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Black Entrepreneur Experience
BEE 545 Wealth & High-Value Clients: Neal Oates Jr. on Business Growth
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Podcast Announcer
Welcome to the Black Entrepreneur Experience Podcast. Inside the business buzz and brilliance of Black Entrepreneurs. Here is your host, Dr. Francis Arlene.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
What happens in Vegas goes all over the world on Black Entrepreneur Experience episode number 5:45. Thank you for joining us as we elevate the Black Entrepreneur experience by interviewing CEOs, thought leaders, innovative thinkers and black entrepreneurs across the globe. I'm your host, Dr. Frances Arlene. Looking to grow your business and your wealth. Neal Oates, Junior Executive Business Growth Coach and best selling author of the Affluent Negroes Showing minority entrepreneurs how to attract high value clients, build authority and elevate their personal brand. Welcome Neal.
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Neal Oates Jr.
Thank you so much. I'm glad to be here, ma'. Am.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
I've given our audience such a brief bio. Why don't you fill in the blanks and share with our audience what you'd like them to know about you and your business.
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Neal Oates Jr.
So the first thing that I want people to know is that I am human, right? I think that's always important. Anytime that someone hears a title or what it is they do, we forget the humanity of the person. And I am a human. And here's what that means. I very much learn. I study the human condition. Even as a business growth coach, that's going to be number one. The next thing when it comes to the gap in my bio and what I want people to know is that really I am a student of life, of business. I'm a student of success. And so that as a student I'm always keeping my eyes, ears open, seeing what work, what doesn't work, and then really trying to share and lead others in a path that maybe they don't have to learn the hard way like I did a number of times. And besides that, I'm a husband, father, a friend, son who really is or who has a desire to help those around them around him. So that's who I am in a nutshell. And I'm sure I can go deeper later if necessary.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
Tell us why business growth coach. How did you come up with that industry or even to go into coaching?
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Neal Oates Jr.
I used to only focus on speaking, and I wanted to be in the. And I will tell you the truth, I got into speaking for the wrong reason. I got into it for the notoriety, for the limelight, for the attention myself. But one of my mentors, I was blessed to have a great mentor. And he says, neil, if you want to make money, speak. If you want to make an impact, coach. And I think about the greatest people in my lives. Next to my family and close friends, they were coaches who really showed me the way, who knew more than I knew, who were willing to slow down and take the time and bring me along the journey. As I matured, I started thinking, man, I really want to make an impact. And coaching was the way to do that. So I started with what I knew. My, my dad, after he left the Navy, he started his own plumbing and electrical company. I knew entrepreneurship, I knew business. Me watching him and working with him on the weekends and after school, I said, well, let me go into business. And then when it came time for choosing something to grow and to coach in, I looked at my neighborhood, I looked at my surroundings, and I saw a number of individuals who were capped or who had, um, hit the ceiling pretty much and they really couldn't go any further. And fortunately, by having coaches, mentors, I was able to break through some things. And I said, well, what if I formalized this thing and made it possible for people to access this idea of growing their business for not hitting plateaus, for maybe breaking into new areas? So that's where the passion came from. And then we just really narrowed it down into helping minorities break into new areas and reach new heights with their businesses.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
Now, what inspired you to start to business? And besides, you were saying you saw other entrepreneurs coming up.
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Neal Oates Jr.
The first thing I think it was really, I have always been a risk taker and depending on who you ask, that might be a good thing, it might be a bad thing. But I've never wanted to just accept the status quo for life, for income, or even what the projected or anticipated path is or was. So I really wanted to be in control and not meaning that I wanted to just control everything, but I wanted to control me. I really started asking myself, well, what's the best way for me to control my path in life? I knew that it was going to be in some type of business setting. So for me, my parents are big believers. So we were raised believing and understanding that each individual has been given gifts and talents. I went to those who were smarter than me, who knew more than me, and I asked them what do they believe my gifts and talents are? And one of them came, well, like, well, you're personable and you are a good student. You're going to analyze things, you're going to be willing to share and advise. You're going to be very self aware. Maybe I'm going to help others gain a sense of self awareness that they wouldn't have otherwise. And so then I just worked on honing those skills and talents. And that led me into the business world where we had success for a number of years in real estate as a speaker, as I'm a coach. And now I'm at the place where I said, I've done very well for myself. How can I now get into that purpose part of life? Even at what I would call a Young Age of 43 Currently, how can I get back into that passion part and do what I was created to do?
