 Welcome back to the 85 South Show. That's what you said? That's what I'm saying. So you said I should be like, I'm Carlos Miller, and then you be like, I'm Chico Bing. And then we be like, this is another black, excellent spotlight courtesy of the 85 South Show. Yes. Okay. Hey, J.O. Wing. Turn the black, excellent music down a little bit. That's the music for black excellence. Yes, everything. Because it sounds like something going on, but you don't know if something's going on. Exactly. So that's why we got, you know, excellent black business on with us today. That's what we got. Lovely. Introduce yourself to all the people of the 85 South Show. Yeah. Well, like on this part, we like when people be like, look, I'm this, and then I do that. I'm going to do it in my own way. Yeah. How about that? Okay. Yeah. We've just given you like what people have done in the past. Indeed. I got it. I am Dr. LaKeisha Hallman, Dr. Keene Founder and CEO of the Village Market ATL. Okay. His name is Dr. LaKeisha. Right. Absolutely. I want to go to Dr. Lee. What kind of doctor are you? Well, that would be education. Oh, well. So I have an EDD in educational leadership. Okay. I'm just going to make you my doctor for all my doctor shit. Let's do it then. This is Dr. LaKeisha. Everything I need. My toe hurt called Dr. LaKeisha. Don't you love people who went to college acting like you know what the abbreviation means? Yeah. I got a BDD and a PPL. I broke it down. I broke it down. So what exactly is, you know, your business? What does it consist of? Yes. I support, the Village Market was launched in 2016. We support businesses from ideation. So people with big ideas and help them stand those ideas up and turn them into profitable businesses. So we reached hundreds of businesses from Atlanta all the way to the Bahamas. Wow. Started here in Atlanta. What was the motivation? Like what made you say this is the route that we're going? Real conversation. I'm originally from Mississippi. So. Look at that. Yeah, right down the street from my way. Oh, that's what it is. Yeah. Shout out to Bayesville. So I was excited to get to Atlanta for a number of reasons. But what I heard that Atlanta was the Black Mecca. And that's true. But then what I found out that black businesses were struggling just like they were in Mississippi. So how are we in the Black Mecca struggling and the Mississippi Delta struggling? And so what I found out is that yes, we're creating businesses, but those businesses aren't growing. Meaning we're not making enough money to scale to really build generation wealth. So I created supported the verb, meaning get out here if you really about it. I like the campaign. Support is a verb. For the action behind it. You got to go do something. Now what have you found is the biggest thing that the biggest hurdle that new black businesses have to. Since you've been doing this in 2016, what would you say is the biggest hurdle that early black businesses face when they start off? I think the barrier that we can control is how black people choose to support black businesses. So if we can know that the businesses are there, support consistently, then those businesses will have the cash flow that they need to sustain. Now if you ask a business, any business there say is capital or I don't have the resources I need and those things are true. But to get cash injected into a business, you just need somebody to buy from you. We got to strengthen the buy network too also. Absolutely. The network and making sure that when you support black, it's not from a reaction. It's not because we mad, because unrest is going on, but this is just what we do. We always talk about black Wall Street. Wall Street was a lifestyle. It wasn't a community that was built in a moment. It was a community built to sustain. And so if we go back to that, go back to our roots, then we won't have to worry about generational wealth or where we won't be because we'll have something standing every day. Yeah. Makes sense. How social media helped or hended your process? Oh, it helps a lot. It helps a lot. Absolutely. Because it doesn't matter where you are, anyone from anywhere in the world can tap and like and share your business. And if you ship from all over the world, people can support you from all over the world. So I think social media is the gateway. Now when social media hurt businesses is when you may have a bad experience... Niggas. Who the fuck's there got a ringtone? Niggas? That's nigga excellence. That's not black excellence. That's what that is. Yeah. This is all you ain't heard years. What is it? Is it auto? Yeah, it's got to be. But continue. Yeah. So when social media hurts black businesses is those situations where you have a bad experience with a black business. We go on and we do the tweets or we do the up. And then that goes viral. Imagine if we put that energy every time we had an amazing experience. Stop that shit. Stop that shit. Like you ain't never had to take nothing back for one month. Right. With no receipt. Make sense. You're getting my nerves with that shit. Why do you think that is? Why do you think black people have such an expectation for a service that is above and beyond from our people where we don't necessarily expect that from the other? It depends on how deep you want to go. If we want to go back to slave trade then we know that it's literally beaten out of us. Right. To really uplift and push us to the highest. And so that suppressed mindset is generational. Now from just 2021, why is it that way is because I don't think we've seen it enough to understand internally that if you win, I win. And so when we adopt that mentality that everybody eats, everybody wins. If you're successful, if I'm successful then we're much more likely to support. But we can go back and take it to slavery or if we take it back to 2021 we just need to create more systems that you understand that if I win, everybody wins. That's exactly why we launched this whole initiative to reach out to black owned businesses and some people who are active in the community who are doing stuff that you know like I said strengthen the network. Support is a verb. So we wanted to open up our platform and have some people come through and speak their piece and let people know where they are and what they got going on and what they selling and just try to open it up a little bit. So that's why we launched this whole black business