Keeping Creative Integrity in Business Discussing LaRussell & Pinky Cole

ShySpeaks [: 00:00:00

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another fire episode of the Mind in my creative business podcast. That is the Minding My Creative Business podcast, the number one podcast for creative entrepreneurs to gain strategy, structure and self development all in one place. I am your host, Shot Speaks.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:00:19

And I am your host, Ron, ironically. And we have a great episode for you today. Right. We're going to approach this a little different. Well, we somewhat did something similar before. Right. But yeah, this is once again, we're season three.

ShySpeaks [: 00:00:32

Season three.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:00:33

So we wanted to do another case study episode, right. Where we're sharing with you all two creative entrepreneurs that have, you know, done some things in the creative space successfully. Of course. Right. But the topic that we want to address is creativity versus commerce.

ShySpeaks [: 00:00:54

Commerce versus creativity.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:00:56

Right. How can you sell out without selling out?

ShySpeaks [: 00:01:02

He said, how can you sell out without selling out? I love it. I love it. Okay. So I know that that's important because a lot of creatives, we're talking about creative entrepreneurship. And if they're getting started or have already started and it's time for them to shift their pricing model or add another product line, they struggle with it because they feel like if I keep focusing on the business so much, it's going to take me away from the creativity and if it takes me away from the creativity, then it's not going to be authentic and it's not going to be. And they start coming up with all these different things because ultimately what's happening is there, there's, there's, there's a versus for them and that's creativity versus commerce.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:01:41

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:01:42

And so what we believe is that there is a way to actually sell out of the product that you have or the service that you're offering or the event ticket sequence seats that you're have on display. There's a way to sell out and be fully into commerce without compromising creativity. And we want to introduce you to two people who, who, like the last time we did this, we introduced you to two people. Those two people were late. Right. They had already transitioned. We introduced you guys to Steve Jobs and Walt Disney as creative entrepreneurs.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:02:15

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:02:16

I know you just know them as names, but they are creatives entrepreneurs. Okay. But this time we have two contemporaries. Ron.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:02:24

Correct. So we want to introduce you to the Russell. Right. If anybody knows he is an independent recording artist in the state of California from Oakland, California, Big Zach. And then we have Pinky Cole, the owner and operator of Slutty Vegan, which is a restaurant. The restaurant started off in Atlanta and whatnot. But we'll get off into that right now.

ShySpeaks [: 00:02:44

Let's be clear. Pinky Cole and LaRussell, we would love to have you right here on the mind and my creative business podcast. If you know them, tag them. But in the meantime, in between time when we bring them on here, we're going to unpack so much behind the brand, but we want to just talk about how they have maintained creativity without compromising commerce, how they've leaned into commerce without compromising. You see? And I think that there are two perfect creatives from two different industries, the American restaurant tier and American label creative agency event curator owner that La Russell is, right? So two totally different creatives.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:03:24

So let's, let's, let's, let's, let's dive in. Let's dive in. So like you were mentioning earlier, right, that whole versus thing where it's like, okay, I want to be authentically me without having to sell my soul or sell out to, to, to make Palmers, but understanding the importance of I need to make money. Right? But I don't want to do that. So when I think about LaRussell, right, he's definitely one of those people where I've seen that take place. Right, right. Where he's screaming independent independence. Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:03:54

And anybody know when somebody's saying they're independent, they're not saying that they're doing everything themselves. They don't have any help, any support. What they're saying is they're working independent from a record label, where the record label is signing them to a deal or contract, right? And yeah, the label is doing, you know, the things and giving you a percentage and you gotta recoup and all these other things, you know? Yeah. He's saying that I've done this on my own where I don't have that support, though I do have support. But he's do. He's been able to do that and keep the integrity of what he's done. So if anybody knows him and you can once again look him up, he kind of got, he, he got his. He had his viral moment during the pandemic, right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:04:39

He was, he was doing his thing out of Oakland. He saw an opportunity to do these concerts in his backyard. Right. So he, he started doing concerts in his backyard, growing his fan base like that, posting it online, videos, going viral. So now it's not just limited to Oakland.

ShySpeaks [: 00:04:58

Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:04:59

But they started there, right? Right. He was able to start locally because of the Internet. Then he was able to get some national, now international notoriety from that.

ShySpeaks [: 00:05:10

Wow. He started at home for real. Most people we Bring on a podcast, they'll tell you, especially if they have a product that they were moving. They may have started in their home and eventually they went on to something else. But he literally started at home and open, but literally at home. Like he had this thing on the backyard called the pergola, right. And so he would be rapping and he made sure that he had videographers that came and they captured him rapping and doing a concert. And it's not like this, no packed out stateroom, but it's like it looks full because it's a smaller backyard and it's full of people.

ShySpeaks [: 00:05:45

But he was rapping in his own way. He wasn't trying to rap. Like what the current trends are. That's creativity, right? Kind of acting like you not from Atlanta, you don't need auto tune. He was rapping his regular voice and his regular style, his own lyrical banter. And it was conscious, so to speak. And so ultimately, yeah, he was able to like start at home and keep the creativity because he was doing it at home. He is independent, as you would say.

