# Info You Can Use: His company specializes in solar photovoltaic and signage installation.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 31 Mar 2025, 28 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/b5792840-f885-455a-b364-b28b01656e92/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Abioduni Martin. He is the founder and owner of DEW, a company specializing in solar photovoltaic and signage installation. With a strong project management and business development background, he has successfully led DEW in executing projects for clients such as the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed, Porsche Atlanta, and Emory Musculoskeletal Institute. Under his leadership, DEW has distinguished itself by offering a holistic approach to both signage and solar solutions, covering design, production, installation, and maintenance. The company holds OSHA 10 and 30 certifications and is MBE-certified, further reinforcing its commitment to safety and diversity in the industry. Beyond business, Abioduni is passionate about workforce development, particularly in training and mentoring youth in solar energy, signage, and construction-related skills. Through a collaboration with Cherry Street Energy, DEW integrates real-world industry insights into its training curriculum while providing trainees employment opportunities. His dedication to advancing renewable energy and sustainable business practices aligns with the growing need for a clean energy economy, making him a key player in the industry’s future. #STRAW #BEST #SHMS Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald, our host this weekly Money Making
[0:03] Speaker 1: Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show
[0:07] Speaker 1: provides off for everyone. It's time to start reading other
[0:10] Speaker 1: people's success stories and start living your own. If you
[0:13] Speaker 1: want to be a guest on my show, please visit
[0:16] Speaker 1: our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click the be a
[0:20] Speaker 1: Guest button to submit your information. Now let's get started.
[0:24] Speaker 1: My guest is the founder and owner of DW. We'll
[0:27] Speaker 1: find out in a minute what DW stand for, a
[0:30] Speaker 1: company specializing in promotional signage installation. With a strong background
[0:34] Speaker 1: in project management and business development, he has successfully led
[0:39] Speaker 1: DW and executing projects for clients covering design, production, installation,
[0:45] Speaker 1: and maintenance. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Abaduni Martin.
[0:51] Speaker 1: How you doing, sir?
[0:52] Speaker 2: Hey, how you doing? Thank you for welcoming on your show. Great?
[0:56] Speaker 3: Great, I'm happy to be here. So just want to
[0:59] Speaker 3: you know, or extend my appreciation.
[1:02] Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate you taking the time. I always ask
[1:04] Speaker 1: my guess when they come on the show, what are
[1:06] Speaker 1: you trying to tell my audience? What message are you
[1:09] Speaker 1: trying to deliver? As an entrepreneur? And you in the signage.
[1:13] Speaker 1: I've never had a guess on my show to dealt
[1:15] Speaker 1: with signed installation promotional signage. What are you trying to
[1:19] Speaker 1: accomplish it with this interview today?
[1:20] Speaker 3: Opportunity well, for me is to get across to people
[1:24] Speaker 3: that are in undeserved communities that look like you and I,
[1:29] Speaker 3: that may not know about the industries that I'm currently in.
[1:35] Speaker 3: So I'm in signage and solar installation, so both of
[1:40] Speaker 3: those industries we are marginalized. There's not enough representation. I
[1:48] Speaker 3: consider myself a unicorn in regards to those perspectives. So
[1:54] Speaker 3: my ideals are to you know, get the message across
[1:59] Speaker 3: that hey, you can also become a part of these industries.
[2:04] Speaker 3: I am considered myself a beacon and I train and
[2:10] Speaker 3: certify those individuals that want to come in and learn
[2:14] Speaker 3: these particular industries that I'm in, especially the youth.
[2:18] Speaker 1: Yeah, I would do. When I talk about we say
[2:20] Speaker 1: the word solar, you know, my tentacle goals up. You know,
[2:23] Speaker 1: because you you know, everybody's in electrical vehicles and solar
[2:27] Speaker 1: that so been around for a long time, you know,
[2:32] Speaker 1: talk to us about that and why is important that
[2:35] Speaker 1: you as an African American be preaching solar to our community. Well.
