Building Trust and a Brand: A Black Woman Entrepreneur's Journey with Brandi Fox
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, thank you for tuning in to Unqualified Qualification. It's me. It's me, the host, comedian V Mac. And today, I'm with Brandy Fox. Entrepreneur as she goes by.
Speaker 2:Be the entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:Okay. So how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I am doing great for a hump day. No complaints.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, tell us a little bit about yourself. Are you originally from this area of Charlotte, North Carolina?
Speaker 2:Definitely. So I am a Charlotte native. I wasn't born here, but I was raised here all my life since elementary school.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:I love Charlotte. I would honestly say there is really no other place outside of Houston that I'd rather live.
Speaker 1:Why that? Why outside of Houston?
Speaker 2:Because Houston is a different type of energy. It's like a more I would say, like, it's like an Atlanta at the at the West Coast type thing. Like, you go there. It's a lot of black businesses, black support. Like, it's just so big there, and I'd just be hoping and praying that we can have that same type of camaraderie here in Charlotte with black owned businesses.
Speaker 1:Okay. So you're trying to have growth like Houston, Atlanta here in Charlotte. It seems like it's growing to the point that it will be one day.
Speaker 2:It's trying, but I will say, you know, just being an entrepreneur, going on thirteen years, it's just a lot of red tape that comes into place when it comes to African American entrepreneurs. We see it in a lot of this gentrification that's going on. A lot of these opportunities are going to a lot of non minority owned businesses. You know? They're able to get the funding and building and support to be able to just almost pop up any type of business.
Speaker 2:And I see that when it comes to African American businesses particularly, that it's always the extra line of red tape when it comes to us even wanna be in the same industry as our counterparts. So that's definitely something I'm looking to support and combat.
Speaker 1:Okay. So you're an entrepreneur. You're a credit person. You also build brands with people. You have multiple different platforms that you do.
Speaker 1:What took you in this step from being here most of your life? When did you realize first of all, what were you doing? You went to West Charlotte. Correct?
Speaker 2:Yes. Dub c.
Speaker 1:Alright. And what did you do in in West Charlotte?
Speaker 2:At West Charlotte, I was a part of the marching band. I did shop put in discus. Very good at all those things. I enjoyed it. I was a graduate of the IB program.
Speaker 2:We were the first graduating class, and basically that's International Baccalaureate. That's just the higher level of education that prepares you for college. From there, I went to Winston, UNC Charlotte. I started my career as a social worker. I love philanthropy.
Speaker 2:I love helping people, and I came with PamperUs, mobile massage service. That's my first business.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Currently, I own seven businesses between nonprofits in different sectors, real estate, entertainment, mental health. But PamperUs starting at thirteen years ago and realizing how hard it was to start a business because in 02/2011, there was not the entrepreneur support that we have now. You didn't have incubators. You didn't have classes. It's really like Google research trial and error and, you know, good luck.
Speaker 2:So, that led me to from 02/2011 to 2018, I transitioned out into full time, and then I wanted to give people the information that I didn't have. I wanted them to know how to start a business, how to grow it, how to scale it without a mishap without all the mishaps that I had. And that led me into my second business, which is my full time business now, be the entrepreneur consulting agency.
Speaker 1:Awesome. And what sparked all this interest into starting your own business and especially to Pamper up when what started it? Like, what was the spark?
Speaker 2:I've always been an entrepreneur. I've always loved making my own money. I've always been a monopoly. I'm the banker. Like, anything life, I'm the banker.
Speaker 2:Like, I always been about the money. From a young age in elementary school, I was selling lip gloss rings. Like, I went in the store, and I'm like, you can get six for a dollar. I'm like, if I sell this for 75ยข apiece, I'm making money. So it started there, and then I'm like, okay.
Speaker 2:And I've always been good at kinda moving with moving with the industry so like once they kind of died down you know then it was like the Kool Aid with the sugar so I was literally at the house in the kitchen mixing it babe mixing it like deep listen and I was selling it by the bag like I'm coming I got lemon I got I got cherry. What you want? And, like, anytime I found the opportunity, anything that was very popular, I would literally take my money that I had, I would buy it in bulk, and then I would sell it. So I've always had that entrepreneur spirit, but, I would say having the ability to go full time. My passion is my freedom.
Speaker 2:Like, I'm really about freedom of my time. I love to travel. I have two kids. They're older. But, you know, I just wanna have quality time have control over my time.
Speaker 2:And when you work for somebody else, especially, you know, being a social worker, you really don't have any control of your time. It's really your clients have all your time, and then you fit yourself in there. So I would say that was the biggest passion and push to me going into full time entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:Okay. And so you as of right now, you're teaching other people how to build brands.
Speaker 2:Correct? And
Speaker 1:which one is is that easier for you to do in comparison to starting your own brand and moving your own brand? Because I ran across you through the skate. This
Speaker 2:those are
Speaker 1:the Rolling CLT. Rolling CLT. That's how I ran across you. I've seen all three connected in. So you started that.
Speaker 1:You started all those other things. So is teaching to start a business better for you in comparison to running your own?