ShySpeaks [: 00:06:13

Independent as in no major distribution because you have independent filmmakers, you have independent everything or a creative space. Right. Where you don't have a major handling all your business, you're handling your business yourself. And because you're handling your business yourself and you're not answering to the major, you have the ability to decide how, how things are going to go. The major may decide to put you on the road with somebody and it's going to cost you a certain amount of money. But he says, I don't have to go on the road. I can do it right here. And I'm a record and I'm a feminine.

ShySpeaks [: 00:06:41

I'm going to put it online. Videos, videos, videos, videos, videos. And he fed social media so much that social media fed it to us. And that's how Ron, who lives in Detroit and me, who live in Dallas, we both seen Larussa. Right?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:06:54

Exactly.

ShySpeaks [: 00:06:54

And he did it his own creative way. And then the commerce is popping because guess what? If there is somebody who's like Ron, who lives in Detroit, but who's a event planner and a promoter, they could have booked him. I live in Dallas, I'm an event curator. I will probably book him, you know what I'm saying? So that's what I'm saying, how his creativity and doing it his way transition into possibly more money.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:07:20

So, yeah, and even that, like if he was a part of a label, they probably would encourage him not to do it in your backyard. Not to do it at your house. We need to go to these other things. But in doing it in his backyard, there was a, there was a genuineness, authentic, you know what I'm saying? There was this quaint. There was, there was something about him once again that developed that know, like and trust. And even in his music, if you listen to his music is very. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm showing you who I am right through my music. And people gravitated towards that.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:07:52

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:07:53

Actually enjoyed. The less, what would you say, manufactured that the majors does. It was less manufactured, was more organic.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:08:00

And like a home cooked meal almost, you know what I'm saying? So he was able to take his home cooked meal brand and make this something global.

ShySpeaks [: 00:08:06

Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:08:07

Without processing it, you know what I'm saying?

ShySpeaks [: 00:08:11

Processing it through the manufacturing of a major situation.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:08:14

Exactly.

ShySpeaks [: 00:08:15

Major. But in doing that, he, it has become major and he has moved from that. We're not just talking to y'all about somebody who's just a rapper. He owns a company called Good Company or Good Company.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:08:31

Yeah, yeah, Good Company with P E N N. Yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:08:35

So tell us about Good Company and why, how he's even able to keep creativity and still transact commerce even in that company aspect.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:08:43

Yeah. So I love the fact. So he did this choose what you pay model, right. With his company and brand. So that's like, okay, I'm, I'm, I'm doing music, I'm performing. But now I want to, I want to put my music on, you know, I want to put it out there to the world so that on these different platforms to where you can now download my music and have it to listen to as your leads or whatever. But on his own platform he was like, listen, I'm going to give it to where now you choose what you pay. I'm not going to give you the standard 999 or I'm not going to give you the 1999 or whatever.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:09:13

You know what I'm saying? I'm going to let you choose.

ShySpeaks [: 00:09:15

Right?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:09:15

So in him doing that, he was able to take something like 2,000 people that purchased it. It made $70,000. So think about it, you got 2,000 people. So normally if they're buying an album, $10 a wop, that's $20,000. So he took what would have normally been 20,000 and turned it to 70,000 because he allowed for them to choose what they was going to pay.

ShySpeaks [: 00:09:37

Wow.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:09:38

So he removed that cap and like I said, I mean Just in doing that, once again, I'm doing my music the way I want to do my music. I'm distributing it the way I want to distribute it, right? So now it's not. It's not tainted. So though I'm selling out. Well, I'm not selling out. I'm able to keep my authenticity. I'm able to stay me LA Russell and how I create. I'm even staying me in how I distribute it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:10:05

I'm even staying me and how I perform it, because I'm performing it in my backyard.

ShySpeaks [: 00:10:09

Wow.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:10:09

You know what I'm saying? I'm doing it how I want to do it. So I don't know. To me, that sounds like him. Him keeping him. His genuine self and not succumbing to. But no, you should do it this way. You got to do it that way. It's like, no, I'm gonna do it this way.

ShySpeaks [: 00:10:22

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:10:23

And I got proof of concept, because now I didn't sold. For y'all to make 70,000, you gotta sell 7,000. I've made 70,000. Only selling 2,000.

