Podcast
Butternomics the Business of Culture
Hosted by iHeartPodcasts · EN
Butternomics: The Business of Culture takes a deep dive into the intersection of business and culture, showing how brands, entrepreneurs, and tastemakers use culture level up. Join serial entrepreneur, thought leader, and CEO of Butter.ATL, Brandon Butler (@mrsuperbran), as he brings you exclusive interviews, trends, insights, and more. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned pro, Butternomics is for you.
29episodes
Episodes
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Tendernism: The Untold Story Behind the Word That Broke the Internet
1w ago00:29:28Tap to summarizeTendernism didn't start on the internet. It started 50 years ago in a kitchen in Robbins, Illinois, with a young Walter Johnson cutting wingtips off chicken wings for his brother's restaurant. 50 years. 50+ states. Casino kitchens, backyard cookouts, and every Southern state he could get to so he could learn what the old folks knew about a pinch of this and a pinch of that. By the time the camera found him, the craft was already there. The world just hadn't caught up yet. In this episode, Brandon Butler sits down with the man who invented Tendernism to tell the full story. How the word actually got named (an oxtail, the sun, and meat that peeled off the bone like an orange). Why he calls oxtails "Black Diamonds." How he ended up on the phone with Snoop and Ron Isley. And the Muhammad Ali line that made him realize this was bigger than food: "Ali shocked the world in '65. I shocked 'em in 2025." Walter is proof that your time is your time. The meat was just the entryway. Tendernism is the movement. ▶ Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@butternomics?sub_confirmation=1 #Butternomics #BusinessOfCulture #Tendernism #WalterJohnson #BlackDiamonds #AtlantaPodcast #BlackEntrepreneurs #SouthernFood #BBQ #AtlantaBusinessSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Attorney Gerald Griggs on Voting Rights, Private Prisons, and Black Power in Georgia
2w ago00:53:07Tap to summarizeIt costs $300,000 to $400,000 a year just to protect voting rights in Georgia. The SAVE Act would charge you $33 to $130 for a new ID just to vote. DEI rollbacks are cutting off SBA loans and grant funding to Black businesses right now. Attorney Gerald Griggs sat down with Butternomics and unpacked the economics of civil rights, how legislation is quietly hitting Black wealth, and why Georgia has the highest rate of people under state control in the entire country. He also dropped a number that should stop every Black professional in Atlanta: 2.2 million registered voters. A governor's race takes 1.9 million.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →The Man Behind "Tendernism" Built a Brand the Internet Didn't See Coming
3w ago00:29:28Tap to summarizeWalter Johnson cooked for 50 years across 50 states before a single camera found him. He started cutting wingtips off chicken in his brother's restaurant in Robbins, Illinois. He worked casinos, restaurants, and backyard cookouts across the South, collecting seasonings and techniques from every state he passed through. Then a video went viral and the world learned his name. Forbes wrote about him. Snoop Dogg invited him to the compound. Now he's building a seasoning line, planning a national food festival, and turning a lifetime of craft into a brand empire. He calls it Tendernism. The rest of us call it proof that your moment comes when it comes and not a second before.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →$12 Billion in 40 Days: Rev. Jamal Bryant Breaks Silence on the Target Fast and more!
