Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Robert Gould.
Youngest developer in the U.S. to lead a $300 million community development project in partnership with the City of Savannah.
🏗️ Legacy Savannah Project
- Scope: 65-acre, $300 million transformational community development.
- Focus Areas:
- Residential Housing: Senior and workforce housing.
- Innovation Center: 24/7 programming for tech and career development.
- Indoor Recreation Facility: Community engagement and wellness.
- Mission: Not just building structures, but transforming lives and legacies.
🌊 Big Tide Summit
- Founder: Robert Gould
- Purpose: Career exposure and training for Georgia students.
- Impact: Grew from 20 students to over 7,000 in 3 years.
- Focus Areas: Tech, arts, media, construction, and entrepreneurship.
- Website: bigtide.org (free for schools)
💡 Key Messages & Advice 1. Fear and Identity
- Embrace fear as a signal of purpose.
- “There’s only one you”—your uniqueness is your power.
2. Exposure is Everything
- 60% of success is based on exposure (Forbes).
- Being in the room matters—access changes lives.
3. Workforce Development Trends
- Start early.
- Prioritize exposure and appearance.
- Explore trades (construction, tech, plumbing, etc.).
- Seek mentorship.
- Embrace AI and future technologies.
4. Trade vs. Degree
- Trades are now high-income, high-impact careers.
- College is valuable, but not the only path.
- Ownership and entrepreneurship are key to wealth.
5. Pitching and Communication
- Know your audience and tailor your message.
- Don’t just pitch ideas—pitch dreams.
- Respect yourself and others in every room you enter.
🔁 Vision for the Future
- Expand the Legacy Savannah model nationwide.
- Continue building access and opportunity for underserved communities.
- Use platforms like Big Tide to bridge education and real-world careers.
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Rashan McDonald hosts this weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show.
The interviews and information that this show provides off for everyone.
It's time to start reading other people's success stories and
start living your own. I'm talking about you now. If
you want to be a guest on my show, Money
Making Conversation Masterclass, please visit our website Moneymakingconversations dot com
(00:21):
and click the beat against button. My next guest in
twenty twenty four, broke ground on Legacy Savannah, a two
hundred million dollar transformational community development project where he serves
as CEO and developer and the brothers Yoah, making him
the youngest developer in the US to lead such a
project in partnership with the city of Savannah, one of
(00:43):
my favorite cities in Georgia, at thirty one years of age.
He is self described economic catalyst for the future. He
has spent his twenties breaking barriers, now sending at the
table with fortune five hundred and billion dollar companies tackling
and pressing needs in our community such as tech, workforce development,
and innovation. Please work with the Money Making Conversation Master Class.
(01:05):
Robert Gould, Hey, Robert.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I'm doing well, let's go. I've made it. I'm here
with s McDonald. Baby, let's go.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
First of all, First of all, I appreciate I appreciate
the energy, but to do what you're doing comes with personality.
Thank you, Well a little bit a lot. So let's
let's backtrack a little bit. Before you became a developer.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Entertainment was part of your vision, your future. Correct, Yeah,
it's been a part of my ethos. You know, I'm
so honored to be here and thank you for having me.
You know, I started out as a child actor, and
so I was fortunate. You know, they say that I
was born literally to be on the stage, So you know,
I came out really uh, turning our fireplaces into world stadiums.
(01:52):
I was interviewing people like doctor phil or Steve Harvey
growing up, you know, correcting mister Teddy's problems on fireplaces
and only child raised from an incredible single parent mother
who was tenacious about making sure that I was protected
not just with opportunity, but with the right exposure. So
(02:13):
many times we get disconnected because we want children to
have opportunities, but we don't understand exposure is also the culture.
It is the essence of who you become. And so
my mom made sure that I was never without having strong,
solid people around me that could speak into where not
only I was, where I was going.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So let me ask you this, because you know I
love I love people who can change gives yes when
they've been told this is the path.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yes, or like you know, my degree is in.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Mathematics, My mind and sociology were for ive BM Yes,
stand up, comic beast, you know, producer, writer in Hollywood,
managed talent like Steve Harvest makes a brand.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
So and people always ask me and a cook, yes,
how you put that in there?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Like?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And so.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I bring that up because a lot of people don't
know when to shift. They get so stuck or afraid.
Why doesn't fear intimidate you?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Wow? You know I well, I welcome fear, but I
really understand. I'm grounded and really rooted in this idea
of that there is only one me, there is only
one fingerprint. And you know, scientifically, when I speak, I
love to encourage people to tell them. You know, even
in the womb of a mother who's carrying triplets, there's
still something that separates you. And that is your singular DNA,
(03:34):
that is your one of a kind nature. And so
if you were produced scientifically to be here on earth,
and you are one of a kind, only you can
produce what you're supposed to produce, you know, And so
I welcome those things because I understand that only I
can approach the areas I'm supposed to approach them. You know,
oftentimes I am the youngest in the room, the first
in the room. Oftentimes also maybe the only minority in
(03:57):
the room. And so when I show up, I understand
that I'm not just standing as myself. You know, I
come as one, but I stand as ten thousand and
So you can't be afraid to step in the light
of what you've been called to do. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Let's talk about this because you seem like a guy,
you know, because there's a lot of outcry about DEI
being challenged, being I being.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Kicked at the curve, or the current administration. I'm a person.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
D I'm just tell you up front, DII I fl
was not a benefit to me, right, you know, what
is your take on D And now the reason I
say that because of the fact that I didn't build
my company on.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Somebody is saying they have to do business with me.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I build my company on the fact that I want
you to do his business with because I provide an asset.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Said right, yeah, I agree one thousand percent with you.
You know, I understand that I am my biggest asset.
I am the sauce to the equation. And so for sure,
you know, we would deny it to not say the
uniqueness the culture that you know comes to the table
when I step in to the room. But for sure,
you know, I definitely understand that I'm also product of
(05:04):
being the great grandson of a coal miner who've had
no technical education, but it literally was one of the
first inventors of a technology in the heels of West
Virginia in the early twenties on how to mine gold
and showed you know, Appalachian which were white people Indian people,
how to navigate technology in the early nineteen twenties as
(05:25):
an African American man. You know, so when I look at
stories like that, I understand that nothing is impossible if
you use what you've been given. And so I've been
so fortunate to have his DNA running through my veins
and take that as a torch to say, you know,
if it's a barrier. I'm not just knocking it down.
I'm going to figure out how to not make it
a barrier for the ones who were coming behind me.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And So, just to validate your point, DEI, nobody's handing
this to you because you're black. They're handing it to
you because you're creating a development that will create taxes,
house employment, breakdown, legacy Savannah.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yes, so I'm so excited about the legacy Savannah. You know,
this is a transformational community project that literally is on
the most precious land, one of the most precious pieces
of land that have been owned by the City of Savannah.
It's a sixty five acre, three hundred million dollar transformational community.