ShySpeaks [: 00:10:35

Why? So it was like, really all about the creativity and the impact, but it still wound up generating a lot of funds. He's still transacting business. It's in a different and a unique and a creative way. And then there's even another aspect to good company where he. Where he works with other artists. Yeah, right. So tell us about that model and how there's even creativity with that, but yet still business there.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:11:02

It's the same. It's like he's signing artists to his label to allow them to be themselves, right? Where it's like you got complete ownership. See, normally in a record situation, right, the record label owns the masters, right? It is my music, though. You created it. Right, But I own it. Yeah, for a period of time. And then you can buy a Master's or you can, you know, they come back to you. But he's like, no, I'm giving you complete ownership.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:11:32

You know, I'm saying I'm. I'm providing the platform, right? I'm giving guidance, direction and whatnot. I'm setting you up how. Pretty much set myself up. Which is like duplicating yourself, right? But you have complete control. I'm not coming in and telling you, oh, you should do it like this and do it like that. No, I'm coming to you because I like what you're doing. And that's normally how it is, Right? That's how it should be.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:11:50

Like, I'm coming To you. I want you. I want to sign you because I like what you do. But the labels normally is like, no, I like that I can market you right. I like that I can brand you, but I need to come in and now shape you and mold you into what I want you to be. You know what I'm saying? So now you're losing that authenticity. So though you may be selling out, but in that case, sometimes you may have sold out.

ShySpeaks [: 00:12:13

You may have sold out. Now, for y'all who are watching this, like, I mean, how do you know if they're really selling out? That's the question that we were asked. How do we. If somebody is really selling out? Well, first of all, Ron was stating that you feel like they selling out because they know internally.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:12:27

Internally.

ShySpeaks [: 00:12:28

No, like, you already know.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:12:31

You know who you are. And some people do, for the most part. Some people do. Not everybody. Yeah, but you. You know who you are, and you know what, what core values and things that you have. And, you know, if you're doing something to compromise that for the sake of a dollar. Right, right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:12:44

But I was saying that it's not just you as the person. You know, we all. We know, especially those of us who were tapped into whoever you are, whatever your creative business endeavor are, was, or is. And you say that we're all about. Let's say your creative business is all about clothing and fashion. And what you do is you make sure that the different pieces that you have remaining over after you sew and do everything, you intentionally make gowns for young girls who have less privileged. And so we know about. You want to make sure you're giving back to Lex, fortunately, keeping them in style.

ShySpeaks [: 00:13:18

D. But if you get to this point where you just don't. You don't have anything to offer anybody that's less than $1,000. You know, it's like, well, what about them? They're not going to be able to afford that. And they don't matter to you because you're so busy trying to sell out of product and make a lot of money that you've gotten away from that give back that you said you were. You were about. Yeah, that's just one example on the creativity. Another creativity could be like, I don't know if this is the case, but for example, since we talking about a rapper, right? Toby Nguyen Wade, most people know of him, he kind of blew up on.

ShySpeaks [: 00:13:54

Online, on social media as well. And he. Everybody knows he's married to fat. If you know him, he Fat is his wife. That's what he called her. And then he got his little kids and baby fat and all the rest of the babies. And he, in his artistry and his creativity, he shares the fact that he enjoys music and growing in relationship with her when it was just dating to engage to. Now they have kids.

ShySpeaks [: 00:14:18

So he's into traditional family. Husband and being a good husband and having a good wife and raising children and the beauty of that. And if he then starts opting into another anti traditional family, he's promoting something that's anti traditional family. Ultimately, he's selling out for the money. Like they say, hey, we'll give you this much money in order to talk about how. I mean, the family, you know, who needs that? That doesn't go with him. We see that. We.

ShySpeaks [: 00:14:45

It's very obvious that that's what you're on. And you talk about that and you want your wife, you respect your wife, you'll fade somebody for your wife and all that kind of stuff. And then it's all of a sudden, if you start talking about stuff that's anti husband, forget traditional family values. You would just be just anti, like the husband protector, the provider and all that kind of stuff that you're talking about where it's like, women ain't. I don't gotta. What.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:15:09

What happened?

ShySpeaks [: 00:15:09

What happened?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:15:10

Right. Who. Who didn't sponsor something and gave some money, you know what I'm saying?

ShySpeaks [: 00:15:13

Exactly.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:15:14

Something took place, right?

ShySpeaks [: 00:15:15

Something made you sell out. And so that's the big dollar amount that you're trying to get so that you can sell out. And what we want credits to understand is not every big dollar amount is on the other side of some kind of sellout. You can be authentically yourself and still be making money. He doesn't need to do that right now, Toby, because he's making money as is. He's like getting. He's in fashion world because that's something that he is clearly into. He's a part of that world.

ShySpeaks [: 00:15:41

New York Fashion Week. He's a part of. I mean, just being his authentic self with his family and flaunting that around.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:15:47

Yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:15:47

He's able to make it so you can still. You can still do it. So, so, so back to the Russell, right? The Russell has this good company. He invites them to be on the, on the, like label and partnership. You just benefit from the structure that he has right now. Part of that structure is that he created this kind of like stock situation. Right, right. That's something different too.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:16:09

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:16:09

Where people or fans can. Instead of just buying one Album and then you buy another album. You buy another album. He has it to where you can like buy stock in the business, so to speak. It's like stock in a sense. It's like ownership or you can become an investor in the company. So he took let's say 100 of a company and he. Let's say he values his company at 100 million or whatever.

