August 4, 2025 • 37 mins
Daughter of the legendary Otis Redding digs into what it’s like being a philanthropist, the Otis Redding Foundation, and managing the estate of a music icon alongside her mom!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's a girl, Nancy read.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
And this is season four of Mompreneurs, where we celebrate
beautiful black entrepreneurs who are also amazing moms. Now, every
week I'm chatting with my guests about how they are
crushing it simultaneously as a business mobile and a mom,
and we're listening to their inspiring journeys and incredible advice. Now,
some morepreneurs are on a mission to build a new
(00:22):
legacy for their family, a new one, right, But my
next guest has done a wonderful job of helping to
preserve her family's important legacy, ensuring that for generations to come,
we will all remember the music legend and philanthropists that
was Otis Redding. Now, Karla Reading Andrews didn't fully realize
(00:42):
the impact that her father had made.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
On society when she was growing up, but as she grew.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
To know more about him, she was determined to help
her mother found and maintain and grow the Otis Redding Foundation,
where she now serves as the executive director. They have
done will work for nearly two decades, and I can't
wait to talk to Carla about the origin her family's
legacy and also.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Her own welcome Carla.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Oh, I'm delighted to be here with you. Nancy. So nice,
so nice to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Oh, it's so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And now, always before we get too much into the
business side of things, well let's get a little bit personal.
Who in your life puts the mom and mompreneur. Tell
us about your husband and your sons.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
So, my wonderful husband of thirty eight years this year,
Timothy Andrews, we met at Georgia Southern University in the
early eighties, just became friends. He was pledging the Kappa
Apha Psi fraternity and I was worried about him.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
He didn't get food, so I.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Was just being a friendly friend and gave him some
food and the rest is history. So we have two boys,
Justin and Jared. They are ten years apart. Justin is
thirty six and Jared's twenty six, and both boys are
involved than our businesses of keeping the legacy going and
running the Otis Reading Center for the Arts as well
(02:05):
as the Otis Reading Museum.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So yeah, that's the I'm the girl.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I'm that girl in my family that controls everything and
I like being the only one, so so yeah, that's
that's my little that's my little family right there.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And see you're the girl, and so that's not the
only thing that separates you from everybody else.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You say you did not get any of your daddy's
musical talent, are you telling me none at all? Of
you do not have any.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Of his talent?
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Zero talent, no height. You know, I'm four feet eleven.
My dad was six to two. I got his looks.
That's all I got from my dad. I have no
musical talent, but I can say that between having two
parents who are so smart, both of them were very savage,
(02:58):
savvy business people. I got the brain, so you know,
I got a little edge up on my brothers, who
I'm not going to say they don't have any brain.
They have some brains, but they're great musicians and great singers.
But Mom and I are the brains behind this, this empire.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
That we have.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, and your mama has been the brains behind the
whole thing for a long time. I want to talk
about you come from generations of mom for North. This
is what's so beautiful about your story, because what's really
great You're not mourning a lack of musicality, like you said,
I know what I got, and I got a brain,
and you have used your brain to really help your
(03:37):
mother preserve his legacy, preserve your generational wealth, and make
this foundation international success.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Absolutely, And you know I have to give all the
prompts to my mom, who, you know, immediately with the
loss of my dad, just stepped in and stepped up
and said, you know, I got to protect things for
what old has lost.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
His life for.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
You know, name, image, likeness, the catalog of music. You
don't do anything with otis redding until you get it
approved by Zelma. And just seeing her do that growing
up just made me be really more of a person.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
To where you can control your own destiny.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Even with her husband and death, she's still controlling his
path just like he just left yesterday and she's still
doing that today.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
So I had a wonderful teacher.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
In her to give me all the rules and the
ins and outs of the of the music business and
as well as some common sense rules, because what my
mom says is book sense are great, but you gotta
have a lot of common sense too. So luckily I'm
blessed to have I think both thanks to her.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Thanks to her, girl, That's why I love your family.
I was actually talking to Ty, my producer beforehand.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I said, if aliens asked for an example of black
excellence in a family, your.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Family is an amazing example. Like it's like, okay, just
like exhibit A.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Because for people, because for people who don't know, your
family story is incredible. Just to recap for anyone listening,
and you know they may have heard the songs or
the name. But in the late sixties, your dad was
on his way to a concert and unfortunately perished in
a plane crash. And he was just twenty six years old. Okay,
So this is very important that when we think of
(05:25):
twenty six year olds today, a lot of time we're
just trying.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
To get them out of our basement.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
But at twenty six, But at twenty six, I know, right,
when do you think about what your mom and dad accomplished.
They were high school dropouts, they already had three kids.
Your mom was twenty five years old when you're dad,
at twenty six perished.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And she was just a stay at home mom.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
No, she was more than that. We'll talk about that later.
But there was a lot that she had to.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Figure out at a very young age. She had to
do some quick fast pivosts. First, foremost, she had to
get a degree.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
She had the common Smith sense, but she didn't have
what she needed to manage your family, that's.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Right, and to really be credible in the boardroom amongst
all of these mostly predominantly white male based industry who
really felt like, oh, you don't have it, you don't
know how this works. But Mom just went back to
business school and found out all of that, and then
having become an entrepreneur of several businesses, you know, we
(06:29):
had one of the most successful shoe stores in downtown
making for almost twenty years. My mom and I share
that passion, and I mean just having her. I hear
her all the time in my ear. I think about
when I'm making decisions as it relates to the foundation
on whether it's dad's legacy or whatever. I listened in
my ear, what would Mom say? What would she tell
(06:50):
me to do about this right now? Because she's just
so inspiring to be able to say I got this
in honor of my husband.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I am not gonna let his legacy die.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
I am not going to let people, in her words,
and this is her word, I'm never going to let
people prostitute my husband, you know, just for a dollar,
and she'll say, real quick, all money ain't good money.
Just remember that all money is not good money. And
if it's right, then do it. But if it don't
feel right, don't do it.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Your mom had you and a whole bunch of other people.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You have a team of people making sure you're doing
what you have to do because you cannot do this alone.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And that's one.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Of the elements of this that I love is again,
your mom was behind the scenes.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, your dad.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
She was twenty five small children, and then she all
of a sudden had to be the front and center person.
And I relate to that a lot because my dad
died when I was four years old. He was the
entrepreneur in the family and my mom was a stay
at home mom.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And she said the exact same thing. She was like,
all these bills were due, and.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
These right men around around the boardroom were looking at
me like, you can't do this.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I'm going to figure it out.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
That's right, and they do. That's what we do as
powerful moms and black women. We figure it out.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
We are not going to let anything beat us. And
I look at my mom and I think, Mom, how
did you put three of us through private school, kept
the ranch.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
My dad had a three hundred acre ranch. They both,
you know, had that ranch.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
When dad died, we all had cars, private school, college.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Like, how did you do it?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
She said, I don't know how I did it, but
I knew it had to be done. And I think
that's the path that we as mom, we take that path.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
We gotta do what we gotta do, and we get
it done. We get it done.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
And I think one of the beautiful things that I
think separates a lot of mom and nors, especially you know,
those who understand what it means to come from a
place that's not all puppies and sunshine is the element
of giving back to the community, right, Like, I think
what people might not know about your family, which is
so incredible and it's why that the Oder's Reading Foundation
(09:01):
is so important, is like again, remember this is the
nineteen sixties. Your dad passed away at twenty six before
when he was like twenty four to twenty five, Yeah,
he was already a philanthropists. Many people wait until their
fifties or sixties even now, you know, to become a philanthropist.