[2:40] Speaker 3: One being green energy is to talk of the town.
[2:45] Speaker 3: That's something that's talked about not just locally here in
[2:49] Speaker 3: the United States, but all globally. This is a global phenomenon.
[2:54] Speaker 3: We're looking for ways to gain energy and what's the
[2:59] Speaker 3: best way get it from the sun is free, free access.
[3:03] Speaker 2: It's all day.
[3:05] Speaker 3: And if you want to uh, conserve your energy, there's
[3:09] Speaker 3: battery that you can implement with your solar so you
[3:12] Speaker 3: can use solar at night as well. Especially for the
[3:18] Speaker 3: African American community. African American community, you know, we don't
[3:22] Speaker 3: know much about these tools and these resources. And for me,
[3:30] Speaker 3: I like to be able to, you know, speak to
[3:32] Speaker 3: those individuals that just hey, I'm maybe looking for solar
[3:36] Speaker 3: on my home. I specialize in the commercial fields, utility
[3:41] Speaker 3: scale on commercial, so that's my specialty. I haven't got
[3:45] Speaker 3: into the residential yet. There's something I've been considering, uh,
[3:50] Speaker 3: but yeah, just getting the messages across. There's so many
[3:53] Speaker 3: different avenues that you can take with this. With this industry,
[3:58] Speaker 3: especially if you look into work and all the business
[4:00] Speaker 3: within these industries, there's there's avenues and it's a hard
[4:05] Speaker 3: it's a hard avenue to get into, but there's opportunities
[4:08] Speaker 3: out there if you know where to look.
[4:10] Speaker 1: Absolutely, talking to Duty Martin, his company is d e W. Now,
[4:15] Speaker 1: how did you come over that name? D e W.
[4:17] Speaker 2: Well, d W.
[4:19] Speaker 3: I pride myself on excellence and do everything wonderfully is
[4:24] Speaker 3: what it stands for. And I just didn't want it
[4:27] Speaker 3: to be known as a as an energy company or
[4:30] Speaker 3: a signage company. I wanted to broaden my horizons on
[4:34] Speaker 3: what I'm capable of, and that just seems like a
[4:37] Speaker 3: fitting name and what I do. I pride myself on
[4:41] Speaker 3: doing things in a particular fashion where you know my
[4:46] Speaker 3: work stands the test of time, and anybody that comes
[4:48] Speaker 3: work for me, they know that we focus on doing
[4:53] Speaker 3: things excellently.
[4:55] Speaker 1: Cool. Now we met at the Georgia Minority Supply Development Council, Yes, sir,
[5:00] Speaker 1: and it means that you signified as a minority company.
[5:04] Speaker 2: Yes.
[5:05] Speaker 1: You hear the incoming administration screaming about d I. How
[5:13] Speaker 1: does that make you feel? Oftentime? I'm so insulted by
[5:16] Speaker 1: it because it feels like that people who are doing
[5:19] Speaker 1: work under DEI format are underqualified or being given something.
[5:25] Speaker 1: And I always tell people you don't understand how this works.
[5:28] Speaker 1: It's so much paperwork you have to fill out that
[5:30] Speaker 1: you have to be qualified to get the opportunity. So
[5:33] Speaker 1: when you hear people talking about DEI and you're part
[5:36] Speaker 1: of an organization called the Judge of Minorities, apply to
[5:40] Speaker 1: development Counsel, what are your thoughts?
[5:43] Speaker 2: So I want to.
[5:47] Speaker 3: I don't think I'm qualified to speak on d I.
