June 25, 2025 • 47 mins
The salient point of this podcast episode revolves around the imperative need to bridge the racial wealth gap through innovative strategies, education, and legacy building. I am joined by Che' and Brea Davis, a dynamic husband-and-wife team dedicated to empowering families with the requisite tools, knowledge, and confidence to build generational wealth. Shay, the Legacy Chief, introduces a novel approach that integrates culture, technology, and finance, manifesting in wearable technology that narrates the stories of cultural icons while simultaneously providing access to financial instruments that facilitate wealth growth in a risk-free and tax-free manner. Brea, a wealth strategist and leadership development coach, emphasizes the importance of creating customized legacy plans that reflect the individual aspirations and values of families, ensuring they are equipped to navigate their financial futures. Together, we explore the challenges and triumphs encountered in their mission to foster financial literacy and empowerment within underserved communities.
Takeaways:
- Che' and Brea Davis are dedicated to bridging the racial wealth gap through innovative strategies.
- Their mission is to empower families with the knowledge to build and maintain generational wealth effectively.
- They emphasize the importance of financial literacy and customized planning tailored to each family's unique situation.
- Utilizing a holistic approach, they integrate values, financial systems, and community impact into their legacy planning.
Links referenced in this episode:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:59):
My guests today are Shay andBree Davis. They are a dynamic husband
and wife duo passionate aboutbridging the racial wealth gap through
innovation, education andlegacy building. They have joined
forces to empower familieswith the tools, knowledge and confidence
to build generational wealthand secure their futures. Shae Davis,
(01:20):
Legacy Chief, is a visionarybehind a unique approach to merging
culture, technology andfinance. He brings history to life
through wearable tech thattells the stories of cultural icons
while simultaneously providingaccess to financial tools that help
individuals grow their wealthrisk free and tax free. Shai's bold
leadership reimagines howfashion and fintech can intersect
(01:43):
to create impactful change forfamilies and communities. Bree is
a wealth strategist andleadership development coach with
a decade of experience instrategic development. She brings
a compassionate and insightfulapproach to helping families create
customized legacy plans. Herdeep understanding of financial empowerment
and her commitment to closingthe racial wealth gap drive her to
(02:05):
educate others on how they cangrow their money in ways they never
thought possible. We welcomethem to the podcast. Well, I'm so
blessed to have you both onthe podcast. They're looking forward
to this conversation. I alwayslike bringing this kind of content
to my audience at least coupletimes a year because I think we live
in a culture where so manypeople don't know how to generate
(02:29):
wealth and take care of theirfamilies at a legacy concept. So
I'm looking forward to youguys sharing some of the things you
do to help people do that. Butbefore we get to the juice and meat
of that, you gotta get throughthe opening door of the question
that every podcast guest hasto answer to get to the deeper questions.
That is what's the best pieceof advice you've ever received? You
(02:50):
guys pick who goes first.
Hey's the talker, so I'll lethim go first.
The best piece of adviceyou've ever received, and it feels
like it alternates season over season.
Sure.
But I'm gonna go with it'sdarkest before the light. In times
(03:14):
of struggle, if you will, youhave to be mentally prepared, spiritually
prepared, and you have to havethe right people around you to keep
pushing forward. So I think inthis season of life, that's something
that stays on my mind giveneconomic environment, political environment,
(03:35):
and even this entrepreneurjourney that me and my wife are on.
Sure. That's amazing. Good.
That's good. I would say forme, it's fail forward and fail fast.
And that's something that I'vealways heard from, coming from a
tech background, and you justgot to pick the things that work.
If they don't work, okay,learn from that and keep it pushing.
(03:57):
And so that's something that'salways stuck with me and a mantra
we certainly implement in ourfamily. For sure.
That's great. I love both ofthose. I'm always curious, as you
think about your careers andyour journey in life, who are some
people that served as mentorsfor each of you?
My mom for sure. She'sdefinitely the backbone of our family
(04:22):
and the fact that she wasdetermined to do multiple things,
I call her multifaceted is oneof the things that I definitely attain
or like try to be like mirrorthat. And then I would say my old
boss from the corporate side,my last old boss, he was always looking
to progress and to be able toallow us to in my team fail and move
(04:49):
fast and make mistakes andchallenge us. And so those are two,
I guess, personal and thenprofessional wise that have allowed
me to really propel wherewe're at. What about you, Che?
I would say my dad for sureas, as a mentor and just kind of
leader. He always led byexample from my sports background
(05:13):
in like college and highschool. Just always being there,
always showing up, being inthe trenches with you. And I think
as I, as we've pursued thekind of entrepreneur journey, I've
always turned to historicfigures for mentorship and guidance.
And I found a lot of what Ireally like. I've been like a huge
(05:34):
fan of Malcolm X since I waslike 5 years old, since I saw the
Spike Lee movie. I thoughtDenzel Washington was Malcolm X.
But a lot of that was built onself reliance, pride, cultural pride
and you know, just kind ofknowing your why And I, I found that
in people like Malcolm andFred Hampton. And I think that's
(05:55):
kind of even what inspiredthe, the clothing line. People not
knowing who those people areand what they stood for and those
values can transcendgenerations. So I think I always
looked up to Malcolm and mydad growing up for sure.
You know, it's alwaysinteresting. I look back at history
and sometimes people likeMalcolm X, who people see as controversial,
(06:18):
there's so much about whatthey believed and even the movements
that they led that's just nottold. And I've done some, you know,
research recently. I'm like,you know, I didn't even know that
was part of that because you,you only hear part of the story.
I'm always reminded of, Ican't think of the guy's name now,
(06:38):
but he always said this is,there's the rest is the rest of the
story we only hear sometimes asnippet of someone's life, and we
make a value judgment based onthat one snippet without knowing
the entire context of theirlife. So I, you know, I appreciate
that we get a chance to talkabout people and dig deeper than
just the surface stuff.
Right, Absolutely. I agree.
(07:00):
I'm always curious when I havecouples. I don't have couples on
my podcast Office, so I'mreally thankful for this. But tell
us. Tell me how you guys metand decided to join forces in this
mission.
Wow. So we met at a library in2006, and I believe I was in my senior
(07:23):
year of high school. Che wasin his freshman year of college,
and I was doing what they callthe Running Start program. And so
I happened to attend one ofthe local colleges for classes. So
we met in the library, and Ijust saw this guy, he was wearing
this all white suit. And I waslike, who is this guy coming in here
wearing suits in a regularTuesday? And so anyways, we met there.
(07:49):
I introduced myself just as Iwas very sociable, and we were friends
for about seven years beforewe even started dating. And we went
to the same universitytogether, best of friends. And decided
one day, one summer, let'sactually maybe try to date.
(08:10):
You know, my journey. I was inthe friend zone for those seven years.
So I've grown a knack forpersistence, and it comes with strategy.
So you have to, as they, asthey tell us in the financial service
industry, stay close to thefire. But Bria was always a great
(08:32):
friend. We had amazingconversations, and so I always wanted
to date her, and I had to waitfor the right time in life to do
it. And as we started to date,we started to build things together.
She introduced me to thingsthat at the time, that I didn't know
about. I wasn't well culturedin traveling, different type of food
(08:55):
experiences. So beginning toget these experiences with somebody,
we. We grew and we evolvedtogether. I would tell her about
these visions that I had ofwhat we could build coming from those
kind of historic figures.Like, if they did this, then this
would have happened. And shewould hear me out. And we finally
decided I always had anentrepreneur path, and she was always
(09:17):
on the corporate side. And somy entrepreneur path comes from equities
trading, stock marketinvesting. And as when we had the
opportunity, once we gotmarried, to actually begin to build
a vision together, we. We justreally sat down and got in the trenches.
And any problems that came up,it was just like our friendship,
(09:40):
we were talking them out. Wewere failing forward, failing fast.
I love that. So for the guyslistening who are trapped in the
friend zone, what advice doyou have for them? To get out of
the friend zone?
To get. Okay. To get out ofthe friend zone is all about. And
I think this is, with any goodrelationship, effective communication,
(10:04):
people have to know whereyou're at and where you want to be.
And you're kind of just layingthat out on the line and you get
creative with how you want todo it, whether it's a nice dinner,
whether it's a vacationtogether, however you want to do
that. I think it starts withthat effective communication and
letting the message thatyou're going to give that other party
(10:25):
sink in. And from the actions,they'll know your intentions. So
character's already beendeveloped. Now we're just cementing
the. The message and what wetruly want and how we want to grow
together. So it starts witheffective communication and then
a really good implementation plan.
(10:46):
You handle that. That. I knowI left your question very well. I'll
give you credit for that. SoI'm curious, when we talk about generational
wealth, I know people hearthat term a lot, but how do you guys
define that and why is that soimportant for families? Especially
families. Families andcommunities like ours where that's
not the case?
(11:06):
Yeah.
