 As African-Americans nationwide continues to build collective wealth and knowledge about enhancing the black experience in these United States, HBCU graduates have come together for a really innovative resource connecting folks in a very, very diverse and exploding industry. And we are honored to have them with us tonight, the co-founders of HBCU real estate. It's Kristen Turner, brother Marcus King, and brother William Foster. And I'm sorry, sister Kristen Turner as well. I appreciate all of you so much for coming on. This is something that's just launched. We're just seeing this on social media. People are signing up for it. And it really is an ambitious project, but it's something that's so necessary because of what we've seen obviously in the mainstream marketplace with things like this and why we want to expose black businesses to national and regional opportunity. So first, congratulations to all of you. Will, I will start with you. From a grassroots perspective, let's start with the end first. What do you hope that HBCU real estate and its nuts and bolts will do in terms of connecting the HBCU community to working opportunities and partnership opportunities and development opportunities? Thank you again, Jared, for having us. I think at the most fundamental level, this is once again trying to find ways for us to circulate the intellectual capital, the economic capital of our community, and really there's no bigger asset that tends to revolve around than real estate. So I think our primary hope is give more opportunities for business to HBCU real estate providers, give the HBCU community some way to, you know, other ways to support their fellow HBCUers. And like I said, continue to push towards institutionalizing and keeping that dollar within our community. Kristen, you guys are all from various HBCUs, Will from Prairie View and Virginia State, Marcus from Prairie View, you from Spelman and Southern. How did you guys get together and conceptualize this framework? And how long did it take to get to a place where you thought it was ready for exposure to the HBCU community? Well, it's been really good for a while. It kind of came together, I guess, once you realize everything that he needed to get done, because he had reached out to me first to just kind of build it on a contractual basis. And then I think maybe it hit him how much it would be to do it that way. But as far as, you know, how we all came together, I think it's just a mutual respect and a trust really through, honestly, William, from when I first kind of saw him on social media, I always knew this extremely intelligent and things like that. So it's just really about trusting, I guess, the leader and really their connections with it. But yeah, everyone's been pretty solid on knowing what they bring to it, respecting each other's individual talents, and really just letting everyone do what they need to do. As far as getting it done, we've been pretty organized. We've had timelines, 30-day goals, 60-day goals, 90-day goals, and staying on tracks. So far, it's been okay, but we're very, very early and we all know how entrepreneurship works. But so far, not bad. Yeah, then respecting each other, everyone's been pretty much handling their business. So yeah, it's a great thing on that front. Marcus, it would seem obvious enough in the name itself, it's real estate. We know that there have been successful HBCU graduates in that particular field for generations. But it's more than that. It's resources that support real estate. It's information to try to connect folks to details about acquisitions and learning more about the industry. Was that intentional or is that something from the start, or was it something that as you guys were building it, you determined, hey, this is something we got to add in here, hey, this is something that may be beneficial to the community, hey, this is something that will help folks who are novices and folks who are advanced in the field. Yeah, no, I think it was very intentional. I think it was kind of the idea from the beginning. And so of course, as we continue to grow this, it'll morph and kind of come into an element of its own as we start to see things that make sense or see opportunities in one specific area. Of course, as mentioned, entrepreneurship is a journey. So we'll tweak along the way, but I think definitely what we wanted to do or what we wanted to do and are looking to do is connect all our providers, all our consumers. Essentially, there's only so many different ways that we can buy black or there's so many apparent ways that we can buy black. When it comes to larger expenses, especially being a home, for example, to one of the largest purchases anybody will make, I think it's very important that we all seek out and be very intentional about how we're going about spending those dollars. And I guess we're all family, we can keep it frank. You know, usually in starting a black business, one of your primary concerns is how do I get my people to value my product, especially if there are comparable services or products in a mainstream marketplace? What were the conversations among you three like to say this is how we're going to get people engaged and loyal to a very new brand and a very new concept? As for anybody to answer. I'm going to let Marcus, because Marcus is the. The marketing he's got his pulse on that thing in a way that I listen. So Marcus, that's all you meant for sure. So my background is in engineering. And so I tend to think of things. In a system or in a process and the beauty about, you know, today, 2021 is technology, internet, right? Just like, you know, we're on a spring yard now having this interview with you. The interview, I'm sorry, the internet gives us, you know, the capability to target and put out messages and build trust. But essentially get in front of the people who would be prime consumers