 That's for a reason. This is history right here. Y'all are the first people to come on the black market with a follow up. Okay. See? Yeah. Okay, I'll take that though. You're the first motherfucker to have to double back. Yeah. And do part two. And what means more for me is because of my aligning with Jeff, Chad, and what I'm bringing to the table for them. Yeah. And I think it's just part of how- What do you mean, man? I ain't with them. I'm setting the brand, but I'm going to do it for them. For the whole thing. Everybody in this room is the brand. Let's wait for the cameras, man. The cameras is the brand. I can talk that talk, man. I can talk like a talker. I can talk like a talker. When I saw you coming in there, I lit up because I was looking at all the- All of you, everybody got the new merch. They sneaking in and doing the little sneak fashion show. Yeah. From the old school to the new school. Yeah. You see what you left? We got new colorway. We got about 12 new colorway. Doing numbers on this road, man. It's supposed to be, man, it's a brand. It's a big brand hit, man. And show them your shit, Clay. Oh, yeah, this is me. Just quick English majors. You know, that's what we call my people. Yeah. Keeping it all in the house, man. We're trying to make some strass in this industry. Y'all not about to get all this fashion money by yourself. Hey, it's enough money for everybody, man. Not for everybody, man. No, it's enough for everybody. It's enough for everybody. Wow. Yeah. It's enough for everybody. But what he ain't going to talk about is what my generation didn't do. Nobody collaborated. Everybody kept the shit. I was an ancient Chinese secret. And I'm like, nigga, if I tell you, you tell you to. We all win it. Yeah, y'all are supposed to get together. I came in this game and we didn't exist. I was going to trade shows with Suits on, trying to fit in their world. And now I look where it is. The Steve Harvey suit, they was big. Yeah, a lot of work. A lot of work. You know what I'm saying? I went, I went. I'm the only black dude walking the floor. And Whitey was looking at me saying, yo, what team you play for? And I'm like, I'm not here to endorse them. And I'm explaining myself about just ownership in a brand and all in a store. And they didn't believe it. And I'm like, how bad is it? Did you talk to them guys really like that? It's really, yeah. Like they ain't looking at you like, you got to be endorsing. You're an athlete. You're not here doing business. And it was just like, Nike, Starter, Converse, Champion. You're not going to, you know, I won't open up account. They be like, well, do you have a store? I'm like, yeah, I got a store. What the hell you think I'm doing this trade show for? Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, well, you know we don't officially start this thing until I ring this bell and let everybody know the black market is on. Now everything you say is on record. There you go. Yeah, we have officially started. Welcome back to the black market. I got my dog, Clayton English in here with me today discussing growth, development, opportunities, expansion, partnerships, collaborations, taxes, sales tax, suggested retail price, units per mile, distance between light and sound. We really going in today. You didn't know that I knew that I know. Welcome back. Well, welcome here. First of all, I hope y'all are enjoying our new location and things of that nature. Yeah. And I know y'all got some game for me. Absolutely. Don't make me go to the nose, man. Look right at the camera, introduce yourself, and let them know what you do and how you do it. My name is Girard Murray. I am the second leg of a three-headed monster, a third-generation family business. I've been in the game for about 40 years, started in the fashion business at the age of 15. And it's my son. Yeah. Tahir Murray, AKA Mr. Legacy, recent graduate of Howard University, class of 2021. Yeah. Cheers to you. And I'm the CEO of Legacy History Pride. And we design, develop, apparel that embody HBCU excellence. Portion of our proceeds go directly back to the schools that we partner with. And we're going to talk about collaborations today, partnerships that we've done to just continue to amplify black excellence in our community. So yeah, appreciate you guys having us again. No problem with that. Appreciate it, man. We brought the big dog with you today. So we're going to actually get into the legacy and figure out why they call you Mr. Legacy. Cool. So we're going to get with you pops. And then we're going to get. The first leg and then we're going to get the second leg. So you just chill because you last. You got to keep the whole shit going. So he might drop something you don't know yet. Pop, pop. You got to take over from here. You said this is three generations. Yeah, yeah. I mean, this dates back to think about my father, Vaughn Murray. He left Trinidad 1966. My sister was just born. He left her in Trinidad, took my mother, and they came to the United States thinking the roads were paved with gold. And just chasing that American dream that a lot of immigrants do. He landed here. And just recently I was told the story of they landed in JFK. No one picked them up. And they took a call to my aunt's house. The dream starts at President Street in Brooklyn. He came here