Interviewer (2:31)

Wasn't something that people really did before Right. I think you kind of changed the game where you opened the door as far as transparency. But since then, a lot has changed. You moved from Baltimore to New York.

Donut Shop Owner (2:41)

Yeah, yeah.

Interviewer (2:42)

You switched from the restaurant to we had cloudy donuts. That's your new operation that you got running. So a lot of. A lot has changed. Right. So let's catch the audience up to speed. How did you transition from Baltimore, the restaurant, to Soho, the vegan donut spot?

Donut Shop Owner (3:03)

Yeah, you know. You know, my thing is this. I always tell a person, when you go fast, you grow fast. You know what I'm saying? So nothing really educates you more than just living real life and doing it at a fast pace.

Vanta Advertiser (3:14)

So.

Donut Shop Owner (3:15)

So when y' all saw me in the restaurant space, it was more about getting settled in and coming home. I had one goal when I came home, and that was to be legit. I had an advantage with that because it was like I saw the world through the lens of a criminal. Somebody who just coming home and like, yo, shit, I can't believe I got a legit spot. I got people on payroll. My mother gotta come see this. You know what I'm saying? Cause I grew up just straight immersed in a criminal lifestyle. So when I had the opportunity to come on the show, I had built out the brunch restaurant, I had the food trucks, and it was really about the supper club and creating verticals within my business that would allow me to grow. Now, what I always encourage entrepreneurs to do is to focus on the main thing. Keep the main thing. The main thing. And for me, after I got legit, it was really about making some real money. So in the midst of the restaurant, you deal with a lot of nuances, whether it's dealing with staff coming in front of the house, back of the house, managers, and so on and so forth. So I was like, yo, let me do a little bit more history. Because once you over the excitement of being legal, you gotta deal with the excitement of ambition and wanting to get some money. And I always tell people, once you get over the good look, you get some good money, right? So I got to a place where I was at was enough, and it was like, all right, what's next for me? So I began to focus on one singular product. And for me, it was a donut. And the reason why I focused on that is because if you get a donut right, you don't need ketchup, hot sauce, mayonnaise, mustard. You're not looking for a refill. You're not looking for a waiter to Give you a check. It remind me of the game. It's straight product driven. If I got a quality product, it's over the counter service. You come in and out, the space. It remind me of like a trap house. I give you the product, you don't even know who I am. You gone. And I'm able to scale that. So it was a scalable model as opposed to a traditional restaurant where you're dealing with so many elements and components. And that's why I chose donuts.

Co-Interviewer (5:08)

So the transition, right, because homemade, everybody remembers for that episode, you had the supper club piece too. We left all that. We came here. What was the transition like from a business standpoint of, all right, this is a new city. I may not be familiar with the ins and outs. The demographics are different. Talk about that piece of.

Donut Shop Owner (5:28)

It was all like hustling all the time. It was all about. It was so crazy because. And I'm so excited for my partner Zoditu to talk, because as any hustler know, when you go out of town, you get through a woman and you get to the community, right? So, like, for example, my superpower was my partner. And it was really about us strategizing, like, all right, here's this life that we gonna build, here's this brand we gonna build, and how are we gonna be able to connect with the people in an unconventional way? So when I came to New York, I knew a few things. I knew that I had to get familiar with the landscape, be respectful of the people, and provide them with a phenomenal product. So when we used to sell dope, we called it dropping tease. I don't know if they seen it on the wire, but like, drop my tease is basically like, if you get a couple ounces of dope, you get some grams, you put them together with some quinine bonita, and then you pass out testers. So, like on the wire, they would say, drop my teas. Because now all the dopangs would congregate to that. Because it's like, oh, all right. They giving out these teaspoons. So my tease was complimentary donuts. It was like, yo, I believe in my product. It's phenomenal. Let's just give it away. And that created word of mouth, along with her being behind me and in most cases, beside me, but also behind me doing additional work of like, yo, I'm gonna make sure that I get your product to everybody who don't know you and turn us into a global phenomenon. So it was really about the work that she put in with connecting with community and me just being in the lab, making sure we had the best shit going out.

Interviewer (6:51)

So soho, how'd you end up in Soho? Cause most of the time, I mean, you start thinking you was in Brooklyn at first even that was a different type of area. But, you know, you as a black entrepreneur, they would probably expect you to be in Harlem or, you know, best or a black neighborhood. Why? Why did you gravitate towards soho?

Donut Shop Owner (7:12)

Yeah, everything that I do relates directly back to who I am as a man. I don't. It's no gimmicks. Nothing is fatty over here or trendy, right? So like, when I was trapping, I had some real money and I was living in good neighborhoods. But I always felt there wasn't a true place for me in the midst of white affluence. I mean, like, think about it. We drive down Rodeo Drive, we got our phone out, we take a bunch of pictures, but black people don't own nothing. Then we go on Madison Avenue, we got our phone out, we buy a bunch of purses and jackets, but black people don't own nothing. And I always lived in these particular spaces and I felt like, yo, where's the space for us? Where's the space for the black man who's successful? Everything doesn't have to be like a charity case, right? So I was like, yo, I'm gonna put the donut shops in areas that I would specifically live in. And it was the same thing in Baltimore. In Baltimore, we in white neighborhoods. That's a flowing as well too. It's not intentionally trying to lean into white folks, but it's just really just following my own path of where I would live. And I felt like from what I seen with other brands, whether it was Kith or ALD or Supreme, I felt like that for black people to get seen in a different light and to be global phenomenons, you needed global retail positioning. So it's like the only way I'm gonna become successful is to position myself next to the other people. So I was never comfortable being like the biggest lion on my block. I wanna get in the den with the other lions and show you what I got. We here. Now.

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Ben Higgins (9:03)

You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins, and if youf Can Hear Me is where culture meets the soul. Honest conversations about identity, loss, purpose, peace, faith, and everything in between. Celebrities, thinkers, everyday people. Some have answers. Most are still figuring it out. And if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can Hear me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast Host (9:33)

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