February 6, 2025 • 24 mins
Action Jackson, the charismatic CEO of Jackson's Yard Care, takes us on an inspiring entrepreneurial journey where passion meets perseverance. Known for his quick wit at the poker table and unwavering dedication to business, Jackson shares the story behind his self-funded workforce development program. This initiative, supported by community leaders and organizations like the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce, offers free training and certification in lawn care and landscaping. It's a testament to Jackson's commitment to empowering his community and fostering career opportunities through private funding and generous donations.
Join us as we uncover the excitement of the JYC Workforce Development Super Bowl Gala in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, an event bursting with community spirit and innovative ideas. Enjoy the indoor tailgating atmosphere while we spotlight local influencers like Antoine McNeil, who champion diversity, equity, and inclusion in business. Discover how Jackson's print-on-demand venture adds a creative twist to the gala, offering products that celebrate his entrepreneurial spirit. As we wrap up, reflect on the profound impact of DEI initiatives and learn how word-of-mouth and personal grit can open doors to new career horizons. Don't miss this episode, filled with motivating insights and the power of community-driven success.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
everybody, this is your host d star here with
action jackson ceo of jackson'syard care and always remember
you have the right to abeautiful yard.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Jackson's yard care, I think you.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I think you didn't.
I think you rehearsed that nowmore than I did.
I think you might be betterthan that to me.
You think so.
Well, you definitely sound good.
I appreciate that I think youmight have the voice for podcast
.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
That's why, though you know, maybe that might say
that uh, so for the people thatdon't know you, can you tell us
a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
man.
Just for the people that don'tknow me is it's rare that you
may not know me, but if youdon't know me, here it is in a
nutshell family of three.
I got a beautiful fiancee athome, two kids at home and I run
a landscaping business and alsoI run a print-on-demand
(00:58):
business and a workforcedevelopment business and I love
to travel.
Man, I love to live life, Ilove to be with friends and
family.
You know, just enjoy whateverlife gots to throw at me, man,
and I handle it day to day.
That's your story.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You sticking to it.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Man, I could tell you a lot more, but I know you got
a dozen of questions to ask me,so I'd just rather answer them,
because there's a lot to tellabout old action being.
I've been around the block alot man and I think a lot of
things and I done a lot ofthings and I'm very proud of
what I did.
And you know, if you ask me Iwon't take nothing back.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Absolutely so.
Action, jackson.
How did?
Where did you get the nameaction?
And that's your legal legalname correct.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, that's your legal name correct.
Yeah, that is my legal name,action Antoine Jackson.
Okay, really, from the pokertable.
And then it really kind ofstuck right.
And then when I got intobusiness mainstream, it's really
how I perform my work.
It's really how I perform whatI said, what I was going to do.
I really stuck to what I wasgoing to do.
(02:04):
People didn't have to check onme, check on my work or things
like that.
And it really came about whereI got the name like Action.
That man is really Action.
When I put that name together,I changed my logo and I also
changed my name.
I also installed this workforcedevelopment man.
So you know how you like say,say you're like bad luck travels
(02:28):
in threes.
That's how I did this.
But I reversed it and I was allpositive.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I want to jump kind of straight into it and talking
about the workforce developmentprogram First of all, can you
explain to us what the workforcedevelopment program is and what
gave you the inspiration to setit up?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, thanks for the platform for me to deliver this,
because this is something thatI truly is proud about.
Me and the team work heavily onwork days and nights on, and I
love to share this stuff on yourplatform.
So the workforce development isstructured around lawn care and
landscaping and we provide freetraining program to individuals
(03:11):
that comes out the communityand is looking for a different
trade to get into, that'slooking for something that they
can call a career.
Jyc has done was open up thefloodgates to the opportunity
for people to come in andactually learn how this industry
(03:31):
works from a hands on position.
Curriculum is a hardcorecurriculum.
It's a test between.
The time you come in is a test,the time you go out.
You got to pass it to get yourcertification.
Not only do you get acertification from us, but you
also get one from the state, andthat means a lot.
(03:52):
Right there, you know MelissaAgar.
She participates in this andshows a certification
recognition for the students aswell, so they get that.
And then Melissa Agar, thesenator, correct, yeah, and the
mayor, as well, so they get that.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And then Melissa Agard, the Senator, correct,
yeah, and the mayor as well.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh yeah, the mayor of Sun Prairie comes out all the
time and, uh, you know a lot ofpeople from the business world
comes in and supports thisbecause it especially the
chamber.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Shout out to the chamber the uh, the Sun Prairie
chamber of Commerce has alwaysbeen a great partner of ours.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It definitely has.
It's been a great organizationto be in, a great collaboration
of people to work with andfellowship with.
