September 10, 2025 • 35 mins
Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Jamie and Jilea Hemmings.
Business: Nourish + Bloom Market
Claim to Fame: The world’s first Black-owned autonomous grocery store
🧭 Purpose of the Interview
To spotlight the Hemmings’ innovative approach to solving food insecurity through technology, entrepreneurship, and community empowerment. The interview explores their journey from corporate careers to tech entrepreneurs and retail disruptors, emphasizing their mission to eliminate food deserts and build generational wealth.
🔑 Key Takeaways 1. Mission-Driven Innovation
- Nourish + Bloom Market was born from a personal need for healthier food options for their autistic son.
- Their stores use AI-powered, frictionless checkout to provide 24/7 access to fresh food in underserved areas.
2. Tech Meets Purpose
- Despite no formal tech training, they developed two scheduling platforms (for cannabis and pharma) before launching their grocery concept.
- They became the first in the U.S. to accept EBT/SNAP in an autonomous store environment.
3. Family & Legacy
- The Hemmings are raising three children and caring for an aging parent while running their business.
- Their children are involved in operations, reinforcing the idea of building legacy in real time.
4. Community Empowerment
- They focus on dignity in access, ensuring that all customers, regardless of income, can shop equally.
- They support local farms and promote workforce innovation to prepare communities for the tech economy.
💬 Notable Quotes
- “They are the visionary co-founders of Nourish + Bloom Market, the world’s first Black-owned, autonomous grocery store.”
- “Driven by a mission to eliminate food deserts and empower underserved communities.”
- “We’re building legacy in real time.”
- “Just because you need assistance doesn’t mean you should lose dignity.”
- “AI is here. It’s not going anywhere.”
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
Support the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald host this weekly Money Making Conversation
Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show provides
off for everyone, and I'm talking to you, my friend.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I want you to come on board and be with us.
Come along for this ride.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and
start living your own now. If you want to be
a guest on my show, Money Making Conversation Masterclass, please
visit our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click to be
a guest button. If you're a small business owner, entrepreneur,
motivational speaker, influencer or nonprofit I want you on my show. Now,
let's get started. My guests are the visionary co founders
(00:37):
of Nourish and bloom Market, the world's first black owned
autonomous grocery store. During by mission to eliminate food deserts
and empower underserved communities, they fuse cutting edge AI technology
with healthy living. As a dynamic husband and wife duo,
they are reshaping the future retail while building generational legacy
(00:59):
through IT impact and ownership. Please welcome to the Money Making
Conversations Julaia and Jamie Hemmings.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
How you doing Jelaia and Jamie Jay and Jay Jay
and Jay JJJ. I love it. Let's talk about the
name of your business.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Is Norrish Norrish, I'll probably saying it wrong because I'm
from the South and Bloom Market. Tell us how you
came up with that name and what does it mean
to you in particular?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, I mean nourish and bloom.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I'll be thought it was the perfect name actually, because
that's exactly what we set out to do. Our mission
is twenty four to seven fresh food for everyone, right,
and we know that food is the key ingredient to
having good health and just being able to have overall
good performance. And so if you nourish your body, well
you'll be able to bloom in for us, that just
felt like the right name, nourished the body, bloom.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So there you go. We know it's Janie.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I'm from inner city Houston, Texas, and I've always fought
for financial literacy. You know, in certain community communities of
color you have to find no banks and then you
don't have the big box grocery stores into our communities.
So define to me so we can be on the
(02:19):
same page. Jamie, what exactly when you say food desert
what are you talking about.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Yeah, so when we're talking about food deserts, we're talking
about you know, access and the miles associated with that.
So when you're looking in an urban neighborhood, if it's
more than you know, five miles away, then that's considered
a food desert.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
In a rural area, I think it's.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Sorry, rural area is more than five ye sorry, sorry,
A rural area is more than five miles and an
urban area is actually more than one mile away, So
that would be the death definition of a food desert.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So you know, if you're one.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
Mile away in an urban area from a grocery store,
then that's considered a food desert. And if you're five
miles away in a rural area, then that's considered a
food desert.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Good.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
So, Julia, how did you guys get into grocery business?
You know, like you know, as we go through life,
you know, I want to do this, I want to
do this, but you're selling food or providing food. In
my mind, I don't even know how you start that enterprise.
Talk to me to the the process of you know,
so we don't open the grocery store.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Well, that's the I think we should start there because
we did ever have thought in a million years that
we were going to open.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
A grocery store. I mean, so I got into the.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Food space because of our oldest son, who at two
was diagnosed with autism, and they told us the most
important thing that we could do to help him was
to make sure he had a clean diet.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
But Jamie and I were both working in corporate America
busy schedules. It is probably many of your audience members.
We were like, how are we going to make these
healthy meals every day? But it was our son, so
we knew we had to. And as we started to
make those healthy meals, we became the first in the
country to make meatless meals for kids based on traditional kids'
favorite so that not only our son and our kids
could have access to healthy food, but many kids could.
(04:15):
And so that's how we got into the food business
many years ago and vowed actually to get out of
it because food is tough. You know, it's not an
easy space.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
To be in.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
We were a brand, we were in over one hundred
and fifty grocery stores around the country, but you know,
it was a really.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Tough business to be in.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
So we decided as you know, after about six years
to definitely pivot, we jumped into the tech space and
only got back into the grocery space during COVID, and
I saw all of the challenges around food accessibility. I
knew with our background also being in tech, that AI
could really impact how food was delivered and you didn't
(04:56):
have to worry about whether a grocery store was open,
or whether the hours were limited based on your schedules,
and all of those different things that we could.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Use AI to really drive access.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
And so that's what made me get motivated, is just
seeing just all the challenges that us as a collective
felt during that time.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
No, Jela Jelaila, you you let out a little statement
by our backgrounds in tech. Now that means I gotta
go a little bit further back on this relationship.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now. That's why I'm sticking with her, Jami, because.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
You let a little you dropped a little a little
germ of tech talk and then you slid over.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
The AI real quick.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Give was it our educational background or background that led
you into that tech space that you were doing prior
to the meatless industry, they had you in over one
hundred and fifty stores nationwide.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, so I mean for both of us, we have
similar backgrounds, so we both have MBAs and business not
formally formally trained in tech. We're street talk, right, So
what does.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
That mean street talk? I gotta say the phone over here.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
You are not gonna let me Ju Laila get away
with this conversation.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Oh no, no no, no no no no no, let's start. Ja.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
Stop talking to you, Jamie, Jamie. Now now what you
can't do to me, brother is bring your fans talking
wife on my show. And then under the two words.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
We both got nbas, but we learned our tech, you know,
street street talk.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Everything.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Let me tell.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
You our formal education is. However, our tech education it.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Came about because we saw a need and we were like, okay,
we need to figure out how.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
To do this.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Put that NBA mind together, the NBA mind together.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
How hard can this be?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I always say it's probably good that you don't have
a background in certain things because you think it's.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Not so hard. How hard can it be?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Right? But we were able to partner with really good
developers and then really got our hands dirty.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And started figuring out.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
I started to learn how to do Python and all
those different things. I just you know, went online and
started to teach myself as much as I could, and
then also hired a really amazing team that worked alongside
us to ensure that we could bring our idea to fruition.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
But the biggest thing is that, you know, we developed
two tech platforms. So you know, going back, so yes,
we started off in the food industry, right and then
fast forward, we actually developed two tech platforms. So one platform,
well they're both scheduling platforms. One was in the cannabis
(07:40):
industry and one was in the pharmaceutical industry. And so
you know, we were you know, both pharmaceutical reps. Jula was,
she's been in the pharma game for you know a
long time. You know, I did my tone in and
so what we saw was that there was like this
this scheduling conflict between pharmaceutical reps and doors and so
(08:01):
for us, we wanted.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
To create a solution.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
So what we did was that we created a solution,
and it was a scheduling platform to where you know, uh,
pharmaceutical reps can go in there book of time, you
know with the doctor. Uh if the doctor wasn't available,
the doctor would just say, hey, you know what I'm
not available, and then.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
It would just bring in another doctor.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
So we had that platform, and then we also had
another platform where it was scheduling between the between the
dispensaries and also the vendors. So that's how you know,
we built our first, you know, two platforms, you know,
going into tech, and then fast forward from there, we
(08:43):
combined that idea of food and tech and then now
here we are market.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I'm so done with both, y'all.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I'm so done with both for y'all in a good way,
because my was you got to explain when you say
people we you say things like I'm mad at both
for y'all, Well, I'm really mad at both, y'all. First
of all, we started meatless meals for kids.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Let's get that out of the way, Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Then he's gonna slide in NBA's just a couple of
NBA's on the business side, and then she gonna slide
in it. But then she gonna back it and go
We street learned, Street learn, Street.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Learning, and Jamie gonna slide in.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
We developed two scheduling platform with We scheduled two scheduling platform,
one for cannabis and one for pharmaceuticals. You knew, like
if your doctor isn't there, it just slide in another doctor.
