The CEO Series with Ebony Young

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Speaker B: Good morning. Good evening. Depending upon what part of the world you're in, if it's Friday, it is the CEO series where we bring together the most phenomenal people from across across the globe and we dive into their career journey to get the insights of the left turns, right turns, detours, and all those kinds of things. So with that, I welcome our guest, Ebony Young, lovely cross sector executive, community advocate and founder of Wellness New York, whose career spans more than 25 years across nonprofit, corporate and government leadership. She currently serves as the deputy Borough President of Corporate Queens and has held senior level roles with YMCA Upgraded New York TF Cornerstone Incarceration Reform Initiative and the Black Entrepreneur Initiative. Her work sits at the intersection of community well being, innovation, economic opportunity, youth development and social justice. She's a certified life coach global speaker, known for turning turning ambitious ideas into measurable community impact. Remember, behind every title, it's a story worth telling. And I, uh, welcome you. Ebony, how are you?

Speaker C: Thank you, Ron. I am wonderful. I am so happy to be here. So happy to be in your space. So happy to be in the space of the people that listen to you. Um, which is what? We're going to ground this conversation in people. Right. And we'll tell the stories as we move forward. But, um, very thankful to be here and thank you for the invitation.

Speaker B: Yeah. Last time, maybe five, four or five weeks ago, we went, we went an event in New York City.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: And that's where we met. And, uh, I'm saying I'm talking with the deputy of commissioner of Borough president of Queens and. But the conversation was so enlightening and I said I would love to get behind. How did you get to that point? So my first question always is walk us through the beginning. Uh, how did you go from where you started, from M. To become entrepreneur as well as deputy borough president of Queens. But the people that don't understand Queens is five. New York City is five boroughs, and Queens is one of the boroughs. So you got Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, uh, the Bronx, and the Bronx. Okay?

Speaker C: So, hey, listen, first of all, if Queens was extrapolated from New York City, it'd be number four in the United States. States. It'd be the number four city in the United States. That's some amazing data to take along with you. So you can just imagine, when we talk about serving people, it's real people, right? Contextually speaking, this is a real borough with real people, and it is the most diverse place to live on the planet. It is the world's borough, the most diverse place to live on the planet. So any type of prototyping for the world starts right here. And I've just been so blessed to be able to be here in this space, um, with the open door from our borough president, Donovan Richards, who really said, you know, we want to change the game. We want to do things differently. We want to innovate, we want to create. We want to do that in a way that really serves the people. And that, for me, started with being grounded in a home that, um, loved people. So I was raised by a teacher and a preacher. So you can just imagine, right, the social, um, interpretation of that. The doors flung open, okay. Um, with people, and people yearn to be in our space. And one of those reasons is because my father and my mother were. They were really good at being real and authentic, and those spaces left room for people to be real and authentic. And so that grounding of realness, authenticity, connection started in my home. I saw a mother and father implement that, and it was just a natural thing for me as I grew up in it. So measuring success by lives changed and not titles was what I grew up in.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: And so that grounded foundation really started me off in understanding the ecosystem of real substantive change, which is really grounded in people.

Speaker B: Yeah. You know, you're talking about a combination. I had to write that within the home of a teacher and a preacher. You're talking about a combination. You. You have. You have the Oscar. You have the Oscars of Parenthood. You know. You know, when you talk about that. So that was absolutely amazing. But I want to say this. You know, you talked about Queens, the enormity, the size of it. There's a. There's a young lady in Dubai who's probably one of your most famous, uh, citizens. Ex. Ex. Plants. Uh, pretty Malik. Um, and, and I sent her a note that you were going to be on today's. But anyway, you produce people from across the globe and have done great things and, and I applaud you for that. So as you've worked in a non profit corporate government, what were some challenges you've had in navigating that?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And on top of that having that great combination to grow up.