There's a lot of support outthere in Sun Prairie and you
know, to be honest with you, I'mso glad that my business moved
to Sun Prairie 922 South BirdStreet correct.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah 922 South Bird Street.
Over 10,000 square feetwarehouse All types of trucks
and trailers and everything youpossibly could need to get the
job done when you're talkingabout landscaping, snow removal,
trash pickup.
If you got a job, they can doit.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, and I think that's where you know, the
workforce thrived off the backsof the hard work that we already
put in.
You know what I'm saying?
We're a 16 year old business.
The workforce development is ayear old, coming in March.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
You know, one of the things that I think that we
forgot to mention is that theworkforce development is 100%
free for the students and isprivately funded by Action
himself.
He actually came out of his ownpocket.
He's not a 5113C, he's not, youknow.
He doesn't receive any grants.
He doesn't receive any type ofmonetary help from any type of
(05:45):
government agency or anynonprofit or anything like that.
He had the foresight to see aneed, fill the need and put his
money where his mouth is, and heactually funds it, his his self
, 100 percent.
But along the way there hasbeen donors, you know, donating
materials and donating food andthings of that nature.
(06:07):
So who are some of the notablepeople that you've actually
partnered with in this program?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, you know, of course, you came along and you
participated in this, thepodcast, and you know your
personal help also provided alot of resources.
Holy God's provided resources.
Shout resources.
Holy God's provided resources.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Shout out to Holy God's clothing.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Peter, he donated as well.
As far as, like other companies, pizza Pit, they came through,
gus's Diner, they came throughShout out to Gus.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, I like Monk's.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And TJ.
They came through Badger CityAuto but I would say up next, uh
, terrence's, up next marketing,so he definitely provided.
Dalton Summers is my materialprovider.
He definitely always looks outwhen I call on him.
He has no problem on putting inand definitely Cedric Page.
(07:01):
I almost you know it's a few inthere and I'm trying to
definitely catch the names andmake sure they get their flowers
, absolutely, because, even likeI know that I put 95% of you
know the backing into this.
It is my dream and I had theforesight about this.
So you know, I didn't expectnobody to kind of come in and
(07:26):
say, oh my gosh, I had this andI had that.
I just needed somebody to dowhatever they could do and
support what my vision is,because it's not even every day
that somebody will come in.
You tell them your vision andthey say, oh man, I support that
.
Right, you know what I'm saying.
So shout outs to everybody thatkicked in and did what they do
(07:46):
and still doing what they doing,because we still gonna need
that support for the program tocome.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So it's four weeks and they get two certifications
and at the end of that youeither employ them or help them
get employed with a company,correct?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
and don't get this wrong not everybody gets placed
right, because what we'relooking for this program is
meant to teach you to trade andthe opportunity for employment.
If you coming into this programand you're not putting in your
you know participation, thenwe're not going to be backing
(08:25):
you, trying to put our name, ourreputation on the line and
wasting time.
Just go ahead and get yourknowledge about the industry and
then do what you need.
But if you're not giving usyour full participation, if
(08:46):
you're not jumping in there andreally trying to get to that
next level because the nextlevel is the job, the next level
is the placement so we reallyneed those people to understand
this.
This is a program to teach youto trade.
You want to go to that nextlevel?
(09:07):
Then go in there with your headgrew long straight.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
It's funny that you say that about placement and
things like that.
You know it's a lot of thingsthat's going on in the world and
when you're talking about themigrant situation, for the last
couple of graduations you'veactually had people from
Venezuela in your program thattook the entire program,
(09:32):
graduated from the program andyou've actually placed them.
So can you tell us a little bitabout what that was like?
Because I know you had to getan interpreter.
You had to.
You know you had to go theextra mile for that.
So can you tell us a little bitabout that journey?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I think that was one of the toughest things about
what I had to do, to kind ofpiece this thing together,
because it was the languagebarrier.
They couldn't speak English atall, period.
And yeah, we did have ainterpreter.
But it was a good thing for usthat some of our students in the
class knew how to speak Englishin Spanish, but we had a bundle
(10:16):
of them I had, at least in mysecond program course.
We had at least seven studentsthat couldn't speak no English.
Right, that was from Venezuela,right?
No, they were scattered aroundfrom different places.
Mexico, Venezuela, yeah that wasthe other challenging thing too
.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Because some of them spoke Portuguese right.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Right.
So I had to figure out waysaround that and a lot of things
that came across was handsignaling and then like breaking
off people in groups, so we canget that attention span, so we
can get that attention span.
But the crazy thing about allof that is majority of them we
did place and they did turn outpretty good.
(10:58):
Some of them completed actuallythe second course.