But talk to us about what your daddy was doing
(09:21):
back in nineteen sixty six, you know, with his camp.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Absolutely, so you know, he was in already inviting school
age kids to our ranch to teach them about civic
responsibility and most importantly, to promote the importance of staying
in school. So he would have all of these kids
at our ranch, like on a random Wednesday or Thursday.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Of course we would be in school.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Mom's there with all the kids and just bring them
out to meet radio personalities, celebrities that were in the.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Industry at that time. And so this is what he
wanted to continue to make sure to empower and nurture
them the importance of you can do anything that you
want to do, but you got to get an education,
and you got to stick to your guns, stick to
your rules. And so yeah, I mean, and he.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Was providing scholarships for people coming out of high school
going to college to become educators. He wanted to provide
them with scholarships to go to more Clark College in Atlanta,
all of these education facilities to teach these young kids,
especially our kids, our black and brown.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Kids, especially where you were from.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I mean, coming to this ranch owned by this black
man and his black wife, it opened up the possibilities
visually of what could happen.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
But for you, anything is possible.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
And you know, I look back and I think about Mom,
and I talk about this a lot. I mean, Dad
really only had six short years to accomplish all that
he accomplished, but he was only allowable to take allowed
to take those six short years because Mom was holding
down everything else. Mom was holding down the kids, She
was holding down you know, she was keeping everything grounded
(11:02):
and level headed while he was out making this big,
big name for himself. And so I really tell her,
I respect you, because without Zumma ready, there would be
no ODIs ready.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
And so luckily she.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Just as a Monday, she got her honorary She was
awarded an honorary doctorate in Humanities from Mercy University.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
And I was able to be with her and she
was put in for at that ceremony.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
It was the most remarkable thing I think she's ever experienced,
because she just like I can't, I can't believe, you
know when you know what she told me though, she said,
you know, you and Tim went to college for a
number of years to get.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Your degree, and I got mine in two hours.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
But again she had the degree of these streets, you know,
and she had a degree of what I think is
great about her and about so many women of her time,
which is why it's so great that she gets to
live in the now and she gets to see you
being the head, being the executive director, moving and shaking publicly.
But because before her husband passed away, we're talking the sixties, okay,
(12:11):
she was rare.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Like you said, she was holding down, but.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
She wasn't just holding it down as a family member.
She was also a business partner. And fortunately her husband
recognized this. I think it's important for people to hear
the story of why their partnership was so important, example
being the wonderful story behind how the story I've got
(12:35):
dreams to remember came to be.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
To share a little bit about.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
That, absolutely, I can.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
You know, mom says, and I'm going to just preference
their their relationship to each other, in commitment to each other.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
She said that she would always say, otis you know,
if something happens.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
To you, I won't I won't know what to do.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I won't know what to do around here, And he says,
you will figure it out. You're so smart.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Figure out everything is what he would tell her. So,
you know, Dad was overseas touring for like a month.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
So she sat down and pinned this poem to him,
and when he came home, she said, she laid the
poem on the table and said, otis you know I
wrote this poem for you because I missed you so much.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
And you know, and he was like, oh, what do
you want me to do with it?
Speaker 4 (13:20):
She said, I don't know what you're gonna do with it,
but I'm just telling you I wrote a poem and
you need to look at it. Luckily, he picked the
poem off up off the table. She had no idea
what he was going to do with it, and unfortunately.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
After he died, he recorded.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
I've Got Dreams to Remember, which was her poem, and
put it on the Dock of the Bay album. She
had no idea that he had even laid down a
beat or track or anything to it until after he
had passed. And what's so smart about it is he
made sure that when he left that studio headed to Cleveland, Ohio,
(14:00):
before going to Madison, Wisconsin, that she got her writer's
credit for that.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
She had no idea.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
She had no idea that he had left that for her,
and so now you know her claim to fame is
I'm a songwriter with otis ready.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And it's so wonderful because it's a business savage situation,
and it's a great example of getting giving credit where
credits do just for a timeline. So he passed away
in a plane crash on the way into the Madison, Wisconsin.
But right before that is when he was creating these
songs that would come out after his death and be
huge hit. Sitting on the dock of the bay, his
(14:40):
wife had written and got the writer's credit.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I've got dreams to remember. And this has all happened.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So fast, but your mom moved just as swiftly, even
in her mourning. She didn't allow moss to grow on
the stones of what they had built together to the
point where she.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Was she had at this credit, which meant that she
got writer's money.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Because I love what your mom says, I got paid
because if you don't write the song, you don't get
the money.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
You don't realize that.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
People do not realize that. And you know, I think
about that a lot, and that's what we teach our
kids here at the Oldest Rating Foundation. When we do
our oldest music camp.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Our summer program, which focuses on songwriting and protecting your
copyrights and making sure legally everything is yours and security
is yours.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
But you know a lot of people don't know that.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And at least Dad knew, not that he knew that
something was going to happen, but he wanted to give
credit where credit was due, because that's what the smart
thing about him. Dad controlled his own destiny. No one
told him what to do, how to do it, when
to do it. And I think, you know, just in
talking back to my uncle and my mom, you know Dad.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I was like, why didn't Dad ever go to Motown?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Because Dad never wanted to be boxed, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
He wanted to be his own man. He wanted to
move like he wanted to move. He didn't want to
wear the outfits that were made for him. He wanted
to pick his own.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
So he was really they both had just set a
firm foundation of we're gonna control our destiny.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
This is what we're gonna do.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
And here we are today, still living in the legacy
that they set forth back.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Since nineteen sixty six.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I mean, it's just unbelievable and for Black Americans, African
Americans to be able to do that, and we're still
doing it, and then there's another generation coming that's handling
the same. I mean, it's just unbelievable to me. You know,
I tell Mom all the time, I said, Mom, you know,
we don't We're not just doing something.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
We have a whole empire here.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
We've got Dad's a state, Mom's got Zaxby's, she's got
all these business dealings, the foundation, the museum. We do
a lot and it's not for personal game. It's for
our community and really to honor the legacy of Otis
Redding and everything that he put in place for us
(17:08):
before he died.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And that's very admirable because someone in your position did
not have to do this. Yeah, on a technical level,
you don't have to be a moentrepreneur. Yeah you could.