ShySpeaks [: 00:16:34

And he decided that each percentage is. Is 1 million, 1% is 1. You know, then that means you'd have to invest a million dollars in order to own 1% of the company. You know, I'm just giving you an example. So I'm not saying that's what he did. And I don't know what the valuation of the company is, but he's some kind of way created shares where people can buy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. They can buy shares of the pie. And every as he makes money.

ShySpeaks [: 00:16:57

Yeah, he has. So it's different than crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is. He pretty much is crowdfunding before the entire company and not just for one project. Like one. You know what I mean? Like crowdfunding is for one project. He basically saying, and that's just. You just gave money.

ShySpeaks [: 00:17:14

You don't necessarily get financials in return. Most of the time you get like, you get your name in the credits, you'll get maybe some shirts, some swag, be at the concert, you get something. But he's actually offering you a continued ownership in the, in the company. Yeah, like that's of his. Of his split. Like you're getting a certain amount of. So he, he realized like, I'm willing to give this to these people if they're willing to invest in me. It's super genius.

ShySpeaks [: 00:17:39

It's a whole creative approach.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:17:41

Yeah. Because I was again going back to. Because I want to stay authentically me.

ShySpeaks [: 00:17:46

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:17:47

I know that if I do go to these entities, they're going to want me to compromise or be in some way shape or fashion. It may not even be anything major. It could be something small. But the fact that they're going to do that. No, I want to stay authentically me. So what can I do now by giving your fans a piece of ownership? Right. So now they're on that journey with you. They're more vested because now they have ownership.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:18:12

Right. They're going to help promote and market even more because they have ownership. Right. And they rocking with you already because you once again that know like and no factor. No, like, no like and trust. Right. No like and trust. Practice.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:18:23

You've developed that. Now they trust in you even more because you done gave me ownership into your company.

ShySpeaks [: 00:18:29

Wow.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:18:30

So now it's like they, now you like, you create them. We call them super fans.

ShySpeaks [: 00:18:33

Super duper. Those are super duper fans at that point.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:18:36

And now you ain't. I ain't got. I don't gotta stop. I don't gotta compromise myself now. Now I'm going to grow and develop along the way, but once again, y'all gonna grow and develop with me. So y'all on this journey with me and I can continue to be me and I can continue to create how I can create because y'all already let me know that y'all like what I do, how I do it right. So I ain't, I ain't gotta.

ShySpeaks [: 00:18:58

Right?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:18:58

That's it.

ShySpeaks [: 00:18:59

So that is someone who is so committed to maintaining creativity that he worked into his commerce model, the ability for other people to share in his success so that he can maintain creativity like it's, he's so committed to that. And I'm saying that you may not do it, do that and it may not be possible for your creative business. I'm not sure if you make sunglasses. I'm not sure if you make your, your, your. You do something in culinary. Which we're going to get to that here in a moment with the next person we're going to be talking about. But whatever it is you do, there may be, there's a way that you can approach it creatively to say, I want to always have creative control and I don't want to sell out. And you could think about your business model and you can about ways to make it such that this system keeps me honest.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:19:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:19:55

And I get to continue to make money so that you have to figure out what that looks like for you. We're showing you the case study of the Russell because we see how he applied it to music in the business of music. Right. And he has a non profit organization, you know, good company and how he structures all that and put people on staff and so forth and so on. So it's a, it's a very unique approach. You can have a unique approach as well.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:20:19

That's it. And that's all we say.

ShySpeaks [: 00:20:20

That's all we're saying. We're saying in order for you, if you're worried about being too into the business part that you compromise the creativity, we're saying tap into your creativity to figure out a way to make yourself stay true to it. So I'm going to Structure my business in such a way that it makes me money and it continues to allow me to keep the creativity at the forefront. I believe you're creative enough to do.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:20:44

That, and I like that. Because your creativity is not just limited to your art. Bring your creativity in how you run and manage and create and operate your business.

ShySpeaks [: 00:20:56

That. Say that apart again for him.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:20:58

Your creativity is not just limited to your art. You need to bring that creativity in how you run, operate, manage, and develop your business.

ShySpeaks [: 00:21:06

This is why I wanted to do the mind in my Creative Business podcast, because I believe that creatives are the best business owners and company innovators. They're the best innovators, and because of that innovation, they're the best entrepreneurs.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:21:21

I agree.

ShySpeaks [: 00:21:22

Right. But oftentimes people see creatives as artists, starving artists, right? And it's a lot of them who are so into the creativity that they're starving the business. But if you take that same creativity into how you're making whatever that product or service is, and you put that creativity into how you run and operate your business the way he just said, I'm using that same innovation, you then create some of the best, most profitable companies ever known to man. Going back to the Steve Jobs and Disney. Walt Disney. Why? Because I'm not just Walt Disney. I'm just doing it to character development and script writing. I'm.

