with a genuine openness and we
had a really phenomenal track record during that time. I
(04:33):
mean I was elected during the same time that President
Barack Obama was elected, were in the midst of the
Great Recession. He would he went into office and on
nine I went in and on ten. So we were
dealing with record high unemployment, record foreclosures, a spike in crime.
The city was broke. And so we managed that. And
(04:54):
on the day that I walked out of office in
twenty eight team we had two hundred million dollars in
cash reserves, the largest amount in the city's history, and
we had attracted seventeen regional and u S headquarters not
to the suburbs of Atlanta, but into the heart of
the city, and one of those was in cr which
is right across the street from you and Paul's old buildings.
(05:18):
So we focused on it like a laser. We built
the motion picture and television industry alongside the Governor Nathan Deal.
When we started, that sector was a four hundred million
dollars sector in the state. When we finished, it was
nine point five billion, employing thirty four thousand people. And
if you look at the ten biggest movies from a
(05:40):
revenue basis, um three of them, all of the Marvel
movies were filmed in a plant. A Black Path that
was filmed in Atlanta, part of the Fast Spirit series
was filmed in Atlanta while I was the mayor of
the city. In fact, when you're watching the movie Black
Path to Turn you the final scene where Chadwick Boseman
has given us beach, that's actually the Atlanta City Council chambers,
(06:04):
so they were actually in city Hall. And then the
technology sector is something that I always believed in strongly
that I had some really terrific mentors, Paul Judge being one,
of them, Bill Newdy, who was the CEO of NCR
being another, and then corporate leaders like Richard Anderson who
(06:25):
was the CEO of Delta Airlines, and together we negotiated
a twenty year lease with Delta with a tenure option
and kept Delta headquarters right here at home. So I
loved the job, but I had just gotten over not
missing it, and then a lot of folks that I
care about in respect called me and asked me what
(06:47):
I consider running again. So that's what I'm doing. Mary Read,
you have been pivotal in bringing so much business to
Atlanta as well, But I want people to understand, apart
from being an excellent and visionary politician, and you're actually
incredibly talented business mind and entrepreneur in your own right.
Can you talk about how you've sort of applied that
(07:09):
to um, you know, bringing so much more wealth to
the city, and how that's helped you to grow both
our tech industries, some of these Fortune one thousand companies,
and how you've kept and rude business people to come here.
But I think that business and the capital that comes
with business goes where it is cared for and stays
(07:30):
where it is needed and cared for. And so my
strategy with entrepreneurs UH is to make sure that they
know that everything that a city can do to support
nurtured them and strengthen them. UM, we will do. And
because I spent an awful lot of my life as
(07:51):
an entertainment lawyer, I'm working with many entertainers who are
in fact entrepreneurs, and many entertainment businesses which are more aggressive,
fast paced UM where their assets of human beings who
walk around UM on the street every day, which is
a little different kind of business model. I think that
(08:13):
it gives me an instinct and an ability to respond
to business with speed and acuity. And business understands yes
or no, but hates them maybe. And so the biggest
thing that you can do for UH an entrepreneur is
to create stability and in an environment where their business
(08:36):
can absolutely thrive. And Atlanta is a unique place in
the world because the city is literally surrounded by bright, talented,
vibrant colleges and university and so the city to the southeast,
to the northeast, to the northwest to the northeast, everywhere
you go, there's a great universe. So all of this
(08:58):
talent is pouring in to the Atlanta that you and
I know and love every single day. We've known about
it for a long time, UM, but America is now
catching up with us. They sure are. And you know,
one of the things I want to highlight UM in
this is we've got the talent. But one of you know,
so many of our audience members are budding and aspiring entrepreneurs.
(09:20):
And one of the ways that you've supported that infrastructure
for success is by creating access to capital. And a
perfect example of that is the Engage UM, the fund
that you created. Can you talk a little bit about that,
because this really highlights Atlanta and your vision for creating
wealth and opportunity here, but access to capital so that
(09:42):
we can grow our businesses. So UM, that came about
via a trip to San Francisco Pala Alto in Silicon
Valley when I decided that I wanted the city to
be a bigger player in the technology space. So as
you know, they have these circles which show the amount
of capital that comes out of San Francisco, Palo Alto,
(10:05):
the Silicon Valley, and the amount that came out of Chicago,
the amount that came out of Los Angeles, the amount
that comes out of Boston, and our circle was too small,
and I wanted to grow that share of the pie.
And so what I did was I called my friends
who were in Silicon Valley, Palto Alto, because Palo Alto,
because Georgia Tech has so many students at these places.
(10:30):
I really got a warm reception. And what I realized
was the city of Atlanta didn't have adequate early stage investment.
