Seats aren’t being offered? Let’s build the table—and the toolkit to go with it. We sit down with consultant and AI Accelerator lead Angela Reed James to explore how Black entrepreneurs can turn AI into real capacity, sharper messaging, and faster growth without bloated budgets or big teams. From losing a corporate role to launching a mission-driven practice, Angela shares how AI became the missing staff: a strategist on demand, a project manager at midnight, and a copy chief that never gets tired.
We get practical fast. Angela breaks down how to move from fear to ownership by treating AI like a brainstorming partner that organizes messy ideas into usable plans. We map the small-business workflow—from lead to fulfillment to reactivation—and highlight where automation saves hours without sacrificing the human touch. We talk brand voice, how to “train your dragon” so tools speak in your tone, and why AI should erase busywork, not your genius. Along the way we dig into bias in training data, why representation matters in prompts and datasets, and how creating culturally grounded examples improves outputs and conversions.
This conversation is also a guide to buying smarter. Use AI to define scope, budget, and deliverables before you hire an expert so you don’t get oversold. Translate operations into the language of finance to model ROI and cash flow with clarity. And if you’ve felt shut out of rooms where deals happen, consider AI your entry pass to consistent content, better proposals, and a stronger pipeline. We close with details on the ICABA AI Accelerator—live demos, community support, and actionable steps you can use the same day.
Subscribe for more conversations at the edge of entrepreneurship and intelligent technology. Share this with a founder who needs capacity now, and leave a review with the first workflow you plan to automate—what’s your day-one AI win?
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates, visit 5starbdm.com
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And don’t miss Grant McGaugh’s new book, First Light — a powerful guide to igniting your purpose and building a BRAVE brand that stands out in a changing world. - https://5starbdm.com/brave-masterclass/
See you next time on Follow The Brand!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Welcome everybody to the Farbrand Podcast.
This is your host, Grant McGall.
I'm going to bring it back towhere my heart lies, and that is
in the world of technology.
It is in the world of artificialintelligence and how that is
changing our businessenvironment daily, I would say
even hourly, maybe by theminute, by the second, in what
(00:26):
we are now experiencing in ourworld.
Now, I am a part of the ICABA AIAccelerator Program.
You're gonna see this livecoming up on Thrive on the
Thriving Podcast, but this hasbeen engineered by someone no
less than Angela Reed Jane.
This is her baby.
She has been working with aKaaba and the chief servant
(00:48):
officer, and that is no otherperson than Mr.
Therome Hutchinson, better knownas Hutch.
We call him Hutch.
Hutch has been doing great.
But he is handing this off toAngela.
We've got something veryspecial.
We want to enable our businessowners, owners, our small
business owners, ourentrepreneurs around AI.
(01:11):
This is very important.
So before I get started on thistangent, I want to bring her to
the stage.
Please introduce yourself, MissAngela Reed James.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
Thank you, Grant, and I'm so honored to be here.
First of all, I started mycompany, Angela Reed James
Consulting, out of necessity, asmany of us do.
In August 2023, I found myposition, my pretty high-level
position, eliminated withcorporate America.
(01:44):
And after several hundredapplications, I decided, okay, I
need to pivot and decide what Iwant to do next, and decided to
take all of my years ofexperience and bring them to
small business, to nonprofits,to those organizations who need
to know the tools and the tipsof efficiency, but can't
(02:05):
necessarily afford to hire thebig legs, the experts.
And I wanted to be able to bringthem some of those techniques,
some of those strategies to helpthem grow and align with the AI
accelerators because this isgoing to be a key component to
the small businesses, to theentrepreneurs.
(02:25):
It is going to be what's goingto make them capable and give
them the capacity that they needto grow.
So I'm really excited about whatwe're doing because AI is here,
AI is now.
It's not anything that we canignore.
It's not anything that's goingto go away.
So you need to learn how toembrace it and utilize it in a
(02:49):
way that's going to benefit youthe best.
SPEAKER_01 (02:52):
That's so important.
And you bring up some greatpoints.
And we have some alignment inwhat you just talked about, part
of your pastor history, workingin corporate America, gleaning
and getting a lot of greatknowledge and wanting to bring
that back to some of our smallbusiness owners so they can be
equipped and grow bigger, scalelonger, and actually be more
(03:13):
impactful.
And I want to ask you this whenyou look at the current
landscape, the current landscapeof entrepreneurship.
And the question would be is whydo you believe AI is no longer
optional but essential for blackbusiness owners?
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
As I said earlier, it's not going away.
It's not going anywhere.
It's here.
But for the Black businessowners, it's going to fill the
gaps that we have as Blackbusiness owners.
We don't have the safety netsthat most larger businesses
have.
We don't have the largerbudgets.
(03:55):
We don't often don't have thelarger staffs.
We are trying to scale up.
We're trying to run ourbusinesses.
We're trying to move forwardwithout all of the resources
that the bigger, largercorporations have.
And so AI enables us to fillsome of those gaps.
You don't have a marketing team.
(04:16):
You don't have that strategist.
You don't have that executiveadministrator.
You don't have that projectmanager.
AI has the capability to fillall of those positions for you
without you having to fill themwith payroll.
They're able to, you're able toutilize AI, and there's various
tools of AI to use.
(04:37):
Many people know ChatGPT, butthere is a gamut of tools that
fill all of those differentareas that you can use to give
you that full team that you needto grow your business, to scale
your business.
You can use it to bounce ideasoff of.
So it is exactly what thestartup business needs, what the
(04:58):
growing business needs, whatthat long-term business needs
when they're trying to reinventthemselves.
It is that singular tool withoutthe huge payroll and budget that
will afford you the capabilityand capacity to move forward.
SPEAKER_01 (05:15):
That's so important what you just laid out.
This is a changing landscape.
We just talked about both of usjust a little bit, like, hey,
we've both gone throughdownsizing.
This there will be massivedownsizing during this shift
into an AI-driven economy.
Not because you're no longervaluable, you're just going to
(05:37):
have to reshape your value in adifferent way as you bring it to
the table.
I don't want people, and this isan analogy I thought of last
week when we're when we'relooking to build, we're looking
to scale, is that we're notreinventing a taxi company in an
Uber driven world.
unknown (05:58):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
I'm going to say that we're not going to reinvent
a taxi company in an Uber drivenworld.
So we need to address some ofthese common myths, these common
fears as we hear some of thesethings coming from, and I've
heard a lot from Blackprofessionals around using AI,
that's going to replace me.
Hey, this is you knowinauthentic, that's not human.
(06:21):
No, how do we keep peoplefocused?
And how do you specifically helpthem to shift from fear to
ownership?
SPEAKER_00 (06:31):
Some of the bigger fears, and I I have people who
have said, Well, I'm not a realtechie person.
It's not about the technology.
And that's one thing that wekeep having to say.
AI covers every level of whereyou are.
And that's one of the few toolsthat you don't have to have a
great learning curve to use it.
(06:52):
From the minute you log intocertain AI tools, you can begin
using it.
When you upload or open up achat GPT, the first thing it
says is, ask me a question.
And once you ask it thequestion, you're up and running.
From day one, you begin to seethe benefits.
(07:14):
So that's the whole thing aboutit.
Be curious, play with it, ask ita question and see what it gives
you back.
