- 6 months ago
- #essence
Making the transition from a nine to five, to going into business for yourself as an entrepreneur. #ESSENCE
MODERATOR
Gia Peppers
PANELISTS
Dia Simms
Aubrey Flynn
MODERATOR
Gia Peppers
PANELISTS
Dia Simms
Aubrey Flynn
Category
š ļø
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hi, Essence and GU Entrepreneur Summit. I'm Gia Peppers, entertainment journalist,
00:13on-air talent, host, content creator, and so many more things. But today I'm here to have
00:18an incredible conversation. And this next convo is one I think you guys will really,
00:22really enjoy. If these last 12 months have taught us anything as a community,
00:26we've learned that betting on ourselves is often one of the smartest moves we can make.
00:31With so many people unexpectedly facing joblessness and financial hardship due to the lingering effects
00:38of the pandemic, it's no surprise that we're seeing an uptick in curiosity about entrepreneurship.
00:43Here with me today to talk a little about making the transition from working a nine to five to
00:48going into business for yourself as an entrepreneur are two phenomenal business owners who have done
00:54just that. First up, help me welcome former president of Combs Enterprises and current CEO
01:00of Lobo's 1707 Tequila and Mezcal, Dia Sims. Hi, Dia.
01:06Oh, hello, everyone. I'm so excited to be here and great to see you, Gia. I'm a real fan.
01:11I'm a fan of yours, Dia. And like I was saying before, it's the Gia and Dia show featuring...
01:17That's right. That's Aubrey.
01:20Featuring our next guest. I'm just playing.
01:22No, it's really their show and I'm here to facilitate the conversation and I want to bring
01:26up next, joining us is the former chief digital officer and SVP for Revolt TV and current CEO
01:33of Goals Media Group, Aubrey Flynn. Welcome, Aubrey.
01:38Nice to see you, ladies. Thank you for having me today.
01:42Of course. You guys, first of all, it seems like you all might have crossed paths in the
01:47in the Diddy world.
01:49You guys have crossed paths. Yeah.
01:50And I work together.
01:51We work together. And in fact, Aubrey is a very senior illustrious mogul in his own right now.
01:56But I remember, I distinctly remember interviewing Aubrey. He was like, you know, this is what you guys are doing right,
02:02but I'm going to show you how to make sure you focus on the shopper journey and what you're missing on e-commerce.
02:06And we were like, yeah, you're hired. And actually, I would say Aubrey was really instrumental in the success of building Ciroc Vaca.
02:13We were early in like the early days of Twitter and early days of Foursquare.
02:17So he got this lane very early on and helped us to build a, you know, multi-billion dollar retail value brand together.
02:24So every time I see Aubrey, I'm happy to see. I'm happy to be in the room.
02:27I love that.
02:28Yeah. And it was very special to work with Dia from the first time, you know, as an employee at Combs Enterprises,
02:36you don't always get the chance to really take leadership from phenomenal women like Dia.
02:41And, you know, shout out to Mr. Combs for having that foresight to hire extraordinary professionals like Mrs. Sims.
02:49I learned so much. So thank you, Dia. Always a pleasure.
02:52Reunion.
02:53I love this. This is so great. What a beautiful note to start on.
02:56And now that we've talked a little bit about, you know, the earlier past days of your career,
03:01I want to ask you and jump right into when did you guys know if it was the right or wrong time to consider entrepreneurship as a new career path?
03:09Is there a signal, a moment that you knew it was the right or wrong time?
03:13How do you decipher that? And Dia, I'll start with you.
03:15Yeah, I think first it's important to know it's always the right time, right?
03:19If you redefine kind of what entrepreneurship is, right?
03:21So in the U.S., average Black person who owns any business, anything,
03:28typically on average is worth 12 times what a Black person who owns no business is.
03:32So I think it's important that we redefine what risk is.
03:34Like you think it's risky not to have a job, right?
03:37You know what I mean?
03:37Like I think it's risky not to own something, right?