or providers for HBC real estate. And, you know, after repetition and seeing something so many times, you know, you kind of start to build trust with it. It's like, you know, OK, and sometimes you even look at a commercial, you may see a commercial 20 or 30 times before you finally look up and pay attention to it. And then it clicks like, oh, this is what this is about. And you can kind of put the pieces together. And so I think for us, it's really going to be about leveraging the internet, leveraging social media, leveraging our networks. And of, yeah, essentially, yeah, just leveraging our networks and leveraging the internet. It's an interesting point about networks, because all three of you are from HBCs that have really, really huge alumni buy in to the institution. Do you think that that's I would ask it two ways, Kristen, and first with you, because you're affiliated with two of the biggest. Do you think that that's something, number one, that the school will help to facilitate for you, whether that be Southern or Spellman? And number two, do you think that the geography about where you've been in terms of your HBCs will will help to identify or captivate people in those areas, Atlanta, Baton Rouge are growing places in terms of real estate and black serve black on services. Do you think those two things can kind of combine to work well in the early stages for HBC real estate? Yeah, one thing I love about my people is we believe more in mouth. If someone tries it first, they like it. They definitely tell mama, daddy, auntie, uncle, whoever. And what I will say is that kind of different than PWIs. A lot of there's a lot of generational history with HBC use, especially it's your what I've learned. You did like the first one to go or you're like me and you're like third generation there. So with that, I think it's just about, you know, as the reaching back to who we who we know and being pretty frigging creative. But and but yeah, the beautiful thing is that, you know, like like when HBCs really are a family and you get one good connection, one good word of mouth, someone who really believes in you. All you need is one good alumni announcement in an email and you're kind of like shot through the glass when it comes to that community. So I think it really is just about reaching out to individual networks, but of course, going right to friends. You know, we're millennials. I know plenty of real estate agents who I went to school with who also went to HBC use and have been on social media with them since what social media began. So there are a lot of really deep connections, even with people that you don't know, especially with social media, there's a lot of people who watch you who don't tell you and kind of become fans of you without even telling you and you do something kind of cool. And they're like, hey, I've actually been watching you for like six months. You're like, I appreciate you. And so there is that thing as well, it kind of connects into what Marcus says. We know people are, you know, are watching. We know our networks are strong. It's just about finding that one little in no matter how that happens with how with each of us. But yeah, people watch families or families, and we just got to get one person to trust us and for them to have a big mouth. There you go. Well, did you in setting up this idea and moving forward with establishing it for you? How much was the current economic environment a factor? Was it to specifically drive black business in a really tough and lean economic time? Knowing that businesses are are are facing restrictions because of because of COVID guidelines and restrictions. Is this something where you're saying you're you're launching this now and you're revealing it now because we need it right now. We really need it now. I wish I could say I was that smart, Jared. No, I can't. I wish that was true. I think what this idea has been sitting with me, Kristen, Marcus, both know this has been sitting with me for a couple of years and I had approached Kristen about doing it on a contractual basis. But I also said, I don't remember, it was some time ago, I was like, I want to do something with both of them. And I didn't know what it was going to be. I was like, but I like both of them. I love that. I have more access back in 2015 for HBC money. I've been following Kristen for I don't know how long. I love the way she moved in terms of her own businesses. And so it really was me also saying to myself, I'm not doing any more solo projects. You know, I just I'm a multi-preneur. So I got my hands on a few things like both of them. And so it really became a project of when I'm finding the right people and I know it's the right situation. That's when I'll do this. And, you know, I sent them the tweet like, hey, we need to talk. I don't know. I just want to put it in front of y'all. If they think it has legs, then, you know, and that's why we're here. They both understood the vision and we all we just clicked. And so, yeah, no, I wish it was where I was like, oh, this is the time. It was them. You know, it was me finding them and coming to that point where it was like me realizing I wouldn't do anything else by myself in business. And so, you know, when you got when you have a great team, you know, it's a lot easier to do great things. So that's that's really, you know, but it but I also would say it is coming around at an optimal time for black businesses and especially HBCU businesses, specifically, because, you know, we need to be able to have real estate providers that are from HBCUs who are able to get leads. You know, one of the things in real estate is it's really hard to find customers, especially your real estate agent or your mortgage provider. You know, so if you went to an HBCU, why wouldn't you want to use somebody who went to an HBCU if you can find somebody? And obviously, you know, and