Speaker C: Yep. Love that. You know, consider this. How do you run a mission driven organization like an operation? I think those were the opposing views all the way throughout my career up to this point. Some people have the mindset as they're leading, leading as one thing or the other to be strictly operational, make sure that this organization is tight and follow the rules. Right. And then there's a completely different person that looks at mission but can get a little bit overboard when it comes to carrying a. Forget the operative people.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: So that combination of uh, mission driven, running your organization like an operation, taking the private sector and really looking at what community impact looks like, which I practice over at TF Cornerstone because I actually think those two combinations really flourish a business but it flourishes people in a way that the average person just does not do it very well. So um, um, I didn't necessarily win the seat but it repositioned me when I was um, running for city council to have a higher, to be at a higher level of government. So I think that really um, when I was running for city council helps you to think about like what is the leveraging here? How do you leverage the losses, the wins, the successes, the disappointments? Well, it's all about creating ecosystems. And so you know, that's what we

Speaker B: do very well all the way to Queensborough Hall. So that, that was, that was so cool. So, so that, that's the professional side. Talk about you for a minute. The career highs, the lows, we've always had those. And, and you know, how do we. On some days you just woo, you know, you sit there, you kind of shake your head and say do I really have to deal with this today? And Adey and I was talking about this earlier today, earlier this morning before. He's the executive producer of the show. Talk about the same thing on some days. And you're looking at this, what's, how do you navigate that? How would you give someone advice and navigate that? Because of all you've done, you would jump from one to the other and from the outside it looks like it's effortlessly you just jump from one. And I go here, I do this. And then I go here and then I go here. But we know, we always know that

Speaker C: the back end, you know, Um, I know that my purpose in life, I know this is to help make people better. I know that. And so with that grounding, it parallels to how I kind of operate my life and as you can see along my career journey. Right. It is a lot to do with people. A lot. A lot to do with connection, a lot to do with scalability. So I use that in my life for myself. I'm a fitness instructor. I still teach classes. Right. Um, I'm very spiritually driven in the kind of. Kind of home that I've been raised in, to fall back on something that's wisdom driven and a source that higher. That is higher than you. And then I'm very intellectually driven. So I enjoy learning. Um, I always tell people the mix of humility, people think, oh, you know, you got to shrink yourself. You got to push back. Is knowing to your highest capacity level, where you fit, um, and how to execute on those competencies.

Speaker B: And.

Speaker C: But then just as much, you understand what you don't know. So if you come in with full competency and you understand the leveraging of. I still need to learn and know that is real practice and that is real humility put into action. And so I live my life like that. Yeah, I know this. But just as much as I know this, I don't know this. Right. And so I'm always seeking that knowledge and wisdom and understanding.

Speaker B: M. I love the. What you mentioned about the learning aspect. You know, always learning. Ah. You know, because I'm intrigued by. I'm intrigued by learning. I read when I'm not doing anything to think next thing, I don't want to just pick up an article or something to read through it, whether I believe it or not, whatever, and I'll comment on it and, um, walk us through how important is to learn. Because I had a conversation with a CEO and I keep repeating this because it. It really blew me away. I asked him, what are you reading? What's the most interesting article you've read lately? And he told me, he says, you know, at this level, I'm so busy, I don't really get a chance to read. And it just kind of blew me away. But I love the fact that you said, uh, you know, I'm consistent. Consistent about learning.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: Always trying to learning. Walk us through the importance of that. Because I've told that story so many times. And I want people to understand. Just because you got all the degrees and you're noted as an expert. You still have to learn.

Speaker C: So, um, I had a friend of mine, his name was Dr. Cashman, Dr. Rudy Cashman. He's a neurosurgeon. And when I was 20, this man was 80 years old. I used to yearn to sit at his feet and go to Starbucks, you know, And I'm like, how is this man doing what he does at 80 years old? And so I would talk to him all the time. And I always was, was a natural learning seeker. And I was like, Dr. Cashman, how do you do this? Right? How do you still practice neurosurgery? And your hands are so steady to be in somebody's brain.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: He was like, I've left a lot of people. I said, well, what do you mean? He said, After 50, many people just conform to their beliefs, stay with those beliefs, and strictly live by them forever. The person that makes it can get off of their ego drive, open up a pathway to hearing other people and implement new opportunities. And not too many people do that. And so at 80 years old, I can still practice neurosurgeon surgery, give people advice, open up pathways, because I decided not to stop learning. But many of my peers I've left because of it.

Speaker B: Yeah, I know, I know you. Hey, girl, you know, and you, and you keep going. Um, yeah. What was a difficult moment that you faced and you had to navigate?