03:41So let the math, right, really lead your thinking.
03:44And, you know, I think the other thing is to not take it so,
03:48everybody's not saying you got to go out and build with your hands the next Amazon, right?
03:51But like you and your friends could get a small spot to Airbnb.
03:54You could go buy one stock today, right?
03:57You always go to the same nail shop, see if she needs a little money and get some dividends from her.
04:01Like there's ways to own something, but own something.
04:04To me, there's always a right time because particularly if you're in an underserved community,
04:08if you're a minority, if you're a woman,
04:10we got a lot of catching up to do from centuries of inequity.
04:12So the right time is yesterday.
04:14I'll be quick.
04:14But I remember in my 20s, I was a promoter with this legend,
04:17this gentleman named Mark Barnes out of D.C.
04:20Love Mark.
04:21Yes, yes.
04:22I was very young, very long time ago.
04:24And it was at Republic Garden.
04:26So this was a spot that was like a brownstone, but it was relatively small.
04:29So I was just doing the math in my mind one day after like six weeks.
04:32I was like, from five to two, we charging this amount,
04:35selling this many cocktails because he was teaching me about the bar, right?
04:38So even back then.
04:39And at the end of the night, it was like two in the morning.
04:41I did the math.
04:42I was like, he's making millions of dollars every year.
04:44So like at 23, this was a, to me at that point,
04:47I hadn't really wrapped my mind around like, oh, we could all be making millions out here.
04:50And I was like, so look out, you know, I'm working at a job every day for somebody.
04:54And this man is working for himself, employing his family.
04:57And I was like, I got to get on this path.
04:59And then of course, you know, Aubrey and I worked for the super entrepreneur Puff Daddy.
05:02So he just sharpened that to the next level.
05:04That's beautiful.
05:05I love that story.
05:06Go to you next, Aubrey.
05:07So I think Dia's right in the sense that it's always a good time to start exploring the opportunities
05:13with entrepreneurship.
05:15And one of the things I learned from Dia actually is this idea of happy, assertive.
05:20And being assertive is all about, you know, being confident and being forceful.
05:25And you have to move with that both in a corporate environment, but also as you're making that
05:30transition.
05:31I think fear is a mental block for so many entrepreneurs, fear of not having access to capital, fear
05:37of not having a network that's strong enough.
05:39But I think through education, through learning at networking events, not only are you able
05:46to build the network that'll help you have that foundation to grow, but you'll also build
05:51the confidence and you'll gain the insights required to make the most of your time and
05:57the most of your resources, which can be limited, especially for underserved entrepreneurs
06:01in our community.
06:02Yeah, that's such a good point.
06:05And you are bringing us to the next question, which is all about that network.
06:09It's all about who you know and who knows you.
06:13And Dia, you know, your career, both of you all have had inspiring careers, but Dia, your
06:17career has been incredible to watch with running things for Diddy as a president of Combs
06:21Enterprises.
06:21And now we're going to alongside King James, LeBron James himself.
06:26Exactly.
06:27Super athlete.
06:28Right.
06:29Hello.
06:30So many things.
06:31Like it's just the levels to me.
06:34And now this.
06:35And so how important is it to align yourself with the right person or even a strong network
06:40of people when making that leap into entrepreneurship?
06:44Listen, it's incredibly important.
06:46But by the way, it's incredibly important just for life.
06:48So the most important thing is, you know, it's a true thing that you're the average of
06:52the five people you spend your time around and you can get real complacent if you feel
06:55like you're on par or, you know, you might even think you're doing better than people.
06:59But if you look to your left and your right, I want to be surrounded by people that are
07:01inspiring me.
07:02You know, Puff used to always say, like, we want to hire people who make us better.
07:04And I think, you know, Aubrey's a perfect example of that at Combs.
07:07So it's important.
07:08I'll give you a real life example today.
07:09You know, I started off as Puff's assistant.