I went, that just happened to me this week.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
On my chart. I went on my chart, which is
Emory Hospital. I said, I couldn't do October fourth. They
just lived another doctor right in Now black people and now.
And I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
But that's what money making conversations, master classes all about
bringing and showcase because you guys are stars, you know,
and sometimes in this industry with entrepreneurs being such a.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Brand word now and how do you get there?
Speaker 1 (10:16):
But it's too planning, and you guys are doing it
as a husband and wife team.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And I felt that when I was doing my background our.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Research on you guys, I really want to tell as
much of the overall story of you two outside of
the autonomous grocery store, because that's what that's the end
game of this conversation, that you guys are not only
giving back to the community because technically you don't have to.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Okay, life has been good to you.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
God has blessed you guys, But in the process of
doing that, you want to change your community. That's what's
driving this interview right now. But with Lord we need
to know, y'all to just stumbled upon this idea to
let the world, and I.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Think there's something to that.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Sometimes when you're going through things in life, you don't
even realize how those experiences are gonna shape what you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
End up doing.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
You're not gonna do that. You're not gonna do.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Me like that.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
You stumble like four times on this interview.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I want to be around you when you fall, because
you're gonna because you're gonna fall on money.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I know that fact.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
You're not gonna your lips to gods.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
You're gonna fallold some money. So it was when I
was going through the questions, it was an interesting thing here, Jamie.
It was said, there there's more than tech. It's our story.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
We are married couple, raising three kids, caring for an
aging parent, and building legacy in real time.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Talk to me about that.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Yeah, so you know it's it's a reality, right, you
know where you know, raising you know three black children.
You know our oldest has you know a disability, our
you know youngest son, you know he has you know, dyslexia.
And so for us going through this journey and building
(12:07):
this amazing business, it's like yes, we're a married couple.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
We're in business, but then we're also parents.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
So it's like, once we deal with all the nonsense
that we have to deal with in the business, when
we come home, we have to be parents. You know,
we have to be there when our daughter, because we
know our youngest child, you know, our daughter, you know,
when when she got some things going on, you know, we.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Got to be there for her.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
And for our boys, we also have to make sure
that we're there for them. So that family dynamic, you know,
for us, it's very important, and we're a tight knit group,
you know, and so that balance sometimes can be very
difficult because a lot of times, you know, we're away,
you know, we're at the store, we're at other places.
You know, we're doing different things, we're in meetings, and
(12:57):
so for us, it's like we're trying to in this
balance of being a married couple, you know, being parents,
I mean.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
And also you know it taking care of my mom
who has who has the beginning stages of dementia. But
I mean, I think that the balance comes in because
we make sure that they're involved. So our kids are
involved in the business, they're working the day to day operations,
like they don't have a choice. I was like, we're
building this thing and you're building it too.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
So you know what they have to realize is that listen,
mom and dad is working really hard and they see that,
like they really they really see it.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
And for us, that's important for them to see that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
You know, she wasn't gonna let you talk too long
that chamber. How might I go ten thousand one, ten
thousand two, like jump.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Rope with her.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
To get in to get But I will tell you
just something about motivation for your child who has dyslexia. Uh.
Steven A. Smith and dyslexia as a child. So you
can set your child in front of TV and point
at that young man right there and say that can
be you. And one of the most articulate, intelligent men
(14:11):
in television.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Absolutely Steve Smith, right.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And the dyslexia. Uh, it was something he was born
with and he was able to overcome it. And he
is in his book popular book Straight Shooter that he wrote,
he talks about it in the detail because sometimes you
got a child, got to see that, see the possibilities
and uh. And and when you see him, you go
unless he tells you that you don't know that was
part of his past. And that's part of what this
(14:38):
conversation is about is a journey. And that's why I'm
so engaged with you as in a couple, because AI
is where we're at today. You know, I will tell
you when I heard it about three years ago, I
was like, okay, whatever, whatever, It's a major part of
my company.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
How I use AI, whether I use it for different platforms,
I do use it. So but you said somebody in
one of your questions, Jualaila, people.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Are not ready for AI. What do you mean by that?
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Yeah, I mean well many say I'm not We hear that, right,
and that's that's a lot of feedback that we get that, Oh,
I don't want to I don't want to mess with AI,
and they don't even realize that AI is a part
of everything that they do.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
If you have a smartphone in your.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Possession, you know AI is involved, right, If you have
a lexus, AI is involved. But you know, I think
as a culture, and especially as a black culture, we
tend to be protective and pause and kind of wait
to see what happens first before we jump into the
next level of innovation. But in this case, we don't
have that opportunity or that time. You know, AI is here,
(15:41):
it's not going anywhere. It's you know, it's incorporated into
every single aspect of all things that we do at
this point, even to grocery, right, and so how at
this point for us, you know, we all just have
to get on board and start to embrace and see
how we can incorporate it into especially our work life,
because AI is that.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Now we talked about.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Don just get back to the journey of why y'all
contacted Rashawn McDonald Money Making Conversation.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
We got to get rid of these food deserts and
then you went to lail. I don't know how we
got in the food business. The bottom line is the
hardest business in the world. Shot. We got out of
the meatless game where.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
We were spelling weed, were telling weed over there, cannabis
and schedule the doctors.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
But we came back because we crazy. We crazy. Stay
with us.