ShySpeaks [: 00:22:03

I'm putting this creativity into how I operate the business in and of itself, which creates entirely different and new business structures, which is what's happening or has happened with the Russell.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:22:14

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:22:14

He put that same creativity into how he runs his business, created an entirely innovative, disruptive thing in the music business. And I think that that's what creatives can do.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:22:26

Yeah, I agree. I agree.

ShySpeaks [: 00:22:27

All right, so speaking of disruption.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:22:30

Right, Right, Come on, let's go to this next guest. Right. Who? Different industry, but we see that same disruption and just her showing up as her authentic self. Right, so Pinky Cole, owner and operator of Slutty Vegan.

ShySpeaks [: 00:22:45

Come on. Just in and of itself, you see how disruptive she is in the name Slutty Vegan. Now, oftentimes when people think about vegan, they think about kosher. They think about prim and proper. One of my friends, she says, like, oh, I like hanging out with them, but the food is always so crunchy. When you say crunchy, like crunchy salad, granolas and all this kind of. She said, they're just real crunchy, you know? And so I was like, what is crunchy? You know, she's. I'M not crunchy with him, you know, so ultimately that's what people think of, they think of this certain kind of like in the lines approach on health and just very strict and restrictive.

ShySpeaks [: 00:23:31

But she called it Slutty Vegan. So basically she lets you know this is going to be junk food. Right. This is junk food for vegans. And what's the best junk food? A burger. Right, Right, a burger. And so she created a burger company and called it Slutty Vegan and leaned so heavily into the brand that almost, it could run people off, like, because it could almost be, it's so tasty, but it could almost be distasteful depending on where you stand. Moral.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:24:06

No, listen, I have not been to a, A slutty vegan restaurant because of some of the titles of the. I'm like, I, I, I just, it's just too, you know, I'm like, you know, I feel, I guess I'm one of them. Wholesome.

ShySpeaks [: 00:24:16

Yeah, you know, wholesome type. Because it's very provocative. Yeah, it's so provocative that it's even in her branding. Like she got the red right. As far as the. But it's a certain type of red, that passionate type of red, like that, that red candy apple red that make you want to just, you know.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:24:31

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:24:33

Forbidden fruit type of red. And she has the, all the names of all the product. All the burgers have a sexual connotation to it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:24:42

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:24:43

I'm sorry, I don't know if I'm supposed to even say six, four.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:24:45

Oh, yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:24:45

I don't know.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:24:46

So, yeah, the innuendo, the double entendres or have it, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:24:49

All the, all of them have some type of, let's say intimate or some type of provocatively.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:24:59

Yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:25:00

Sensual connotation. Like it's okay, you can look it up on your spare time. But if you haven't heard of Slutty Vegan, you will. But there are some people who, I've heard of it, but I haven't eaten it, not because I'm wholesome, but because it's just not available to everybody just yet. And that's something that they're working on. But I'm gonna talk to you about how they're even transacting the commerce in that and keeping the creativity the reason. And I'm like, Ron, I'm like kind of more of the wholesome type as well. But I love how intentional she was being because she said this is a part of who I am.

ShySpeaks [: 00:25:35

I'm kind of provocative. I'm kind of da, da, da. Kind of edgy. And so she leaned into the edginess and put the edginess into the creativity. Not just in the name, the name of all the foods, the entire experience. When you walk in, if you are, you know, oh, what do you want to have today? And you're looking at the menu and they're like, this is your first time being here. And they're like, yeah, we have a virgin. Everybody say, oh, welcome to.

ShySpeaks [: 00:25:59

You know. And so it's like a big deal. The whole kitchen says, we gotta. Basically, you're a newbie, right? And so all of that is intentionally leaning into, how can I creatively, how can I make vegan food be, you know, junky and fun? And, you know, and that's what it's about. And so I love the fact that she leaned into it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:26:20

No, and even you. I. So I didn't put that together. That. Okay, I'm. This is. I mean, I knew it was vegan, you know, fast food or junk food or whatever, but not knowing that, okay, I'm calling a sleeve vegan. Slutty.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:26:32

Slutty Vegan. Because slutty is. Is associated with trash and junk, right? And. And this is vegan junk food. You know what I'm saying? I didn't even put that together until just now. So now, okay, we're not going in there then. Even though, like I said, you know.

ShySpeaks [: 00:26:48

I know some of the titles, right? And so. But that, but that's leaning into the creativity. And here's the thing, because it's kind of edgy, there are certain people who might make it, may run investors off and they run consumers off because she says, look, I'm going to make it. It's fun. And so a little bit about her. She is the ultimate creator, right? So she is. Went to school, left school, moved to LA to pursue a career in acting. And then after pursuing a career in acting in la, she moved to New York to do some production in tv in the TV world.

ShySpeaks [: 00:27:25

But while she was really there, her real goal was to create a Jamaican restaurant, right? And so she grew up Jamaican. Her mom was, I mean, a vegetarian. So eventually she embraced the vegetarian life as well. And then she went on to embrace the vegan life. But she knows Jamaican food and making Jamaican cuisine. So she did eventually open that. But ultimately that one didn't last long. Cause there was a fire of some sort and it fell.

