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what's up what's up good morning good evening good night good afternoon whatever time you're
listening in wherever you're listening from this is another episode of i will not lose podcasts
let's take a moment you could have been anywhere in the world but you're here
right now let's take a moment be present recognize that it's now right now whether
you're right now is working running driving flying recording your first remote pod in nazareth
there you go let's be grateful we're alive baby yes thank you it can be frightening yeah man
remember failure can be frightening but as winston churchill reminds us success is all
about going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm this is i will not lose
podcast where we proved it set out to prove everything is learned from failure we must
recognize it as one step closer to success i'm your host tony ortiz we're joined by carter
mckinney man what's up hey good morning thank you for bringing the podcast here i know that
this is a little different it's on location normally you know i think you do it at your
home office and yeah it's like 9 10 a.m here so we got the day started on friday um yeah man we're
in the beautiful northeast uh pennsylvania so i was looking back a little bit you're from
pittsburgh originally yes so you rep pittsburgh or no so i so i kind of rep like pa born and raised
because i left when i pittsburgh when i was like under five so i was like very young but so i've
been here the majority of my life i'm 23 about to turn 24 but yeah my whole thing is like pa pa
born and raised because i do travel you know not to like california or anything yet or overseas
but you know like florida atlanta texas you know stuff like that and that's always pa you know i
mean yeah that's what's up man presenting big shout out to quesa the artist he's doing the
same thing videography around uh california he's been shooting stuff all around texas so
i want to get to cali it seems so cool yeah i haven't been there as well i got a an artist
from cali on the show next week shout out to devin haley hey shut up the episode will drop
in a little bit so you got out here i was really fascinated with your story and you've always
sparked me i saw you on facebook and putting some stuff out and really just representing the
entrepreneur hustle you know you do this full-time you work super hard from photography to video to
putting together photo parties that's I met you at a few of the photo parties why don't you tell
tell the guys about that venture okay so yes guys um you know a little bit about me like I said I
was well like Tony said I'm from Pittsburgh you know I lived in Bethlehem for like over 15 years
um I have I've been in business for about five years so I went to Lehigh um sorry Liberty High
School and then I graduated from Bethlehem Catholic and then I went to you know North
Hampton Community College um I went there for a year studied biology and you know business
administration was trying to go the college route but play it safe by going to community college
and then I decided it wasn't for me my grandfather was an entrepreneur as well
Um, he went to Lehigh to be an engineer. Um, and then he ended up owning his own business,
you know, for engineering things. And he taught me a lot of what I know just as a man and as a
business person. And then I carry a lot of that stuff into my work every day. Um, and yeah, um,
as Tony was saying, I have this event called the photo party. It's one of my events that I do with
my partners um so the photo party started as a networking event for models and photographers
creative people in the tri-state area to come to nazareth pennsylvania to my home studio it's like
an open house and i'll have some vendors and things like that and it's a you know safe space
to have fun be productive and network and we've expanded to doing other events as well so i have
a shop small holiday market coming up in december 2nd of 2023 whenever you're watching this
And that is going to be the biggest event ever.
We're going to do over 25 vendors, over 150 people, hopefully.
And that's going to be in Allentown.
So we're just moving around.
We're trying to not just do one location, reach different people and different audiences.
It's like a family thing, you know, support creatives, small business and entrepreneurs.
Super dope, man.
Super dope.
A lot of people get into one lane when they become an entrepreneur and they just have,
you know, one hustle or one service.
how do you find the time to run the full-time business but also you know it's a lot to put
together an event yes it is so um just like tony and i were talking off camera um we're we're
working overtime like it's it's the holidays you know we're working like 12 hour days every day
almost and i you know my girlfriend's entrepreneur as well so she owns a salon in bethlehem it's
called lovely faces shout out my girl ashley um you know she does lashes brows skin things like
that. And she has a big space, um, over there. Um, she's doing great, you know, big boss things.