Speaker 8 (16:33):
More Money Making Conversation master class coming up next. Welcome
back to Money Making Conversation master Class with me Rashawan McDonalds.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
So, how do you done? You to Javin, how do
you get into this?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
How do you because it's a one point three trillion
dollar business. It's a slow moving business, and I have
to believe it's one of those business where everybody can't
get into the party.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
How did you get in?
Speaker 5 (17:03):
So are we okay? So are we talking about? How
did we get into the autonomous grocery game?
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Before you would you have to get in the grocery
game before you become automatic?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
You know what I'm saying, before you get technology? Or
did you just started simultaneously?
Speaker 3 (17:17):
This was all in baby?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
What happened to that? I stumbled in? What happened to that?
I learned take on the on the fly? Now, Man,
it's a whole land.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
We went Ai and grouchy simultaneously, because you know the
only way I.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Was gonna do it.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
So when we had this idea, this was back in
twenty twenty, on the pandemic, right.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Right, too much, I stopped stop looking at if I
could cut this green off. I stopped looking at him
because she's just smiling because he about to jump rope
right into this conversation.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
She's about to no, but I know she's gonna jump in.
You know, But this idea, it started back in twenty
twenty during the pandemic right. And so even during that time,
just creating a business was absolutely crazy, right because of
I think that was going on. But for us, we
(18:13):
saw something, We saw an opportunity, right, and so yes,
we have, you know, experience in food, we have experience
in tech. And so we said to ourselves, listen, you know,
we're in this community. You know, our kids are, you know,
in this community, and we saw a need in this area.
So we said to ourselves, hey, you know what, let's
(18:34):
go ahead and open up a store. Right. So then
we started like going back and forth, well what type
of store should we do? You know, we were in
the food business before, you know, what are we going
to do? So we said to ourselves, hey, you know what,
let's let's do maybe some type of like grocery store
in this neighborhood because the fact that, you know, there's
no grocery stores that are nearby, so in this little place,
(18:57):
let's develop something.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
And then we were like, but wait a minute.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
You know, it's the pandemic, right, Ain't nobody want to
touch each other and be around each other and things
like that. So we're like, okay, what can we do
that's innovative and different? And so we knew about this technology.
The technology autonomous technology has been around for a very
long time, and so for us, we said to ourselves, hey,
you know what, let's let's let's do that. Let's do
(19:23):
something different, because if people don't want to be in
contact with each other, let's create something to where they
can have twenty four hour access to food. And so
from there we just we just went in. We went in,
we strategized, we planned it, and when I tell you,
in less than a year, we were able to open.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Up our first store. Okay with the autonomous technology. Okay, cool,
so these are not prototypes. You guys have actual stores, correct, Yeah, okay,
is jump open time. Let's talk about from prototype to reality.
We're working one people maybe using your storefront and don't
(20:07):
even know it.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Talk to us.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
So we started, as Jamie said, the first store right
where we were in the community.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
So that was a food desert.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
I do want to make sure that we talk about
that because the closest grocery store was fifteen minutes away,
so That'sville, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
So that was our flagship store.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I've read about that.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
So that we opened and so we were really excited
about opening that store. And then we learned, as you know,
quickly on as we were opening our store, we talked
about our mission being twenty four to seven access for everyone,
that we couldn't service everyone and so if you had
EBT in frictionless checkout, you couldn't take it. And so
for us, at that point we went back and started
(20:46):
to redevelop our solution and kept our flagship store open,
still operational, but we said, we got to make sure
that everybody can shop in our stores. And so this
year we actually became the first in the country to
be able to accept EBT in this zero check out environment,
and that was perfect timing for where we opened our
second store in Cascade Heights, which is also a historic
(21:06):
food desert. Amazing history in Cascade Heights area in Atlanta,
but when it came to food accessibility, it was really
tough for those residents, and so we were super excited
to then bring our technology and our grocery store solution
to that community.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
So that's our second store.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
So those are the two areas currently and we're building
three more stores right now.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Okay from my audience and me, EBT stands for what
and who uses EBT.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
So EBT is the government subsidy for food access so
sometimes called SNAP. It's supplemental nutritional benefits that the government
provides if you meet a certain income qualification.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And so.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
You know, even that technology has evolved, right, It used
to be like paper like dollars, and now everyone has
a hard based version of that. But prior to us,
if you came into a store like ours with this
level of tech technology is the method of checkout, you
couldn't shop. And so you know, we said that's not okay.
And so for us, we went back and started to
(22:09):
redevelop our technology so that if you do have SNAP,
you can shop, because you should be able to shop
anywhere that you.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Want to shop.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
I mean, just to be just to be clear about
the shopping part, right, is that you know, people could
go to, you know, an autonomous store to shop.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
But here's the difference.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
They would have to be taken out of that environment
and they would have to check out separately from that
autonomous grocery store. We are actually the first company to
provide people with EBT SNAP benefits that they could actually
shop inside our frictionless store, pick up an item, walk out,
(22:52):
and they're done. They don't have to sit there and
talk to a staff member separately to go ahead and
do that.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
So that's dignity back, right.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
Just because you might have to have some assistance at
the time in your life doesn't mean that you have
to be you know, and have that embarrassment or that
level of exactly. So now you get to shop them
the same method as everybody else.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Okay, now it comes down to the big question security.
How do you stop people for buying ticket stuff they
not buying?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Well, we through that stuff, because that's that's in my mind.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Go Okay, you're in the store there.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I know people. I'm not saying people, but I do
know people exactly shot McDonald college in.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
That exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
So when you come into the store, there's a turnstyle,
and the turnstyle is when you scan your app or
you tap your card at that point and authorization is taken.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
The door doesn't even open unless you have fun.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Now, I got all that, I got all that I
was with and.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
There's fifty plus cameras on the ceiling, right, So the
technology is watching what you're picking up and what you're
putting back, not to scary, but I mean it's also
identifying who you are, right, So I mean what we've found, honestly,
it's been a huge deterrence because what you've seen in
the grocery industry about shrinkage is that, especially post pandemic,
where everybody went to that self checkout process, there's a
(24:18):
tremendous amount of honest shrink. And honest shrink is I'm
at the grocery store. I put a case of water
under my cart. I got all this stuff in the
main cart, and by the time I check out and
I put the bags back, and I forgot I had
that water underneath the cart. And you walk out with
that water for free. And so a lot of retailers
are seeing a tremendous amount of increase in shrinkage for
the honest shrink the ones that you do you don't
even know realize that you didn't bring up that one.
(24:41):
All of that gets taken away with our technology, right,
So we found that a shrink for us is extremely low.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
And secondly, more people are so.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Like cautious, like they're just like, I want to make
sure I paid.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Like because I hey, like they know they'll send an email.