That'S a really good question.For us, we have a kind of like a
values system for kind of likeour mantra, and that's family faith
and legacy. And so when wethink of, you know, maybe the term
generational wealth, peoplemight think of just the money portion,
(11:29):
but for us, it's like, howare, like, what impact are we leaving
on the family that we have? Wehave two little ones. We have all
these cousins and nieces andnephews, all, you know, all within
this 20 mile radius. And it'slike, how can we just make an impact
together that's lasting,that's actually leaves a legacy,
and that can actually alignwith the values of our family and
(11:53):
what we have, as well as beinggrounded in our faith. And so it's
kind of just being prosperousin all areas of life. And money is
just a vehicle that can helpus through that. But it's. It's more
of a holistic approach, for sure.
I completely agree with whatBria is saying. There's a really
(12:15):
good financial mentor that wewatch a lot on YouTube named Doug
Andrews, and he calls itauthentic wealth. Authentic wealth
is about establishing valueprinciples, like life principles
on top of predictable,sustainable outcomes. So if we have
the values like these rules,these 10 commandments that we live
(12:37):
by, if you will, in our familylife. And these are the things that
we value. Now we're lookingfor a predictable system that allows
us to accumulate financialwealth. And our values are always
going to be upheld. But weneed to make sure that we have a
system in place that allows usto understand by this time, we're
here, by this time, we'rehere, by this time, we're here. And
(12:59):
if there's any changes alongthat roadmap, we have the GPS of
where we're at, and we knowwhere we're going. So we can pivot.
We don't need to be afraid. Wejust pivot so that we could get back
on the right road. So a lot ofit became about values. And then
putting a system in place,once you have those, this is what
you're operating your moraljudgment on. And your moral judgment
(13:23):
is tied to a financial systemthat allows you to help the communities,
the families, or the differentcountries that you may aspire to
help.
I'm curious, as you guys havestarted on this path of helping create
generational wealth, what weresome of the biggest challenges you
have faced trying to bridgethe racial wealth gap?
(13:47):
Sure. I'll start with a coupleof. I'll start with, like, one thing.
I already know what Che isgoing to say. One of the biggest
challenges is the lack ofeducation, of what's actually out
there and what's available.The way that we even got into the
current type of services thatwe're in outside of Chase Equity
(14:10):
background was I was a part ofthe mass tech layoffs, and we had
this huge amount of chunk ofchange, severance for 1K. And we're
like, okay, we don't want tojust throw this into the market.
Like, we've learned that themarket is just so variable, and while
it's a part of their portfolioplan, it shouldn't be, you know,
(14:32):
where you put all your eggs inone basket. I have a. I am a very
low risk tolerance person. Cheis very opposite, given what he does
for, you know, for by trade.And so we needed to find something
that was kind of what thatmiddle ground was. And so I think
the fact that we actually wentto search for what the different
(14:55):
vehicles are that can kind offit the. The middle ground between
husband and wife familydynamics. So that was one challenge
was the lack of knowledge thatfolks have and then also trying to
find something that fits thedynamics of the family unit. So those
are the two things that Ithink from what I'm just Kind of
(15:17):
off top of one of thechallenges that we have faced in
the beginning of our journeyand kind of working with multiple
different clients as well thathave generational, multi generations
that are involved in thedecision making process and things
of that nature.
Right, Yeah. I woulddefinitely say the key has been financial
(15:37):
literacy. So like what moneyis and what you can do with it and
something after talking togroup after group after group and
I mean like real sitting atyour kitchen table kind of talks,
I was like, oh, okay, you knowwhat, It's a basketball analogy.
If we understand that money isthe ball in the basketball game,
(15:59):
but in order to win the game,you can't just dribble the ball.
It's not an and one dribblecompetition. You have to put the
ball in particular buckets andthat's what equals the score. Once
that get, once we get them tounderstand that it's about what buckets
do we want to put the moneyin. And if you're just spending the
(16:20):
ball, that's the equivalent toa turnover. Somebody has stolen it
from you or you gave it to theother team to put into their bucket.
You need to be putting theball in the right buckets so that
you can accumulate and protectthe right way. Once they get that,
they're like, oh, okay, I needto shoot it in the right place. Yes,
(16:42):
let's get that money going tothe right places. And your money
will then make money for you.And that's what the wealthy know.
When you think of people likeRobert Kiyosaki and they break down
those four quadrants, youeither want people making money for
you or your money making moneyfor you. This is how you ultimately
produce financial freedom.Truly. And as long as we know that
(17:03):
we got to get our money to theright buckets to allow one of those
outcomes to begin to start andcontinue to flourish.
So because we don't getfinancial advice, but I am curious,
what kind of buckets or shouldpeople be looking to put their money
into? You talk about there'sfour. So what are the kind of the
four buckets you're talking about?
(17:23):
So we call, we call them five.We have what we call our five star
financial system. And westarted on brackets to make sure
that we're accommodating forpeople's income. So the first bucket
is protection. Protection isjust going to allow them to understand
that if I pass away, what aremy dependents, what are the bills
(17:44):
that my dependents still wouldhave needed me to cover and, and
how long? And so that's how wedetermine the death benefit that
you'll need in that particularvehicle. And you also, if something
were to happen to me, likemaybe we're in different neighborhoods
where there's underservedcommunities can often have violent
acts that happen. Are weprotected for critical terminal or
(18:08):
chronicle things that mayhappen that we didn't prepare for.
So making sure we have livingbenefits with that protection policy,
then we move into turningpeople into a bank, making sure that
they understand, hey, thereare policies that if you put X amount
of dollars into it month overmonth, year over year, you can take
out loans from yourself taxfree. We call this a tax advantage
(18:31):
strategy. When you take out aloan from yourself and it's tax because
every loan is tax free, yousimply pay yourself back. Now you
have removed the bank and, andyou've become your own bank. Then
once we get them into thatkind of bucket, we take them into
the no risk retirementaccount. No risk retirement account
(18:52):
will be simply be instead ofyour money going like this in the
stock market. Because what wehave to show everybody is a graph
of this is how money grows.It's either fixed like a CD or a
savings account. It's variablelike a 401k or stock market account
or it's indexed. Nobody hasever heard of index. Whenever we
(19:12):
sit them down, indexing simplymeans I can't lose my principal.
So whatever I put in, it's, ithas that floor right there. And then
because we have it attached toinsurance vehicles as interest accrues
in that it gains and thenafter 12 months it locks in for the
for the next year. So if themarket, while it's attached to the
(19:34):
market's upsides, it can'texperience any of the market's downside
risk. So you're stair steppingthe entire time. And when we show
people that for theirretirement, that's where you want
to put like a healthy lump sumof money and just let that cook.
The same exact way you wouldtreat your 401k, you're going to
treat that account. And oncewe get people into that and they
(19:58):
see that their money can'tlose money, they're going to be good
in next 10, 20 years. We liketo get them focusing on their wills
and their trust. And Briaactually came up with a really good
way that if you weren'tprepared financially to set up a
trust, there are things thatare offered in different states called
transfer of death deed ortransfer on death deeds that allow
(20:21):
you to essentially createbeneficiaries for your assets. And
it is documented in that stateor that county so that none of those
assets go into probate.Probate becomes the big thing that
we as black people, people ofcolor or people in underserved communities,
(20:41):
we just don't prepare for it.So we're always putting our assets
and our legacy items in thetrust of the government or the state
where we want to control thosethings. Once we get that under, under
wraps, the fifth and finalthing is making sure that we call
it paid legacy celebration.You can take care of all your expenses
(21:05):
before we even get close tothat date, well in advance, at a
cheaper cost, just by havingwhat they call a final expense in
a particular insurancevehicle. Now all those things are
covered. Your kids aren'tworried about it. They know the game
plan because that game planwill be put in your wheel. As long
(21:25):
as we have these, this fivestep ecosystem, this is where we
accumulate wealth. We can mixand match strategies with it. We
get as creative as we want,and it's all about where we're moving
our liquidity or where we'reputting that ball and what bucket
we want to put it in to createeven better outcomes. Sorry, that
was long winded.
No, that was. That was a goodanswer. No, it's really helpful.
(21:51):
So I agree.
Go ahead.
I was gonna say he laid it allout, so I don't have anything to
add to that.
Well, that's good. You guys dowork well together. So, Shay, tell
me something about your. Tellabout your. Your wearable tech background
and how you work with that.
I am not a fashion designer bytrade or anything like that. It honestly
(22:16):
came from when you're in thestock market specifically doing equities
trading or as we call it,options trading, you're looking for
disruptive companies that canhave exponential growth and you're
trying to time them at theright time. But the key word is disruption.