Um, but yeah, it, it is really hard to run, you know, my own full-time business, my team and
things like that, as well as events. Um, I have investment partners. Um, I have six other guys
that were in an investment group and we do the events together. Um, shout out, you know,
friends, we have Allie and V live and DJ Romeo and things like that. We do events almost once
a week nowadays and um i also help my girlfriend run her business as well and my family of course
that's what's up man yeah big shout out to dj romeo g i see him everywhere yeah he's
crazy shout out to shout out to you romeo hustler that's what's up yeah i want to get
events is always something i would think would be cool to do but even just setting up the live
production even just doing this you know you helped help take me out of the the shell and
get everything set up to take the show on the road put the post out this morning that this is
kind of the direction i want to move and and set it all up so thank you for helping me do the the
first use case man we're locking it in history absolutely first on location pod i will not lose
bah good morning we gotta do big shout out to lawrence right as well at the barber pill yes
you guys are you guys partnered up he's the official barber yes so i basically have this
thing going where i had like the lady does my hair my barber and you know my girlfriend my dj
like i have the official you know everything of mckinney media that's my business if i didn't
introduce it um and yeah so as a marketer it's natural for me to partner with certain people
and put their business out there as i'm traveling and i consider myself like a serial networker
you know and as i'm traveling i you know i'm always trying to sell you know the different
services that i use the companies the people um and just kind of spread that out affiliate
marketing that's super dope man what sort of philosophies you had hit me with a quote when
we were off camera about uh you want to hit them with the quote yeah so quote of the day you guys
so it's one i love it's just i call it um let your footsteps be either invisible or golden so
when you come into a space or you know a situation or you know being in another person's space like
tony today um leave leave that better than you found it or you know or the same you know i mean
don't don't come into a space or a situation or what whatever you know leaving it worse um like
whether it's like physically leaving a space dirty or, you know, whatever it is, or just
bring bad energy or bad vibes. Um, if you have anxiety, if you have stress, if you have,
you know, a problem or you're upset or angry, um, or, uh, you know, a stereotype or something
like that, just leave it at the door. You know what I mean? Like, you don't know who this person
is. You don't know what kind of day they're having. You know what I mean? You might have
had a situation with one, you know, person or a woman or whatever it may be, or a business or
whatever it may be, but you don't know who this person is. So give them a chance.
Wise words, man. Wise words. I think it's important to have some sort of philosophy
or something that drives your business. Some sort of like key thing. I know for me with Tony Ortiz,
the designer was integrity. And that's one thing for the 15 years I've been doing it. I'm always
like, OK, nobody's watching. Am I being on point with my time logs? Am I being realistic with when
I'm spending my time that I'm working efficiently? You know, I always think that like being an
entrepreneur is kind of like a personal development. Like when I went through my 20s and
interviewed and talked to a bunch of successful entrepreneurs in their late 60s or 70s,
I didn't meet a single one that had at least didn't admit it to screwing over a whole bunch
of people in order to get where they were. It was always based on some sort of integrity or
networking or adding value to their network. And then it reciprocates itself. You know,
that's what that's worked well for me. I'm not switching it up. I don't know.
Yeah. How do you feel about that? I don't know. I think that integrity is very important
in business. When no one's watching, you want to be doing the right thing because there's a lot of
people that are strong people, but there's a lot of people that are also, you know, they have
different characteristics, like they're more delicate, they're more sensitive and you don't
want to stomp on those people. You don't want to take advantage. Um, I kind of live my life trying
to donate my time and services and finances to people, to protecting and serving those kinds of
people. Um, so yeah, I, uh, I think integrity is very important. You know, what I live by in my
business is you know share quality with your community that's my slogan um you know do quality
in everything that you do invest in your equipments in your skill set in your character um like right
now i'm in a phase of my life where i'm kind of heavier like i'm a heavier weight and my girlfriend
she goes to the gym like you know three four times a week and whatever so it's made me think like and
her personal trainer is always in my face like oh come work out with us and whenever i try to pitch
like a gym or personal trainer client they're always trying to be like oh come come work out
come work out or we can't work with you basically and i'm like dude like i'm kind of focused on my
business and my finances and my character and other things like i think i know that health is
important but i've kind of been focusing on other stuff and i feel like that's totally okay hey man
it's okay i've gone through i don't know if you've seen pictures of me i used to be 60 pounds heavier
oh shit no twice in my life i was up to close to 240 um and then twice i lost 50 60 pounds and now
i'm back at i'm at like 190 or something like that but so i i can tell you how to do it right
i can tell you how to do it wrong uh my listeners know i have a background as a district 11 wrestler
and we're uh we do some horrible things to our body and like sucking weight and stuff i'll never
go back to that. But I can tell you, man, diet's the most important. Like if you can't get to
exercise and I used to run three miles every day, five days a week, like it's not exercise.