And from that question, and thisis the great thing about it, um,
machine learning, which is atechnical um terminology, from
machine learning is simply itcontinuing to learn based on the
inputs and the outputs and theinputs again.
(07:36):
So the more you train yourdragon, the more you feed it,
the more it learns who you areand is able to respond in kind.
So you need to just talk to itlike you talk to somebody else.
Now I know people get a littlenervous.
Well, well, you're asking me todevelop a relationship with
technology, but this is why it'simportant to humanize AI,
(07:59):
because it removes that fearfactor of it being just another
machine or just more technology.
When you humanize it, then youfind that it becomes a partner
that enhances your own value.
It's going to help remove thatbusy task work that you hate to
do so that you can focus onbeing the genius that you are.
(08:21):
It can replace your busyness,but it can't replace your
specific genius.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
I'm glad you said it just like that.
It doesn't replace you.
It takes the friction out ofyour business.
What can, and that's what yougot to look at.
I would advise our businessowners, look at it as workflow.
What can I do with within myworkflow that I can now
automate, that I can eitherspeed up, I can take off my
(08:50):
plate, and really focus on thethings that generate revenue and
value for the community that youare serving?
Right?
Let's let's take thateverybody's everybody gets the
same 24 hours a day.
How do you utilize that 24hours?
So that's what I like to takeback.
Step back, take a look at whatyou are truly doing in your
(09:13):
business.
And that is, if it's you, take alook at yourself.
If it's your team, take a lookat your team.
What exactly are they doingthat's limiting them from being
more productive, being moreefficient?
That can then free up time atthe same time, free up revenue
generating activities.
(09:34):
Because that's really what youwant to be doing.
And I like what you said earlierabout the human dimension.
Most deals, whether they are inperson or virtual, or done by
human-to-human interactions, youwant to get to that level as
quickly as possible.
Because no matter howsophisticated AI really is, it
(09:56):
is not human.
So it's not going to replace thehuman dimension.
And they understand this in thestack.
And I talk about this at lengthin some of my talks, is that AI
is very good at data, it's verygood at information.
Where right now it's not verygood at is context.
Context means knowledge and itmeans wisdom.
(10:19):
That means the human factor.
You need to give it that factorso it can take data,
information, and repurpose it,whether it's in the form of
text, in the form of audio, theform of uh video, in order to
scale and 10x what you do, whichis your wisdom and your
knowledge, applied wisdom andknowledge is so, so important.
(10:42):
I see this as a leveling of theplaying field, because now we
have all access to capability.
We have access to knowledge thatwe didn't have before in a
moment's domain.
So, my question for you, Angela,is this how do you see this?
And take your whole context ofwhat you've seen up until this
(11:03):
point, working in corporateAmerica, seeing what the
landscape looks like from theBlack entrepreneurial world, how
do you see AI leveling theplaying field or giving back
Black entrepreneurs acompetitive edge when used
wisely?
SPEAKER_00 (11:20):
Part of the challenges that we've had as
Black entrepreneurs, as Blackbusiness owners, um, and even as
individuals in Black corporateAmerica is we haven't always
been invited into the room.
We haven't always had a seat atthe table.
I remember when I was workingwith a coach, one of the things
(11:43):
she said was, and she repeatedthis quote from someone else is,
you know, when you don't have aseat at the table, you build
your own table.
And in my own stubbornness, youknow, my first response was,
well, why should I have to builda table?
There's a table there, and Ideserve a seat there.
Well, that very well may betrue, but if they don't offer
(12:04):
you a seat, if they don't makeroom for you, you don't have a
seat there.
What AI does is it says, okay,you don't have a seat there.
You have to build your owntable.
I'm going to give you all of thetools you need to build that
table without you having tospend hundreds of thousands of
(12:25):
dollars to get a wholecontracting team together to do
it.
Um when I say it fills the gapsand gives you the capacity that
you don't have, that's exactlywhat it does.
It enables those of us inentrepreneurship to have the
team so that we can enter intospaces that we normally would
(12:50):
not be able to do because wewouldn't have the capacity, we
wouldn't have the time, wewouldn't have the bandwidth, and
we wouldn't have the supportthat we needed to bring to the
table the level of excellencethat pushes us into that space.
We all know that once we'regiven the right tools, we create
(13:12):
our own opportunity.
And once we've given that toolsand we've created that
opportunity, no one does itbetter than us.
We just simply need to have thetools, the capacity, and the
ability.
And we don't always have thebudget.
And with AI, you don't alwayshave to have that budget because
you now have the team withoutthe budget.
SPEAKER_01 (13:35):
That's true.
And the world, the economy ischanging.
Yeah.
Business platform is changing,the business landscape is
changing, meaning I don't alwaysneed to have a W-2 employee.
I can have a half contractors,other people that are experts in
the field.
One thing I've learned, andyou've alluded to this in AI, is
(13:56):
that it shows you what you don'tknow.
Like, oh, okay, maybe I'm notthe best at marketing, but I can
market up to a certain degree.
And I want people to really honein what I'm saying.
You can be able to do certainthings, what I call DIY.
Do it yourself.
You can get to a certain degree.
You can use Canva, let's say,Canvas another two.
A lot of people are familiarwith it.
They do some marketing for you,make flyers to make content for
(14:19):
you, make visual dimensions, andthen you'll begin to understand
yourself when do you need tolevel up?
When do you need a professional,a graphic designer?
And I tell you, people that, oh,I'm gonna be displaced, I'm a
graphic designer, chat to be ttwo, they can do all that.
They can only do it to a certaindegree, right?
(14:40):
And and if you need that, andthat fulfills what you need for
what you for for what's uhimportant, the messaging that
you're gonna cross, then dothat.
But when you need to level up,you need to know how to then
talk to a graphic designer, givethem enough information to
whether like this is great.
I don't have to pull teeth fromyou, you know, to understand
(15:02):
what it is that you're lookingto do.
Now you've leveled up theknowledge base across the
platform to where professionallywe can all work together.
This is very important.
So we're not replacing thegraphic designer, we're actually
uplifting like wow, I knew I getyour vision now.
We're gonna see, I call therenaissance of content creation
(15:24):
that's going to take placebecause of these types of
things.
And what you talked about from abusiness perspective, the
language of business is f isfinance.
That's the language of business.
And you can upscale yourself tounderstand what is that language
like?
How do I take what I do from anoperational standpoint, either
(15:46):
marketing standpoint, and thentalk in financial terms and
utilizing my AI platforms tohelp me because I might not be
at that level, right?
So that's access to capital,that's access to capability.
And you've kind of talked abouthow you fill some of those
organizational gaps with AI.
I want to ask you this in yourview.
(16:08):
What are three things a blackentrepreneur can start doing
today to begin integrating AIinto their business without
needing a technical expert?
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
What are three things?
First of all, just start.
You don't have to do that withAI.
(16:44):
And what I said earlier isreally true.
The minute you log on, you canstart.
So that's the first thing.
Pick it up and start.
Start thinking about what youwant to do, how you want to use
it, um, what you need to do.
Just pick it up and start withthe simple things.
Use AI as a brainstormingpartner.
(17:07):
You know, um, ask it questions,explore ideas, you know, help it
to make you draw out a plan.
Feel it, and and that's thegreat thing about AI.
You can speak to it with jumbledideas.
