S7E2 - Riding Life's Hook; Turning Setbacks into Launchpads #Watch4TheHook!!

Imagine stumbling upon a life-altering realization: all the challenges, unexpected turns, and sharp hooks life throws at you are not setbacks, but opportunities for creativity and growth. 

That's precisely the epiphany Micheal and Tatiana had, leading to their movement: 'Watch4TheHook.' Together, they're shining a spotlight on the behind-the-scenes struggle and the beauty of turning life's hooks into inspiring stories. Join us as we navigate their journey, balancing creative pursuits and mental health, and the critical role a supportive partner plays in it all.

Every entrepreneur has a unique story, a series of missteps, lessons learned, and victories won. Micheal and Tatiana are no strangers to this narrative, having braved the stormy seas of entrepreneurship. They've turned their horror stories into lessons, sharing insights about the importance of consistent work ethic, the value of constructive criticism and the power of resilience in the face of adversity. There's a wealth of wisdom in their experiences, from strategic brand development to the surprising role their young daughter played in their last shirt design.

Chasing dreams and taking risks is not a journey for the faint of heart. But as Micheal and Tatiana reveal, it's passion, a strong mindset, and adaptability that fuel the entrepreneurial spirit. Tune in as they share their aspirations, and their experiences of working through a pandemic. Together, they emphasize the importance of finding the right people, staying updated with changing dynamics, and always being prepared for unforeseen circumstances. If you're seeking a blend of inspiration, practical advice, and genuine conversations – this is the episode for you.

WHO ARE THE PARKERS?!?

In May 2019 Micheal & Tatiana Parker were hit with a hook. A devastating cancer diagnosis filled them with fear and doubt, and the unknown crippled them. For a moment; Micheal, who was diagnosed couldn’t move much and had to lay down and sit for long periods of time.  But during talks with Tatiana, they decided that their time of great pain and suffering would be a perfect time to research and start building a business that would not only leave a financial legacy for them, but a legacy for their children,

Transcript

Talk Shit With P

Speaker 1 0:00

Like when Paula talking about that talk shit with P Paula's talked about mentally it's not okay to be done bad and it's not okay to hold it in. So now you're giving people an outlet to say a you know, I've been through this, that and whatever and I've Persevere, I fall through it. We're giving them that same Strategy, just on the business. Be like, listen, don't flush money down a damn toilet like we did. We didn't know it was a Hand. We didn't know the hand turn it towards.

Speaker 2 0:35

It was like a porta potty when you think about it.

Speaker 1 0:38

Oh, you know, the motherfucker's starting.

Speaker 3 0:40

Yeah, hi, shit talkers, welcome to talk shit with me, and I am your spola the shit talker. I mean, don't you all like talking shit anyway? Are you a creator? If so, you are in the right space. Talk shit repeats a place where we showcase and celebrate the talents, works and stories of creative minds from all walks of life. We're also raising awareness for mental health through providing a supportive space to share their stories, insights and experiences. We will be discussing creative journeys, the high lows and the ways we manage our mental health. Through it all. Join us each week for inspiring conversations, useful resources and a community of like-minded creators as we dive into the minds of creative beings to explore their journeys, struggles and triumphs. So, whether you are seasonal, creative or just starting out, talk shit repeats the podcast for you. We are back season 7 and, oh my god, my co-entertiana. Welcome to talk shit with me. You guys are my first season 7 recording is because my morning gets cancelled. Say all of the first ones, so yeah.

Speaker 1 1:59

We need to watch for the hook.

Speaker 2 2:01

We ain't there first, so we just gonna go on and set the tone for the rest of the season.

Speaker 3 2:05

Okay, Decide if people won't be tuning into me For this shit, okay I.

Speaker 1 2:27

Tell you by we like inflation, we going all the way up in 2023.

Speaker 3 2:32

Amen, amen, amen. So I met Michael and Tatiana. I believe it was Last year, towards the end, right mid last year. Yes, thanks to Adams bootcamp and you know the official family now I've been on their live on IG and Now they finally get to come and hang out with me on talk shit with P. What's so fun? How you're doing.

Speaker 2 2:59

Good, good, good. We're good. How about yourself?

Speaker 3 3:03

You know I'm kicking, I'm chilling. It's been raining today, so Can you give us the Watch for the hook? Can you give us where this watch for the hook came from? The math of it all?

Speaker 1 3:19

I live. Miss Parker, I Got you.

Speaker 2 3:24

So this is what we do all the time, so watch for the hook Basically came. Well, first of all, mike use the hashtag like years and years and years ago, and I'm gonna date him now years and years and years ago like my seven. Yeah, and he would use that hashtag when things were happening around us in the community, like it was some real serious type stuff that we felt like people probably weren't paying attention to, so it would be like human example, right like chalk punk ass getting elected.

Speaker 2 3:59

President, watch for the hook you know, but yeah, like it started like that. So Eventually Mike ended up getting a diagnosis of kidney cancer, like over the course of a weekend, like a Saturday night.

Speaker 1 4:13

They tried to take me out.

Speaker 2 4:16

That Saturday night like he became ill and his kidney was gone like the next day. They don't go on Oregon gone Like.

Speaker 1 4:23

I ain't got a one can't even use.

Speaker 2 4:25

You know they keep me trash. Can you use that kidney no more.

Speaker 1 4:36

Beasts, don't try to. How the fuck does this happen? They, like you, supposed to be shriveled up and dying, and I'm like no, I ain't going no way.

Speaker 2 4:43

And so when he was in recovery, like he was in recovery and I was like you know now, now is the time for you to do your research, pits or get off the pipe and I barely could piece at the time. Really good, really good. And you slow flow stream. You know it's real a player.

Speaker 1 5:05

Don't call it low flow. They might think something really wrong with me, I mean the scene is over she said low flow.

Speaker 2 5:16

No, he didn't research while he was recovering because he couldn't do anything. So we were like we are hit with a hook. What's the best way for us to be able to incorporate this into our lives, build something that would be sustainable for our kids and be able to have have a legacy, starting up and going for them? And we he came up basically with the apparel on. That's where it came from.

Speaker 1 5:42

I Like to sometimes say the washwood hook is my fourth child, because I got three girls on some screws. So now I got four daughters. But, I tell anybody till today if I had a woman on the side of me and got shit like.

Speaker 1 5:58

Like real talk like some people want to say they get married and they just think about it's for the easy times in the high roads. When I say we've been through valleys, deserts, earthquakes and tsunamis, yeah, that's the hooks. Like the easy shit is fun, yeah, but I also tell people I can piss my wife off professionally and personally and under five minutes.

Speaker 2 6:22

Yeah that's true. We're working together like, and then add me in the podcast layer and adding so much that we really be with each other all the time.

Speaker 1 6:35

Did the homie man, did the real home right here, as they say in the hood, did the real home?

Speaker 2 6:41

I mean.

Speaker 1 6:43

I keep looking everybody else's Just she right here. Yeah, she ain't playing like I.

Speaker 3 6:50

Think it's so special to have your partner be your best friend, your business partner, yeah, like Everything in one. You know, it's admirable. That's why some of us are still on the streets, because we try not set up for something like that. We're just selling for for no half-half shit, you know.

Speaker 1 7:10

No, paula ain't selling for shit. But the best of the best, paula said if you ain't the cream, the top, get the fuck away from me. I'd heard tell them people like you. Fine, but you try, you might be God. We've been married to a summer.

Speaker 3 7:40

That's my age, before my idea, along with us together.

Speaker 1 7:44

So I met her October 2002. I was a fresh young book after I didn't graduated with my degree. I'm out here in the street hanging out, having a very good time in life.

Speaker 3 7:59

Oh, I enjoy.

Speaker 1 8:12

And put on the phone. She know I was better than she ever gonna have like.

Speaker 2 8:18

So long time, lots of you 20 we've known each other now and been friends now for 21 years Between the Never he say.

Speaker 1 8:34

Sometimes I say she like.

Speaker 3 8:41

Some of us have missed the opportunities of that. I mentioned your all those days, and probably your second wife or third, and this point I don't know what kind of damn we get.

Speaker 1 9:03

Hey, john, tell us it is cheaper to keep.

Speaker 3 9:12

It's true, cuz that me the singer needs more the wife they've been. Every time we think they're about to get a divorce. Then they check that 360, like we're gonna give it one more chance. Like okay, hanging there, I know you all couldn't separate your ships.

Speaker 1 9:33

I got to a low try to build an empire. Some like she. You gonna have to make this thing work. Screw that shit.

Speaker 3 9:42

Oh. So let me ask you guys right as you say, the watch for the hook started as a hashtag, literally, and it went into an appeal line. But so what made you all decide to be like fuck it, we are getting into the podcasting world as well. What was the inspiration behind the podcast?

Speaker 1 10:00

You want me to tell the real truth.

Speaker 2 10:03

But keep it cute okay no names don't drop names, cuz we love.

Speaker 3 10:14

I'm.

Speaker 1 10:27

So last year around June, july, we were working working with a marketing Person and they tried us a certain Phenomenal fee, which means monetary. We paid them up front with both services and rendered. And by the time the services came to be rendered when I mean the bill would do we need to see the results. The motherfucker, we're gone.

Speaker 1 10:52

Yeah but in between that, the person suggested that you are should try a boxing podcast and y'all should try to talk to old retired boxes. And I said, for the hook is a boxing term, no, people get hit with the hook, literally and figuratively all the time. But also I already know these young cats, or young, ain't checking for some old ass boxes Washed up and done so, man Ortiz, and Stop doing dumb shit.