I can tell you, at least for my body, you could exercise like crazy. It's going to make you hungry
and you're going to eat calories versus if you just switch some things, cut out the bread,
cut out things like that but now man i'll help encourage you with with stuff you just take little
steps yeah here and there drink more water and you know do different stuff where yeah i i was
always like man i'm too high i gotta go and run and then i would get obsessed and like next three
years i'd be running so i don't say to do that yeah i used to run a lot too like jogging running
and there was one summer when i lost like 20 pounds alone in just a few weeks um but yeah man
i definitely want to get back into like fitness and you know exercising and being a healthier
person overall and even like going to therapy i think uh this month or last month was like men's
or it's like mental health awareness month or something possibly this month is a national
alzheimer awareness so it's a bit of mental health okay um i think march or may is mental
health awareness okay but yeah man get into that's something i preach for heavy like i was just at
therapy this week feel great i've been working with professionals just uh in that aspect for
years like the goal is not to be in it forever but there's always something you can better
yourself and it's somebody that holds you accountable for stuff that's not gonna like
you know even i'm biased as your friend or as your colleague i'll be biased with something
their job is to be completely unbiased so it's like a sounding board and stuff but
i got a recommendation for some good people too if you want to talk to them yeah word i really
want to get into that because i feel like just as we're talking about health and fitness and
things like that and even like financial you know financial uh health if you will um physical i mean
sorry therapy um is something that i think falls in that wheelhouse as well that's been
underrepresented historically and um i definitely want to participate in that and just grow you know
what i mean like grow my mind grow my heart grow my you know spirit and all kinds of different
things yeah man you gotta grow your energy gotta grow your energy and a big part of it is gratitude
yes that i've found three things you're grateful for like every single day or at least whenever
you can think about it um right now we're filming this in november uh you know thanksgiving i believe
is next week and i always say throughout the whole year i try to be very hyper aware of you
know the fact that tony took his time out today he could have been working he could have been with
his family he could have been you know having fun he could have been catching up on sleep or work
um and he was here filming so thank you thank you for coming today and um you know just the fact
that you don't want to take people's time for granted time is the only true currency that you
can never get back um and it's just it's so important um and being thankful for things even
not on thanksgiving even not on christmas even in a tough situation um my girlfriend and i for a
while every single day waking up hey babe what are three things you're thankful for um so yeah
very important heck yeah man i worked with um shout out to clay green i worked with a coach
the one time that's another thing if you can get a chance to work with a mentor or a business coach
it's so huge in professional development but we had done a lot of work with flow and getting
yourself into that state where you know your brain's not thinking it's like the state that
of skateboarders in before you know tony hawk does the 900 like your brain has to turn off and your
body just goes and you can channel that into your work when your your skills things like that but he
had taught me a lot about gratitude and he asked me what's something you're grateful for and i was
like my wife he's like that's the easiest like how are you going to take your wife you know like
the love of your life that's easy to be grateful for he's like how about that pencil like that tool
that you have on your desk I'm like the pencil I don't know it didn't feel anything to me but
then something clicked with me where I'm like oh my gosh just my headphones when I push play I'm
like thank you for this creator for making music that I can hear and be in this vibe right now
thank you for the photography you know like that's why even when I'm working on my stuff it's like I
don't want to put out crap like I'm not I'm way better at not being a perfectionist but
somebody's going to view this and somebody's going to see it and if it makes a smooth transition for
their eyes and somebody says wow that's beautiful even if they just like it on facebook and keep
scrolling like you were a part of their day that was a privilege exactly exactly just got to care
about stuff you do man yeah exactly like put your everything into it like a lot of the times what
i'm thinking about is being remembered like that what's my biggest fear not being remembered you
know what I mean like having work that outlives you and you know it lives in museums and you know
different art galleries and things like that that is so fire um and just me personally I'm
entrepreneur and a business person as much if not more than being a creative person I am a
photographer but I'm a business person um and I I love playing you know best of both worlds you
know what I mean I dress it up I dress it down I do work at home I do work on location you know
local and afar um and all kinds of things and i have white family a black family you know all
kinds of stuff i love that i i had a conversation with my sister me and my sister are always the
closest but this was a moment where we really understood each other she said you know growing
up half because i'm jamaican and white so growing up half white half black and also you know just
doing creative work and all different kinds of work it allows us to be a chameleon and really
adapt to a bunch of different situations and i thought that that was a very interesting take
and i totally agreed i can relate i was gonna started drafting a book in high school about
chameleonism and just the idea that it's not the best thing that i can say that i've learned
personally about that is if you just be yourself you fit in everywhere exactly there you go