Let's want to make sure, let's steal it all I
was charged. And so we nominally right because they see.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It cameras pop out.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Hey, so yeah, and they're also just happy to have
an option. Right, We're going in the areas that have
been begging for food, absolutely and now they do.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
So I'm there with you got all these cameras, So
somebody has something that they didn't purchase or how does
that work because you told about the cameras. You told
them about all the scanners. Okay, so they go through
the checkout sign self checkout.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
No, no, there's no, there's no there's no checkouts. So okay,
so I'll break it down. Okay, when you when you.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
First enter our store, Okay, Before that, we actually have
our Nurse and Blue Market app.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Okay, so you would have to add.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Your payments your debit card, credit card, or your.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Ebt and you can add that to the app. Okay,
you also have another option to where you can just
tell but from there, we've already captured your payment information.
So one you actually walk inside the store, the cameras
up above is actually tracking you everywhere within the store.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
So whatever you pick up or put back, that system knows.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
So you know, if you pick something up and you
want to throw it across the room to your homeboy.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Hey, go out ahead, you already got charged.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
If you want to eat half of it in the
if you want to go around and drink everything and
put it back on the shelf and eat and go
round of ahead, knock yourself out.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
But when you leave that store, you're gonna get charged.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Right.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
It's a very intelligent system. And so it's a combination
of weighted sensors on the shelves and that's how we
can tell so like when if you pick something up
and drink it and put it back, it can tell
that weight difference. And then also we have our cameras
up above that's also tracking what you're picking up and
who is actually within the store itself. So it's a
(26:54):
very smart system. So once you're inside, there is no stealing.
Once you're inside and you walk out with the item,
you take an item.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
You're paying for it.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Okay, I'm talking to Jelaya and Jamie Hemmings, the founders
co visionary.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
They are visionary.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I'm just telling you I've had the people on the show,
but these two are visionaries. Co founders of Norrish and
bloom Market started in Fairville and Cascade. You have two
locations when we talked about grocery stores.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Now, when I went through my.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Questions that were sent to me, they said, dude, you
have too high ya I have some high visibility locations
like a Mercedes been Stadium.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Is that correct? We do? Okay, but you didn't mention that.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
I know. That's that our technology has evolved.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Again again miss Stumbler information Jamie I was.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
I was like, resisted, Jamie, maybe she's bringing this because
she she said, that's it.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
No technology you continue to see involved.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
So what we realized was that everyone might not be
at the space to have a right and so we
realized that we could still service through utilizing the same
technology that Jamie described, but condensing it down to a
single door. So think about a fridge door in a
grocery store embedded with our technology that you can tap
a card or you can scan our app and door opens,
(28:19):
you can grab whatever you want and be able to
walk out. So we've been able to support Mercedes Benz
Stadium employees so that when maybe there's not an event
or game, that they still have access to good food
because our fridges are supporting them there. And we've actually
helped American Heart Association with that as well, and so
just how do we get into food deserts as fast
(28:39):
as we can. We can implement those really quickly and
deploy those super fast so that we can ensure that,
you know, the food desert issues goes away as quickly
as possible.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
And the information I got to pull out a hard Jamie.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Is too much, too much. I know, I'm messing what
you delated, But Jamie, he's no better. He's no better.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I'm not.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
This is an old man conversation and we can't get
up on you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
He is no better.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
Now together now, a couple of NBA, ordinary people.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Ordinary kids be going They just not telling the truth.
Uh e b ts. We talked about that they are
under threat, and we talked about that when the Trump
administration or the administration in general, how would that impact
what you're trying to accomplish, what your committed technology efforts.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
And in these communities that lack banks, that lack.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Food or food is reasonably priced, not that corner drug
store got old stuff or stuff that's priced out of
line or don't have the stuff that they will get
if you walked out of the community and you see
that available on other people's share how's that dealing with
you and what impact can that have on your business?
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I mean it has significant impact.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
I think you know when you see the cuts that
he's looking to do over the next ten.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Years for Snap, right, I think you know.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
So for us, it's you know, so that you know
that could be you know, a meal or two or
three that's missed when you think about it and quantify
it for a family. And so that's why, in addition
to just providing food, we're really passionate about workforce innovation
and how are we helping our communities to be a
part of this new tech revolution, right, because we have
(30:34):
to start coming up with additional income power because you know,
for them, they're trying to pull as many resources as
they can from us and we have to replace that
and AI can help us do that. And so that's
why we've been doing a lot around workforce. But an
interesting thing about Snap is that when you think about
these big box stores, about thirty percent of their revenue.
So think about a Walmart, right, because people are like
(30:54):
Snap and they turn their face down, but thirty percent
of Walmart's revenue comes from eb T, right, So this
is a pretty significant I mean that's a multi you know,
trillion dollar company at this point, right, Like, think about
that and the impact that it's going to have. So
I'm hoping that these big block stores along with us,
will you know, shout that this is really going to
not only impact these communities, but it's going to impact
(31:15):
the businesses that serve these communities as well. But that's
why we're just pushing for local first, and so we
can keep our costs down as much as possible so
that they can afford more working with farms locally as well,
and just you know, helping them to gain this necessary
skills necessary that they need to be able to participate
(31:37):
so that we can help them to earn some additional
dollars for their family.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
I would tell you some Jalala and Jamie Hemmings, it's
a blessing man. I you know, sometimes my platform I
wish was bigger because people more people need to hear
your story. More people need to be more people of
our community to be proud of what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
But they don't know what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
And so every once when I get an interview on
my show, that just frusted me, frustrating me because I
would what could I do more.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
What can I get the word ou because.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Y'all are so brilliant, y'all so yeah, So I'm lucky
to interview you.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I'm lucky to have y'all in my life today.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
And I believe forty years from now, you know, you
guys are gonna be a legacy for somebody to look
back and go, you know.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Them Hmmings, that's what they did, the Hymans.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
The Hemmings family can be our Rockefeller family could be
you know, our Kennedy type family. And I believe that
because but what I will tell y'all on this show,
stop underselling y'allselves.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Y'all are too brilliant, amazing.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I'm not selling. I'm not saying y'all all, but I'm
just talking about Stan McDonough. Y'all are too brilliant, amazing
individuals who understand the ability to pivot, understand the ability
to overcome the arts, and you give back and along
the way many people benefit from that. And I want
to tell you that for myself, I've been around long
(33:06):
enough and I made a lot of people famous in
this life and made a lot of people a lot
of money in this life.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
You two people are very very special. That's all I
got to say. That's all.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
I we appreciate that. That doesn't mean a lot.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
It's a lot of hard work and sometimes we feel
like we're.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
That's how we have each other.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, because it's any platforms like you all.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
This really helped to share like what we're doing because
we wanted, I mean, it doesn't want to just be
an Atlanta thing, and we've actually started to go outside
of Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
We want to really help food deserts all over the country.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Well, I'm gonna do my best to uh make some
connections and if I can get other interviews, other platforms
for you, the TV mediums. So if you get some calls, hey,
we heard with Sean McDonald's about you know that I'm
out there.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I'm a bullhorned for the Hemings. Okay, you know, but
you this is great.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
This has been a fun interview, but an informative interview
and a journey down memory lane from of y'all ain't
got good memory Okay, numbling at the money.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Let me just read it. Let me as we close
the show, let me.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Let y'all know about the Hemi's meatless meatless meals for kids. Uh,
they stumbled on some tech here and while they was stumbling,
because they got two nbas. They are created a scheduling
platform for cannabis, and they're scheduling platform for pharmaceuticals. And
if you need a doctor, just undo that doctor.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Another doctor slide and the slot.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
They started an autonomous grocery store in Fairville, not one
of the Cascade. They got their little stores and men
say these bands and troll those studios, but they don't
say that really loud because that makes them sound too good.