Speaker 2 11:36

Yeah, but you think they're gonna sit down and listen to us. Try and talk to Boxers. That still does not. That's, that does not resonate with the brand yeah. So he was hoodwinking us the whole time and like all the while, like Swindling us because you pretended like you knew us. So it was just a misstep in in a business venture, which is where it came from, because, after Mike and Aunt crazily During this time when we were being screwed with no Lou, okay, I told Mike.

Speaker 1 12:17

Rise for.

Speaker 2 12:24

I saw Mike, you need like we gotta define what the hook really is. And so, from from getting like Done so wrong and essentially stolen from, we were actually able to really sit down and define who he did it and and he knows the business so well in the brand, so well, he did it in minute, so cool. So that lets me know that's something we should have done a long time ago. But when we defined it we were really able to like kind of pinpoint, like the brand is about, yeah, the hook, but what is the hook? Unforeseen circumstances in life. So when we decided to do the podcast which the podcast is my favorite piece I was like the brand is about bad crap in life or just crap You're not prepared for life.

Speaker 2 13:14

The podcast is gonna be about that same shit you deal with on the business side. So we talk about those circumstances we weren't prepared for one, ready for on the business side as a result of working and creating the brand. So it's basically the mirror image of it. So we get to tell our horror stories and tell people like don't go that path or that that was a red flag, that was an alarm. You know, look out for that. So that's kind of.

Speaker 1 13:41

That's kind of how it happened yeah we basically get free game at most of the point the game, some of the game we got now ain't free. We'll get that in a little bit. But what we try and get people to understand is is that we have to learn from each other. Like when Paula talking about that talk shit with P Paula's talked about mentally it's not okay to be done bad and it's not okay to hold it in. So now you're giving people an outlet to say, hey, you know I've been through this, that and whatever and I've Persevere, I'll fall through it. We're giving them that same strategy, just on the business, be like listen, don't flush money down the damn toilet like we did. We didn't know it was a credit, we didn't know the hand turn it towards a porta potty when you think about it you know the motherfucker's starting.

Speaker 2 14:35

Yeah, like Up front. But yeah, I mean, when you dealing with criminals and crooks, that's what you get, yeah, but you know this is something I'll ever practice.

Speaker 3 14:48

To lose money, like I know sometimes you're like God, I did not need to go through that to learn the lesson I learned, but also I get it. But couldn't they be like a, like a smooth road to the, to the issue? Like I have to lose all this money for me to learn that I could actually fucking do this by myself in single minutes, like. But then he gave you the idea, because even me, when you say basketball, just because it's watch for the hook and the hook is, I'm like now I can't see you having a podcast about interviewing. Oh, basketball, I don't see that, I don't see it in the brand idea and everything. But so sometimes it does take them Getting screwed for you to.

Speaker 1 15:38

Unfortunately, that's how it works.

Speaker 3 15:40

Yeah, yeah, to be like Gama wheels turning, gamma wheels turning, but yeah it also helps get you to be, to understand where your actual weaknesses are, but also know the strengths that you didn't even think you had. And those strengths end up knowing you into your, into your passion, into your path, because we're gonna get to that. I know there's a lot that ended up coming out from you, learning from your mistake, where now you're becoming the teacher of that issue, because you had to go through that. But also, honestly for you guys, you guys started your like your podcast is which I just Just stunned one, right literally, and it's been 58 Episodes. That's, that's fucking impressive.

Speaker 3 16:26

Yeah, what's helps with you guys consistent? Because, right, you gotta. Because they do say that people don't make it to two, to two, three episodes, nearly 10. So to make it to 50 episodes in one year, it's, it's impressive crap for yourselves. But what also gets you guys to be consistent, because that consistency is is a mother fuck. In this industry, there are days where I do not want to post, I do not want to publish, I do not want to promote a fucking episode my a bitch got to do. That's my baby and I gotta take out my baby.

Speaker 1 17:08

I would say, having a woman like her, who she works a lot of back-end stuff and, like Paula can understand, she works. If you don't have a website or a podcast, she does a lot of back-end stuff that doesn't get seen me. I'm the social media person so I'm always like I listen, we sit down. It's like literally like three or four minute production. We be like, alright, so this weekend we record on Sundays, more than likely put out on Wednesdays. We'll be like, alright, somebody got us tired of this Sunday. Some. We got two girls that go two different ways and like, yeah, in their sports and academic knowledge, so we have to divide and conquer. So what we do is we'd be like, alright, we know this Sunday sucks, next Sunday suck alright. Four o'clock, six o'clock on a Wednesday, me and you gonna record two to three batch episodes.

Speaker 1 18:04

Right, talk about that relevant, real shit and have them step, because we know our lives are chaotic as hell. You know, I think right now we would just sit in a disgust like a real topic the other day and I said you know some, I Feel like I want to talk about this. Yeah, and I think it's something that think you can probably relate to, to the quote-on-quote imposter syndrome Like this one me helps me do some real gangster shit. But we real humble about this shit. But I really want to say you motherfuckers just don't know what's coming. But I really can't feel like that. I mean, you know, I don't want to.

Speaker 3 18:50

We love the humble brag on talk shit with me, because this shit ain't easy. This shit ain't easy.

Speaker 1 18:56

I'm looking behind you. I know the. I know what it takes to get that behind. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know what that takes. Every motherfucker may not. Yeah, we know what that takes. It takes a bunch of blood, sweat and tears, some late nights from early morning, some goddamn it. I gotta use this other Financial means to do what I fuck I need to do.

Speaker 2 19:19

But even even with our topics like our topics are very Fun off of those like instances that just happened, like yesterday or the day before or this past week. This is what I continue to see. So let me, let me really look at this and like wrap it up and make sure it's it's presented right so that we can talk about it. And half of them come from, like me, random raisin, because I'll throw a bitch fit in a minute. And there you go. Here comes the wind. They dropped Hotchana probably threw a bitch there.

Speaker 1 19:57

No, not maybe a problem, but it may just happen.

Speaker 3 20:00

I love it and I feel like that also comes into play with picking the right co-host. I mean, if you live in the same house with your co-host and you kind of like you can even be in bed and be like you know, I bring up those mics and help us. Let's get one quick, real in right.

Speaker 2 20:18

There's a lot of talk that happens. It'll be like late at night. We've been sipping cocktails and beverages and I'll be like and then he'll be like oh, that's a good one, it talks about online. Yeah, they need to hear this.

Speaker 3 20:34

I like me, was to first look for friends and be like yo. I found a topic and I think this will be perfect for you. And then the next thing, it's a whole month and I'm like that excitement went dead. But whenever I stop it, so about myself, anytime it just comes in, I don't care what time I work out, record.

Speaker 3 20:52

I've been working on my book because I hate writing, so I record myself and I was going to record just out, just by recording them as videos, so that later everything is content, when I decide to promote the book, I can use the spaces to promote it. So what I do is I get lazy to talk about the shit I want to talk about, whether I'll smoke my blunt and have my beer and sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm like I'm ready, I bring on my lights, I sit and for now, like literally my recordings have written the time I recorded them in the day it's always 1am, 2am, 6am, 5am, and I just start to talk for now and I'll be like OK, talk for another blunt, I'll be back.

Speaker 1 21:42

You get ready to try to set up your dispensary. If you're looking for some investors, just holler at us. We'll help with the Paula Strain. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 21:51

You know what I'm saying. Welcome to my talk show.

Speaker 1 21:56

We'll help with the Paula Strain. If you're looking for an angel investor, we'll sign an investor. We'll help you with the Paula Strain.

Advice for Starting a Business

Speaker 3 22:05

Which one should I, you know. Speaking of that, you're making me jump into my next question, which is you guys do, like you do, help move ideas into implementation. So what advice would you give to someone like myself? Maybe, let's say we are talking about starting that, Paula Strain, this is not officially announced. Ok, I don't want people coming out and coming ready for my bird. But let's say, somebody like me, like you know, right now I have a good concept, but I struggle with the first step. So what advice would you give somebody? For Because you know people have a lot of ideas it's taking that first step that actually puts them in a position where they can now start applying the consistency and the growth and that. So what would you say the first step would be to somebody?

Speaker 1 23:04

So my biggest tip is the tip that I got taught Check your ego with the dough. That was the main thing. So when we went through brand development for the parallel in 20 was 20 to the one. Yeah, yeah, check your ego to the dough. That's no more. Yeah, I'm going to tell you. I told the woman that helped us my name drop. So some Maya.

Speaker 3 23:37

I'm going to let you continue over there. When you mention name drop, you remind me that you guys confuse me, that I forgot to ask something, the person who took the money and ran away, that we didn't drop me. Do I know that person by any chance?

Speaker 1 23:50

No, no, no, no, no no no.

Speaker 2 23:53

I hope nobody now.

Speaker 3 23:55

Oh, okay, continue.

Speaker 1 23:57

I'm going to say like this you ain't, you're not in the same geographical region, so I know we don't know yeah. And also we call you on so many social media platforms.

Speaker 2 24:06

that person ain't a mutual friend between either of us, so we are Because, if they were, I would have been like you need to stay the fuck away. Yeah, I would have.

Speaker 3 24:16

The morning guys would have come in.

Speaker 1 24:20

It takes you red flags, yeah.

