GreyCast: Black Professionals Network Mini-Series Intro

Welcome back to season two of Greysteel's GreyCast podcast. In this podcast, Mike introduced a new group in Greysteel which is the Greysteel Black Professional Network or GBPN. Mike introduced the people who are leading the group. First is TC Cosby who leads the structured finance group of Greysteel. Next, is Nigel Crayton, who works on the mid-Atlantic Multifamily team and is also the director of Greysteel. Lastly, Aaron Inman works on the Baltimore Multifamily and is also a Senior Investment Associate.

In the episode, They will be talking about the leaders of GBPN and share their background and also how they've come with Greysteel. They will also discuss the challenges and barriers they've come across and how to overcome them. They also talked about the core plan of the GPBN and what things they look into in the future.

Key Takeaways

Getting to know our guests and how they got to Greysteel
Our guest explains the group's charter and plans
Taking on the challenges and obstacles they've faced
Understanding how to form genuine connections, overcome obstacles, and appreciate the journey
The recruitment strategy, ideas, and plans

Quotes

Coming inside Greysteel, I was instantly approached by Nigel, TC, and Roman. - Aaron

I appreciated the growth of innovativeness, as well as the community of wonderful people we have here, which I believe distinguishes us from many other places I've seen, had, or experienced in the past. - Nigel

I've had a lot of wonderful years and a lot of bad years, especially in the beginning. There's no better motivator than being unable to pay your rent or credit card bills. - Mike

I think the one huge deliverable we're thrilled to achieve is if we can assist some of these groups to develop as our clients. - TC

Featured in this Episode

Mike Hehir
Vice President at Greysteel
https://greysteel.com/team/mike-hehir/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikehehir/

TC Cosby
Director at The Greysteel Company, Structured Finance
https://greysteel.com/team/tc-cosby/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tc-cosby-90b7485/

Nigel Crayton
Director at Greysteel, Mid-Atlantic Multifamily
https://greysteel.com/team/nigel-crayton/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelcrayton/

Aaron Inman
Senior Investment Associate at Greysteel, Baltimore Multifamily
https://greysteel.com/team/aaron-inman/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-inman-9596a911a/

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:12 Meet our guests
03:32 How Aaron started
05:29 Plans for the future
08:11 Barriers and challenges
10:49 Nigel shares the knowledge he learned from his previous company
17:02 TC's reason for coming to Greysteel
19:26 It's more than business and appreciating the journey
25:32 Overcoming challenges
31:29 Plans, ideas, and methods for recruitment
37:59 Takeaways from TC

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
These podcasts are presented by gray Stealand Gray Steal's Black Professional Network. Gray
Steel is a national commercial brokerage withtwelve offices across the country and delivered as
our clients and integrated suite of capitalsolutions tailored to the unique needs of each
engagement across asset types and geographies.Gray Steel provides investment sales, capital markets,
and JB equity solutions for our clients. These series of podcasts are hosted

(00:27):
and moderated by the leaders of theGray Steal Black Professional Network. The GDPN
was founded to help deliver and driveretention internally and accelerate the hiring externally of
diverse talent as we believe that thereare more representative culture can drive impact and
real business results. Each guest interviewedas an industry leader and trailblazer, and

(00:48):
we hope that their stories can helpinform and drive impact, impactful greater representation
in our industry. Your host willbe Aaron Edman, co founder of the
GDPN and spearheads our investment sales businessin Baltimore and surrounding metros. Also Nigel
Creighton, co founder GPPN and asenior team leader of the DC and mid

(01:10):
Atlantic Investment sales business and TC Cosgy, co founder of GBPN and leader of
the National Structured Finance Business. Hey, everyone, welcome back to season two
of Grace Deal's Gray Cast. We'regoing to run a new format this year
and so we're gonna have series withinthe Gray Cast universe. Our first series

(01:32):
that we're going to run I'm reallyexcited about. It's the grayce Deal Black
Professionals Network. This is a relativelynew group. It's led by by three
of our panelists here today and I'llintroduce them here in a minute. Beyond
that, we're gonna we're also gonnarun We're gonna have a women in Leadership
series. We are going to havean education series which talks about where we