There are many things that you could do. What made
you choose to take on this lofty, time consuming project, because,
because as we know, this is not a job, this
(17:32):
is a lifestyle.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Three sixty five, twenty four seven. It's hard growing up
as a celebrities kid. You know, it's kind of tough because.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
People judge you, people expect you to be everybody expects
me to be able to sing. Everybody expects me to
be able to write a song.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I mean, and I can't do that.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
So for the longest I have to be honest with you, Nancy,
I thought I struggled. I was like, you know what,
I just want to move away. I want to make
make a whole name for myself. I don't want anybody
to know. You know, Carl I got this because she's
oldest Ready's daughter. I'm gonna work my behind off and
I'm going to prove the point that I am very
smart and very capable of doing things. So anyway, I
(18:13):
moved off, went and worked for a shopping center developer
at the time called the Rows Company, and I mean,
I worked my put off, but it was it was
so great because it got to prove to I prove
to myself that you are smart, you can do great things.
But now you need to pick up and go home
and help your mom build everything that she's built.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So I knew I.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Had to come back home and really be proud to
be the daughter of Carl and Zona Ready. And if
that's how you want to identify me, identify me but
as that. But I'm a very smart individual who handles
her own stuff.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
So you know, it's just it's an honor.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I tell people all the time to live in the
shadows of Otis and Zamberating is just amazing because those
two individual individuals, as they put their heart and soul
into making sure their community was.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Taking care of their kids, was taking care.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Of you know, their whole life being was doing things
for others. And so here we are today with this
fifteen thousand square feet building that we opened just in March,
doing exactly what they wanted to do. Because if Otis
Reading were living in Zamberating in their partnership, we.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Would have satellite Otis Rating Center for the arts all
around the world. Because that's what Dad wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
He wanted to make sure that we went into communities
where kids are suffering from not being able to grasp
music and arts every single day.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
So here we are, here, we are absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
And when you look at this and when you look
at the work that you came into, a lot of
times you say, okay, well, I'm.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Preserving the history of these individuals, but this is also
your legacy, right like, because before you got involved with
the foundation, that was a little more local. You helped
to expand it to what it is today.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Talk to us about what the Otis Reading Foundation is
today with you as the executive director.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Well, you know what I feel like I've been able
to do. I have a background in marketing and pr
and for me, the brand of Otis Reading is certainly
loved here at home.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
But he's bigger than that. He's bigger than life.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
And my thing is is the oldest reading foundation. Otis
Reading the Reading Family are so deserving of international appeal
because of what we do, because of the music, the
vast catalog of music that Otis.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Reading left behind.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
So I eat, sleep, and breathe every day to let
the New York Times know what we're doing, to let
the people in Italy know what we're doing, to let
you know what we're doing so you can share out there.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
And it's working. I mean, it's absolutely working because.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
With the museum, with the Foundation, we get visitors from
around the world coming in knowing exactly what we're doing
with the foundation, knowing how we're continuing the legacy of
Votis Reading and keeping that catalogue going because it's always
in movies and others, seeing commercials and those things are important.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
I tell my team all the time which they they
make the things happen. I just dream them up, but
I tell them all the time. Without them and without
their passion to serve kids, you know, we might not
be as successful as we are. I mean, I sit
and I dream, we need to start this program, we
(21:58):
need to support this organization, and they just.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Make it happen.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
So I am very fortunate, like mom, I think, to
have a vast team of mama moms.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Most of them are mompreneurs as well, and they're right
here with me every single day.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
But that's what I live to do, is to make
sure that we're not only recognized at home, but we're
recognized around the world.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
What's been the most challenging aspect of this growth?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Because you have a great team of moms helping you out,
and you know, we always say, if you want to
get something done, ask a mom. But what have you
found to be the most challenging aspect of this upwards trajectory?
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Well, I think the most challenging was was getting through
to a construction team that I knew what I wanted.
I don't need you, I didn't ask you to cut
the budget. I asked you to create this incredible space
that will make a difference in the life of a child,
(23:00):
and don't you don't have to dumb it down for me,
because I know exactly what I want. So that was
that was I think the biggest challenge. It was not
the fundraising for this eleven million dollar project.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
That was not it. I mean, my mom stepped up
to the plate.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
And made the lead gift of a million dollars to
buy the dirt donated to the foundation, and the rest
was up to me to raise the money to complete
the project. And that part was easy because we have
a proven track record that whatever we set out to do,
we're gonna do it right, and we're gonna do it
to the best of our ability, and it's gonna make
(23:38):
a difference in our community.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I think they.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Wanted me to feel like, Carlo, this is not your
house you're doing. I'm like, I didn't say that this
was my house. I said this this was my center,
and I know exactly what I wanted my center.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
So luckily, though I.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Have a backbone, my husband is great in construction and architecture,
and he would sit where he's like he knows exactly
what she wants.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
This is exactly what you do.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
So you know, that was a little bit of a challenge,
but we moved past that. You know, there was no
hiccups in the community. I mean, they were so welcome.
And now the thing is everybody wants to get in
the building. Everybody wants to see what's happening in the
Otis Rating Center for the artists, and I love that.
I just love that. But we tell them all the time,
(24:24):
you know, the priority or the kids. The kids get
to come in here first and parents get to come later.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
So but I love that.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Yeah, that's so important, and I think it's really great
that the kids come first. And it's interesting because when
you started your journey with all of this, your children
were around like six and sixteen, right, they were kid kids.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
That's right, there were kid kids and they grew up
right underneath this, and I think that's why they just
fell into place.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
You know. Justin is Justin is my thirty six year.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Old who's my director of Global Initiatives not only for
the Foundation but also for the Estate of Otis Reading.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
So he's always.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
In line with what's happening internationally as nationally. Jared My
youngest is mister Fashion, so he does all of the
T shirts and the merchandising exclusive things that we do
for Otis Redding and for the Center.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
So you know, they are proud to be a part
of it.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
And I think they really see their grandparents as just
like the.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Cream of the crop. I mean, they honor them.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
They talk so freely about how smart they are, and
that's so good to be able to create.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
That path that kids can come in.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I'm like, you need an education, but you do have
a workplace here, and so you know, it's nice to
be able to have something where they can come on.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
In and be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Now, when they were younger and you were in semi
hiding your Carl Andrews with the Redding more under wrests
because you were trying to prove yourself, did they know
of the impact that their grandfather and then thereby their
grandmother had made on society musically, philanthropically or was it
(26:16):
kind of like you, The more you got involved with
the family, the more they started to realize, Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
They got it way before I did they. I mean,
they just got it. They just knew.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
They just know that their granddad is like, you know,
Kanye and.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Jay Z sampled it, well that's a big deal, and
I'm like, yeah, there's a big deal, but you know,
your grandem really didn't want to do that because it
was cursing and tearing up Maybox and but you know,
they get it, they get how great their grandparents are.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Where for me, I think it was my own internal
struggling that I.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Didn't want to feel like people would think that I
was just being given opportunities because in my name, they
don't have to they don't have to do that. They
don't listen. You've got the opportunity. Your thing is to
take it in run with it. So they got it
long before I did, and.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
They still have it.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
You know, they're always looking for new possibilities for the
foundation and for otis ready, and I love that. Where
I was thinking, you know, if I had just come
straight out of college back home, how far we would be.