Speaker 3 24:23

Good looking out. Now let's get back to that, to the important name dropping. No more hair time for some fake bitches, you know.

Speaker 1 24:33

Fuck boys.

Speaker 2 24:34

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 24:36

So Maya Gray is one of our basically not like a 99% designer.

Speaker 2 24:41

Yeah.

Speaker 1 24:42

And she was still brand development in 2021. Yeah, and one of the first things she explained to us was check your ego, because what you think you are, you are not.

Speaker 2 24:56

You are not yet Not yet.

Speaker 1 24:58

But you're not there yet yeah, and so I said damn Titan.

Speaker 2 25:05

Yeah, it hit me.

Speaker 1 25:06

It hit me a sudden time because I said watch for hookers of brand. No, he was like nah, I ain't. And I was like damn. And then I started listening and I was like it's not where I thought it was. And up in here, you know, in my mind, in my mind, I'm Hercules, right, but in the world I'm the little dude that was walking by her.

Speaker 2 25:28

Yeah, you like.

Speaker 1 25:29

Nobody know who the little dude was.

Speaker 2 25:31

Jay is trying to get up the beach, though.

Speaker 1 25:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah it was James.

Speaker 2 25:35

It was James and the giant beach.

Speaker 1 25:37

Oh, I ain't never listened to that one. Jack and the beans, though, no come on, you are out.

Speaker 2 25:44

So, that's two different books. Oh my bad, I ain't read one. That's the hook. Only read one.

Speaker 3 25:51

Clearly we know it's very, then who's not Okay?

Speaker 1 25:55

Only read one. So that would be the number. One thing is, I would say don't put yourself. But they say don't put the carriage before the whore. Yep, the whore was the carriage and forgot about the horse Because I thought we was the sheep.

Speaker 2 26:13

Yeah, no, but then when you, working with the right person, they will be able to or they should be able to, point out all of those, those missing pieces, and you, as the person that's on the end trying to get to where you're going, you need to be open and receptive enough to take that scene back.

Speaker 1 26:37

Hey, Paul, I got the same. I got the same. I said, I'm gonna kill him with this one. Three weeks later, the mother fucker still alive. That means that idea. It didn't do what I thought.

Speaker 2 26:52

What you thought it was going to do. So, like he said, check your ego at the door. Period. And my biggest thing I harp on is you have to do their research, because if it doesn't, if it doesn't go where you think you should go, or accelerate as fast as you think you should, because in your head you like this is 1000. This is going to hit, but out there in the world it might be like that's a dude. So that's going to determine Do you keep going, do you work harder or do you stop Like? So do your re, check your ego and do your research, just to start. And if you're not willing to do that, don't talk to me. Period. Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 3 27:33

Yes, ma'am, yes ma'am.

Speaker 1 27:37

Hold up now, hold up there like.

Speaker 3 27:42

I need to go do my research on my first train and then some talk to you. I won't come before that. Yes, ma'am, I had you.

Speaker 1 27:56

I think the main thing that we learned is that the us in 2023 was the us we needed in 2019. Me and Tatiana had too many mentors. We got a couple of them now the past year or so, but in 2019, we always tell you we jumped off the cliff. No parachute, no, nothing. When somebody comes and says, man amen, how y'all get your business to who financed our business? We say my pocket, who y'all get your money from Me?

Speaker 2 28:28

My limpy pocket.

Speaker 1 28:30

They be like hey, man, who came up with your concepts? Me and her. We kind of bounced them off our kid, I'll tell you, like our last shirt, when our last shirts came from our youngest daughter.

Speaker 2 28:41

Yeah. I mean you know that's how we worked it. She was listening to one of the calls one day we were on and when we got home she was like mama got the next idea. I was like what? And she said I was like, ooh, oh, that's a good one right there. So, yeah, yeah, very much involved.

Speaker 3 28:59

And I was like man, and it's true, like you know, when I started podcasting I didn't know any of this shit and I did my research. And I know most people keep on saying outsource, outsource. But not everybody has the funds to outsource everything. And I like that. Even if I can outsource, I want to at least know myself some little bit. That way, when I go to outsource somebody, I know exactly what I'm paying or what you're worth, because I know exactly what you're supposed to do, because I have an idea, just like when I go to talk business. If I bring my business to you and I want you to turn it from an idea to an implementation, I should also have done my research to know like, ok, this is what I've done, but, as you say, leave my ego at the door because you're the experts, so I should allow you.

Speaker 3 29:43

Just because I did my research doesn't mean that's how it's going to go. And I've come to realize just as well, like going to conferences and joining these communities and attending these woodcams. I've also realized the importance of mentorship and coaches. If you can afford it, you don't have to have four coaches at the same time. You got to make a plan. What is more important to you right now, what you need to attack right now get a coach of that who can help you. If you can't get a coach, look for mentorship, join communities. There's different ways to outsource without actually outsourcing. But I think most people are just lazy as fuck. They want the dream. They don't want the work that comes with getting the dream.

Speaker 2 30:30

That's right, you took the word out of my mouth. They want all of that like instant gratification.

Speaker 3 30:38

But if it's not happening now, then I don't want it. But OK, it ain't going to happen now. You clearly don't want it.

Speaker 2 30:47

You don't have 200 million followers. So, no, it's not going to happen. You're going to have to put a little bit of work in, like seriously, so don't let that deter you.

Speaker 3 30:59

And even the followers, like I know, sometimes they're good for cause. I know some accounts. We still have to be a certain follower to be able to start making money from there. But I've seen people as long as if you have a good product you're selling or service you're providing, it's not the followers, it's more engaging on your communities and turning them into paid cause. People are making more money with younger audiences than and now you can even buy the damn blue tick, so you don't need followers to get a blue check. I have so many people I know of me just right now. When I'm back in the days when somebody liked my post with a blue check, I'd be like who the fuck is doing this. But now blue checks are all over my page. It's disgusting and I'll say the equivalent of filters.

Speaker 2 31:53

now I am instantly beautiful.

Speaker 1 31:55

Yeah, I would say this about social media it is not even a double, is sort of more. There are so many social media platforms that mind fucking people that it's just a whole whirlwind blade. It's just getting spinning and we realize that blade steady turn. It ain't in and out, it's just in a circular motion. It's just changing your ass up all the way through Because, like you were saying, people have now gotten to the point and even you know I'm gonna touch on this AI subject. It's to the point now. It's people that honestly take these AI pictures and think that's them.

Speaker 2 32:30

What the fuck are they doing? That's true, yeah. Or the AI does a projection of what they could have done in their life. And now they clearly done none of it, because they may or may not be trash, and now they are feeling some type of way that they didn't live up to the AI standards. I'm like, oh my god, fuck these three terminators, you need me.

Speaker 1 32:55

Fuck these three terminators you out here. Look at these pictures in child. I'm just confused, Like who the fuck is that? That's definitely not you. Listen. I'm 40 some years old. I'm cool.

Speaker 3 33:09

I don't even know how to use these AI programs. The only one I use is chat GPT, and that's because sometimes I write something and I be like, can you make it extra fluffy for me or something or episode title, but like going to the images and the deep, fake voices and all that, I'm like I do not have time and energy for all that. Clearly, I know where my strengths are and right now everybody is trying to jump in that water. I'm like, okay, I'll concentrate when I know my strength is and once I make the money I'll just say you ought to do that shit. You all keep learning how outs were set.

Speaker 1 33:48

Me and Tatiana talk about it like this Nobody's going to love you like you.

Speaker 2 33:55

No, you ain't going to love your business either, like you Exactly. They're not going to understand it, they're not going to be able to speak to it Like no.

Speaker 1 34:02

Like we, somebody I would say like this I heard these lines before. Watch for the hook is like watching for the hook.

Speaker 3 34:10

What the fuck does that?

Speaker 1 34:11

mean Like that's a whole testimony video. And the motherfucker said watch for the hook is like watching for the hook.

Speaker 2 34:18

And we did not ask you to do that video. What the fuck, come on.

Speaker 1 34:22

And you gave me that.

Speaker 2 34:24

Okay, I will throw my flip floppy shoe.

Speaker 2 34:28

But let me tell you, oh my God, and I'm going to say this and I'm going to get off this soapbox, because I can get on this soapbox, that entity I won't say male, female or whatever that entity did us so far that the podcast was our outlet to be able to tell people certain pieces of your business. Don't let go of certain pieces. You, and only you, need to run for as long as you can until you have someone grown Okay, what to say? Prodigy? Until you have someone that in line, don't hand it off, because we handed it off on a silver platter with the expectation that they were going to do what they line as they said they were going to do.

Speaker 3 35:23

In the same love that you have it, but it's not.

Speaker 2 35:29

Yeah, and you think that you're paying a nominal fee and they're going to live up to it, when actuality, they were trying to pad a pocket so they could get ready and move. No, no, so we learned a hard lesson.

Speaker 1 35:43

That part.

Speaker 2 35:44

And the podcast was the outlet about the screw jobs that happen on the business side. So, yeah, so I thank him, her, it, they, them, all of it. Llt is cool.

The Importance of Skills and Mindset

Speaker 3 36:06

And it's funny because we, we, we have been talking about the revolving and growth, and the social media is in the air. So, um, in this rapidly revolving world of business and entrepreneurship, what would you say are some of the essential skills or mindset to believe as well?

Speaker 1 36:32

as the social media.

Speaker 3 36:35

I think we go first Some of the skills we believe. Oh, mindset.