You don't have to format it andmake it plain.
Just type in your randomthoughts as you're thinking
(17:29):
them, and it will spit it backout to you.
Organize, format it, and say,hey, here's a business plan.
Hey, here's how you can organizethis.
Hey, here's what you need to do,and here's what you're possibly
looking for.
Do you want me to format it thisway?
Do you want me to format it thatway?
So it's a good sparring partnerfor your ideas.
And then finally, um, it'll helpyou use it to build your brand
(17:55):
voice.
I spoke earlier about trainingyour dragon.
When you're building yourbusiness, when you're utilizing
your business, what's the mostimportant thing, and and Grant,
I know that this is part of whatyou do, is building your brand.
People need to recognize who youare.
And your brand is not just yourlogo, it's not just what you do,
(18:17):
it's not just the name of yourorganization.
It is the holistic collection ofall of those things, plus you,
plus your voice, plus how youspeak, plus your customer, and
what you want your customers tofeel and think about when they
see your name, when they seecommunications from you.
(18:38):
And AI can learn that andcontinue to reinforce that and
continue to speak that, and youteach it how to do that, and it
continues to say, building onyour brand, let's do this, and
building on your brand, let's dothat.
And it brings you so much moreinformation to further enhance
that.
I want to bring go back to apoint you said earlier when you
(19:01):
talked about when you finallyhave to go to experts, and this
is very important.
So often, because we don't know,we often go to experts very
empty-handed.
And we say, we don't know what'sgoing on, we need help here.
And a lot of them say, Well,what do you want to do?
What are you trying to do?
(19:23):
And we kind of get sold morebells and whistles than we need.
We end up paying for more thanwe have to.
Um, we don't get exactly what weneed, but we trust the experts
because we don't really knowwhat we need.
AI will help you nail downexactly what you're looking for
(19:44):
and what you need at that time.
So when you go to that expert,you can say, This is what I'm
looking for, this is what Ineed, this is what I need from
you, and this is only what Iwant you to help me with.
That's a whole budgeting conceptthat helps you continue to stay
focused, to stay targeted, andto stay aligned and not be
(20:09):
oversold or underwhelmed whenyou go to the expert.
SPEAKER_01 (20:14):
Absolutely.
You you get alignment, right?
You know exactly what it is thatyou want.
And on the other side of theball, they're not delivering
something that is off the mark.
That's happened so many times.
Like, this is not what I waslooking for.
Like, oh, now you got to go backto the drawing board to a
certain degree.
So that very much helps.
Now we're we are going to bedoing a webinar podcast that's
(20:38):
coming up.
This is the second one in thisseries, because this is so
important.
We're not just talking about uhAI or adopting AI.
We're gonna actually show youwhat to do, how to adopt this
kind of technology.
Talk to me about why this is soimportant to you and what would
people get out of attending thisparticular podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
One thing that we've talked about in the AI
Accelerators group is what I'velovingly named the accelerator's
edge and what makes our groupdifferent.
There is no shortage of hundredsand thousands now of people
popping up saying, in order foryou to understand AI, you need
me to show you how to use it.
(21:21):
You need me to help you.
You can't use it without me.
AI.
That's a fear factor that I feelis being pushed through.
And I feel that it's tellingpeople you're limited in how you
can use it until you get anexpert to come in and show you
how to use it.
That's not our direction, that'snot our goal.
(21:41):
Our goal is to go to ourcommunity and help empower them
to utilize AI in the way thatwill benefit them the most.
We want AI, we want them tounderstand how to utilize AI
intentionally to increase theirown personal value.
(22:03):
We want them to understand thatwe are here to partner with
them.
We are here to show them this ishow you can use this.
We want them to see the benefitin using AI.
And we want them to understandthat we are trying to shift and
(22:24):
build AI so that it fits us.
It's no secret that AI and thatthe origination of the data that
was built into it was built on abias.
There's it's no secret.
It's commonly known.
It may not be commonly stated,but it's commonly known.
All of the data that was put inwas put in based on information
(22:45):
that's out there.
So there is a tilt that is notfully representing the black
voice.
It's not fully representing theblack intelligence, it's not
fully representing the blackexperience.
So, how do we correct that?
Some of it we're not going tocorrect.
There's too much data embeddedin it.
(23:06):
The very programming, and Grant,you helped educate me on that.
The very programming of thesystem is that we won't be able
to undo it, but we can build ourown.
And that's part of what the AIaccelerators is really about.
Building our own.
And that's one thing that in theBlack community, we've got to
(23:28):
continue to push for.
We don't have to always justaccept what's put out there for
us.
We can and are capable ofbuilding our own for us by us.
That foo-boo concept issomething we have got to
continue to push forward becauseit then truly represents who we
(23:48):
are.
It celebrates who we are, itacknowledges who we are, and
then it works best for what wewant to do.
SPEAKER_01 (23:57):
Absolutely.
Speaking to the choir righthere, so this is exactly what it
we have to get involved.
Um, I think personally, I thinkwe kind of slept on the some of
the internet social media cloudcomputer era.
We just weren't that involved.
Now, if you go to social media,like wow, I see a lot of black
people on social media, theyare, but are we creating the
(24:20):
content?
I mean the applications for thecontent.
unknown (24:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:25):
So so important.
When that and when you look atright now, look at the stock
market, look at the the majorcompanies on the stock market.
This was only created in thelast 10, you know, 14 years.
Are digital technologycompanies?
Your Apple's, your Microsoft,your eBay's, your your Ubers.
(24:47):
I mean, you can go on and on.
They lead and dominate in thisspace.
NVIDIA dominates because ofwhere they their chips at in the
infrastructure world.
You know, a lot of people like,what stock should I get involved
with?
This technology is what's takingplace.
We're moving from all the wayfrom the agricultural age, the
manufacturing age, what I wouldcall the information technology
(25:09):
age into intelligent technologyage.
Yeah, this is a big shift.
If we are on the sidelines ofthis, it will not be good.
We have to get in involved withthis shift and and be
intentional about it, right?
And be creative about it.
Because one thing I know aboutour people, we're very creative.
(25:32):
Now, how are we going to utilizethat creativity?
All right, we've got to put itout there.
So now these engines, thesealgorithms, and these types of
things starts pulling that datafrom us, and then it starts, you
know what?
I can now emulate.
I I I I'm starting to understandwhere Grand Angelo are coming
from.
Let's get that kind of contentyou know available to them.
So you always have to then goback.
(25:53):
And I and I'm telling you, toyour point, I use AI all
probably every day, and I haveto go back and retrain it.
Like, okay, great, you whatyou've put together.
Now let's let's put some AfricanAmerican experience.
Sure.
Like, wow, sure.
You know, like there's there'sall kinds of ethnicities out
here, there's all kinds ofcultures out here.
Yeah, not one type.
So I don't know how that alwaysgets put out first.
(26:16):
Yeah, we need to understand,like, okay, I get it, that's who
built it, but we manage it,right?
And without our input, it doesnot continue to go forward.
So I'm very, very excited.
Exactly about this upcoming AIaccelerator.
Yeah, we're not just we're gonnatalk about it, we're gonna
introduce some of our experts inthis field, and then you have
(26:37):
the opportunity to actuallylevel up.
We're gonna be doing this in2026, like, okay, I know I need
help.