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Dr. Frances Arlene
You talked about risk. Let's talk about, we know in business there's a lot of risk, there's a lot of rewards. Let's talk about your worst moment in business. I like to say it's your opportunity. What was your takeaway? And tell us that backstory.
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Neal Oates Jr.
My takeaway was that it's not the end. When I say that, that's my takeaway. It felt like the end in the moment because we had made some risky and I would say these were uncalculated risk, they were too risky. When I made the decision, I did not listen to wise counsel. I, I went with emotion versus research. I went with emotion versus hard fact and truth. And doctor, I even went against my intuition. I went against that inner feeling. So for me, I acted impulsively and I was upset with everyone around me when the opportunity failed and it didn't pan out the way that I was hoping that it would. It was just merely a hope because nothing on paper, nothing in the real world told me that it should work out. But the reason being is because I had gotten too full of myself. I thought I was special. I thought that I was insulated from the realities of the economy. I thought I was insulated from poor decision making. But when we got to the end, when we got to, I'm going to say rock bottom and realized that we had to cut our losses. So we, we're talking about a 60 or $70,000 investment that we had to ask, do we continue to pour money in or do we take our losses and Just leave and go the right way. I was at the point where I was like, well, this is it. This is the end. This is going to sink me. But the takeaway was, it is not the end. It's just, now we're further back than when we started. But if you're willing to do the hard work again and restart and seek wise counsel, um, then this can be that opportunity that you just mentioned. And if you leverage this opportunity, you won't have to go through this again later when the dollar amounts might even be bigger.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
What was that backstory? What was that $70,000 lesson I went into?
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Neal Oates Jr.
It was around tech. I did not have a technical background, but I saw the glittering lights, and I had someone that I had done business with before, and they made promises. And while we had done business before, even in that transaction, I did not fully trust them. I mean, there were those signs that if you really look at them, you say, oh, I don't know if that's the character of a partner. Some promises were made where he would do the technical side of business. I would be the face I would have. We were supposed to go 50, 50 into the transaction or into the venture together. I upheld my part, but I did not look at his technical abilities. I believe that I had aspirational and too optimistic views of what he could do simply because he had done or passed off some work that was not his as his previously, when delivery dates came up with this app for him to. For us to deliver to our clients and customers and the prospects, we did not have anything to deliver. And. And I kept asking, well, where are we? And my naivete thinking, oh, well, we're just behind, right? It's okay. I know that in business sometimes you don't hit delivery dates, but I was ignorant to what we should have. Like, do you know how to code? Right, Because I don't know how to code. But that's not my skill set. My skill set is on the front side of the business. And ultimately it was where we no longer were friends. We're no longer business associates. And I believe, even though I don't know for sure, I believe that there was was never any intention on building the business. I think it was. I found a mark. Let me take money from this mark as much as I can. And if I would have been identifying the signs, I probably could have and should have stopped about $2,500 in before we got to the 70,000.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
Speaking. That's a lot to unpack there. Talk about vetting a business partner.
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Neal Oates Jr.
So the very first thing I will say, I think it first goes down to character, and character comes into play because when all else fails, we really are going to be left with the character of the person and the people. So that's the first thing. And that goes back to, well, how are we going to figure out their character if we don't know them or if we haven't had interaction? And I took the shortcut. I did not do my research. I believe that spending the time on the front end to do the research and, and the idea is that when we're doing job hunts or job searches and on the resume, they ask for the references, we put the two people that are closest to us that maybe we might even hold their phones. So if they call, I'm going to answer, I'm going to respond, I'm going to tell them what to type. But going six or seven layers deep, making sure that we look at the reputation, are they integrous individuals?
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Dr. Frances Arlene
So.
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Neal Oates Jr.