So where could you. Could wego. That has become kind of lackadaisical,
(22:40):
but we could add something newto it that would disrupt that market
in a different way, where ithas a different functionality to
it. A large part of back inthe day, and I know I'm going to
get in trouble for saying thisname, was studying what Tesla was
able to do and in watching howTesla took what was already a car,
(23:04):
essentially, but they createdmore functionality to the car and
potentially looking atautonomous vehicles and what AI looks
like. I started to look atwith my nephew who kind of sparked
the idea, what could it be? Ifwe use clothes as a identity tool
because we wear clothes thatsomehow represent or embody the character
(23:28):
that we have. Like, this iswhy we selected to put those clothes
on. But if the clothes couldhave functionality to them outside
of just something that wewear. But if you could scan it, learn
stories about people and learnhow to develop your own wealth, if
the clothes could become atool of. At the time I was thinking
to myself, economicliberation, what would that look
(23:52):
like? And how cool could thatbe? Then we just went on this long
journey of, okay, well, howcan we make the clothes something
like that in the QR codebecame a thing. We're like, yeah,
it prints really well on this.Well, what kind of stories do we
want to tell? Well, let's lookat how Nike did it. Like, Nike's
(24:14):
just Nike right now. And theydon't have to do anything extra.
But Nike's really good atstorytelling. So where they use greatness
in sports. Why don't we uselegacy to inspire other people to
live their legacies? And thenwe could use the wealth tools that
we have to show them exactlyhow to do that. So it became a funnel
system from legacy, from beinginspired by somebody else's legacy,
(24:35):
like a Malcolm or a HarrietTubman. Ya Asante wa people that
you hadn't heard of to beingfunneled down into. Okay, now that
they inspired you, how aboutwe build yours out? And now we have
involvement in action. So it'slike edutainment leading into actual
implementation of how we'regoing to get better as a group of
(24:56):
people. And along the way itwas just what works and what doesn't
work. What's a good logo,what's not a good logo, what stands
out and what doesn't standout. So now we're even coming out
with scannable shoes. So whenpeople are walking around in these
two tone shoes and they say,what are those? You don't have to
explain it anymore. And thisis where that functionality comes
(25:17):
in. They just say, oh, scanme. And we wanted to drop them right
into a cultural driven storyof who that shoe belongs to. Like,
what if that's the story ofMalcolm X? And they get this AI story
narrated by me and Briatalking about the legend of Malcolm
X. So get just gettingcreative and disruptive became the,
(25:38):
the ultimate goal. Andfiguring out how along the way and
trying to keep overhead downbut profits high.
Oh, I love that. That's reallya unique idea.
Thank you.
So, Bri, I'm curious what youdo. How do you help families customize
their legacy plans?
(26:00):
Yeah, absolutely. So the firstthing we do is just listen Every
family has a unique story anda unique set of challenges and dreams.
And so we don't believe thatwhen we hop on the phone or hop on
Zoom or even on someone'sliving room doing a presentation,
(26:23):
that it's just a cookie cutterplan. So we really start by mapping
out what they actually valuethe most and whether it's something
that they want to leave behindfor their children or something that
they want to protect, like Chementioned, or creating freedom in
their future. And so we use atool that we call an asset map to
(26:45):
give them a clear visual oftheir entire financial picture. And
it's something that's. I feellike it's an empowering. But to really
see everything kind of laidout in one place, just your, your,
your finances and your pictureon a page. And sometimes for the
first time, when we talk tothese families, they don't really.
(27:08):
They've never seen it. And sowhat Che mentioned, kind of our five
star system is how we walkthem through. That's what we call
our legacy. Wealth Blue. Andso at the end of the day, the goal
is simple, is to really helpthem feel confident and clear, knowing
that their money is workingfor them and that's that they're
building that legacy. That'snot just managing finances, but it's
(27:30):
something that they can do fortheir whole entire family.
I love that. Could each of youshare a story from the areas that
you focus on and tell me howyou've used that to impact a particular
family or a community?
Sure. Did you want to start?
Can you repeat that question again?
So from the different aspects,you guys both approach this very
(27:53):
differently. Can you share astory from your area of expertise,
of how you've used your gifts,your talents and your abilities to
either impact a family or community?
Family or community. Mybackground, I would say from like
the sports side and my fatheras a mentor, I've always had a really
(28:17):
good knack for, I would sayteaching or talking or as they would
say, the gift of gab. So I'vealways been able to speak really
well and clear in the message.And because of that, I think the.
I have a. When I went to theUniversity of. We both went to the
(28:39):
University of Washington and Ireceived my degree in history. And
so I've always been this kindof history buff. And I always liked
our African American historyand all these legends that I'd never
heard of, like Martin R.Delaney being one of the probably
the first black nationalistsand actually going back to Africa
(29:00):
and creating a space for freedslaves to Return home, if you will.
You know, these stories ofthese legends that we had never heard
of. So when I got intofinancial services or with options
trading, it became about howcan we do things on our own? Like,
how can we get it withouthaving to work for somebody else?
(29:23):
Like, how can we maneuver thissystem, if you will. And that was
like that Malcolm X and meself reliance. But we got to extract
from here so we could put itover there. In applying that to what
we do now, it's all about thestories that you can tell people.
So when I tell them about myupbringing with my father and teaching,
(29:44):
when I tell them about howpeople like Malcolm experienced hardships
with his father beingmurdered, his mother going into the
same asylum, and him trying tofind his own way as this lost kid
separated through the fostercare system and building these stories
to say, look, we all startsomewhere, but it's about where we
end and it's about how we putsystems in place to make sure that
(30:08):
that doesn't happen to thenext generation. I became really
good at storytelling andironically, like, I like films a
lot. So like the film industryis something that I always wanted
to do but on our own terms,like make our movies, have our own
fan base and create a messagethat just inspires people. But I've
(30:30):
been able to take thatstorytelling aspect of my background
and being able to speak welland let the message resonate with
people and apply that to theirfinancial journey and their journey
to want a better outcome fortheir families. And now it's not
so much this tool does thisand it does this and if you do this,
(30:51):
it's not the 1, 2, 3, 4sequential step that they taught
us in school. As much asyou're pulling on the heartstrings
about what do you want andwhere are you at? If we just know
where you're at and you knowwhat you want, now we're just road
mapping it to get you there.That's our job. We're going to tell
you that story and give youthose products that do that. It doesn't
(31:11):
matter what the product is. Itmatters the outcome the product can
produce.
I love that, as you can see,Che brings the passion. That's one
of his strengths, thestorytelling. For sure, for sure.
He is definitely the one thatwhen we go and have talks, he's the
one that's starting us offbecause like he mentioned, like he
(31:32):
is his passion shows throughthe things that we talk about. And
so the way that I feel like wecomplement each other and how we
work together is I'mdefinitely the realist and I can,
I bring the structure and thesystem to the process that he is,
to the vision that he isportraying and the division of the
(31:52):
families that we work with.And so during these times that he's,
when we have these initialconversations, it's really like,
what is that dream? What isthat vision? What is that goal? And
then I'm like, okay, now thatthey laid it out for us and exactly
what that looks like now myjob is to see, okay, which structure
is going to fit the best tofit that vision and how, what's the
(32:17):
system that we're going tofollow in order to get there. And
so that's kind of how we'reable to work together in bringing
the strengths that we have.One of the one example I would say
that we've kind of focused alot on in the beginning of last month
is working with churches. Mydad is a pastor. He's been a pastor
(32:40):
since. I don't know.
Bishop?
Yeah, he's, I don't know, he'sbeen a pastor for years, longer than
I've obviously been alive.He's 80. He's turning 80 this May.
He's been a pastor since hewas like 21. So whatever that looks
like 60 years. Anyway, thechurches are a prime example of how
we can bring generationalwealth and lasting legacy into, into
(33:05):
the church house. And oneprime example was a church that we
have worked with and the, thepastor doesn't have any legacy plan
or the church didn'tnecessarily know, you know, when
our pastor passes away orleaves, you know, before time, what
do we do? And a lot of timesit's, they're either full time work
(33:27):
that they're putting into, youknow, as a, as a part of the ministry
or, or maybe they havesomething part time, maybe they're
working full time and theyhaven't necessarily had a plan. And
so we're working with thechurches to actually build a plan
for the key persons ofinfluence in their church, whether
that is the pastor, the headdeacons, maybe some of the head ministers
(33:51):
in the organization to ensurethat if something does happen, they're
taken care of. But not onlythat, that wealth also goes back
to the church. So, so ifsomething were to take place, like
a member that comes in andthey need help for the benevolence
fund, or if, if they need tobuild another, let's just say a detached
unit onto their land, thereare different ways for them to continue
(34:13):
this wealth within the churchthat they can actually do what they
do best and what they need todo, and that's serving the community,
serving what's around them.And so one of the things that we're,
you know, we're really focusedon is really helping the churches
be able to build thatstructure and what that looks like
and to get set up. And sothat's one of the things from the
community standpoint thatwe've kind of made a focus on, for
(34:36):
sure.
That's a wonderful, wonderfulendeavor. It really is important.
I've worked in a lot ofchurches for not long as your dad.
I've only been doing this forlike 31 years. So I got. I got a
long way to go, but for a while.