[5:49] Speaker 3: I don't know much about it and how it benefited
[5:53] Speaker 3: benefits young black men in that regard, to the statistics
[5:58] Speaker 3: on that benefited at all. In that regard, even with
[6:03] Speaker 3: affirmative action, you can go back in time with all
[6:06] Speaker 3: the different name changes. With that, what I can say
[6:10] Speaker 3: is is that if you have the willwithal to go
[6:15] Speaker 3: about what you want to do in any field that
[6:19] Speaker 3: you want to do it in, there's nothing that can
[6:22] Speaker 3: keep you away or keep you out. No DEI, no
[6:26] Speaker 3: affirmative action, none of that. If you know what it
[6:31] Speaker 3: is and you have the direction to go there, the
[6:34] Speaker 3: possibilities are endless. I think on a basis of merit,
[6:40] Speaker 3: on a basis of being able to facilitate and go
[6:46] Speaker 3: after the things that you want, you can get it.
[6:49] Speaker 3: No d or I, de I is going to keep
[6:51] Speaker 3: you away from that. I'm a strong believer in that.
[6:54] Speaker 3: I'm the walking poster boy for it.
[6:58] Speaker 2: You know.
[7:00] Speaker 3: I just think you make your own way in this world,
[7:03] Speaker 3: and you you you stick with people who see your
[7:07] Speaker 3: vision in align whatever it is that you choose to do.
[7:11] Speaker 1: And you understand the power of relationships. Relationships.
[7:16] Speaker 2: That's that's important.
[7:17] Speaker 1: And I apologize in the way I phrased that question
[7:20] Speaker 1: to you of the duty because of the fact that
[7:24] Speaker 1: I guess I was it should have been like, because
[7:27] Speaker 1: you getting these opportunities, you can be insulted by the
[7:31] Speaker 1: fact that people assume that this has been given to
[7:34] Speaker 1: you because of the color of your skin and not
[7:37] Speaker 1: the work and the relationship you built. Yes, that's the
[7:41] Speaker 1: part that disappoints me. And that's not true. And you
[7:44] Speaker 1: just said, Rashan, I can't speak on this, but I
[7:47] Speaker 1: can speak on me, yes, sir, And this is based
[7:49] Speaker 1: on your work, ethic, quality, relationships I built over the
[7:55] Speaker 1: years and I deliver. Now, that is how that's my DNA.
[8:00] Speaker 1: They may be talking about d let me tell you
[8:02] Speaker 1: about my d N A okay, and we're gonna go
[8:04] Speaker 1: from there. Now, let's talk about you know, d w's
[8:07] Speaker 1: involvement and workforce development and training programs. Let's talk about that.
[8:11] Speaker 3: Man. That's excellent. So my pride and enjoy and it
[8:15] Speaker 3: goes back to me. I was adopted as a youth,
[8:20] Speaker 3: and my way of giving back to the community and
[8:23] Speaker 3: undeserved communities is being able to train individuals who don't
[8:28] Speaker 3: have any experience in the fields that I'm in. So
[8:30] Speaker 3: I take them fresh off the street, no matter what
[8:32] Speaker 3: background you come from, especially the youth. And you know,
[8:36] Speaker 3: I'm working with the INSO program through Cherry Street, who
[8:40] Speaker 3: is my partner, Cherry Street Energy. I work with them
[8:44] Speaker 3: and I hire those individuals to come on board to
[8:47] Speaker 3: work within my organization and get the skills that they
[8:51] Speaker 3: need to move up within industry. That's the that's my
[8:55] Speaker 3: claim to fame.
[8:57] Speaker 1: Let me give you a bigger claim to fame. Let
[8:59] Speaker 1: me listen. Let's let's give you your flowers. Okay, because
[9:02] Speaker 1: this is a national show. You're based in Atlanta, but hey,
[9:06] Speaker 1: in New York. You want to call him, you call him.
[9:09] Speaker 1: He can deliver LA, you can call him Philly, you
[9:11] Speaker 1: can call him. Let's start talking about your top three
[9:15] Speaker 1: clients that you're currently working with or have been working with.
[9:18] Speaker 1: Over the years, let's start with number one.