looking for work. He was a decorated police officer in Trinidad. But he came in with the aspiration of doing and chasing the American dream. He got a job with United Nations, went over Jerusalem, worked over there. But over there, he learned to speak Yiddish. He learned to culture. And this is a Dawskin Trinidadian man. And when he came back, when he was told, when you come back to America on your own business and on your own house, when he came back, he just followed that. So he relocated Queens, bought a house, bought a commercial property that had apartments upstairs where we lived. And he started a shoe repair business. He self-taught himself how to make custom shoes, men and women. And from there, he just started building his business. You know, 1967, I'm born, I come into the world fast forward. Hip hop starts to come on the scene. I'm coming home from school and, you know, strict parents, you're either gonna play sports or you're coming home, spending time in the store and just watching him just interact with the community, help people, build things. You know, just watching business, but not knowing the story as a little one. But as I got older, started to hit him with, well, we need this and we need that. And he was just like, you go out and you find it. If you think we need sneakers, go do that. So we started, you know, started wholesaling simple things, socks, t-shirts, and then eventually I told him we need sneakers and found somebody who would wholesale us sneakers and we were doing that. But just to give you the picture, think about it now. Back then, you didn't see any black-owned businesses selling sneakers. It's usually Jewish or Korean or Asian-owned, I should say. And with that said, it was hard knocking on doors and having people really take you serious, you know? I mean, I used to go to trade shows and when I first started going to trade shows, I just saw everybody's suit and ties and that was the thing. And I started to go there, suit and ties, but they thought I wasn't a business owner. They thought I was an athlete. They're walking and dorsing somebody. So I'm talking about this is the late 80s and I'm going to the super show where they used to have it here in Atlanta and it was a licensing show with everything from Nike to Champion to Puma, everything. And I was just trying to, you know, get them to say, can you sell directly to us? Getting a lot of no's, getting some yes from small companies, but just, you know, I'm making my trail. But it came to one day, we were dealing with the starter and the salesman at the time, they basically was coming and asking my opinion of this and that and I'm giving my opinion. Oh, you should change this, you should change that. And my father said to me one day, he said, you know, they just pick in your brain because they six months later, they're coming back with what you just told them to do and they're selling it and not getting anything from it. All right, that started me just looking at things a little differently. And I came up with the concept and the idea of School of Hard Knocks. And that turned into a brand that we sold globally. We sold in Japan, we sold in Europe, we sold all over the United States. Yeah, I bought a bus this year. Yeah, we did that. So, but before that, just to back up a little, in 1991, we had the opportunity of, you know, my grandmother passed away, we went to Trinidad and, you know, coming back on the flight, I was with my girlfriend, who today is my wife and I'm telling her my frustration and she was slick with the pen and she wrote a letter to Nike and it was basically, how can we share a modest piece of the American pie as a black on business? I used to throw parties. So back in the day, people had actual guest lists where you wrote your name, number, and your address. So I took the guest list I had attached to the letter, sent it in Nike and about a, say two weeks later, got a, you know, somebody came in the store and was like, hey, from Nike, we've been trying to open you guys for years. It was talk, but at the end of the day, I was like, Sounded good. Yeah, sounded good. I'll take it. They started us with a $10,000 credit line and we took those lemons they gave us and turned it into one of the top 10 Nike accounts. So we were like a, at the time, Nike calls different than we were tier one. So we were like the main account. So when you seen lines wrapping around, waiting for the latest Jordan drops that's what we was doing. But with that said, we established ourselves as a Nike account first black on distributor. I saw the school of hard knocks. So think about it now where people, you know, you matching things to sneakers. I had the lead to know what was coming out and used to bring the colors with hard knocks. So we kind of like, I don't like to toot my horn anything, but we kind of like was the first flagship store. At the time when we did it, the only other flagship stores was around was Spike Lee with Spikes Joint, Naughty by Nature, Woolwear and Staten Island. They had one in the A2. Yeah, and from there it was the hard knock store. And that was the beginning. So we talk about what inspired and what started. I'm coming from the everywhere, Carl Jones and TJ Walker. And they may say, who's that? That was Cross Colors. After Cross Colors, so think about it was always