(01:55):
recruit from and we'll have kind ofsome of our key recruiting partners to talk
with. And then and lastly,we will have a broker a broker series
as well. So, uh now, for for the first episode of the
Gray Steal Black Professional Network series GBPN, as as we say for acronym,
please welcome TC cosby Nigel Creighton andAaron Edman. Hey, guys, how

(02:20):
you guys do it? I'm feelinggreat, great, great now, thank
you guys for joining. I knowwe've been talking about doing this for for
a few months now, and I'mexcited that we're finally kind of to take
the reins off and we're going soum TC So. TC Cosby leads our
our structured finance group here at GraySteel. He's been in the industry for

(02:44):
uh for a couple of decades now. He uh you know, he has
done institutional sales, covered multi billiondollar institutional clients uh GSS, hedge funds,
money managers, he has h hehas key relationships throughout the industry and
is a integral part of Gray Seal'steam. And and the structured finance group

(03:07):
here has is growing exponentially and it'sreally all all due to TC. So
uh TC, it's good to haveyou. Um you know. Nigel works
on the mid Atlantic multi family teamuh recently promoted again to director. He
uh he runs a very very fullbusiness, has a has a great pipeline

(03:30):
of investment sales multi family deals throughoutthe DC area and he's he's one of
our of our great and growing leadersand we're happy to have him as well.
Aaron Edman has been with us atGray seal a little over a year
and he has been a rocket ship. So one of the best people I've
ever met in terms of building relationships. He's just he's natural. He can

(03:53):
speak to to everybody at their level. It feels like he's he's just he's
first one in, last one outof the office. And UH and his
and his trajectory and the types ofdeals, the complexity of the deals he's
working on continue to grow and escalate, and he's he's one of our our
our you know, bright future leadersas well. So welcome, Welcome guys,

(04:15):
And it's great to have that Rookieof the year that Mike too,
Rookie of the Year. Yes,yes, so I'm self prom playing that
for Aaron. Yeah. So um. So welcome guys, and you know,
kind of enough for me. Let'shear a little bit about about you
the GBPN, how you guys cameto start it, how you came to

(04:39):
Gray steal really just kind of giveus, give us some good openings.
So I actually uh came to Graysteal Um almost sort of through UH means
that you know, I would say, is uh birth the idea for GP
for for GBPN, and that uhI actually reached out directly to Nigel uh

(05:00):
be a LinkedIn UM as I knewhim as someone that was that was a
Courci real estate broker in the area. Uh, you know, and was
also black and you know, veryclose to my age. UM, so
you know, reached out to himwhile I was interviewing at at a number
of firms, and uh in thematch with the team and the company was

(05:23):
just you know, one point fromthe first interview all the way through the
interview process or maybe set very easy, uh, and then coming into Gray
Steel, was very most immediately uhengaged by Nigel tc um Roman you know
the other uh a number of otherblack rubs at the crew. Uh,

(05:46):
and just thought it would be coolif you know, there was some sort
of actual network or concerned effort aroundnot only driving uh African American talent to
the firm, but there also uhharnessing that um you know and being able
to grow from from the business anduh animal wealcreas oppersities for black others as

(06:09):
well. Great. Yeah, Imean in a short amount of time,
you guys have come up with acharter emission. Uh you have, I
know, we went out to LinkedInwith with our latest edition of Gray Steel's
advisor showcasing you, guys, whatis really tell us about the charter of

(06:30):
of the network of the group andand what your what your plans are for
the future. Honestly, we're justlooking to grow representation both internally and externally.
UM. The Errand kind of highlighteda point where a lot of times
you feel, UM, if youhave similarities with somebody, you want to

(06:54):
get to, you want to workwith them, and it seems more welcoming
to enter industry or into a business. So I think some of the goals
internally is just representation. UM.Part of that is just kind of having
the numbers match each other. Sonumbers being uh, numbers of black and