linking together with the equipment but that's the other thing i'm always super grateful for
too man it gets easy when you're a creative entrepreneur to be like why don't i have the
tools like if you go all the way up to hollywood there's always a better tool than what you have
you know what i mean and we're not talking about thousands of dollars we're talking about tens of
thousands of dollars so sometimes hundreds yeah if you get into like a like a red or some
yeah ridiculous red dragon komodo craziness i actually have access to a red though if i want
to learn it or use it or something too but um it's the sort of thing that if you're not grateful for
the tools that you have you're just you're going to be miserable like you're always going to live
in the world that you don't have like it's nuts so i could sit there and be like oh man we don't
have a black magic live studio we don't have a producer to help us with the show but to just sit
there and be like wow you know we built all this we're able to go on location we don't have to show
up to a nine to five today because we have the flexibility to be able to be here on a friday at
10 9 10 a.m and just be working and talking and really sharing real life insights and things like
that with you guys so thank you for listening thank you for watching wherever you are um thank
you yeah absolutely absolutely grateful for listeners i have i only i honestly wonder
sometimes would i do this show even if nobody's listening and the truth is absolutely yes in fact
i try not to get caught up into who's listening or who just sees because you're listening too
you're listening too you know what i mean as you're doing it yeah it's uh actually it's funny
I'll throw back my, I'll shout out my therapist again. We talked about it before I started the
show on whether or not, and I'm like, what's the worst that, what's the worst that could happen
once a week? I try to tell people to think about success in terms of failures and the step towards
it and not as something unachievable that they'll never get. Just in the past year, my mentality of
reinforcing that and taking notes and thinking about real life world examples on how we can flip
bit. And then even just giving a voice to, you know, like a lot of guests that I have, like
the Tug McGraw interview, I'm a huge Tug fan. I've been for years and stuff. So to be able to
provide a platform for him to promote his newest body of work, that was like a dream come true.
That's like super dope meeting you with the photo party and coming in. I remember I walked in
and you guys were recording a podcast in here. I'm like, you know, this is a cool space. And
it was like a rainy saturday yeah it was a sunday and it was like flooding rain and you know i sold
like 60 tickets but i had only 35 people show up um it was actually still a good turnout because
all the vendors made money we all made connections and it was fantastic it was the first one but then
the second one um we had seven about 70 people show up and it was like wow like it was a saturday
this time and we're learning and we're developing and the vendors made like even more money this
time and then now because that's what it's all about i don't make a ton of profit on the events
i probably lose money on the events but for me it's about something that that that's something
that people remember you know a safe a safe space to have fun to be productive to network
to be creative to ask questions to you know expose certain thoughts and share certain things
um you know i buy free pizza stuff like that so if you're local please come by to the photo party
year of one of my events sometimes we have nighttime stuff sometimes we do brunches we do
all different kinds of things and shout out to tony for coming through um he's came through to
both of my photo parties and done videos for both that were fantastic that i helped with to my
youtube and share um so yeah thank you for that really they're they're fantastic and tony does a
lot of uh logo work for me and you know my clients and family and things so you just reminded me i
do owe you that logo i'm gonna get that knocked out after the show no rush i'm not going anywhere
we're here for the long haul and then you got a busy day today you got another live show
or yeah like any minute that someone's gonna be walking in to do another podcast or live stream
hopefully we can all do something together um shout out to my people on tiktok uh live over
there um and yeah i um yeah i love i love studio days i try to pack them up from like 9 a.m to like
six i am gonna step out and get my hair done at some point today um but other than just because
it was like the only day before thanksgiving because she's super booked you go to lawrence
oh you're getting your hair done yeah retwist it up and i got lawrence on monday so you might
have to introduce me to your hair person i think i'm gonna start growing it back out again i gotta
show you old pictures how so like braids or twisties oh i want to start with little like
uh maybe i'll start with like baby locks but i don't know if i want to commit to
growing them all out but but i'm i'm like a all or nothing like you know i was like oh i'm just
gonna get some mics and talk a year later we're going live on location with the sm7b it's like
it's the way i go so if i started i'm probably gonna get into and then just grow them until
they're too long but my wife agreed she's like you've been looking like this for like 15 20 years
yeah and um for a while when i had long hair i still dreamed like even after i cut it when i
would dream i would have long hair so it's just something like it feels like yeah like and i would
be playing with it in my dream and then i'd wake up and be like sad so it's like a part of my
identity i don't know it's like you're gonna go into uh the hair appointment be like i have
i have a dream yeah right do it just like i had it last night in my dream
put something together but i just love uh shout out that's another thing photographers artists
graphic designers get the shout outs but shout out to the cosmetologists barbers that's a that's
a crazy grind yeah it is esthetician anything like that yeah and i've been getting into like
a lot of charitable work and non-profit stuff and i came across this organization that's called