So that's going to be the first part. But then the next part is asking, like, who do I need in order to fill this gap in the partnership? Right. What I realized is there shouldn't have just been two of us in the proposed company anyway. There probably should have been for a backup for me and then someone to compliment our two weaknesses in those areas. But I did not know what to look for. I did the idea or the lights, the blinded me, the grandeur, the money, the proposed money blinded me. But then the other side of talking about vetting a business partner is going to be about chemistry. Like, do you work well together because they could be a great person, or you two might be great individuals, but if there's not a fit there, that's going to be, I believe, detrimental to any partnership. Because here's what I've learned. In life and in business, you are going to have conflict. And if you're good people, if you're great people, if you're great at what you do, but if you don't mesh well and if you do not know how to handle conflict, that's going to be important to understand upfront. And then one more thing is going to be knowing personalities, right? So me knowing whether it's the Myers Briggs type indicator or disc profile, just knowing how your partner responds to conflict, how they. I always say the business love language. Do they want the words of affirmation, do they need gifts or something like that? That's what's key to me. So we're looking at the character, making sure that we mesh well, and then understanding that personality of all the partners.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
Let's talk about access to capital. How did you raise the money to fund your business?
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Neal Oates Jr.
Fortunately for me, this came after. I've been in the real estate industry for 20 or 19 years. So being really good, having blueprints, having examples of, of how to not only make money, but save money, keep money, that was important for me. Watching my mom and my dad, listening to my mentors and my coaches. So we had the money from earning. So that's where it was personal investment money for me of coming from real estate transactions, personal deals that I have flipped and sold a real estate for. But it really was from years of compensation, commission earning that that's how I funded my part of the, of the transaction.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
You talked about your mentors, talk about your top two mentors or influencers and what lessons did they teach you in life or business?
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Neal Oates Jr.
My first mentor, when I got into real estate, I knew absolutely nothing. He was actually one of the top real estate agents at ReMax at the time. And he met me because I was doing WDO wood destroying organism inspection reports for Terminix. Even when I could not see my value, he saw me crawling under houses and he says, neil, you're too good, you're too smart to be crawling under these houses. Have you ever thought about selling them? And I was like, nah, I never thought about selling houses. Right. I'm okay making $175 per inspection. He says, are you open to an interview? Here's why this is important. He was not an American, so he was from the Czech Republic. And so for him to take a chance on me showed me that if you are always looking for opportunity, if you're looking for talent, if you're looking to grow, if you're looking to expand, that there's someone out there, there are opportunities in front of you. The next thing that he taught me is to always have my eyes open, to not make assumptions, to not care what the gift or talent looks like. But if you are looking for a thing, you're going to find it. And so that's where I really do believe the whole idea of the law of attraction or good karma and blessings come from. And then one more thing that he really taught me is that what my parents, what my father always told me is that someone's always watching, right? Be it good or bad. In business, success begets more success because someone's watching to see how you handle it. When I failed at the company, people watched how I handled that. And that gave me more Opportunities because I handled it with grace and I learned my lessons. So that's going to be what I learned from him. One opportunity can come in various forms. Always be looking for more talent and then know that someone's always watching. My second mentor, he is one, he was a, I'm going to say a serial entrepreneur, but a successful entrepreneur, right? He wasn't just starting businesses because he was failing, but he was just really good at identifying opportunities. And it's the idea is what he taught me. It's called the obvious opportunity. It's that opportunity that's really close to you that you might miss because it's so close. Or the analogy he was always talking about can't see the force for the trees. He would see the obvious opportunity and his idea and the mantra that I have adopted is turn thoughts into actions faster. Right? How quickly can you turn a thought into an action and can you implement? Because ideas are great, but implementation is worshiped, right? Can you implement an idea faster than the competition or the market can count? That really freed me up because instead of trying to perfect ideas and wait until it was perfect to ship it, we would be on our third, fourth iteration of a service or an idea before others would even have their idea in the marketplace. So for me, with the turn thoughts into actions faster, what I really learned to do is I just fail faster than most people can count. So I might try six things. On a Tuesday, all six of them might fail. But then on Wednesday, I might try three things and we have three successes. On Thursday, I might try four. Two wins, two losses. So it looks as if Neil is always winning when the reality is I'm just failing faster. So from him, I really did take that turn thoughts into actions faster and then fail faster than other others can count.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
I like that. Thank you for that. How did you land your first paying client you talked about in real estate? What did you learn from that experience?
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Neal Oates Jr.