Speaker 2:I love it all. Like, I love to run my own because I love the excitement of, like, taking an idea and literally monetizing it. And it excites me. So I love to teach as well because I love to be able to see the happiness that my clients have because I've met so many people that have such amazing ideas, but they don't even know where to start. And just in working with me for four to six months, I've been able to take clients from a vision to a full running business operation.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And, you know, they're like, oh my gosh. I'm so excited. Like because I know how it is when you don't know the next step. But when you got somebody that's in the industry that works it, that can tell you step by step what to do, Like, you know, last year, we started a hundred and seven new businesses. And, you know dope.
Speaker 1:Congratulations.
Speaker 2:It was thank you. And it was so exciting. I'm like, you know, so this year, I'm like, I'm pushing it. I'm trying to hit 200, you know, and 300, and I just wanna grow and impact as many new entrepreneurs as possible and let them know that, you know, it is possible. And it's not because you have a bad idea.
Speaker 2:It's not always because of funding. Sometimes you just don't have a support to know what the next steps is to make your dream a reality.
Speaker 1:Dope. So what is the purpose? Like, your purpose is to help people who look like us, people of color, people of different races to succeed in this situation. So what are the major hurdles outside of the banking system that people have? Is it the complacency of the person, or is it the actual work that needs to be done within, like, doing paperwork and stuff?
Speaker 1:Like, what stops people from growing in your mind?
Speaker 2:I think the top thing is mental. Like, people get really intimidated. I would say the second thing is influence. People are on social media, especially during co COVID was the worst best thing ever. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:Explain.
Speaker 2:But and I say that because, I love the fact I love the fact that it put a burst of entrepreneurship. It's a lot of people that I've met with that started their business at COVID, and now they're they're transitioning out and they full time. And they never would've started that business if they wouldn't have lost their job. So I do love that it opened the door for creativity and for people to really make money doing what they love. But what I don't like is, of course, where there's good, there's always bad.
Speaker 2:You're bringing out a lot of frauds. You're bringing out a lot of people that have no interest in starting a business, doing it right, being legit, out here really taking up the market. So I would say, and lying about it. Like, I'm online, and I see people I even know. They're like, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm bringing in 10,000. I'm like, girl, I just saw you last week, and you was in that busting Honda. And I don't talk about nobody cars, but you ain't bringing in 10,000 a week, you know, riding around looking crazy like that. Or just in knowing you in general and knowing your situation. So I think people get on social media and these entrepreneurs then put in there, hey.
Speaker 2:You wanna get a Lambo. You wanna have a house on a beach. You can do this in twelve months. You can't. No.
Speaker 2:That is called a unicorn business. And as y'all know, unicorns do not exist, so be prepared to put in work. I think the real thing is people are not wanting to put in work. They think if they market for three months, market for six months on Facebook, social media, that that is enough. And there's so much more that goes into starting a business.
Speaker 2:So I would say those are my top three reasons why I feel like entrepreneurs are not, exceeding and starting their businesses.
Speaker 1:So out of those a hundred and three businesses that you started last year, how many do you think will actually continue to go out of the hundred and three? It's because you just started them. So how many of the hundred and three do you expect to stay?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely. So I would say out of the hundred and seven that I did, my goal my goal is for at least 60% to be able to make it. Mhmm. And for me, making it is being able to and, you know, success is in the eyes of the beholder, like beauty.
Speaker 2:You know? So Mhmm. For some people, if they make a lot of money, they're successful. For my nonprofits, if they serve a certain amount of people, it makes them successful. So for me, successful for me has been able to sustain a business for twelve months.
Speaker 2:Even if you break even or make a profit, that's what success looks like for me. So I would say about 60%, ideally, I would hope would be able to meet that goal of meeting either breaking even at the twelve month mark or either making a profit at the twelve month mark. Because one of the things I would say that definitely sets me apart as a consultant is number one, everything I'm teaching is all experience. You know? It's all things I went through.
Speaker 2:I've gotten corporate contracts. I've, you know, I've gotten funding. I've gotten grants. I've gotten loans. I've gotten investors.
Speaker 2:So I think it sets me apart because I'm not working off theory. I'm working off real life experiences, and I'm able to tell you, hey. When I did that, this is what happened. Or, you know, if you wanna do this, this is the best way based on based on my experience. So I think having that knowledge and ability to be able to support people and not really take the lead, but guide them in their own vision, I think those are one of the things that set me apart.
Speaker 2:I make it easy. I make it plain. I tell you what to do. All you gotta really do is follow it.
Speaker 1:Okay. And you stated earlier that other other communities are getting all the loans and all this stuff. Is this still still that way? Or since I see everybody doing diversity this, diversity that, is that helping more within the community, or we're not just taking advantage of it? Or are you sending people in direction to get it?
Speaker 1:Like, what's the percentages of people of of color or look like us that are actually getting these loans and stuff?
Speaker 2:Now I would say I only know. I can't go all the numbers, but I did go to a venture capitalist training. And, you know, less than 1% of minority owned businesses get access to, you know, venture capitalists. This is your angel investors. You know, the bigger companies given that 1,000,000, 2 million seed.