[9:20] Speaker 3: So over the years, Cherry Street Energies, my solar partners,
[9:25] Speaker 3: I've worked with Amazon, Sam's Club on the signate side
[9:30] Speaker 3: of things. I have branched out into numerous different services
[9:35] Speaker 3: that I provide on both spectrums of the industry and
[9:39] Speaker 3: currently just expanding more and more as I add more
[9:42] Speaker 3: services and add more skill sets to what we're trying
[9:46] Speaker 3: to do. I kind of liken myself to the Amazon
[9:49] Speaker 3: of the emerging trades.
[9:51] Speaker 1: Right right. And so you say green energy, green energy,
[9:55] Speaker 1: and can you explain to us, you know, here's a deal.
[10:01] Speaker 1: You're in the business of making money. You know, you're
[10:03] Speaker 1: trying to create a legacy for your family, but also
[10:06] Speaker 1: you're a person of color, and somewhere along line, you know,
[10:10] Speaker 1: it's about who you're doing business with. Yes, but you
[10:14] Speaker 1: are mentoring and mentoring is important to you. And why
[10:17] Speaker 1: is that so important? Because you did say, Rashan, Look,
[10:20] Speaker 1: I'm here trying to take the person who may not
[10:22] Speaker 1: think they can be in this field and educate them
[10:25] Speaker 1: and train them to be in this field. So why
[10:27] Speaker 1: is mentorship? You know, you mentioned that you come from
[10:29] Speaker 1: an adopted background. Is that the driving force behind who
[10:33] Speaker 1: you are.
[10:34] Speaker 3: It's definitely is because I didn't I didn't have that.
[10:37] Speaker 3: I didn't have nobody to put me under their wings
[10:40] Speaker 3: and take me and show me a different direction. I
[10:42] Speaker 3: grew up in the rough neighborhood in the Fellmore district
[10:45] Speaker 3: of San Francisco, and you know that upbringing, you know,
[10:51] Speaker 3: led me to something where you know, it was a
[10:54] Speaker 3: lot of great history there and I was like, hey,
[10:57] Speaker 3: you know, I want to I want to be able
[10:59] Speaker 3: to give back in the way. I didn't know what
[11:00] Speaker 3: I wanted to do when I went off to college.
[11:02] Speaker 3: I went to HBCU. I went to Grammar State University.
[11:05] Speaker 3: I'm a Grammar Knight graduate myself, and that, yes, sir,
[11:11] Speaker 3: I am a Grammar Knight, and you know that that
[11:15] Speaker 3: showed me a different light. It was a culture shock
[11:17] Speaker 3: for me as well, because I grew up in the
[11:18] Speaker 3: melting pot and going to an all black university and
[11:21] Speaker 3: I saw the positivity and seeing people you know coming
[11:26] Speaker 3: up that look like me doing great things. You know,
[11:28] Speaker 3: they all had the same mind state to graduate and
[11:31] Speaker 3: do bigger things within their life. You know a lot
[11:33] Speaker 3: of them first time, you know, family, first time going
[11:38] Speaker 3: to college, and that was that was a big thing
[11:40] Speaker 3: for me, and I was like, hey, this is something
[11:42] Speaker 3: I want to do.
[11:43] Speaker 2: I want to be able to get back start my
[11:44] Speaker 2: own business.
[11:45] Speaker 3: And when I decided to move to Atlanta, I seen
[11:49] Speaker 3: so many success stories, you know, young black individuals just
[11:53] Speaker 3: doing great things. And I was like, hey man, this
[11:55] Speaker 3: is my motivation, this is the claim to fame, this
[11:57] Speaker 3: is what I want to do, and I'm just giving
[12:00] Speaker 3: my part. I'm just doing my part, you know, to
[12:02] Speaker 3: uplift the communities and and give back.
[12:06] Speaker 4: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[12:09] Speaker 4: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
[12:20] Speaker 4: Conversations Master Class, hosted by Rashaan McDonald.
[12:24] Speaker 1: Now you have San Francisco Filmore District where you say
[12:28] Speaker 1: you grew up here, sir. Now Grambling University. Now you
[12:32] Speaker 1: got all you got Texas Southern. Then used to Howard,
[12:37] Speaker 1: you got Morgan, Stay, you got fam you you got
[12:40] Speaker 1: but through Cookman you got Clock Atlanta. Just to name
[12:43] Speaker 1: a fe How did you wind up in Grambling? Well,
[12:46] Speaker 1: you're the athlete.