initiative. And in your space we see that you have an actual store front that people can come into where you have a bunch of different black entrepreneurs display what made you have the idea to do that. It's kind of like a Walmart for black businesses if you think about it so. Absolutely. That's so hard. A lot cuter though. Real cute at Ponson market. So I mean COVID hit everybody but COVID hit black businesses in a way that one in every third black businesses was subjected to close this year just due to the pandemic alone. I know my weed man working Walmart now. See? He got a job though. He got a job. But that's all he do. Like he don't sell weed when he's off. Straight wall. But with businesses closing I just decided to take that risk open up and then create the store front and Ponson market that represents 29 different brands. And so what that means 29 different brands will not close. When you walk in you're supporting 29 different black families. Let's get it to 100. We're gonna get it to 100. We're gonna get it to 100 but the village market itself has circulated 4.2 million dollars in the city of Atlanta to black businesses. Don't tell the haters that. No, the haters need to know. They need to know that support is the word. Don't tell them a number. Yeah, that's crazy. I mean and that's one thing that I know about black entrepreneurship is that our dollar circulates the least in our community. And out of every other people you know their dollar circulates five to six times within their community. And ours just as soon as we get it it's like here you go bruh. So do you think that that's something that you strive to with having a store front so it's actually a space where people can come in and see that their money is working for them and it's going back to black people or is it just something you did because you just wanted to be different? I know it's a really good question. So everything I do is intentional. And so I do think we have to have teachable moments to show people what circulation really means because we hear those numbers but we don't really get it. So if you only buy a t-shirt from a black brand and that's the only black business you've supported for a whole month that's circulated outside of our community. But when we open a store front I hire black contractors. So the paint on the wall was painted by the hands of a black man. The concept designer was a black woman. And from contractor to contractor to contractor everyone that comes in the store that is profitable are all black. So it circulates several times. But when we think about circulating a dollar is who cuts your hair? Who puts the roof on your house? Who cuts your yard? Who is your dentist? Who is your doctor? Who is your teacher? That's what circulation is. Damn, while you were saying that I'd know about three Hispanic people. They getting all my black hair there. I was like the roof to your house. Doctor Ortiz and she's good. Yeah, she's my doctor now. I tell you that much. All the way. So what are some of the products that you have in the store? What are some of the brands that are inside of the market? That's a good question. We have a plethora brand. So we have muted homes. They have amazing home goods like you would never see if you think West Am, think Black West Am. This company has done incredible things. We have Herabrella, who was most recently on the view. She has an umbrella for your head. You have to see it so it can make sense. But it's incredible. Several are flares there by Chris Classic. Tons of hoodies, children's books, furniture, fine art, fine art, that is priced at $20,000 to $30,000. And so we partner with exceptional companies. So it's elevating what Black Excellence is. My job is to raise the caliber of what people think when they think about shopping Black. What's the process of getting the products in the store? Number one, operating in excellence. So as an application process, it goes through the hands of several merchandisers. I partner with a number of people to screen these applications to set up interviews because I don't want to create a store that's going to fail. I want businesses to be able to grow beyond the village market, beyond punts. So if we make the application process extensive, teach what it truly means to be in Big Box retail. If we close, these businesses can go on and open their own thing. So the process is you have to complete an application. You have to make sure you have product picks. You should already have a website and then be prepared to have an interview with myself and my team. And I ask hard questions. I ask real questions about community building. Ask me what? I got this product. Ask me. Do you have a ringtone? That would be the question. I'm ready. Do you still use ringtones? Hold up. She's about to get me in there. I got a product. All right, go ahead. I want to see you. All right. You ready? I'm ready. Okay. So I see this nice hoodie you have right now. Okay. Yeah. It's a Black-owned company. That's good. You got to add like it's yours. Shout out to Jackie Long. All right. So you created this product. How does the message feed the community? Because if you think about what the hoodie says, it ain't nothing like a pretty bitch bringing you some money. See, on the hoodie, see the bitch is not a person. See, bitch is life. So it's nothing like being successful. It's basically what I'm saying, but I'm speaking to the people who used to hearing it a certain way. That's good. You did that. That's the hand clap. We did that. How do you make that work? Right there, Carlos. How do you make that work? How do you make that work? Because life is what? A bitch. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, but it ain't nothing like a pretty bitch bringing you some money. If you win it. Exactly. Come on. Now in these interview processes that you go through, like is this something that you found works for your specific company or do you think this is something that you want to, you know, spread out and tell people that this is something that can be useful for all Black entrepreneurship? Absolutely. The thing is it can be useful for any entrepreneur. My target is Black people. And so beyond where we open at Puncity Market, we just launched a nationwide program Elevate to support Black businesses who are not in the store, but business owners who have an idea. And they're the solepreneur. 