one at a time. Cross Colors, then he came with Carl Cana. Carl Cana, then you had the April Walkers, Marissa Malone's and then you came and it got big, it turned into the Fubu. Then it turned into that Mecca and academic. So we were all part of, I say we were all part of a pioneer in the urban market. And it was like monopoly money, cause we were doing numbers. We were doing serious numbers. But in that I say, didn't know where I was going to be standing today, but I just knew I never wanted to become something I despised. People who didn't give out information or people who kind of looked down on the community was selling to. So therefore we always, as hard knocks and Vaughns was the store, my father started, we always had a connection to the community. So my father was very respected in the community. Black people, all shades of black people, just known for being colorful and fashionable. Why is it so hard to get into the fashion market as a black person? I mean, I think that it goes across for all industries. I mean, what you guys are doing here, it's groundbreaking from what you're doing from the place we're in, the format, the studios, the tour and all that. When you hear somebody say that's never been done before, but you guys are doing it and you're doing it as easy as you wake up every day. You know you are trailblazing, but you're inspiring somebody who's probably in eighth grade right now, in high school, whatever. There's somebody coming for the crown, but you guys are carrying it. I'll take my hats off, but this is something, but not somebody else has a story who's in the, whatever field it is, construction. There's the first black construction company in Atlanta and they talk about how they were important of putting together Jackson-Hossfield Airport. You know those little stories, they're here. I think we as a culture, we still, and it's kind of crazy. We're still talking about the first, you know? Supreme Court, the first, you know? It's always the first, but you gotta take that and just run with it. You have to know I'm gonna, not to say it's not a crown, I'm gonna take that responsibility and know that when I step in that room, they're looking at me different. They're waiting for me to mess up, but I'm not gonna mess up, and then I'm representing the culture. I'm gonna give them exactly what they want. Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna show mine. And then they underestimate us. They underestimate the culture. That's why we always deliver, because they expect so much less. You gotta under-deliver and over-prime, you know? There you go. Over-deliver and under-prime. That's the way. That's it, that's it. So you got all this game coming in. A lot of it. I'm still soaking it in. So even sitting here listening to him speak is just like constant reminders of like the why and the purpose and the vision of like what I'm doing now. So I mean, part of the story that he didn't talk about yet is his introduction into the collegiate business, and that's when we moved down here in Atlanta. And he was in the collegiate arena. You can talk a little bit about it too, if you want, but. I mean, just I, so I always, I really appreciated the collegiate arena because I said, tell me another industry where you acquire brand new customers every year. Right. Through, I know the funeral. The funeral and the baby industry. But in the collegiate industry, you get brand new customers every year, and it's based on the enrollment of the school, but you're always going to acquire that. And through graduation, you get new alumni, but you have a loyal customer base. But on top of that, in dealing with starter and champion, nobody ever did anything for the HBCUs. There was one company, AACA, I seen what they did in the 80s, and it just took the world by storm. I took our culture by storm, but then to me, it never really went as far as I thought it could go, you know? And that was started by a guy named Mark Van Graak, and then there's another guy doing it right now. And I take my hat off. I don't, I give it up to whoever puts it out there, but we were inspired. I was inspired by it. I started. I wonder what made black people start buying all this college shit from schools we didn't even go to. Somebody like you wearing it, you know? Yeah. Somebody like you wearing it. People that were, Yeah, it was just like just some random ass shit, though. Think about it, Bill Cosby. Well, when they started making them the, with the little patch on it and stuff, like, yeah, Bill Cosby would wear the, he would just wear any costume like. But what they did, they really started stamping it. So when we came with tradition, the tradition was really supposed to be a real high-end lifestyle brand for collegiate wear, understanding that we as people, we like quality stuff. We like to spend money. And we like, we, we're not going to the game with flip-flop shorts and a t-shirt. We going totally dripped out. So with that said, I did tradition with some partners that I think it just, it went left. And everything happens for a reason. You know, unfortunately, you know, 2019, I went through some health issues. The business was going in a way. I backed away from it. And when I backed away from it, the pandemic hit. Yeah. My father passed away from, from COVID. And it just, it just set