Yeah, yeah. And it was, it wassomething, I'm sure a lot of people
in our industry could go tochurches to say and, you know, pitch
(34:58):
per se. But we're seeing thisas something much, much bigger. Some
churches have created creditunions, like, okay, if they don't
have the capital to do that,what's another way they can get started
to continue this developmentwithin their community? And it's
showing that something thatcould be very viable and very easy
to implement.
So you go beyond the lock thedoor strategy.
(35:21):
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I was going to chime in onthat because I was saying if. If
our church leaders know,because as we speak to the church
leaders, and it's a beautifulthing because they know that they're
shepherds.
Right, right.
And they're saying, or I canroll this out to anybody else. I
have to at least experiencethis or have this on myself. I have
(35:42):
to know what it's going to dofor my people. And a lot of things
that we see for the church isthe church has all the ability to
become its own banking systemjust with what's already in place.
Depending on what type ofchurch or denomination you are, you
can put on events that caneasily be funneled into your banking
(36:04):
system that will sustain itfor that year. And you could do it
every quarter, you could do itbiannually, you could do it annually.
That one event could bebuilding up your banking system so
that when the community needshelp, the church who owns the policy
takes out a loan fromthemselves to help the community,
puts on another event toreplenish it, and keeps it going
(36:27):
year over year over year,event after event. And they can scale,
creating a scalable systemthat they're the bank. They're not
leaving their money in what wecall a fixed money account, which
looks like the deadline, ifyou were to pass away the Flat line.
Right.
You don't want your moneythere. And that's where we're used
to our money being safe. No,that same group of people is taking
(36:51):
your money and investing it inthe variable space and making money
off the money you're storingwith them. Store your money in your
own banking system, leverageit with your own planned out tools,
and creatively build thefuture that you want for your environment.
And the nice part about it isthere's thousands of churches with
(37:11):
their own communities to takecare of. So there's a unique way
they have. They all, like Briawas saying, they all have different
needs that they want toaccomplish. There's no cookie cutter
way to tell a church to do it.Just like there's no cookie cutter
way to tell a family to do it.It's built based off of that need.
But the system is still thesystem. And as long as we know the
(37:32):
rules of engagement now, wecan play the game.
I love it. So what are thechallenges and what are the benefits
of working together as a couple?
That's a nice. You want tostart? Boo.
Sure, sure. I would say one ofthe challenges for us is to just
(37:55):
kind of being able to stay.I'm okay. So I'm very much so. Like
we mentioned, systematicstructure, building it out. Che is
always bringing ideas, alwaysbringing ideas. And I'm like, okay,
let's execute this, this firstone first. Before we move into that,
let's. Let's combine yourideas and let's put them on a level
(38:18):
of priority and we can hit itfrom the ground based off of priority.
So that definitely yielded tobe a challenge in working together
as a couple. I would say oneof the benefits is also just that
because he has multiplevisions that he can bring to the
(38:38):
table and I have the abilityto systemize it and structure it.
That pairs very well. We can'thave two visionaries in a group.
We'll never get anything done.We can't have two implementers in
the group because we'll alwaysjust be trying to follow somebody
else's system and it'll neverjust be our own. And so what I would
say is a challenge is also astrength that we're learning to work
(39:01):
together in how we canactually balance it together. And
it's, it's twofold, for sure.
I completely agree. I wasgoing to say left brain, right brain,
if you will, that logicalprocess and that creative process
and I can't enunciate it anybetter. I guess I'll. I'll try, but
(39:24):
yeah, From a creative, from acreative standpoint, seeing what
could be done and kind ofprojecting out into the future and
then working together to say,okay, how does this get implemented,
though? And then on a creativeside, you have to tailor those things
back. You're like, okay, look,we can't do this until we do this.
(39:45):
Like, we have to know thatsuccess comes in steps. You know,
it's. It's almost like thewatering the seed analogy. It's not
going to happen overnight. Youhave to constantly feed and it takes
time for these things todevelop. But it's the repetition
and consistency of whateveryou're doing in that system that
(40:07):
you have. So working togetherfrom a logical and creative space
and coming together in thatmiddle ground of saying, this is
our system. Like if Iliterally showed you my board that's
sitting right next to me, itliterally says the system for leads
and followers. What is thesystem that we're implementing to
develop these plans? Andthat's what allows the logical and
(40:29):
creative to really cometogether. Because now we're looking
at it from a system standpointthat's going to, over time, with
consistency, achieve theoutcomes that we said we want. Yeah.
I would also add one morechallenge is because we work together
(40:51):
full time, it's very hard toshut it off. And so I think we're
still like trying to workthrough that. I think I'm more of
the person that's like saying,hey, let's maybe talk about something
else, or if we take a datenight, we're not just trying to do
business strategy. And sothat, that yields a little bit of
(41:13):
a challenge in that in itself.But, you know, just making sure we
take that time and not beingjust so in dated in the business,
even though it's somethingthat we enjoy doing, it shouldn't
be like the bulk of ourrelationship. I would say another
benefit or an opportunity isour kids get to see us work together
(41:35):
and we try to take them alongto some of the talks that we do,
any of the workshops, evengoing to visit families, because
we want them to see mom anddad working together. We want them
to see mom and dad buildingthis life for them and, and having
the ability to see thatfirsthand. A lot of people just leave
(41:56):
their kids at home. We bringthem. Granted, we do have two sets
of grants that help us alongthe way. You know, they come travel
and everything, but the factthat they can see it and they see
that they're also involved andwhen they get older will, you know,
hopefully bring them on boardand if they don't want to. At least
they know how to be able to,to have that family unit. I think
(42:17):
that's one of the manyblessings that not many families
can say, but I definitelycherish it.
And I will say from achallenge perspective, specifically
with the communities that wewant to help, it's been a challenge,
like in scaling, becauseeverybody does not want to have an
insurance conversation withyou because of what the already projected
(42:43):
thoughts of what that industryis. And so one, getting creative
in how we're saying, okay,let's, let's approach this differently.
We're not life insuranceagents, we're wealth architects,
right? And what we do iscreate systems for financial freedom
and generational wealth,finding creative ways to speak to
(43:04):
the audience that we want sothat they feel comfortable to bring
what the problem is. A lot oftimes, similar to mental health in
our communities, we don't wantto talk about the financial problems
that we're having. And ourgoal becomes we have to get people
familiar with us or at leastbeginning to trust us, if you will,
(43:29):
so that we can go into thatpersonal space and help them how
they want to be helped. Sofinding ways to do that has become
the challenge of how do webuild a system around. There's enough
times that they've seen us,heard our message and understand
our passion and what we trulywant to do so that they're like,
(43:51):
okay, I want this outcome inmy life. So helping the community
that we want to help, we'vehad, we've had to learn how to speak
to that community in theirlanguage so that we could both get
to where we're at and where wewant to be.
Love it. Now, here's my otherfavorite question, and it fits right
in with what we've beentalking about today. What do you
(44:12):
want your legacy to be?
Go ahead, Bria.
No, I, I was like, you weregoing to end with that one. Go ahead.
So I, ours is really, mine isreally big. If we're breaking down
personal, I want to see us as,as people of color and specifically
(44:38):
the African American communitybegin to create an ecosystem saying,
okay, look, there are going tobe times when our government is for
us and against us. But how dowe create an ecosystem where we are
self efficient within our owncommunities, in our own space? And
then once we create thatecosystem, I have this really big
(45:00):
dream of, I want to be able tofunnel our banking systems collectively
to begin to go back to Africaand build along the west coast of
Africa like resorts. And Iwant us to attract our own people
to coming and having vacationsand everything on the same place
(45:20):
that we were extracted fromgenerations ago. So I want to find
a way to Martin R. Delany andkind of Malcolm X combined, return
us home in a way that evenwhen we go back to, say, that particular
space, West Africa, and we arebuilding out our own resorts and
begin to build a city, we'recreating jobs over there as well.
(45:43):
So now we're building outanother economy, if you will, and
now we're taking the wealththat we understand to be in America
and bringing it over here toAfrica. And we're beginning to build
out our own space, our ownculture, our own laws. So that I
don't want to see usconstantly be in a protest environment
(46:05):
that we don't control, butthat we're asking for things to be
done right. I want us to goand build the life and the space
that we want and say, this isours. We're coming back and we're
going to help the people thatare there. We're going to add value
and we're going to know thesystems over here that allow us to
(46:25):
build the culture in citiesthat we want over here. So I want
to see us take the opportunityto build our own empires where we
come from.
Love that.
Yeah, Very, very big vision.And it's not that it won't happen.
It's more the fact of when itdoes happen, that everyone is prepared
(46:48):
to do that. I would say whatwe value most is leaving a legacy
of impact and purpose. And sowith all those things encompassing
that Che mentioned, we want tobring as many families along the
ride and to help as manyfamilies to be able to not just go
(47:08):
from. We want them to go fromstrivers to thrivers.
And.
And so all the things that Chementioned, all of that, and then
making sure that people arereally set up for success, and it's
just. It makes a true impactfor multi generations to come.