(07:14):
brown investment and sales associates kind ofa matchup with the population of black and
browns throughout the United States. UM. I mean, I'd say this having
a broad talent pool, having abroad kind of diversity pool. I mean
it it really just it helps companiesgrow. That way, you're getting new

(07:35):
ideas, better ideas, more innovativeideas. UM. And then you're also
servicing the representation and companies UM thatyou're that you're working with. So UM
internally we're obviously we're a monetized group, UM, so we're helping to kind
of grow and captured additional revenue byworking with clients and helping to further relationship

(08:01):
with clients that UM that we thinkwe have the potential to really help.
And then also just kind of makea pathway for people that don't know that
this is an opportunity for them toget in and also learn. So those
are kind of the two things thatI see internally and externally it's kind of
that same goal. It's really justto open this up. Right. If

(08:22):
we can help broaden the university poolthroughout the commercial real estate industry, I
think that's a great win. UM. I think it not only will help
our businesses, it also will helpthe businesses that we support, the businesses
that we help UM and really kindof help ownership throughout the communities. Yes,
so, I mean, you know, you guys, obviously you here,

(08:46):
you're successful, you're you're increasing yoursuccess, but there were there were
challenges to get here, and that'sand that's some of what you're trying to
solve for in you know, outthere and you know, attracting good talent
to the organization. What I meanmaybe speak to some of the challenges that
that you guys have had, someof the some of the barriers that that

(09:09):
have made it harder to get tothis point. I mean, you're here,
You've obviously been successful in overcoming whateverbarriers you've you've come across, but
you know what, what what issome of that you know? Yeah,
I mean i'd say, uh,the first initial barriers for you know,
not only uh, not only beingblack and being commercial real estate just in

(09:35):
general. As you know obviously,I think the three of us all came
into the industry without uh, youknow, any sort of understanding uh of
you know, that this business evenexisted. I know, for a fact,
even for me through college, Ihad no idea what commercial state was
until my brother uh and I wereyou know, SEP me thinking about career

(09:56):
paths Apple School and U when welook through the alumni books at our school,
Uh you know, but like nineout of let's say ten of the
highest you know donors or highest runningalumni for the university of all the commercial
estate were like, maybe there's somethingthat we should consider. Um and I
actually mentioned in the business article wasa very sort of like telling experience was

(10:20):
when I came to Gray Steel andI was speaking to one of my white
colleagues. Uh, I was justcurious, I look at how many people
did you know commercialist there? Howmany commercials they grew? Was did you
know before actually getting the industry?And he said, you know, basically
everybody who I knew I was inreal estate, more real estate where it
was the obviousite experience for me,where you know, maybe my cousin's boyfriend's

(10:43):
step brother was a realtor, uh, you know, or something of that
sort. You know, maybe somebodyin the company who's a handyman that flipped
it into like doing kids in thebathrooms. But for the most part,
Uh, this entire industry is likethe scorns. I mean that's an initial
uh uphill bad learning the mad uhbeing familiar with the industry and how beings
working and such. So I meanyou are and then also coming into an

(11:09):
industry that obviously not dominated by peoplethat look like that, look like you,
uh, while being in America alwaysmakes it in the dismal challenge.
Um. But just like anybody cominginto the industry, I think from learning
all the mechanics extremely hard, pairedwith with being a minority. Nigel,

(11:33):
you you came from another another investmentsales shop before, and you were you
know, you had a good businessand and you've been able to to you
know, leverage that and grow ithere. I mean, what are some
of the the I guess the similaritiesand probably more importantly, points of difference
in coming over here from there?Um. I mean, I think the

(11:56):
similarities is the growth and commercial rails. Other than that, I don't think
there's a large amount similarities between theold firm and what we're doing here.
I'd say from just a leadership standpoint, a big reason why I kind of
made the transition is just you lookat the top, I mean, already