We got the snow plowing courseas well, yeah, that's another
thing.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
There's two courses, so there's a lawn care and
landscaping course, and thenthere's a snow removal course,
also both free, open to thepublic.
And you've had people.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
You have, you know, men and women, and you've had
disabled people also yeah, Ijust want to kind of make it
clear what's the mission andwhat's the vision behind the
program.
It's not all about making anemployee.
It's all about making ourcommunity great.
What we focus on is yes, wewant to get people in placement
(11:40):
for employment, but what we wantto is just shed the knowledge
of our industry for people touse it at their own will.
Like, it's so easy for somebodyto go out there and make a
couple bucks on their own blockwith a push more and some basic
lawn tools, but to have theexperience to actually know
(12:05):
about what they doing, it's aholy.
It's a total different ballgame absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, just like we were just talking about the
podcast, like people want tostart a podcast, that's great,
but do you actually know whatyou're doing?
Right?
You know, like, can youtroubleshoot?
If there's a problem, can youfix it?
You know, because there'snobody to fix it.
You know, like it's only you,it's only you, so you can.
I was, I was having aconversation earlier and I was
(12:30):
like you can have all the bestequipment in the world, but if
you don't know how to use it,it's worthless.
You can get a guy with a $200camera and you got a $10,000
camera.
The end product might look waybetter with his because he knows
what he's doing, he knows thesettings, he you know what I
mean he's comfortable, he's gothis own workflow.
(12:50):
You know what I'm saying.
So you know it's not, it's notall about the information, it's
actually you.
You know what I mean.
You have your ability to soakthat up to you know and to
execute.
So when we, when we're divingin to this program for those
that just joined us, we'retalking about the JYC Workforce
(13:13):
Development Gala that's comingup soon.
So just to go back a little bit, this workforce development
program serves the entirecommunity.
It's 100 percent funded byAction Jackson.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
I'd say 98.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
98, about 98%.
So that's pretty much all of itthat he, out of his own pocket,
provides free service to thecommunity and he's holding his
first annual gala February 9that his shop that's 922 South
Bird Street here in Sun Prairie,wisconsin, to support the
(13:51):
workforce development programthat is free and open to the
public.
Not only that a specialsurprise that not many know
about he has a new commercialthat's going to be debuting
during the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
There's so many good things about what's about to
happen on February 9th that Idon't even know if people are
really recognizing how big thisis to the city and what we did
to be a part of this city in thebusiness world and also into
our communities.
It's like, where I came from,this doesn't happen, never,
(14:27):
period, and I know that.
But as I was growing and I wasgoing on my, as I was going on
my journey, I kept those thingsin the back of my mind where I
came from, why I'm doing it.
So every time I got frustratedor something didn't work out,
that would smooth me out, andthat was like you know what I'm
saying, something I retreat toevery time I think of something
(14:50):
like negative or thingsbothering me.
I'm like dude you alreadypassed the unthinkable.
Why would you stop now?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Right, so kind of.
So take us through the night.
Like we said, february 9ththree o'clock.
922 South Bird Street, sunPrairie, wisconsin, jyc
Workforce Development Super BowlGala.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Take us through the night constant jyc workforce
development super bowl gala takeus through the night, so if
you're there early three o'clockyou're gonna be already
overwhelmed by the entertainmentthe arcade games, the table
games, the carnival type ofgames and the food layout and
(15:33):
how the TVs are laid out.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
So it's like an indoor tailgating.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's pretty much like a big tailgating type of gala,
but indoors and with heat.
Yeah, we got definitely heat.
We definitely got heat in thebuilding.
You ain't got to worry aboutthat.
And when you're in there, Ireally want gotta worry about
that, and when you in there, youI really want you to be there
and really just relax and be inan environment where you can say
(16:01):
you, finna, have a good timewatching.
You know, the super bowl is themost watched television show in
america every year, every year,and it's been like that.
So to have a gala on this daymeans a lot, you know, and we
bring in the city with us.
That means a lot to me.
(16:21):
So you know, coming in the door, you're gonna be hit with that,
that event type of oh my gosh,I'm just glad I got here.
You know what I'm saying,because there's gonna be so many
people that you may know.
There's going to be so manypeople you ain't going to know.
This is a gallery, this is aget-together, this is community
(16:41):
and business colliding togetherand uniting, entertaining each
other at the same time.
Absolutely, and not only that.
We're doing it for a greatcause, for a wonderful cause.
The money goes towards theclass that's going to be
starting in March.
So at the end of the day whenyou're spending your dollars
(17:05):
there.
You should be proud to spendyour dollars there.
You should be excited to spendyour dollars there because you
know your dollars is about to goto a great cause.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Absolutely so.