Speaker 2 36:41

You know, sometimes having your mindset on the right direction is what matters, because you might have the skills, but if your mindset is not so, I think the biggest thing that a person should be is to be receptive of negative and positive feedback or direction. If it's positive, great, take it and keep running.

Speaker 3 37:10

We can.

Speaker 2 37:13

Yeah.

Speaker 1 37:13

When somebody say your shit sucks, don't get mad, don't get mad you don't have that mic.

Speaker 2 37:19

You don't have that. Why are you hating? On me, I'm just saying I need to figure out at that point, as the business owner is going to figure out Okay, what's the demographic to this person? What is it about them that that doesn't like what I do? Was it that particular post? Was it that particular product? Was it a color scheme that I've never used? Was it at the time frame? Was it the fact that they 20 to 40 or they 45 and like? Take all of that and learn from it.

Speaker 1 37:49

So she went apparel. I'm going to go podcast wise. I think we're going to have a bad episode. We had motherfuckers got crickets, but what does that mean? Does that mean it was a bad episode? No, it just means you dumb some bitches missed out.

Speaker 1 38:09

You missed the point. Yeah, you too low on the high spectrum to understand this shit free. I tell people all the time there's a certain line, I'm not going to use the name. They're like would you take a million dollars? I have a million dollars. If you take another dinner with any rich motherfucker, over a million dollars. You missed the whole boat Because there was a person that said I got a small business loan for my daddy for a million dollars and he's a billionaire. So if a billionaire tells you to take the motherfucker money, dumbass take the motherfucker money.

Speaker 3 38:46

Definitely I'm taking the motherfucking money Once I flip it. I have so many dinners in my house. He'll be asking to have dinner with me.

Speaker 1 38:56

That's for me. Me and you can sell dope together, mike the Paula Strain. That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 39:03

We're going to sell the Paula Strain Legally, legally.

Speaker 1 39:08

Okay, we're going to sell the Paula Strain together. They need a store called yeah, that's what I'm saying, like it's people to have social media arguments on that topic.

Speaker 3 39:19

That tells me that's what I'm saying. What, what, what, what, what thing is the billionaire going to tell me dinner that I haven't already had? In all his interviews or seeing? Or he got rich by having a trust fund. Okay, give me my trust fund. Let me go get rich, then we'll sit down and have dinner and talk about it.

Speaker 1 39:42

Let me flip it just like he fucking did.

Speaker 2 39:45

That's what I was going to say. The problem, the problem with what you had going on, was probably you couldn't make money.

Speaker 3 39:52

You couldn't make money, you couldn't make money, you couldn't make money, you couldn't make money. You can keep your dinner, because once I had that billionaire, whatever I was having for that dinner, I can have times four in the comfort of my own home. However but that's true I feel like people like to just have stupid arguments out of the sec.

Speaker 1 40:13

I know for a fact once that money is in front of the then no mother fucking picking, no dinner with a millionaire.

Speaker 2 40:22

I don't know the king.

Speaker 3 40:27

That's all right. And and, tatiana, what you said about you know I, I feel like you're right, I feel like I have I might get in trouble for this but I have a brother, right, who is ego, is so much bigger than he is, oh my god and is in music. But anytime you give him feedback on his music or anything, it's, it's a hater. And I feel like you know I can just tell them something, and it's not even something completely negative is just like, hey, I feel like if you go this direction, you might be able to, you know, like a little object, and they go off like fuck you, what you know, I like and like I listen to music all day. I listen to music all day.

Speaker 3 41:16

And just because somebody is in a different position doesn't mean that I don't know shit, because sometimes the people who are looking from a different position at the one who can give you the right, because you're stuck in that position, all you're seeing is it in that exact length. Somebody else is seeing it in a different length, and that's why art is so important, because in one art people can have different of objections of one piece of art which looks and it cannot matter I used to be. I remember when I went to the first um constructive criticism because I had to go to him for him to um audit my podcast and social media profile and as I passed him, I was like what I say, you book for 12 o'clock, I might not make it. It's like why I'm like, I don't even want you to tell me what I'm doing wrong and I was like, but that's not the whole point. The whole point is for me to set you up for success. I was like I, I think about it and I kept on going.

Speaker 3 42:21

I didn't even know where the fuck I was heading towards. I just needed to pretend I was busy I can't stop to add this conversation and I was, and I went and half of the shit he gave me was compliments about my podcast, which I wasn't expecting, and that's the other thing. You could also get good compliments and see how far you have come. And then he gave me the idea to change my, my, my life. I was scared. Last two in June, one day before my birthday, I was supposed to sit down with Adam for my audit and I was like why the fuck did I even sign up for this? Like, why? Like is this kept on coming? I was like why, and I was like it's one day before my birthday, I should be drinking and being high, not going live with Adam and him telling me about my podcast and it's. You know, adam's email is like I can't cancel, can't cancel, and then when that last people came.

Speaker 3 43:25

Paul, I'm looking forward to sit down with you, and you know it always has.

Speaker 3 43:29

If you don't show up, I wish you how many years of bad luck or podcasting and I'm like, and you know, adam is family, so I'm like if I cancel last minute on him, it's even all other issue, because it's not like we don't know each other and you know you would have done an entire live on IG on me. So I was like you know, I'd put your big girl pants on. You know Adam's gonna give you some good feedback and you're about to to go for your season sevens or what better time and it ended up being amazing and even gave me some good. I was like, damn, I'm glad I showed up. Was like, wait, what do you mean you're glad you showed up? I was like I was about to to go for it.

Speaker 1 44:21

So I could, so I I'd say the crazy thing. Um, I tell you what I tell him. I said I don't remember how.

Speaker 2 44:28

Adam found us. Why don't we found him? How?

Speaker 1 44:31

he found him? Yeah, because Adam sent the emails to my Gmail and I still can't remember.

Speaker 2 44:37

I'm like how the fuck did you find me Crazy?

Speaker 1 44:41

And he's. He's like he sent the email. He's like hey man, you know y'all it was, it was, it was kind of wordy, but it's like I was like.

Speaker 3 44:49

I like how you started reading the email in his voice.

Growing a Business

Speaker 1 44:54

Amen yeah you got that. Oh, Michael and Hattie this video was this this was crafted at three fifty nine AM. I'm letting you know I'm tired of shit, but I'm out here thinking of you and it was one night last year. We were at the house at a basketball game. She was in the stands. I said I'm gonna go out here. Oh yeah, I was like and so, in the midst of listening to the Pied Pals and to go around with Adam, I crafted up the hook obsession which was our eyes spent on.

Speaker 1 45:33

Oh yeah, and so, like in twenty to thirty five minutes of talking and going around in the world with everybody else, I was like I got a shit. So we got the watch for the hook. We got the watch for the hook. Obsession, we got the watch for the hook. Listen to Adam once again and listen to the word playing the SEOs and all this other stuff. It's not a watch for the hook. Business and entrepreneurial podcast Right, those words grab people's attention. Yeah, cuz that's what the podcast was about. And like it wasn't just about the hook, no, it's about three, four, five up time. Yeah, so you know, listening to a mentor, like you're thinking that can help you grow, right, I mean, it just made me add mine.

Speaker 3 46:21

It went from talk to me and I was like Paula, now you're in the creative and and the mental health, so figure, use those words and add it to your S? A. So now it's the creative and mental health journey, Something like that. I'm still working on it properly.

Speaker 1 46:39

But yeah, seo, but we still love to talk to you.

Speaker 3 46:46

It's gonna be like, it's gonna be like that, you know like that. Yeah, but it's always gonna be. Talk to you with people. We're never rebranding that, we're rebrand the logo or anything, but talk to you with these things for life, cuz that bitch is always talking shit.

Speaker 1 47:02

Always Follow me. Like fuck you. I told you once and I tell you again Fuck you twice, fuck your mother.

Speaker 3 47:13

I've been so much fun talking with him. So, guys, you know our pizza has been around since 2019, right? Um, what would you say have been some of the most rewarding moments and the most challenges you have experienced while growing this?

Speaker 1 47:31

business, you get a reward you get a reward, I get challenge.

Speaker 2 47:39

First idea you have, go from concept to product, holding it in your hand. That is so rewarding. That makes you think and feel like it's instant euphoria. You think I can conquer the world right Now. After that comes a lot of challenges. Work from that, yes, yes, yes. But then once you repeat and repeat and repeat, you continue to get those rewards and the rewards are bigger and greater and bigger and bigger. But then also, as you're going through this reward spectrum, your expectations get higher. So you need a bigger reward to get that sense of gratification. But the very first product like manning the backside of a website on our own and we've never done that growing and just developing and constantly evolving and putting out multiple products a year, being able to see and track on our analytics what states we've hit, what states we sold to, like that crap is so freaking rewarding Like it really is.

Speaker 1 48:53

That makes a difference. Yeah, so I would say the challenging part in our goal podcast and apparel is just like changing the dynamic of what you're doing. So that's the main thing about staying current. I get it. I hear you pick thunder. Is it still over there? Yeah, I hear it, it's fine, but see, that's the hook.

Speaker 3 49:23

I didn't expect you all to think about like literally, my sofa is moving right over.

Speaker 1 49:29

I hear it and like that. The part is, what I think of for us is just getting better, getting more consistent, and I think one of the biggest issue is that when you have multiple social media challenges, something may hit on one and something may not hit on the other, and you're like so how do I fix this? And then you, as the owner, the operator, ceo, cfo, big balls, all that stuff, you know, you, that person, it's up to you. And so the challenges is how do we get to a point where it's enough to put that off on or not put off Out? Source.