I'm the CEO and lead developer of really the cultivation
(06:24):
of what does it look like not just to build buildings,
but transform the legacy of a community. And so it's
wrap around economic developments. We have four prongs that we
are focused on, which is residential housing because we understand
when you provide quality housing, you change the trajectory of
someone's life. Right, We're gonna help the most vulnerable in
the community with almost a two thousand weight list, mister McDonald,
(06:47):
for senior citizens, you know in the city of Savannah,
something has to be done. So in one development, we're
gonna have senior citizens received quality housing, while yet still
workforce housing for individuals who will own their first homes
with workforce housing, and then we're workforce housing. What is
that workforce housing is a cap of two ninety two
(07:11):
hundred and ninety thousand that are going to be affordable
homes for people who are the backbones of our community.
Our teachers are, you know, our nurses, our police officers
who literally deserve to have you know, the best access
to housing. Yes, while also having incredible innovation. So we're
going to have a first of its kind technology center
(07:31):
where twenty four hour programming is going to be happening.
Because I strongly believe that we all may not go
to college, but we all have to have a career.
That's what connects us, the fact of who we are
right in our DNA. So we'll have an innovation center
there and then the first of its kind indoor recreation facility.
So it's a full legacy project connecting the past of
(07:51):
Savannah to the future of where it's head.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We talked about Savannah, George, Savannah, Georgia Okay, cool, yeah,
all of you.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I'm thirty one, he's thirty one.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
And because we've got a thirty one year old person
attached to a three hundred million dollar development Yeah, and
I look at your resume. I see transcending from Berkeley
School of Music, working at btmiyes. Okay, none of that
says development Robert.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, well it does. You know how it does because
all of those platforms. No, no, no, no, I'm not I'm
just saying I agree with you. I'm just I'm just motivating.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
This is a motivational question, is yeah, because a lot
of people limit themselves by saying I'm not qualified.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I'm not qualified, And I get I get what you're saying.
You know what I am so proud of, And I
want to get back to your question, but I want
to just tag us a little bit here because maybe
this will incurage someone that's out there, yes, that may
have a dream, that is looking but feels not equipped
and not underqualified. You know, the most proud thing that
I am of everything that I've wear titles for is
(08:54):
being the founder of an initiative called the Big Tide
Summit and in three years coming to Savannah as an
entreprene or, I looked at the deficits that we have
in education but also access. What does that look like,
particularly for minority communities, but then rural communities with seeing
opportunities for trades that were outside of the community. And
(09:16):
so I started an initiative called the Big Tide Summit
where literally we started with twenty people in the room
and have ten x to over seven thousand over three
years that we've impacted and we give in real time,
real impact students access to careers and technology, the arts
and entertainment and media and construction in Savannah. In Savannah, Now,
(09:36):
how do they become a part of that program? So
you can register as long as you're in any school
in the state of Georgia right now, your school can
register at Big Tide dot org. And it's one hundred
percent free for the schools. We charge zero dollars to
the school to literally better the lives of these students.
But I started this because I understand that if a
(09:56):
stage is provided, you can bring your full authentic self
to it and be exposed to a better future. And
so that's what my career path did for me. You know,
I'm a CEO now I employ people. You know, I'm
managing multi system operations, but I was an intern first,
you know, before and before anything else. You know, there's
(10:19):
been no silver spoon to become extraordinary. I don't have
an option to be extraordinary because I understand the steps
that it took. You know, I swept floors, I got
coffee in all those stages, whether it was at BMI
or at the Grammys. I was building a trajectory for
what I would do now. I was building a trajectory
while I was getting coffee for the vice president of BMI.
(10:40):
I was understanding that one day I would build stages
just as she was, you know, and providing platforms for
thousands of youth across the state of Georgia. You know,
I was building platforms while I was working at a
billion dollar corporation because I would have to come to
the table and know how to negotiate a three hundred
million dollar land acquisition deal with intellectual properties. I was
building my whole life and didn't even know it. So
(11:03):
that's why it's so important for you to tap in
at an early age to the access of who you
were born to be. Because when you define who you
are early on, then the table that is before you,
you will already be prepared to execute it. You know.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Well, that's important that you say that because of the
fact that, like I said again, when I hit you
with these questions.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yes, there's so many people out there working jobs right now.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
They're not happy about to make a career move that
they don't know or they're questioning it or been told
this is what they're supposed to do now b E
t bm I Big time legacy is a FATA.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Their parents out there, Yeah, trying to figure out career
timelines for their kids or their team. Yes, there are
certain times of the year, Yes, that opportunity to present
themselves more. Yes, it's so important.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Summer is an incredible time to get started because you're
not in school. But I had a caveat to summer
and fall as soon as you can, you know, all season.
What I am preaching now, particularly to students, we're living
in a time now space. The average first time homeowner
in our gen Z generation is thirty eight years old.
(12:19):
To our predecessors, who are grandparents and our parents, they
were buying homes in their early twenties. But because of
our global economy and the structure and the means that
it takes. And also then coming out of college and
trying to find a job, the scope of just buying
a quality house is changed to thirty eight almost in
your forties, that more and more people are living at
(12:39):
home with their parents. What does that mean? That means
that the stakes for what it means to be an
economic global citizen have raisen. So you have to start
trades earlier. So going to school is great, and I
encourage every student out there to, you know, decide on
where you want to go to college. If college is
for you, for sure, but if you're going to college
or not, you have to have a trade. Construction trades
(13:01):
are at all time high. Those are not just our
sixth figure but our seven figure earners. It is so important.
Electric electric plumbing. These are jobs that you don't have
to necessarily be the traditional plumber that you have seen
in your history books. You can own a plumbing company
and go to college and be making you know, six
figures while attending school. That sets you up for success.
(13:24):
So then you're changing sexy. It doesn't sound sexy, but
you gotta make it sexy. This is what Big Tides
mission is all about. Your big future is not just
tied to what your idea is. Your big future is
tied to what the success of your exposure can be.
So if I expose you to the lifestyle, you'll understand that, hey,
(13:44):
you can drive up to your incredible house, you can
have your incredible car, and you can have residuals coming
from you just by understanding of trade. And so we
teach those skills in Big Tide. But more and more
those things are necessary till comes up summer. All is
even better fall. Don't ignore fall. If the bottom line
is if you're in school now some type of trade.
(14:07):
It doesn't have to be a hard trade because remember
now our economy has changed. So a trade is not
just our typical grandparents our parents' trades where it's just plumbing, electrical,
it's also tech, it's also coding, it's also you know,
sound design, all these things that can be done that
are software driven. You have to pick up a trade
sooner than later. So earn why you learn, treat yourself.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Well, you know it's like, you know, technology is always
interesting because people throw fear.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And you yes, you know the remote car job.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Are there are jobs out there? Yes, say yes to
become out there, you know, somebody got to build these
ev stations, yes, for them to get the posts. Yeah,
so that's your job, you know. And I look at
the opportunity that you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Now. Four two's every middle of high school students should
master before college or career launch. Four yes, four yes, Well,
I'm going to give you some principles that are so
important early on. Number one is your exposure. Your exposure
is so important, you know, Forbes magazine says sixty percent
of success is built on what you're exposed to. What
(15:32):
you're not exposed to, you don't understand that it's possible,
and so we literally undermine sometimes the ability just to
be in a room, just to be granted access to
space is so important. Number two, when you are starting out,
it is so important to understand appearance. Thirty percent. Forbes
magazine quotes that appearance is dedicated to success. You know,
(15:53):
how you show up is so important. And if you
start these fundamentals even in high school, deciding how you're
going to show up to class every day. Determine how
you're going to show up in the real world. The
next thing is understanding your performance. You know, it's so
interesting because less of gen Z. Forbes magazine says that
gen Z at ten percent think that performance is important.