4w ago00:54:48Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Butternomics, Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant sits down with host Brandon Butler to break his silence on the Target Fast and reveals exactly how 40 days of strategic economic pressure stripped $12 billion from Target's valuation. From a 9.7% drop in foot traffic to forcing the first-ever HBCU business pipeline, Bryant pulls back the curtain on the full strategy, the demands, the negotiations, and what the Black community actually won. He also shares the vision for New Birth City, a 300-acre development bringing micro homes, senior housing, and Black-owned businesses to one campus, and drops a masterclass on why boycotts without demands are just cancel culture in disguise.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →How to Build an App Without Losing Your Money, Your Mind, or Your Time with Amanda Spann
Apr 2800:44:08Tap to summarizeThe average non-technical founder loses $50,000 and years of their life trying to build an app. Amanda Spann knows because she's coached thousands of them. Her first app cost $40,000 and took 18 months. Her sixth one took weeks. The difference was a framework she built after documenting every mistake, every bottleneck, and every dollar wasted. She sat down with Butternomics and broke down why most app ideas fail before they launch, why AI won't build 100% of your startup no matter what anyone tells you, and why talking to 300 people before writing a single line of code is the move that separates the founders who make money from the ones who lose it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Atlanta's Mayor Andre Dickens on Atlanta, Wealth, and the World Cup
Apr 2800:49:52Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Butternomics, Mayor Andre Dickens pulls back the curtain on how Atlanta really runs. With the World Cup bringing 4.5 billion eyes to the A and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Act reshaping the south and west sides of the city, the 61st Mayor of Atlanta delivers a masterclass on how to tap in before the world shows up. He breaks down the low-interest city loans most entrepreneurs don't know exist, the $5K and $10K micro-loans being handed out through Showcase Atlanta ahead of the World Cup, and the anti-displacement programs under the Neighborhood Reinvestment Act paying $30K to keep legacy homeowners in their homes. He gets into Invest Atlanta, the tax allocation districts that built Atlantic Station and the Beltline, the cautionary tale of Black entrepreneurs who lost everything during the 96 Olympics, and the 4,000 appointees who really run Georgia. If you live in Atlanta, run a business in Atlanta, or want to own anything here, this is required listening before the world shows up. 📲 Listen and Subscribe to Butternomics Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/butternomics-the-business-of-culture/id1758759040 🎙️ Be a guest on Butternomics: https://www.butternomics.com/guests 📌 Follow Butternomics on Instagram: / butternomicspod 🎬 Follow Butternomics on TikTok: / butternomicsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →The Business Behind the Belt: Pastor Troy on Ownership, Marketing, and Legacy
Apr 2100:37:39Tap to summarizePastor Troy has been independent for over 25 years. He signed with Universal, watched them hand Nelly $5 million on a $90 million return, and made a decision: if he ever came back, it would be as a label, not just an artist. He left by choice. His first independent album after the deal sold 60,000 to 70,000 copies at $8 each. He sold his master to the bootlegger for $25,000 before the album even dropped. He turned 60-second radio jingles into a monetized marketing play that BMI still pays on. Now he owns a vinyl store on Peter Street, runs his own streaming platform, and operates a TV network. This is not a music conversation. This is a masterclass in ownership.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Jai Ferrell Runs a $25M Empire and You Think It's Just Cookies
Apr 1400:49:06Tap to summarizeJai Ferrell is the first Black woman CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta in over 100 years. She walked into a $25 million business with 125 employees, three properties, horses, and 2,000 acres of land. Before this, she was managing billion-dollar portfolios at the busiest airport in the world. In this conversation, she breaks down the real enterprise behind the cookie, why women and girls receive less than 2% of all philanthropic giving, and what it actually looks like to make hard calls at scale.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →How Mali Wilson Went From Behind the Board to Behind the Mic
Mar 1700:40:03Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Butternomics, Brandon Butler sits down with Mali Wilson, a music industry veteran who spent 15 years running Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, one of the most iconic recording spaces in hip hop history. Lil Wayne was loyal to that building for over a decade. Drake, J. Cole, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz — they all came through her doors, many of them before the world even knew their names. Mali took over a studio that was $300,000 in debt and turned it into the room where some of the biggest records in rap got made. In this conversation, Mali opens up about what she learned watching superstars build and lose careers up close, why she walked away from a deal with Clive Davis when the industry was collapsing, and what it really takes to earn respect as a woman operating in rooms full of men who weren't always ready to make space. She talks about launching Earth Girl, a movement that has reached over 4,000 young women through camps, mentorship, and real music industry education, placing nearly 200 songs on networks like Paramount and A&E. And she gets into the deeply personal story behind her debut album "Retro in Real Time," co-written with her husband Eric, aka The Black Banker, a project born out of falling in love for the first time after a lifetime of putting everyone else's music before her own. Mali recorded on Aretha Franklin's mic and Al Green's mic in Memphis, and she's not playing small. This is what it looks like when someone who spent their whole career building for others finally decides to build for themselves.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →What Nobody Told You About How Art Builds Culture And Wealth with Onaje Henderson
Mar 1000:48:03Tap to summarizeOn this episode of Butternomics, Brandon Butler sits down with Onaje Henderson, co-owner of Zucot Gallery, one of the largest Black owned art galleries in the Southeast. Onaje grew up watching his father, a Tuskegee trained engineer turned full-time painter, create in the family garage every single day. That upbringing sparked a 15 year mission to build a space where Black art, Black artists, and Black collectors are not just welcome but centered. In this conversation, Onaje breaks down how art quietly functions as a wealth building tool through the secondary auction market, why our community keeps missing that opportunity, and what it actually looks like to take ownership of our own cultural narrative. He gets into how Zucot was built to feel welcoming instead of intimidating, why someone outside our culture should never be the one determining the value of our art, and what it means to support Black art with your actual dollars not just your words. Culture costs. This episode is about understanding why that investment matters more right now than ever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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