You actually have anotherbusiness, a print-on-demand
business.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
That'll be there and have a booth, and you guys are
going to be selling T-shirts yes, and hats Yep, and hoodies
right, yep, and tattoos Mm-hmm.
So can you tell us a little bitabout that?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So the print-on-dem man to be out there doing this
thing in support of, uh, thefull cause, and we're gonna have
a lot of local influences there, like jay rock, antoine mcneil
with the biggest comedian showthat madison ever seen black own
that's what I love the most, soyou know, having those people
there.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So Antoine McNeil is one of the hosts he owns.
Shout out to One Motion.
But yeah, shout out to him.
He actually is a really greatresource for small businesses,
black or white or whatever colorin the community.
So if that's something that youare aspiring to do is, like you
know, be an entrepreneur, startyour own business.
(18:18):
He, that chamber, that guy youknow what I mean.
He is the guy.
I would definitely give him acall and see what you know, what
kind of programs they have orwhat kind of resources that they
can hook you up with, Becausethey they do have accelerated
programs and things like thatthat that they put on geared
towards small businesses andpeople that's trying to start a
(18:39):
business.
That can help you.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You know, just FYI, vince, vince, vince.
Yeah, he the one that got me myDBE.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Actually, I'm pretty sure that falls under DEI, you
know, because it's diversity,equity, inclusion, right, so
it's like I think we've seen thewriting on the wall with that.
We was talking about that lastyear.
We're saying like, oh man, youknow, a lot of companies are
backing off of the dei becausethey don't know which
administration is going to behere.
(19:09):
If the left is in there,they'll keep it.
If the right is coming, they'regoing to obliterate it.
Right, the right got in, sothey pretty much did what we
thought that they was gonna dois obliterate it.
I don't know how I feel aboutthat just truly, just be behind
your work, man.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, I don't do what you can do.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I don't.
I don't know how I feel aboutthat because, to be honest, I've
never gotten a job based off adi.
I've never been a recipient ofthat.
You know what I'm saying.
Like that has never, played afactor in any type of work that
I've been hired for, any type ofwork that I've been considered.
They always just you knowpeople really.
(19:48):
You know I get a lot ofbusiness by word of mouth.
You know what I'm saying.
So it's like somebody tellsomebody somebody you know what
I mean.
Then they like hey, send mesome of your stuff, I send them
the stuff, they like the stuffand they want to work with me
based off of that.
But it's never been.
You know I'm cold calling oryou know I just put in an
application or something likethat.
(20:08):
Like it's never been that.
So I'm never, I'm not arecipient of the DEI and never
have been recipient of the DEIand never have been.
So it's like I it doesn'treally affect me, but I can see
how it would affect some people.
But they say the number onerecipients of DEI is white women
.
(20:28):
That's not me just saying that,that's that's from the
department of labor says thatyou know, white women are the
number one recipients of diright so it's like, even though
I have my dbe, I do have it, butit it literally has never
gotten me one dollar worth ofbusiness it brought me 100 grand
(20:49):
on one job well then, you havebeen a recipient of d I ain't
saying I didn't you know, butthe only I think.
When I got that job, though, Idon't think it had nothing to do
with that, though no, I don't.
You've been in business for avery long time.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
No, I was just going to say I don't think it had
nothing to do with that, but ithad something to do with that
because I was in the position toget the information, to receive
the notification of the job,and when we got to the job it
was a mandatory site visit andwe was the only contractor there
.
Wow, that that was like thatwas the fine print that was fine
(21:28):
.
Yeah, it's like oh, youactually have to come to the
site yeah, and I take it yeah,I'll take it so.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
So what can you tell us about the commercial?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
The commercial man.
I can't put too much news outthere.
Give us a little somethingabout the commercial.
Oh, man, you want me to spillthe beans on a commercial.
You just watch For all mypeople.
That's in the vicinity of FoxBroadcast.
You'll see it on February 9th.
We got two hot commercialscoming out and it's going to be
(22:02):
live, man, it's going to be mein there, it's going to be my
fiance in there and it's goingto be yours truly, giovanni
Jackson.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
So how can people get tickets to support the gala?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You can go right on our website.
Or can they get tickets the dayof?
Yeah, but it's gonna cost youmore.
It costs, okay.
So what is the price?
It's only twenty dollars to getin twenty dollars, it's only
twenty dollars.
And so is there food.
Yes, food, there's food.
That just gets you entry.
That just gets you entry.
Okay, yeah, okay, yeah, becauseit's a fundraiser.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It's a fundraiser.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
We're trying to raise funds man, we can't make no
money off of $20.
But when you get in there youknow everything is a fundraiser.