My first paying client was because no one wanted to work with her. I always understood that. And at the time I was the in house or inside sales agent. So I'm. I have no business in the field. I'm just supposed to take calls if someone has questions. I'm just supposed to answer the questions. Said, yes, I'm licensed, but the only reason I have a license is so I can say things and not get sued, right? Not get the powerpow on my hand. But my mentor, he says, Neil, we're running this like we were number three in terms of transactions at this point. When we were in Keller Williams, number three in Keller Williams in the world. And so we just had heavy hitters as clients. They're coming in, buying 30, 40 units at the time. And we had this one tenant or prospective tenant, and she was calling the office, I was speaking to her, and they were like, neil, we don't have agents to work with her. Her budget is low. If you want her, you can take her. And I'm just like, oh, really? They're like, yeah, and you get 100 of the compensation. And so I will tell you why no one wanted to work with her. Because her line of profession meant that she got paid in all cash. Okay, so she was looking for a condo. But it was hard. Like, when it comes to source of income and work verification, everyone saw obstacle and challenge, and they were like, man, her bank statement, she just deposits a lot of money in cash. And here in South Florida, there are going to be questions about that at the time. Well, I took her own and I was excited and we found a place. And then what I realized is that once we provided exceptional service, she resulted in a very short window with probably about 15 to 20 referrals of people who were like her. Right. And not in a bad or judgmental way, but who wanted to be served, who had money, but they could not find people who were willing to see them for more than a title. And so for me, what I see is, or the lesson that I learned is one, provide exceptional service. I still believe the good guys and gals, we win if we are good guys and gals all of the time. And then number two, once you provide exceptional service, more business is going to come to you. Be willing to take on those opportunities that no one else wants, because you don't know what opportunities those doors are going to open.
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Dr. Frances Arlene
I like that. I like that. Thank you for that. Looking back, what mistake or setback taught you the most and how did you overcome it? And I know we talked about that a little bit with the $70,000 lesson. I don't know if it's another setback or lesson in life or business that you want to share.
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Neal Oates Jr.
Yes, there is. And thank you for asking this question, because anytime I get to share something that hopefully allows others to avoid a mistake or a misstep so they don't have to have the headache that I had, it's always an opportunity for me. And so the biggest set or I'm going to say the biggest setback or lesson was because I opened my mouth too much. So there were some things happening at the realtor organization that I was a part of. And just because you have an answer, just because you know the truth, just because you have an opinion does not mean that you should open your mouth and share your opinion. So there were some leadership decisions that were being made and I was privy to the information and not that it was confidential information or anything like that, but it was just none of my business, right? And so the reason I say that was so important, because it was none of my business, but I went about telling everyone who would listen about this thing and about what was happening. And the reason I say it was my biggest lesson in business is because the motivation behind it, I was sharing information just to show people that I was in the room, right? So, oh, you don't know this because you're not in the rooms that I'm in when the reality is that had I kept my mouth shut, then I mean, they probably would have known I was in the room, but the consequences probably would definitely would not have been as bad as they were. So the reason I say that was a lesson that I learned. The CEO, the organization, came to me and said, neil, I understand that you've said this and this and this. And I said yes. And her question to me was why? And I did not have an answer. I said, well, I don't know. And. And so what she shared with me was exactly what I said. Just because you have access to information, just because you can share it does not mean that you should. In that it probably took me about two years to get back in good standing with my colleagues and my peers of the Realtor organization. And the big lesson was that I was still a good guy. I was still a knowledgeable professional. I was still honorable. But in a moment of improper, I'm going to say motivation, I damaged my reputation. And so for two years, I was not trustworthy when it comes to or I was not viewed as trustworthy when it comes to having conversations around. And that hurt, especially when we talk about the talents and the giftings of wanting to be around people and help them. But the reason I say that was a lesson is because even the best of us, not saying I'm the best, but even the best of us are prone to slip if we aren't careful and if we don't have our guard up. But the reason why that lesson was impactful is because the CEO of the organization walked alongside me for two years and she showed people, no, it was a mistake, right? So by her being willing to bet on me and still be seen with me in public, and to even defend me with my colleagues and saying, wait, remember, he's young. You've been here before. It's just that your mistake, your misstep, your boo boo was not public. He's just. He didn't know any better. So let's give him grace. So from that now, I'm always thinking two, three, six times before I open my mouth and say, yes, I can, but is it beneficial? And so that's one of the greatest lessons I've learned. Sometimes just keep your mouth shut, Neil.