Remember what I said, I know Ineed help in these particular
areas.
How can I get the the theknowledge and experience from
people who get it and then I'mfeel comfortable with, then I
(26:58):
can take my business to the nextlevel.
Would you agree with that?
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
I would 100% agree.
Not only are you gonna see allof that, but you're actually
going to, we're actually goingexcited to have a demo by one of
our accelerator teammates whoactually built a tool.
So we're gonna get to see that.
And the good thing about thecollective force of the AI
(27:22):
accelerator team is all of thedifferent superpowers that are
present in that team, right?
You have some who are gifted indemystifying it.
I um do not consider myself themost technologically um
mastering of the group, but I amthe one that has the common
(27:44):
knowledge aspect of it.
I um was always the person thatknew enough to break the
technology and then rebuild itback about 85%, or at least
speak the language between thetechie and the customer service
person and let them know whatwas happening.
You have people who understandwhere to start from the
beginning.
You have people who are able tospeak to the expert that's been
(28:07):
building it from the beginning.
We have someone for everybody inthat team to speak to every
level of where you are and whatyou're trying to do.
And that's what we enjoy aboutit to sit in our conversations
and hear how we bounce off ofeach other and the different
ideas that come together in thatroom.
(28:27):
It's just an exciting time.
And we are excited to be able tobring that knowledge to our
broader community and say, look,this is what we can do and what
we are doing.
We're not just talking about it.
We are doing it, we are changingthe conversation.
We're not going to keep havingthe same conversation.
(28:48):
We're having a new conversation,we're changing it.
We are doing it, we are buildingit, we are owning it.
SPEAKER_01 (28:55):
100%.
I want to see a 10x change inGDP for African Americans in
America.
We're right now around 1.2trillion.
I think we can 10x that to 10trillion dollars.
Yes.
Because it's about beingintentional and understanding it
and getting the knowledge andexperience that we need.
Also, the access, so importantto get the access.
(29:16):
And I will state this so thatour business community truly
understands tech of itself isuseless.
Tech that actually enables youto accomplish a goal is
valuable.
Absolutely.
So I use technology to enhancepersonal branding, to enhance
business development, and toenhance investment banking.
(29:39):
That is a tool that's utilizedto amplify my skill set.
That is so so important, andthen refine my mindset.
And if I can use it for thosetypes of things, it's very, very
important.
I was talking to a Harvardprofessor, I believe it was last
week.
unknown (29:59):
I said,
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
You know, before you really had to attend Harvard to
get access to some of thecurriculum and coursework and
what was taught within uh theseclassrooms.
You see, yep, you're right.
Now I can get Harvard grade uhinformation, knowledge, and
experience from these techenabled tools.
(30:21):
Whether it's AI Tech to theseYouTube's out there, there's so
much information.
There's no longer that say,well, I I just can't get access
to the to the um to theknow-how.
Like, no, you have to beintentional about it.
If you're really intentionalabout it, yes, yes, you can.
And then what we're doing isbringing that as an aggregate,
(30:43):
this AI acceler is an aggregate.
I can go here and really upscalemyself.
And I encourage everyone tobring a use case.
Bring a use case.
This is how my businessoperates, and I will say this
emphatically it's aboutunderstanding your workflow, how
your business operates from topof funnel all the way to
(31:04):
fulfillment, and then thereactivation of that clientele
to understand that that flow,and then where you can engage AI
within that particularmethodology.
That's going to get you a lotfurther than generically
throwing some AI out there.
This is one of the biggestmistakes you're seeing right now
(31:25):
about agentic AI.
Oh, that's cool.
I can make a duplicate of GrandMcGall, throw him out there.
That's all great and fine.
But what messaging are youcoming across?
SPEAKER_00 (31:33):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (31:34):
And what are you doing?
And is this moving the needleforward from the value scale?
Right, right.
So for those that don't knowwhen the AI acceler is taking
place, please, please, Angela,tell us how to tune in.
SPEAKER_00 (31:48):
So we will be having our um kickoff event November
18th.
That is this coming Tuesday at11 a.m.
Um if you check in on Grant'sLinkedIn, you can check in on my
LinkedIn, you will see the post.
You can click on that post umfor the invite, 11 a.m.
(32:10):
There we will be on LinkedIn, onYouTube, on Facebook, and also
uh StreamYard um guest linkevent.
So there's numerous ways thatyou can tune in to us.
You can also look at theThriving Um TV channel on ICABA
TV.
That's ICABA TV.
(32:32):
So you can Google that.
Um you can look at our firstevent that happened on October
24th or 5th, I believe it was,and check out the first one that
we did so that you can see ouropening session that leads into
this one.
And we are just really, reallyexcited about this upcoming
(32:53):
event and really want you totune in and check out what's
going on.
You will not be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01 (32:59):
And for those of us who are not familiar with ICaba
and the ICABA community, theICABA network, tell us more
about the organization itself.
SPEAKER_00 (33:10):
Absolutely.
ICaba is a universal um blackecosystem.
It was founded by Jerome HutchHutchison and his late wife
about 14 years ago.
And what he wanted to do was tobuild a global ecosystem, like I
said, of Black professionals,Black entrepreneurs who could
(33:32):
come together and network tocollaborate, to coordinate, to
celebrate together, and to grow.
He wants these Blackprofessionals to prosper through
networking, throughinteractions.
Each year, we um, like Hablasponsors Black Professionals
Month, which happens throughoutthe month of October.
(33:52):
We just came out of it.
I'm still recovering from that.
But what it does is itcelebrates our Black
professionals, our Blackentrepreneurs, our Black
organizations or organizationswho are supporting people of
color.
And it really does look at thisecosystem of people and we link
arms and we work together tosupport one another and interact
(34:18):
with one another.
And that's why the AIAccelerators group was born to
bring the technology arm intothis ecosystem of support.
There are other groups, there'sa leadership collective that's
um coming out of this group andseveral others that are going to
be born as groups inside of thisICOBA network that's helping to
(34:40):
bring our Black communitytogether as a whole, to support,
to interact, to grow, tocollaborate as a collective and
continue to build.
We have people in um throughoutseveral continents, in Africa.
We have people in the UK, um, inCanada, and in the States who
(35:01):
are working together to makethis a wonderful, great
community.
And again, you can go toiCabaWorld Network.com for more
information.
SPEAKER_01 (35:12):
Awesome, awesome.
It will be, if it's not already,the largest online black
professional community in theworld.
This is where you can come andreally get a leg up in your
business uh endeavors.
This is so important.
I have just one more question.
I've got to ask you thisquestion because I asked my
guests this question.
(35:33):
This is called real-timefeedback, right?
Angela, this is your first timeon the Follow Brand Podcast.
How was your experience?
SPEAKER_00 (35:44):
My experience was wonderful.
I this is my first time ever,Grant, doing a podcast on my
own.
Um, ever.
So thank you for thisintroduction.
And um, it's been verycomfortable, very warm.
You are a wonderful interviewer.
You make people feel verycomfortable, very warm, very
thought-provoking questions.
(36:04):
Um, I'm honored to be yourguest.
Um, it's been an honor and apleasure working with you so
closely.
Um, I have enjoyed your insight,have learned so much from you,
but this is a great venue, and Ipray that you continue to move
forward with this, um, that itbegins to explode beyond measure
(36:25):
because it is definitely what isneeded in our community and
beyond it.