Speaker 2:We're not really not getting none of that. Like, literally, you got the smallest amount. We at the bottom of the totem pole. And I definitely think there are programs, there are opportunities that are providing the information that we need. And I will say to a certain extent, some some people are not taking advantage of it.
Speaker 2:But then I would say on the other extent, it's like, okay. Education is cool. You know what I'm saying? But where is the application? Where is our ability to be able to apply what we're learning in this program in a real life scenario?
Speaker 2:And I think that's what a disconnect is. We're getting trained to do things like our counterpart where our barriers of getting these same opportunities are not the same as our counterparts.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So for me, I know how to operate as a double minority. I know how to move and shake as a black female entrepreneur. You know, I was 21 when I started my first business, and I'm in the spa industry. This is a predominantly Caucasian industry. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Mostly women and male own. A lot of times, there's a a lot of husbands and wives. So when I was going to these events, these spa meetups and all that stuff, I'm literally the only black person and the youngest black person. You know what I'm saying? So being able to adequately move in these rooms to get opportunities other people didn't have, I think that is the biggest disconnect.
Speaker 2:So I feel like people are trying. It's just not a connect. And then lastly, to speak on that, I think it's because the lack of knowledge transfer. If you look at a lot of other, nationalities, they really transfer the information. You know?
Speaker 2:And you can tell because they monopolize the market. We know who own hair stores. We know who own gas stations. You wanna know why? Because they they create a operations process.
Speaker 2:They do it. They hire their family. They teach them the process, and then they use them same family members that they taught, and they send them out to other states to duplicate the same model.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And that's something that we're not doing. I mean, that historically that we really haven't, been able to do as the African American community is get resources, share resources, and not be afraid that just because you say something that somebody else is gonna do it, that we can really do this as a collaborative effort.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I've noticed that too. We don't pass down the knowledge. We're scared. We lose land.
Speaker 1:We lose opportunities to to other people who take it, and then we wanna blame them for it.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:So, like, you were saying, like, the gas stations and stuff. I'm from Buffalo. The people from Detroit come to Buffalo and took over the whole city. Buffalo's owned by the people who own the gas stations now. So I understand exactly what you're saying.
Speaker 1:So as a so you you're teaching life experiences to people to understand so they can grow. So how was it for you to build this whole empire that you have while raising children?
Speaker 2:It was a struggle. Not only raising children. I was married ten years. I was getting in grad school. You know, I was kinda doing everything at one time, and it was a lot.
Speaker 2:It was a lot. I'm not gonna hold you. And I tell a lot of my entrepreneurs when they come to me, they'd be like, oh, Brandy, I got five business ideas. I'm like, you know, and a lot of people see me running multiple ventures, and they just like, oh, girl. And they all know.
Speaker 2:You know, baby, I'll be in a fetal position at the crib sometime. I'm like, I can't take another call. I can't take another email. Like, I'm just gonna go to sleep and start over tomorrow. So, I will say the biggest thing is, time management.
Speaker 2:Like, that's literally what I was doing and understanding that I wasn't gonna be able to do everything. Like, some balls were getting dropped, and that's just me just making the best decision on what ball gonna get dropped today. Is it gonna be family time today? Is it gonna be work time today, which means profits? You know?
Speaker 2:Is it gonna be schoolwork? You know? What do I have to do to be able to make it? But what I do love about that situation is it taught me how to multitask and how to really, organize my schedule as an entrepreneur because it's very different being an entrepreneur and running a schedule compared to working at a job. They're telling you how to move, what to do.
Speaker 2:But as an entrepreneur, you have a lot more flexibility. So I made sure that my twenty four hours worked for me. So within that twenty four hours, about eighteen hours of that twenty four hours, I got it blocked into different time periods. This is my family time. This is my work time.
Speaker 2:And when I started doing that and learning how to time block my schedule, it allowed me to be productive, without burning out.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. So what were some of the hurt the the what were some of the hurdles that you went through that really, like, made you like, you know what? I don't even wanna do this no more.
Speaker 2:I would say, getting into an industry that I knew nothing about. So I own a mobile spa company, and my company is the first of its kind in Charlotte. Well, North Carolina also have a mobile massage bus as well. Mhmm. So I would say the biggest hurdle was figuring out how to tap into an industry without social media, because back then we didn't have it.
Speaker 2:So it was very much a struggle. So I'm at networking events. I'm doing group ponds. Like, I'm literally doing everything outside of social media to be able to get clients. So I think it made it hard.
Speaker 2:And then being a black woman in this industry, getting people to trust me, because, like I said, at that time, you gotta remember, mobile wasn't really popping back in 02/2011. People were still going to brick and mortar. So and then putting myself on the forefront of the business because I have a reputation of, you know, consistency results, that stuff. So putting that on the forefront at the beginning and telling people, hey. You can trust me because this my business.
Speaker 2:Let me into your home. And once I gained that trust, the next hurdle was pulling myself out because I got to a point when I went full time, I was like, I don't want my face to be the face of PamperUs. I want PamperUs to be its own brand. I don't want people to click on and be like, oh, it's a black woman. No.