- [24:25]
Dr. Frances Arlene
I like that. I like that. Neil. Neil, tell us who Neal Oates Jr. Is. And when I say that I'm hearing the real estate started out in under the houses and speaking take us on this trajectory of who Neal is and how you have become Neil.
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Neal Oates Jr.
Well, first, I am the middle child of three boys. And so for all of my middle children out there, yay us. For all of the parents of those middle children, then, God bless you. And so loving family really had some great role models and examples to follow throughout, I'm going to say every stage of my life, but who I am right now is something that I often say, is that I'm evidence of what's possible with prayer and persistence. So I am the guy who knows that if I was left up to my own devices, I would be in a much different place than I am right now. Having a circle, and this even happened this morning, having a circle of people who just really care about you, making sure my support system is in place so that as we grow and get bigger, they will come in and say, hey, don't forget, let's celebrate where you are, but let's not forget how you got here. It was not on your own, but ultimately, I'm a guy who wants to make the world better. And I know that seems altruistic and, and it seems high level, but here, here's my goal for every interaction, every interaction, I want to become a person that you will miss. What I mean by that is I talk about my dad a lot. My dad, Navy veteran, He fought in World War II. My dad was 60 years old when I was born. So I remind my wife all the time that I have good genes. So I've still got a number of years of productivity left in me. But what my dad would always say is there's a difference in being remembered and being missed. And he says his goal in life was to be missed. When he wasn't in a room, he would want people to say, man, I wish Neil was here. And so that's one of my goals in life. I want to live a life where people say, man, I wish Neil was here. If Neil was here, things would be different because there are people that we remember, but we remember them for the wrong reason. But those that we miss, we miss for a positive reason. And then the next thing I would say, who am I? I really want to be evidence. I want people to see what's possible not only for me, but for them. So when I'm coaching clients or when I'm having conversations, if I interact with a 5 year old kid on the weekend at church, I'm going to usually ask them two questions. I'm going to first ask them, do they think this is possible? Whatever the this is, do you believe this is possible? And typically, especially as minorities, we will say, yes, it's possible, right? We believe that greatness is possible. But then the second question I ask is, do you believe this is possible for you? And I really want to be that evidence. I want to be the man. I want to be the guy, the husband, the father that people look at and say, yes, I believe it's possible for me because it was possible for Neil. And if I continue to live that way, I think that answers the question, like, man, who is he? He was a good guy. He was positive, upbeat, he was real. He understood people. He showed them what was possible with prayer and persistence. He showed us what was possible if we really do commit to one loving people, loving God, being a better version of themselves than they were the day before.
- [27:55]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Who is your ideal client?
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Neal Oates Jr.
That's a great question. My ideal client used to be the CEO, the executive who already had everything together and they were starting to lose it, right? The one that had made it to the top. And now they were just trying to fight to hold on because I knew they understood that, man, we've made it to the mountaintop, we've made it to the pinnacle. We can't lose it because of whether that's going to be social pressure or responsibilities for finance. And now that used to be my ideal client. So I would just hold them steady, right? Just make sure that once you achieved greatness, you just stayed there. Now, my ideal client, after looking and seeing where the void is, and many times those client, that clientele was not a minority, right? And so for me, after having conversations and looking around and seeing the rooms that I was in, I didn't like what I saw. I started asking the question, well, how do I multiply? How do I duplicate? How do I create or help others get into These rooms. And now my ideal client is a high achiever that is probably underachieving as a CEO, as a business owner. And typically they're going to be minority. The work with those who are already up here at the CEO executive level. Many times it was okay, it was a system, a process, some type of technique to keep them there. For the high achiever that's under producing right now is probably mindset work is probably the way we view ourselves or the obstacles and the hurdles. And so that's where my ideal client is now. And that's the work that I care about. Because what I realize is, is that I not had that mindset work from my first two mentors, from my team, from the CEO, then I never would have made it through the ranks. And so now that's why it's important for me to say I don't want to wait until out of the industry to give back. And like through philanthropy, what if I can show them I could teach them, I can work with them and then multiply myself and be a leader of leaders. So right now it's going to be that minority business owner who has the capability, but they might not have the mindset, they might not understand that it is possible for them. And typically I'm looking at someone who is just on the verge of hitting that six figure revenue mark. And if they have hit that six figure revenue mark, our goal is to get them into the multiple six figures, right? So I'm going from 100,000 to 4 or $500,000 in revenue because I just know that as our people grow, as we get better, we take care of each other much more than many other cultures. If I want to make the world a better place, why not help those who would help others make the world a better place?