But my thing is is it's never too late. It's
never too late because obviously getting to this now with
(27:31):
a new center is a really big deal. So I
don't beat myself up too bad about it. But they
get it, they understand.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
But also also you know how it works if you'd
gone directly in it, they might not have been interested.
You know, we don't know how time and God's timing
is always right, and we don't know what would have
happened if Because also your mama was ready, because that's
your mama, like my mom, I'm sure, Yeah, anybody who survived.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
All that, they are the lady they are. And I
hadn't been dating her trust in you.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
And I get that question a lot, and Mom and
I have always been connected at the hill. I mean,
I can remember the day Dad passed when we got
the call that the planet went down, and I was
only five at that time, but you know, I saw
her just devastated, and from that point on, I knew
(28:30):
that I had to be there from my mom, I
knew that I had to be her strength of support,
always keep her motivated and lifted because she lost something
that was truly her whole life. I mean, Dad was
her whole life. So you know, it took a little bit,
you know, of training and you know, making sure that
(28:54):
people understood that I was a part because for the
longest I would call the record company he's asking questions
that they'd be like, let us.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Speak to your mom just let us stop the misreading.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
And I mean I go, okay, well she's gonna tell
you the same thing, but hold on.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
So now she's gotten.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
It to a point to where the industry understands that
Carla can make these decisions because I've trained her well.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
So it didn't take long.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Because we listen, we've been through so many different businesses together.
It's almost like we it's not like really mom and daughter.
It's like just just girlfriends having a party in these businesses.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
You know, we laugh. We work all day and go
home and laugh and talk about it.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
So I just appreciate her trusting me to pick up
and keep it going.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
And also my brothers.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
I mean, you know, they are heirs ofthot this reading,
and they just step back.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
You know, if you have to talk to Carla about that,
well we want to use all this a song and
a you need to call Karma about that.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
I love that so much because my grandparents were orphans,
also school drop out, elementary school dropouts, and Chris scrambled
to get enough money to start a country store.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
And anytime someone would.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Come with a question about business, you gotta talk to Nancy.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
My mother is Nancy too. You gotta talk to Nancy.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Okay, you gotta.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Talk to Nancy.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Jon't try to act like I'm running the show here, Okay.
And it's interesting because this is such a wonderful conversation, right,
this is so much fun.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
However, you are not the only child in a.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
In an inheritance of a business situation that feels the
pressure to not want to just think, oh, well this
is you know this.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
They just got that because of this.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
What is your advice Because a lot of people listening
do have family businesses that are technically profitable, or they
could be if someone got in there, you know, but
it's very scary to make it your life when it's
your family's life.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
What is your advice to them?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Because I don't want a lot of black wealth wasted
because the next generation is reticent to go down that path.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Yeah, well, you've got to believe in what your family,
your hears have laid the groundwork for you.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
You got to believe in that.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
First, you got to understand that not everybody gets this opportunity,
especially not black and brown.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
People, right, especially not black and brown people whose parents
died in the.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Sixties exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
So you know, my advice is to make sure then
to always pay attention. Even when I was resisting, I
was still paying attention. You know, I would pay attention
to how my mom would approve these requests, and how
she agreed to let the.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Use be used in movies, and.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
How she steered the publisher away from aligning Dad's name
with alcohol.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
You know, all of these things I pay very close
attention to.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
And then you look at the opportunity that Listen, you
are so fortunate to be able to take something and
continue it. They've already laid the groundwork for you. All
you have to do is put in a good sweat
equity to keep it going. So that's what I recommend
(32:28):
people do. And I don't care your whether your business
is a billion dollar business or one hundred thousand dollars
a year. Bit it's the same sweat equity. We as
black people have to work hard, harder than anyone and
we just have to do it. And you should be proud.
You should be proud to do it and make decisions
(32:48):
based on not necessarily the current day, but you need
to look back and pay attention to the decisions they
were making back in the day, because those decisions still apply.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Miss Carla Bett is a word.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
It is so inspirational for so many of us who
find ourselves with this baton and this previous generation. And
it's not always going to be easy, oh, but it's
so worth it.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
And what you said about respecting.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
The work that went into your stability, right, and not
being afraid to just tackle it yourself, not giving it
up because it was hard.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
One, that's right, And it's always going to be hard.
Owning your own business is always difficult. There are days
when it's so funny because this morning, Mom doesn't work
on Fridays. Right, So I went into our house that
we live right there.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
On the property, all the acreage.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
That Dad acquired, and then since then Mom has turned
it into six is sposed to three hundred acres. Mom
has turned it into six hundred acres. So anyway, we're
all out there together. And I went in the house
this morning, I said, Mom, aren't you glad you don't
have to work on Friday? She said, I really don't
have to work any day I want to, but I'm particularly.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Glad I don't have to work on Friday. I said,
I wish I could be on for our Friday.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
She said, where you came, you know, but just those
kind of comments and those kind of funny interactions with
her makes me just want to work harder.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
You gotta do it, You just got to do it.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
You have the most amazing mom preneural role model. You
yourself are an amazing mom.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Preneur role model.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
We are so grateful that you're here with us. Before
you leave, though, I can't let you leave without participating
in my favorite segment. It's called Mompreneur's manifestation. And I
always ask all of our guests, what are you trying
to make happen? What are you trying to make happen
right now with the Otis Rating Foundation, and how can
we help to bring it into the universe for you.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
What I'm trying to make happen with the Otis Reading
Foundation is for more people to know what it is
that we.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Do it with our hearts. And it's not with money,
it's not with that, It is with our hearts.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
My whole team puts their heart and soul into making
a difference into life, into the life of a child,
and I want the world.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
To know that.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I mean, we have created something here that is so
magical and so special.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
All in the name of the Otis Redding Legacy. But
that is something that.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
He wanted to do and that my mom was smart
enough to train all of us to keep going.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
And now I'm training my boys to keep going. And
that's just amazing.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
That's what I want people to know that we're doing
great things. I want I want all the celebrities to
know we have a foundation, but we are working this
foundation to make a difference, not to use it as
something else. We're doing great things with it, and I
want everybody to know that because we have built something
that you just don't see.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
You don't see it.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
I love that. Ms Carla, You're amazing. Tell us where
everyone can find the foundation. What are the websites? What
are the social media handles?
Speaker 4 (36:01):
Absolutely so you can go to Otis Reading Foundation, dot org.
We're on all social platforms, ig Facebook, all of that
is just Otis Reading Foundation, and you can also use
Otisreading dot com or just at otis Reading, any of
those socials you can find us.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
I love it. You've heard her. Go to the website.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
Learn more about how you can participate, either as with
your own kids, either as a donor or just a
big support of this incredible family.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
And the work that they are doing. Thank you so much, Carlin.
Speaker 4 (36:37):
Oh, thank you Nancy. I'm so delighted at so much
fun with you today.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
And thanks to all of you for watching and listening
to Mom Forneurs.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
As a reminder, a brand new episode goes live every
Monday on.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Urban one podcast network, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you
get your podcasts. Visit urbanwepodcast dot com to learn more.