(12:16):
throws a body. There's there's notmany firms like ours that had someone kind
of charter unchartered territory by starting somethingthat is kind of I'm a minority,
so going here, I just kindof knew from the beginning that a lot
of the mentorship, a lot ofthe struggles that off of minority's face and
don't know where to look to theircolleagues. And again there's nothing's wrong with

(12:37):
it, but you don't necessarily knowhow to support or help if you've never
gone through the experience, I kindof knew I'd be able to get that
here. So I really think thatwas kind of one of the major pulling
pieces to me to a firm likeGrace Deal is just kind of knowing that
a lot of my experiences, alot of the questions, a lot of

(12:58):
the not issues, but some ofthe kind of the roadblocks, UM,
I'd be able to not only gethelp on you got ins on, but
kind of have a path forward UMand have someone to kind of look at
and watch and and learn from.UM. So that was kind of one
of the main big pieces for me. UM, was that more of the

(13:20):
question like that you were kind oflooking for, ask was it more so
about that? Or it's it's broad, it's it's however you want to take
it. Is it? You know? It can be it can be issues.
It can be issues. It canbe it can be you know,
the ability to to just to todo more here. It can be it
can be specific to to the GBPAN, it can be just businesses in general.

(13:41):
However you guys want to take itis good with me, you know.
Um. Yeah, I mean Ithink from a from a more micro
kind of granular um standpoint, Imean we're a little bit more of a
newer company. So with with neweryou, it's not like a text turtle
by any means, right, Butbut we're we're a group that we're innovative.
We're looking for ways to improve theclients not only experience, but improve

(14:07):
their end of the day. Howmuch money that we can make them in
regards to proceeds or regards to interestrates or relationships or connections that potentially other
firms cannot. I think because wehave the kind of that smaller mentality,
I think we're a little bit hungrierto some of these other shops because we
know there's only one hundreds of uswhere these other places are five to ten

(14:31):
thousand people, that there's really roomfor growth and room to kind of really
take this off, right. Imean we're still only ten years in,
so it's really exciting to be apart of something that that you know is
going to be successful based off ofthe quality of people that were hiring.
And I think kind of GB Pianistis really a highlight of that, because

(14:54):
again, this was not some companyinitiative that they started or or or told
us to start. This was kindof from within this was Aaron tc Roman
myself as some other guys and girlson the platform. I thought this was
important, um and that we shoulddo this. And not only was it
welcomed, it was embraced. Itwas it was it was promoted, it

(15:15):
was helped, it was nurture.I mean. So these are all things
that again I think working in anotheranother firm or another place, you would
not have that same activity or abilityto do so. Um So just really
just the growth of her the umuh, the innovativeness, and also just
the community of good people we havehere I think separates us from a lot

(15:35):
of places that I've seen or experiencein my past. Yeah, I would
tell you like, you know,I talked to you know, for for
the audience, I talked to Nigel. We talked every couple of months,
you know, Aaron I talked everymonth, and the tc You know,
we gotta end up just you know, hanging out together whenever, whenever we're
around. But um, for Nigeland Aaron, you know, specifically,

(16:00):
just because of how much we speak, you guys have a work ethic and
an ability that I think is rare. It reminds me and my dad came
from from Ireland. He was justthis hard working guy, had three jobs,
you know, he drove a bus, drove another bus, and he
was a super in a building.And he had this kind of old school
mentality of just of just work yourselfto success. And uh and that's,

(16:23):
you know, kind of that's alwaysstuck with me. And when I see
both of you, two in particular, more so than really almost anybody on
the platform, I just I justsee this intense work ethic. And I'll
give you a little little you know, Aaron, I just know because you're
turning the lights on and off everyday. And I hear it in in
DC, in Baltimore, you know, and Nigel. You know, an

(16:47):
anecdote with Nigel's just when we talked, I said, you know, you
really need a junior. You haveso much pipeline, you know, No,
I still need to prove myself.I need to get I need to
get more in. I need toget it done. And it's just like
you don't hear that everybody wants tostack and go and run fast. You
guys wanted to have good quality inyour business and you want to keep achieving
and taking on more and more.I just think you guys are. You