Speaker 2:I want you to click on and be like, I want the service. So then removing myself from the business was a whole different thing because now I have a I have a brand that's built off my personal brand. So how do you remove yourself and still be able to adequately get the traction that you had? So I think those were the main hurdles that I had to deal with. Also, learning my seasons, a lot of entrepreneurs get discouraged.
Speaker 2:Like, I had to learn what my season is. Like, at my business, my seasons are I'm lucky to have a ten month year, you know, from August all the way through usually June. Yeah. Well, September through June, those are my strong months. The summertime, people out of town, their families are gone, so they're not getting a home in home massages.
Speaker 2:So learning that this is my downtime, that helped me as well. So that way, all through the year, I'm preparing for this two months where my profits are usually about 30% less than what they normally are. Yeah. So I think that helped as well. And it all in closing, I would say it all comes with really honing in on your business.
Speaker 2:A lot of people are trying to do too much at one time. And if you really wanna be a full time entrepreneur with a full time business, you have to have a full time mindset. So you got people out here trying to work on their business thirty minutes every other day or hour or they just trying to fit it in. That's not enough. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's not gonna be enough.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:You gotta put in a set amount of hours consistently every single day into your business, whatever area it is. And understand that just because you're putting in that time doesn't always mean results as well, so you gotta have resiliency. So I would say those are the top barriers and kind of ways that I overcame the barriers when it came to growing as a full time entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:Okay. So what are some of the hardest businesses to start?
Speaker 2:The hardest business to start? So I I would say, anything in crypto. Like, I'm a tell you the areas that I don't work with just because they're a little too complicated for me even to do it. Food trucks are one of the hardest businesses to get into. Why
Speaker 1:does everybody got one?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I would not even that because Charlotte has the the capacity to be able to hold it. We have about 1,300,000 people within the Charlotte Metro Area, so I don't think it's even really that. I think it's the organization and responsibility that comes with owning a food truck, you know, because you gotta calculate your food cost, your labor. How much food do you need for this, jazz in the park event?
Speaker 2:You know? It's so many variables that go into it, and it's a upfront heavy load type business because you have to that's not a bit like, for me, all of my business models, they're low overhead calls, and I did that strategically. That's just what worked for me. I like to get into something that I ain't gotta spend a lot of money to do and get a stronger return on my investment. But with the food truck industry, that's not an industry you can hop into like that.
Speaker 2:Like, you really gotta you gotta put money up for the truck or get your permits. You gotta buy the food before the event. You know what I'm saying? So you run into those things. So that's one of the hardest industries.
Speaker 2:Trucking right now is one of the hardest industries during COVID. I was busing. I was busing a trucking and logistics business plan almost on a weekly basis. Like, everybody was trying to get in trucking, and it made sense because it was a great time. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Trucking was low. People needed people on the road, so it was a great time. Now post COVID, now that everybody back on these large companies and got their stuff back on, their freights back working, Now everybody then went and bought all these trucks. Now they coming back to me because now they gotta transition out. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:Because a lot of people I would say the biggest thing people are not doing research before they go into an industry.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:They see somebody else doing it, and they see it look easy, and they're like, oh, I wanna hop into that business, and then they hop into it. They're like, oh, dang, Brandy. It ain't what I thought. Yeah. Because you ain't think about that $10,000 truck maintenance cost.
Speaker 2:You know, if it break down on the highway, you ain't think about that.
Speaker 1:You ain't think about the diesel fuel.
Speaker 2:Let let's let's get to that gas.
Speaker 1:And and it ain't think about the miles per gallon. Yeah. That that's crazy how how low that truck drives, like, what is it? One mile? Like, it's like you do a you do a thousand miles on a tank or something like that.
Speaker 1:Right?
Speaker 2:Don't get me lying.
Speaker 1:I don't know. My friend told me earlier, he was like, you're spending most of your time, most of your money's going back into the truck. Yes. And it's mainly the gas. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then if it breaks down, that's a whole another animal.
Speaker 2:That's a whole and that's the biggest thing because a lot of people you know, I would say the other thing that's causing a lot of issues and barriers is people trying to cut corners at the beginning. Yeah. Go ahead. Some things you can bootstrap. I can definitely say all my businesses, I bootstrap that thing to the to the wire.
Speaker 2:You know? But certain businesses, you just can't bootstrap. You have to put that upfront investment, and trucking is one of those. Anything dealing with a commercial vehicle, you gotta put that money upfront because, yeah, you can buy it on Craigslist with 50% off, But within six months, that 50% off, you didn't reinvest it back in a truck because it's so many things. Well, yeah, it's so many things that's wrong with it.
Speaker 2:So I would say, just adequately doing your research. Make sure that it's something that you really wanna do because money is not enough. When you know, when you get down and out and you ain't had a client in two weeks, money ain't gonna push you to get up in the morning because you ain't made money. So you gotta figure out an industry, number one, that's impactful, that's important to you, and I would say that make a difference. If you go into a business that makes a difference, that is a necessity or need or a want for a specific target market, you should your insurance success because you know that regardless of what happened, somebody is gonna always need this.