(16:16):
So that means you can show up, you can be exposed,
but you haven't been given the work ethic. So if
you define your work ethic early, it is going to
set you light years above the game. Because what cannot
be outbeat what I tell people all the time. You know,
I was born from older parents. My parents were older.
My mom had me in her forties, and so I
did not just have her youth, but I had her wisdom.
(16:38):
And I know that that has also catapulted me into
some of these rooms. Majority of the time that I'm
in with my peers, they're you know, twice my age.
I could be their child literally in the room. But
I understand that my performance is what has put me there.
But my ability to understand why my performance, why it's
put me there, is going to keep me there and
sustain me there. And then the last thing is is
(17:00):
you have to understand only you have access that access word.
Only you have access to decide the trajectory of where
you're headed. You don't have to have all the cards aligned,
you don't have to come from a perfect background. You
can come from a single family household, you can come
from low means, but the trajectory of where you're going
one day to sit where ra Sean McDonald is sitting
(17:21):
with those incredible things. And I hope that people will
look up to me as they look up to you
one day to understand that it's not how you start,
but it is how you decide you're going to finish
and using all those things to become who you are.
Absolutely no love, never research a stage. My guess. Yeah,
twenty twenty four broke round, Yes October, let's go. Yes.
The Legacy Savannah. The correctest number was not.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
It's three hundred billion transformational community development project in Savannah, Georgia.
He currently serves as the CEO and developer, making him
the youngest developer in the US to lead such a
project and partnership with the City of Savannah, and now
at thirty one years of age.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
What's the future?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I know I got more on this interview, but what's
the future, Because you broke around, but you go out
there and you start seeing it started getting populated, populated,
the homes, the transformational centers.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
What is it, what's what's what's the process here?
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Well, uh, the future for well, you know, you know what. Well,
here's what I will say to that. I get asked
that question a lot, but you know what I will say,
There's a lot of work that I have to do.
But what I do understand is that I will be
opening up more doors. And I've been put on this
(18:42):
earth at thirty one. I believe to, you know, acclaim
the things that I have been given because I have
so much trajectory of what I need to do, and
so access is so important to me. So my goal
and my mission is to continue to provide access. You know,
And in three years, if we were able to take
twenty students to over seven thousand and three year gap,
imagine what we could do to our nation if we
(19:03):
were intentional about creating access to careers, not just education,
but lifestyles. Imagine how many solid global citizens we could build,
how many lives we could change. Because if we are
able to change the audacity of a future for the youth,
we can change the world. So you know, my goal
in future is to create more access for people who
(19:25):
feel like they are access less. You know, the people
in these rural communities who would never think that they
could be in the midst of people like Rashad McDonalds.
So we're bringing you down to Big Tide. You have
to come with us. You know that they would never
be in the realm of being able to sit in
the likes of you and national CEOs and global Fortune
five hundred leaders. The fact that they would take the
time to listen to them, to hear them, and then
(19:47):
not just do that, but provide them opportunities internships. That
changes the trajectory of someone's life. And so about we're
talking about big tide, right, and were talking about legacy.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Yes, the big tide, if I'm not mistaken, is more career,
job placement opportunities and training right correct, right, correct. The legacy,
Savannah is the actual transformational.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
It is the actual development. Yes, that these students will
be able to go and purchase homes off of these
students and work and be trained and have a twenty
four hour access you know, to building their legacies literally
from the ground up. And so I'm excited about that.
And so when you ask about what is the future
of the legacy model, we built a great model. So
(20:29):
we hope to duplicate that in other places across the
nation where we can look at neighborhoods that you know,
want the economic and need the economic development to transcend
this legacy for sure, in connecting public private partnerships. So
we're all about that. Cool talking to Robert Gould, transcending
transcendent yes type personality. Berkeley Schools of Music, Yes, Boston,
(20:51):
let's go. Let's go. S b ET.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I know a lot about b ET and BMI. Tell
everybout what exactly is bm I?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yes, well, be and my is the large just performing
rights organization in the world. It is a multi billion
dollar corporation and a funny story I'll share. B and
I is a performing rights organization. It is rights organization
for music. Yes, well not just music. So BMI is
the largest performing rights organization in the world. So it
(21:21):
is for any artistic expression of performance, right, and so
how break it down very specifically but easy to everyone.
It is an entertainment bank, right. It is the economic
structure around creators and how they get paid and so ideally,
just like how a bank works, you have you know, lenders. Internally,
(21:42):
you have people who are evaluating your catalog, looking at
your assets, helping you connect the threads for what that
looks like. So as glamorous as it is entertainment, it
is also intellectual properties in finance, in the business behind
creation of something, you know, a creative work. And so
I started out as an intern and being my I
(22:02):
was an intern there my senior year of college, and
I was fortunate to be able to come in with
a very sharp work ethic. And I've always been so
inquisitive about not what it means to sit at the desk,
but I want to understand the operation. I want to
understand what that is. And so that's why it's so
important that we don't stifle the creativity and the curiosity
(22:24):
of young people's minds because you never know where they're
going to end up.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
You know, I so enjoyed this conversation with you, Robert,
because we're not talking money.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
No, your efforts to be who you are about.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Taking it next step and meaning the intern in if
that means that if somebody needed to go do some
extra work, you did it.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
In other words, he's.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
A hand raiser, Robert Robert, Robert Robert, and so they
realized that once that he ain't keeps getting raised, then
guess what they wanted to get raised.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
But they're gonna put you in a position to be
the one pointing out they did they did. That's exactly
what happened. So I after my internship, I went back
to school and I literally walked across the stage and
I walked into my first job as a music executive
and being my because of the work ethic that went
for So, you know, it's all these layers, so you
never know who's watching you. You know, you never know
(23:19):
who's watching. You always have to be on your p's
and q's. But establishing, you know, a real code for
yourself is so important, you know early on. I feel
like you know about that a little something too, because you.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I enjoyed summer session. I enjoyed this conversation because I
always talk about that. Anytime I do business with anybody,
you're gonna ask them I never talk about money. Yeah,
I want to talk about the opportunity. That's key right there,
right because if the opportunity works out, the money will come.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
But if you jump the check before the opportunity, then
guess what, you may never get the opportunity because you.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Stuck on the money. That's it.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
That's it, and so that is how I've always built
my model, and that's how you build your model. Right now,
let's get to you. You're gifted brother, Thank you so much,
the articulate, good looking, Thank you, got the energy.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Thank you. How do you talk to my audience about
the pitch?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, you know, pitching to these white people okay, yes, yeah,
and convincing them that legacy, Savannah, you could pull it off.