SPEAKER_01 (36:31):
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
I want to thank you, and I wantto thank your entire community,
your entire network for being aguest on the Funnel Brand
Podcast.
And also, you've got to tune into Thriving Podcast.
It is going to be live thisTuesday, November 18th, 11 a.m.
Eastern to 12:30.
(36:51):
Beg to ask questions.
Bring yourself to the table andlet's all eat together as we get
ready for this Thanksgiving.
Because, you know, got me hungryright now thinking about this.
So thanks again for being aguest on the show.
You can tune in to all theepisodes of Follow Brand at Five
Star BDM.
That is the number five at astar s t a r be for brand, d for
(37:11):
development, and formasters.com.
Thanks again for being on theshow.
SPEAKER_00 (37:16):
Thank you, Grant.
SPEAKER_01 (37:17):
You're welcome.
Welcome everybody to the Farbrand Podcast.
This is your host, Grant McGall.
I'm going to bring it back towhere my heart lies, and that is
in the world of technology.
It is in the world of artificialintelligence and how that is
changing our businessenvironment daily, I would say
even hourly, maybe by theminute, by the second, in what
(00:26):
we are now experiencing in ourworld.
Now, I am a part of the ICABA AIAccelerator Program.
You're gonna see this livecoming up on Thrive on the
Thriving Podcast, but this hasbeen engineered by someone no
less than Angela Reed Jane.
This is her baby.
She has been working with aKaaba and the chief servant
(00:48):
officer, and that is no otherperson than Mr.
Therome Hutchinson, better knownas Hutch.
We call him Hutch.
Hutch has been doing great.
But he is handing this off toAngela.
We've got something veryspecial.
We want to enable our businessowners, owners, our small
business owners, ourentrepreneurs around AI.
(01:11):
This is very important.
So before I get started on thistangent, I want to bring her to
the stage.
Please introduce yourself, MissAngela Reed James.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
Thank you, Grant, and I'm so honored to be here.
First of all, I started mycompany, Angela Reed James
Consulting, out of necessity, asmany of us do.
In August 2023, I found myposition, my pretty high-level
position, eliminated withcorporate America.
(01:44):
And after several hundredapplications, I decided, okay, I
need to pivot and decide what Iwant to do next, and decided to
take all of my years ofexperience and bring them to
small business, to nonprofits,to those organizations who need
to know the tools and the tipsof efficiency, but can't
(02:05):
necessarily afford to hire thebig legs, the experts.
And I wanted to be able to bringthem some of those techniques,
some of those strategies to helpthem grow and align with the AI
accelerators because this isgoing to be a key component to
the small businesses, to theentrepreneurs.
(02:25):
It is going to be what's goingto make them capable and give
them the capacity that they needto grow.
So I'm really excited about whatwe're doing because AI is here,
AI is now.
It's not anything that we canignore.
It's not anything that's goingto go away.
So you need to learn how toembrace it and utilize it in a
(02:49):
way that's going to benefit youthe best.
SPEAKER_01 (02:52):
That's so important.
And you bring up some greatpoints.
And we have some alignment inwhat you just talked about, part
of your pastor history, workingin corporate America, gleaning
and getting a lot of greatknowledge and wanting to bring
that back to some of our smallbusiness owners so they can be
equipped and grow bigger, scalelonger, and actually be more
(03:13):
impactful.
And I want to ask you this whenyou look at the current
landscape, the current landscapeof entrepreneurship.
And the question would be is whydo you believe AI is no longer
optional but essential for blackbusiness owners?
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
As I said earlier, it's not going away.
It's not going anywhere.
It's here.
But for the Black businessowners, it's going to fill the
gaps that we have as Blackbusiness owners.
We don't have the safety netsthat most larger businesses
have.
We don't have the largerbudgets.
(03:55):
We don't often don't have thelarger staffs.
We are trying to scale up.
We're trying to run ourbusinesses.
We're trying to move forwardwithout all of the resources
that the bigger, largercorporations have.
And so AI enables us to fillsome of those gaps.
You don't have a marketing team.
(04:16):
You don't have that strategist.
You don't have that executiveadministrator.
You don't have that projectmanager.
AI has the capability to fillall of those positions for you
without you having to fill themwith payroll.
They're able to, you're able toutilize AI, and there's various
tools of AI to use.
(04:37):
Many people know ChatGPT, butthere is a gamut of tools that
fill all of those differentareas that you can use to give
you that full team that you needto grow your business, to scale
your business.
You can use it to bounce ideasoff of.
So it is exactly what thestartup business needs, what the
(04:58):
growing business needs, whatthat long-term business needs
when they're trying to reinventthemselves.
It is that singular tool withoutthe huge payroll and budget that
will afford you the capabilityand capacity to move forward.
SPEAKER_01 (05:15):
That's so important what you just laid out.
This is a changing landscape.
We just talked about both of usjust a little bit, like, hey,
we've both gone throughdownsizing.
This there will be massivedownsizing during this shift
into an AI-driven economy.
Not because you're no longervaluable, you're just going to
(05:37):
have to reshape your value in adifferent way as you bring it to
the table.
I don't want people, and this isan analogy I thought of last
week when we're when we'relooking to build, we're looking
to scale, is that we're notreinventing a taxi company in an
Uber driven world.
unknown (05:58):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
I'm going to say that we're not going to reinvent
a taxi company in an Uber drivenworld.
So we need to address some ofthese common myths, these common
fears as we hear some of thesethings coming from, and I've
heard a lot from Blackprofessionals around using AI,
that's going to replace me.
Hey, this is you knowinauthentic, that's not human.
(06:21):
No, how do we keep peoplefocused?
And how do you specifically helpthem to shift from fear to
ownership?
SPEAKER_00 (06:31):
Some of the bigger fears, and I I have people who
have said, Well, I'm not a realtechie person.
It's not about the technology.
And that's one thing that wekeep having to say.
AI covers every level of whereyou are.
And that's one of the few toolsthat you don't have to have a
great learning curve to use it.
(06:52):
From the minute you log intocertain AI tools, you can begin
using it.
When you upload or open up achat GPT, the first thing it
says is, ask me a question.
And once you ask it thequestion, you're up and running.
From day one, you begin to seethe benefits.
(07:14):
So that's the whole thing aboutit.
Be curious, play with it, ask ita question and see what it gives
you back.
And from that question, and thisis the great thing about it, um,
machine learning, which is atechnical um terminology, from
machine learning is simply itcontinuing to learn based on the
inputs and the outputs and theinputs again.
(07:36):
So the more you train yourdragon, the more you feed it,
the more it learns who you areand is able to respond in kind.
So you need to just talk to itlike you talk to somebody else.
Now I know people get a littlenervous.
Well, well, you're asking me todevelop a relationship with
technology, but this is why it'simportant to humanize AI,
(07:59):
because it removes that fearfactor of it being just another
machine or just more technology.
When you humanize it, then youfind that it becomes a partner
that enhances your own value.
It's going to help remove thatbusy task work that you hate to
do so that you can focus onbeing the genius that you are.
(08:21):
It can replace your busyness,but it can't replace your
specific genius.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
I'm glad you said it just like that.
It doesn't replace you.
It takes the friction out ofyour business.
What can, and that's what yougot to look at.