(17:10):
know, what you take into yourbusiness is so it's so strong in terms
of your you know, the wayyou guys go after your business. So
it was it was clear that this, the fact that you guys started this
and led this, that it wasgoing to be a successful effort. And
and it's shown, I mean justin a very short amount of time.
It feel as though you've gotten moretraction with this organization than than you know,

(17:37):
than others have with other with otherattempts. So just kudos to that.
And then not to short change TC, it's because we can't see him
on the screen. I'm not I'mnot talking about him as much. But
TC, you and I we startedaround the same time here, you know,
we predate these these other guys.I mean, what was your reason
for coming on to Great steal Andand and starting up our struct your finance

(18:00):
department? Sure? Thanks Mike bythe way, happy belated birthday, Thank
you. Um you know, Ithink I think Aaron and I related.
Oh well, um, Gray Steelis it's it's it's run and um it
has led enthusiastically but also in adifferentiative way by by a CEO like Ari.

(18:25):
I think that stands out right,It all starts from the top.
Leadership funnels down and so you know, coming from my original background being much
more on the institutional side of theworld and speaking to representation, that was
a major problem in that world,in that industry as well. And so
when you're looking at how to youknow, try to continue to creep up,
try to be so a creative toyour own business. Um, you

(18:47):
know, like not Nigel and Aaronhave been in theirs. Very few other
platforms would provide the trajectory and theability to see that sort of growth.
Um, So, you know,that was one of the biggest things that
drew me here. It was theleadership, the ability to kind of attack
a new business line with an entrepreneurialspirit and a culture that would foster something

(19:08):
like this that we're trying to rollout, and that was so receptive.
The company was so receptive too.So I think all those things, when
you put them all together, Ithink that's the biggest, the biggest driver
for me. And then again,you know, I think you know,
professionals like you, Mike and KyleTagney and others and Doug bandergy, people
that have really leaned into this effort. So true leadership. Even within the

(19:30):
business lines. M Daniel Hartnett,Guys like that that are asking us constantly
how they could help, how theycan be more informed, how they could
be more thoughtful of round one attackingrevenue right, because we still want to
drive revenue for this business. Thisisn't just let's fill seats and hope we
check a box on numbers. Wewant to drive value and revenue to the

(19:51):
platform. And so then we couldall make better and more informed and thoughtful
decisions for our clients. And sothat's the other, you know, kind
of upshot of this. You know, we believe that more representation equals better
outcomes. So all that being said, um, you know those are those
are some of the big tenants ofwhat drew me here, will keep me
here, and why I'm energized ashe dudes like Nigel and Arran Creshman.

(20:12):
Yeah, yeah, I'll tell you. From from the corporate side, I
was excited about this from the start. I was like, all right,
so so you're gonna you're gonna delivercandidates, you know, qualified candidates to
come in and and and help usgrow. That's you know, it's like
a no brainer for from the corporateside, So you know, I appreciate
that. Yeah, now, AndI don't know what TC said. Again,

(20:34):
this is by no means, thisis not a Philli scetes. This
is not a we just want tohave statistics. We want to have quality,
high character girls and guys um thatjust start looking for an opportunity and
then don't know where to look right. And again, this isn't started by
folks on our HR department. It'sjust started by us. And our hope

(20:56):
is that because we are doing businessat a high level and we're continue to
grow UM and grow relationships, grownetworks, grow um just deal size and
volume, that it will be attractivefor folks to kind of kind of come
work with us. Again, we'rebrokers, so we're paid not salary.

(21:18):
We're paid most of the times allcommission. So this is not something that
we're just looking just to check abox. We're looking for those right individuals
who we know will help drive notonly gray Steal, not only our revenue,
but also grow the Gray Steel Blackprofessional network. That's that's super important
to us. And again it's it'sit's it's not how you start us,

(21:40):
how you finish And if we canopen up a couple of doors and opportunities
for people that didn't know where toget started. I think that is going
to be some of the most umcherishable things that I remember in my business,
not just the commission checks or thesales that I've done. It's going
to be really hopefully helping to openup the industry to a historically underserved community.