Speaker C: Yeah. Um, you know, I think the difficult moments really, um, sit in really understanding your value system. And when you have a grounded value system, even when things rock, you can turn back to what I live by, my three core character values, communication, collaboration, and compassion. I know if I can lead with communication, a two way, thorough way to not just me understanding, but the person across the seat understanding it from their lens and not mine's. Right? So that communication means that I don't speak in my voice, that I speak in the voice of the person that's sitting across from me. So that's what communication really means to me, collaboration. How do I then, once that person has heard the reciprocity of what we're both trying to understand, how do we take that knowledge and feed it into a system where it's collaborating so tightly that things are produced from it? Right. So I communicate appropriately. I collaborate in a way that makes sense for everyone, not just me, where both, all of us are walking away with the wind. And then I practice compassion. So that means letting my ego aside in a lot of different conversations and, um, understanding that that ego could drive you in a really bad Place in space if you're not. If you can't let go.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's a, that's a, that's a pretty strong formula. That's a pretty strong formula for life, you know, getting to a point that you could figure those things out. Adey and I was talking earlier and I was stuck in my. Because I had a flight last night.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yesterday to get to Dubai. And, you know, everything was going wrong. You know, they couldn't give me my upgrade that I wanted. And I was sitting there and, uh, next to two older people. They kept having to get them. And I'm going back and forth and, and I was really, really getting to a point of really being taken off. So my, my reference point was that there's a lot of people going, going through the world with a whole lot different things than you worrying about. Because it didn't give you the upgrade to business class. You have two elderly people sitting next to you.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker B: Just stop it. As my mother would say, just stop it and breathe. And I said, you know what? Yeah, I can enjoy the rest of it. And we started talking and had a good conversation. But I'm glad that you, that you, that you mentioned that and. Because those anchors sometimes pull you a, uh, pull you back. It does, yeah, yeah, yeah, it does.

Speaker C: And it helps us to sustain positivity. You know, I think the, you know, the rooted issues and when we come up with these problems, we get all wrapped up into the problem and don't look at the substantive, substantive part of like sustaining that positive all the way through. Not just momentary fixes you can lose quickly like that.

Speaker B: Yeah. Do you think your parents look back and they said, uh, we. We did good.

Speaker C: I look back and say, oh, my parents did good.

Speaker B: Yeah. Okay.

Speaker C: I do. I'm like, they did. I mean, you know, did they know everything? Did they, you know. No, absolutely not. But they did their best in ground.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Both my parents never finished school, never finished school, never graduated back during that era. And I said when I left there to go to college, I already had a degree in life from growing up and under that tutelage. So whatever time it was for me to go the way to school, I said, when I came into school, I already had a degree. So now I just had to get their degree. But the grounding was. Came from degree I had for all those years of sitting at the knees of these remarkable people telling me about life, the real life, not the polished version.

Speaker C: And then the implementation comes so natural and easy.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: When that happens, because you can Apply easier because it's been embedded differently. You know, the application is so much more rich. Yeah, it's very rich.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. How would you describe your leadership style? So starting out, I mean, you've done great things, and deputy borough president, you've got your own firm now. How has your leadership style evolved over the years?

Speaker C: Yeah, um, I think, you know, when you're young, you're a little arrogant. Right, right. And you just don't, you know, you, you speak quicker than you listen. And I think the evolution of that has really been putting my three core character values into place. Communication, collaboration, and compassion. And leading in a heart centered way with understanding the operations within that heart center is what keeps it sustained. Right. And so, um, yeah, continuously putting that into practice every day, um, remaining conscious about what I do say and operate in, um, has been the catalyst to like, the other end of that leadership. And not just saying I'm a leader, but having other people experience that and walk away better, because that's really important to me, that people walk away better people. So that means that you have to understand what that means to them. And for them, that is imperative. Mission, patience, coalition, building, um, resourcefulness, all of that. Being intermixed into the pathway that you take with people and getting, and making sure that they have impact in what, what you do. And they do. Yeah.

Speaker B: Uh, I know at the, at the level you are, and I know how Queens is, is community oriented.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: How are you mentoring the next level of. Next level of ebony's to come through to, to where you are or where they want to be? Um, what's happening with the next level of ebony's?