operation address the homeless shout out to tommy and his team out in allentown on 7th street
i i've lived out there for a year and in allentown right a couple blocks away i never knew it was
there so they have these freezers and fridges and you know like shelves and hangers full of clothes
for the for homeless people people experiencing homelessness and displaced people and honestly
it was so beautiful like i got invited to come by and you know we walked in the front door all the
way through the back they have like the laminate wood floors it's two two you know levels two
floors we walked upstairs there's a barber room with two chairs and mirrors full setup and like
i don't know if you guys have ever seen the videos online and it's not about the videos it's not for
the clout but just the being able to see that the fact that they took someone that was homeless with
like real long hair or whatever and like cutting it and you know giving them a fresh cut and like
seeing the transformation i always thought that was so cool so i would try to get lawrence to do
some of that i asked him about it that's super cool i did see that i did see that video shout
out to a couple people i saw on my feed and that's what what's dope you know i go down my feed and
it's not i don't know if we're just getting older it's not people in the club it's all people doing
stuff i think i kind of subconsciously attracted higher energy people i don't know what i don't
want to say higher energy like i don't know just people doing stuff oh okay you scroll down your
feed and it's like okay that person's helping the homeless that person's working with the school
yeah this person's working on their doctorate it's like it's really cool to see well you know
be part of that network that's a good touch point that we could go to because you know i was just
talking to my sister she's going through a kind of tough time in her life she you know went to
school for a while in atlanta and she had a tough relationship and all of it she's out of all of it
now and she's kind of like what do i do and how do i get up every day and like she's going through
some bad mental health stuff too and i'm i'm just telling her that you know you have to really go
out and and have tunnel vision like it's so hard you know what i mean like the concept that no one's
going to look out for you but you is limiting but in certain ways it is true you know I mean
it can be a cold way to look at the world because there's great people and you know neighbors that
will help and random strangers and things like that but at the same time you do have to just
look out for yourself you do have to tone stuff out you do have to say no and you do it to be
selfish sometimes and and there's nothing wrong with that you know I mean something that that's
sometimes hard for me I'm a giver like I just want to give all my time I want to give it away for
free and i want to do it really well super hard but yeah you know you have to there's balance to
all things i saw one thing that uh struck me on that note but uh said never lower your prices to
get a sale because it devalues the people who are paying your price yeah your full price you know
so that's something i try to work into business and all that sort of thing but so you've been
been in business five years what's the next step did you write like a five-year business plan did
you write like a 10-year plan are you rewriting a plan no I didn't write down a plan and I am
someone that would probably be expected to do that but no I didn't do that just yet I sat down
with someone and they were asking me you know where do you want to be when you're 30 which
would be seven years from now for me and I said you know he it was funny because I'm not going to
say who it is but I sat across from this guy so he basically is someone that you could consider
competition he is a big marketing agency in the area and I sat with him and we got breakfast
and I sat across from him and he like he was like kind of getting in my face he was like
you know all this stuff and I was like normally I'm I like to consider myself a strong person
not like strong physically, but like, you know, whatever, I'm not going to take shit, but like,
I kind of welcomed it because it's like, if you're going to be strong with me and, and firm,
like I actually get that. You know what I mean? Like he was like, dude, like, you know, you want
to be a provider for your woman. You want to be a provider and have kids and have a home. And,
you know, I told him that I wanted to make a hundred thousand dollars. And here's the reason
for that. And I don't mean to take in that in my business and all of my ventures, but just for me.
And it's not even about the number. It's about the fact that I don't need a million dollars in my account every year. I want to give away more than I take in, if that makes sense. You know, like it's not about how much I'm making or whatever.
it's about how much i give honestly because when i was hearing about wealthy people and
billionaires and stuff people and you know low and you know middle class they'll talk about how
much they make but i'm trying to talk about how much i give away you know what i mean it's all
about impact i have heard that in circles of and you're not talking about like millionaires and
stuff you're talking about like wealthy people that's all they talk about is how much they give
And it's not about the money even, man.
It's like, it would be great to say that I impacted a billion people instead of like, oh, I'm a billionaire.
You know what I mean?
And I've heard, I've had the privilege of hearing and capturing a billion stories.
You know what I mean?
Well, you do it with the, you do it with the photography and you do it with your service.
But I just, I want to take it.
Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you.
i'm trying to take it from just it being me to like really like almost like making an uber style
app for photography where it's like re like re-navigating the way that you think about it
and would that still have you be accessible to the people that like like one thing i always try
to keep in mind is like accessibility with my pricing you know what i mean like yeah so that's
The skill could be at this or like even if you Google what are the average rates for graphic design, they'll tell you a starting rate is this.