So we look for you to come inthere with your pockets open a
little bit Because at the end ofthe day, we got some truly
(22:59):
behind the scenes of that galathat we're trying to raise funds
for.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
So the main thing is come in and enjoy and knowing
that your dollars is going tothe right place.
No small kids allowed.
No small kids.
And if you're worried aboutwhat you should wear to a super
bowl gala, come in your regularjeans and buy some sweaters and
t-shirts and then you can fitright on in absolutely well
(23:29):
action.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
We really appreciate you stopping by.
Thank you, I appreciate youabsolutely.
I'm d star until next time,guys.
everybody, this is your host d star here with
action jackson ceo of jackson'syard care and always remember
you have the right to abeautiful yard.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Jackson's yard care, I think you.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I think you didn't.
I think you rehearsed that nowmore than I did.
I think you might be betterthan that to me.
You think so.
Well, you definitely sound good.
I appreciate that I think youmight have the voice for podcast
.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
That's why, though you know, maybe that might say
that uh, so for the people thatdon't know you, can you tell us
a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
man.
Just for the people that don'tknow me is it's rare that you
may not know me, but if youdon't know me, here it is in a
nutshell family of three.
I got a beautiful fiancee athome, two kids at home and I run
a landscaping business and alsoI run a print-on-demand
(00:58):
business and a workforcedevelopment business and I love
to travel.
Man, I love to live life, Ilove to be with friends and
family.
You know, just enjoy whateverlife gots to throw at me, man,
and I handle it day to day.
That's your story.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You sticking to it.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Man, I could tell you a lot more, but I know you got
a dozen of questions to ask me,so I'd just rather answer them,
because there's a lot to tellabout old action being.
I've been around the block alot man and I think a lot of
things and I done a lot ofthings and I'm very proud of
what I did.
And you know, if you ask me Iwon't take nothing back.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Absolutely so.
Action, jackson.
How did?
Where did you get the nameaction?
And that's your legal legalname correct.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, that's your legal name correct.
Yeah, that is my legal name,action Antoine Jackson.
Okay, really, from the pokertable.
And then it really kind ofstuck right.
And then when I got intobusiness mainstream, it's really
how I perform my work.
It's really how I perform whatI said, what I was going to do.
I really stuck to what I wasgoing to do.
(02:04):
People didn't have to check onme, check on my work or things
like that.
And it really came about whereI got the name like Action.
That man is really Action.
When I put that name together,I changed my logo and I also
changed my name.
I also installed this workforcedevelopment man.
So you know how you like say,say you're like bad luck travels
(02:28):
in threes.
That's how I did this.
But I reversed it and I was allpositive.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I want to jump kind of straight into it and talking
about the workforce developmentprogram First of all, can you
explain to us what the workforcedevelopment program is and what
gave you the inspiration to setit up?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, thanks for the platform for me to deliver this,
because this is something thatI truly is proud about.
Me and the team work heavily onwork days and nights on, and I
love to share this stuff on yourplatform.
So the workforce development isstructured around lawn care and
landscaping and we provide freetraining program to individuals
(03:11):
that comes out the communityand is looking for a different
trade to get into, that'slooking for something that they
can call a career.
Jyc has done was open up thefloodgates to the opportunity
for people to come in andactually learn how this industry
(03:31):
works from a hands on position.
Curriculum is a hardcorecurriculum.
It's a test between.
The time you come in is a test,the time you go out.
You got to pass it to get yourcertification.
Not only do you get acertification from us, but you
also get one from the state, andthat means a lot.
(03:52):
Right there, you know MelissaAgar.
She participates in this andshows a certification
recognition for the students aswell, so they get that.
And then Melissa Agar, thesenator, correct, yeah, and the
mayor, as well, so they get that.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And then Melissa Agard, the Senator, correct,
yeah, and the mayor as well.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh yeah, the mayor of Sun Prairie comes out all the
time and, uh, you know a lot ofpeople from the business world
comes in and supports thisbecause it especially the
chamber.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Shout out to the chamber the uh, the Sun Prairie
chamber of Commerce has alwaysbeen a great partner of ours.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It definitely has.
It's been a great organizationto be in, a great collaboration
of people to work with andfellowship with.
There's a lot of support outthere in Sun Prairie and you
know, to be honest with you, I'mso glad that my business moved
to Sun Prairie 922 South BirdStreet correct.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah 922 South Bird Street.
Over 10,000 square feetwarehouse All types of trucks
and trailers and everything youpossibly could need to get the
job done when you're talkingabout landscaping, snow removal,
trash pickup.
If you got a job, they can doit.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, and I think that's where you know, the
workforce thrived off the backsof the hard work that we already
put in.
You know what I'm saying?
We're a 16 year old business.