Great. Where can people findboth of you? And maybe if you want
(47:28):
a legacy plan develop, wherecan they connect with you both?
Yes, they can find us on allplatforms under a legacy X. Or if
they want to connect with usspecifically, they can find us on
Davis X Rain. That's thereign, as in hierarchy, not as in
the weather. And also they canemail directly@legacyx.com well.
(47:55):
Thank you both for coming onand providing such a great conversation.
Blessings on the work you'redoing. What you're doing is so important.
So I'm so thankful that we hadtime to delve into that and kind
of unpack a lot of what you doand the impact you're having on the
community.
Thank you. Thank you forhaving it.
My guests today are Shay andBree Davis. They are a dynamic husband
and wife duo passionate aboutbridging the racial wealth gap through
innovation, education andlegacy building. They have joined
forces to empower familieswith the tools, knowledge and confidence
to build generational wealthand secure their futures. Shae Davis,
(01:20):
Legacy Chief, is a visionarybehind a unique approach to merging
culture, technology andfinance. He brings history to life
through wearable tech thattells the stories of cultural icons
while simultaneously providingaccess to financial tools that help
individuals grow their wealthrisk free and tax free. Shai's bold
leadership reimagines howfashion and fintech can intersect
(01:43):
to create impactful change forfamilies and communities. Bree is
a wealth strategist andleadership development coach with
a decade of experience instrategic development. She brings
a compassionate and insightfulapproach to helping families create
customized legacy plans. Herdeep understanding of financial empowerment
and her commitment to closingthe racial wealth gap drive her to
(02:05):
educate others on how they cangrow their money in ways they never
thought possible. We welcomethem to the podcast. Well, I'm so
blessed to have you both onthe podcast. They're looking forward
to this conversation. I alwayslike bringing this kind of content
to my audience at least coupletimes a year because I think we live
in a culture where so manypeople don't know how to generate
(02:29):
wealth and take care of theirfamilies at a legacy concept. So
I'm looking forward to youguys sharing some of the things you
do to help people do that. Butbefore we get to the juice and meat
of that, you gotta get throughthe opening door of the question
that every podcast guest hasto answer to get to the deeper questions.
That is what's the best pieceof advice you've ever received? You
(02:50):
guys pick who goes first.
Hey's the talker, so I'll lethim go first.
The best piece of adviceyou've ever received, and it feels
like it alternates season over season.
Sure.
But I'm gonna go with it'sdarkest before the light. In times
(03:14):
of struggle, if you will, youhave to be mentally prepared, spiritually
prepared, and you have to havethe right people around you to keep
pushing forward. So I think inthis season of life, that's something
that stays on my mind giveneconomic environment, political environment,
(03:35):
and even this entrepreneurjourney that me and my wife are on.
Sure. That's amazing. Good.
That's good. I would say forme, it's fail forward and fail fast.
And that's something that I'vealways heard from, coming from a
tech background, and you justgot to pick the things that work.
If they don't work, okay,learn from that and keep it pushing.
(03:57):
And so that's something that'salways stuck with me and a mantra
we certainly implement in ourfamily. For sure.
That's great. I love both ofthose. I'm always curious, as you
think about your careers andyour journey in life, who are some
people that served as mentorsfor each of you?
My mom for sure. She'sdefinitely the backbone of our family
(04:22):
and the fact that she wasdetermined to do multiple things,
I call her multifaceted is oneof the things that I definitely attain
or like try to be like mirrorthat. And then I would say my old
boss from the corporate side,my last old boss, he was always looking
to progress and to be able toallow us to in my team fail and move
(04:49):
fast and make mistakes andchallenge us. And so those are two,
I guess, personal and thenprofessional wise that have allowed
me to really propel wherewe're at. What about you, Che?
I would say my dad for sureas, as a mentor and just kind of
leader. He always led byexample from my sports background
(05:13):
in like college and highschool. Just always being there,
always showing up, being inthe trenches with you. And I think
as I, as we've pursued thekind of entrepreneur journey, I've
always turned to historicfigures for mentorship and guidance.
And I found a lot of what Ireally like. I've been like a huge
(05:34):
fan of Malcolm X since I waslike 5 years old, since I saw the
Spike Lee movie. I thoughtDenzel Washington was Malcolm X.
But a lot of that was built onself reliance, pride, cultural pride
and you know, just kind ofknowing your why And I, I found that
in people like Malcolm andFred Hampton. And I think that's
(05:55):
kind of even what inspiredthe, the clothing line. People not
knowing who those people areand what they stood for and those
values can transcendgenerations. So I think I always
looked up to Malcolm and mydad growing up for sure.
You know, it's alwaysinteresting. I look back at history
and sometimes people likeMalcolm X, who people see as controversial,
(06:18):
there's so much about whatthey believed and even the movements
that they led that's just nottold. And I've done some, you know,
research recently. I'm like,you know, I didn't even know that
was part of that because you,you only hear part of the story.
I'm always reminded of, Ican't think of the guy's name now,
(06:38):
but he always said this is,there's the rest is the rest of the
story we only hear sometimes asnippet of someone's life, and we
make a value judgment based onthat one snippet without knowing
the entire context of theirlife. So I, you know, I appreciate
that we get a chance to talkabout people and dig deeper than
just the surface stuff.
Right, Absolutely. I agree.
(07:00):
I'm always curious when I havecouples. I don't have couples on
my podcast Office, so I'mreally thankful for this. But tell
us. Tell me how you guys metand decided to join forces in this
mission.
Wow. So we met at a library in2006, and I believe I was in my senior
(07:23):
year of high school. Che wasin his freshman year of college,
and I was doing what they callthe Running Start program. And so
I happened to attend one ofthe local colleges for classes. So
we met in the library, and Ijust saw this guy, he was wearing
this all white suit. And I waslike, who is this guy coming in here
wearing suits in a regularTuesday? And so anyways, we met there.
(07:49):
I introduced myself just as Iwas very sociable, and we were friends
for about seven years beforewe even started dating. And we went
to the same universitytogether, best of friends. And decided
one day, one summer, let'sactually maybe try to date.
(08:10):
You know, my journey. I was inthe friend zone for those seven years.
So I've grown a knack forpersistence, and it comes with strategy.
So you have to, as they, asthey tell us in the financial service
industry, stay close to thefire. But Bria was always a great
(08:32):
friend. We had amazingconversations, and so I always wanted
to date her, and I had to waitfor the right time in life to do
it. And as we started to date,we started to build things together.
She introduced me to thingsthat at the time, that I didn't know
about. I wasn't well culturedin traveling, different type of food
(08:55):
experiences. So beginning toget these experiences with somebody,
we. We grew and we evolvedtogether. I would tell her about
these visions that I had ofwhat we could build coming from those
kind of historic figures.Like, if they did this, then this
would have happened. And shewould hear me out. And we finally
decided I always had anentrepreneur path, and she was always
(09:17):
on the corporate side. And somy entrepreneur path comes from equities
trading, stock marketinvesting. And as when we had the
opportunity, once we gotmarried, to actually begin to build
a vision together, we. We justreally sat down and got in the trenches.
And any problems that came up,it was just like our friendship,
(09:40):
we were talking them out. Wewere failing forward, failing fast.
I love that. So for the guyslistening who are trapped in the
friend zone, what advice doyou have for them? To get out of
the friend zone?
To get. Okay. To get out ofthe friend zone is all about. And
I think this is, with any goodrelationship, effective communication,
(10:04):
people have to know whereyou're at and where you want to be.
And you're kind of just layingthat out on the line and you get
creative with how you want todo it, whether it's a nice dinner,
whether it's a vacationtogether, however you want to do
that. I think it starts withthat effective communication and
letting the message thatyou're going to give that other party
(10:25):
sink in. And from the actions,they'll know your intentions. So
character's already beendeveloped. Now we're just cementing
the. The message and what wetruly want and how we want to grow
together. So it starts witheffective communication and then
a really good implementation plan.
(10:46):
You handle that. That. I knowI left your question very well. I'll
give you credit for that. SoI'm curious, when we talk about generational
wealth, I know people hearthat term a lot, but how do you guys
define that and why is that soimportant for families? Especially
families. Families andcommunities like ours where that's
not the case?
(11:06):
Yeah.
That'S a really good question.For us, we have a kind of like a
values system for kind of likeour mantra, and that's family faith
and legacy. And so when wethink of, you know, maybe the term
generational wealth, peoplemight think of just the money portion,
(11:29):
but for us, it's like, howare, like, what impact are we leaving
on the family that we have? Wehave two little ones. We have all
these cousins and nieces andnephews, all, you know, all within
this 20 mile radius. And it'slike, how can we just make an impact
together that's lasting,that's actually leaves a legacy,
and that can actually alignwith the values of our family and
(11:53):
what we have, as well as beinggrounded in our faith. And so it's
kind of just being prosperousin all areas of life. And money is
just a vehicle that can helpus through that. But it's. It's more
of a holistic approach, for sure.