- [30:39]
Dr. Frances Arlene
And how do you make impact daily?
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Neal Oates Jr.
Number one is I just give away a lot of content. That's number one. I really want to be where people are. And so we're pumping out a lot of and it's not self help, but the things that I was charging my elite clients for, I like to give away via YouTube, whether it's going to be LinkedIn. So that's going to be one. Number two is that we spend a lot of times in the schools here in Miami Dade and Broward county. And I'm going after the middle school age children. I want to go and talk to those young people who still believe that things are possible, who still believe they can be president, who still believe they can be astronauts so that they can make it to the NFL and then on the weekends it's I am a kid's pastor for kindergarten through fifth grade and so really making sure that I'm partnering with parents and families as their kids are exposed to things at a younger age. Now I believe that if I can help those kids and those families then I'm going to have the greatest impact on daily because that's how we move from being mediocre. We say we want to leave mediocrity and join the ranks of the elite few. I believe it starts when they're 5 to 10 years old. We get into the school system and I do it one yes because I want to have an impact on the kids and generations to come. I have an 18 year old son and so I understand that. But then also what I've learned is that if you can touch people's hearts, they'll give you their money. This is not a grab money grab but I know that if I can help someone's kid or their family through tough times then they're going to trust me with resources. And then if I can show them an area, an avenue there that's going to be beneficial for them, then they're going to open up and be willing to share me, listen to me and then follow me as I help them.
- [32:30]
Dr. Frances Arlene
And what is your zone of genius, Neil?
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Neal Oates Jr.
My gifting is being able to communicate. I am a communicator. This is where initially I was misusing my gifts. I mentioned that I was in the spotlight and it was about Neil and I was a speaker but I was not a communicator. I was not listening to the feedback, I was not meeting people where they, where they are. And so now my zone of genius is being able to talk to the 5 year old, to a 15 year old or to a 95 year old and find some way to connect. And when I say connect, my idea of connection is making them feel seen, known and cared about. And so that's where one of and that's my greatest gift. And me misusing my gift, I'm going to say for about four to five years has made me even more aware of the gift because now I understand the power that a communicator has. And not only the power but the responsibility that a communicator has. So being able to effectively communicate and to make people feel seen, known and loved, cared for, that is where I operate very well. That's why we wrote the book the Affluent Negroes with the seven principles. That's why I spend time during the Week at schools as well. That's why everything that I'm doing it is to communicate the right message because so much of the wrong message is being bombarded towards us on a daily basis.
- [33:59]
Dr. Frances Arlene
And let's talk about that book you wrote, the Affluent Negroes, and even the naming of it. I want you to do a deeper dive into the. Why did you name the book that and how did you come about with that title?
- [34:17]
Neal Oates Jr.
I wrote the book and that this is not the first book that I wrote. Right. I wrote a book and it was going to be called be world Renowned Working with the World's affluent. That was the book that I wrote. And my writing coach and she's. And so a 50 year old white woman, she was like, neil, it's a great book, that book will make money. But that book is not who you are. I need you to write a book to your audience. And so I said, okay, I have an idea, but it might be risque. She says, neil, for the entire time I've known you have not been afraid of risk. So a couple of reasons. The affluent Negroes, what was written, one, it is plural, it is not the affluent Negro. And the reason I named it Negroes is so that we, as black and brown as minorities, we can understand that there can be more than one winner in the race.
- [35:07]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Right?
- [35:07]
Neal Oates Jr.
That multiple of us can win and succeed. So that's going to be one. The idea of affluence, it is, it's not just about wealth, it is about abundance, it's about having more than you need. And then the reason we went with Negroes is because they're the seven biblical principles that we used. And this is where the creativity in me and having my team, we took seven biblical principles talking about network strategically, educate yourself, generate wealth through entrepreneurship, reinforce resilience, own it all, excel everywhere, serve others. That's the. So Negroes is actually an acronym for the seven principles. And I don't share that anywhere until you get to the index and. And then you start saying that, oh, okay, that's an acronym. But it's also risque enough where people will look at the title and it will pique their curiosity. So we took the seven biblical principles that we believe and then we made that into the acronym and we wanted it to be plural because I tell everyone, if I would have said the affluent Negro, I could have written my story. But it's not about me, it really is about the we. And I want people to understand that it is collectivistic in nature. And so that more than One of us can win.