ShySpeaks [: 00:27:54

But listen, she came back and this time she came. I'm coming back. Vegan and I'm gonna make it an oxymoron, and that's my creativity. And I'm gonna lean into the oxymoron, but I'm gonna make it fun. People will know it's like lighting up. It's a Jo type of thing.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:28:07

And even that to talk about the fact that she birthed it or created it based off of a need. And I know that's not what I said. We'll be going into this in this part of commerce, but. Yeah, but that's part of commerce and part of being entrepreneur and a successful one.

ShySpeaks [: 00:28:19

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:28:19

Is finding somebody in the market, finding a need for it. Right. She was like. She was up late night one night and was like, I got a taste for a burger. You know what I'm saying? I want a burger. But it was no vegan burgers that she can go and get a burger. So she made it herself.

ShySpeaks [: 00:28:34

Right. Which, which let me be clear, for some people, like, I don't like vegan food. There's junk food and there's no vegan burger. To even be able to take a plant and make a plant taste similar to what somebody would experience from a meat, that's creativity.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:28:52

Definitely creativity.

ShySpeaks [: 00:28:53

That's extreme creative. Like, man, I made this so well. That is like, it tastes most of the time. It's like, well, I like vegan food, but it don't taste great. No, I made this taste great. And at the end of the day, it's a plant. Like, to be able to take. That's like some of the best create creatives are able to take, like, recyclable goods and turn them into new products.

ShySpeaks [: 00:29:15

That's creativity. So you're taking a plant and you're making it taste like something. You're presenting it and making it healthy. Let's, let's, let's highlight the creativity right there, first and foremost. And. But then the business of the matter is it's not just a cool brand. It's how she approached it this time. She didn't go straight into a brick and mortar store.

ShySpeaks [: 00:29:33

She went to a ghost kitchen, or what you would say, a shared kitchen. Okay. And because I need to keep my overhead low, I don't want to hop right into a brick and mortar store and she started selling it through an app. Because there is not just her, but there are other people. Because as we have the rise of people who are wanting to have healthier cuisines, you have to offer them things like that, but then also they want to have junk food as well.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:29:56

Correct.

ShySpeaks [: 00:29:56

So she offers them this. And it's creating creative way, which is even having a shared kitchen and a ghost kitchen and all that is creativity.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:30:03

Yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:30:03

So let's, let's, let's talk about that. Somebody came up with the concept that we can all different restaurateers and culinary artists can share this kitchen and sell our food online and people pick it up. That's already creativity. Creativity, that's commerce. That's transacting. You're not selling out because you're keeping your overhead low. Right. So she did that and then eventually she then moved to the food truck model.

ShySpeaks [: 00:30:24

Right. In Atlanta. And she had one food truck and it was multiple food trucks in Atlanta. Right. And then after that, she opened up her first brick and mortar store. Right. And in this brick and mortar store, you got to get to the, you got to realize that you don't get to the brick and mortar if you're someone like her who already knows what it takes to run a brick and mortar if you're not successfully running the food truck. I noticed food trucks was successful because when I would be in Atlanta, my friend's like, you ever been to Slutty Vegan? Let's go to Slutty Vegan.

ShySpeaks [: 00:30:54

And I would go to Slutty Vegan. And the line will be wrapped around the corner. You just standing in line waiting at this food truck, trying to get this food. That's a lot of sales.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:31:05

Yeah. And listen, one of the things that she did as a result, once again, that's why social media is key, right. As a creatorpreneur, and I know you don't. We don't want to post, I get it. But it allowed for her to go viral. It allowed for her to now be recognizing and seen in other parts of the nation. And where she was doing pop up shops, I remember she came to Detroit, like, people were excited. They was like, yo, sunny vegan, they got a pop up shop here.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:31:36

And I know she sold out. I think she had to post and say something like, yo, we out, we out of food. You know what I'm saying? Like, oh, we love to support. Thank y'all, but we out of food.

ShySpeaks [: 00:31:45

Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:31:46

You know what I'm saying? So she was a. Once again, she didn't compromise. She didn't, she didn't rename it or rebrand it. She said, no, we leaning into this. This is who I am. Unapologetically, this is what we doing. And as a result, like you said, was able to grow one shop, doing pop up shops around the nation, around the nation right there was because you. I know they did one in Detroit.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:32:10

I know they. They had a. It had a tour. I ain't never heard of a restaurant.

ShySpeaks [: 00:32:14

Of a restaurant doing a tour, going on a tour. And I love what you said. And the reason why we wanted to case study her is because when we have our own, we're gonna talk about something different. We're gonna give you behind the brand so you can know how to do this yourself. But right here, we gotta talk about the fact, like you said, she. Okay, that could have been a thing that just worked in Atlanta. Who says this is gonna work around the world?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:32:34

Right?