They already know there's a need, but you, Robert Goule,
can pull it off.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah. Well, you know, it's so funny. And the Big
Tide is literally a big part of my life. So
it's so interesting. I just referenced it. You know. I
created something called a pitch tank, and so we take
students but also adults through and we make them work
together and not just pitch their product, but they pitch
their dreams and we work through the process of articulating
that because so many times as a young founder, as
(24:55):
you know, entrepreneur, I have to pitch to so many
diverse people. You know, in spectrums and rule based people,
big city people, you know, white, black, Hispanic. You know,
I have to be a multi you know, pop for
so many people. And what's so interesting is, you know,
I go back to understanding. You have to fall in
love with the science of people. You know. I'm very
inquisitive about who people are. But also I respect myself
(25:18):
enough to show up respecting who I am and respecting
who they are. So, you know, you do your research.
You you take your time and figure out what is
the target. I never walk in a room without understanding
what the target is, Understanding you know what I'm what
my goal is walking out of the room, you know.
And last thing is, you know, I always teach people,
(25:40):
don't be so anxious to give the room what you
want to give it. Give the room what it needs.
And so you have to be able to, you know,
take a breath back, to be able to understand that
you can identify that, you know, you know, it's really
cool as we talk through this process.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Now I got a degree, yes, and the mathematics social
about numbers, you know, about my well continued to the conversation.
We really talk about let's go, let's talk about big time. Yeah,
let's go because you're talking a lot of trade talk.
Yes okay, yes, where I grew up under the degree talk. Yes, yeah, okay,
I did, So let's talk about trade talk first degree talk.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah that's so good, and you know, we share that
in in similarity. You know, I never went to public school.
I went to private school my whole life. And when
I got ready to go to college, my mom said,
it's only one deal. Mean you're gonna have something, and
that is that I busted my tail to make sure,
you know, from from a cradle all the way up
to you know, high school, that you went to private school.
(26:40):
So when it's time for you to go to college,
it's on you, you know. And so I had done the
work and so for for me, my thought process was
only one direction, which was my responsibility is to go
to college, get a degree, and make it happen. But
in the same breath, I'm also a third generation entrepreneur
and so while college will you know, definitely a pathway
(27:01):
in a track, it was also this you know, ingenuity
that was put inside of me to say, you need
to own too, like you can learn, but you need
to own, and that is what trade I try to
relate to this next generation. It's ownership, you know, and
understanding that, and there's space for both in there and
in the way our economy is going, the way the
(27:22):
world is going. You know, you never know in any
given day what's going to happen in the world. But
what people can't take away from you is what you
know and what you own. And so if you can
master those two things together at an early age, then
the trajectory of your life is going to change. Because
the reality is we're on money making conversations. Wealth is important.
We'd be lying if it wasn't right. And wealth is
(27:42):
not just having long zeros in your bank account. Wealth
is your exposure, it's your relationships, it's your you know,
your net worth of people, not just money in the bank.
Who can you pick up the phone and call? You know,
the rolodecks, All those things are important, you know, to
the character where you're going. So it's so important, but
it's essential. It's it's not this next generation, it's not
and or it's both. You need to have a trade.
(28:05):
And when I say trade, you don't have to always
work with your hands, you can work with your mind.
Start consulting earlier people, are like, well, I don't know
what consulting is. Well, if you're able to start a
lemonade staying, you're able to talk about what it means
to talk about product, how you selling, what are you doing?
Those are the things. If you start early teaching those things,
you know they'll become here. Know that what I hear
(28:25):
you talking?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yes, sir, you know, first of all, thank you for
coming on Money Making Conversation master Class. And now I
think about my generation, my age, and I think about
you know, you know, being able to have an opportunity
to do this. You know, a college told me I
can get this amount of money right, correct, correct, And
that's why I went to college, right. I wanted this
amount of money right. And now you're telling me in
(28:49):
this era that you're growing up at thirty one years
of age, that I can go to a trade I
get to the amount of money right to go get it.
I get a plumber and start my own company. I
can do a clean start my own company. I can
do electricians, start my own company. I get AI start
my own company. You know social media PRR. With social media,
I can promote myself technically for free, right. And it's
(29:12):
say if they were streaming so many avenues to say,
we're not denouncing college, we're just saying that that old
guard rule doesn't.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Apply right well, and also it's not just what we're
saying is scientific. You know, I gave you just a
small but big grounding fact that I think all your
viewers should lean into. The average first time homeowner is
thirty eight years old. Why is that so crucial and important?
Because we understand to be sustainable in life, you have
to have a place to live. So why is that crucial.
(29:46):
It's statistically showing if you're able to purchase a home,
you're able to be more stable, you're able to start
a family, you're able to be more equitable, you're able
to pay your taxes, so on and so forth. So
it is crucial. It's just the lay of the land scientifically,
where we're headed with our economic structure. In the value
of a dollar, you need more income, but at the
same time it's more income. Education is never going out
(30:08):
of style, so you will never trump the ability to
be educated on knowing what you know and being able
to provide a service over just cash value alone, because
you can have you know, five six million dollars in
the bank. But if you don't know how to run
the company or run the asset of what that means,
you'll lose it all. So you need both. They go
hand in hand. You need the ability to access capital
(30:31):
quickly and understand it sooner than later. But they'll also
be on the trajectory to understand how to keep it
and land a job and be someone worth talking to,
Be someone worth talking to, be someone we're talking to.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
I want to get some off because you talk about
workforce development. Yes, sir, trends me matter. Everybody's trended. Yes,
it's trended.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Trend Let's go some of the workforce development trends.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Let's just say five workforce development trends that people can
look for to get their true balance for career opportunities.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah. Well number one we've already said, which is start early.
You have to start early. Starting early is the differentiator
because if you're on the gateway, think about it like this.
If you are, you know, now eighteen, let's say you're
in college. You know, you have literally a decade and
just a little high of a few airs to make
sure that you can be not a part of that
(31:27):
statistic who is just finding jobs, just finding home, just
finding those things. So starting early is possible with the
trade is important. Number two is I've said it over again,
but I love it. It's the most sexiest word to
me ever on Earth, which is exposure. Exposure is key.
You have to expose yourself to non traditional opportunities and environments,
(31:48):
and sometimes that means that you're gonna have to put
your students or your kids in environments they're not used to.
You know, I'm able to feel comfortable in any environment
because I had a strong African American family at home,
but most of the my life I grew up, I
was the only African American in most of the rooms
I was in. But it has equipped me because now
I'm better to lead my community and help bring back
resources to my community. So the exposure is really important.
(32:11):
The next thing is do not deny your opportunity to
be able to understand the importance of appearance. Appearance is important.
How we start dressing, how we start talking, how we
start communicating around the dinner table, around the conversations that
we have in our everyday life with our family, articulating
our dreams. The better you are off. Number of four
(32:34):
I would give you is explore trades early. Now, when
I say this, this is different from just exposure. Exploring
trades are actually looking for the companies that are providing
opportunities in your environment and seeing do they have internship programs,
do they have mentorship programs. A lot of the students
that we service in Big Tide don't even understand that
some of the companies that they're seeing pass them by,
(32:56):
you know, and they're curious about maybe being role builders
or in structure or whatnot. They have apprenticeship programs. They
don't know about it. So that's so important. And lastly,
what I'll say is find mentorship. Mentorship and workforce development
is crucial because in order for you to become the
person you want to see, you're going to have to
find it. Now, not everybody will be blessed to have
(33:18):
a physical person like Robert or Rashan in front of them,
but this is why God has blessings with technology, so
your mentors can be online. Become a creatureive habit, you know,
study that. And also I'll just give a bonus, everyone
right now should be embracing artificial intelligence. It is scary, right,
but in order to be forward thinking, we have to
understand how to not just control a beast, but understand
(33:41):
the beast. And artificial intelligence is going to continue to
grow and is going to be a continual pivotal point
in every industry on the planet. So we really have
to become familiar with it, understand it, and not be
left behind and left out of jobs because we don't
understand it.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Wow, his work with Big Time and Legacies and the
City of Vanda is going to be history making.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Thank you Broke round. Yes and so I'm a fan.