Speaker 2:A massage, somebody is gonna always want a massage. Somebody is gonna always wanna start a business. Somebody is gonna always want to, support the foster care community. That goes into my nonprofit. So, you know, just finding something that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Don't be a lash check because it's popping. Lash takes ain't gonna be around for a long time, you know, because people started people got tired of paying. They got on YouTube University and learned how to put their own lash lashes on. So what do you do then? Yeah.
Speaker 2:So yeah.
Speaker 1:So, do you need capital and credit, or can you just work without the capital and have credit? How how would what's the best way to build a brand or a or a company with both, or you could do it with one or the other?
Speaker 2:Definitely. So when it comes to business funding, it's a mix of both, and it really depends on where you're getting your funding from. If you go into a traditional bank, then it's gonna be across the board. They giving you they won't credit. They won't business plan.
Speaker 2:They won't cash flow. They won't everything. But what I will say about banks are is, once you get a relationship with a bank, like, once you get in there, you in there. Like, you know, once you get that first line of credit, if you handle it right, all the other capital you need, they gonna roll it because now at this point, you didn't build the trust. So it's like getting into a relationship with a real, somebody that's been hurt in the past.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:You know, you got all these walls up and shit. You gotta be like, hold on. Hey. I gotta go through the lizards.
Speaker 2:You gotta go through you gotta go through it. So that's really if I had to describe a bank, that's what a bank is. You gotta get down through it. But once you get in there and you lock in and you do what you're supposed to do, you got a ally for life as long as you stay in compliance. Then you have your nontraditional funding.
Speaker 2:This is your community funding agencies. They're usually supported by SBA loans, so they can make sure they got that backing. And the benefit of the SBA loan backing is that they kinda put a guarantee that if these companies agree to fund you and you default, the SBA, AKA the federal government, is going to pay that loan back. So I will say when you get into these agencies, these community funding, business funding, it's a lot easier because these companies, they might they understand that they're working with people who might not have the strongest credit. But just because you don't have strong credit let's say if you're bringing in 15 k a month, but your credit is bad.
Speaker 2:They'll take that 15 k a month Mhmm. And they'll go ahead and give you more money based on your revenue. Because a lot of times but people gotta realize is in United States, we are a capitalist based country. We're about the money. We're about the numbers.
Speaker 2:And you we know that across the board. If you got the money and you got the numbers, you can really make anything happen. So with that being said, you might have a six twenty credit score, but you pulling in 15 k a month. They're gonna give you a, revenue based loan. Usually, it's 50% of what you're making over a certain a certain amount of time.
Speaker 2:They'll give you that loan in advance because they know that you're making the capital. So if you don't have a strong credit, you know, you wanna make sure you get into a big a good business that you know how to run so you can make money. But I will say across the board, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you wanna put yourself in the best light across the board. I wanna be able to put my information on some paper and tell them I need this amount and for it not to be a issue. And so I think if you really wanna be the best in what you're doing, you want to be prepared across the board.
Speaker 2:And I I don't I would say the minimal the minimal would be like a 660 credit score, and that depends on where you go. But if you got like a 66680 ideally in that lower kind of credit range, then you you can you can adequately go. And you got some you got some revenue coming in, you can make something happen.
Speaker 1:What about if you don't have no revenue, but you do have savings? Like, what would be a good amount of a good number to start with with capital?
Speaker 2:It depends on your industry. Like like I said, all of my industries, they're really low maintenance. Like, I started Pampers. I think I spent a thousand dollars. Like, that's it.
Speaker 2:Boom. Full business. Thirteen years full time. You know? So it really depends on your industry.
Speaker 2:If you gotta get a building, if you have to get equipment, it's definitely gonna, take it up a notch. But if you do have savings, usually, that's used, for your down payment because anytime if you get a loan, nine times out of 9.9 times out of 10, they're gonna require 10%. They usually cover 90% of the loan, and then they want you to do 10% for due diligence just to prove that you're gonna put some skin in the game. Yeah. So I will say if you know that your credit is not stronger, then you wanna go for those secondary funding options because the bank won't be, won't be your best choice.
Speaker 2:And, also, what I love about community based funders is that they support entrepreneurs as a whole. So what I mean by that is if you do apply for a a loan or anything and let's say you do get, declined, it's not like a bank, like, with a red tape stamp, like, declined, give you your payment. Yeah. Never again. Don't come back.
Speaker 2:No. It's like, hey. Hey, Brandy. We saw that you got declined. These are your areas of weakness that the underwriter told us about.
Speaker 2:Let's work together and get these things taken care of so we can get you back in here within the next three, six months. So I would say that is the benefit. And, also, finding a consultant that specializes in business funding preparation. I will say would be the entrepreneur. We have partnered with banks to be able to learn their methods of how they approve how they approve their clients.
Speaker 2:So that way, when you work with me, we're not working blindly. I've worked with these banks. I've talked to these, I've talked to underwriters. I've talked to these funding agencies, and they let me know, hey, Brandy. This is what we need in order for me to fund them.
Speaker 2:And then from there, I can take that information, and I can go ahead and make sure that you meet the criteria of what they're looking for.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Dope. So tell me so what is the difference between your own business and a nonprofit just for people who don't know? Like, split the difference. Like, some people think, oh, I get a nonprofit.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna try to how you going how about I'm not I don't want a nonprofit because I can't make no money, but at the same time, it's still building your brand. Correct?