The workforce development is ayear old, coming in March.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
You know, one of the things that I think that we
forgot to mention is that theworkforce development is 100%
free for the students and isprivately funded by Action
himself.
He actually came out of his ownpocket.
He's not a 5113C, he's not, youknow.
He doesn't receive any grants.
He doesn't receive any type ofmonetary help from any type of
(05:45):
government agency or anynonprofit or anything like that.
He had the foresight to see aneed, fill the need and put his
money where his mouth is, and heactually funds it, his his self
, 100 percent.
But along the way there hasbeen donors, you know, donating
materials and donating food andthings of that nature.
(06:07):
So who are some of the notablepeople that you've actually
partnered with in this program?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, you know, of course, you came along and you
participated in this, thepodcast, and you know your
personal help also provided alot of resources.
Holy God's provided resources.
Shout resources.
Holy God's provided resources.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Shout out to Holy God's clothing.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Peter, he donated as well.
As far as, like other companies, pizza Pit, they came through,
gus's Diner, they came throughShout out to Gus.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, I like Monk's.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And TJ.
They came through Badger CityAuto but I would say up next, uh
, terrence's, up next marketing,so he definitely provided.
Dalton Summers is my materialprovider.
He definitely always looks outwhen I call on him.
He has no problem on putting inand definitely Cedric Page.
(07:01):
I almost you know it's a few inthere and I'm trying to
definitely catch the names andmake sure they get their flowers
, absolutely, because, even likeI know that I put 95% of you
know the backing into this.
It is my dream and I had theforesight about this.
So you know, I didn't expectnobody to kind of come in and
(07:26):
say, oh my gosh, I had this andI had that.
I just needed somebody to dowhatever they could do and
support what my vision is,because it's not even every day
that somebody will come in.
You tell them your vision andthey say, oh man, I support that
.
Right, you know what I'm saying.
So shout outs to everybody thatkicked in and did what they do
(07:46):
and still doing what they doing,because we still gonna need
that support for the program tocome.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So it's four weeks and they get two certifications
and at the end of that youeither employ them or help them
get employed with a company,correct?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
and don't get this wrong not everybody gets placed
right, because what we'relooking for this program is
meant to teach you to trade andthe opportunity for employment.
If you coming into this programand you're not putting in your
you know participation, thenwe're not going to be backing
(08:25):
you, trying to put our name, ourreputation on the line and
wasting time.
Just go ahead and get yourknowledge about the industry and
then do what you need.
But if you're not giving usyour full participation, if
(08:46):
you're not jumping in there andreally trying to get to that
next level because the nextlevel is the job, the next level
is the placement so we reallyneed those people to understand
this.
This is a program to teach youto trade.
You want to go to that nextlevel?
(09:07):
Then go in there with your headgrew long straight.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
It's funny that you say that about placement and
things like that.
You know it's a lot of thingsthat's going on in the world and
when you're talking about themigrant situation, for the last
couple of graduations you'veactually had people from
Venezuela in your program thattook the entire program,
(09:32):
graduated from the program andyou've actually placed them.
So can you tell us a little bitabout what that was like?
Because I know you had to getan interpreter.
You had to.
You know you had to go theextra mile for that.
So can you tell us a little bitabout that journey?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I think that was one of the toughest things about
what I had to do, to kind ofpiece this thing together,
because it was the languagebarrier.
They couldn't speak English atall, period.
And yeah, we did have ainterpreter.
But it was a good thing for usthat some of our students in the
class knew how to speak Englishin Spanish, but we had a bundle
(10:16):
of them I had, at least in mysecond program course.
We had at least seven studentsthat couldn't speak no English.
Right, that was from Venezuela,right?
No, they were scattered aroundfrom different places.
Mexico, Venezuela, yeah that wasthe other challenging thing too
.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Because some of them spoke Portuguese right.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Right.
So I had to figure out waysaround that and a lot of things
that came across was handsignaling and then like breaking
off people in groups, so we canget that attention span, so we
can get that attention span.
But the crazy thing about allof that is majority of them we
did place and they did turn outpretty good.
(10:58):
Some of them completed actuallythe second course.
We got the snow plowing courseas well, yeah, that's another
thing.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
There's two courses, so there's a lawn care and
landscaping course, and thenthere's a snow removal course,
also both free, open to thepublic.
And you've had people.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
You have, you know, men and women, and you've had
disabled people also yeah, Ijust want to kind of make it
clear what's the mission andwhat's the vision behind the
program.
It's not all about making anemployee.
It's all about making ourcommunity great.
What we focus on is yes, wewant to get people in placement
(11:40):
for employment, but what we wantto is just shed the knowledge
of our industry for people touse it at their own will.