me in a dark place. And then here we go. Somebody who was a fly on the wall, helping me with social media, and really making his, making his, making his steps in the social media, stepped up and said, hey, I want to do this. And I said, no, I'm done. And from that, I lead it in the hem of coming up with a name, coming up with an energy, but it's deeper. And he says, he says a lot, the purpose. And I'm like, to me, that means a lot, you know? So he took it from there. And like, since you pride is, you know, I consult. And you know, I mean, what he does is incredible. I wanted to ask you, you said 40 years in a game, what are some of the things that you learned about building a brand that you could share with the next generation? So one thing I always say is, you know, don't burn bridges. I've seen people burn bridges. I used to always think, oh, I need X amount of dollars. And let me tell you something, over the years, relationships, I value relationships more than a wallet with money, full of money. Give me 10 of my relationships and tell me you don't have no money. I'll take that rather than giving me $100,000 and no relationships. Relationships is everything. And then another thing is just networking. You know, one thing he, you know, one thing he did was really the word collaborating. I didn't come from there. Cause like I said, everybody was hush hush and not sharing ideas and not sharing manufacturing. I'm like, I can go to a manufacturer and not till I went to China and I take, go to China and sip that green tea. I realized the first time I went over there, we were making jeans over there and they were making jeans for Sean John in the same factory. And he was making jeans for this other brand. I can't forget the name. But I was like, wait a minute, y'all doing production for everybody. But their production was theirs. I always was ours. And I was just like, oh, y'all winning. The factory was winning. So fast forward now, it's like, I have relationships and I don't share it with anybody. Cause I share it with people who I think take this industry and take what I'm doing serious. And people who just like 85, I believe in the brand. And when I, you know, when I met Chad, he told me and just we sat and we broke bread and he told me his vision. And I don't know what it was. We connected, but to see where you guys are, to see what you guys doing. And the tentacles up, the octopus I call it. You know, you guys got a lot, a lot going on. But for me to focus on, and I come back and I always say, the fashion piece is being slept on. You're doing it, but I'm like, it could be so stronger. So that's why we've been linking with you. Where you guys are right now, if I can lead you to something, run. Just run because you know what my relationship is secured now with the factory and it's secured with you guys. And we're not competing with each other. Exactly. But it's like I said, it's enough room out here for everybody to work. We created our merch out of demand. Once we started doing live shows and we started seeing that people wanted to leave and take a piece of this shit with them. Wanted to have something to wear and show solidarity and support and be a part of, you know, like in the beginning. So all of this shit came from demand. Like it never was like, oh, we gonna start clothing joint. It was just, maybe we need something that these people, when we come out, they want to be a part of it. Like, hey, we want shirts. We want this. We want this on it. But you guys are organic. Cause what I love is you're always in your gear. Or you can wear something else, but it's really organic and it's real. I've been wearing my shit so long that other shit don't even feel right. T-word and sentence. Your. Yeah. You wearing your shit. And on the other shit, just don't feel my body right now. But the craziest thing is, is when you go somewhere non-expected, you walk in this, I went into grocery and I saw a guy with a south shirt on and I was like, wow. And he had a gray beard like me. And I was like, oh, okay. I was just, I was just, I was in the half of it. It's me. The demographics you guys tapping into, it was like, that's a brand. It's not associated with just everybody who watches this. It's a brand and it's gonna tap in and then the next thing is, are you giving them quality? And then you bringing them the next thing. You bringing them the next thing. It's much deeper than just fashion too. I think what attracted me to the business so much was just building community. So I mean, you was just saying like, like what have I learned? Like all the knowledge that he's taught me my whole life. And it's been less about like what he's told me, but more so just about watching him work and do the actual work. Crazy part is, that's literally your father. So you know some shit that you don't even know you know yet. Like he put that shit in your DNA. It's crazy. I'm somebody's father. I'll be like, it's my son. Take him to trade shows with me when he was young because nobody's home to watch him. Come on with me. He says that he was the bobblehead in the car in the back, but when I started seeing him connect with people, I'm back up. Even at that age, I didn't know what networking was at 11 years old, but I'm just a curious kid going in these spaces, developing relationships with people