Speaker C: Sponsoring people before they even ask you to.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: So that means befriending people first, getting to know them, showing that, um, they are valued. And so when you offer a value, they are accepting of that. Right. And so it doesn't mean just coming across like you are the genie of know. All right.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Right. No, no, actually, you know, when you're talking to younger people, that's actually a great idea. Right. Um, dig into that a little bit and tell me how that's been implemented and, and what you've done to, um, change something, a person, place or thing. And so they get really involved and engaged in that conversation. And then about midway through the conversation, you begin to offer tidbits of that value. Right. Hey, this was amazing. Have you thought about this? Is this something that you. And easily, gradually you come into a space where they begin to respect you because there's reciprocity happening in that conversation. And then the walk away is so much richer. Um, because once you, um, seek out, um, people before they ask you, they're more apt to, um, coming into your space and, you know, requiring from you your wisdom. So wisdom is not just giving advice. Wisdom is sitting back and listening first and then having that advice offered by the person, person that wants it and desires it.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I've always felt that reach back and pull someone up. Um, because I'm the person, I don't care. I wake up in the morning, it could be 10 messages on LinkedIn. Sometimes doing that, doing today, I'm going to send a personal note back. And people respond sometimes. Oh my God. You know, lots of times when I reach out to famous people, they never really respond. I said, no, no, I'm not, I'm not like that. Even if, even if it's a word of encouragement, I may not be able to help. But keep doing what you're doing and all those kinds of things. And I love, you know, what you just said as it relates to that. Because we've gotta, we've gotta reach back and, and start pulling and, and doing those kind of things.

Speaker C: So that's Right. And in a way that's non threatening.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Because I think we have a different set of young people today. Right. Yeah. And all of us have been through the know it all phase. Right. Oh, I know this. And, and so even though we know that that exists. Yeah, right. We don't play into it because we're more emotionally intelligent to understand that we've been there too.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: Numerous times.

Speaker C: Numerous times. And so what we do is we frame the right questions so that they come into a space where they feel like they don't have to represent themselves as a know it all person. Because the only reason the know it all is even exists is because everybody wants to feel valued. And as a young person, what value sometimes is at times is I want to be respected, I want to fit in. And so you offer that and then, um, you find reciprocity in, um, inviting them into a space where they feel comfortable to hear you.

Speaker B: And I find that I will always, I will always take a call from somebody on late night, even if it's five minutes. Whereas if some CEO says let's do 15 minutes, exchange ideas of collaboration. I don't want to do this yet. Talk to me about a young kid that's coming out of college and, and they're kind of confused. That to me is invaluable and I get more points on my Scale, if there is a point scale, I think for doing that, then talking with the. I'm not saying it's a negative way, but the big shot CEO who wants to exchange ideas and all of this kind of thing, uh, not at this time. Let me talk to the young kid who's coming out of school and maybe lost a job and I just need to talk to somebody.

Speaker C: I love that. Yeah, I love that. And the value they get from your experiences is invaluable.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, and uh, it's something that I think I'm going to encourage our audience. You know, if you're listening to this, open up that pathway. Right. Open up that pathway to. Sometimes we get so insular and that insular piece keeps us away from exchanging generational ideas and exchanges and we just want to fit into our little groups of 50 plus year olds, you know. And um, that is not always the way. Um, I think we've lost a lot

Speaker B: of

Speaker C: sophisticated, um, senior wisdom, um, because of that, because of this insular type of society. And so I think, uh, you know, I want to encourage people to be vigilant, to be aware, to walk circumspectively as we are, you know, jogging, running or walking on our journey.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you talk about, you know, the preaching and teaching. I'm like first time I've ever heard a combination as strong as that. Because I can imagine the learning, you know. But my mother always told me, she says when you walk out of the door in the morning, M. That's when school begins.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker B: You notice everything, all these kinds of. And I still live by that today. So that's why I said when I went away to college, it was just going through four years of listening to these people, but I got a life lesson. I had a PhD in life. That's it coming up from a guy that owned a taxi company.

Speaker C: I love it.

Speaker B: And a mother who was a housewife. And neither one of them finished schools. But that was PhD learning. So I had my, as the folks say, I had my paper when I walked in, but I needed to get another paper.

Speaker C: Yeah. And I think there's a certain wisdom even in uh, you know, not having the degree. Right. Because there are things that you look at and see, see that hasn't been trained by the education eye that may even be better. And I think our society is learning that right now with the advent of quantum computing and AI and getting away from degrees, but going into wisdom learning, like look at what's happening in society right now.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I just, I just read this morning Uber is going to lay off 4, 000 people for whatever reason. I don't even read the reasons anymore. I get, when I see that, I think about the young people who have gone through degrees. They've clicked off all the boxes that we told them to click off all the boxes and then they come out and life hits them in the face.

Speaker C: Crash.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Crash.