But I'm here to tell you they are fantastic. They're
making a ground many great movement in the grocery store industry,
and she's they're using a to do it. Thank you
(35:01):
for coming on Money Making Conversations Masterclass, y'all, a blessed you,
Thank you, hemmy.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 8 (35:10):
This has been Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashaun McDonald.
Thanks to our guests and our audience. Visit Moneymakingconversations dot
com to listen and register to be a guest.
Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald host this weekly Money Making Conversation
Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show provides
off for everyone, and I'm talking to you, my friend.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I want you to come on board and be with us.
Come along for this ride.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and
start living your own now. If you want to be
a guest on my show, Money Making Conversation Masterclass, please
visit our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click to be
a guest button. If you're a small business owner, entrepreneur,
motivational speaker, influencer or nonprofit I want you on my show. Now,
let's get started. My guests are the visionary co founders
(00:37):
of Nourish and bloom Market, the world's first black owned
autonomous grocery store. During by mission to eliminate food deserts
and empower underserved communities, they fuse cutting edge AI technology
with healthy living. As a dynamic husband and wife duo,
they are reshaping the future retail while building generational legacy
(00:59):
through IT impact and ownership. Please welcome to the Money Making
Conversations Julaia and Jamie Hemmings.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
How you doing Jelaia and Jamie Jay and Jay Jay
and Jay JJJ. I love it. Let's talk about the
name of your business.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Is Norrish Norrish, I'll probably saying it wrong because I'm
from the South and Bloom Market. Tell us how you
came up with that name and what does it mean
to you in particular?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, I mean nourish and bloom.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I'll be thought it was the perfect name actually, because
that's exactly what we set out to do. Our mission
is twenty four to seven fresh food for everyone, right,
and we know that food is the key ingredient to
having good health and just being able to have overall
good performance. And so if you nourish your body, well
you'll be able to bloom in for us, that just
felt like the right name, nourished the body, bloom.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So there you go. We know it's Janie.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I'm from inner city Houston, Texas, and I've always fought
for financial literacy. You know, in certain community communities of
color you have to find no banks and then you
don't have the big box grocery stores into our communities.
So define to me so we can be on the
(02:19):
same page. Jamie, what exactly when you say food desert
what are you talking about.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Yeah, so when we're talking about food deserts, we're talking
about you know, access and the miles associated with that.
So when you're looking in an urban neighborhood, if it's
more than you know, five miles away, then that's considered
a food desert.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
In a rural area, I think it's.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Sorry, rural area is more than five ye sorry, sorry,
A rural area is more than five miles and an
urban area is actually more than one mile away, So
that would be the death definition of a food desert.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So you know, if you're one.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
Mile away in an urban area from a grocery store,
then that's considered a food desert. And if you're five
miles away in a rural area, then that's considered a
food desert.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Good.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
So, Julia, how did you guys get into grocery business?
You know, like you know, as we go through life,
you know, I want to do this, I want to
do this, but you're selling food or providing food. In
my mind, I don't even know how you start that enterprise.
Talk to me to the the process of you know,
so we don't open the grocery store.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Well, that's the I think we should start there because
we did ever have thought in a million years that
we were going to open.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
A grocery store. I mean, so I got into the.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Food space because of our oldest son, who at two
was diagnosed with autism, and they told us the most
important thing that we could do to help him was
to make sure he had a clean diet.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
But Jamie and I were both working in corporate America
busy schedules. It is probably many of your audience members.
We were like, how are we going to make these
healthy meals every day? But it was our son, so
we knew we had to. And as we started to
make those healthy meals, we became the first in the
country to make meatless meals for kids based on traditional kids'
favorite so that not only our son and our kids
could have access to healthy food, but many kids could.
(04:15):
And so that's how we got into the food business
many years ago and vowed actually to get out of
it because food is tough. You know, it's not an
easy space.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
To be in.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
We were a brand, we were in over one hundred
and fifty grocery stores around the country, but you know,
it was a really.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Tough business to be in.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
So we decided as you know, after about six years
to definitely pivot, we jumped into the tech space and
only got back into the grocery space during COVID, and
I saw all of the challenges around food accessibility. I
knew with our background also being in tech, that AI
could really impact how food was delivered and you didn't
(04:56):
have to worry about whether a grocery store was open,
or whether the hours were limited based on your schedules,
and all of those different things that we could.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Use AI to really drive access.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
And so that's what made me get motivated, is just
seeing just all the challenges that us as a collective
felt during that time.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
No, Jela Jelaila, you you let out a little statement
by our backgrounds in tech. Now that means I gotta
go a little bit further back on this relationship.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now. That's why I'm sticking with her, Jami, because.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
You let a little you dropped a little a little
germ of tech talk and then you slid over.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
The AI real quick.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Give was it our educational background or background that led
you into that tech space that you were doing prior
to the meatless industry, they had you in over one
hundred and fifty stores nationwide.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, so I mean for both of us, we have
similar backgrounds, so we both have MBAs and business not
formally formally trained in tech. We're street talk, right, So
what does.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
That mean street talk? I gotta say the phone over here.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
You are not gonna let me Ju Laila get away
with this conversation.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Oh no, no no, no no no no no, let's start. Ja.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
Stop talking to you, Jamie, Jamie. Now now what you
can't do to me, brother is bring your fans talking
wife on my show. And then under the two words.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
We both got nbas, but we learned our tech, you know,
street street talk.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Everything.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Let me tell.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
You our formal education is. However, our tech education it.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Came about because we saw a need and we were like, okay,
we need to figure out how.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
To do this.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Put that NBA mind together, the NBA mind together.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
How hard can this be?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I always say it's probably good that you don't have
a background in certain things because you think it's.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Not so hard. How hard can it be?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Right? But we were able to partner with really good
developers and then really got our hands dirty.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And started figuring out.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
I started to learn how to do Python and all
those different things. I just you know, went online and
started to teach myself as much as I could, and
then also hired a really amazing team that worked alongside
us to ensure that we could bring our idea to fruition.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
But the biggest thing is that, you know, we developed
two tech platforms. So you know, going back, so yes,
we started off in the food industry, right and then
fast forward, we actually developed two tech platforms. So one platform,
well they're both scheduling platforms. One was in the cannabis
(07:40):
industry and one was in the pharmaceutical industry. And so
you know, we were you know, both pharmaceutical reps. Jula was,
she's been in the pharma game for you know a
long time. You know, I did my tone in and
so what we saw was that there was like this
this scheduling conflict between pharmaceutical reps and doors and so
(08:01):
for us, we wanted.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
To create a solution.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
So what we did was that we created a solution,
and it was a scheduling platform to where you know, uh,
pharmaceutical reps can go in there book of time, you
know with the doctor. Uh if the doctor wasn't available,
the doctor would just say, hey, you know what I'm
not available, and then.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
It would just bring in another doctor.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
So we had that platform, and then we also had
another platform where it was scheduling between the between the
dispensaries and also the vendors. So that's how you know,
we built our first, you know, two platforms, you know,
going into tech, and then fast forward from there, we
(08:43):
combined that idea of food and tech and then now
here we are market.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I'm so done with both, y'all.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I'm so done with both for y'all in a good way,
because my was you got to explain when you say
people we you say things like I'm mad at both
for y'all, Well, I'm really mad at both, y'all. First
of all, we started meatless meals for kids.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Let's get that out of the way, Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Then he's gonna slide in NBA's just a couple of
NBA's on the business side, and then she gonna slide
in it. But then she gonna back it and go
We street learned, Street learn, Street.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Learning, and Jamie gonna slide in.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
We developed two scheduling platform with We scheduled two scheduling platform,
one for cannabis and one for pharmaceuticals. You knew, like
if your doctor isn't there, it just slide in another doctor.