so I think for me, this was something that just inevitably needed to happen. And it just so happened that this is the time to do it. For all three of you, what what are your your I guess definitions of growth? If we're looking six months away or a year away, how will you know? Hey, this thing is really growing and people are embracing it. Is it the amount of folks who are participating on the website? Is it the amount of confirmed leads or folks who have gotten business and feedback that way? Or is there some other metric that you guys look at and say, this is this is a project that that's really doing what it's supposed to do? Can I start? Absolutely. OK, I think for me, it's for me, it's going to feel like a success when that first house gets sold from a real estate or a broker from HBCU real estate and also someone who was a consumer as well. I think that's when we're really going to kind of know that it is working because people can sign up all day. You know what I mean? Whether or not their service provider or consumer, but they have to trust us in order to trust each other and money is one of the biggest trust factors. So once people actually start spending real deal money with each other and it does come from both sides, I think that's for me personally when I'm going to be like, OK, we're we're really doing this. And it's working for both sides, both parties and just yeah, I'm trying to find that balance of, you know, continually bringing in leads. But of course, our name being spread across the actual real estate industry once again, someone actually makes money using our platform. So yeah, in my head, that's when it's going to be successful when someone makes money from us. Hmm. I love I love that. I think this thing really hit the nail on the head with that one. But before we get there, though, we we just have to get people to sign up. So we have to have consumers and providers in place who are looking and willing to buy into this this by black real estate, you know, effort that we're putting for. And then, you know, definitely moves to that next point where again, they're starting to exchange their use of services, their their talking, their, you know, fulfilling leads and things like that for short. I know this is far out and I don't mean to be a killjoy. But, you know, as a journalist, you kind of have to ask it. Usually when I would say black folks at large are thinking more in terms of disruption, which is a beautiful thing. How do you disrupt a system? Whether that's social justice or, you know, criminal justice or economics or politics, let's break this and start over. And this is an example of that. But usually traditional systems say, OK, were you ready to disrupt? Well, we need to squelch that. Do you do you would you guys see, well, especially this week, when you think about what's happening in the stock market, for example, are you worried that such disruption will cause a quicker reaction from the industry to say, we need to we need to stop that because we don't want money circulating or moving that way. I would say no. I think, right, the problem. The way I see it is we've never even seen. I think this may be one of those things that. You look at the African American home ownership rate, you know, and I would say for me, if nothing else comes out of this, people will start to see, hey, we have the power to disrupt things. And it can be and we have the power to build infrastructure that is meant for our interests, because at the end of the day, that's really what this is. So if it doesn't work the first time, don't think we're not coming back a second and third time. So so this is us building the infrastructure to empower ourselves. And, you know, listen, I mean, it's a marathon. It's not a sprint. And so, you know, whether this is the first iteration or we come back on your show for the fourth or fifth iteration, this infrastructure is going to get built. This empowerment is going to get done. You know, listen, yes, I know I have no doubt that we will meet challenges from places that we may not even think their challenges come. Obviously, you know, the power of American dollars something a lot of people pay attention to. And so keeping it in our community has been a challenge. And so, you know, but I think all three of us up to that challenge. And and so, you know, bringing a big shot. And we do again. Excellent idea of the website, HPC real estate dot com. You can visit, check it out, register as a as a partner and proprietor on the site. Each of you, please plug your social media. So folks can follow you and we can keep up with the development of HPC real estate and all of your your individual joint ventures. Kristen, we will obviously start with you, sis. Appreciate it. Thank you. So, yes, I am the one building the website, all of that. That's what I do. So if you need platforms, logos, whatever that may be, even before this, that then a few things for William, please follow me, Janelle T. Designs. And that's pretty much everywhere. JanelleTdesigns.com, you know, designs on Instagram, Twitter. You can already obviously see some of my work for HPC real estate.com. So I mean, I love helping black people. So let me help you. I got y'all. Marcus, you know, so I think, as mentioned, we're all serial entrepreneurs. So I typically just send people straight to my my personal page where I link to all the things that I do. So you can find me on Instagram or Twitter at Marcus King. The I is the X. So KXNG Marcus with the C. Not a cat. And then obviously we'll add HPC money, I know, but anything else. Yeah, I look right. I mean, definitely make sure you follow us at HPC real estate on Instagram. It's HPC.gov state. And, you know, for me, it's HPC money. If you if you want to find the economics and finance conversation and other than that, you can follow me personally at Astro Commons. And so that's where I am.