That's Urban the number one podcast dot com.
Hey, it's a girl, Nancy read.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
And this is season four of Mompreneurs, where we celebrate
beautiful black entrepreneurs who are also amazing moms. Now, every
week I'm chatting with my guests about how they are
crushing it simultaneously as a business mobile and a mom,
and we're listening to their inspiring journeys and incredible advice. Now,
some morepreneurs are on a mission to build a new
(00:22):
legacy for their family, a new one, right, But my
next guest has done a wonderful job of helping to
preserve her family's important legacy, ensuring that for generations to come,
we will all remember the music legend and philanthropists that
was Otis Redding. Now, Karla Reading Andrews didn't fully realize
(00:42):
the impact that her father had made.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
On society when she was growing up, but as she grew.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
To know more about him, she was determined to help
her mother found and maintain and grow the Otis Redding Foundation,
where she now serves as the executive director. They have
done will work for nearly two decades, and I can't
wait to talk to Carla about the origin her family's
legacy and also.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Her own welcome Carla.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Oh, I'm delighted to be here with you. Nancy. So nice,
so nice to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Oh, it's so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And now, always before we get too much into the
business side of things, well let's get a little bit personal.
Who in your life puts the mom and mompreneur. Tell
us about your husband and your sons.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
So, my wonderful husband of thirty eight years this year,
Timothy Andrews, we met at Georgia Southern University in the
early eighties, just became friends. He was pledging the Kappa
Apha Psi fraternity and I was worried about him.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
He didn't get food, so I.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Was just being a friendly friend and gave him some
food and the rest is history. So we have two boys,
Justin and Jared. They are ten years apart. Justin is
thirty six and Jared's twenty six, and both boys are
involved than our businesses of keeping the legacy going and
running the Otis Reading Center for the Arts as well
(02:05):
as the Otis Reading Museum.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So yeah, that's the I'm the girl.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I'm that girl in my family that controls everything and
I like being the only one, so so yeah, that's
that's my little that's my little family right there.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And see you're the girl, and so that's not the
only thing that separates you from everybody else.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You say you did not get any of your daddy's
musical talent, are you telling me none at all? Of
you do not have any.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Of his talent?
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Zero talent, no height. You know, I'm four feet eleven.
My dad was six to two. I got his looks.
That's all I got from my dad. I have no
musical talent, but I can say that between having two
parents who are so smart, both of them were very savage,
(02:58):
savvy business people. I got the brain, so you know,
I got a little edge up on my brothers, who
I'm not going to say they don't have any brain.
They have some brains, but they're great musicians and great singers.
But Mom and I are the brains behind this, this empire.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
That we have.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, and your mama has been the brains behind the
whole thing for a long time. I want to talk
about you come from generations of mom for North. This
is what's so beautiful about your story, because what's really
great You're not mourning a lack of musicality, like you said,
I know what I got, and I got a brain,
and you have used your brain to really help your
(03:37):
mother preserve his legacy, preserve your generational wealth, and make
this foundation international success.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Absolutely, And you know I have to give all the
prompts to my mom, who, you know, immediately with the
loss of my dad, just stepped in and stepped up
and said, you know, I got to protect things for
what old has lost.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
His life for.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
You know, name, image, likeness, the catalog of music. You
don't do anything with otis redding until you get it
approved by Zelma. And just seeing her do that growing
up just made me be really more of a person.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
To where you can control your own destiny.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Even with her husband and death, she's still controlling his
path just like he just left yesterday and she's still
doing that today.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
So I had a wonderful teacher.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
In her to give me all the rules and the
ins and outs of the of the music business and
as well as some common sense rules, because what my
mom says is book sense are great, but you gotta
have a lot of common sense too. So luckily I'm
blessed to have I think both thanks to her.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Thanks to her, girl, That's why I love your family.
I was actually talking to Ty, my producer beforehand.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I said, if aliens asked for an example of black
excellence in a family, your.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Family is an amazing example. Like it's like, okay, just
like exhibit A.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Because for people, because for people who don't know, your
family story is incredible. Just to recap for anyone listening,
and you know they may have heard the songs or
the name. But in the late sixties, your dad was
on his way to a concert and unfortunately perished in
a plane crash. And he was just twenty six years old. Okay,
So this is very important that when we think of
(05:25):
twenty six year olds today, a lot of time we're
just trying.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
To get them out of our basement.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
But at twenty six, But at twenty six, I know, right,
when do you think about what your mom and dad accomplished.
They were high school dropouts, they already had three kids.
Your mom was twenty five years old when you're dad,
at twenty six perished.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And she was just a stay at home mom.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
No, she was more than that. We'll talk about that later.
But there was a lot that she had to.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Figure out at a very young age. She had to
do some quick fast pivosts. First, foremost, she had to
get a degree.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
She had the common Smith sense, but she didn't have
what she needed to manage your family, that's.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Right, and to really be credible in the boardroom amongst
all of these mostly predominantly white male based industry who
really felt like, oh, you don't have it, you don't
know how this works. But Mom just went back to
business school and found out all of that, and then
having become an entrepreneur of several businesses, you know, we
(06:29):
had one of the most successful shoe stores in downtown
making for almost twenty years. My mom and I share
that passion, and I mean just having her. I hear
her all the time in my ear. I think about
when I'm making decisions as it relates to the foundation
on whether it's dad's legacy or whatever. I listened in
my ear, what would Mom say? What would she tell
(06:50):
me to do about this right now? Because she's just
so inspiring to be able to say I got this
in honor of my husband.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I am not gonna let his legacy die.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
I am not going to let people, in her words,
and this is her word, I'm never going to let
people prostitute my husband, you know, just for a dollar,
and she'll say, real quick, all money ain't good money.
Just remember that all money is not good money. And
if it's right, then do it. But if it don't
feel right, don't do it.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Your mom had you and a whole bunch of other people.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You have a team of people making sure you're doing
what you have to do because you cannot do this alone.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And that's one.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Of the elements of this that I love is again,
your mom was behind the scenes.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, your dad.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
She was twenty five small children, and then she all
of a sudden had to be the front and center person.
And I relate to that a lot because my dad
died when I was four years old. He was the
entrepreneur in the family and my mom was a stay
at home mom.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And she said the exact same thing. She was like,
all these bills were due, and.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
These right men around around the boardroom were looking at
me like, you can't do this.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I'm going to figure it out.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
That's right, and they do. That's what we do as
powerful moms and black women. We figure it out.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
We are not going to let anything beat us. And
I look at my mom and I think, Mom, how
did you put three of us through private school, kept
the ranch.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
My dad had a three hundred acre ranch. They both,
you know, had that ranch.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
When dad died, we all had cars, private school, college.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Like, how did you do it?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
She said, I don't know how I did it, but
I knew it had to be done. And I think
that's the path that we as mom, we take that path.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
We gotta do what we gotta do, and we get
it done. We get it done.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
And I think one of the beautiful things that I
think separates a lot of mom and nors, especially you know,
those who understand what it means to come from a
place that's not all puppies and sunshine is the element
of giving back to the community, right, Like, I think
what people might not know about your family, which is
so incredible and it's why that the Oder's Reading Foundation
(09:01):
is so important, is like again, remember this is the
nineteen sixties. Your dad passed away at twenty six before
when he was like twenty four to twenty five, Yeah,
he was already a philanthropists. Many people wait until their
fifties or sixties even now, you know, to become a philanthropist.