Speaker B: Yeah, so. Yeah, so. So we're, we're kind of, you know, we are kind of on the same page as it relates to that. So I'm glad to hear that you're giving back. You know, as you said, Queens is so large and people look up to you because they said you started from here and, and now you're the deputy Queensborough president, you've run for city council, you've done that and now you're, you're opening your business. Walk us through what was, what drove you to start this business and what is the business about? How is that going to help? I'm going to say society, but you

Speaker C: know, uh, I think it's understanding life. Right. And it's understanding my purpose of here, to help make people better and understanding the practice that I've had. Right. And not just theory, it's really practice put into. I have seen businesses thrive, people thrive, organizations get better. When the mix of mind, body, spirit is put at the forefront of human potential meets economic scalability. Right. I've seen it. And um, that takes, you know, coming in, coming from a little small town town in Indiana and Ohio and moving to New York City and people looking at you like, oh my goodness. We've had five executive directors year over year and you're the sixth one we haven't made budget in six years. What is this little girl from the gonna do, you know?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: But coming in with a real eye around psych. The psychology of human potential and economic scalability is why I started well, nyc, because I've seen that when you put yourself into the place of other people and you understand how Marcus Buckingham's book now discover your strengths. Amazing book. Um, along with the True Colors corporate assessment along with Myers Briggs taking all of these things and consolidating them and really looking at your people and figuring out why they want to purpose themselves into this place that you call a job. Right. But how do you make it a staple for them, a career aspiration for them? By catering to their core strength capacities and scaling that because they will automatically desire to be there. You know, I used to tell my team, if you're waking up every day and you're coming to work because you're scared of me, because you want to please m the, the goals that I have and don't come back. This is a co ownership. We own this together. We will create a vision and a co owned opportunity that will make you feel absolutely great with being here. Because this is not about ebony. This is about the people that we're

Speaker B: serving every day, the impact we're having.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker B: Yeah. I laugh when you said the small town and, uh, was it Indiana?

Speaker C: You said Indiana and Ohio. Yeah. I was born in Ohio, raised in Indiana.

Speaker B: Yeah. So I thought about. I always reference people, you know, people I know. I said I came from a, a city. It was three traffic lights. Three traffic lights, 8, 000 people.

Speaker C: Oh.

Speaker B: So how do you, someone asked, how do you go from there? Marion, South Carolina. Oh, uh, and now you travel. I've been in four countries over the past month doing work. How do you do that? I said, you know what, it would take a book to go through all of that. The learnings of life. But you know, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Speaker C: I know exactly what you're talking about.

Speaker B: You know, how do you do that? And so somebody, a good friend of mine, he'll always ask, ask, how's, how's the three, three traffic light theory going? I said, it's maxing out, man. It's maxing, uh, out. So if you had, if you had to go back and give some advice to your younger self coming out of university and you got all of the, everything figured out, you're going to do this, you're going to do this, and you're going to do all these things and then life hit you.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: What advice would you give you? Would you, what advice would you give the young? Ebony, Just Ebony.

Speaker C: Please understand that a, uh, part of your journey to success is failure. Oh, I didn't get that young. Oh, God, I failed. Oh, no, this is horrible. I can't get back up. No, no, no, no, no. That's part of the journey. A, uh, part of your journey is failure. But the key to that success is that when you fail, assess. Right. The assessment and failure is the key to failing forward. It's the key to failing for it. And so when I have failed in the past, I used to just, um, I'm my own worst critic, right. I don't compare myself to other people. I compare myself to my best self. And I am a very driven person. I was an athlete. I, uh, you know, I work Out. I still work out six times a week. You know, I. I do all of these things because I push myself to the ultimate best of ebony. And so in that comparison to the best of ebony, how are you feeding yourself along the journey of failure? More knowledge, more understanding, better people around you. And as you scale up in your life, so the three things, whole, healing and evolving. As you're scaling up in those areas, how are you curating the circles around you? Um, and that curation of circles around you needs to change. When you change, and if things stay the same, your failure will be more miserable.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Because you don't have the right people to fall back on, to question you to better. It's important. It's very, very important.

Speaker B: Yeah. I love. I love you bringing in failure. You know, I have a quote that I said. Failure is the building blocks to success. Absolutely. And you have to view it that way.

Speaker C: That's right.

Speaker B: Just because you failed here, here, here. Doesn't mean anything. Because I remember reading an article about, uh, Thomas Edison and the light. Light bulb. And he said that at the 10,001, 10,000 fails, but that one was a success. He said, I didn't do it right. But he said, I failed 10. I'm paraphrasing. To get that light bulb. And. And I tell people it's okay to fail.

Speaker C: It's okay.