07:11We brought Aubrey on when I think I was general manager of the agency at the time.
07:16Another gentleman who worked with us, a guy named Ryan Stender.
07:18We had hired him to do some stuff that same group now today.
07:22Right.
07:22So I'm invested in a company that Ryan runs.
07:26That company has been working with Aubrey's company today.
07:28And we all three are now entrepreneurs out of the Combs University.
07:31Right.
07:31So I think it's important to think through, like, whatever you're doing that day, the
07:36people around you, y'all are the future.
07:37Like, I don't the people I've met as a radio salesperson or the people I met as an assistant.
07:42Those are like people I'm calling today.
07:44So it's like, don't wait.
07:46I feel like people are like, oh, I got to get my, don't get me wrong.
07:48LeBron and Puff are incredible.
07:49But actually, beyond them, it's actually been the people that I was right next to.
07:53You know what I mean?
07:54On the way.
07:54Those are the people who really help you every single day.
07:56Absolutely.
07:57And I would say, you know, when I think about Goals Media Group and our new venture,
08:03folks like Kenan Towns, who D&I worked with at Ciroc, you know, when he launched Indigo
08:08with Snoop, that was a great first case study for Goals Media Group, helping them go national.
08:13And to that point, even Jamil Spencer connected us with the folks over at Redmond Distilling,
08:19which is a distilling company owned by Charles Barkley.
08:22So it's all about the network when you're starting out on that new venture.
08:26And for those from our community that may not have the access to capital or generational
08:30wealth to help us get started, those new business opportunities are quintessential
08:35to that early success.
08:36That is so good.
08:38Both of you all made such incredible points.
08:40And I think, you know, for anyone watching, I'm in the same boat.
08:43My friends, even though they might be other on-air talents, other journalists, other people,
08:47if we can't do something, we're passing it to the left.
08:50So it's really important to, like, make sure that everyone's like, yo, like, I have my plate
08:55is full, but I think you'd be a great host for this.
08:57That's how I got my national Urban One radio show, because Brittany Packnett Cunningham
09:01was like, oh, girl, I can't do it.
09:04I think you should.
09:05And so, you know, like, that network is so important.
09:07And I love, love, love what you said.
09:10And so, thank you.
09:12Aubrey, now, you've been the mastermind behind some of the most incredible digital marketing
09:17strategies for major brands like Macy's, Verizon, and now more recently as the SVP for
09:23Evolve.
09:23But now you're the CEO of, like you said, your own digital agency.
09:26So what were some of the unexpected challenges you ran into when you made the transition
09:29from maybe outside of the world of corporate to your own agency?
09:36Time management.
09:38Time management and productivity is a skill that every entrepreneur has to master.
09:43One thing that I learned from Sean Collins was he used to say, I can make money, but I
09:48can't make time.
09:50And at the time, you know, it was a very wise statement.
09:53But what really came to my realization early was that productivity, leveraging software
10:00as a service, leveraging technology to maximize and extract the value out of our network is
10:07really critical for those of us that have limited resources.
10:11So tapping into digital technology in a way that's going to scale the relationships, the networking,
10:18and even just your overall productivity has been key to our success when it comes to lead
10:23generation, measuring our conversions, and just finances and legal.
10:29Everything from finance to HR to marketing, really leveraging software as a service to maximize time was critical because you don't have a lot of bodies as an entrepreneur, like on payroll to do a lot of things.
10:43And you don't necessarily have the infrastructure out of the gate without, you know, access to capital to really, you know, build that solid foundation of infrastructure offline.
10:53So using software, using tools to maximize time was something that really helped skyrocket our growth.
10:59That's so good.
11:00That's such a great point.
11:01Can you give one tool that you recommend every entrepreneur has that you've been?
11:06So, I mean, I'm glad you asked because today more than ever, I've seen so many and I don't knock the hustle, but I see a lot of entrepreneurs selling software and services and it's great.
11:18But when you're starting out and you're new, it's really important that even this is a diaism, you use the best for the best for free point of view.