I'm lower than that. But people can get corporate quality photography from you.
That headshot, you don't understand that could get somebody an interview that could get them a job that could change their whole life.
Exactly. And if they can't get that unless they have, you know, seven hundred dollars an hour or something ridiculous, which might not even be ridiculous.
I don't know rates like that. But, you know, I mean, you got to at least I think it's very important to be grateful for what you are doing and who you can help and have that passion, have that goal.
like I'm going to touch this many people, but you don't get to choose, at least in my experience,
you don't get to choose who you influence and who you do stuff. Like most of the most influential
stuff I've done, I was doing just being myself and that's how it inspired someone else. But like
the podcast, I'm like, Hey, people can take something. And people do come to me. They're
like, I get something from every episode. I listened to every episode. I'm like, bet I'm
going to keep doing it and keep going from there and stuff like that. But, you know, the amount of
people you help on the way, they say money doesn't make you anything but more of the person you were
you had before it. So like if I make sure if I have five dollars in my wallet, I'm going to tip
somebody. That's not going to change when I have money. I may just tip more like it's just it's
I don't know. I think it's, I think you're doing a phenomenal job and I think that you're helping
people where you need to help. I think, I don't even think you're all that accessible, but your
value is definitely higher than your price. And that's a, that's a good place to be.
Yeah. And so I had a retain, so I did the retainer model where I'm sure you do, I'm pretty sure you
do it now, but I had the retainer model where, you know, I'm basically an employee, but I'm a
10 99. And, you know, I work with this client every single day, every week, every month, and
I get a guaranteed check at the beginning of the month. And it's, and it was a nice one,
but that, that tied up my work so much. I didn't do any of these events. I didn't get to sit,
like spend time with as many people as I do. I probably wouldn't be able to be here right now.
Um, and it was really, at first I was like, okay, I don't give a fuck that I don't,
that i'm not working with them anymore or not doing it but then it was like damn like that
was a lot of money and that was nice like i missed that and i need to replace this money i'm like
starving but then just like we were talking about earlier i had a price of like 500 an hour for
photography and i'd get paid it you know i mean every once in a while not all the time a couple
times a month right but then i made the hard decision because my business my freelance business
was really struggling i wasn't getting enough bookings and the economy is starting to be
you know kind of not as good and i lowered my price to 200 an hour that's what it's at now
and i get to work with all kinds of different people i get booked a lot more frequently
and it makes a lot more sense for my business and that that was a tough conversation to have
with myself and with my team because i was like oh my god like how am i supposed to you know hire
another photographer under me and still get my percentage inside of 200 you know what i mean
like groceries are so expensive like my grocery bills at least 250 a month you know what i mean
like it's just everything is so expensive and so high and yeah man like it was i felt like man like
mercedes-benz and rolls-royce and all these big brands that i'd aspire to have similarities to
in certain ways they wouldn't lower their price they wouldn't do that but i guarantee that they've
had to in some cases you know i mean not like doing a black friday sale but like lowering their
price in general you know i mean and the economy switches and businesses switch and clienteles and
different things seasons and i think they totally do switch so i'm hoping for the best with that
it's doing great right now i love i'm so happy with my business so it's been really successful
and i appreciate all the positive love and you coming here yeah man definitely i need a gratitude
button i think i don't even know what these buttons do i think if we hit them there'll be
like a laugh track or something let's not let's not hit anything it might blow the podcast yeah
but um no i want to grow that sort of stuff put it together there's definitely i'm grateful for
guests and just the fact that i created something that's what my post said earlier you know
i've got three interviews this week i only drop every other week so we're booked out to like
january this might come out in december or sometime in january yeah my birthday is january
6 so maybe around that shout out to capricorns yeah i'm january 12th oh shit word so we might
have to do a photo party right around like the yeah so i'm planning an event i'm trying to do
something on friday the 5th so the day before in leah valley i always go to like new york or some
other city with like family for like a family dinner and then i'll get like a hotel and stuff
like that um but yeah i think i'm gonna do an event on friday the day before my birthday
man i'll wake up on my birthday and go to the city that'd be dope that'd be super dope i try
to do more celebrating like i'm uh i just did i did something stupid i took myself out to red
rabbit or something and I just told myself order anything on the menu like just go from there and
just as I'm eating the food I'm thinking and I pray a lot I do a lot like I'm so much different
than I was in my 20s and I feel like that's why I finally caught my stride like I'm really
living the stuff I don't create a show and have to this is the thing that I love
I don't have to pretend to be somebody I'm not. The reason why I have rappers, doctors,