Speaker B: You have to, you know, bounce back. And a, uh, day. And I was talking, and I was talking about this. It's the most horrible flame flight I've had on Emirates, but I always fly Emirates, so it's the best service ever. Oh. And I said, I was going on and about that, people getting up and all those things. And I said. And then I had just remember watching a video on St. Jude's Hospital.

Speaker A: Oh.

Speaker B: Uh, about these kids who were born with cancer and all this thing. And I said, here I am worrying about seating arrangements. The people sitting next to me get over you and just.

Speaker C: That's it.

Speaker B: Get back on track. So it's okay.

Speaker C: That's it. That's it. Getting over you and getting back on track.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Means that you have the people that can also check you in the way that is going, Going to increase your value.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And then he told me about how he contributes, and he went out to Walmart or whatever it is, and he got this T shirt because he contributed so much. And I'm a Walmart. Um, I'm a, um, giver for, uh, you know, this particular charity, St. Jude's and someone came up to him and introduced him to the daughter who is going through childhood cancer. And I said, you know what, we need to take a step back and just say it's gonna be okay.

Speaker C: Just. Okay.

Speaker B: This is just another piece. So, so thanks, thanks for sharing that. So you would have a, you would have a, a strong face to face talk with that younger self.

Speaker C: Strong.

Speaker B: Strong.

Speaker C: Very strong.

Speaker B: Yeah. So when you look back on all you have gone through, if you had to do a 1, 2, 1 or 2, what are you most proud of? I don't know. Ones and, or the two. You made the right turns or you made the right choice or however you want to phrase it.

Speaker C: I am most proud of my desire to keep people first.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: I mean, literally. And that means the interpretation of that does not mean, oh, people are number one. No, it means that they. Their value in the world sits in your hands when you are a leader and that value sits in your hands from the standpoint of gathering, uh, every resource, every good thing, every purpose, every scalable opportunity for that person. And that takes talking to them. It takes learning from them, it takes opening up a pathway that you can help them to be their best selves in the work that you've planted for other people. And when you do that, that ecosystem feeds the ecosystem.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: When a person is fed, they feed others. When a person is starving, they starve others.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And so it is my job as a leader, because I know that I've been born to do that. It is my job as a leader to open the door up for them, to operate at their best levels. I'm most proud of that.

Speaker B: Yeah. You know, your mother and father, they need to do a blueprint. They need to put together a blueprint and say, here's what you do. Raising kids for dummies that you don't understand. Here's how you do.

Speaker C: They were good parents.

Speaker B: Yeah, they were good parents and doing it. And, you know, a lot of times when we look back, you know, and you're going, growing up, your parents kind of can kind of be a pain in the butt of a lot of times, of course. But when you look back over all of it, you know, all I would want to say, if I got the opportunity to, to talk to them again, I would just say thank you. Thank you. You have no idea of the impact that you had.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: Yeah. So that's a little emotional moment. But getting back to, um, uh, what we're talking about now, um, what are you most excited about right now? I mean, you've accomplished a lot and you've got your, your, your, I don't want to say side business, but you got your business set up, you know, Deputy Queensborough president, and you just don't get that by any kind of, uh, just, uh, uh, a quick me to get there. What are you most excited about going forward?

Speaker C: Most excited about the world's industry shift. While there's so much turmoil happening in the world. You can name it, you can number it, right? But the industry shift in going from this, um, Fed economy of you work, you, you're rewarded, you work, you're rewarded versus the industry shift of this is the gig economy. And there's so much opportunity out there for you to discover, explore and implement. And my encouragement to the audience today, my encouragement to us is to stay constant in understanding where the world is going and where the opportunities exist that you can create better and more for the sake of people's growth and happiness. And that is what I'm most excited about, because it turns over into whatever business I do, it turns over into government, it turns over into, you know, how we function and operate and deal with people and collaborate with them. Um, innovation is at its peak. Um, I'm reading a book right now by Daniel Priestley, uh, about, like, just exploring new ways of functioning business. Very good book. And he just talks about if you were that kid in class, Ebony, that couldn't pay attention, they had all these ideas running through your head. School was boring for you. This is your season right here. This is your season. And so I'm going to take up on that opportunity of it being my season, um, to just think differently, to be different, to operate in the world differently. Um, I can have my laptop and be in Barbados and be on the computer and do my work right there and go jump in the ocean. It's just a new day.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I notice a lot of governments because, as I said, I'm in a lot of countries now and I watch different programs they're implementing. And one of the things, and I applaud governments for that. They, they, they give people these, uh, these certain type visas to set up for people who are doing work online.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: You can come here and do it cheaper.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And, you know, Vietnam, uh, has it now, Dubai has it now. And, um, all of these companies. But I look at this and I say, you are transitioning to a new world. A young man that we had on Basha Batal, uh, Shah, who was a gentleman that I met in Dubai.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: Who had created an app in high school because he was overweight. He was Trying to lose weight. He created an app. And the app was so successful, he was able to sell it and move on to something else. And he. He goes to the University of Michigan. He's there now, I think. University of Michigan. And he's. He's posted online. The other week, he had just come out of an exam, and you got to answer questions, answer question. He said, this is so far from life. And he says, so far from life. And he says, um, I'm really rethinking about just quitting and doing what I want to do, try and build another business and all those kind of things. And I said, so when I gave the speech in Macedonia and you had all the big shots in the room, must have been. Must have been 500 people. I said, we've got to rethink all of this. All of this education that we're getting. Go to school for four, four years to get a degree.