I would advise our businessowners, look at it as workflow.
What can I do with within myworkflow that I can now
automate, that I can eitherspeed up, I can take off my
(08:50):
plate, and really focus on thethings that generate revenue and
value for the community that youare serving?
Right?
Let's let's take thateverybody's everybody gets the
same 24 hours a day.
How do you utilize that 24hours?
So that's what I like to takeback.
Step back, take a look at whatyou are truly doing in your
(09:13):
business.
And that is, if it's you, take alook at yourself.
If it's your team, take a lookat your team.
What exactly are they doingthat's limiting them from being
more productive, being moreefficient?
That can then free up time atthe same time, free up revenue
generating activities.
(09:34):
Because that's really what youwant to be doing.
And I like what you said earlierabout the human dimension.
Most deals, whether they are inperson or virtual, or done by
human-to-human interactions, youwant to get to that level as
quickly as possible.
Because no matter howsophisticated AI really is, it
(09:56):
is not human.
So it's not going to replace thehuman dimension.
And they understand this in thestack.
And I talk about this at lengthin some of my talks, is that AI
is very good at data, it's verygood at information.
Where right now it's not verygood at is context.
Context means knowledge and itmeans wisdom.
(10:19):
That means the human factor.
You need to give it that factorso it can take data,
information, and repurpose it,whether it's in the form of
text, in the form of audio, theform of uh video, in order to
scale and 10x what you do, whichis your wisdom and your
knowledge, applied wisdom andknowledge is so, so important.
(10:42):
I see this as a leveling of theplaying field, because now we
have all access to capability.
We have access to knowledge thatwe didn't have before in a
moment's domain.
So, my question for you, Angela,is this how do you see this?
And take your whole context ofwhat you've seen up until this
(11:03):
point, working in corporateAmerica, seeing what the
landscape looks like from theBlack entrepreneurial world, how
do you see AI leveling theplaying field or giving back
Black entrepreneurs acompetitive edge when used
wisely?
SPEAKER_00 (11:20):
Part of the challenges that we've had as
Black entrepreneurs, as Blackbusiness owners, um, and even as
individuals in Black corporateAmerica is we haven't always
been invited into the room.
We haven't always had a seat atthe table.
I remember when I was workingwith a coach, one of the things
(11:43):
she said was, and she repeatedthis quote from someone else is,
you know, when you don't have aseat at the table, you build
your own table.
And in my own stubbornness, youknow, my first response was,
well, why should I have to builda table?
There's a table there, and Ideserve a seat there.
Well, that very well may betrue, but if they don't offer
(12:04):
you a seat, if they don't makeroom for you, you don't have a
seat there.
What AI does is it says, okay,you don't have a seat there.
You have to build your owntable.
I'm going to give you all of thetools you need to build that
table without you having tospend hundreds of thousands of
(12:25):
dollars to get a wholecontracting team together to do
it.
Um when I say it fills the gapsand gives you the capacity that
you don't have, that's exactlywhat it does.
It enables those of us inentrepreneurship to have the
team so that we can enter intospaces that we normally would
(12:50):
not be able to do because wewouldn't have the capacity, we
wouldn't have the time, wewouldn't have the bandwidth, and
we wouldn't have the supportthat we needed to bring to the
table the level of excellencethat pushes us into that space.
We all know that once we'regiven the right tools, we create
(13:12):
our own opportunity.
And once we've given that toolsand we've created that
opportunity, no one does itbetter than us.
We just simply need to have thetools, the capacity, and the
ability.
And we don't always have thebudget.
And with AI, you don't alwayshave to have that budget because
you now have the team withoutthe budget.
SPEAKER_01 (13:35):
That's true.
And the world, the economy ischanging.
Yeah.
Business platform is changing,the business landscape is
changing, meaning I don't alwaysneed to have a W-2 employee.
I can have a half contractors,other people that are experts in
the field.
One thing I've learned, andyou've alluded to this in AI, is
(13:56):
that it shows you what you don'tknow.
Like, oh, okay, maybe I'm notthe best at marketing, but I can
market up to a certain degree.
And I want people to really honein what I'm saying.
You can be able to do certainthings, what I call DIY.
Do it yourself.
You can get to a certain degree.
You can use Canva, let's say,Canvas another two.
A lot of people are familiarwith it.
They do some marketing for you,make flyers to make content for
(14:19):
you, make visual dimensions, andthen you'll begin to understand
yourself when do you need tolevel up?
When do you need a professional,a graphic designer?
And I tell you, people that, oh,I'm gonna be displaced, I'm a
graphic designer, chat to be ttwo, they can do all that.
They can only do it to a certaindegree, right?
(14:40):
And and if you need that, andthat fulfills what you need for
what you for for what's uhimportant, the messaging that
you're gonna cross, then dothat.
But when you need to level up,you need to know how to then
talk to a graphic designer, givethem enough information to
whether like this is great.
I don't have to pull teeth fromyou, you know, to understand
(15:02):
what it is that you're lookingto do.
Now you've leveled up theknowledge base across the
platform to where professionallywe can all work together.
This is very important.
So we're not replacing thegraphic designer, we're actually
uplifting like wow, I knew I getyour vision now.
We're gonna see, I call therenaissance of content creation
(15:24):
that's going to take placebecause of these types of
things.
And what you talked about from abusiness perspective, the
language of business is f isfinance.
That's the language of business.
And you can upscale yourself tounderstand what is that language
like?
How do I take what I do from anoperational standpoint, either
(15:46):
marketing standpoint, and thentalk in financial terms and
utilizing my AI platforms tohelp me because I might not be
at that level, right?
So that's access to capital,that's access to capability.
And you've kind of talked abouthow you fill some of those
organizational gaps with AI.
I want to ask you this in yourview.
(16:08):
What are three things a blackentrepreneur can start doing
today to begin integrating AIinto their business without
needing a technical expert?
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
What are three things?
First of all, just start.
You don't have to do that withAI.
(16:44):
And what I said earlier isreally true.
The minute you log on, you canstart.
So that's the first thing.
Pick it up and start.
Start thinking about what youwant to do, how you want to use
it, um, what you need to do.
Just pick it up and start withthe simple things.
Use AI as a brainstormingpartner.
(17:07):
You know, um, ask it questions,explore ideas, you know, help it
to make you draw out a plan.
Feel it, and and that's thegreat thing about AI.
You can speak to it with jumbledideas.
You don't have to format it andmake it plain.
Just type in your randomthoughts as you're thinking
(17:29):
them, and it will spit it backout to you.
Organize, format it, and say,hey, here's a business plan.
Hey, here's how you can organizethis.
Hey, here's what you need to do,and here's what you're possibly
looking for.
Do you want me to format it thisway?
Do you want me to format it thatway?
So it's a good sparring partnerfor your ideas.
And then finally, um, it'll helpyou use it to build your brand
(17:55):
voice.
I spoke earlier about trainingyour dragon.
When you're building yourbusiness, when you're utilizing
your business, what's the mostimportant thing, and and Grant,
I know that this is part of whatyou do, is building your brand.
People need to recognize who youare.
And your brand is not just yourlogo, it's not just what you do,
(18:17):
it's not just the name of yourorganization.
It is the holistic collection ofall of those things, plus you,
plus your voice, plus how youspeak, plus your customer, and
what you want your customers tofeel and think about when they
see your name, when they seecommunications from you.