I went, that just happened to me this week.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
On my chart. I went on my chart, which is
Emory Hospital. I said, I couldn't do October fourth. They
just lived another doctor right in Now black people and now.
And I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
But that's what money making conversations, master classes all about
bringing and showcase because you guys are stars, you know,
and sometimes in this industry with entrepreneurs being such a.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Brand word now and how do you get there?
Speaker 1 (10:16):
But it's too planning, and you guys are doing it
as a husband and wife team.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And I felt that when I was doing my background our.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Research on you guys, I really want to tell as
much of the overall story of you two outside of
the autonomous grocery store, because that's what that's the end
game of this conversation, that you guys are not only
giving back to the community because technically you don't have to.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Okay, life has been good to you.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
God has blessed you guys, But in the process of
doing that, you want to change your community. That's what's
driving this interview right now. But with Lord we need
to know, y'all to just stumbled upon this idea to
let the world, and I.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Think there's something to that.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Sometimes when you're going through things in life, you don't
even realize how those experiences are gonna shape what you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
End up doing.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
You're not gonna do that. You're not gonna do.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Me like that.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
You stumble like four times on this interview.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I want to be around you when you fall, because
you're gonna because you're gonna fall on money.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I know that fact.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
You're not gonna your lips to gods.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
You're gonna fallold some money. So it was when I
was going through the questions, it was an interesting thing here, Jamie.
It was said, there there's more than tech. It's our story.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
We are married couple, raising three kids, caring for an
aging parent, and building legacy in real time.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Talk to me about that.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Yeah, so you know it's it's a reality, right, you
know where you know, raising you know three black children.
You know our oldest has you know a disability, our
you know youngest son, you know he has you know, dyslexia.
And so for us going through this journey and building
(12:07):
this amazing business, it's like yes, we're a married couple.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
We're in business, but then we're also parents.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
So it's like, once we deal with all the nonsense
that we have to deal with in the business, when
we come home, we have to be parents. You know,
we have to be there when our daughter, because we
know our youngest child, you know, our daughter, you know,
when when she got some things going on, you know, we.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Got to be there for her.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
And for our boys, we also have to make sure
that we're there for them. So that family dynamic, you know,
for us, it's very important, and we're a tight knit group,
you know, and so that balance sometimes can be very
difficult because a lot of times, you know, we're away,
you know, we're at the store, we're at other places.
You know, we're doing different things, we're in meetings, and
(12:57):
so for us, it's like we're trying to in this
balance of being a married couple, you know, being parents,
I mean.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
And also you know it taking care of my mom
who has who has the beginning stages of dementia. But
I mean, I think that the balance comes in because
we make sure that they're involved. So our kids are
involved in the business, they're working the day to day operations,
like they don't have a choice. I was like, we're
building this thing and you're building it too.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
So you know what they have to realize is that listen,
mom and dad is working really hard and they see that,
like they really they really see it.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
And for us, that's important for them to see that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
You know, she wasn't gonna let you talk too long
that chamber. How might I go ten thousand one, ten
thousand two, like jump.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Rope with her.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
To get in to get But I will tell you
just something about motivation for your child who has dyslexia. Uh.
Steven A. Smith and dyslexia as a child. So you
can set your child in front of TV and point
at that young man right there and say that can
be you. And one of the most articulate, intelligent men
(14:11):
in television.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Absolutely Steve Smith, right.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And the dyslexia. Uh, it was something he was born
with and he was able to overcome it. And he
is in his book popular book Straight Shooter that he wrote,
he talks about it in the detail because sometimes you
got a child, got to see that, see the possibilities
and uh. And and when you see him, you go
unless he tells you that you don't know that was
part of his past. And that's part of what this
(14:38):
conversation is about is a journey. And that's why I'm
so engaged with you as in a couple, because AI
is where we're at today. You know, I will tell
you when I heard it about three years ago, I
was like, okay, whatever, whatever, It's a major part of
my company.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
How I use AI, whether I use it for different platforms,
I do use it. So but you said somebody in
one of your questions, Jualaila, people.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Are not ready for AI. What do you mean by that?
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Yeah, I mean well many say I'm not We hear that, right,
and that's that's a lot of feedback that we get that, Oh,
I don't want to I don't want to mess with AI,
and they don't even realize that AI is a part
of everything that they do.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
If you have a smartphone in your.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Possession, you know AI is involved, right, If you have
a lexus, AI is involved. But you know, I think
as a culture, and especially as a black culture, we
tend to be protective and pause and kind of wait
to see what happens first before we jump into the
next level of innovation. But in this case, we don't
have that opportunity or that time. You know, AI is here,
(15:41):
it's not going anywhere. It's you know, it's incorporated into
every single aspect of all things that we do at
this point, even to grocery, right, and so how at
this point for us, you know, we all just have
to get on board and start to embrace and see
how we can incorporate it into especially our work life,
because AI is that.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Now we talked about.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Don just get back to the journey of why y'all
contacted Rashawn McDonald Money Making Conversation.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
We got to get rid of these food deserts and
then you went to lail. I don't know how we
got in the food business. The bottom line is the
hardest business in the world. Shot. We got out of
the meatless game where.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
We were spelling weed, were telling weed over there, cannabis
and schedule the doctors.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
But we came back because we crazy. We crazy. Stay
with us.
Speaker 8 (16:33):
More Money Making Conversation master class coming up next. Welcome
back to Money Making Conversation master Class with me Rashawan McDonalds.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
So, how do you done? You to Javin, how do
you get into this?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
How do you because it's a one point three trillion
dollar business. It's a slow moving business, and I have
to believe it's one of those business where everybody can't
get into the party.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
How did you get in?
Speaker 5 (17:03):
So are we okay? So are we talking about? How
did we get into the autonomous grocery game?
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Before you would you have to get in the grocery
game before you become automatic?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
You know what I'm saying, before you get technology? Or
did you just started simultaneously?
Speaker 3 (17:17):
This was all in baby?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
What happened to that? I stumbled in? What happened to that?