Speaker C: It's different.

Speaker B: Degree. You come out. There's nothing different.

Speaker C: It's all different. You've got Google right now encouraging high school students to come in and be certified so that they can make $250,000 a year and come right into the workforce without a college degree. Like, things are changing, and if we're not conscious, um, about what's happening around us, we will be lost. I'm warning everybody, there will be. I listen to a lot of podcasts, you know, and it's not junk podcasts. These are real, credible people that are, um, you know, stating facts about the industry shifts. Um, um. Get ready.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, get ready, get ready. Uh, we had a young lady on D, uh, who made a statement to me, and she says, I did everything. She goes to Harvard mba, understand, had, had worked at all the brand companies, and each one of those companies, she's got laid off. And the last woman said, you know what? I'm done. And because she had a visa situation within six months, you gotta leave. And she said, as opposed to going through that, I'm just going to leave and go back and I'm going to create my own thing back in my country.

Speaker C: Right? That's it. That's the industry shift. My daughter, at 24 years old, right now, married to a, um, a military man, um, you know, a little discombobulated about, like, what she should do with her particular career. And I'm like, it's an opportunity. All the things you're struggling with opens the door to ask others to come into a circle. And so I helped her to devise a business plan around, around the gaps of what she was struggling with. How many other military wives are struggling with this? Right. And so we're right now formulating that it's that world, guys get the credible people around you. And that's why the whole healing and evolving phase of your life is always important. When you stop opening up your mind and learning, you stop putting the right people around you to grow. And so, um, you know, my advice to. To all of us, including myself, is to stay open to wholeness, healing and evolving.

Speaker B: Yes. I go back to my mother's thing. When you. Every time you step out, you're listening. When I got into Kennedy Airport and this side kicks into me, there were five planes in front of us. And normally that flight, I meant it. I'm in an uber fly, because 8 o', clock, 9 o', clock, I'm in an Uber and I'm done. And I didn't get to get in the car till one o'. Clock. Wow, you had five planes backed up. And my thing is, because I always fly in the airports and I always watch a number of people standing up for passports. And in Dubai, you don't really need to go through that because you just walk through. Biometrics picks up everything. So you never need to stop at immigration. You just walk straight through.

Speaker C: It's amazing.

Speaker B: You look at it, Singapore has the same thing and all of these innovations that are coming through today and the old ways that we're doing things today, it's over with.

Speaker C: It's over. Be mindful about the worldview.

Speaker B: Yeah. But so when I looked at the airport, I looked at was backing up, and I always kind of go through this mindset. I said, you knew how many planes were coming in.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: You knew how many people were on each planes. So that should give you some indication of staffing.

Speaker C: That's right.

Speaker B: And then when I walk through, because I have global entry, I don't have to go through that. The line was 60 minutes, one hour to get through. And you go to these countries, these countries in APAC regions or in Middle east, you just walk through. But anyway, that's a whole other thing,

Speaker C: and I understand it. And this should also be a warning to say what? Less, you know, what, lessen the workload here. Right. So there are people that now are AI driven because those, uh, we don't need those people anymore because biometrics picks it up. Right. And so this is a. And not a scary warning. This is a warning to shift. This is a warning to people that are sitting on the opposite end of our Camera here to start self evaluating differently based on that industry shift and what that industry shift offers you in the next phase of your life. I'm going to the next half a century of my life. Right. It's different.