I completely agree with whatBria is saying. There's a really
(12:15):
good financial mentor that wewatch a lot on YouTube named Doug
Andrews, and he calls itauthentic wealth. Authentic wealth
is about establishing valueprinciples, like life principles
on top of predictable,sustainable outcomes. So if we have
the values like these rules,these 10 commandments that we live
(12:37):
by, if you will, in our familylife. And these are the things that
we value. Now we're lookingfor a predictable system that allows
us to accumulate financialwealth. And our values are always
going to be upheld. But weneed to make sure that we have a
system in place that allows usto understand by this time, we're
here, by this time, we'rehere, by this time, we're here. And
(12:59):
if there's any changes alongthat roadmap, we have the GPS of
where we're at, and we knowwhere we're going. So we can pivot.
We don't need to be afraid. Wejust pivot so that we could get back
on the right road. So a lot ofit became about values. And then
putting a system in place,once you have those, this is what
you're operating your moraljudgment on. And your moral judgment
(13:23):
is tied to a financial systemthat allows you to help the communities,
the families, or the differentcountries that you may aspire to
help.
I'm curious, as you guys havestarted on this path of helping create
generational wealth, what weresome of the biggest challenges you
have faced trying to bridgethe racial wealth gap?
(13:47):
Sure. I'll start with a coupleof. I'll start with, like, one thing.
I already know what Che isgoing to say. One of the biggest
challenges is the lack ofeducation, of what's actually out
there and what's available.The way that we even got into the
current type of services thatwe're in outside of Chase Equity
(14:10):
background was I was a part ofthe mass tech layoffs, and we had
this huge amount of chunk ofchange, severance for 1K. And we're
like, okay, we don't want tojust throw this into the market.
Like, we've learned that themarket is just so variable, and while
it's a part of their portfolioplan, it shouldn't be, you know,
(14:32):
where you put all your eggs inone basket. I have a. I am a very
low risk tolerance person. Cheis very opposite, given what he does
for, you know, for by trade.And so we needed to find something
that was kind of what thatmiddle ground was. And so I think
the fact that we actually wentto search for what the different
(14:55):
vehicles are that can kind offit the. The middle ground between
husband and wife familydynamics. So that was one challenge
was the lack of knowledge thatfolks have and then also trying to
find something that fits thedynamics of the family unit. So those
are the two things that Ithink from what I'm just Kind of
(15:17):
off top of one of thechallenges that we have faced in
the beginning of our journeyand kind of working with multiple
different clients as well thathave generational, multi generations
that are involved in thedecision making process and things
of that nature.
Right, Yeah. I woulddefinitely say the key has been financial
(15:37):
literacy. So like what moneyis and what you can do with it and
something after talking togroup after group after group and
I mean like real sitting atyour kitchen table kind of talks,
I was like, oh, okay, you knowwhat, It's a basketball analogy.
If we understand that money isthe ball in the basketball game,
(15:59):
but in order to win the game,you can't just dribble the ball.
It's not an and one dribblecompetition. You have to put the
ball in particular buckets andthat's what equals the score. Once
that get, once we get them tounderstand that it's about what buckets
do we want to put the moneyin. And if you're just spending the
(16:20):
ball, that's the equivalent toa turnover. Somebody has stolen it
from you or you gave it to theother team to put into their bucket.
You need to be putting theball in the right buckets so that
you can accumulate and protectthe right way. Once they get that,
they're like, oh, okay, I needto shoot it in the right place. Yes,
(16:42):
let's get that money going tothe right places. And your money
will then make money for you.And that's what the wealthy know.
When you think of people likeRobert Kiyosaki and they break down
those four quadrants, youeither want people making money for
you or your money making moneyfor you. This is how you ultimately
produce financial freedom.Truly. And as long as we know that
(17:03):
we got to get our money to theright buckets to allow one of those
outcomes to begin to start andcontinue to flourish.
So because we don't getfinancial advice, but I am curious,
what kind of buckets or shouldpeople be looking to put their money
into? You talk about there'sfour. So what are the kind of the
four buckets you're talking about?
(17:23):
So we call, we call them five.We have what we call our five star
financial system. And westarted on brackets to make sure
that we're accommodating forpeople's income. So the first bucket
is protection. Protection isjust going to allow them to understand
that if I pass away, what aremy dependents, what are the bills
(17:44):
that my dependents still wouldhave needed me to cover and, and
how long? And so that's how wedetermine the death benefit that
you'll need in that particularvehicle. And you also, if something
were to happen to me, likemaybe we're in different neighborhoods
where there's underservedcommunities can often have violent
acts that happen. Are weprotected for critical terminal or
(18:08):
chronicle things that mayhappen that we didn't prepare for.
So making sure we have livingbenefits with that protection policy,
then we move into turningpeople into a bank, making sure that
they understand, hey, thereare policies that if you put X amount
of dollars into it month overmonth, year over year, you can take
out loans from yourself taxfree. We call this a tax advantage
(18:31):
strategy. When you take out aloan from yourself and it's tax because
every loan is tax free, yousimply pay yourself back. Now you
have removed the bank and, andyou've become your own bank. Then
once we get them into thatkind of bucket, we take them into
the no risk retirementaccount. No risk retirement account
(18:52):
will be simply be instead ofyour money going like this in the
stock market. Because what wehave to show everybody is a graph
of this is how money grows.It's either fixed like a CD or a
savings account. It's variablelike a 401k or stock market account
or it's indexed. Nobody hasever heard of index. Whenever we
(19:12):
sit them down, indexing simplymeans I can't lose my principal.
So whatever I put in, it's, ithas that floor right there. And then
because we have it attached toinsurance vehicles as interest accrues
in that it gains and thenafter 12 months it locks in for the
for the next year. So if themarket, while it's attached to the
(19:34):
market's upsides, it can'texperience any of the market's downside
risk. So you're stair steppingthe entire time. And when we show
people that for theirretirement, that's where you want
to put like a healthy lump sumof money and just let that cook.
The same exact way you wouldtreat your 401k, you're going to
treat that account. And oncewe get people into that and they
(19:58):
see that their money can'tlose money, they're going to be good
in next 10, 20 years. We liketo get them focusing on their wills
and their trust. And Briaactually came up with a really good
way that if you weren'tprepared financially to set up a
trust, there are things thatare offered in different states called
transfer of death deed ortransfer on death deeds that allow
(20:21):
you to essentially createbeneficiaries for your assets. And
it is documented in that stateor that county so that none of those
assets go into probate.Probate becomes the big thing that
we as black people, people ofcolor or people in underserved communities,
(20:41):
we just don't prepare for it.So we're always putting our assets
and our legacy items in thetrust of the government or the state
where we want to control thosethings. Once we get that under, under
wraps, the fifth and finalthing is making sure that we call
it paid legacy celebration.You can take care of all your expenses
(21:05):
before we even get close tothat date, well in advance, at a
cheaper cost, just by havingwhat they call a final expense in
a particular insurancevehicle. Now all those things are
covered. Your kids aren'tworried about it. They know the game
plan because that game planwill be put in your wheel. As long
(21:25):
as we have these, this fivestep ecosystem, this is where we
accumulate wealth. We can mixand match strategies with it. We
get as creative as we want,and it's all about where we're moving
our liquidity or where we'reputting that ball and what bucket
we want to put it in to createeven better outcomes. Sorry, that
was long winded.
No, that was. That was a goodanswer. No, it's really helpful.
(21:51):
So I agree.
Go ahead.
I was gonna say he laid it allout, so I don't have anything to
add to that.
Well, that's good. You guys dowork well together. So, Shay, tell
me something about your. Tellabout your. Your wearable tech background
and how you work with that.
I am not a fashion designer bytrade or anything like that. It honestly
(22:16):
came from when you're in thestock market specifically doing equities
trading or as we call it,options trading, you're looking for
disruptive companies that canhave exponential growth and you're
trying to time them at theright time. But the key word is disruption.
So where could you. Could wego. That has become kind of lackadaisical,
(22:40):
but we could add something newto it that would disrupt that market
in a different way, where ithas a different functionality to
it. A large part of back inthe day, and I know I'm going to
get in trouble for saying thisname, was studying what Tesla was
able to do and in watching howTesla took what was already a car,
(23:04):
essentially, but they createdmore functionality to the car and
potentially looking atautonomous vehicles and what AI looks
like. I started to look atwith my nephew who kind of sparked
the idea, what could it be? Ifwe use clothes as a identity tool
because we wear clothes thatsomehow represent or embody the character
(23:28):
that we have. Like, this iswhy we selected to put those clothes
on. But if the clothes couldhave functionality to them outside
of just something that wewear. But if you could scan it, learn
stories about people and learnhow to develop your own wealth, if
the clothes could become atool of. At the time I was thinking
to myself, economicliberation, what would that look
(23:52):
like? And how cool could thatbe? Then we just went on this long
journey of, okay, well, howcan we make the clothes something
like that in the QR codebecame a thing. We're like, yeah,
it prints really well on this.Well, what kind of stories do we
want to tell? Well, let's lookat how Nike did it. Like, Nike's
(24:14):
just Nike right now. And theydon't have to do anything extra.