at 11 years old who I still remain in contact to this day. He was a gold man to take. That was when you take a kid somewhere. Oh man. But once again, like I said, my father took me downtown to buy stuff. So when I started going to shows, I seen it on another level. I seen guys who own companies and nothing wrong with nepotism. They had their son in place or their daughter in place when they graduated college or whatever. They were like, this is yours. And I was like, that's living inheritance. They ain't waiting until you die. They put them in place. So they came in and if they had a company, all of a sudden they created another brand. And I was like, oh, you just put your son one. Yeah. And I was like, we could do the same thing. That's what you're supposed to do. A unique thing about this though is that Pops never wanted me to really be a part of the business. He's always said like, I want you to be bigger and better than anything that I've ever been. Be better to me. That's my thing. Be better. So yeah, but so like when I really kind of express interest in being a part of the tradition at the time and then eventually doing my own thing, really just ask for his blessing in that because I just know how much it means to him. And just like letting him know like, this is something that like, I'm trying to take to a whole new level. Yeah, he said you're already doing it with the collab. So what made you introduce this strong brand, you know, with all these years of experience to all these new ventures and like I said, collaborations and things of that nature. That's a big risk. Yeah, I see the brand as a way to just express my story, the HBCU story, things that just have value and substance to me. And I don't want to box that in to just, to just gear, to just, you know, fabrics and whatnot. I think there's so much, so many stories to share within the black story and the stuff that we all don't want to limit it or put into a box of just like, oh, it's just this product. So I've been a part of unique campaigns with Nike of collaborating with the NBA, WNBA. Just launched a partnership with Black Lives Matter. We're giving out $500,000 of scholarships. Get them, don't let them fuck the money up. No, they don't get it right. Give it after, fuck it, sell it. Give it after, sell it, don't. No, we, I met with them for the past few months. The real Black Lives Matter. Yeah, real BLM. Black people. Black people. Them the ones I'm worried about. Black people. All right, I don't be like, they already done stolen enough money, bro. Got to say, I look crazy. Hey, if I could vouch, one thing I have to say is, What, what they located it? What city is it? They're a little bit all over right now. See? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, I love it, man. You stupid. But Los, listen, if I was to say if I could vouch, he's very good at vetting what your purpose. Why do you come to us for the, for the HPC? We have the license. We know the value of the license, but you come to us and you want to do something with HPC community. What do you want to do? Why do you want to do it? And some of the other companies, yeah, we can link up and we can do something. And you always tell them, are you giving back? You know, so that's the important part. We're going to keep the integrity of what we're doing. Yeah. But like you just said, you have to, that's real what you just said. Because there's people on the outside saying, BLM, but it's, it's, you have to peel back. See, you give them back. No, no, you give them back. It's legit, it's legit. I wouldn't let them get involved with it. Cause at first I was like, no, I heard all, you hear the stories. Right. I could probably read something about you, but until I talk about it. They lying. They lying. Exactly. They're lying. They're lying. They're lying. I'm an avid Trump supporter. Right. That's what they say. I just agree with all the motherfuckers out of the cap. But hey, man, until you talk directly to people and shake their hand and look them in the eye. That's what I'm saying. I'm not going to text you, I'm not going to call up in there. I'm going to say that. I'm going to say that. You know, you're looking out. Don't fuck around, bro. They out here making people look real crazy. Crazy. No, but this is, this is on the up and up. And I'm, I'm proud of everything he's doing and aligning himself, himself with the, with the brand. But it's the Mr. Legacy and then this LHP. The Mr. Legacy is the part that I say you have to, it's part of branding yourself. Cause sometimes they come to him just for him and what he represents to the HBC community. And he's that face. He got that knowledge. He's that face. And I'm like, one thing we talk about in houses and you know, integrity and respect. And let's bring back them sock hats. You remember them? Yeah. And I know the person who started them. Yeah, let's fuck. Let's bring them back. All right. You remember them shit? I'm with the little ties and stripes and shit. Date yourself right now. Give a fuck. You're probably two years younger than me now. That was a fix. No, no, I got no way to be this. Nah, nah, nah. Little brain break ski goggles. Come on, man. I'm mad that them big ass chain link with the lock lock never took off. That shit was just too heavy for the average consumer. That's crazy.