But talk to us about what your daddy was doing
(09:21):
back in nineteen sixty six, you know, with his camp.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Absolutely, so you know, he was in already inviting school
age kids to our ranch to teach them about civic
responsibility and most importantly, to promote the importance of staying
in school. So he would have all of these kids
at our ranch, like on a random Wednesday or Thursday.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Of course we would be in school.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Mom's there with all the kids and just bring them
out to meet radio personalities, celebrities that were in the.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Industry at that time. And so this is what he
wanted to continue to make sure to empower and nurture
them the importance of you can do anything that you
want to do, but you got to get an education,
and you got to stick to your guns, stick to
your rules. And so yeah, I mean, and he.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Was providing scholarships for people coming out of high school
going to college to become educators. He wanted to provide
them with scholarships to go to more Clark College in Atlanta,
all of these education facilities to teach these young kids,
especially our kids, our black and brown.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Kids, especially where you were from.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I mean, coming to this ranch owned by this black
man and his black wife, it opened up the possibilities
visually of what could happen.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
But for you, anything is possible.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
And you know, I look back and I think about Mom,
and I talk about this a lot. I mean, Dad
really only had six short years to accomplish all that
he accomplished, but he was only allowable to take allowed
to take those six short years because Mom was holding
down everything else. Mom was holding down the kids, She
was holding down you know, she was keeping everything grounded
(11:02):
and level headed while he was out making this big,
big name for himself. And so I really tell her,
I respect you, because without Zumma ready, there would be
no ODIs ready.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
And so luckily she.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Just as a Monday, she got her honorary She was
awarded an honorary doctorate in Humanities from Mercy University.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
And I was able to be with her and she
was put in for at that ceremony.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
It was the most remarkable thing I think she's ever experienced,
because she just like I can't, I can't believe, you
know when you know what she told me though, she said,
you know, you and Tim went to college for a
number of years to get.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Your degree, and I got mine in two hours.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
But again she had the degree of these streets, you know,
and she had a degree of what I think is
great about her and about so many women of her time,
which is why it's so great that she gets to
live in the now and she gets to see you
being the head, being the executive director, moving and shaking publicly.
But because before her husband passed away, we're talking the sixties, okay,
(12:11):
she was rare.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Like you said, she was holding down, but.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
She wasn't just holding it down as a family member.
She was also a business partner. And fortunately her husband
recognized this. I think it's important for people to hear
the story of why their partnership was so important, example
being the wonderful story behind how the story I've got
(12:35):
dreams to remember came to be.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
To share a little bit about.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
That, absolutely, I can.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
You know, mom says, and I'm going to just preference
their their relationship to each other, in commitment to each other.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
She said that she would always say, otis you know,
if something happens.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
To you, I won't I won't know what to do.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I won't know what to do around here, And he says,
you will figure it out. You're so smart.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Figure out everything is what he would tell her. So,
you know, Dad was overseas touring for like a month.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
So she sat down and pinned this poem to him,
and when he came home, she said, she laid the
poem on the table and said, otis you know I
wrote this poem for you because I missed you so much.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
And you know, and he was like, oh, what do
you want me to do with it?
Speaker 4 (13:20):
She said, I don't know what you're gonna do with it,
but I'm just telling you I wrote a poem and
you need to look at it. Luckily, he picked the
poem off up off the table. She had no idea
what he was going to do with it, and unfortunately.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
After he died, he recorded.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
I've Got Dreams to Remember, which was her poem, and
put it on the Dock of the Bay album. She
had no idea that he had even laid down a
beat or track or anything to it until after he
had passed. And what's so smart about it is he
made sure that when he left that studio headed to Cleveland, Ohio,
(14:00):
before going to Madison, Wisconsin, that she got her writer's
credit for that.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
She had no idea.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
She had no idea that he had left that for her,
and so now you know her claim to fame is
I'm a songwriter with otis ready.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And it's so wonderful because it's a business savage situation,
and it's a great example of getting giving credit where
credits do just for a timeline. So he passed away
in a plane crash on the way into the Madison, Wisconsin.
But right before that is when he was creating these
songs that would come out after his death and be
huge hit. Sitting on the dock of the bay, his
(14:40):
wife had written and got the writer's credit.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I've got dreams to remember. And this has all happened.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So fast, but your mom moved just as swiftly, even
in her mourning. She didn't allow moss to grow on
the stones of what they had built together to the
point where she.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Was she had at this credit, which meant that she
got writer's money.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Because I love what your mom says, I got paid
because if you don't write the song, you don't get
the money.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
You don't realize that.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
People do not realize that. And you know, I think
about that a lot, and that's what we teach our
kids here at the Oldest Rating Foundation. When we do
our oldest music camp.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Our summer program, which focuses on songwriting and protecting your
copyrights and making sure legally everything is yours and security
is yours.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
But you know a lot of people don't know that.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And at least Dad knew, not that he knew that
something was going to happen, but he wanted to give
credit where credit was due, because that's what the smart
thing about him. Dad controlled his own destiny. No one
told him what to do, how to do it, when
to do it. And I think, you know, just in
talking back to my uncle and my mom, you know Dad.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I was like, why didn't Dad ever go to Motown?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Because Dad never wanted to be boxed, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
He wanted to be his own man. He wanted to
move like he wanted to move. He didn't want to
wear the outfits that were made for him. He wanted
to pick his own.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
So he was really they both had just set a
firm foundation of we're gonna control our destiny.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
This is what we're gonna do.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
And here we are today, still living in the legacy
that they set forth back.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Since nineteen sixty six.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I mean, it's just unbelievable and for Black Americans, African
Americans to be able to do that, and we're still
doing it, and then there's another generation coming that's handling
the same. I mean, it's just unbelievable to me. You know,
I tell Mom all the time, I said, Mom, you know,
we don't We're not just doing something.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
We have a whole empire here.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
We've got Dad's a state, Mom's got Zaxby's, she's got
all these business dealings, the foundation, the museum. We do
a lot and it's not for personal game. It's for
our community and really to honor the legacy of Otis
Redding and everything that he put in place for us
(17:08):
before he died.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And that's very admirable because someone in your position did
not have to do this. Yeah, on a technical level,
you don't have to be a moentrepreneur. Yeah you could.