Speaker 2 50:17

But then somebody that's not going to smell.

Speaker 1 50:20

It's even that. It's just like finding the right person.

Speaker 3 50:24

We want to work on a specific project. It's on a budget that you want because good people, great people, might be there. But then when they give you their budget, you're like I appreciate your work. I don't even want to degrade you, so I'm just going to be like I'll work with you when I can afford it.

Speaker 2 50:44

Right, right, right, because they're very much worth their value. They're putting on the build and I'm okay with that.

Speaker 1 50:53

Like we talked about a marketing budget for a year and we had a number I even for us. We was thinking like the real number, you want to be honest with $18,000 a year.

Speaker 2 51:06

That's a small number.

Speaker 1 51:09

It is 18,000.

Speaker 3 51:11

Because somebody just dropped 30,000 to get a billboard on New York Times Square for our podcast and I was like I can't wait for a day I do that and then literally travel to New York to make sure as soon as it comes out. I'm right, oh my God, if people afford 30,000 to do that, I would definitely do that.

Speaker 2 51:32

But there but, there, but right now I'm just going to watch.

Speaker 3 51:39

I know that 30,000 will have to be divided in every sector of my outsourcing. To me like oh, you need 5,000 for this year. Oh, marketing, Give me a plan that's no more than 8,000.

Speaker 2 51:52

30,000 is for the entire project To put it in installments, because I'm going to need to work on that.

Speaker 1 52:01

I need the quarters of the year like first, second, third, fourth quarter payments.

Speaker 2 52:04

Yeah, give me 26 payments Okay.

Speaker 1 52:08

Yeah, and, like I say, that's the big challenge. The thing is that when you're looking at certain podcasts and like I've even talked to her, we worked on certain things like we're we're what they call low tech, I get it. I ain't got no intro, I got the hook, that's it. What you come to get is the hook. We're going to hit you with it twice and see you home with a biscuit. Come on with it, that's it. It's going to be a little bit more buffet for you. Hit you with a couple of combinations of some uppercuts and then a straight right before you leave. We'll get that one day.

Speaker 3 52:50

And that's the thing. I don't think every podcast needs to be the same. It's your baby, it can be whatever. It doesn't have to have a trailer, it doesn't have to have the perfection, whatever that works for you in the time. Cause the more you keep going, the more you change. Like when you go back to my season one and right now I'm about to start season seven she just changed every season. The more I've learned, the more better become. Season one at background music, now new season center background. Season one had a different intro and outro to season two had a different like.

Speaker 3 53:24

I literally started getting a professional intro and outro last season and because this one, I decided I was like, okay, I can't come up with an entire budget for everything in one time, so I'm going to do small, small things when I have it. Last year I could afford intro and outro. I'm like, okay, let's get the intro and outro last season. So we got the intro and outro. Now I was like, because somebody reached out and they wanted to work with me as a sponsor, I was like, oh, somebody actually found me. We did end up agreeing in the numbers. I was like, okay, let's work on it. So I was like, okay, let's work on it.

Speaker 3 54:10

So sometimes I know the budget makes it very like the financial makes it very hard to go to be where you're supposed to be in reality. But as long as you don't give up on your baby and just do the liter as you can, as you keep going, because it's okay to grow slowly in your own place and eventually, when you can, you just cause flies. But at least I realized I can't wait for everything to be done at the same time. So when I can, I do one by one, by one, by one. We keep moving, we keep moving.

Speaker 3 54:37

Next, I wanted to work on the small things which I did in my house and then I do one by one, by one by one. We keep moving, we keep moving. Next, I want somebody to make me good YouTube videos, because my shirts have been killing it on YouTube but now they're slowed down and for some reason I feel like my TikTok has some juju on it, voodoo or something, because as soon as it goes, my TikTok now they go straight up. In less than half an hour they're already on 200. And it just goes down to 200.

Speaker 1 55:09

Then they stop. So I think this is my Michael Parker conspiracy theories. I'll leave motherfuckers social media platforms as inca hoops together.

Speaker 2 55:19

They want that dog.

Speaker 1 55:22

If you didn't, you stole my thunder.

Speaker 2 55:24

Oh shit, you stole my thunder. That's how it'll be a miracle.

Speaker 1 55:28

I know we hear about this, but they want us all to pay to play. Yeah.

Speaker 3 55:33

What has happened is I know just made me sign up for a merchandise shop or something, and then they're asking all this extra stuff. I like I'll be back. And now I saw an email reminder to complete your subscription. I'm like fuck off, leave me alone.

Speaker 1 55:49

So the simple fact, because we know, talk shit with P. God, little merchandise, they want you to do that tick tock shop.

Speaker 2 55:55

Yeah.

Speaker 1 55:55

They want you to be the business Paula, not Paula. Paula, the business, right. So now they try to monetize. But what we figured out is for all of us is out here in the same playing field together. Right, the instant gratification they're not giving us comes with a cost.

Speaker 2 56:15

It does.

Speaker 1 56:16

Everybody got a price now. Because organically organic is cap.

Speaker 2 56:21

Organic is cap.

Speaker 1 56:22

They're like growth is about to be dead.

Speaker 2 56:24

Yeah, they're like we're gonna give you about that. I should. And here we go, Because now you didn't up here thinking I'm on a busy now. What's happening? What's going on? Are they happy?

Speaker 1 56:35

Because that's the same thing you said about you two shorts. I saw that about a month and a half ago and I told her. I said man, something, something kept, something went weird. Weird, I said, because what we would Is Is.

Speaker 2 56:48

Oh my God, Speaking of that right.

Speaker 3 56:55

I need to ask you cause. Building a brand and a following for both a podcast and an appeal store Requires effective marketing. Yes, and With all these social media platforms, like I don't, I have lost count of our media platforms. I don't know how many we have right now. Could you share some of your most successful marketing strategies and how they've contributed to your growth?

Speaker 1 57:33

You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you you.

Speaker 3 57:38

You, you, you, you, you, you, you you.

Speaker 1 57:48

You that there is. I grew up. And the idea was 1000 today, sharing everybody.

Speaker 2 57:55

Share a seat or your rights To the world of my job.

Speaker 1 58:03

That's right.

Speaker 3 58:04

Not showed A lady's person, and I'm trying to go to deep into the weeds in the woods because you can't give everything for free.

Speaker 2 58:15

Give it away for free, but it basically comes like the most successful one is really just, it's about knowing your audience. It is literally about knowing your audience. Every platform has a different audience. Yeah, so you have to learn how to appeal. You have to learn how to speak to.

Speaker 1 58:37

So I'm going to give you two different scenarios, can I?

Speaker 2 58:41

get that? Yeah, go right here.

Speaker 1 58:43

So, apparel wise, we've learned that text and graphics appeal to a younger demographic.

Speaker 2 58:51

Yeah.

Speaker 1 58:52

A younger demographic has what is known as disposable income, which means they can fuck off money Right. They're more willing to yeah, they're more willing to spend money. You know, the older you get, the more frugal you become, as they say Right, I'm trying to say so if you're an apparel, so I mean, just go look at any big time apparel brand, look who they. You go to their website. You are. I know who they're appealing to, they not appealing to us.

Speaker 2 59:20

I'm just going out there and shit on my shirt.

Speaker 1 59:22

They ain't appealing to my 40-something-year-old ass. I don't want her to do that. He didn't come to spend money with us.

Speaker 2 59:28

The adult version of justice for girls. Yeah, I don't want to let them on my shirt.

Speaker 1 59:32

Yeah, so they're not looking at us. So what we've adopted and understood is that text and graphics work better. That's apparel side, got that. So podcast side, where we've had, where we've figured out is the more real and raw we are sometimes, the more cricket you may get. But when you get to the point that you're talking to, like right now, you got younger people that are trying to start businesses, right, when you get to. What I've learned and what I've seen on the numbers is when you get to the financial part up front, just tell them like this, how much money you got in your pocket, because this shit ain't free. Who helping?

Speaker 2 1:00:16

you Right when your mom and them at.

Speaker 1 1:00:19

Where your auntie's cousins who going to help you run this thing?

Speaker 2 1:00:21

Tell your mom and them to get on the phone.

Speaker 1 1:00:23

Because I'm telling you, it's very easy to get caught up in the podcast where everybody be like, oh I can just start a podcast, Mom.

Speaker 2 1:00:33

Do you know how many people we've had asked us Super recent? Can you help me start my podcast? What you doing Like what are you doing?

Taking Risks in Business

Speaker 1 1:00:44

First thing I tell them is how much time you got. Right and then they be like I ain't got much time.

Speaker 2 1:00:49

I said sit down All right.

Speaker 1 1:00:51

Don't even get off If you can't get off the couch enough. Don't start this, what they say don't start. No shit, won't be no shit.

Speaker 3 1:00:58

That's what we're saying these motherfuckers are so lazy literally they want it, but they don't want to work for it.

Speaker 2 1:01:09

You see our end product but you don't see all the work we have to put into to get there.

Speaker 1 1:01:15

Is that? No, ain't nobody putting in as much work if talk shit would pee as Paul. That's right.

Speaker 2 1:01:21

She coming up with the plan and all of that. So no, they're not going to put it in. I don't even know who else to call it for. You did.