96% of Black businesses are the sole operator. Meaning it's just that one person who is working social media that is stripping out their products and then taking care of their families. So we launched Elevate to make sure that this program really helps businesses be able to grow their revenue, grow their operations. So there are no excuses of why we don't get PPP. But there's no excuses why we're not getting in for real estate and being able to compete. So beyond the marketplace, our programming I think is probably one of the most impactful things I've ever done. So where can people like reach you and start the process? Somebody serious about their business that's going to see this and they're going to want more info. That's my idea too. This is what I've been waiting to see. No, see look, I'm telling you, it's going to work. And that's the type of energy we need. You need to think it's going to work. And so when people want to learn more about the village market, if folks got an idea and just need a community, need a village, you go to VillageMarketATL.com. Everything is there. You can learn about the storefront at Punt. You can learn about the Elevate program. And you can just see all the work that we've done for the last couple of years. You ever had to tell somebody, no, because they shit was just too wild. I was just thinking that, bro. I was like, how wild are you willing to get? Okay, all right. Now look, check this out. Check this out. I'm telling you, look, I got the hat. It's a hat that comb your head when you wet. We say no. Really? Damn. We say no with love and we explain. With love though. We love though every time because this is us who we're saying no to. Do people like keep coming back? Like, okay, I know you ain't like that. I was pushing around. I was pushing around. It was a hat. Now it's just a headband. Massage your forehead when you wet. How about that? A massage your headband. You wet when you got a headache. Yep. You don't got to take no medicine. All vegan, all natural. It's the vegan part for me. And I was like, come on in. See. Oh, there you go. That's what you got to do. That's what we're coming with. Look, we got lemon pepper for Seamalls. That's what we do. Lemon pepper, buffalo flavor Seamalls is what we bring. I know y'all love the Seamalls. We got all flavor Seamalls, baby. I got these microwave cauliflower bites. But this is beautiful, man. We love to see it, you know, because as black entrepreneurs ourselves, we all would, like we said, we, you know, everything that we do, we want to feed back into the black community. Like last year, you know, I did this, grew this. Now that's definitely giving back to the black community. I did a thing where all of the black-owned hair companies that make stuff to grow your hair back could, you know, send it in. And I just promoted it. And a bunch of them have been doing well from that. And it didn't grow back in the front, but the rest of that shit is going great. So, you know what I mean? It works. And for us, we were thinking, like, since you have the space, is it possible for us to get some odd stuff in your space? Because we got a lot of products. Let me tell you, y'all have a great team because that's already done. Oh, work? Already done. Look at that. Let me give you something. You got some? Look at it. That's what you want? The thing is, I like to buy. I don't have to be hooked up. Support to me is being able to invest in your business, saying where I want you to invest in mine. See, that's the way you do it. That's the slick way of saying, yeah, don't get me shit-free. You ain't getting shit-free when you come see me. Absolutely. That's a commercial right there. Don't get me shit-free. I don't even want you to buy it, though. It's just something about Dr. Lucches. Right. Having your shit on, it just hit different. It hit different. Right. That's what it is. You come out and really go do some dr. shit, like just grabbing it. You never know. Right. Now it's a uniform. I agree. So we're going to give it to you. We still want to support you, but we got to have you. I'm coming down near the best black soap, all type of insides. Right. I know they got all types of insides. That's the type of stuff I enjoy buying. Yeah, candles and all types of insides. I feel like if I don't buy some real shea butter from a real black person, then it's not real shea butter. Yeah, that's the only thing that lasts on black skin. You lose lotion. You be ashy right after you wash your hands. That shea butter stick to you. That's true. What about the beers? We got beer care in there as well. I got my own. Oh, okay. I might have to talk to you about getting it in there too. Just talk about it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I agree with that. You know what I'm saying? We can come down there. How big is the space? Is it a large space or is it more intimate? It's intimate. It's about 1,600 square feet. Let me ask you this. Is it an online retail space too also? Yeah. We have both. Okay. No barrier. So look, drop some social media ads so that people can know how to get in touch with you. We have the Village Market ATL or the Village Market Retail. Okay. On both platforms. So Village Market ATL or Village Market Retail on all platforms. Ooh. You know what? We should have a fish fry on the back of that. That's what I was just thinking. Summer coming up. We got to get with you and organize our outside flea market. I mean, it'll be cauliflower fish. Fish ain't vegan. Fish ain't vegan. Fish ain't vegan. I mean, we'll put vegan food on this side. Vegan food on this side. Yeah. You know what I mean? We can do that. We're going to be both, like, meat down here and then, like, leaves down here. Yeah. Okay. That's good. We're going to have the Lemon Pepper Seed Malls for everybody. Okay. We're going to make sure we get something. One more time. Drop it. The Village Market. Yes. The Village Market ATL and the Village Market Retail. That's what it is. Black woman, we are proud of you. Continue to be excellent and great. Thank you for coming. Thank you. And rocking out with us. We appreciate it. I'm about to make up a thing song for this for a segment right here. Okay. Black people excellent. Yeah. We got to wait for the beef. Fuck the beef. Thank you for coming through, man. Thank you all so much. Black people excellent. Thank you so much. Right here on the 85's sound show. Thank you. Dr. LaKeisha. Thank you. Hey, J.O.W. Hey, J.O.W. Hey, J.O.W. Hey, J.O.W.