ShySpeaks [: 00:32:35

I need to maybe come up with a name that's a little bit more kosher so that it can have more appeal. As I'm growing this thing, I want to be able to get maybe different stores. I want to attract different investors, so maybe we can kind of taper down. She says, no, I'm pulling up to Detroit. I'm pulling up to this different city. And if they like it, they like it. We're leaning into it. And so she's keeping that same creativity and using the social media to attract all of that kind of stuff.

ShySpeaks [: 00:32:58

So she didn't compromise off of her. See, compromise when it comes to commerce and creativity, most people think it's because I'm going into something derogatory when I was already on something positive. But if you were, for her, it's already provocative. So to go from provocative to like something all polished and muted and toned down would be a compromise, because that's not what she was going for. Of course, there is a way to make healthier vegan food. It's plenty of healthy vegan restaurants. That's not what she's going for. She's going for people who are vegan who want the taste for something a little bit healthier.

ShySpeaks [: 00:33:34

They want some junk food, and they don't want to backslide into meat or whatever.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:33:38

Right?

ShySpeaks [: 00:33:39

And then she's going, this is not appealing to people who. Because it's the way it is, and it's such a fanfare around it, it's not even appealing to people who are vegans.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:33:47

Right?

ShySpeaks [: 00:33:47

This is for people who are not vegans. So she has a wider audience now. Because my niche is. Is vegan food, right? Not vegan people.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:33:58

Right. Oh, and that's. That's. Hope you all caught it. Where she has this product and though it's niche, but my target marketer, my target audience, this is not even vegan, though vegan is in the Title slutty vegan. So, yeah, it might be. You have some people that are vegan that have that craving, have that taste, but this is for people. That's not.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:19

Because a lot of her marketing and branding initially was non vegans trying the.

ShySpeaks [: 00:34:24

Burger, who just want to try it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:26

And they was like, oh, this tastes like a burger.

ShySpeaks [: 00:34:28

She helped me.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:29

It don't even taste like, you know what I'm saying?

ShySpeaks [: 00:34:30

We are out here evangelizing the people in civilian.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:34

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:34:34

It's people who were chiefs promoting this to non vegan. They like what? That's a vegan burger.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:39

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:34:39

I'm gonna try it. Because this is a better introduction into vegan for me to know. Okay. Even if I did learn how to cook, could I make my stuff tasty?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:48

Right. So, yeah, I wanted. Once we interview, we gotta see if that was intentional.

ShySpeaks [: 00:34:53

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:53

Or if that was something that just kind of.

ShySpeaks [: 00:34:55

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:34:55

Kind of came because. No, that's, yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's big. But I understand it. But understanding that I have a niche, I have a, I have a target audience. I have a niche market. And like you said, even in the name, when you understand branding, you're going to attract who you're supposed to attract and you're going to repel who you're supposed to repel. Right? Yeah, like people that, like you said, people. That's, that, that's, that's turned over by the name.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:35:22

She's not worried about them. It's fine.

ShySpeaks [: 00:35:23

Because it's not for you. Because it's not for you.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:35:25

Is she okay with it? It's not for you.

ShySpeaks [: 00:35:26

Exactly.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:35:27

I bet you see, if somebody came to her and whatever she like, that's fine. I didn't make it for you.

ShySpeaks [: 00:35:31

It's not for you. It's okay. It's fine. You don't. If it is not for you, you don't get it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:35:35

Yeah, no, that's, that's. I need to hear that. That's a big one to touch, to be able to understand that.

ShySpeaks [: 00:35:41

And then as a result, she actually struck some major investments from some of the companies that you guys do know who are. They're American restaurateurs in the fast food world who do have more kosher brands, who have more, what you may say, family friendly names. Right. Some of them believe in what she's doing and they like, man, this are going. People are looking to be healthier, people are looking to be, you know, we know that even in some of the regular old fast food restaurants, you'll notice they're starting to offer salads. That's what they started with. They started salads. Some of them was trying to offer some kind of plant based something and they're like well she's already doing it right in their mind this is where we're going.

ShySpeaks [: 00:36:19

Let's put our investment over there. So she was surprised like oh, y'all willing to invest? So she's raised so much funds and so much capital is. And continuously push this because right now I. Well as of like the last time I checked like it was like 20, 23. There was an article that said the one of the guys who run it, he says our, our brand, our goal was to be a household name. But our brand is kind of bigger than the business. Because now because of social media, because of the virality and because of all the pop ups around the city in these different, different cities, people know of us. Yeah, we were our name, our.

ShySpeaks [: 00:36:57

The name of the company is in the households. But they can't, it's bigger than the business because she's saying, he's saying like they can't get the food.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:37:04

Yeah.

ShySpeaks [: 00:37:05

They don't have access to it because we only popped up in Detroit right now There's a ton of people in Detroit who know us.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:37:11

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:37:11

But they really can't get it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:37:13

They can't get it.

ShySpeaks [: 00:37:14

Then we've popped up in Memphis, we've popped up in Chicago, we've popped up in Charlotte. Right. And so now we do have this household name and we did that concept. But now how do we expand? Are we going to expand via other brick and mortar locations? Because fast forward to now. They. I think they have 12 locations.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:37:31

Yeah, 12 or 11 or something like.