entrepreneurs, recovering addicts is because I really connect with these people. They're in my
network. So they're able to come on, have a conversation with me. Nothing is nobody's coming
and saying, man, I see you're getting a million likes. So I want to be part of your show because
this can help me promote something or blow something up like that. Everyone's like, I just
want to have a conversation i've had things where technical difficulties have gone wrong and i had
a conversation with a doctor and i'm freaking out like oh my gosh i wasted your time and she's like
we just had a great conversation wasn't a waste of time you know um i may actually still put that
one out on audio i still have the audio but the the video failed so me being a perfectionist i'm
like let me hide this from the world but well yeah it could be like a little bonus feature maybe
you're on the holidays you put it on spotify and things like that and do a soundbite we'll do
something dope like that for sure for sure but uh you mentioned uh community and having things
in community i wanted to touch before we land on the plane on your coat drive oh okay yeah so
um i don't yet have a non-profit but i do some non-profit things um i partner with
lawrence from the barber pill shout out lawrence the official barber of mckinney media um we did
a backpack drive so a little backstory lawrence i reached out to him because i wanted to do stuff
i follow this guy named luca brazi um you know he has a cannabis brand called gumbo new york guy
very big personality and he talks about going into like times square he's a new york guy he
talks about going to times square and like giving out millions of dollars like a million or a
hundred thousand dollars worth of toys and computers and TVs to, to all kinds of people
for the holidays. And I was like, all right, I'm going to start where I can. So, cause I was
inspired by that. And I was like, okay, I'm going to go and, you know, get as many backpacks and
school supplies as I can. We raised 50 backpacks full of supplies for the community in Bethlehem
and we gave out those backpacks. Um, and then the coat drive that Tony's talking about is,
you know, a season or two, like fall and winter time long, um, coat collection. We have an Amazon
registry, um, you know, for coats, only new stuff. Um, you know, when we're doing charitable work,
we only give away stuff that we would really use or, you know, quality things, nothing used
or beaten down or leftovers. None of that. We want to give people good stuff, great stuff,
um, and make them feel a part of the family. Um, so yeah, we, that the coat drive has been
established for quite some time. I didn't have as much engagement with it as I thought, but
at my events, I'm going to start, um, having like a stand and a flyer and stuff where I ask people
to give, even if it's like five bucks, 10 bucks and we'll get it going. Um, and I'm trying to get
some institutional support too. And hopefully, you know, in the next three months, um, my goal
is to start a 501c3 a non-profit there we go you said the next three months yeah all right i'll
keep track well uh that'll be my goal get this video out get this video out before valentine's
day yeah before valentine's day i want to i want to celebrate valentine's day with having a
non-profit that's super dope it's not something i thought of doing but i do um i do donate work
to this is actually the first time i'm saying it publicly but i donate work to a select non-profit
every quarter and just do something from there yeah sometimes i'll carry for a longer than a
quarter working with the group but i'll just like sit on their marketing chair so like sit on their
board help with marketing donate some time or services yeah that's what i do and um that always
seems to reciprocate itself with networking and things like that but yeah man you're on the right
path and i didn't even realize you you said you're what 23 yeah uh don't let ever let anybody tell
you that you lack experience or knowledge because of that you know you're an old soul
they tried to sun me yeah throughout my 20s you know what i mean they always try to do that i'm
like hell no talk to me like i'm your equal get the fuck out my face boy now if anything you also
have to realize like you come up with a world of technology that sometimes boomers haven't done
you know what i mean and like you're not better than them or worse than them they have a set of
skills that we don't have yeah exactly but you know you you can't put boomers down for not knowing
technology and they can't put you down for not aging you know stuff definitely comes with age
i'm still young myself as well but so many people wish they could have spent their 20s
doing stuff with their legacy, doing stuff as an entrepreneur. A lot of people spend their times
in clubs, on drugs, on alcohol, you know, which is great. Spend your time when you're young,
especially if you don't have any kids, but to go and create the legacy, the hard work and pay your
dues and climb those humps early. Oh man, you just cruise in the rest of your life, man. So
big shout out to what you've been doing. Thank you so much. I have a really big,
like back to that whole impact and being remembered thing i have a huge thing about me where i like
paying your dues like that apart i love that i love it like i want to work my butt off so that i
you know i've earned some respect i've circulated my work into the community i've empowered people
you know help them create businesses a business isn't just a business it's a family you know i
mean there's a family and people behind that humans um and humans struggle businesses struggle
like there's some businesses that made it out of covid there's some businesses that doubled and
tripled and quadrupled in size during covid or more you know there's all kinds of different stuff
and and someone that i've been in in the face of people that were experiencing homelessness six