Thank you, Sam. If you're coming on Money Making Covers
I would say yes, thank you mister Sham McDonald. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
hosted by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you listening to the
audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
I want to be a guest on the show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
(34:37):
your gifts.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Keep winning
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Rashan McDonald hosts this weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show.
The interviews and information that this show provides off for everyone.
It's time to start reading other people's success stories and
start living your own. I'm talking about you now. If
you want to be a guest on my show, Money
Making Conversation Masterclass, please visit our website Moneymakingconversations dot com
(00:21):
and click the beat against button. My next guest in
twenty twenty four, broke ground on Legacy Savannah, a two
hundred million dollar transformational community development project where he serves
as CEO and developer and the brothers Yoah, making him
the youngest developer in the US to lead such a
project in partnership with the city of Savannah, one of
(00:43):
my favorite cities in Georgia, at thirty one years of age.
He is self described economic catalyst for the future. He
has spent his twenties breaking barriers, now sending at the
table with fortune five hundred and billion dollar companies tackling
and pressing needs in our community such as tech, workforce development,
and innovation. Please work with the Money Making Conversation Master Class.
(01:05):
Robert Gould, Hey, Robert.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I'm doing well, let's go. I've made it. I'm here
with s McDonald. Baby, let's go.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
First of all, First of all, I appreciate I appreciate
the energy, but to do what you're doing comes with personality.
Thank you, Well a little bit a lot. So let's
let's backtrack a little bit. Before you became a developer.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Entertainment was part of your vision, your future. Correct, Yeah,
it's been a part of my ethos. You know, I'm
so honored to be here and thank you for having me.
You know, I started out as a child actor, and
so I was fortunate. You know, they say that I
was born literally to be on the stage, So you know,
I came out really uh, turning our fireplaces into world stadiums.
(01:52):
I was interviewing people like doctor phil or Steve Harvey
growing up, you know, correcting mister Teddy's problems on fireplaces
and only child raised from an incredible single parent mother
who was tenacious about making sure that I was protected
not just with opportunity, but with the right exposure. So
(02:13):
many times we get disconnected because we want children to
have opportunities, but we don't understand exposure is also the culture.
It is the essence of who you become. And so
my mom made sure that I was never without having strong,
solid people around me that could speak into where not
only I was, where I was going.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So let me ask you this, because you know I
love I love people who can change gives yes when
they've been told this is the path.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yes, or like you know, my degree is in.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Mathematics, My mind and sociology were for ive BM Yes,
stand up, comic beast, you know, producer, writer in Hollywood,
managed talent like Steve Harvest makes a brand.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
So and people always ask me and a cook, yes,
how you put that in there?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Like?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And so.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I bring that up because a lot of people don't
know when to shift. They get so stuck or afraid.
Why doesn't fear intimidate you?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Wow? You know I well, I welcome fear, but I
really understand. I'm grounded and really rooted in this idea
of that there is only one me, there is only
one fingerprint. And you know, scientifically, when I speak, I
love to encourage people to tell them. You know, even
in the womb of a mother who's carrying triplets, there's
still something that separates you. And that is your singular DNA,
(03:34):
that is your one of a kind nature. And so
if you were produced scientifically to be here on earth,
and you are one of a kind, only you can
produce what you're supposed to produce, you know, And so
I welcome those things because I understand that only I
can approach the areas I'm supposed to approach them. You know,
oftentimes I am the youngest in the room, the first
in the room. Oftentimes also maybe the only minority in
(03:57):
the room. And so when I show up, I understand
that I'm not just standing as myself. You know, I
come as one, but I stand as ten thousand and
So you can't be afraid to step in the light
of what you've been called to do. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Let's talk about this because you seem like a guy,
you know, because there's a lot of outcry about DEI
being challenged, being I being.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Kicked at the curve, or the current administration. I'm a person.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
D I'm just tell you up front, DII I fl
was not a benefit to me, right, you know, what
is your take on D And now the reason I
say that because of the fact that I didn't build
my company on.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Somebody is saying they have to do business with me.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I build my company on the fact that I want
you to do his business with because I provide an asset.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Said right, yeah, I agree one thousand percent with you.
You know, I understand that I am my biggest asset.
I am the sauce to the equation. And so for sure,
you know, we would deny it to not say the
uniqueness the culture that you know comes to the table
when I step in to the room. But for sure,
you know, I definitely understand that I'm also product of
(05:04):
being the great grandson of a coal miner who've had
no technical education, but it literally was one of the
first inventors of a technology in the heels of West
Virginia in the early twenties on how to mine gold
and showed you know, Appalachian which were white people Indian people,
how to navigate technology in the early nineteen twenties as
(05:25):
an African American man. You know, so when I look at
stories like that, I understand that nothing is impossible if
you use what you've been given. And so I've been
so fortunate to have his DNA running through my veins
and take that as a torch to say, you know,
if it's a barrier. I'm not just knocking it down.
I'm going to figure out how to not make it
a barrier for the ones who were coming behind me.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And So, just to validate your point, DEI, nobody's handing
this to you because you're black. They're handing it to
you because you're creating a development that will create taxes,
house employment, breakdown, legacy Savannah.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yes, so I'm so excited about the legacy Savannah. You know,
this is a transformational community project that literally is on
the most precious land, one of the most precious pieces
of land that have been owned by the City of Savannah.
It's a sixty five acre, three hundred million dollar transformational community.
I'm the CEO and lead developer of really the cultivation
(06:24):
of what does it look like not just to build buildings,
but transform the legacy of a community. And so it's
wrap around economic developments. We have four prongs that we
are focused on, which is residential housing because we understand
when you provide quality housing, you change the trajectory of
someone's life. Right, We're gonna help the most vulnerable in
the community with almost a two thousand weight list, mister McDonald,
(06:47):
for senior citizens, you know in the city of Savannah,
something has to be done. So in one development, we're
gonna have senior citizens received quality housing, while yet still
workforce housing for individuals who will own their first homes
with workforce housing, and then we're workforce housing. What is
that workforce housing is a cap of two ninety two
(07:11):
hundred and ninety thousand that are going to be affordable
homes for people who are the backbones of our community.
Our teachers are, you know, our nurses, our police officers
who literally deserve to have you know, the best access
to housing. Yes, while also having incredible innovation. So we're
going to have a first of its kind technology center
(07:31):
where twenty four hour programming is going to be happening.
Because I strongly believe that we all may not go
to college, but we all have to have a career.
That's what connects us, the fact of who we are
right in our DNA. So we'll have an innovation center
there and then the first of its kind indoor recreation facility.