I learned take on the on the fly? Now, Man,
it's a whole land.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
We went Ai and grouchy simultaneously, because you know the
only way I.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Was gonna do it.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
So when we had this idea, this was back in
twenty twenty, on the pandemic, right.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Right, too much, I stopped stop looking at if I
could cut this green off. I stopped looking at him
because she's just smiling because he about to jump rope
right into this conversation.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
She's about to no, but I know she's gonna jump in.
You know, But this idea, it started back in twenty
twenty during the pandemic right. And so even during that time,
just creating a business was absolutely crazy, right because of
I think that was going on. But for us, we
(18:13):
saw something, We saw an opportunity, right, and so yes,
we have, you know, experience in food, we have experience
in tech. And so we said to ourselves, listen, you know,
we're in this community. You know, our kids are, you know,
in this community, and we saw a need in this area.
So we said to ourselves, hey, you know what, let's
(18:34):
go ahead and open up a store. Right. So then
we started like going back and forth, well what type
of store should we do? You know, we were in
the food business before, you know, what are we going
to do? So we said to ourselves, hey, you know what,
let's let's do maybe some type of like grocery store
in this neighborhood because the fact that, you know, there's
no grocery stores that are nearby, so in this little place,
(18:57):
let's develop something.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
And then we were like, but wait a minute.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
You know, it's the pandemic, right, Ain't nobody want to
touch each other and be around each other and things
like that. So we're like, okay, what can we do
that's innovative and different? And so we knew about this technology.
The technology autonomous technology has been around for a very
long time, and so for us, we said to ourselves, hey,
you know what, let's let's let's do that. Let's do
(19:23):
something different, because if people don't want to be in
contact with each other, let's create something to where they
can have twenty four hour access to food. And so
from there we just we just went in. We went in,
we strategized, we planned it, and when I tell you,
in less than a year, we were able to open.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Up our first store. Okay with the autonomous technology. Okay, cool,
so these are not prototypes. You guys have actual stores, correct, Yeah, okay,
is jump open time. Let's talk about from prototype to reality.
We're working one people maybe using your storefront and don't
(20:07):
even know it.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Talk to us.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
So we started, as Jamie said, the first store right
where we were in the community.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
So that was a food desert.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
I do want to make sure that we talk about
that because the closest grocery store was fifteen minutes away,
so That'sville, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
So that was our flagship store.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I've read about that.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
So that we opened and so we were really excited
about opening that store. And then we learned, as you know,
quickly on as we were opening our store, we talked
about our mission being twenty four to seven access for everyone,
that we couldn't service everyone and so if you had
EBT in frictionless checkout, you couldn't take it. And so
for us, at that point we went back and started
(20:46):
to redevelop our solution and kept our flagship store open,
still operational, but we said, we got to make sure
that everybody can shop in our stores. And so this
year we actually became the first in the country to
be able to accept EBT in this zero check out environment,
and that was perfect timing for where we opened our
second store in Cascade Heights, which is also a historic
(21:06):
food desert. Amazing history in Cascade Heights area in Atlanta,
but when it came to food accessibility, it was really
tough for those residents, and so we were super excited
to then bring our technology and our grocery store solution
to that community.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
So that's our second store.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
So those are the two areas currently and we're building
three more stores right now.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Okay from my audience and me, EBT stands for what
and who uses EBT.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
So EBT is the government subsidy for food access so
sometimes called SNAP. It's supplemental nutritional benefits that the government
provides if you meet a certain income qualification.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And so.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
You know, even that technology has evolved, right, It used
to be like paper like dollars, and now everyone has
a hard based version of that. But prior to us,
if you came into a store like ours with this
level of tech technology is the method of checkout, you
couldn't shop. And so you know, we said that's not okay.
And so for us, we went back and started to
(22:09):
redevelop our technology so that if you do have SNAP,
you can shop, because you should be able to shop
anywhere that you.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Want to shop.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
I mean, just to be just to be clear about
the shopping part, right, is that you know, people could
go to, you know, an autonomous store to shop.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
But here's the difference.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
They would have to be taken out of that environment
and they would have to check out separately from that
autonomous grocery store. We are actually the first company to
provide people with EBT SNAP benefits that they could actually
shop inside our frictionless store, pick up an item, walk out,
(22:52):
and they're done. They don't have to sit there and
talk to a staff member separately to go ahead and
do that.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
So that's dignity back, right.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
Just because you might have to have some assistance at
the time in your life doesn't mean that you have
to be you know, and have that embarrassment or that
level of exactly. So now you get to shop them
the same method as everybody else.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Okay, now it comes down to the big question security.
How do you stop people for buying ticket stuff they
not buying?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Well, we through that stuff, because that's that's in my mind.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Go Okay, you're in the store there.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I know people. I'm not saying people, but I do
know people exactly shot McDonald college in.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
That exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
So when you come into the store, there's a turnstyle,
and the turnstyle is when you scan your app or
you tap your card at that point and authorization is taken.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
The door doesn't even open unless you have fun.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Now, I got all that, I got all that I
was with and.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
There's fifty plus cameras on the ceiling, right, So the
technology is watching what you're picking up and what you're
putting back, not to scary, but I mean it's also
identifying who you are, right, So I mean what we've found, honestly,
it's been a huge deterrence because what you've seen in
the grocery industry about shrinkage is that, especially post pandemic,
where everybody went to that self checkout process, there's a
(24:18):
tremendous amount of honest shrink. And honest shrink is I'm
at the grocery store. I put a case of water
under my cart. I got all this stuff in the
main cart, and by the time I check out and
I put the bags back, and I forgot I had
that water underneath the cart. And you walk out with
that water for free. And so a lot of retailers
are seeing a tremendous amount of increase in shrinkage for
the honest shrink the ones that you do you don't
even know realize that you didn't bring up that one.
(24:41):
All of that gets taken away with our technology, right,
So we found that a shrink for us is extremely low.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
And secondly, more people are so.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Like cautious, like they're just like, I want to make
sure I paid.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Like because I hey, like they know they'll send an email.
Let's want to make sure, let's steal it all I
was charged. And so we nominally right because they see.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It cameras pop out.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Hey, so yeah, and they're also just happy to have
an option. Right, We're going in the areas that have
been begging for food, absolutely and now they do.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
So I'm there with you got all these cameras, So
somebody has something that they didn't purchase or how does
that work because you told about the cameras. You told
them about all the scanners. Okay, so they go through
the checkout sign self checkout.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
No, no, there's no, there's no there's no checkouts. So okay,
so I'll break it down. Okay, when you when you.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
First enter our store, Okay, Before that, we actually have
our Nurse and Blue Market app.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Okay, so you would have to add.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Your payments your debit card, credit card, or your.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Ebt and you can add that to the app. Okay,
you also have another option to where you can just
tell but from there, we've already captured your payment information.
So one you actually walk inside the store, the cameras
up above is actually tracking you everywhere within the store.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
So whatever you pick up or put back, that system knows.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
So you know, if you pick something up and you
want to throw it across the room to your homeboy.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Hey, go out ahead, you already got charged.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
If you want to eat half of it in the
if you want to go around and drink everything and
put it back on the shelf and eat and go
round of ahead, knock yourself out.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
But when you leave that store, you're gonna get charged.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Right.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
It's a very intelligent system. And so it's a combination
of weighted sensors on the shelves and that's how we
can tell so like when if you pick something up
and drink it and put it back, it can tell
that weight difference. And then also we have our cameras
up above that's also tracking what you're picking up and
who is actually within the store itself. So it's a
(26:54):
very smart system. So once you're inside, there is no stealing.