months ago they said when they were in front of my face and they're coordinating events and all
kinds of different stuff they were just sleeping in a car you know what i mean like you never know
who you're talking to so sometimes it's just about being like super respectful and super you know
considerate and understanding and patient um because whether you you know you're the strongest
person in the room or the weakest person in the room like you just want to be considerate man
because you never really know what's going on and to a certain extent don't let people tell
you shit man you know like you you you got your own story to tell and there's a reason why you
feel that tension in your chest when they said something or whatever um that's your gut telling
you to say something or to get out of a situation or whatever um don't don't sit on your hands with
that you have a story to tell you deserve to be there just as much as anyone else does so yeah man
big proponent of equality and stuff like that and mindset knowing that you're not better than
anyone else but you deserve just as much as everyone else like oh keep it down the neighbor
next door might have a problem okay well i might have a problem if the neighbor next door is a
problem because i want to have fun and i pay to be here just like you do you know what i mean
so stuff like that it's duality my neighbors play music super late i go to bed at like 10 30 i'm
in bed early and i'm up super early but at the same time i know at seven in the morning when
i want to bump some trap because i'm getting ready because i'm getting a logo on or whatever
i thought you were gonna i thought you were gonna look at me crazy because we were listening like
some Lil Wayne and Rick Ross and all kinds of shit like 21 Savage Mad Loud yeah because it
was mad loud and like I don't know my girlfriend hates it do I come off as that professional
no like no you are professional but I you know I don't know sometimes everyone's different like
I said so I just do me that's what I would have done that's what I do so that's what I did you
know so I I'm gonna tell you and we'll start to land the plane but I want to tell you a quick
story. I was in a, I was networking a lot in my twenties. And at the same time I was putting out
music, I was putting out rap and I was working with rappers to put out mixtape covers and stuff
like that. And somebody had said to me, uh, you know who you are, shout out to you, man. You're
some of the best advice you ever gave me. But they said my portfolio was too hip hop for the room
that nobody was really interested in my style of stuff like that. And I should look to get
towards more corporate stuff. So I thought, okay, this is me, this is my style, but this is honest
feedback. So let me see what I can do. And I've always tried to mix in a little bit of corporate
stuff. There's a reason why it works, but I kept doing the nightlife flyers. About a year later,
I was in a networking group that I had went to. I just had an argument about why are you doing all
these networking groups? I'm like, my time is coming. I'm standing next to a guy and he owns
like a media buying group. And I introduced myself to him. I introduced myself to his wife
and I'm showing his wife some of the stuff that I do. And I get a call like a day or two after
the meeting, like, Hey, I just closed a deal with Sands Events Center. This was what used to be
the wind crease. We want to have you, you know, my wife actually said that you should throw your
name in the hat for it. So I bid against, I don't know, six or eight other designers. And I, it was
like a Friday like this. I just had time. I knocked it out in about eight hours. One day I knocked out
the concept, sent it back, but long story short, I got the job. And the reason why they said they
went with me was because of my background in the nightlife that sans audience was baby boomers and
college kids nightlife that was what their stuff wanted so they had actively sought out my brand
and my style that just ended it staying true to who you are everything was corporate from then
on because i was able to show them look i've worked on a global brand like i was in my 20s
and stuff but that switched for me it was like you're gonna respect me you're gonna respect my
craft you know um and i did dial back some of the you can't just go and make everything hip-hop and
corporate like there's a even mainstream hip-hop has a very clean polished look to it i think like
travis scott or something like that like there's an i hate when they call it urban but there's an
urban style you know and you figure out where you want to go and what makes you feel good and what
community you got into to help and to start with from the same but yeah man just be yourself
long story short absolutely unapologetically you because no one else can do it like you no one else
is you so do you well i say we throw on some lil wayne or some kanye i don't know is kanye
canceled i don't think so i still listen to kanye he's a little crazy but he's been through a lot
he's been through a whole lot oh man we can do a whole other episode on he's also a genius so
give kanye his his credit it's uh it's messed up it's messed up man like we'll have a whole other
maybe a mental health we'll do a we'll do something on yeah i feel bad for kanye's story
i feel like he doesn't i don't know if he's just totally against medicine or if he feels like he
can't create without it or what but i don't know but hey man this has been i will not lose podcast
we prove out the set that everything is learned from failure we must recognize it is one step
closer to success hope you enjoyed our hour with carter mckinney entrepreneur photographer
philanthropist legend man legacy in the making legacy in the making so um the qr code will show
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