So it's a full legacy project connecting the past of
(07:51):
Savannah to the future of where it's head.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We talked about Savannah, George, Savannah, Georgia Okay, cool, yeah,
all of you.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I'm thirty one, he's thirty one.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
And because we've got a thirty one year old person
attached to a three hundred million dollar development Yeah, and
I look at your resume. I see transcending from Berkeley
School of Music, working at btmiyes. Okay, none of that
says development Robert.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, well it does. You know how it does because
all of those platforms. No, no, no, no, I'm not I'm
just saying I agree with you. I'm just I'm just motivating.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
This is a motivational question, is yeah, because a lot
of people limit themselves by saying I'm not qualified.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I'm not qualified, And I get I get what you're saying.
You know what I am so proud of, And I
want to get back to your question, but I want
to just tag us a little bit here because maybe
this will incurage someone that's out there, yes, that may
have a dream, that is looking but feels not equipped
and not underqualified. You know, the most proud thing that
I am of everything that I've wear titles for is
(08:54):
being the founder of an initiative called the Big Tide
Summit and in three years coming to Savannah as an
entreprene or, I looked at the deficits that we have
in education but also access. What does that look like,
particularly for minority communities, but then rural communities with seeing
opportunities for trades that were outside of the community. And
(09:16):
so I started an initiative called the Big Tide Summit
where literally we started with twenty people in the room
and have ten x to over seven thousand over three
years that we've impacted and we give in real time,
real impact students access to careers and technology, the arts
and entertainment and media and construction in Savannah. In Savannah, Now,
(09:36):
how do they become a part of that program? So
you can register as long as you're in any school
in the state of Georgia right now, your school can
register at Big Tide dot org. And it's one hundred
percent free for the schools. We charge zero dollars to
the school to literally better the lives of these students.
But I started this because I understand that if a
(09:56):
stage is provided, you can bring your full authentic self
to it and be exposed to a better future. And
so that's what my career path did for me. You know,
I'm a CEO now I employ people. You know, I'm
managing multi system operations, but I was an intern first,
you know, before and before anything else. You know, there's
(10:19):
been no silver spoon to become extraordinary. I don't have
an option to be extraordinary because I understand the steps
that it took. You know, I swept floors, I got
coffee in all those stages, whether it was at BMI
or at the Grammys. I was building a trajectory for
what I would do now. I was building a trajectory
while I was getting coffee for the vice president of BMI.
(10:40):
I was understanding that one day I would build stages
just as she was, you know, and providing platforms for
thousands of youth across the state of Georgia. You know,
I was building platforms while I was working at a
billion dollar corporation because I would have to come to
the table and know how to negotiate a three hundred
million dollar land acquisition deal with intellectual properties. I was
building my whole life and didn't even know it. So
(11:03):
that's why it's so important for you to tap in
at an early age to the access of who you
were born to be. Because when you define who you
are early on, then the table that is before you,
you will already be prepared to execute it. You know.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Well, that's important that you say that because of the
fact that, like I said again, when I hit you
with these questions.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yes, there's so many people out there working jobs right now.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
They're not happy about to make a career move that
they don't know or they're questioning it or been told
this is what they're supposed to do now b E
t bm I Big time legacy is a FATA.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Their parents out there, Yeah, trying to figure out career
timelines for their kids or their team. Yes, there are
certain times of the year, Yes, that opportunity to present
themselves more. Yes, it's so important.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Summer is an incredible time to get started because you're
not in school. But I had a caveat to summer
and fall as soon as you can, you know, all season.
What I am preaching now, particularly to students, we're living
in a time now space. The average first time homeowner
in our gen Z generation is thirty eight years old.
(12:19):
To our predecessors, who are grandparents and our parents, they
were buying homes in their early twenties. But because of
our global economy and the structure and the means that
it takes. And also then coming out of college and
trying to find a job, the scope of just buying
a quality house is changed to thirty eight almost in
your forties, that more and more people are living at
(12:39):
home with their parents. What does that mean? That means
that the stakes for what it means to be an
economic global citizen have raisen. So you have to start
trades earlier. So going to school is great, and I
encourage every student out there to, you know, decide on
where you want to go to college. If college is
for you, for sure, but if you're going to college
or not, you have to have a trade. Construction trades
(13:01):
are at all time high. Those are not just our
sixth figure but our seven figure earners. It is so important.
Electric electric plumbing. These are jobs that you don't have
to necessarily be the traditional plumber that you have seen
in your history books. You can own a plumbing company
and go to college and be making you know, six
figures while attending school. That sets you up for success.
(13:24):
So then you're changing sexy. It doesn't sound sexy, but
you gotta make it sexy. This is what Big Tides
mission is all about. Your big future is not just
tied to what your idea is. Your big future is
tied to what the success of your exposure can be.
So if I expose you to the lifestyle, you'll understand that, hey,
(13:44):
you can drive up to your incredible house, you can
have your incredible car, and you can have residuals coming
from you just by understanding of trade. And so we
teach those skills in Big Tide. But more and more
those things are necessary till comes up summer. All is
even better fall. Don't ignore fall. If the bottom line
is if you're in school now some type of trade.
(14:07):
It doesn't have to be a hard trade because remember
now our economy has changed. So a trade is not
just our typical grandparents our parents' trades where it's just plumbing, electrical,
it's also tech, it's also coding, it's also you know,
sound design, all these things that can be done that
are software driven. You have to pick up a trade
sooner than later. So earn why you learn, treat yourself.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Well, you know it's like, you know, technology is always
interesting because people throw fear.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And you yes, you know the remote car job.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Are there are jobs out there? Yes, say yes to
become out there, you know, somebody got to build these
ev stations, yes, for them to get the posts. Yeah,
so that's your job, you know. And I look at
the opportunity that you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Now. Four two's every middle of high school students should
master before college or career launch. Four yes, four yes, Well,
I'm going to give you some principles that are so
important early on. Number one is your exposure. Your exposure
is so important, you know, Forbes magazine says sixty percent
of success is built on what you're exposed to. What
(15:32):
you're not exposed to, you don't understand that it's possible,
and so we literally undermine sometimes the ability just to
be in a room, just to be granted access to
space is so important. Number two, when you are starting out,
it is so important to understand appearance. Thirty percent. Forbes
magazine quotes that appearance is dedicated to success. You know,
(15:53):
how you show up is so important. And if you
start these fundamentals even in high school, deciding how you're
going to show up to class every day. Determine how
you're going to show up in the real world. The
next thing is understanding your performance. You know, it's so
interesting because less of gen Z. Forbes magazine says that
gen Z at ten percent think that performance is important.
(16:16):
So that means you can show up, you can be exposed,
but you haven't been given the work ethic. So if
you define your work ethic early, it is going to
set you light years above the game. Because what cannot
be outbeat what I tell people all the time. You know,
I was born from older parents. My parents were older.
My mom had me in her forties, and so I
did not just have her youth, but I had her wisdom.
(16:38):
And I know that that has also catapulted me into
some of these rooms. Majority of the time that I'm
in with my peers, they're you know, twice my age.
I could be their child literally in the room. But
I understand that my performance is what has put me there.