11:27So things like Google, Facebook, Amazon, even Instagram shopping and more, I would say those are things that are so underutilized and more so than the technology themselves.
11:38I want to give two resources for entrepreneurs to learn because education is really big so that, you know, the confidence and the information, the insights are there.
11:47Google skill shop provides free education, free certification in search engine optimization, Google ads, video and more.
11:58And then you have, you know, Facebook blueprint, which is another educational resource that entrepreneurs can use pro bono to learn all the skills that they need.
12:07So even if you are hiring a small team to take on these tasks, at least you have the information and the insight to measure your success properly, to scale and to manage your business accordingly.
12:20Really good point. That's really good point. Dia, did you want to add anything there about resources there?
12:24I mean, I think the only thing that is important is just mastering the combination of your vision and your day to day work.
12:31I think the most tragic thing is when somebody is working very hard, but they're not moving forward. Right.
12:36So it's a lot of movement. It's like a octopus on roller skates. Right.
12:40So it's not going on, but you're not actually getting anywhere. So I think especially entrepreneurs, you could be like, I'm so tired.
12:45I had all these calls and I did 100 emails, but it's like, are you going to hit your sales objective this year?
12:49So it's important that you you have to you have to have your conversation with yourself in the mirror.
12:54You got to have a quarterly business review with yourself. Right.
12:57And every day you look at your day, are you driving towards that singular, most important ambition?
13:03You can't just be playing office. And I feel like because it's a horrible thing to actually be out there like, well, I'm working really hard and I don't know why I'm not winning.
13:10It's normally just because you're not working with defined, relentless laser focus on one singular objective.
13:18Girl, you dragged me, child.
13:21Like, let me make sure that I do my review.
13:24Okay. You don't want to just keep working hard, but that's so good because so many of us just want to work just to work.
13:30Right. Like we come from hustlers. We know hustle. That's it.
13:34But if you're not working to move forward, oh, hustling backwards.
13:37That's so good. So good.
13:39Hope y'all are writing this down, everyone.
13:41Okay. So the next question that I have is what advice would you share with someone who just wants to start their own business as a part time or side hustle,
13:49but still keep traditionally working that nine to five? And D, I'll start with you with this one. How do they balance?
13:57Yeah, it's hard. I mean, I think balance is a fake thing, right? I think it's a mirage and you would die of thirst trying to get balance.
14:05But I think you, I think you have to. So this is what I, this is what I try to do.
14:10And I do not, I'm not perfect at all at this, but people ask me all the time, like, how do you juggle? How do you juggle it all?
14:15I don't juggle it all. Clowns are juggling, not juggling.
14:20I'm in the business of more like a batting cage of like, whatever that thing is in front of me, I'm going to try and knock that thing out to par.
14:27So if you're going to be at nine to five, just be there from nine to five.
14:30The average person works only like two hours out of an eight hour day back in the day when you were in an office. Right.
14:34And I'm not mad. That's what the average is. It is what it is.
14:36What's most importantly is treat your job like a syllabus. What do I have to do to win and get it done as fast and as effectively as you can?
14:42And then go back to what is your real job? Truth of the matter is you need to do a great job with your job.
14:48But really you should be viewing it as like your job. You cheating on your entrepreneurship with your job.
14:53You're not cheating on your job. And then you got to have that framing in the way you approach the intensity about each side, you know, of your hustle, if you will.
15:01Just over, along the way, go ahead. You got something else to add.
15:05I mean, well, you know, she kills it as usual.
15:09I would say one thing to add to that is just the importance as an entrepreneur of understanding finance and legal.
15:17Really take the time while you're at your job to learn and be a mentee of the folks in finance and the folks in legal.
15:24And if you can open up a business bank account and it's legitimate within your current structure of your deal with your employer, then do so because it'll allow you to learn over the years and also gain some business history.
15:38That actually helped me out. Just having a business account, you know, financially, the bank looks at that and says, well, hey, you have some history.