(22:04):
Yeah, that's that's great. Imean, you know, it's I've
talked to Aaron. I had along conversation a few weeks ago, and
so much of what you said mademe think. It's like when I grew
up, I didn't know anybody incommercial real estate, you know, I
just I just didn't you know,everybody I knew it was, you know,

(22:26):
kind of blue collar people in NewYork, right in suburbs. So
this I found on my own,and what I found was it was a
really high barrier to entry. Iyou know, it took on a ton
of debt, went to school todo a change, and then and then
I had to go not make moneyfor a year while I started this.
And so you know, one ofmy comments really more I guess income driven,

(22:51):
but there's so many I think communicationor knowledge and learning what's here and
how good it can be, especiallywhen you're in the right in the right
platform. But then it's it's it'show do we how do we reduce the
barriers? Right like that that yearmost people can't survive that year without making
money, right, so how dowe how do we make that work?

(23:11):
And I know I can tell youon the corporate side, you know,
we're talking through fellowship program and howto make how to make that accessible?
How to make this accessible to youknow too, good quality candidates that that
just couldn't otherwise afford it. That'syou know that that sticks with me is

(23:32):
like how do we how do weopen that? How do we keep that
open? How do we make peopleyou know, how do they how do
they live while they're while they're buildingtheir business? Because that's what it is,
right, It's it's entrepreneurial. It'sit's business building. You're you're building
your own business here, it's abusiness within a business. Yeah, I
think that's that's kind of like atougher, tougher question because I think,

(23:53):
uh, you know, we're allwe've all worked in sales. I mean,
one of our favorite movies is probablylike the pursuing happiness where you know,
he's banging out phone calls, doingsales meetings. You know, we're
basically went in his pockets for youknow months. Uh and then you know,
finally gets this big, big breakthrough, books a bunch of accounts,

(24:15):
you know, and then gets promotedand uh. You know, while I
think as entrepreneurs, we're all sortof understand the concept of delayed gratification and
so we have come to appreciate,uh sort of like have like a love
for it. And I think partof that for young entrepreneur were coming into

(24:37):
into the commercial estate business is youhave to get comfortable with that delayed gratification
that I think only happens through youknow, experiencing it and going through a
struggle. Yeah. Look, Ithink to your point, that's that's right.
There is there is this balance rightwith with any broker that you come
in and if you give them toomuch. We see this with juniors where

(25:00):
you have a really really kind seniorleader that will give them salary or drama
you know, on their out oftheir own pocket, and the junior can
not be quite as motivated. Youknow, where the slowdown is there because
they get a check every couple ofweeks, and there is no at least
I can speak for myself. I'veI've had I've had good runs and I

(25:22):
had very lean years, especially inthe beginning. And it's there's no better
motivator than than not being able topay your rent or your credit card or
you know, hungred dollars run faster, Mike. Yes, that's exactly what
it is, you guy. Itis tough, right, It's it's how
do we make it more inclusive?And obviously not being able to pay rent

(25:45):
or not being able to pay abill for nine months to twelve months is
super tough, right, But ifin the in the at the very minimum,
if we can just be like asounding board, if we can arride
someone guide, if we can givethem information from an experience or from a

(26:06):
similar background of them, my hopeis that we can kind of can help
expedite that person's success. Right atthe end of the day, it's all
it's all self driven, right,Like I always tell everybody that I know
that I'm the most competitive person ofall time, right, Like I hate
to lose anything. If it's rock, paper scissors, if it's fun,
up my water bottle, if it'sright in my name, Like I'm just

(26:27):
super competitive. So again, ourbusiness is super competitive, which is good.
But again, if we can justhelp someone just like lessen the playing
not less than the playing field,but help bridge that gap a little bit.
If we hire someone that's in debtand structure finance and TC, he
happens to be a minority and wehave TC costs, be like that is