Speaker 2:Definitely. So I would say, and my homegirl slash mentor, she is like the nonprofit guru, Janae, Janae Massey with HUPAC. But we talk about this all the time because we literally do the same thing consulting wise except she specifically works with nonprofits. I specifically work for for profits. But I will say the biggest thing is you can make money with a nonprofit because you have multimillion dollar nonprofits out here with CEOs pulling in a million dollars a year.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:The NFL is nonprofit.
Speaker 2:Exact exactly. Rolex is nonprofit. You know what I'm saying? It's a lot of companies you guys wouldn't even notice nonprofits. But the biggest difference between nonprofits is really that exempt status.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying? With for profits, you have a lot. You don't have to have a board. You don't have to vote on things. You don't have to have meetings.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of things. You can really run it how you wanna run it. When it comes to nonprofit because this is, a lot of times you're getting grant funding, this is a tax exempt IRS type company. You have to make sure that you got checks and balances in place. I would say that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2:When it comes to making money, you just put it in your budget. You know? Unlike a for profit, I don't have to put out a full budget. Like, I'm a spend money on this, this, this, this, this. I just make it happen and go.
Speaker 2:But with a nonprofit, you just gotta be a lot more organized. You know? You gotta do a lot more planning. You gotta say, hey. If I get this $10,000 grant, I'm gonna use 2,000 towards my towards my salary.
Speaker 2:I'm a use 2,000 to, hire three interns. Like, you just gotta be specific about how you're spending money. And a lot of times, nonprofit scares people that got stuff to hide. That's how I feel because the nonprofit, you know, it ain't really too much. You get, like, you really I mean, I ain't gonna say you can't.
Speaker 2:It ain't too much because we know some nonprofit that done some stuff. But if you're really doing your checks and balance, nonprofit, I think, is the best because it allows you you can't hide behind the numbers. You know what I'm saying? You're gonna you're gonna see the numbers. You know how much you got, and you gotta be able to make it work with what you got.
Speaker 2:You just gotta be smart and make sure you include your salary in that money that you're getting.
Speaker 1:Okay. So either way, it works for you. Right? So what do you believe your purpose is on this Earth? Like, as of today, like, what do you believe your purpose is?
Speaker 2:I feel like my purpose is to lead the black revolution through entrepreneurship. You know? And this is something that I've thought about.
Speaker 1:Again one more time with you in the back. We didn't have no money to pay for the police.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So my goal is to lead the revolution of black people through entrepreneurship. And what that looks like for me is understanding the different parts of the puzzle. You know, during b bill, black lives matter, you know, you had people, you know, you had artists that expressed their their that way. They did art.
Speaker 2:They painted. You got your protesters. It's on the front line. It's gonna let them know we ain't playing. So for me, I wanted to figure out what my role is and not saying that I only work with African American and minority entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2:I do have other races, but that is my that is my passion. So with that being said, I was like, what can I do on the back end to make sure that my people are good? I'm not gonna march. I got kids. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:Just not a risk I'm taking. You know? I can't draw. All I got is the little sun in the corner with a couple stick figures in the house with the grass. That's all I got for you.
Speaker 2:So the power. That's it. Fight the power. That's all I got. But I'm like, entrepreneurship, it just comes very easy for me, and being able to educate people is it comes easy for me.
Speaker 2:So I'm like, my role is to get as many black businesses to succeed as possible because it's not the lack of us creating businesses. It's the lack of us being able to sustain the businesses.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Because nine out of ten businesses, and this number has increased since COVID, but nine out of ten businesses fail within the first year. Mhmm. Not even three. People like three no. Within the first year, ninety percent of new businesses that have started has failed.
Speaker 2:You know? So my goal is to lighten the load, let people know what to do, help you with your operations, help you with your onboarding. So that way, you're not working backwards. Because what I see a lot is people have natural talents, and instead of kinda honing in and organizing their business the right way, they hop straight out. So they'll be like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm a chef. Everybody been telling me since I was seven that my place is good. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:Selling for the alcohol.
Speaker 2:Since the easy bake oven, I was pulling it out the easy
Speaker 1:bake oven. I got to take down to the fish Friday, and everybody come get mushroom.
Speaker 2:Baby, everybody is coming to get the deep fry deep fry so people feel like because they have a natural talent that, okay, they'll hop out and they'll just start selling plates at their house. Now next thing you know, now you you done got too big. You done outgrew yourself. Now you got people. How how are you gonna handle taking paperwork?
Speaker 2:What you gonna do about allergies? Do you have insurance? Do you have an LLC to where your stuff is separated to where some if somebody get food poisoning, they can't take you for everything you got. So people skip that stuff because they want to get to the fun stuff. They want to build a logo.
Speaker 2:They want to have their landing page. They want to do the photo shoot, and you doing all this, and you ain't even registered at your registry of deeds as a legal business, which means that if anybody else come up with your name, they can go up there and register and that whole name, your whole brand is gone.