Like, it's so easy for somebodyto go out there and make a
couple bucks on their own blockwith a push more and some basic
lawn tools, but to have theexperience to actually know
(12:05):
about what they doing, it's aholy.
It's a total different ballgame absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, just like we were just talking about the
podcast, like people want tostart a podcast, that's great,
but do you actually know whatyou're doing?
Right?
You know, like, can youtroubleshoot?
If there's a problem, can youfix it?
You know, because there'snobody to fix it.
You know, like it's only you,it's only you, so you can.
I was, I was having aconversation earlier and I was
(12:30):
like you can have all the bestequipment in the world, but if
you don't know how to use it,it's worthless.
You can get a guy with a $200camera and you got a $10,000
camera.
The end product might look waybetter with his because he knows
what he's doing, he knows thesettings, he you know what I
mean he's comfortable, he's gothis own workflow.
(12:50):
You know what I'm saying.
So you know it's not, it's notall about the information, it's
actually you.
You know what I mean.
You have your ability to soakthat up to you know and to
execute.
So when we, when we're divingin to this program for those
that just joined us, we'retalking about the JYC Workforce
(13:13):
Development Gala that's comingup soon.
So just to go back a little bit, this workforce development
program serves the entirecommunity.
It's 100 percent funded byAction Jackson.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
I'd say 98.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
98, about 98%.
So that's pretty much all of itthat he, out of his own pocket,
provides free service to thecommunity and he's holding his
first annual gala February 9that his shop that's 922 South
Bird Street here in Sun Prairie,wisconsin, to support the
(13:51):
workforce development programthat is free and open to the
public.
Not only that a specialsurprise that not many know
about he has a new commercialthat's going to be debuting
during the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
There's so many good things about what's about to
happen on February 9th that Idon't even know if people are
really recognizing how big thisis to the city and what we did
to be a part of this city in thebusiness world and also into
our communities.
It's like, where I came from,this doesn't happen, never,
(14:27):
period, and I know that.
But as I was growing and I wasgoing on my, as I was going on
my journey, I kept those thingsin the back of my mind where I
came from, why I'm doing it.
So every time I got frustratedor something didn't work out,
that would smooth me out, andthat was like you know what I'm
saying, something I retreat toevery time I think of something
(14:50):
like negative or thingsbothering me.
I'm like dude you alreadypassed the unthinkable.
Why would you stop now?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Right, so kind of.
So take us through the night.
Like we said, february 9ththree o'clock.
922 South Bird Street, sunPrairie, wisconsin, jyc
Workforce Development Super BowlGala.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Take us through the night constant jyc workforce
development super bowl gala takeus through the night, so if
you're there early three o'clockyou're gonna be already
overwhelmed by the entertainmentthe arcade games, the table
games, the carnival type ofgames and the food layout and
(15:33):
how the TVs are laid out.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
So it's like an indoor tailgating.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's pretty much like a big tailgating type of gala,
but indoors and with heat.
Yeah, we got definitely heat.
We definitely got heat in thebuilding.
You ain't got to worry aboutthat.
And when you're in there, Ireally want gotta worry about
that, and when you in there, youI really want you to be there
and really just relax and be inan environment where you can say
(16:01):
you, finna, have a good timewatching.
You know, the super bowl is themost watched television show in
america every year, every year,and it's been like that.
So to have a gala on this daymeans a lot, you know, and we
bring in the city with us.
That means a lot to me.
(16:21):
So you know, coming in the door, you're gonna be hit with that,
that event type of oh my gosh,I'm just glad I got here.
You know what I'm saying,because there's gonna be so many
people that you may know.
There's going to be so manypeople you ain't going to know.
This is a gallery, this is aget-together, this is community
(16:41):
and business colliding togetherand uniting, entertaining each
other at the same time.
Absolutely, and not only that.
We're doing it for a greatcause, for a wonderful cause.
The money goes towards theclass that's going to be
starting in March.
So at the end of the day whenyou're spending your dollars
(17:05):
there.
You should be proud to spendyour dollars there.
You should be excited to spendyour dollars there because you
know your dollars is about to goto a great cause.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Absolutely so.
You actually have anotherbusiness, a print-on-demand
business.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
That'll be there and have a booth, and you guys are
going to be selling T-shirts yes, and hats Yep, and hoodies
right, yep, and tattoos Mm-hmm.
So can you tell us a little bitabout that?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So the print-on-dem man to be out there doing this
thing in support of, uh, thefull cause, and we're gonna have
a lot of local influences there, like jay rock, antoine mcneil
with the biggest comedian showthat madison ever seen black own
that's what I love the most, soyou know, having those people
there.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So Antoine McNeil is one of the hosts he owns.