(18:38):
And AI can learn that andcontinue to reinforce that and
continue to speak that, and youteach it how to do that, and it
continues to say, building onyour brand, let's do this, and
building on your brand, let's dothat.
And it brings you so much moreinformation to further enhance
that.
I want to bring go back to apoint you said earlier when you
(19:01):
talked about when you finallyhave to go to experts, and this
is very important.
So often, because we don't know,we often go to experts very
empty-handed.
And we say, we don't know what'sgoing on, we need help here.
And a lot of them say, Well,what do you want to do?
What are you trying to do?
(19:23):
And we kind of get sold morebells and whistles than we need.
We end up paying for more thanwe have to.
Um, we don't get exactly what weneed, but we trust the experts
because we don't really knowwhat we need.
AI will help you nail downexactly what you're looking for
(19:44):
and what you need at that time.
So when you go to that expert,you can say, This is what I'm
looking for, this is what Ineed, this is what I need from
you, and this is only what Iwant you to help me with.
That's a whole budgeting conceptthat helps you continue to stay
focused, to stay targeted, andto stay aligned and not be
(20:09):
oversold or underwhelmed whenyou go to the expert.
SPEAKER_01 (20:14):
Absolutely.
You you get alignment, right?
You know exactly what it is thatyou want.
And on the other side of theball, they're not delivering
something that is off the mark.
That's happened so many times.
Like, this is not what I waslooking for.
Like, oh, now you got to go backto the drawing board to a
certain degree.
So that very much helps.
Now we're we are going to bedoing a webinar podcast that's
(20:38):
coming up.
This is the second one in thisseries, because this is so
important.
We're not just talking about uhAI or adopting AI.
We're gonna actually show youwhat to do, how to adopt this
kind of technology.
Talk to me about why this is soimportant to you and what would
people get out of attending thisparticular podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
One thing that we've talked about in the AI
Accelerators group is what I'velovingly named the accelerator's
edge and what makes our groupdifferent.
There is no shortage of hundredsand thousands now of people
popping up saying, in order foryou to understand AI, you need
me to show you how to use it.
(21:21):
You need me to help you.
You can't use it without me.
AI.
That's a fear factor that I feelis being pushed through.
And I feel that it's tellingpeople you're limited in how you
can use it until you get anexpert to come in and show you
how to use it.
That's not our direction, that'snot our goal.
(21:41):
Our goal is to go to ourcommunity and help empower them
to utilize AI in the way thatwill benefit them the most.
We want AI, we want them tounderstand how to utilize AI
intentionally to increase theirown personal value.
(22:03):
We want them to understand thatwe are here to partner with
them.
We are here to show them this ishow you can use this.
We want them to see the benefitin using AI.
And we want them to understandthat we are trying to shift and
(22:24):
build AI so that it fits us.
It's no secret that AI and thatthe origination of the data that
was built into it was built on abias.
There's it's no secret.
It's commonly known.
It may not be commonly stated,but it's commonly known.
All of the data that was put inwas put in based on information
(22:45):
that's out there.
So there is a tilt that is notfully representing the black
voice.
It's not fully representing theblack intelligence, it's not
fully representing the blackexperience.
So, how do we correct that?
Some of it we're not going tocorrect.
There's too much data embeddedin it.
(23:06):
The very programming, and Grant,you helped educate me on that.
The very programming of thesystem is that we won't be able
to undo it, but we can build ourown.
And that's part of what the AIaccelerators is really about.
Building our own.
And that's one thing that in theBlack community, we've got to
(23:28):
continue to push for.
We don't have to always justaccept what's put out there for
us.
We can and are capable ofbuilding our own for us by us.
That foo-boo concept issomething we have got to
continue to push forward becauseit then truly represents who we
(23:48):
are.
It celebrates who we are, itacknowledges who we are, and
then it works best for what wewant to do.
SPEAKER_01 (23:57):
Absolutely.
Speaking to the choir righthere, so this is exactly what it
we have to get involved.
Um, I think personally, I thinkwe kind of slept on the some of
the internet social media cloudcomputer era.
We just weren't that involved.
Now, if you go to social media,like wow, I see a lot of black
people on social media, theyare, but are we creating the
(24:20):
content?
I mean the applications for thecontent.
unknown (24:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:25):
So so important.
When that and when you look atright now, look at the stock
market, look at the the majorcompanies on the stock market.
This was only created in thelast 10, you know, 14 years.
Are digital technologycompanies?
Your Apple's, your Microsoft,your eBay's, your your Ubers.
(24:47):
I mean, you can go on and on.
They lead and dominate in thisspace.
NVIDIA dominates because ofwhere they their chips at in the
infrastructure world.
You know, a lot of people like,what stock should I get involved
with?
This technology is what's takingplace.
We're moving from all the wayfrom the agricultural age, the
manufacturing age, what I wouldcall the information technology
(25:09):
age into intelligent technologyage.
Yeah, this is a big shift.
If we are on the sidelines ofthis, it will not be good.
We have to get in involved withthis shift and and be
intentional about it, right?
And be creative about it.
Because one thing I know aboutour people, we're very creative.
(25:32):
Now, how are we going to utilizethat creativity?
All right, we've got to put itout there.
So now these engines, thesealgorithms, and these types of
things starts pulling that datafrom us, and then it starts, you
know what?
I can now emulate.
I I I I'm starting to understandwhere Grand Angelo are coming
from.
Let's get that kind of contentyou know available to them.
So you always have to then goback.
(25:53):
And I and I'm telling you, toyour point, I use AI all
probably every day, and I haveto go back and retrain it.
Like, okay, great, you whatyou've put together.
Now let's let's put some AfricanAmerican experience.
Sure.
Like, wow, sure.
You know, like there's there'sall kinds of ethnicities out
here, there's all kinds ofcultures out here.
Yeah, not one type.
So I don't know how that alwaysgets put out first.
(26:16):
Yeah, we need to understand,like, okay, I get it, that's who
built it, but we manage it,right?
And without our input, it doesnot continue to go forward.
So I'm very, very excited.
Exactly about this upcoming AIaccelerator.
Yeah, we're not just we're gonnatalk about it, we're gonna
introduce some of our experts inthis field, and then you have
(26:37):
the opportunity to actuallylevel up.
We're gonna be doing this in2026, like, okay, I know I need
help.
Remember what I said, I know Ineed help in these particular
areas.
How can I get the the theknowledge and experience from
people who get it and then I'mfeel comfortable with, then I
(26:58):
can take my business to the nextlevel.
Would you agree with that?
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
I would 100% agree.
Not only are you gonna see allof that, but you're actually
going to, we're actually goingexcited to have a demo by one of
our accelerator teammates whoactually built a tool.
So we're gonna get to see that.
And the good thing about thecollective force of the AI
(27:22):
accelerator team is all of thedifferent superpowers that are
present in that team, right?
You have some who are gifted indemystifying it.
I um do not consider myself themost technologically um
mastering of the group, but I amthe one that has the common
(27:44):
knowledge aspect of it.
I um was always the person thatknew enough to break the
technology and then rebuild itback about 85%, or at least
speak the language between thetechie and the customer service
person and let them know whatwas happening.
You have people who understandwhere to start from the
beginning.