[12:47] Speaker 3: It's crazy. I was an athlete in the high school.
[12:51] Speaker 3: It's crazy that you say that because my niece, she
[12:53] Speaker 3: went to Grambling. She was there a year before I was.
[12:57] Speaker 3: I knew nothing to black black universities that they don't
[13:00] Speaker 3: most dam the West coast, all right, So yeah, I
[13:03] Speaker 3: knew nothing. I was getting recruited to, you know, different
[13:06] Speaker 3: colleges U C, L, a USC and stuff like that,
[13:10] Speaker 3: and uh, you know, she I didn't care what college
[13:12] Speaker 3: I went to. I just didn't want to go to
[13:14] Speaker 3: a big university where nobody knew my name, where I
[13:17] Speaker 3: you know, the professor newest as a as a number
[13:19] Speaker 3: instead of a name. And she told me to come
[13:21] Speaker 3: out there to Gramblin. I was like, okay, let me
[13:24] Speaker 3: talk about ever since then. It was it was it
[13:27] Speaker 3: was it was golden Man graduated back in five and
[13:32] Speaker 3: uh you know it was story she wrote right there.
[13:36] Speaker 2: You know, great time.
[13:38] Speaker 1: Now let's let's talk about transitioning because because like I said,
[13:42] Speaker 1: I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and I
[13:44] Speaker 1: went to New York and I went to l A.
[13:46] Speaker 1: And you know, it's these relationships, you know, because you
[13:49] Speaker 1: coming in and did you come to Atlanta with this
[13:53] Speaker 1: vision or how was your because you have a company
[13:57] Speaker 1: in a D e W partnership with ship SHARE's treat energy,
[14:01] Speaker 1: how did you get here, what enable what let's let's
[14:04] Speaker 1: let's talk about the building blocks to get to this
[14:06] Speaker 1: moment for this Geman oh Man.
[14:09] Speaker 3: So, actually, after I graduated from college, I went back
[14:13] Speaker 3: to California. I was living in Berkeley. I was married
[14:15] Speaker 3: at the time, and I was in the real estate
[14:18] Speaker 3: market around that time. And you know, around two thousand
[14:21] Speaker 3: and eight, that's when the bubble burst, I lost a
[14:24] Speaker 3: lot of money.
[14:25] Speaker 2: It's a lot of money. I was a young cat.
[14:27] Speaker 3: I was what twenty four twenty five when I graduated,
[14:30] Speaker 3: had my first chat at twenty six, and you know,
[14:33] Speaker 3: I was making good money. And you know, when you
[14:35] Speaker 3: lose that money, you lose the woman too. So yeah,
[14:42] Speaker 3: I had to make the transition and I moved out
[14:46] Speaker 3: here to Atlanta back in twenty ten, and I was
[14:50] Speaker 3: selling cars at the time. When I first moved out
[14:52] Speaker 3: here and decided decided to get into business, I was
[14:57] Speaker 3: at the time selling these devices ca the Strawberry lasers
[15:02] Speaker 3: and medical devices, and I was the number one seller
[15:06] Speaker 3: at that time selling those devices. I brought the state
[15:10] Speaker 3: of Georgia because at that time, you comby states where
[15:13] Speaker 3: you can run and be a distributor within the state.
[15:16] Speaker 3: I did that for some time. Opened up my shop
[15:19] Speaker 3: back in twenty fifteen on the sign of shop where
[15:23] Speaker 3: I was wrapping cars. That's how I started in Douglasville, Georgia,
[15:28] Speaker 3: and just kind of matriculated and expanded.
[15:30] Speaker 1: Did you say you were wrapping cars advanced and things
[15:33] Speaker 1: like that cars?
[15:33] Speaker 2: Yes, yes, that's how it started.