So this is before um Paul started doing what he
is doing in the early stage investment space. Was I'm
so proud of with soft Bag and other folks started
(10:51):
focusing on the early stage investments space. When I got
to San Francisco, I was having dinner, everybody said that
you all have the third largest concentration of Fortune five
companies in the United States of America, and those businesses
don't invest in your startups. And if any of those
businesses ever got in order from a Coca Cola, an
(11:15):
order from a Sun Trast bank at the time, in
order from a ups, it would cause path breaking change
for those young entrepreneurs. And so I called all of
the leading CEOs in the city of Atlanta, Marty Flanagan,
who's a terrific leader of Investo, which manages a trillion
dollars right in midtown in our city, UM, and I
(11:38):
asked them to help, and that help came in the
form a fifteen million dollars that they put up for
early stage investment, which was a glaring hole in our
entrepreneurial ecosystem. And so as a result of that investment,
it gives them a direct relationship with some of the
(11:58):
leading businesses not only in Atlanta, Georgia, but around the world.
And in addition, it gives them access to capital, and
it gives them access to a future customer. And because
our environment has gotten so competitive, so many other folks
have been acting aggressively in this early stage funding space.
(12:20):
It's really just a special time to be in our
city in the work that you do candidly as an
advocate for spreading the word UM that is the city
of Atlanta and our technology ecosystem. So you are the
pied piper message carrier on the city of Atlanta. Well, no,
(12:41):
I mean, but this is why this is such an
incredible time, an incredible place to build business. And I
think it's so inspiring for so many of us. And
there's so many hurdles and obstacles, But when you have
a city that backs you UM and there's programs out
there to give increase access to capital, like you've got
all the proponents to just in and accelerate. I want
(13:01):
to touch on another piece that I think is so important,
and you've talked about UM in this in your success
as well, which is mentorship. Yes, and I think you've
had some incredible mentors along the way, and you've been
an incredible mentor to so many. Can you talk about
how important that has been in your success? I think
(13:21):
that is path breaking. I think that if you want
to bend time, which all of us want to do
in some form of fashion, most folks that have high
achievement early in their lives have a mentor that has
a hand on their show that and it cares about
I've been really fortunate because I had a number of them,
(13:42):
because I was a member of Howard University's Border Trustees
when I was a student, and then I was on
the Border Trustees there when I was an undergraduate. So
I really was raised around wonderful men, and so as
I have gone through life, any time I had an
important or constant cuential decision to make, I had people
(14:02):
that had had lived the life that I wanted to live,
or carry themselves in a manner that that I aspired
to carry myself in, and they helped me avoid so
many mistakes and pitfalls. But for them, m I probably
would not be um where I am today, in the
(14:23):
position to offer myself for a third term as mayor
of what I believe is the most important city to
black people in the United States of America and the world. Absolutely,
and I love that you say that, And you know,
something really struck out to me. You know, as a student,
these are long term relationships that you've called. Absolutely, people go, well,
(14:43):
how am I supposed to meet Ambassador Andrew Young? But
it sounds to me like you really humbled yourself and
you grew these relationships over years. You were volunteering, you
were serving, You were putting yourself in the room with
a lot of people so that they took note of
this young driven Cassine read. It wasn't just an overnight thing.
You said, hey, will you be my mentor? And I
think people get caught up in that a lot. Yeah,
(15:04):
I think you're right to Kenya. I also think that
people who have done what you're trying to do, recognize
people that are gifted and who may be ready, or
people that they can help, because obviously all of us
are inundated with requests to mentor people. And so the
process for determining whose life you're going to tie your
(15:26):
life too, I ought to be a rigorous one and
it ought not be something that occurs easily, and you
just really have to stay at it and nurture it
and and garden it. As I say, you've got to
work at it with affection. You've got to pour water
on it and uh, and they'll change your life. Yeah.
(15:46):
Now I have the ability to improve people's lives behind me.
And so you certainly understand when you've been blessed in
that fashion, that the ladder of opportunity has to stay
down for other folks. And you do that, Paul does that,
Ryan Glover does that, and so that's why when you
(16:07):
all extended the invitation to come and have this conversation today,
I immediately said, yes, well absolutely. And you know, with
greenwood and money moves like, our real goal is to
help our community black and brown people build generational wealth
for years to come and lay out the foundation for
them to understand how to build businesses, how to be successful.