(26:47):
we can't figure out a better personfor someone to learn from that looks like
them, it had experienced similar backgroundof them, their level of success or
chances of success are going to goup two x three x, Right,
it's a pro ability game and that'sreally like what we're looking to grow.
Like one of the four pillars ofour of our network is education, and
the hope is that education can kindof help lead to our fourth one,

(27:11):
which is career development. Right,So I think that it's kind of a
two Toronto approach. Um, Yes, that draw and level of the true
is tough, but if we canat least just help someone lesson that twenty
four months told Aaron to six monthsor four months or three months, then
again that's going to be a higherlevel for success for everybody. And and

(27:32):
help not only drive people here,but driver tention as well, which is
very very important for for And I'dsay the flip side one of that is,
I mean I have other friends thatare in you know, in the
industry as well, and I've seenh more oftentimes than not. You know,

(27:52):
whether you are or not given adraw has more to do with the
resource that you're provided. You knowwhether you are or are not on the
draw U. And also, Imean the difference between call it gray steel
or you know what we're building atthis platform and you know what people have
somewhere else is uh. I thinkmy first two weeks of the company,

(28:14):
I'd already had two conversations with Harduh and you know, was able to
meet with you know Kyle, likethe senior manager director in our team call
it like, you know, fourto five times and have a daily conversation
you know her, uh in myfirst fourteen days. So cutting down on
that UH. When I guess thosegrowing pains early on the business happened so

(28:38):
fast and I was immediately you know, put into the game. Well,
I think you guys, you knowyou speak to education. I think this
this format for you guys this season. I think is a great start.
You know, there'll be a lotless to me and a lot more of
you guys. And and I believethat the format we're going to be,

(29:00):
you're going to be interviewing you know, folks that you guys know that are
going to come and join the conversation, right and and we'll do it monthly.
So I mean, really, anybodylistening, this is such a good
This is such a good start toget an education from from not just you
guys, and not just inside agrace deal. But but you're gonna be
able to provide a broader perspective throughthrough this medium. So I'm excited to

(29:23):
see, you know, see howthe series shapes up. It's going to
be. It's gonna be great.It's just you know, we need a
marketing and get it in the righthands of of people that are interested.
You know, what's what's some ofI know it's early, but you guys
have done some initial work, right, you have initial partnership any anybody,
What are you doing so far onthe education standpoint, um, you know

(29:48):
it's kind of or on the recruitingstandpoint, I know again it's early,
but what are the plans? Whatare the early plans. Who are the
partners Yeah, um, from apartnership perspective, or I guess, you
know, in terms of people thateven working with fortunately more so capital providers
and also working with what I callit at least what I see in my

(30:10):
submarket and probably very similar to Nigel, is there's a a portion of owners
that are in called like the onemillion to five million dollars space. Uh
you know that are black owners thatare typically having problems uh finding scale,
you know, because typically these ownersare you know, bootstrapping or or multigenerational

(30:34):
owners, and in fact, theirentire worth it uh you know, networth
it is stored into these assets.And I think, you know, being
able to find ways to leverage thebusiness to get into that larger middle market
space is what we want to do. And you know, doing that through
access to capital, uh, youknow, finding increased access to capital through

(30:55):
banks and so others. I'd saythis for for my in I think recruitment
wise, I mean there's the obviousones. We're in DC Howard University,
UM where I was born. Mymom went there. Uh, Aaron has
a lot of connections there. I'msure TC does as well. I mean
that's that's that's just not an easyone, but that's just natural progression.
HBCUs. You know on Baltimore there'sa number as well, so HBCU student

(31:19):
organizations. UM. I think anotherplace that I would like to recruit from
as well or just reach out tois athletic teams. Um. A lot
of the brokers in the firm ora lot of the brokers are you know
what it's called. I mean TCplayed football at Penn State, not the
tutors horn. Maryland's a better footballteam, but yeah, we got a

(31:45):
Aaron was a Division one baseball player. UM, and I think myself,
I was eight inches taller, i'dprobably be playing in the NBA, but
uh, that didn't work out forme too well. But joking aside,
I think that's another place I thinkwould would be great. And obviously a
lot of the divisional and Division twoathletes Division three included, a lot of