[15:35] Speaker 3: And then I started just growing bigger and bigger with
[15:38] Speaker 3: different services. People say, hey, can you do signage, can
[15:42] Speaker 3: you do billboards? Can you do your personality?
[15:45] Speaker 1: Yes?
[15:47] Speaker 2: Yes, I.
[15:50] Speaker 3: Didn't know how to do it, but I figured it
[15:52] Speaker 3: out and they loved it absolutely. You know, I wasn't
[15:55] Speaker 3: turning anything down, and you know, my name just got
[15:59] Speaker 3: you know, expanded, and it grew from there. And now
[16:02] Speaker 3: I started working with corporations and started traveling the world.
[16:07] Speaker 1: Let's let's hold that thought right there, but do the
[16:10] Speaker 1: because I wanted to talk about that's the steps where
[16:12] Speaker 1: people kind of stumbled, you know, you know, because you
[16:16] Speaker 1: know that's when you start to get you know, you
[16:18] Speaker 1: have a great idea and then you have to start
[16:20] Speaker 1: putting principles in place so you can for longevity. And
[16:23] Speaker 1: we're talking about business plan. We talked about budgets. We're
[16:26] Speaker 1: talking a We're gonna talk about funding in a minute,
[16:29] Speaker 1: but let's talk about that part, you know, because that's
[16:33] Speaker 1: when the dowters start creeping in. Oh man, when you
[16:36] Speaker 1: start saying I'm gonna do this, they go, You've never
[16:39] Speaker 1: done that before. Let's talk about those steps before we
[16:41] Speaker 1: go in the further.
[16:42] Speaker 3: Yeah, so let's let's go back to how I actually started. So,
[16:46] Speaker 3: I had a business partner. I was working for another
[16:48] Speaker 3: company called it was a wire company out Carton. I
[16:55] Speaker 3: can't think of the name right now. It's not to
[16:56] Speaker 3: tip my tongue, but we're gonna for the sake of
[16:58] Speaker 3: the story. I met this guy who knew everything about
[17:02] Speaker 3: car wrapping. He was just show me these videos on YouTube.
[17:06] Speaker 3: He was just obsessed with showing me these videos of
[17:08] Speaker 3: car wraps and it looks like a paint job, but
[17:11] Speaker 3: it just looks more more shinier for whatever. He said, No,
[17:15] Speaker 3: just a rap, I said a rap. They got on
[17:17] Speaker 3: like a sticker or something, and I was like, hey,
[17:20] Speaker 3: you know, over time, I was like, let's just go
[17:22] Speaker 3: in the business together. I funded, you know, and everything
[17:26] Speaker 3: I said I funded. Let's take a year and we
[17:28] Speaker 3: just do it in my garage at my house at
[17:31] Speaker 3: the time, and we were just practiced. We didn't know
[17:33] Speaker 3: no better was We sucked at it. But it took
[17:36] Speaker 3: a year for us to get it right. And we
[17:38] Speaker 3: finally opened up the shop, and you know, like I said,
[17:42] Speaker 3: we had a rough patch. It wasn't it wasn't easy going.
[17:46] Speaker 3: I told him to focus on the physical part of it.
[17:48] Speaker 3: I focused on the business part, and yeah, things was
[17:52] Speaker 3: going some much good.
[17:53] Speaker 2: You know.
[17:54] Speaker 3: After a year or so, you know, I lost my
[17:57] Speaker 3: business partner. He ended up dropping out and I had
[17:59] Speaker 3: to learn the business. I had to learn the business
[18:01] Speaker 3: and the skill sets it took to actually do the work.
[18:06] Speaker 3: And I was solo, you know for a good three
[18:09] Speaker 3: four five years, just learning everything and doing it.
[18:13] Speaker 2: And it was hard. Man.