- [36:23]
Dr. Frances Arlene
I like that. That's brilliant. Thank you for that. Neil, if you conducted this interview, what is the one question you would have asked yourself? I want you to ask the question and answer it.
- [36:36]
Neal Oates Jr.
I would ask myself, I would say, Neal, why are you seeking to work with the up and comer when you could just work with high end executives only? So that would be the question I would ask, Neil, why are you working with the entry level or those aspirational business owners and leaders when you could work with executives only? And the answer is because I really do believe in the power of the minority with resources. The minority wants to have resources once they win, once they grab hold and experience success. I believe that the world is a better place when we have the right people with resources in their hands. Because the heart, it goes back to when we were talking about what is important when it comes to a business partner vetting partners. It goes back to the character. I believe that when it comes to this experience of black entrepreneurs, the heart and the character, the desire to have something, to build something, to show people what's possible, to also bring up those who are not only beneath them, but alongside them. That's why I go after, and I've been intentional for the past four years, really, after doing the first 15 years in the other direction, me saying, wait, there's a greater opportunity here, There's a big upside to this. And so that's what I've committed the rest of my life to, making sure that I get the entrepreneurs when they're seven years old. Let's show them what's possible. So that as we put another 15, 20, 30 years into this thing, I'm excited to see see what the future holds. So that's why I'm continuing to do this.
- [38:14]
Dr. Frances Arlene
We've come to the part of our interview, it's called the Rapid round of fun. I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to give me very quick answers. If there's something you desire not to answer, feel free to say pass. Are you ready for the rapid round of fun?
- [38:29]
Neal Oates Jr.
Yes, ma'. Am.
- [38:30]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Neil, tell me, what was your first job?
- [38:33]
Neal Oates Jr.
I worked at an ice cream shop making ice cream. It was sort of like a Dairy Queen.
- [38:37]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Okay. Is it still in existence?
- [38:40]
Neal Oates Jr.
No, ma'. Am. I tell everyone I think that I was such a good employee that when I left school to go to college, they probably shut it down because all the customers didn't come back.
- [38:48]
Dr. Frances Arlene
I love that you relax. Doing what?
- [38:52]
Neal Oates Jr.
Reading outside. But I have to be reading outside.
- [38:56]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Okay. And your favorite comfort food?
- [39:00]
Neal Oates Jr.
I don't know if it's a comfort food, but I love chili dogs.
- [39:05]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Okay. Your favorite singer or rapper?
- [39:10]
Neal Oates Jr.
My favorite one. Now me originally being from Alabama, I'm loving country music and now it is Shaboozy.
- [39:17]
Dr. Frances Arlene
All right. Your favorite dance song.
- [39:21]
Neal Oates Jr.
It's not a dance song, but Big Sean's all the Way Up. I love that song because just get now I dance to it and it lifts my spirits and it's my favorite bad dance song.
- [39:35]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Okay. What food you eat every week?
- [39:38]
Neal Oates Jr.
No matter what, I'm going to get in trouble. But because of my work schedule, it's going to be ramen noodles, something hot that I can make in 2 minutes. 2 or 3 minutes.
- [39:51]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Work out or hit the couch.
- [39:53]
Neal Oates Jr.
Work out.
- [39:55]
Dr. Frances Arlene
Neal Oates, Jr. Thank you so much for joining us on Black Entrepreneur Experience podcast. Before we let you go, share with our audience the best way for them to connect with you, to do business with you. And feel free to leave all your social media handles.
- [40:13]
Neal Oates Jr.
So the easiest and the best way is going to be to connect with me at Neal Oates Jr. That's Neil. N E A L O A T E s J R Neil oatesjr.com or the affluent negroes.com Neil oatesjr.com Or the affluent negroes plural.com and then on social media, I am Mr. World Renowned and that comes from my world renowned real estate and my world renowned coaching and consulting. And I just want to say thank you for this opportunity. It has been a blast and an honor to be here today.
- [40:45]
Dr. Frances Arlene
My pleasure. Thank you. And that's a wrap.
- [40:48]
Podcast Announcer
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- [41:12]
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Dr. Frances Arlene
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