You have people who are able tospeak to the expert that's been
(28:07):
building it from the beginning.
We have someone for everybody inthat team to speak to every
level of where you are and whatyou're trying to do.
And that's what we enjoy aboutit to sit in our conversations
and hear how we bounce off ofeach other and the different
ideas that come together in thatroom.
(28:27):
It's just an exciting time.
And we are excited to be able tobring that knowledge to our
broader community and say, look,this is what we can do and what
we are doing.
We're not just talking about it.
We are doing it, we are changingthe conversation.
We're not going to keep havingthe same conversation.
(28:48):
We're having a new conversation,we're changing it.
We are doing it, we are buildingit, we are owning it.
SPEAKER_01 (28:55):
100%.
I want to see a 10x change inGDP for African Americans in
America.
We're right now around 1.2trillion.
I think we can 10x that to 10trillion dollars.
Yes.
Because it's about beingintentional and understanding it
and getting the knowledge andexperience that we need.
Also, the access, so importantto get the access.
(29:16):
And I will state this so thatour business community truly
understands tech of itself isuseless.
Tech that actually enables youto accomplish a goal is
valuable.
Absolutely.
So I use technology to enhancepersonal branding, to enhance
business development, and toenhance investment banking.
(29:39):
That is a tool that's utilizedto amplify my skill set.
That is so so important, andthen refine my mindset.
And if I can use it for thosetypes of things, it's very, very
important.
I was talking to a Harvardprofessor, I believe it was last
week.
unknown (29:59):
I said,
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
You know, before you really had to attend Harvard to
get access to some of thecurriculum and coursework and
what was taught within uh theseclassrooms.
You see, yep, you're right.
Now I can get Harvard grade uhinformation, knowledge, and
experience from these techenabled tools.
(30:21):
Whether it's AI Tech to theseYouTube's out there, there's so
much information.
There's no longer that say,well, I I just can't get access
to the to the um to theknow-how.
Like, no, you have to beintentional about it.
If you're really intentionalabout it, yes, yes, you can.
And then what we're doing isbringing that as an aggregate,
(30:43):
this AI acceler is an aggregate.
I can go here and really upscalemyself.
And I encourage everyone tobring a use case.
Bring a use case.
This is how my businessoperates, and I will say this
emphatically it's aboutunderstanding your workflow, how
your business operates from topof funnel all the way to
(31:04):
fulfillment, and then thereactivation of that clientele
to understand that that flow,and then where you can engage AI
within that particularmethodology.
That's going to get you a lotfurther than generically
throwing some AI out there.
This is one of the biggestmistakes you're seeing right now
(31:25):
about agentic AI.
Oh, that's cool.
I can make a duplicate of GrandMcGall, throw him out there.
That's all great and fine.
But what messaging are youcoming across?
SPEAKER_00 (31:33):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (31:34):
And what are you doing?
And is this moving the needleforward from the value scale?
Right, right.
So for those that don't knowwhen the AI acceler is taking
place, please, please, Angela,tell us how to tune in.
SPEAKER_00 (31:48):
So we will be having our um kickoff event November
18th.
That is this coming Tuesday at11 a.m.
Um if you check in on Grant'sLinkedIn, you can check in on my
LinkedIn, you will see the post.
You can click on that post umfor the invite, 11 a.m.
(32:10):
There we will be on LinkedIn, onYouTube, on Facebook, and also
uh StreamYard um guest linkevent.
So there's numerous ways thatyou can tune in to us.
You can also look at theThriving Um TV channel on ICABA
TV.
That's ICABA TV.
(32:32):
So you can Google that.
Um you can look at our firstevent that happened on October
24th or 5th, I believe it was,and check out the first one that
we did so that you can see ouropening session that leads into
this one.
And we are just really, reallyexcited about this upcoming
(32:53):
event and really want you totune in and check out what's
going on.
You will not be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01 (32:59):
And for those of us who are not familiar with ICaba
and the ICABA community, theICABA network, tell us more
about the organization itself.
SPEAKER_00 (33:10):
Absolutely.
ICaba is a universal um blackecosystem.
It was founded by Jerome HutchHutchison and his late wife
about 14 years ago.
And what he wanted to do was tobuild a global ecosystem, like I
said, of Black professionals,Black entrepreneurs who could
(33:32):
come together and network tocollaborate, to coordinate, to
celebrate together, and to grow.
He wants these Blackprofessionals to prosper through
networking, throughinteractions.
Each year, we um, like Hablasponsors Black Professionals
Month, which happens throughoutthe month of October.
(33:52):
We just came out of it.
I'm still recovering from that.
But what it does is itcelebrates our Black
professionals, our Blackentrepreneurs, our Black
organizations or organizationswho are supporting people of
color.
And it really does look at thisecosystem of people and we link
arms and we work together tosupport one another and interact
(34:18):
with one another.
And that's why the AIAccelerators group was born to
bring the technology arm intothis ecosystem of support.
There are other groups, there'sa leadership collective that's
um coming out of this group andseveral others that are going to
be born as groups inside of thisICOBA network that's helping to
(34:40):
bring our Black communitytogether as a whole, to support,
to interact, to grow, tocollaborate as a collective and
continue to build.
We have people in um throughoutseveral continents, in Africa.
We have people in the UK, um, inCanada, and in the States who
(35:01):
are working together to makethis a wonderful, great
community.
And again, you can go toiCabaWorld Network.com for more
information.
SPEAKER_01 (35:12):
Awesome, awesome.
It will be, if it's not already,the largest online black
professional community in theworld.
This is where you can come andreally get a leg up in your
business uh endeavors.
This is so important.
I have just one more question.
I've got to ask you thisquestion because I asked my
guests this question.
(35:33):
This is called real-timefeedback, right?
Angela, this is your first timeon the Follow Brand Podcast.
How was your experience?
SPEAKER_00 (35:44):
My experience was wonderful.
I this is my first time ever,Grant, doing a podcast on my
own.
Um, ever.
So thank you for thisintroduction.
And um, it's been verycomfortable, very warm.
You are a wonderful interviewer.
You make people feel verycomfortable, very warm, very
thought-provoking questions.
(36:04):
Um, I'm honored to be yourguest.
Um, it's been an honor and apleasure working with you so
closely.
Um, I have enjoyed your insight,have learned so much from you,
but this is a great venue, and Ipray that you continue to move
forward with this, um, that itbegins to explode beyond measure
(36:25):
because it is definitely what isneeded in our community and
beyond it.
SPEAKER_01 (36:31):
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
I want to thank you, and I wantto thank your entire community,
your entire network for being aguest on the Funnel Brand
Podcast.
And also, you've got to tune into Thriving Podcast.
It is going to be live thisTuesday, November 18th, 11 a.m.
Eastern to 12:30.
(36:51):
Beg to ask questions.
Bring yourself to the table andlet's all eat together as we get
ready for this Thanksgiving.
Because, you know, got me hungryright now thinking about this.
So thanks again for being aguest on the show.
You can tune in to all theepisodes of Follow Brand at Five
Star BDM.
That is the number five at astar s t a r be for brand, d for
(37:11):
development, and formasters.com.
Thanks again for being on theshow.
SPEAKER_00 (37:16):
Thank you, Grant.
SPEAKER_01 (37:17):
You're welcome.
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