ShySpeaks [: 00:37:32

That somewhere around there or maybe more at the time, at the time of this video, you know, but that's over 10 brick and mortar location in some of the major cities. Right. So that's a big deal. That a creative someone who just took their cooking skills and their passion for culinary and food and has turned that into a hundred million dollar business. If you. It's a hundred million dollar evaluation on their brand now, now they're having to take another creative approach to commerce. Right. They're like okay, I want to do business but I.

ShySpeaks [: 00:38:08

Because some markets may not take well to vegan. They may not be there. Right. So it may not be wise to put a brick and mortar there yet.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:38:16

Right, right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:38:17

Okay. And why is this for us from. From a company standpoint or can we really sustain the overhead of that? So. Or it may not even be wise to put a food truck there.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:38:26

Right.

ShySpeaks [: 00:38:26

So what we're doing, what they're doing now is they're creating products that can be put inside of Target. Right. Target stores. Right. Which is an entirely different approach to getting to a market. I don't have to do a pop up shop, I don't have to do a brick and mortar. I have to do any of that. If I get in Target and Target goes to several major and mid market, however you call the different cities and towns, then we're thereby able to reach.

ShySpeaks [: 00:38:57

Even if it's just our season, even if it's our patties, even if it's our something we're now that's a creative approach. And so you 100 million dollar valuation off of creativity. So don't think that your creativity has to be compromised in order to transact commerce. That's the goal of this. We introduce you to La Russell and to Pinky Cole. If you are not familiar with them, you can look it up to make sure what we're saying is true. But we want to encourage you. Stop that.

ShySpeaks [: 00:39:27

Stop thinking that, man. I got to sell out. To sell out. Like I don't. You don't have to sell out. You don't sell out of your creativity.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:39:34

No.

ShySpeaks [: 00:39:34

You just need to take a creative approach to how you operate business. Be innovative with that. You'll come up with something, I'm telling you. I know you will. I believe in you as creatives. And on that note, thank you for tuning in to this particular episode and invest me yourself to be that kind of creative entrepreneur.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:39:54

Yes, yes. So what we want you to do now is be a part of this phenomenal community. Right. So join the Creative Corners community. If you go to mmcbpodcast.com that's mmcbpodcast.com join the newsletter for the Creators Corner and be a part of the Facebook community to where we're surrounded by other creative entrepreneurs that are on this journey. Right. Whether they're looking to start or they've already started, they're looking to scale, they're looking to expand and grow. Being part of that so that you can just, you know what I'm saying, you you surrounded by that and that's going to help you get to your goals.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:40:31

So do that and do that today.

ShySpeaks [: 00:40:34

Today. And listen, you said being a part of the Creatives Corner community, that is a, that's a derivative of the mind in my creative business podcast is the community that we created as creative entrepreneurs ourselves who are aspiring creative entrepreneurs. And you said Join the Facebook group and the newsletter. But technically the Creators Corner community is both. Right. So when you join the newsletter, you'll get the private experience, exclusive invite to be in the Facebook group. You can't get into the Facebook group. You can't go searching and get in.

ShySpeaks [: 00:41:01

We're not going to let you in. You got to come in the right way. Right? So. So I just want you to be a part of it. Thank you again so much. Are we ready to get out of here?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:41:10

I think we ready to get out of there.

ShySpeaks [: 00:41:11

Okay. We are not getting out of here until I tell you to. Make sure you go like this video or like the audio, wherever you are, make sure you give us some type of good rating so that we can keep providing more of this. If this is been has been, is being helpful to you as you're tuning into these episodes. Yes, they gotta do that.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:41:34

They gotta definitely do that. They gotta do that. And share it too. Share it with your friends, family. You know, you got a creative in your life, somebody's here. You know, like I said, we're trying to expand. This our goal, right? We say we, the number one podcast for creative entrepreneurs to learn strategy, structure, self development. We.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:41:49

That's what, that's our goal. So the more creative entrepreneurs that we reach, the better. So don't, don't hog it and don't.

ShySpeaks [: 00:41:57

Word it, share it. It's good for you. It's good for your business. Anyway, before we get out of here, I also want to give you an opportunity to not just listen, but to also share and to participate. So this is what I want you to do. I want you to say something. I want you to repeat after me as you say this MMCB podcast mantra. Everybody here is going to say it.

ShySpeaks [: 00:42:17

I want you to say it online. Don't just think it, say it out loud. Because words shape worlds. All it takes. All it takes is intention.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:42:26

Is intention.

ShySpeaks [: 00:42:27

Consistency.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:42:28

Consistency.

ShySpeaks [: 00:42:29

And laser focus.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:42:30

And laser focus.

ShySpeaks [: 00:42:31

To mind my creative business.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. [: 00:42:33

To mind my creative business. Peace.

ShySpeaks [: 00:42:36

We out.