Speaker 1:And they try to sell it back to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I've seen that before. Yeah. They take they take your brand and they sell it back to you for a higher price.
Speaker 2:Yes. Yes. Do you want this? And then it puts you in a bind because at this point, you ain't got no choice because you didn't built your logo off this name. You didn't built your website.
Speaker 2:You didn't got the chef outfit and everything.
Speaker 1:In the whole time.
Speaker 2:In the whole time, you ain't even protected your name or yourself.
Speaker 1:Or even thought about the board of health.
Speaker 2:Baby, ain't ain't seen the inside of that kitchen. Ain't seen the inside of that kitchen.
Speaker 1:Knocking on the door. Excuse me, sir. Sir. Let me see that kitchen.
Speaker 2:This is the health department.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Take that hot comb off the stove.
Speaker 2:I know you ain't got the hot comb by the fish fry. Everything's sizzling, scalp and fish.
Speaker 1:We do it all. We got Braden and and and biscuits. Braden and biscuits.
Speaker 2:B and B.
Speaker 1:B and B. That's what they call it. Right? It's B and B Sundays, baby.
Speaker 2:Oh, cry.
Speaker 1:So overall, you're trying to build a brand to help create the community wealth, generational wealth as well. But see, our problem is is a community I've noticed that we, like, let our stuff go. They set it up for us back in the day, and then we sell it for low, and then they'll recharge it for high. Like our properties, our businesses, we sell our house for a hundred thousand, and we don't even know that the house is 600,000. And then here comes some new people coming in.
Speaker 1:So as a consultant, are you sending people in the right you are obviously, you're sending people in the right direction. But how hard is it to get people to understand that? That part where you can lose this and you could also gain more, like, if you how many what I'm trying to say? You're trying to you have something for the low.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Eventually, you can sell it for the high.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:But is it really worth selling it?
Speaker 2:And that's one of those kind of trial and error things. Like, people kinda I get people that come to me, and they just have a business idea. They're like, Brandy, I wanna know if it's a good idea. And, you know, for me, I don't mind doing some of the lead work, but as a consultant that believes in the success of my clients, I'm not gonna hold your hand.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:I'm a tell you what you need to do. I'm a tell you, hey. You need to look up if you if your business is gonna be in 28269, you need to look up who are the other businesses are doing what you're doing in 28269. Is the people in that area gonna buy that? Like, I wouldn't start a hot yoga studio on Betty's Ford Road right now.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying? No. That's not what I'm trying. It's gonna get hot alright. Different
Speaker 1:kind of yoga.
Speaker 2:Different kind of yoga. It's giving trap yoga and not trap trap yoga. Yeah. So Below. You know, but just, you know, I just want people to be able to know and understand what it takes, and I think the biggest thing that people love about me is that I'm really blunt and straightforward.
Speaker 2:I don't really sugarcoat a lot of things when I do my meeting. Like, if I'm meeting with you, like, I had a guy and, you know, great guy, cool guy, very, very, very ambitious. But, you know, he wanted to start a storage unit business. But you have not told me, like, when we when we connected, you didn't let me know anything about your business. I'm like, okay.
Speaker 2:Well, how much is a storage unit? You know? How much do you gotta spend? What land are you looking for? How many acres did you need?
Speaker 2:And he came to me so strong about wanting to start the storage unit and getting $500,000 in money and funding for it, but you can't even tell me how much one storage unit cost. So that lets me know you haven't even did your back end research. So for me, when I get in a situation like that, I'm not that consultant that's gonna be like, oh, yeah. Still work with me because I'm a let you know, Hey. It don't seem like you're ready.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, even with me being a start up, it doesn't seem like you're ready because you're coming to me with a business idea, and you don't even know the base research of it. And, of course, I give people options because some people just don't know. Yeah. If you don't know how to run a business, you wouldn't know to do the research. So I give them an option.
Speaker 2:Like, hey. I can give you the action steps for you to be able to handle this yourself, or I can alleviate this issue, and I can take care of it for you. Mhmm. But I always like to give people options. And one thing I've seen with consultants is they kinda almost put people in a position where they feel like, if you don't use me, you're not gonna make it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't ever want anybody to feel like that. You know? I want people to feel like that I'm a resource to reach your goals. Whatever that start up business goal may be, I wanna support you, but I'm a always give you a option. I'm a give you a option where you can be self sufficient and do it yourself, and I'm a give you that option where, you know, I can take care of it.
Speaker 2:And in closing, I tell my entrepreneurs all the time, you got two options. You can spend time or you can spend money. You got one or the other. You spend money, you're gonna save time. You spend time, you're gonna save money.
Speaker 2:But it's gonna be really hard to get both of those things.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So what's the turnaround on a start up?
Speaker 2:Start what you mean?
Speaker 1:Like starting up a business? Like, what's the turnaround from the time that they meet you to whatever?
Speaker 2:It depends. So for my people that's already kinda been doing it and they just need to tighten it up, usually, we meet about two to three times, and I usually meet my clients on a monthly basis unless I'm meeting somebody that's kinda in the like, ready to move forward quickly, then we'll do biweekly. But most of my clients is on a monthly basis. And for my people that's already been in the business a little bit and they tighten it up, it's usually two to three minute two to three months. But for my clients who are starting from scratch in a base industry and when I say base industry, I mean, an industry that does not take a lot of upfront capital.