Shout out to One Motion.
But yeah, shout out to him.
He actually is a really greatresource for small businesses,
black or white or whatever colorin the community.
So if that's something that youare aspiring to do is, like you
know, be an entrepreneur, startyour own business.
(18:18):
He, that chamber, that guy youknow what I mean.
He is the guy.
I would definitely give him acall and see what you know, what
kind of programs they have orwhat kind of resources that they
can hook you up with, Becausethey they do have accelerated
programs and things like thatthat that they put on geared
towards small businesses andpeople that's trying to start a
(18:39):
business.
That can help you.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You know, just FYI, vince, vince, vince.
Yeah, he the one that got me myDBE.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Actually, I'm pretty sure that falls under DEI, you
know, because it's diversity,equity, inclusion, right, so
it's like I think we've seen thewriting on the wall with that.
We was talking about that lastyear.
We're saying like, oh man, youknow, a lot of companies are
backing off of the dei becausethey don't know which
administration is going to behere.
(19:09):
If the left is in there,they'll keep it.
If the right is coming, they'regoing to obliterate it.
Right, the right got in, sothey pretty much did what we
thought that they was gonna dois obliterate it.
I don't know how I feel aboutthat just truly, just be behind
your work, man.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, I don't do what you can do.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I don't.
I don't know how I feel aboutthat because, to be honest, I've
never gotten a job based off adi.
I've never been a recipient ofthat.
You know what I'm saying.
Like that has never, played afactor in any type of work that
I've been hired for, any type ofwork that I've been considered.
They always just you knowpeople really.
(19:48):
You know I get a lot ofbusiness by word of mouth.
You know what I'm saying.
So it's like somebody tellsomebody somebody you know what
I mean.
Then they like hey, send mesome of your stuff, I send them
the stuff, they like the stuffand they want to work with me
based off of that.
But it's never been.
You know I'm cold calling oryou know I just put in an
application or something likethat.
(20:08):
Like it's never been that.
So I'm never, I'm not arecipient of the DEI and never
have been recipient of the DEIand never have been.
So it's like I it doesn'treally affect me, but I can see
how it would affect some people.
But they say the number onerecipients of DEI is white women
.
(20:28):
That's not me just saying that,that's that's from the
department of labor says thatyou know, white women are the
number one recipients of diright so it's like, even though
I have my dbe, I do have it, butit it literally has never
gotten me one dollar worth ofbusiness it brought me 100 grand
(20:49):
on one job well then, you havebeen a recipient of d I ain't
saying I didn't you know, butthe only I think.
When I got that job, though, Idon't think it had nothing to do
with that, though no, I don't.
You've been in business for avery long time.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
No, I was just going to say I don't think it had
nothing to do with that, but ithad something to do with that
because I was in the position toget the information, to receive
the notification of the job,and when we got to the job it
was a mandatory site visit andwe was the only contractor there
.
Wow, that that was like thatwas the fine print that was fine
(21:28):
.
Yeah, it's like oh, youactually have to come to the
site yeah, and I take it yeah,I'll take it so.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
So what can you tell us about the commercial?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
The commercial man.
I can't put too much news outthere.
Give us a little somethingabout the commercial.
Oh, man, you want me to spillthe beans on a commercial.
You just watch For all mypeople.
That's in the vicinity of FoxBroadcast.
You'll see it on February 9th.
We got two hot commercialscoming out and it's going to be
(22:02):
live, man, it's going to be mein there, it's going to be my
fiance in there and it's goingto be yours truly, giovanni
Jackson.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
So how can people get tickets to support the gala?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You can go right on our website.
Or can they get tickets the dayof?
Yeah, but it's gonna cost youmore.
It costs, okay.
So what is the price?
It's only twenty dollars to getin twenty dollars, it's only
twenty dollars.
And so is there food.
Yes, food, there's food.
That just gets you entry.
That just gets you entry.
Okay, yeah, okay, yeah, becauseit's a fundraiser.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It's a fundraiser.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
We're trying to raise funds man, we can't make no
money off of $20.
But when you get in there youknow everything is a fundraiser.
So we look for you to come inthere with your pockets open a
little bit Because at the end ofthe day, we got some truly
(22:59):
behind the scenes of that galathat we're trying to raise funds
for.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
So the main thing is come in and enjoy and knowing
that your dollars is going tothe right place.
No small kids allowed.
No small kids.
And if you're worried aboutwhat you should wear to a super
bowl gala, come in your regularjeans and buy some sweaters and
t-shirts and then you can fitright on in absolutely well
(23:29):
action.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
We really appreciate you stopping by.
Thank you, I appreciate youabsolutely.
I'm d star until next time,guys.
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