But Nike's really good atstorytelling. So where they use greatness
in sports. Why don't we uselegacy to inspire other people to
live their legacies? And thenwe could use the wealth tools that
we have to show them exactlyhow to do that. So it became a funnel
system from legacy, from beinginspired by somebody else's legacy,
(24:35):
like a Malcolm or a HarrietTubman. Ya Asante wa people that
you hadn't heard of to beingfunneled down into. Okay, now that
they inspired you, how aboutwe build yours out? And now we have
involvement in action. So it'slike edutainment leading into actual
implementation of how we'regoing to get better as a group of
(24:56):
people. And along the way itwas just what works and what doesn't
work. What's a good logo,what's not a good logo, what stands
out and what doesn't standout. So now we're even coming out
with scannable shoes. So whenpeople are walking around in these
two tone shoes and they say,what are those? You don't have to
explain it anymore. And thisis where that functionality comes
(25:17):
in. They just say, oh, scanme. And we wanted to drop them right
into a cultural driven storyof who that shoe belongs to. Like,
what if that's the story ofMalcolm X? And they get this AI story
narrated by me and Briatalking about the legend of Malcolm
X. So get just gettingcreative and disruptive became the,
(25:38):
the ultimate goal. Andfiguring out how along the way and
trying to keep overhead downbut profits high.
Oh, I love that. That's reallya unique idea.
Thank you.
So, Bri, I'm curious what youdo. How do you help families customize
their legacy plans?
(26:00):
Yeah, absolutely. So the firstthing we do is just listen Every
family has a unique story anda unique set of challenges and dreams.
And so we don't believe thatwhen we hop on the phone or hop on
Zoom or even on someone'sliving room doing a presentation,
(26:23):
that it's just a cookie cutterplan. So we really start by mapping
out what they actually valuethe most and whether it's something
that they want to leave behindfor their children or something that
they want to protect, like Chementioned, or creating freedom in
their future. And so we use atool that we call an asset map to
(26:45):
give them a clear visual oftheir entire financial picture. And
it's something that's. I feellike it's an empowering. But to really
see everything kind of laidout in one place, just your, your,
your finances and your pictureon a page. And sometimes for the
first time, when we talk tothese families, they don't really.
(27:08):
They've never seen it. And sowhat Che mentioned, kind of our five
star system is how we walkthem through. That's what we call
our legacy. Wealth Blue. Andso at the end of the day, the goal
is simple, is to really helpthem feel confident and clear, knowing
that their money is workingfor them and that's that they're
building that legacy. That'snot just managing finances, but it's
(27:30):
something that they can do fortheir whole entire family.
I love that. Could each of youshare a story from the areas that
you focus on and tell me howyou've used that to impact a particular
family or a community?
Sure. Did you want to start?
Can you repeat that question again?
So from the different aspects,you guys both approach this very
(27:53):
differently. Can you share astory from your area of expertise,
of how you've used your gifts,your talents and your abilities to
either impact a family or community?
Family or community. Mybackground, I would say from like
the sports side and my fatheras a mentor, I've always had a really
(28:17):
good knack for, I would sayteaching or talking or as they would
say, the gift of gab. So I'vealways been able to speak really
well and clear in the message.And because of that, I think the.
I have a. When I went to theUniversity of. We both went to the
(28:39):
University of Washington and Ireceived my degree in history. And
so I've always been this kindof history buff. And I always liked
our African American historyand all these legends that I'd never
heard of, like Martin R.Delaney being one of the probably
the first black nationalistsand actually going back to Africa
(29:00):
and creating a space for freedslaves to Return home, if you will.
You know, these stories ofthese legends that we had never heard
of. So when I got intofinancial services or with options
trading, it became about howcan we do things on our own? Like,
how can we get it withouthaving to work for somebody else?
(29:23):
Like, how can we maneuver thissystem, if you will. And that was
like that Malcolm X and meself reliance. But we got to extract
from here so we could put itover there. In applying that to what
we do now, it's all about thestories that you can tell people.
So when I tell them about myupbringing with my father and teaching,
(29:44):
when I tell them about howpeople like Malcolm experienced hardships
with his father beingmurdered, his mother going into the
same asylum, and him trying tofind his own way as this lost kid
separated through the fostercare system and building these stories
to say, look, we all startsomewhere, but it's about where we
end and it's about how we putsystems in place to make sure that
(30:08):
that doesn't happen to thenext generation. I became really
good at storytelling andironically, like, I like films a
lot. So like the film industryis something that I always wanted
to do but on our own terms,like make our movies, have our own
fan base and create a messagethat just inspires people. But I've
(30:30):
been able to take thatstorytelling aspect of my background
and being able to speak welland let the message resonate with
people and apply that to theirfinancial journey and their journey
to want a better outcome fortheir families. And now it's not
so much this tool does thisand it does this and if you do this,
(30:51):
it's not the 1, 2, 3, 4sequential step that they taught
us in school. As much asyou're pulling on the heartstrings
about what do you want andwhere are you at? If we just know
where you're at and you knowwhat you want, now we're just road
mapping it to get you there.That's our job. We're going to tell
you that story and give youthose products that do that. It doesn't
(31:11):
matter what the product is. Itmatters the outcome the product can
produce.
I love that, as you can see,Che brings the passion. That's one
of his strengths, thestorytelling. For sure, for sure.
He is definitely the one thatwhen we go and have talks, he's the
one that's starting us offbecause like he mentioned, like he
(31:32):
is his passion shows throughthe things that we talk about. And
so the way that I feel like wecomplement each other and how we
work together is I'mdefinitely the realist and I can,
I bring the structure and thesystem to the process that he is,
to the vision that he isportraying and the division of the
(31:52):
families that we work with.And so during these times that he's,
when we have these initialconversations, it's really like,
what is that dream? What isthat vision? What is that goal? And
then I'm like, okay, now thatthey laid it out for us and exactly
what that looks like now myjob is to see, okay, which structure
is going to fit the best tofit that vision and how, what's the
(32:17):
system that we're going tofollow in order to get there. And
so that's kind of how we'reable to work together in bringing
the strengths that we have.One of the one example I would say
that we've kind of focused alot on in the beginning of last month
is working with churches. Mydad is a pastor. He's been a pastor
(32:40):
since. I don't know.
Bishop?
Yeah, he's, I don't know, he'sbeen a pastor for years, longer than
I've obviously been alive.He's 80. He's turning 80 this May.
He's been a pastor since hewas like 21. So whatever that looks
like 60 years. Anyway, thechurches are a prime example of how
we can bring generationalwealth and lasting legacy into, into
(33:05):
the church house. And oneprime example was a church that we
have worked with and the, thepastor doesn't have any legacy plan
or the church didn'tnecessarily know, you know, when
our pastor passes away orleaves, you know, before time, what
do we do? And a lot of timesit's, they're either full time work
(33:27):
that they're putting into, youknow, as a, as a part of the ministry
or, or maybe they havesomething part time, maybe they're
working full time and theyhaven't necessarily had a plan. And
so we're working with thechurches to actually build a plan
for the key persons ofinfluence in their church, whether
that is the pastor, the headdeacons, maybe some of the head ministers
(33:51):
in the organization to ensurethat if something does happen, they're
taken care of. But not onlythat, that wealth also goes back
to the church. So, so ifsomething were to take place, like
a member that comes in andthey need help for the benevolence
fund, or if, if they need tobuild another, let's just say a detached
unit onto their land, thereare different ways for them to continue
(34:13):
this wealth within the churchthat they can actually do what they
do best and what they need todo, and that's serving the community,
serving what's around them.And so one of the things that we're,
you know, we're really focusedon is really helping the churches
be able to build thatstructure and what that looks like
and to get set up. And sothat's one of the things from the
community standpoint thatwe've kind of made a focus on, for
(34:36):
sure.
That's a wonderful, wonderfulendeavor. It really is important.
I've worked in a lot ofchurches for not long as your dad.
I've only been doing this forlike 31 years. So I got. I got a
long way to go, but for a while.
Yeah, yeah. And it was, it wassomething, I'm sure a lot of people
in our industry could go tochurches to say and, you know, pitch
(34:58):
per se. But we're seeing thisas something much, much bigger. Some
churches have created creditunions, like, okay, if they don't
have the capital to do that,what's another way they can get started
to continue this developmentwithin their community? And it's
showing that something thatcould be very viable and very easy
to implement.
So you go beyond the lock thedoor strategy.
(35:21):
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I was going to chime in onthat because I was saying if. If
our church leaders know,because as we speak to the church
leaders, and it's a beautifulthing because they know that they're
shepherds.
Right, right.