Speaker 2:Like, if you need machinery and all that, of course, it's gonna take a little bit longer because we gotta get capital. But if most of the time, if you're in a service industry where you got the knowledge and ability to kinda be able to do things, most of those clients are up and running about the six month mark.
Speaker 1:Okay. And what type of business are you doing entertainment wise?
Speaker 2:I'm sorry to repeat that.
Speaker 1:What kind of business
Speaker 2:no. What kind
Speaker 1:of businesses are you doing entertainment wise?
Speaker 2:Like, dude, that I run. Mhmm. I'm really not in entertainment. I did have Roland CLT.
Speaker 1:This was pretty dope.
Speaker 2:That was it was Roland CLT started in 2020, and it was definitely an experience. It opened my mind to so many things in entrepreneurship that I would not have experienced otherwise, but it's also opened another door because it is a business that we're putting up for acquisition, that's in the process of acquisition. So now I'm able to tap into a new market. You know? I've been I've started a business.
Speaker 2:You know? I've expanded this to different areas like PamperUs. We've expanded out to Raleigh and Greensboro. So that's a new journey for me. So being able to sell this business now, I'm like, this is a new journey.
Speaker 2:And what I do is everything, like I told you before, it's all about experience. Everything that I go through, I'm mentally documenting what I'm doing. So that way, now that I learned how to expand into other cities, now that's a new service on my offer. Hey. Have you been strong in this area for a long time and you wanna expand?
Speaker 2:Let's do this. Are you ready to sell your business? Let's do this. So now I'm able to kinda transition from start up and also be able to support entrepreneurs that's been in business for a minute and that's looking for that extra strategy exit strategy as well. So yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah. Well, you you're doing a lot of great things here in Charlotte, North Carolina throughout the whole southern region. I really do appreciate you. Let me before we get out of here, I'm gonna ask you a question. Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:Then we're gonna get all your information and all the things that's coming up with you. Okay. The name of the show is Unqualified Qualifications. Right? So what have you done that you feel other people thought you were unqualified, but you were?
Speaker 2:I would think getting into entrepreneurship in general. I would say starting with PamperUs because I'm not a massage therapist. Mhmm. So, I own a whole business model of something that I can't even do. So, you know, that goes into to leadership and management because I had to be able to adequately hire the people to even get it going.
Speaker 2:So I would say I would say that would be the biggest thing, but I've always been a hard worker, and I've always been a pusher. So I think people thought I would succeed, but certain obstacles, you know, when life hits you, people expect for you to fail, you know, fall down and not get back up. But I'm like, I'm real big on resiliency. I'm real big on kinda like that life of the phoenix. Like, burn me down.
Speaker 2:I'm coming back up from the ashes. So I think, you know, people kind of doubted me, but in the back of their head, they, like, you know, if anybody can do it, you know, Brandy gonna make it happen. And I can definitely say that's something that I've been consistent in executing in my thirteen years of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:Well, I would like to congratulate you for keep pushing through because you made a wonderful mark on the society around here.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Alright. So just let everybody know how they could get in contact with you.
Speaker 2:Definitely. Brandy Fox, b r a n d I f o x. And you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube at b.the.entrepreneur. Make sure you spell entrepreneur right because that's where y'all can't be finding me. Y'all be getting that e and u mixed up at the end.
Speaker 2:So remember, it's n e u r. So, yeah, find me online, y'all. And I tell people all the time, I ain't put I don't put no pressure. I'm not a salesperson. If you really for me, I always say you could tell a lot about a person by watching them.
Speaker 2:So just follow my social media and just watch how I move, watch what I post, watch how I do the things I do to support my clients. And if you feel like I'm somebody that piques your interest that might be able to be a support system for you and your start up business venture or if you pivot it or if you're feeling lost in what you have going on, go ahead and set up a $20 intro appointment. I make my intro appointments very affordable because I wanna at least make sure that you had an opportunity to talk to me. And in that lesson, I always give action steps. So anytime you meet with me, whether it's for the $20 package or the hundred dollar package, you're gonna leave with enough information to at least get you going on your journey because at the end of the day, be the entrepreneur is a heart business.
Speaker 2:Pamper us, that's my real business. That's the that's the money. That's the lifestyle. But be the entrepreneur, it's my heart business. So it is a business that I thrive in supporting people on even without making even without charging you a hundred dollars for an intake.
Speaker 2:You know? So Is it good? Yeah. They they taking them out. They taking they taking them out.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, Brandy Fox, be the entrepreneur, consultant agency, Charlotte, North Carolina. Follow me. Look into us. I would love to support you in whatever you have going on. You don't have to be lost.
Speaker 2:You got a support system in me.
Speaker 1:Alright. Thank you very much. Thank you for everybody for listening and watching. Unqualified qualification. I'm Verona Mack, and this is
Speaker 2:Brandy Fox.
Speaker 1:Let's get it. Have a good one, y'all. Peace.