Speaker 3 1:01:30

And then it is something Just like how, before I became a podcaster, I used to look at content creators and be like, oh my god, I can do that. That's so easy. I just have to go to restaurants and film myself and do this. She ought to be a content creator. And now that I actually have to create content for my podcast, I'm like I'm so sorry.

Speaker 3 1:01:49

Content creators respect, because this shit ain't easy when you're sitting there trying to create a reel and making sure that it delivers them, it gets into the right audience. It is a challenge. You're like damn. I wish I could go back to school and write an exam. That shit was much more easier.

Speaker 2 1:02:09

Exactly. But you know, I'll even tell you this We've had so many graphic designers hit us up, we can create this for you and I'm like OK, well, take this, flip it for me, give me something back. I give back trash.

Speaker 1 1:02:23

No, no, no.

Speaker 2 1:02:26

You're not a professional. You think you can do it, but you really. I'm not going to say you can't, I'm going to say you're not at that level.

Speaker 3 1:02:34

Yeah, you're not at the level where I should pay you, where I can produce something much better than that. I'd be ignoring them and there'd be emails, messages, and I'm just like leave me the fuck alone. Because I have a good illustrator and I know when I want a graphic designer, I'll make sure I have a good budget, because I know the good ones are not cheap, because I have a good illustrator and it has not come cheap. But the city can use this for me. My god, I haven't told him you're worth every penny I pay you. So, when it comes to a graphic designer, I am going to be looking for the ones who are in my inbox, the good ones. They're not busy trying to be in your inbox. They're waiting for you to be in their inbox Because they know the fuck we're doing Exactly.

Speaker 2 1:03:17

I'm like I want to miss, like no.

Speaker 1 1:03:20

I mean, if you look behind us, you will see some of the work that our graphic designers have done for us, so I'm amazing. That's just.

Speaker 3 1:03:29

I saw the unboxing. You guys did an unboxing video, real, or something.

Speaker 1 1:03:33

Yeah, we did an unboxing video, and so what we do is there are certain things that we know for us have to hit a certain way. For us, we've never really had too many back and forth from Maya.

Speaker 2 1:03:49

No.

Speaker 1 1:03:50

Because Maya's gotten us from the job.

Speaker 2 1:03:52

Yeah, she gets us and we pay her a fee.

Speaker 1 1:03:54

Yeah, and then we've had some other people we've had for five rounds with.

Speaker 2 1:03:58

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:03:59

And you're like I can't do you. And then sometimes we've had other people just declined off.

Speaker 2 1:04:03

We're like, yeah, you ain't getting it Like going to Word, trying to create a graphic for me. That's not going to work. Can I pull up the Word document on your laptop and think you know that's going to work? No, that does not make you an expert. And then Darren should have True.

Speaker 3 1:04:18

What you mean by illustrator. Even in my illustrator, like I literally will send him a voice note and he's all the way in Tanzania and I'll just be like because my idea is coming at random times, so I will forget what time you are, I don't care, because when my idea comes I want a message to you right there. So I send a voice note. I'll be like I think I have a new project, I want this, this, this, this. Think about it and let me know. And it just ends up coming back and saying so I listen to it and I feel like this and I'm like how did you know? You get me like great.

Speaker 3 1:04:50

The only one time I had an issue with my new logo. It took us a moment and I was like I want to get it right because I'm not doing this again. And eventually at one point we were all getting frustrated because it was right but it was just missing, that I'm not getting that raw factor and we don't know what was missing. I was like let's take a break from it. We took two weeks off, not thinking about it, not working on it. Then literally all we had to do was flip the logo and him turning my bottle beer from green, which he put green.

Speaker 3 1:05:23

I was like I'm a bad wiser. Not, henneken, can we put it red? So the bottle went to red and next thing I heard the logo stuck there, and so I always sometimes you just need to step away from it. But that was the only time he went back and forth and it was also because Adam was involved, travis was involved, because all of them had talked about my logo. So I was like if I'm paying all this money, I want to make sure that everybody was. I had a part of this. Guess the same if I say yes, that's right.

Speaker 2 1:05:56

That's absolutely right yeah.

Speaker 3 1:05:58

But we're speaking with that right. So what would you say is the biggest risk you've taken with your business so far, be it the PILs or be it the podcast? What's the biggest risk you've taken so far?

Speaker 1 1:06:10

You want to go.

Speaker 2 1:06:11

No go.

Speaker 1 1:06:16

I mean the biggest risk was trying to goddamn thing Everything. I mean that's the biggest risk. Starting, I mean listen, you're going to miss 1,000% of the shots you never take.

Maintaining Work-Life Balance While Juggling Entrepreneurship

Speaker 1 1:06:31

That's right, I tell everybody all the time me and her jumped off the cliff, we still in free fall when we jumped. When we jumped in this jump, we didn't have no parachutes. Now, I think four years later, we still in free fall and I also think we half ass built a plane. Yeah, then hopefully in the next few years this plane will be able to start getting the engine and start taking off. Really, if you never have a plane, if you never try anything, you won't get shit. Nope, you won't get nothing.

Speaker 2 1:07:07

I am not.

Speaker 1 1:07:08

But they say you don't get something for nothing. A lot of people now looking for something from nothing. That doesn't equate. There's no. There's no math that says I put one in the zero and I get one. Nope, anything that's got zero in the bottom of it. You're getting zero back.

Speaker 2 1:07:28

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:07:29

One divided by zero is zero. That's right. Trillion divided by zero is zero. It is, that's it, if you ain't putting shit in that bottom, that bottom cap, you ain't getting shit in the turn.

Speaker 2 1:07:42

The biggest risk you take is not taking the risk Now.

Speaker 1 1:07:48

so true, don't look Right, trying to live your dream that there is a difference. Yeah, hold on. One of the biggest process.

Speaker 3 1:07:57

That's faking it to your making. There's no faking it to your making, it's got to have a sense about yourselves.

Speaker 1 1:08:04

You hear people all the time. In this realm that we've been in, we are launched in the middle of a pandemic. A lot of people still forget that COVID was just something that was real. Most people still act like it's a hoax, with something that never happened. We launched when the world was sitting on their ass.

Speaker 2 1:08:23

But also we had started working on it Months prior to COVID happening, so we couldn't let the fact that COVID happened stop us. And we call some flack for that too. Y'all gonna let you do it. Everybody at home, y'all want people just sitting around being fresh in your tea. Hey, where's it gonna open?

Speaker 1 1:08:43

up Shit. Yeah, be fresh motherfucker Sex is here.

Speaker 3 1:08:46

Oh yeah, I'll say, just because your home's locked up, you can't be fresh. Yeah, but that was the time everybody was shopping. She was cheaper, you know.

Speaker 2 1:08:54

Yeah, it looks right, right, but yeah, it's just.

Speaker 3 1:08:58

Yeah, nothing, but that's the thing I feel like people just always look for excuses. Like I advocate for mental health and I hate when people use the mental health as an excuse out of getting to do shit or the mental health is the rinse of mind of them being shitty. People Like I understand certain mental health can make you be a certain way, but there are people who milk their shit and use it as a disfante. I have depression. I have contemplated committing suicide multiple times, but also I started my podcast in 2020 because of seeing myself getting in that root of depression and I found something that got me out. I'm not healed. I still go through depression. I have a job that pays my bills by leave, paycheck to paycheck, but I still find ways to continue pouring into the gym. I want to cause. That's my dream. That's my baby. It's not going to come easy. Nobody's coming to save me.

Speaker 3 1:10:00

There's no financial fail Fail, so I got to do it by myself. The people who are getting unemployment checks instead of buying those telephone bags, $600 or whatever. While they had a dream, instead of actually working on a dream, they were buying bags and they had nowhere to go to sit inside the house with a damn bag bag. But now you're telling people why the fuck you're doing this, or I can't do this because I don't have the money. Don't stop. I feel like we're constantly making excuses. Oh what if I fail? Oh what if? Oh? Can you already be failing without doing shit? So what's the difference? And there's no failure, because either way you learn something. You either learn. You don't like the shit and be like you know what. Fuck it, it failed, I didn't even like it. At least you tried. You learn a lesson, or you learn a way to do it better, or you know something, but there's never failing when you're learning something.

Speaker 2 1:10:56

Not if you learn something that's exactly right, exactly.

Speaker 3 1:10:59

Mindset, Mindset. I got the hook. You see, like the hook. Just I got sick with the hook.

Speaker 1 1:11:06

But the definition of the hook is anything. Any unforeseen circumstance. They hinders you from achieving the greatness you seek in life. See, a motherfucker got to understand. I want to be great. I got a real ego. I'm the type of motherfucker I want to stick my fist in the ground and slow this bitch down just a little bit. That's an egotistical motherfucker right there.

Speaker 2 1:11:30

That's an egotistical maniac.

Speaker 1 1:11:32

When you say you want to stick your fist in the ground to slow this bitch down a little bit. Most people don't understand that the world's still rotating, with or without them. They don't even get it Like this motherfucker going to spin. Well, a Michael Parker was on this bitch and not that's right, but I spent a little bit yeah.

Speaker 1 1:11:50

But while I'm here, I'm trying to leave a mark. That's right, because for me and her, we've put in the work and the work does not get easier. Nope, that's the issue, like when I say we talk about the positive syndrome.

Speaker 3 1:12:08

Of course you get, the harder it becomes when those fucking you got the damn air.