Once you're inside and you walk out with the item,
you take an item.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
You're paying for it.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Okay, I'm talking to Jelaya and Jamie Hemmings, the founders
co visionary.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
They are visionary.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I'm just telling you I've had the people on the show,
but these two are visionaries. Co founders of Norrish and
bloom Market started in Fairville and Cascade. You have two
locations when we talked about grocery stores.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Now, when I went through my.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Questions that were sent to me, they said, dude, you
have too high ya I have some high visibility locations
like a Mercedes been Stadium.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Is that correct? We do? Okay, but you didn't mention that.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
I know. That's that our technology has evolved.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Again again miss Stumbler information Jamie I was.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
I was like, resisted, Jamie, maybe she's bringing this because
she she said, that's it.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
No technology you continue to see involved.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
So what we realized was that everyone might not be
at the space to have a right and so we
realized that we could still service through utilizing the same
technology that Jamie described, but condensing it down to a
single door. So think about a fridge door in a
grocery store embedded with our technology that you can tap
a card or you can scan our app and door opens,
(28:19):
you can grab whatever you want and be able to
walk out. So we've been able to support Mercedes Benz
Stadium employees so that when maybe there's not an event
or game, that they still have access to good food
because our fridges are supporting them there. And we've actually
helped American Heart Association with that as well, and so
just how do we get into food deserts as fast
(28:39):
as we can. We can implement those really quickly and
deploy those super fast so that we can ensure that,
you know, the food desert issues goes away as quickly
as possible.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
And the information I got to pull out a hard Jamie.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Is too much, too much. I know, I'm messing what
you delated, But Jamie, he's no better. He's no better.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
I'm not.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
This is an old man conversation and we can't get
up on you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
He is no better.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
Now together now, a couple of NBA, ordinary people.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Ordinary kids be going They just not telling the truth.
Uh e b ts. We talked about that they are
under threat, and we talked about that when the Trump
administration or the administration in general, how would that impact
what you're trying to accomplish, what your committed technology efforts.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
And in these communities that lack banks, that lack.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Food or food is reasonably priced, not that corner drug
store got old stuff or stuff that's priced out of
line or don't have the stuff that they will get
if you walked out of the community and you see
that available on other people's share how's that dealing with
you and what impact can that have on your business?
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I mean it has significant impact.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
I think you know when you see the cuts that
he's looking to do over the next ten.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Years for Snap, right, I think you know.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
So for us, it's you know, so that you know
that could be you know, a meal or two or
three that's missed when you think about it and quantify
it for a family. And so that's why, in addition
to just providing food, we're really passionate about workforce innovation
and how are we helping our communities to be a
part of this new tech revolution, right, because we have
(30:34):
to start coming up with additional income power because you know,
for them, they're trying to pull as many resources as
they can from us and we have to replace that
and AI can help us do that. And so that's
why we've been doing a lot around workforce. But an
interesting thing about Snap is that when you think about
these big box stores, about thirty percent of their revenue.
So think about a Walmart, right, because people are like
(30:54):
Snap and they turn their face down, but thirty percent
of Walmart's revenue comes from eb T, right, So this
is a pretty significant I mean that's a multi you know,
trillion dollar company at this point, right, Like, think about
that and the impact that it's going to have. So
I'm hoping that these big block stores along with us,
will you know, shout that this is really going to
not only impact these communities, but it's going to impact
(31:15):
the businesses that serve these communities as well. But that's
why we're just pushing for local first, and so we
can keep our costs down as much as possible so
that they can afford more working with farms locally as well,
and just you know, helping them to gain this necessary
skills necessary that they need to be able to participate
(31:37):
so that we can help them to earn some additional
dollars for their family.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
I would tell you some Jalala and Jamie Hemmings, it's
a blessing man. I you know, sometimes my platform I
wish was bigger because people more people need to hear
your story. More people need to be more people of
our community to be proud of what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
But they don't know what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
And so every once when I get an interview on
my show, that just frusted me, frustrating me because I
would what could I do more.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
What can I get the word ou because.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Y'all are so brilliant, y'all so yeah, So I'm lucky
to interview you.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I'm lucky to have y'all in my life today.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
And I believe forty years from now, you know, you
guys are gonna be a legacy for somebody to look
back and go, you know.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Them Hmmings, that's what they did, the Hymans.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
The Hemmings family can be our Rockefeller family could be
you know, our Kennedy type family. And I believe that
because but what I will tell y'all on this show,
stop underselling y'allselves.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Y'all are too brilliant, amazing.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I'm not selling. I'm not saying y'all all, but I'm
just talking about Stan McDonough. Y'all are too brilliant, amazing
individuals who understand the ability to pivot, understand the ability
to overcome the arts, and you give back and along
the way many people benefit from that. And I want
to tell you that for myself, I've been around long
(33:06):
enough and I made a lot of people famous in
this life and made a lot of people a lot
of money in this life.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
You two people are very very special. That's all I
got to say. That's all.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
I we appreciate that. That doesn't mean a lot.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
It's a lot of hard work and sometimes we feel
like we're.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
That's how we have each other.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, because it's any platforms like you all.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
This really helped to share like what we're doing because
we wanted, I mean, it doesn't want to just be
an Atlanta thing, and we've actually started to go outside
of Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
We want to really help food deserts all over the country.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Well, I'm gonna do my best to uh make some
connections and if I can get other interviews, other platforms
for you, the TV mediums. So if you get some calls, hey,
we heard with Sean McDonald's about you know that I'm
out there.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I'm a bullhorned for the Hemings. Okay, you know, but
you this is great.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
This has been a fun interview, but an informative interview
and a journey down memory lane from of y'all ain't
got good memory Okay, numbling at the money.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Let me just read it. Let me as we close
the show, let me.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Let y'all know about the Hemi's meatless meatless meals for kids. Uh,
they stumbled on some tech here and while they was stumbling,
because they got two nbas. They are created a scheduling
platform for cannabis, and they're scheduling platform for pharmaceuticals. And
if you need a doctor, just undo that doctor.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Another doctor slide and the slot.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
They started an autonomous grocery store in Fairville, not one
of the Cascade. They got their little stores and men
say these bands and troll those studios, but they don't
say that really loud because that makes them sound too good.
But I'm here to tell you they are fantastic. They're
making a ground many great movement in the grocery store industry,
and she's they're using a to do it. Thank you
(35:01):
for coming on Money Making Conversations Masterclass, y'all, a blessed you,
Thank you, hemmy.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 8 (35:10):
This has been Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rashaun McDonald.
Thanks to our guests and our audience. Visit Moneymakingconversations dot
com to listen and register to be a guest.
The Steve Harvey Morning Show News
Hosts And Creators
Steve Harvey
Shirley Strawberry
Thomas "Nephew Tommy" Miles
Carla Ferrell
Kier "Junior" Spates
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.