(32:06):
them are minorities. So I thinkit's been another great place to kind of
look at athleticwise. So I thinkthe Basis and CRUXI, they starts at
recruitment, so just being intentional aboutthat is going to be huge. The
organizations, the Listers if we meeton that, just the connections, all
that will be kind of help,will all help getting additional applicants in the

(32:29):
door and know this is an opportunity. And then just from an education standpoint,
no Air was kind of talking aboutbridging the gap. I mean,
I think brokers for a lot ofways are kind of like an encyclopedia of
their individual markets, just because wetypically know who the players are, meaning
title attorneys, real estate attorneys,appraisers, contractors, et cetera, et

(32:57):
cetera. So if we can reallybe that bridge or connection between someone looking
for something, I think we canreally help them kind of grow their business
as well. Right, a lotof what we do is knowing where the
hot money is or knowing who hasa loan product that might fit the particular
person's need or business plan. Tobe able to introduce them to that will

(33:17):
be huge. And just knowing kindof the active organizations, Like there's an
RA called Lisk which is a greatkind of cap provider for minorities. So
just introducing people like that to Dougwho runs that shop will be huge and
kind of help them get into thedoor and help them fund the projects that

(33:38):
potentially they can like an financing forwardbefore. So it's really just a month
a multi prong approach. But Ithink just kind of using our resources and
using kind of our networks is therereally the first place to kind of help
grow this. So I mean youend up with knowing the local community of

(33:58):
kind of who can get what done, and that helps everybody move forward.
You've got you know, it alsohelps with the collective with with recruitment,
right, You've you've got people thatknow people that you know could could potentially
come in the door here and ifnot here, maybe maybe one of those
other partners doors and then you andthen and then really broadly you guys um

(34:22):
can speak with others and figure outthe education piece and how to and how
how and where the best position thatfrom for maximum effectiveness. That's pretty incredible.
I mean, it's I think it'sexciting, and you know, I'm
glad to be kind of sitting herein the cheap seats why watching and and

(34:43):
really great stuff any anything else,uh TC. I know you'll have some
relationships on this season, um,you know, any kind of parting words
for for for us as kind ofI'm older, but I want to call
you the old dog in the room. I'm older. Those football years aged
me a little bit quicker, butno, I think I think these young

(35:07):
studs have done it well. Ithink this speaks to the platform, that
speaks to what we're trying to accomplish. I think one thing that kind of
encapsulates it all is that last pointthat Aaron and Nigel both laid out.
Well, Right, we're trying todrive more retention, more representation, but
also the business result of this ishelping black and brown operators, developers,

(35:31):
owners, scale business. And sothat's a bit of a the charge of
what I do in my business.And so if we can leverage boots on
the ground, exceptional market knowledge thatAaron and Nigel have, and other professionals
on the network, and then webuild out a strategy around helping them grow.
I think that we're all better servedby, you know, having owners

(35:54):
and operators that live in the communitiesand own in those communities deliver better results
to their tenants and their or allof us, right, and so if
we can help some of these groupsgrow, you know, as our clients,
I think that's one big deliverable we'rereally excited to to do. So
by helping groups you know, eitherinstitutionalize their business more like a lot of
the points Aaron was laying out,finding access to capital, like Nigel was

(36:16):
discussing, those things are game changersfor people, and I think they'll be
game changers for community. And sowhat that net does is grow all of
our pie, right, and soyou know, we just feel very supported,
We feel very lucky to be here, but we also know there's a
lot of work ahead and we're diligentlylooking forward to doing it. Very cool,
very cool. Well, guys,this has been a great introduction.

(36:39):
It's it's to me, this isis people meeting you guys for the first
time and knowing that there's more tocome and that your partners will be on
here to talk and share. Sothank you so much, and everyone welcome,
and I'm excited to roll out therest of season. Season two's great

(37:00):
cast. So thank you all andwe're talking again soon.