(16:28):
And I think you have you know, epitomized this for
so many when you look at the city of Atlanta. Now, um,
what are your words of advice for young and aspiring
business people, men, women, young and old, um as they
you know, launched new businesses and try to increase the
wealth that we see in this city. My advice is,
(16:53):
now is the time being as aggressive and as focused
as you possibly can and plant deep roots, because, um,
if we deal with crime and violence, the ride that
we're getting ready to have, it's going to be a
phenomenal ride. The level of wealth that is getting ready
to be built, it's going to be a phenomenal amount
(17:15):
of wealth. And there is no other city like the
city of Atlanta in the entire United States, and I
believe the world. So plant deep roots. Don't sleep right now,
sleep later, dream and work, but work harder than you
dream right now because so much is happening. And the
(17:36):
only risk to that is if we're overrun by crime
and violence in our city breaks apart and Buckhead goes
and forms their own city, which then weakens the financial
base of the city of Atlanta, makes the city smaller,
less prestigious. If we're able to persuade our citizens that
(17:58):
we're better off together, and then in fact we're all
in this together, we're going to have an economy that
it is more dynamic than anybody envisions. Right now, we
have one major challenge that we have to address decisively,
and then we can come together and enjoy an economy
(18:20):
that I think is going to be second to none
in the Southeast. Gosh, I cannot wait, and I believe
I love to hear those words because I just think
coming from you, people need to hear at the time
is now, and just go forth decisively and don't look back.
There's so much opportunity that is just brewing for us
and just right for him. I have a whole, a
whole lot of time to look back to. And I
(18:43):
even love that you just say, listen, don't sleep. You
can sleep later, like the time is now. Married although
financial success and freedom is also the goal, can you
talk to us about how we can you know, we've
come out of a crazy couple of years with Black
Lives Matter, with COVID, with a global pandemic, how we
can all sort of take the time to pause and
(19:06):
come together with cohesiveness um to sort of join all
our communities so that we can you know, work together
to achieve financial prosperity and peace. You know what's Tanya.
I think it's important for everyone who watches this or
here is this to understand one simple thing. Now we
(19:27):
are the back room. So the change that we desire,
the future, that we have an interest in, what our
city is going to be like, what our community is
gonna be like, what America is going to be like.
We're the folks generationally who are poised to make that
a reality and a real possibility. And so we've got
(19:47):
to fully embrace that responsibility and all that comes with
that responsibility, and we've got to enjoy it. It's not
going to be easy. They're going to be difficult patches.
Some of it's gonna be hard. The country is intensely divided.
But the factor of the matter is we're all better
when we have a big, bold, vibrant view of the future.
(20:11):
And the even deeper fact is this is where the
country is going. So as uncomfortable as you may be
with it, this country is going towards being big, bold,
inclusive and dynamic. We're the ones who are responsible for
managing the conversations, managing our communities, managing our businesses in
(20:34):
a way that contemplates us and helps us get through
this intensely challenging transitional time. But the juices worth to
squeeze to guarantee you that our parents and our grandparents
would take the hand that they have created for you
and me every single day of the week. So we
(20:59):
can't complain, we can't get tired, we can't get bitter,
because we all need to go get a T shirt
that says we're the back room, the ones folks are
waiting for. We're the ones that are going to figure
it out. We're the ones that have to get it
right and avoid having the progress that was so hard
earned be pushed back against. Absolutely, And I love that
(21:22):
you're saying, because it's up to us as individuals. You know,
gone at the times where it's somebody else is going
to do it, it's somebody else's problem. Every single one
of us as citizens, as you know, whether you're living
in Atlanta or the greater US as a whole, it's
up to each one of us as individuals to be
bold and dynamic. And thank you so much for inspiring
us married thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for
(21:45):
being the pie piper of finance and technology and carrying
the voice of Atlanta all around America. Well, I love it.
And you know it's funny. In our family, you know,
we used to we don't actually say we wish you
good luck. We actually say congratulations on your preparation and
perseverance and expertise, as that will move you towards your goals.
(22:07):
And thank you so much. We will be watching out
for you as one of the forerunners in the amorial
Atlanta race. And we're so grateful for your time today.
Thank you for having me. As we approach election day,
I would ask you to share with us your social handles.
Tell us the date where we need to make sure
we're at the polls um and tell us again where
(22:27):
people can find you on social that's so kind of you.
You can follow me at Cassine read, on Instagram, at Twitter,
and on Facebook. Is simply my name k S. I
am read R E D dot com and I would
appreciate that very much. As we go into the home stretch,
the election is November two. Early voting starts October thirteen.
(22:53):
As Cassine read, alright, so get out there and early vote.
Your vote is your power. Thank you so much, Mary
read shooting you the best and have a great day.
Thank you for joining us. Thank you, thank you so
much for tuning in Money Moves audience. If you want
more or a recap of this episode, please go to
the bank Greenwood dot com and check out the Money
Moves podcast blog. Money Moves is an I Heart Radio
(23:20):
podcast powered by Greenwood Executive produced by Sunwise Media, Inc.
For more podcast on I heart Radio, visit the i
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
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