But my ability to understand why my performance, why it's
put me there, is going to keep me there and
sustain me there. And then the last thing is is
(17:00):
you have to understand only you have access that access word.
Only you have access to decide the trajectory of where
you're headed. You don't have to have all the cards aligned,
you don't have to come from a perfect background. You
can come from a single family household, you can come
from low means, but the trajectory of where you're going
one day to sit where ra Sean McDonald is sitting
(17:21):
with those incredible things. And I hope that people will
look up to me as they look up to you
one day to understand that it's not how you start,
but it is how you decide you're going to finish
and using all those things to become who you are.
Absolutely no love, never research a stage. My guess. Yeah,
twenty twenty four broke round, Yes October, let's go. Yes.
The Legacy Savannah. The correctest number was not.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
It's three hundred billion transformational community development project in Savannah, Georgia.
He currently serves as the CEO and developer, making him
the youngest developer in the US to lead such a
project and partnership with the City of Savannah, and now
at thirty one years of age.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
What's the future?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I know I got more on this interview, but what's
the future, Because you broke around, but you go out
there and you start seeing it started getting populated, populated,
the homes, the transformational centers.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
What is it, what's what's what's the process here?
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Well, uh, the future for well, you know, you know what. Well,
here's what I will say to that. I get asked
that question a lot, but you know what I will say,
There's a lot of work that I have to do.
But what I do understand is that I will be
opening up more doors. And I've been put on this
(18:42):
earth at thirty one. I believe to, you know, acclaim
the things that I have been given because I have
so much trajectory of what I need to do, and
so access is so important to me. So my goal
and my mission is to continue to provide access. You know,
And in three years, if we were able to take
twenty students to over seven thousand and three year gap,
imagine what we could do to our nation if we
(19:03):
were intentional about creating access to careers, not just education,
but lifestyles. Imagine how many solid global citizens we could build,
how many lives we could change. Because if we are
able to change the audacity of a future for the youth,
we can change the world. So you know, my goal
in future is to create more access for people who
(19:25):
feel like they are access less. You know, the people
in these rural communities who would never think that they
could be in the midst of people like Rashad McDonalds.
So we're bringing you down to Big Tide. You have
to come with us. You know that they would never
be in the realm of being able to sit in
the likes of you and national CEOs and global Fortune
five hundred leaders. The fact that they would take the
time to listen to them, to hear them, and then
(19:47):
not just do that, but provide them opportunities internships. That
changes the trajectory of someone's life. And so about we're
talking about big tide, right, and were talking about legacy.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Yes, the big tide, if I'm not mistaken, is more career,
job placement opportunities and training right correct, right, correct. The legacy,
Savannah is the actual transformational.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
It is the actual development. Yes, that these students will
be able to go and purchase homes off of these
students and work and be trained and have a twenty
four hour access you know, to building their legacies literally
from the ground up. And so I'm excited about that.
And so when you ask about what is the future
of the legacy model, we built a great model. So
(20:29):
we hope to duplicate that in other places across the
nation where we can look at neighborhoods that you know,
want the economic and need the economic development to transcend
this legacy for sure, in connecting public private partnerships. So
we're all about that. Cool talking to Robert Gould, transcending
transcendent yes type personality. Berkeley Schools of Music, Yes, Boston,
(20:51):
let's go. Let's go. S b ET.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I know a lot about b ET and BMI. Tell
everybout what exactly is bm I?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yes, well, be and my is the large just performing
rights organization in the world. It is a multi billion
dollar corporation and a funny story I'll share. B and
I is a performing rights organization. It is rights organization
for music. Yes, well not just music. So BMI is
the largest performing rights organization in the world. So it
(21:21):
is for any artistic expression of performance, right, and so
how break it down very specifically but easy to everyone.
It is an entertainment bank, right. It is the economic
structure around creators and how they get paid and so ideally,
just like how a bank works, you have you know, lenders. Internally,
(21:42):
you have people who are evaluating your catalog, looking at
your assets, helping you connect the threads for what that
looks like. So as glamorous as it is entertainment, it
is also intellectual properties in finance, in the business behind
creation of something, you know, a creative work. And so
I started out as an intern and being my I
(22:02):
was an intern there my senior year of college, and
I was fortunate to be able to come in with
a very sharp work ethic. And I've always been so
inquisitive about not what it means to sit at the desk,
but I want to understand the operation. I want to
understand what that is. And so that's why it's so
important that we don't stifle the creativity and the curiosity
(22:24):
of young people's minds because you never know where they're
going to end up.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
You know, I so enjoyed this conversation with you, Robert,
because we're not talking money.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
No, your efforts to be who you are about.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Taking it next step and meaning the intern in if
that means that if somebody needed to go do some
extra work, you did it.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
In other words, he's.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
A hand raiser, Robert Robert, Robert Robert, and so they
realized that once that he ain't keeps getting raised, then
guess what they wanted to get raised.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
But they're gonna put you in a position to be
the one pointing out they did they did. That's exactly
what happened. So I after my internship, I went back
to school and I literally walked across the stage and
I walked into my first job as a music executive
and being my because of the work ethic that went
for So, you know, it's all these layers, so you
never know who's watching you. You know, you never know
(23:19):
who's watching. You always have to be on your p's
and q's. But establishing, you know, a real code for
yourself is so important, you know early on. I feel
like you know about that a little something too, because you.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I enjoyed summer session. I enjoyed this conversation because I
always talk about that. Anytime I do business with anybody,
you're gonna ask them I never talk about money. Yeah,
I want to talk about the opportunity. That's key right there,
right because if the opportunity works out, the money will come.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
But if you jump the check before the opportunity, then
guess what, you may never get the opportunity because you.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Stuck on the money. That's it.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
That's it, and so that is how I've always built
my model, and that's how you build your model. Right now,
let's get to you. You're gifted brother, Thank you so much,
the articulate, good looking, Thank you, got the energy.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Thank you. How do you talk to my audience about
the pitch?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, you know, pitching to these white people okay, yes, yeah,
and convincing them that legacy, Savannah, you could pull it off.
They already know there's a need, but you, Robert Goule,
can pull it off.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah. Well, you know, it's so funny. And the Big
Tide is literally a big part of my life. So
it's so interesting. I just referenced it. You know. I
created something called a pitch tank, and so we take
students but also adults through and we make them work
together and not just pitch their product, but they pitch
their dreams and we work through the process of articulating
that because so many times as a young founder, as
(24:55):
you know, entrepreneur, I have to pitch to so many
diverse people. You know, in spectrums and rule based people,
big city people, you know, white, black, Hispanic. You know,
I have to be a multi you know, pop for
so many people. And what's so interesting is, you know,
I go back to understanding. You have to fall in
love with the science of people. You know. I'm very
inquisitive about who people are. But also I respect myself
(25:18):
enough to show up respecting who I am and respecting
who they are. So, you know, you do your research.
You you take your time and figure out what is
the target. I never walk in a room without understanding
what the target is, Understanding you know what I'm what
my goal is walking out of the room, you know.
And last thing is, you know, I always teach people,
(25:40):
don't be so anxious to give the room what you
want to give it. Give the room what it needs.