There are many things that you could do. What made
you choose to take on this lofty, time consuming project, because,
because as we know, this is not a job, this
(17:32):
is a lifestyle.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Three sixty five, twenty four seven. It's hard growing up
as a celebrities kid. You know, it's kind of tough because.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
People judge you, people expect you to be everybody expects
me to be able to sing. Everybody expects me to
be able to write a song.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I mean, and I can't do that.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
So for the longest I have to be honest with you, Nancy,
I thought I struggled. I was like, you know what,
I just want to move away. I want to make
make a whole name for myself. I don't want anybody
to know. You know, Carl I got this because she's
oldest Ready's daughter. I'm gonna work my behind off and
I'm going to prove the point that I am very
smart and very capable of doing things. So anyway, I
(18:13):
moved off, went and worked for a shopping center developer
at the time called the Rows Company, and I mean,
I worked my put off, but it was it was
so great because it got to prove to I prove
to myself that you are smart, you can do great things.
But now you need to pick up and go home
and help your mom build everything that she's built.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So I knew I.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Had to come back home and really be proud to
be the daughter of Carl and Zona Ready. And if
that's how you want to identify me, identify me but
as that. But I'm a very smart individual who handles
her own stuff.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
So you know, it's just it's an honor.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I tell people all the time to live in the
shadows of Otis and Zamberating is just amazing because those
two individual individuals, as they put their heart and soul
into making sure their community was.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Taking care of their kids, was taking care.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Of you know, their whole life being was doing things
for others. And so here we are today with this
fifteen thousand square feet building that we opened just in March,
doing exactly what they wanted to do. Because if Otis
Reading were living in Zamberating in their partnership, we.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Would have satellite Otis Rating Center for the arts all
around the world. Because that's what Dad wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
He wanted to make sure that we went into communities
where kids are suffering from not being able to grasp
music and arts every single day.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
So here we are, here, we are absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
And when you look at this and when you look
at the work that you came into, a lot of
times you say, okay, well, I'm.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Preserving the history of these individuals, but this is also
your legacy, right like, because before you got involved with
the foundation, that was a little more local. You helped
to expand it to what it is today.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Talk to us about what the Otis Reading Foundation is
today with you as the executive director.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Well, you know what I feel like I've been able
to do. I have a background in marketing and pr
and for me, the brand of Otis Reading is certainly
loved here at home.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
But he's bigger than that. He's bigger than life.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
And my thing is is the oldest reading foundation. Otis
Reading the Reading Family are so deserving of international appeal
because of what we do, because of the music, the
vast catalog of music that Otis.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Reading left behind.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
So I eat, sleep, and breathe every day to let
the New York Times know what we're doing, to let
the people in Italy know what we're doing, to let
you know what we're doing so you can share out there.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
And it's working. I mean, it's absolutely working because.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
With the museum, with the Foundation, we get visitors from
around the world coming in knowing exactly what we're doing
with the foundation, knowing how we're continuing the legacy of
Votis Reading and keeping that catalogue going because it's always
in movies and others, seeing commercials and those things are important.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
I tell my team all the time which they they
make the things happen. I just dream them up, but
I tell them all the time. Without them and without
their passion to serve kids, you know, we might not
be as successful as we are. I mean, I sit
and I dream, we need to start this program, we
(21:58):
need to support this organization, and they just.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Make it happen.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
So I am very fortunate, like mom, I think, to
have a vast team of mama moms.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Most of them are mompreneurs as well, and they're right
here with me every single day.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
But that's what I live to do, is to make
sure that we're not only recognized at home, but we're
recognized around the world.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
What's been the most challenging aspect of this growth?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Because you have a great team of moms helping you out,
and you know, we always say, if you want to
get something done, ask a mom. But what have you
found to be the most challenging aspect of this upwards trajectory?
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Well, I think the most challenging was was getting through
to a construction team that I knew what I wanted.
I don't need you, I didn't ask you to cut
the budget. I asked you to create this incredible space
that will make a difference in the life of a child,
(23:00):
and don't you don't have to dumb it down for me,
because I know exactly what I want. So that was
that was I think the biggest challenge. It was not
the fundraising for this eleven million dollar project.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
That was not it. I mean, my mom stepped up
to the plate.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
And made the lead gift of a million dollars to
buy the dirt donated to the foundation, and the rest
was up to me to raise the money to complete
the project. And that part was easy because we have
a proven track record that whatever we set out to do,
we're gonna do it right, and we're gonna do it
to the best of our ability, and it's gonna make
(23:38):
a difference in our community.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I think they.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Wanted me to feel like, Carlo, this is not your
house you're doing. I'm like, I didn't say that this
was my house. I said this this was my center,
and I know exactly what I wanted my center.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
So luckily, though I.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Have a backbone, my husband is great in construction and architecture,
and he would sit where he's like he knows exactly
what she wants.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
This is exactly what you do.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
So you know, that was a little bit of a challenge,
but we moved past that. You know, there was no
hiccups in the community. I mean, they were so welcome.
And now the thing is everybody wants to get in
the building. Everybody wants to see what's happening in the
Otis Rating Center for the artists, and I love that.
I just love that. But we tell them all the time,
(24:24):
you know, the priority or the kids. The kids get
to come in here first and parents get to come later.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
So but I love that.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Yeah, that's so important, and I think it's really great
that the kids come first. And it's interesting because when
you started your journey with all of this, your children
were around like six and sixteen, right, they were kid kids.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
That's right, there were kid kids and they grew up
right underneath this, and I think that's why they just
fell into place.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
You know. Justin is Justin is my thirty six year.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Old who's my director of Global Initiatives not only for
the Foundation but also for the Estate of Otis Reading.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
So he's always.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
In line with what's happening internationally as nationally. Jared My
youngest is mister Fashion, so he does all of the
T shirts and the merchandising exclusive things that we do
for Otis Redding and for the Center.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
So you know, they are proud to be a part
of it.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
And I think they really see their grandparents as just
like the.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Cream of the crop. I mean, they honor them.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
They talk so freely about how smart they are, and
that's so good to be able to create.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
That path that kids can come in.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I'm like, you need an education, but you do have
a workplace here, and so you know, it's nice to
be able to have something where they can come on.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
In and be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Now, when they were younger and you were in semi
hiding your Carl Andrews with the Redding more under wrests
because you were trying to prove yourself, did they know
of the impact that their grandfather and then thereby their
grandmother had made on society musically, philanthropically or was it
(26:16):
kind of like you, The more you got involved with
the family, the more they started to realize, Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
They got it way before I did they. I mean,
they just got it. They just knew.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
They just know that their granddad is like, you know,
Kanye and.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Jay Z sampled it, well that's a big deal, and
I'm like, yeah, there's a big deal, but you know,
your grandem really didn't want to do that because it
was cursing and tearing up Maybox and but you know,
they get it, they get how great their grandparents are.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Where for me, I think it was my own internal
struggling that I.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Didn't want to feel like people would think that I
was just being given opportunities because in my name, they
don't have to they don't have to do that. They
don't listen. You've got the opportunity. Your thing is to
take it in run with it. So they got it
long before I did, and.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
They still have it.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
You know, they're always looking for new possibilities for the
foundation and for otis ready, and I love that. Where
I was thinking, you know, if I had just come
straight out of college back home, how far we would be.