Speaker 1 1:12:15

Like we just want it that we got going on Like we ain't even discussing, like From our deal, implementation is one, it's still three others in the background, the most focus I ain't doing. We ain't discussing, because we got that type of shit. We in that type of work, when a person thinks they like, oh man, I'm tired, I'd be like yeah, I'm tired, fuck you talking about, though I'm tired with one kidney, two kids in the house, a wife. Both of us work 40 hour a week jobs. I got three, four other things I'm doing. I drive, save a loan to go to work, my kid go to school here, that kid go to school over there. I'm like what the fuck you talking about? And they just be over the bottom. See you you talking about?

Speaker 3 1:12:59

daytime Bruh, bruh, bruh. Some people don't even have a day job. I'm like I work eight to five in a job. I fucking hate Dealing with people. I fucking hate, and I still find time to do my shit. And all you have done is slept the whole day and you're telling me you're fucking tired, you like okay.

Speaker 3 1:13:21

Okay, okay, okay, okay. Something you said about the world does not stop for you, and that's so true. I recently had a fire in February, and then people were constantly asking me like, oh my God, why are you still positive? Why are you like? Cause I had to travel and I went and celebrated my friend's birthday and I was like you do know that the world doesn't stop. My fire has already happened, like when I decide to sit in my friend's house and cry for a whole week, that's my week off. The fire still happened.

Speaker 3 1:13:58

Sri Lankan in Bal. My friend is still going on a celebrate her birthday. She's still going to turn her year. My best friend who graduated from Harvard. She's not getting the time. So why not? I gotta go on living the life, cause my apartment is not coming back, being sad and doing shit. I prayed in it and I left it with God. God has the answers and I'm gonna keep on going. So I'm not gonna let this shit stop me. It delayed my podcasting, but it did not stop me. I still kept on going cause, as you say, the world does not stop, mother fucker.

Speaker 1 1:14:32

She just said the hook got me, but it didn't stop me, it's me me. This hook got me, but it didn't stop me. I didn't say it.

Speaker 2 1:14:43

She literally just said it. Who would?

Speaker 1 1:14:46

she say somebody prodding?

Speaker 2 1:14:48

I don't even know I was in the baddest guy wrapped up in Paula's store. I didn't follow her through the time I was with her at the fire. Then I went over to the friend's house give her up at the Harvard graduate. I'd just been everywhere with Paula. I'd have forgot, Cause I was literally where her owner's at. I don't know where Paula was at, but I was with her cause. I was like All right.

Speaker 3 1:15:10

I got two more questions for you all before HL go, so we're going to get into your being partners in both. So you're partners in podcasting, your partners in business, your partners in life, your partners in every mother fucking thing there is. How do you maintain a healthy work life balance while juggling multiple entrepreneurship behaviors and dealing with everything else, family wise?

Speaker 1 1:15:42

Yes.

Speaker 3 1:15:44

That's you.

Speaker 2 1:15:51

How do we maintain it? How?

Speaker 1 1:15:55

When I say this shit is like, people think like a life is a straight path, they're like oh, I go this way. No, life is like this. This shit has so many curves Like she'll tell you. If sometimes it's 10 o'clock at night, I should be rubbing on a buck cheek. But we talking about business. You know what I'm saying, cause I mean you can.

Speaker 3 1:16:20

You can wrap the butt cheek. Why talk about business? Why do you tasking my mother fucker?

Speaker 1 1:16:25

Oh listen, I got to concentrate on certain things.

Speaker 3 1:16:28

I'm like girl that is, you might end up giving a bigger budget, because that's all.

Speaker 2 1:16:35

It's too good. Yes, so come back to next thing you're like wait no, I meant to say five, not 50.

Speaker 1 1:16:42

Yeah, I'm a type person. We've been married for 12 years. I ain't looked at the bank. I ain't looked at my chicks the cover I don't think that's how much. She runs the finance. So that's the ballot, Cause everybody understands what type of line they work Like she. She's great behind the scenes. She does the back end work on a lot of things which gets no more, no credit really. I deal with the social media stuff and all the posts in and trying to understand.

Speaker 3 1:17:16

It's your job to make sure she gets the credit, because all the fucker is supposed to know she doing the backend thing. You know there's a lot of backend things, so you know you gotta specify.

Speaker 1 1:17:27

She gotta get the credit for the back end. I mean, people just don't get that. You know, I gotta root it and put it. You gotta. You gotta keep it going for the beginning and the end. She does a lot of the outside and inner workings and I come in and work my magic here and there and sometimes you might be like shit, I don't feel like working. Yeah, and I tell her man the deadline tomorrow it's 10 o'clock tonight. I gotta get up at 3 am to go to work. This shit gotta get done now. I know girls gotta go to practice. I gotta go to work. I'm like, so ain't no time tomorrow to fit this shit in there. And then sometimes she'll tell me she'll be like, hey, did you forget what we supposed to do today? I'm like, huh, oh, you just gonna forget. Huh, you've been telling me all week we gotta do this on Thursday. Yeah, thursday afternoon, mike, we ain't done shit. I'm like I love it.

Speaker 2 1:18:22

But we just know our lanes, I guess, and we're okay, we did it. Sometimes it's the lanes.

Speaker 3 1:18:29

I think it's also going with trust, because once you already know that's his lane, this is my lane and I trust regardless he's gonna handle his lane. I think most people have that. But people are quick to say I fucking trust you. But when it comes to actually proving to you, they actually trust you. They become oh, what do I? Do? You say that right here? Come on, man, I said what I said.

Speaker 2 1:18:59

Let me handle it. I got this.

Speaker 1 1:19:02

Like I'll tell you, I begged her for two years to get on camera with me. Like now she's on camera.

Speaker 3 1:19:09

Now she's been hugging it. I've been seeing the live she be trying to push him in lane.

Speaker 1 1:19:15

It took me two years to get this light skin to stuck on camera. You know what I'm saying. People don't know the background. I'm big, I've been on YouTube doing my channel and thing in the background. Two years later, I've been big.

Speaker 3 1:19:31

Amazing talent has to take time, it has to be natural. You know you better. Keep on asking Good talent. Now really, bitch, show me, Show me. You really want my talent in this video of yours.

Speaker 1 1:19:51

Isn't this crazy. The woman on camera came after I got on audio, so the first day of the podcast I did solo.

Speaker 2 1:20:00

That's how our podcast evolved, and I told her a second episode.

Speaker 1 1:20:03

I'm like man, at least just come get on the audio, there ain't no video, just come talk. And it took me damn that big to get the top going. Like come on, man, please. She's like you talk all the time I said. But what we've learned is and Paula is one of those people different talking shit to a motherfucker, but then talking shit to a motherfucker, it's a different. When you talking public shit, that's just you, but when you talking on the recording device and you got to go sit up a platform and do all this other stuff, that's shit differently. Yeah, so time to even get on audio. Then, after 20, some episodes of audio, 20, some plus episodes, I finally got to do video. Child happy work.

Speaker 3 1:20:50

Tatiana, tatiana, let me tell you something right, and I know Michael might not want this because you know, but it took me after three seasons to start doing video. Everybody was like do video, do video. I was like fuck, no bitch.

Speaker 2 1:21:04

I was like I am shy.

Speaker 3 1:21:08

I don't even want you to put me on the stage. This is, this was done panels and I'm actually going to. I actually just signed a contract with Afro and now just have this speaking there in October. But I still put myself out there. But as soon as I go on stage, I start shaking. So I always thought, like you know, when I go into the, when I'm recording by myself, I feel like I'm just talking to my phone and until I hit publish, nobody fucking gets to hear this or see this. But then we were like they're going to judge. My hair was not calm or my nose down. Was I smiling too much? Was I looking straight at them? Was I laying up brown? Was that? I'm feeling like there's so much going on with video and you're like and I've seen YouTube comments people are brutal.

Speaker 2 1:22:01

I'm like, am I?

Speaker 3 1:22:02

ready to put myself into that Cause. Instagram commenters I'm used to them. They're just full of shit trolls. But but you took, you took, you took with a whole different cause. That's the space, you know. That's the space they know video.

Speaker 2 1:22:14

So they be thinking about it, they be like I'm going to phrase this Now, I'm going to say this. I'd be like let me just talk to you, say shit about me. They would have you want to.

Speaker 1 1:22:23

So we had a YouTube video.

Speaker 2 1:22:25

We had a. We had a YouTube video.

Speaker 1 1:22:27

We had a YouTube video. We had a YouTube video and I said, you know, I'm not going to talk about that and the other comments was the dude said when my last two brain cells is on weed Well what's the wrong?

Speaker 3 1:22:37

with that. What's the wrong with that? Like, at least I'm fly high right now.

Speaker 1 1:22:43

I mean the mother fucking say we dumb, and I don't know what.

Speaker 2 1:22:50

Like, or was he saying they were in deep thought?

Speaker 3 1:22:53

I'm like Everybody who smokes is damn must be actually get clever once they smoke, or very creative. So you know I'm stupid, but I fuck as much more. Get down like you already done. You just getting down my brother.

Speaker 1 1:23:14

Is water with I didn't do that.

Speaker 2 1:23:17

I'm like what the fuck I didn't do? Yeah, yeah, we'll take that. We'll take that yeah.