And so you have to be able to, you know,
take a breath back, to be able to understand that
you can identify that, you know, you know, it's really
cool as we talk through this process.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Now I got a degree, yes, and the mathematics social
about numbers, you know, about my well continued to the conversation.
We really talk about let's go, let's talk about big time. Yeah,
let's go because you're talking a lot of trade talk.
Yes okay, yes, where I grew up under the degree talk. Yes, yeah, okay,
I did, So let's talk about trade talk first degree talk.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah that's so good, and you know, we share that
in in similarity. You know, I never went to public school.
I went to private school my whole life. And when
I got ready to go to college, my mom said,
it's only one deal. Mean you're gonna have something, and
that is that I busted my tail to make sure,
you know, from from a cradle all the way up
to you know, high school, that you went to private school.
(26:40):
So when it's time for you to go to college,
it's on you, you know. And so I had done the
work and so for for me, my thought process was
only one direction, which was my responsibility is to go
to college, get a degree, and make it happen. But
in the same breath, I'm also a third generation entrepreneur
and so while college will you know, definitely a pathway
(27:01):
in a track, it was also this you know, ingenuity
that was put inside of me to say, you need
to own too, like you can learn, but you need
to own, and that is what trade I try to
relate to this next generation. It's ownership, you know, and
understanding that, and there's space for both in there and
in the way our economy is going, the way the
(27:22):
world is going. You know, you never know in any
given day what's going to happen in the world. But
what people can't take away from you is what you
know and what you own. And so if you can
master those two things together at an early age, then
the trajectory of your life is going to change. Because
the reality is we're on money making conversations. Wealth is important.
We'd be lying if it wasn't right. And wealth is
(27:42):
not just having long zeros in your bank account. Wealth
is your exposure, it's your relationships, it's your you know,
your net worth of people, not just money in the bank.
Who can you pick up the phone and call? You know,
the rolodecks, All those things are important, you know, to
the character where you're going. So it's so important, but
it's essential. It's it's not this next generation, it's not
and or it's both. You need to have a trade.
(28:05):
And when I say trade, you don't have to always
work with your hands, you can work with your mind.
Start consulting earlier people, are like, well, I don't know
what consulting is. Well, if you're able to start a
lemonade staying, you're able to talk about what it means
to talk about product, how you selling, what are you doing?
Those are the things. If you start early teaching those things,
you know they'll become here. Know that what I hear
(28:25):
you talking?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yes, sir, you know, first of all, thank you for
coming on Money Making Conversation master Class. And now I
think about my generation, my age, and I think about
you know, you know, being able to have an opportunity
to do this. You know, a college told me I
can get this amount of money right, correct, correct, And
that's why I went to college, right. I wanted this
amount of money right. And now you're telling me in
(28:49):
this era that you're growing up at thirty one years
of age, that I can go to a trade I
get to the amount of money right to go get it.
I get a plumber and start my own company. I
can do a clean start my own company. I can
do electricians, start my own company. I get AI start
my own company. You know social media PRR. With social media,
I can promote myself technically for free, right. And it's
(29:12):
say if they were streaming so many avenues to say,
we're not denouncing college, we're just saying that that old
guard rule doesn't.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Apply right well, and also it's not just what we're
saying is scientific. You know, I gave you just a
small but big grounding fact that I think all your
viewers should lean into. The average first time homeowner is
thirty eight years old. Why is that so crucial and important?
Because we understand to be sustainable in life, you have
to have a place to live. So why is that crucial.
(29:46):
It's statistically showing if you're able to purchase a home,
you're able to be more stable, you're able to start
a family, you're able to be more equitable, you're able
to pay your taxes, so on and so forth. So
it is crucial. It's just the lay of the land scientifically,
where we're headed with our economic structure. In the value
of a dollar, you need more income, but at the
same time it's more income. Education is never going out
(30:08):
of style, so you will never trump the ability to
be educated on knowing what you know and being able
to provide a service over just cash value alone, because
you can have you know, five six million dollars in
the bank. But if you don't know how to run
the company or run the asset of what that means,
you'll lose it all. So you need both. They go
hand in hand. You need the ability to access capital
(30:31):
quickly and understand it sooner than later. But they'll also
be on the trajectory to understand how to keep it
and land a job and be someone worth talking to,
Be someone worth talking to, be someone we're talking to.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
I want to get some off because you talk about
workforce development. Yes, sir, trends me matter. Everybody's trended. Yes,
it's trended.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Trend Let's go some of the workforce development trends.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Let's just say five workforce development trends that people can
look for to get their true balance for career opportunities.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah. Well number one we've already said, which is start early.
You have to start early. Starting early is the differentiator
because if you're on the gateway, think about it like this.
If you are, you know, now eighteen, let's say you're
in college. You know, you have literally a decade and
just a little high of a few airs to make
sure that you can be not a part of that
(31:27):
statistic who is just finding jobs, just finding home, just
finding those things. So starting early is possible with the
trade is important. Number two is I've said it over again,
but I love it. It's the most sexiest word to
me ever on Earth, which is exposure. Exposure is key.
You have to expose yourself to non traditional opportunities and environments,
(31:48):
and sometimes that means that you're gonna have to put
your students or your kids in environments they're not used to.
You know, I'm able to feel comfortable in any environment
because I had a strong African American family at home,
but most of the my life I grew up, I
was the only African American in most of the rooms
I was in. But it has equipped me because now
I'm better to lead my community and help bring back
resources to my community. So the exposure is really important.
(32:11):
The next thing is do not deny your opportunity to
be able to understand the importance of appearance. Appearance is important.
How we start dressing, how we start talking, how we
start communicating around the dinner table, around the conversations that
we have in our everyday life with our family, articulating
our dreams. The better you are off. Number of four
(32:34):
I would give you is explore trades early. Now, when
I say this, this is different from just exposure. Exploring
trades are actually looking for the companies that are providing
opportunities in your environment and seeing do they have internship programs,
do they have mentorship programs. A lot of the students
that we service in Big Tide don't even understand that
some of the companies that they're seeing pass them by,
(32:56):
you know, and they're curious about maybe being role builders
or in structure or whatnot. They have apprenticeship programs. They
don't know about it. So that's so important. And lastly,
what I'll say is find mentorship. Mentorship and workforce development
is crucial because in order for you to become the
person you want to see, you're going to have to
find it. Now, not everybody will be blessed to have
(33:18):
a physical person like Robert or Rashan in front of them,
but this is why God has blessings with technology, so
your mentors can be online. Become a creatureive habit, you know,
study that. And also I'll just give a bonus, everyone
right now should be embracing artificial intelligence. It is scary, right,
but in order to be forward thinking, we have to
understand how to not just control a beast, but understand
(33:41):
the beast. And artificial intelligence is going to continue to
grow and is going to be a continual pivotal point
in every industry on the planet. So we really have
to become familiar with it, understand it, and not be
left behind and left out of jobs because we don't
understand it.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Wow, his work with Big Time and Legacies and the
City of Vanda is going to be history making.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Thank you Broke round. Yes and so I'm a fan.
Thank you, Sam. If you're coming on Money Making Covers
I would say yes, thank you mister Sham McDonald. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
hosted by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you listening to the
audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
I want to be a guest on the show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
(34:37):
your gifts.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
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