But my thing is is it's never too late. It's
never too late because obviously getting to this now with
(27:31):
a new center is a really big deal. So I
don't beat myself up too bad about it. But they
get it, they understand.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
But also also you know how it works if you'd
gone directly in it, they might not have been interested.
You know, we don't know how time and God's timing
is always right, and we don't know what would have
happened if Because also your mama was ready, because that's
your mama, like my mom, I'm sure, Yeah, anybody who survived.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
All that, they are the lady they are. And I
hadn't been dating her trust in you.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
And I get that question a lot, and Mom and
I have always been connected at the hill. I mean,
I can remember the day Dad passed when we got
the call that the planet went down, and I was
only five at that time, but you know, I saw
her just devastated, and from that point on, I knew
(28:30):
that I had to be there from my mom, I
knew that I had to be her strength of support,
always keep her motivated and lifted because she lost something
that was truly her whole life. I mean, Dad was
her whole life. So you know, it took a little bit,
you know, of training and you know, making sure that
(28:54):
people understood that I was a part because for the
longest I would call the record company he's asking questions
that they'd be like, let us.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Speak to your mom just let us stop the misreading.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
And I mean I go, okay, well she's gonna tell
you the same thing, but hold on.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
So now she's gotten.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
It to a point to where the industry understands that
Carla can make these decisions because I've trained her well.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
So it didn't take long.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Because we listen, we've been through so many different businesses together.
It's almost like we it's not like really mom and daughter.
It's like just just girlfriends having a party in these businesses.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
You know, we laugh. We work all day and go
home and laugh and talk about it.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
So I just appreciate her trusting me to pick up
and keep it going.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
And also my brothers.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
I mean, you know, they are heirs ofthot this reading,
and they just step back.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
You know, if you have to talk to Carla about that,
well we want to use all this a song and
a you need to call Karma about that.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
I love that so much because my grandparents were orphans,
also school drop out, elementary school dropouts, and Chris scrambled
to get enough money to start a country store.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
And anytime someone would.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Come with a question about business, you gotta talk to Nancy.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
My mother is Nancy too. You gotta talk to Nancy.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Okay, you gotta.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Talk to Nancy.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Jon't try to act like I'm running the show here, Okay.
And it's interesting because this is such a wonderful conversation, right,
this is so much fun.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
However, you are not the only child in a.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
In an inheritance of a business situation that feels the
pressure to not want to just think, oh, well this
is you know this.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
They just got that because of this.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
What is your advice Because a lot of people listening
do have family businesses that are technically profitable, or they
could be if someone got in there, you know, but
it's very scary to make it your life when it's
your family's life.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
What is your advice to them?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Because I don't want a lot of black wealth wasted
because the next generation is reticent to go down that path.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Yeah, well, you've got to believe in what your family,
your hears have laid the groundwork for you.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
You got to believe in that.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
First, you got to understand that not everybody gets this opportunity,
especially not black and brown.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
People, right, especially not black and brown people whose parents
died in the.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Sixties exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
So you know, my advice is to make sure then
to always pay attention. Even when I was resisting, I
was still paying attention. You know, I would pay attention
to how my mom would approve these requests, and how
she agreed to let the.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Use be used in movies, and.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
How she steered the publisher away from aligning Dad's name
with alcohol.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
You know, all of these things I pay very close
attention to.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
And then you look at the opportunity that Listen, you
are so fortunate to be able to take something and
continue it. They've already laid the groundwork for you. All
you have to do is put in a good sweat
equity to keep it going. So that's what I recommend
(32:28):
people do. And I don't care your whether your business
is a billion dollar business or one hundred thousand dollars
a year. Bit it's the same sweat equity. We as
black people have to work hard, harder than anyone and
we just have to do it. And you should be proud.
You should be proud to do it and make decisions
(32:48):
based on not necessarily the current day, but you need
to look back and pay attention to the decisions they
were making back in the day, because those decisions still apply.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Miss Carla Bett is a word.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
It is so inspirational for so many of us who
find ourselves with this baton and this previous generation. And
it's not always going to be easy, oh, but it's
so worth it.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
And what you said about respecting.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
The work that went into your stability, right, and not
being afraid to just tackle it yourself, not giving it
up because it was hard.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
One, that's right, And it's always going to be hard.
Owning your own business is always difficult. There are days
when it's so funny because this morning, Mom doesn't work
on Fridays. Right, So I went into our house that
we live right there.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
On the property, all the acreage.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
That Dad acquired, and then since then Mom has turned
it into six is sposed to three hundred acres. Mom
has turned it into six hundred acres. So anyway, we're
all out there together. And I went in the house
this morning, I said, Mom, aren't you glad you don't
have to work on Friday? She said, I really don't
have to work any day I want to, but I'm particularly.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Glad I don't have to work on Friday. I said,
I wish I could be on for our Friday.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
She said, where you came, you know, but just those
kind of comments and those kind of funny interactions with
her makes me just want to work harder.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
You gotta do it, You just got to do it.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
You have the most amazing mom preneural role model. You
yourself are an amazing mom.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Preneur role model.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
We are so grateful that you're here with us. Before
you leave, though, I can't let you leave without participating
in my favorite segment. It's called Mompreneur's manifestation. And I
always ask all of our guests, what are you trying
to make happen? What are you trying to make happen
right now with the Otis Rating Foundation, and how can
we help to bring it into the universe for you.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
What I'm trying to make happen with the Otis Reading
Foundation is for more people to know what it is
that we.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Do it with our hearts. And it's not with money,
it's not with that, It is with our hearts.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
My whole team puts their heart and soul into making
a difference into life, into the life of a child,
and I want the world.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
To know that.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I mean, we have created something here that is so
magical and so special.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
All in the name of the Otis Redding Legacy. But
that is something that.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
He wanted to do and that my mom was smart
enough to train all of us to keep going.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
And now I'm training my boys to keep going. And
that's just amazing.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
That's what I want people to know that we're doing
great things. I want I want all the celebrities to
know we have a foundation, but we are working this
foundation to make a difference, not to use it as
something else. We're doing great things with it, and I
want everybody to know that because we have built something
that you just don't see.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
You don't see it.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
I love that. Ms Carla, You're amazing. Tell us where
everyone can find the foundation. What are the websites? What
are the social media handles?
Speaker 4 (36:01):
Absolutely so you can go to Otis Reading Foundation, dot org.
We're on all social platforms, ig Facebook, all of that
is just Otis Reading Foundation, and you can also use
Otisreading dot com or just at otis Reading, any of
those socials you can find us.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
I love it. You've heard her. Go to the website.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
Learn more about how you can participate, either as with
your own kids, either as a donor or just a
big support of this incredible family.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
And the work that they are doing. Thank you so much, Carlin.
Speaker 4 (36:37):
Oh, thank you Nancy. I'm so delighted at so much
fun with you today.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
And thanks to all of you for watching and listening
to Mom Forneurs.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
As a reminder, a brand new episode goes live every
Monday on.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Urban one podcast network, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you
get your podcasts. Visit urbanwepodcast dot com to learn more.
That's Urban the number one podcast dot com.
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