Maintaining Motivation and Resilience in Entrepreneurship

Speaker 3 1:23:40

Absolutely. Anyway, let me ask you guys so the entrepreneur journey right, it's not an easy journey. It is. At least you guys are traveling with you guys together. You know those of us who are traveling so long oh my God, I think of somebody robbing my butt chicks while we are discussing business. But anyways, the journey can be challenging and setbacks are inevitable. Like, you can plan and be prepared, and it's just like doing events.

Speaker 3 1:24:18

I think I love this industry because I love events too. I went to school for events like shit, you always got to be a step ahead. But even when you step ahead, shit still go wrong. Right, you just got to figure out how to go about it. So how do you stay motivated? Because I know that can be very easy to be disappointed and this motivated especially when you are an independent entrepreneur where there's no funds being. You know, like when you guys lost money to stay because it's easy to be like okay, there goes the dream. You know, we tried, we failed, you know. So how do you stay motivated and resilient during times? And how do you also support each other? You know we're all partners. Maybe one of the other person made that mistake. You want to be angry, but you also want to be supported through the ups and downs and through your mental health same, you know. So there's like there's all those layers in one.

Speaker 2 1:25:27

I honestly think you have to get to a point where you're like if whatever that just happened didn't stop you dead in your tracks, you got it just as quick as it came. You got to let it go even quicker. It has to almost instantly become water under the bridge. Now you need to fool a lesson out of it. Real quick, pull it real quick, but then let it go.

Speaker 2 1:25:54

And if I see something impacted him really, really bad, I may have to honestly pretend and flip it and be like, okay, that was awful, but this is what we need to do here and I'm tired. I want to throw the tally on the, flip a table over. You know, it could be anything like that and I'm like let's flip that bitch over, but we we're going to come on back anyway. We can't undo all of the work that we've done, so I'm going to go ahead and do that. So you really have to get to that mindset and understand some things. You just can't let be as powerful and have as much control over you as as maybe a word in another life.

Speaker 1 1:26:29

Yeah, I think that's the main thing. The main thing is always remember where's your end goal.

Speaker 2 1:26:34

Yeah, yeah you're in.

Speaker 1 1:26:35

Goal for any business person is to have a successful business.

Speaker 2 1:26:39

It is.

Speaker 1 1:26:40

There is no road map to success. It's just a map. That map will draw itself as you go or as it goes Right. What you have to remember is that map ain't going to be pretty. No, that map ain't going to be fun. That map will be what it is If you are willing to put in the work, the effort, the love and the resilience that it will require. There is no requirement level to success. If you get right here, you'll be successful. Now, success just varies, yeah, and that's what you're going to have to understand. It's just like every other human being as well. There's no right or wrong. There's no product that's going to be saying you grab this, you're good to go. There's no topic in a podcast that's going to shoot you to the top. You got to put the work in.

Speaker 2 1:27:36

But even once you put the work in to get to a certain level that you're trying to get to, you're going to have to do even more work To stay at that level and to go first Test and first Free to go, and that's going to be a big part of your mental health. Right there, you just can't let everything drag you down. The negatives, making it lessons, flip it, turn a negative into positive. We lost all of that money In that instance. We became the inner workings of TikTok Queen because they essentially stole so much money. I'm like, well, we've got to learn this new platform and it's what we did. So right there you go.

Speaker 3 1:28:14

I love that. And there's something you say over there when you say we're going to flip this table but we're going to come with a plan, like no, I feel that because if I'm here with my men when I get depressed, sometimes I be like you know what, paula? Okay, today you're really, really in a bad space. Maybe you just really need to just rest and cut off our call off work and just lay in there by telling myself you're only doing this today. Yeah, do whatever the fuck you need to do, but tomorrow we are kicking. We are going back to kicking the world again. So later and once I start watching my trash TV or anything, I start getting excited because it always gives me topics for the IG topic or to make a real or my next season call. The next thing I know I'm getting my notebook, I'm writing and I'm getting into that and I'm back to it. So it's okay to allow yourself to feel that, but just not allow that feeling to take over and swallow you, that's right.

Speaker 2 1:29:17

That's right. You can wallow a little bit. Only long enough to learn. After that you got to move on.

Speaker 3 1:29:23

Okay. When I got fired, I got fired on a Wednesday. I told myself Wednesday to Sunday cry bitch, do whatever the fuck you want. Once Monday starts, it's a new week. We're going to wake up and start job hunting and calling and reaching out and figuring out a plan. But these days because sometimes when you also pretend that she doesn't bother you or it didn't happen, it ends up coming you end up making the bad decisions because you want. You're like okay, I already missed this. I need to fix it real quick. I need to do this. You end up making a wrong decision. That makes it even worse. So it's okay to just be like. You know what? I need a break out of this first, for a few minutes I'll just take it.

Speaker 2 1:30:04

It's okay to be being come on back.

Speaker 3 1:30:08

Yes, all right, michael and Tatiana have had an amazing time hanging out with you guys. Before I let you guys go, let the people know what you guys do, where they can find your shit, if you have any product that you guys coming up with, if we have like, this is the time where you sell yourself, and in the right way, not even in them streets, in the corners, okay.

Speaker 2 1:30:33

I'm sorry, go by. You know all of it All right.

Speaker 1 1:30:36

So if you want to come by the apparel line, come by wwwwatch for the number for the hookcom. Check out our latest apparel, Ms Parker. Where can they find if they want to be like a Paula, who is a serious podcaster and wants to go from idea to?

Speaker 2 1:30:54

implementation from there. When you're ready to get serious, you ready to learn, ready to go from idea to implementation, you go to podcast money merchmykejabicom. You will be in contact with us like one on one. Okay, that's more way to catch us right there.

Speaker 1 1:31:14

All right, if you want to find us on Facebook, you can go by facebookcom slash watch for the number for the hookcom. You want to catch us on IG? Watch for if, oh, you are the hook on IG, you want to come catch us on YouTube See my pretty face along with us. You go to youtubecom slash watch for the hook brand.

Speaker 2 1:31:43

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:31:44

Same thing. If you want to tick tock and Rick rock with us on tick tock, tick tockcom slash, watch for the hook brand. And if you want to come on Twitter and catch me talking a little more shit over there, Like. P watch for the T H A cook. Your kid is over there.

Speaker 3 1:32:07

Thank you, you're very like. I like this radio voices, but then you guys have money program coming up or something Didn't.

Speaker 2 1:32:18

I see that which we come apart podcast money, merchmykejabicom yeah, and we're going to be doing the coaching and the mentoring, for serious podcasters weren't wanting to really create their apparel line or merch line, and we want to take them from idea to implementation.

Speaker 3 1:32:37

And that's what I'm going to head to, and I'm ready for my talk show with P strain.

Speaker 1 1:32:43

Exactly what we're going to do is we're going to take and save a very serious podcast of thousands of dollars. Hopefully, lots of hours grew up and lots of headaches.

Speaker 3 1:32:57

Fuck to screw up fees and actually get screwed up the right way. Is that even possible?

Speaker 1 1:33:04

Money.

Speaker 3 1:33:07

Get your body, your body that wasn't even coming out. Man See Before I see me and be like what the fuck is going on over here. So one final questions for the people as we wrap this up what would you say the key lessons have you learned from your entrepreneurship journey and that and what advice would you have for young king or queen out there who are starting the entrepreneur journey?

Speaker 1 1:33:43

I got a good time. Turn strangers into customers. That would be the biggest way you're somebody.

Speaker 3 1:33:53

Yeah, because your family and your family and friends ain't your customer for shit.

Speaker 2 1:33:59

They the biggest.

Speaker 3 1:34:01

No, let me stop. The only supporters will benefit you once they start their business.

Speaker 2 1:34:22

You've been in my head. Did you pause for me?

Speaker 3 1:34:36

No, okay, I don't have to, because literally, when somebody you fuck I don't believe me on say, oh, rihanna or any of them ask you to pause, but you post them. I don't see why I, as your family or friend, should have to ask for you to post me, but okay.

Speaker 2 1:34:58

Go make me also post your shit.

Speaker 1 1:35:01

Right, right, right Go on.

Speaker 2 1:35:07

I'm not in my head. She's been in my inner thoughts like if I'm like, oh now, now you trying to pedal something, so you want me to post for you.

Speaker 1 1:35:16

Paula is Tatiana stocks. What are Tatiana Parker stocks?

Speaker 3 1:35:23

I'm calling right here on my shoulder.

Speaker 1 1:35:25

I am Paula, and these are Tatiana stocks.

Promote Engagement & Support in Shit-Talking

Speaker 3 1:35:33

Oh my God, thank you guys so much for hanging out with me. Oh my God, I love so much. Now I can go smoke and sleep. Okay, you guys have been. Thank you, shit talkers for tuning in and spending your valuable time with us. We appreciate you. To connect with us more, make sure you subscribe to our newsletter and catch all the shit talking vibes before anybody else. You can subscribe to our newsletter through our website, wwwtalkshitrepeatcom, and all our merchandise website, wwwtalkshitrepeatshop. And while you're there, feel free to shop away. Talkshitrepeat is available on all social media platforms.

Speaker 3 1:36:19

With the hand out, talk shit with me, follow us and engage with us. Better yet, if you're feeling generous, give us a review on our podcast and all rate us on Spotify. You can also share a beer with me. Well, my beer lover that I mean. What better way to support the movement than sharing a beer with me by buying me a beer at buymecockeycom? Thank you for listening, sharing, engaging and support in any way that you do. Remember, new episodes are out every Wednesday and for part 2, if any, on Fridays let's talk and all listen to some shit. Happy shit talking.