15:46And then, you know, that that builds trust because reputation and trust are really big as you're venturing out as an entrepreneur.
15:53And then legally on the legal side, one thing that really benefited me was really taking a hard look at my contract as I got more senior in my positions, because there are opportunities for you to negotiate to for you to negotiate in your contract.
16:09You know, some some benefits so that when it is time for you to transition, you do have some resources that will allow you to focus and invest your time in yourself and you'll still be able to get the benefits of having an income even for a limited time frame, you know, insurance if you have a family and that can can also support you in a transitional period in the same way an investment might be able to do so.
16:34So legal, I think, is really important and getting that financial experience as well.
16:39You are you are good on these answers with the segues to the next question, because the next question is about the people who are afraid to jump ship because they don't have health insurance ready because they don't have a 401k plan for entrepreneurship.
16:54What are some tips, Aubrey, I will start with you to make sure that you can get ready to actually become a successful entrepreneur?
17:01So I think it's really about the budgeting and the financial discipline that you have.
17:07You're going to have to prioritize things.
17:09Me, I have a family of five, I have three beautiful daughters, an amazing wife.
17:14So, you know, it was even more important for me to manage, you know, the resources that were coming into the organization.
17:22And to do that, it just goes back to having the right tech stack.
17:26So leveraging software as a service in places where you can to be more productive, generate more revenue, cut your expenses and really create that vertical integration.
17:37That will allow you to reinvest your money into things that you really need for yourself, for your operation, but also to pay yourself as an employee of the company or however you handle your distribution so that you can take care of your responsibilities as well.
17:52So technology right now affords us the opportunity to cut a lot of expenses and help us scale our business development, scale our investments so that we have those resources ready for those things we really need to take care of.
18:06That's good. That's really good.
18:07And Dia, did you want to add anything there?
18:08Yeah, I would just say it's a real thing.
18:10Like Black and brown people get less than 1.2% of venture capital.
18:14So it's a real challenge.
18:15I think one of the things is just changing our point of view too around.
18:18You have certain cultures where like it's a problem if you don't offer an opportunity to invest in a business, right?
18:23I think we can lean into more.
18:25How are we, you know, how are we each chipping in?
18:28$75 with 20 people.
18:29Like how are we all leaning into each other and investing and building amongst our own community?
18:34I think that's going to be the quickest way to change.
18:36And we are living at a time now where there are other new ventures fund and TPG Next and what's going on at BlackRock and their fund.
18:42So we have a, we're in an unusual time, but we need to double down on it and go out and build commercial success.
18:48Because the best commercial for DEI is actually winning commercially.
18:53There's no zip code that has a lock on genius.
18:55I think we have more talent.
18:56We just need to make sure we're getting the capital to be successful, even if it comes from our own community.
19:01Wow.
19:02I am so sad that we have run out of time, everyone, because clearly these are the right people to talk to.
19:07I want to say thank you so much, Dia and Aubrey, for being here today and providing such honest, incredible, poignant advice for all the budding or new entrepreneurs out there watching.
19:17Before we go, please let everyone know how they can keep up with you and support what you all are doing.
19:22Dia, I'll go with you first.
19:24Yeah.
19:24So, yeah, please follow us at Lobos 1707.
19:28We are majority, minority owned.
19:30So, as you're building out your bar, support minority owned, women owned brands like Uncle Nearest and Ciroc Vodka and Lobos 1707.
19:37And look, I look forward to seeing what you guys are building.
19:39Aubrey.
19:40For sure.
19:41If you're interested in contacting us and need help with social media, e-commerce, digital ads, just visit goalsmediagroup.com and you can get a free consultation and also a free business audit and some tools to help you grow your business.
19:56Thanks for having us.
19:57I love this.
19:58Thank you all so much.
19:59Thank you guys.
20:00Stay tuned, everyone.
20:01There's more Essence and GU Entrepreneur Summit coming up next.
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