Speaker B: I've read a piece of research on uh, when Henry Ford came up with the Model Tease.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Well the people that own horse and buggy were, were, were uh, upset.

Speaker C: Yeah, of course.

Speaker B: And they were picketing and all this thing because now you're changing everything and they don't need the horse and buggy anymore. It's the same now that may have been but 19, 20 something or whatever. But if you think of the context of that that's what it's going through now. And people are still trying to hold on to something that was years and years past. They are. I mean it's, and it's not going to stop. I say Covid opened it uh, up change. And it's just coming from one thing that if you're thinking this version of AI is the disruptor, you just wait for five years from now the next version and implications that's going to have. So that tells you there for universes are going to have to re, have to rethink everything. Governments are going to have to rethink everything. And as parents.

Speaker C: That's right.

Speaker B: We're going to have to rethink everything.

Speaker C: That's right. And, and, and the, the, the, the knowledge and advice and wisdom we give to our kids. And if your parents aren't shifting, they're still telling you to go to the 10, 15, 25, 30 year job and get a watch. You know what I mean? And that day is done. Uh, that's over. So we have to shift as parents so that we can speak differently to our kids. And I'm going to say this, especially kids of color who the data says because I'm working with technology here in Borough Queens. You know they sit at the bottom of you know, the ecosystem when it comes to the shift. Right. And so we've got to be more knowledgeable about our communication to our kids to push them to this new industry shift in a way that they win.

Speaker B: Yeah, I did. I'm laughing because when you, when you mentioned to watch.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: There was a situation. I was working with a group in Malaysia and one of the senior executives told me, he said Ron, I'm gonna be, I'm not going to be able to make tomorrow's session because I'm um, Tonight we're going to have this retirement party. People that had been there for 20 years, 30 years, and all this kind of thing. I said, really? And, um, I said, how many people do you have tonight? Honor me? He said, 10. So I, I'm kind of methodical. I said, how many people do you have? Last year, he said, was 20. The year before it was 40. I said, do you see the trend here?

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker B: So I said. I said, the watch business, in years to come, it's over two years, these,

Speaker C: the young people are staying on jobs. Two years turn up, three years, one year, they're out of here. Right. And so it's a new day.

Speaker B: It's a new day because it's new.

Speaker C: It's a good day.

Speaker B: Yeah. So I often tell leaders that, let's rethink everything. Let's get back on the drawing board, throw everything away. How do we build up based on what we're going through now? And, um, and this is what we. We have to do. So as we close out, last question I want to ask you is that, what advice would you give people that's listening? They could be mid careers. It could be people that are retired now that are still looking to be useful. Kids in high school. What advice would you give people?

Speaker C: Yeah, um, vulnerability is, um, contagious. Part of your vulnerability really helps to, um, uplift, uh, people in a way that, you know, is just not average. Ask the right questions. So if you maintain or sustain, uh, your value, um, you can change the world in your vulnerability, in the way you think about how you ask questions to. To the people that are, like, intrinsically understanding, um, how to move forward in a different way. And that takes constant new questions and constant new answers, and that being on a continuous basis. And if we do that well, um, not only do we win, but generation, generations after us win, too.

Speaker B: There we go. There we go. Um, Ebony, thank you.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: I know. I knew when we met in New York City.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: At the book signing. I. I knew. In talking to you, I said, this is cool. This is gonna be good. This is good. And I. And I look for that. And, um, so I. I thank you for, for taking the time. I know that you're extremely busy, but you took the time to be with us today.

Speaker C: Enjoy.

Speaker B: And taking your message across the globe. And we're going to work on some things. So what I want you to do is to hang on as we close out, and then we'll talk through some things that we were talking about.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: So. So for the people that are listening, um, this is what we do every Friday. We explore the unpolished side because what you see in Facebook, uh, LinkedIn post, that's a polished version but there's a whole nother story behind that as to how they got to that polished version. And we try and uncover that. So this is what we do every Friday. We'd like for you to like subscribe, send it out to your friends to listen to if you thought it was impactful. As we're trying to grow our audience, I think we're at 12, 000. We'd love to be at 25, 000 double that by in the year. So help us do that and, uh, we'll see you next Friday. Remember, behind every every title is a story worth telling. And with that, I thank you everyone for listening in today. Thank you, ebony.

Speaker C: Thank you, thank you.

Speaker B: Take the CEO series with you anywhere, anytime. All episodes are now available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and major streaming platforms. It's not just an interview, it's a masterclass in leadership.