And they're saying, or I canroll this out to anybody else. I
have to at least experiencethis or have this on myself. I have
(35:42):
to know what it's going to dofor my people. And a lot of things
that we see for the church isthe church has all the ability to
become its own banking systemjust with what's already in place.
Depending on what type ofchurch or denomination you are, you
can put on events that caneasily be funneled into your banking
(36:04):
system that will sustain itfor that year. And you could do it
every quarter, you could do itbiannually, you could do it annually.
That one event could bebuilding up your banking system so
that when the community needshelp, the church who owns the policy
takes out a loan fromthemselves to help the community,
puts on another event toreplenish it, and keeps it going
(36:27):
year over year over year,event after event. And they can scale,
creating a scalable systemthat they're the bank. They're not
leaving their money in what wecall a fixed money account, which
looks like the deadline, ifyou were to pass away the Flat line.
Right.
You don't want your moneythere. And that's where we're used
to our money being safe. No,that same group of people is taking
(36:51):
your money and investing it inthe variable space and making money
off the money you're storingwith them. Store your money in your
own banking system, leverageit with your own planned out tools,
and creatively build thefuture that you want for your environment.
And the nice part about it isthere's thousands of churches with
(37:11):
their own communities to takecare of. So there's a unique way
they have. They all, like Briawas saying, they all have different
needs that they want toaccomplish. There's no cookie cutter
way to tell a church to do it.Just like there's no cookie cutter
way to tell a family to do it.It's built based off of that need.
But the system is still thesystem. And as long as we know the
(37:32):
rules of engagement now, wecan play the game.
I love it. So what are thechallenges and what are the benefits
of working together as a couple?
That's a nice. You want tostart? Boo.
Sure, sure. I would say one ofthe challenges for us is to just
(37:55):
kind of being able to stay.I'm okay. So I'm very much so. Like
we mentioned, systematicstructure, building it out. Che is
always bringing ideas, alwaysbringing ideas. And I'm like, okay,
let's execute this, this firstone first. Before we move into that,
let's. Let's combine yourideas and let's put them on a level
(38:18):
of priority and we can hit itfrom the ground based off of priority.
So that definitely yielded tobe a challenge in working together
as a couple. I would say oneof the benefits is also just that
because he has multiplevisions that he can bring to the
(38:38):
table and I have the abilityto systemize it and structure it.
That pairs very well. We can'thave two visionaries in a group.
We'll never get anything done.We can't have two implementers in
the group because we'll alwaysjust be trying to follow somebody
else's system and it'll neverjust be our own. And so what I would
say is a challenge is also astrength that we're learning to work
(39:01):
together in how we canactually balance it together. And
it's, it's twofold, for sure.
I completely agree. I wasgoing to say left brain, right brain,
if you will, that logicalprocess and that creative process
and I can't enunciate it anybetter. I guess I'll. I'll try, but
(39:24):
yeah, From a creative, from acreative standpoint, seeing what
could be done and kind ofprojecting out into the future and
then working together to say,okay, how does this get implemented,
though? And then on a creativeside, you have to tailor those things
back. You're like, okay, look,we can't do this until we do this.
(39:45):
Like, we have to know thatsuccess comes in steps. You know,
it's. It's almost like thewatering the seed analogy. It's not
going to happen overnight. Youhave to constantly feed and it takes
time for these things todevelop. But it's the repetition
and consistency of whateveryou're doing in that system that
(40:07):
you have. So working togetherfrom a logical and creative space
and coming together in thatmiddle ground of saying, this is
our system. Like if Iliterally showed you my board that's
sitting right next to me, itliterally says the system for leads
and followers. What is thesystem that we're implementing to
develop these plans? Andthat's what allows the logical and
(40:29):
creative to really cometogether. Because now we're looking
at it from a system standpointthat's going to, over time, with
consistency, achieve theoutcomes that we said we want. Yeah.
I would also add one morechallenge is because we work together
(40:51):
full time, it's very hard toshut it off. And so I think we're
still like trying to workthrough that. I think I'm more of
the person that's like saying,hey, let's maybe talk about something
else, or if we take a datenight, we're not just trying to do
business strategy. And sothat, that yields a little bit of
(41:13):
a challenge in that in itself.But, you know, just making sure we
take that time and not beingjust so in dated in the business,
even though it's somethingthat we enjoy doing, it shouldn't
be like the bulk of ourrelationship. I would say another
benefit or an opportunity isour kids get to see us work together
(41:35):
and we try to take them alongto some of the talks that we do,
any of the workshops, evengoing to visit families, because
we want them to see mom anddad working together. We want them
to see mom and dad buildingthis life for them and, and having
the ability to see thatfirsthand. A lot of people just leave
(41:56):
their kids at home. We bringthem. Granted, we do have two sets
of grants that help us alongthe way. You know, they come travel
and everything, but the factthat they can see it and they see
that they're also involved andwhen they get older will, you know,
hopefully bring them on boardand if they don't want to. At least
they know how to be able to,to have that family unit. I think
(42:17):
that's one of the manyblessings that not many families
can say, but I definitelycherish it.
And I will say from achallenge perspective, specifically
with the communities that wewant to help, it's been a challenge,
like in scaling, becauseeverybody does not want to have an
insurance conversation withyou because of what the already projected
(42:43):
thoughts of what that industryis. And so one, getting creative
in how we're saying, okay,let's, let's approach this differently.
We're not life insuranceagents, we're wealth architects,
right? And what we do iscreate systems for financial freedom
and generational wealth,finding creative ways to speak to
(43:04):
the audience that we want sothat they feel comfortable to bring
what the problem is. A lot oftimes, similar to mental health in
our communities, we don't wantto talk about the financial problems
that we're having. And ourgoal becomes we have to get people
familiar with us or at leastbeginning to trust us, if you will,
(43:29):
so that we can go into thatpersonal space and help them how
they want to be helped. Sofinding ways to do that has become
the challenge of how do webuild a system around. There's enough
times that they've seen us,heard our message and understand
our passion and what we trulywant to do so that they're like,
(43:51):
okay, I want this outcome inmy life. So helping the community
that we want to help, we'vehad, we've had to learn how to speak
to that community in theirlanguage so that we could both get
to where we're at and where wewant to be.
Love it. Now, here's my otherfavorite question, and it fits right
in with what we've beentalking about today. What do you
(44:12):
want your legacy to be?
Go ahead, Bria.
No, I, I was like, you weregoing to end with that one. Go ahead.
So I, ours is really, mine isreally big. If we're breaking down
personal, I want to see us as,as people of color and specifically
(44:38):
the African American communitybegin to create an ecosystem saying,
okay, look, there are going tobe times when our government is for
us and against us. But how dowe create an ecosystem where we are
self efficient within our owncommunities, in our own space? And
then once we create thatecosystem, I have this really big
(45:00):
dream of, I want to be able tofunnel our banking systems collectively
to begin to go back to Africaand build along the west coast of
Africa like resorts. And Iwant us to attract our own people
to coming and having vacationsand everything on the same place
(45:20):
that we were extracted fromgenerations ago. So I want to find
a way to Martin R. Delany andkind of Malcolm X combined, return
us home in a way that evenwhen we go back to, say, that particular
space, West Africa, and we arebuilding out our own resorts and
begin to build a city, we'recreating jobs over there as well.
(45:43):
So now we're building outanother economy, if you will, and
now we're taking the wealththat we understand to be in America
and bringing it over here toAfrica. And we're beginning to build
out our own space, our ownculture, our own laws. So that I
don't want to see usconstantly be in a protest environment
(46:05):
that we don't control, butthat we're asking for things to be
done right. I want us to goand build the life and the space
that we want and say, this isours. We're coming back and we're
going to help the people thatare there. We're going to add value
and we're going to know thesystems over here that allow us to
(46:25):
build the culture in citiesthat we want over here. So I want
to see us take the opportunityto build our own empires where we
come from.
Love that.
Yeah, Very, very big vision.And it's not that it won't happen.
It's more the fact of when itdoes happen, that everyone is prepared
(46:48):
to do that. I would say whatwe value most is leaving a legacy
of impact and purpose. And sowith all those things encompassing
that Che mentioned, we want tobring as many families along the
ride and to help as manyfamilies to be able to not just go
(47:08):
from. We want them to go fromstrivers to thrivers.
And.
And so all the things that Chementioned, all of that, and then
making sure that people arereally set up for success, and it's
just. It makes a true impactfor multi generations to come.
Great. Where can people findboth of you? And maybe if you want
(47:28):
a legacy plan develop, wherecan they connect with you both?
Yes, they can find us on allplatforms under a legacy X. Or if
they want to connect with usspecifically, they can find us on
Davis X Rain. That's thereign, as in hierarchy, not as in
the weather. And also they canemail directly@legacyx.com well.
(47:55):
Thank you both for coming onand providing such a great conversation.
Blessings on the work you'redoing. What you're doing is so important.
So I'm so thankful that we hadtime to delve into that and kind
of unpack a lot of what you doand the impact you're having on the
community.
Thank you. Thank you forhaving it.
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