[18:15] Speaker 3: I went through another divorce, you know, because I put
[18:19] Speaker 3: everything into this business. I was like, hey, I can't
[18:21] Speaker 3: give it up. I put my last set in this thing,
[18:24] Speaker 3: you know, and you know, taking that chance on myself
[18:28] Speaker 3: and going with it and having that faith in the
[18:31] Speaker 3: most high because.
[18:32] Speaker 2: Nothing was telling me to quit.
[18:34] Speaker 3: I have, I have my thoughts one, but it wasn't
[18:37] Speaker 3: nothing that was telling me to give it all up.
[18:40] Speaker 2: And I kept going.
[18:42] Speaker 1: Man.
[18:42] Speaker 3: And the network I always tell people your network is
[18:46] Speaker 3: your net worth. Your network is your net worth.
[18:49] Speaker 2: You know.
[18:51] Speaker 3: You know my mom put that in me. You know,
[18:52] Speaker 3: people from every walk of life have something to offer.
[18:56] Speaker 3: You know, you just got to introduce yourself. And that
[19:00] Speaker 3: stick with me to this day. God wish your soul.
[19:03] Speaker 3: And I always pride myself on meeting people. You know,
[19:06] Speaker 3: I'm outgoing and I let myself be known that hey,
[19:09] Speaker 3: I'm here and I have something to offer.
[19:12] Speaker 1: Well, you know, having a smile like lou God said, JR.
[19:14] Speaker 1: Don't hurt.
[19:18] Speaker 2: I don't hurt.
[19:19] Speaker 1: You know, you use that a lot with the ladies.
[19:22] Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying, I show these parly wise.
[19:26] Speaker 1: And that right, bro. Let's talk about some of the
[19:30] Speaker 1: key factors the d double considers with selecting projects or clients.
[19:35] Speaker 3: Yes, sir, so what I consider is, you know, for me,
[19:38] Speaker 3: is can I can I be of service to you?
[19:42] Speaker 1: What?
[19:42] Speaker 3: What?
[19:42] Speaker 2: What? What?
[19:43] Speaker 3: Things that you aren't able to do that I can
[19:46] Speaker 3: do for you? And that's how I bridge that gap
[19:49] Speaker 3: with any partnerships that I make, any any clients that
[19:54] Speaker 3: I do business with, is how can I help you
[19:57] Speaker 3: do what you do better or take some of the
[19:59] Speaker 3: weight off of you? So you know, when people think,
[20:02] Speaker 3: what are you? Who are your competitors? I do business
[20:04] Speaker 3: with my competitors. I feel like I don't have any
[20:07] Speaker 3: competitors because I figured out what my competitors don't do
[20:10] Speaker 3: well and I offer that service. Okay, so yes, a
[20:13] Speaker 3: collaboration it is. It's a strategic capital collaboration.
[20:16] Speaker 1: That's interesting because usually people don't want to collaborate with
[20:18] Speaker 1: their competitors. The competitors gonna take their secrets. So how
[20:22] Speaker 1: are you working that out? Now? Oh?
[20:23] Speaker 2: Man?
[20:23] Speaker 3: Say I have a special set of skills, you know,
[20:27] Speaker 3: I have a special set of skills where like I said,
[20:29] Speaker 3: I take the I take the brunt of whatever they
[20:35] Speaker 3: got going on that they want to do. Because sometimes
[20:37] Speaker 3: we would like to believe as owners we can do
[20:39] Speaker 3: it all. Right, we can't do it all. I like
[20:42] Speaker 3: to collaborate. I like to collaborate with my competitors, you know,
[20:45] Speaker 3: because like I said, I can't do it all. I
[20:47] Speaker 3: may have a big project that personally I just can't
[20:50] Speaker 3: do it all. But I've been on this project that's
[20:53] Speaker 3: one hundred or six hundred thousand dollars and hey, I
[20:56] Speaker 3: outsourced this, Hey can you do this?
[20:58] Speaker 2: Give me a whole sale price?
[20:59] Speaker 3: That you can do it at and I retell it
[21:02] Speaker 3: to my clients and so on and so forth, and
[21:04] Speaker 3: where we we just work together.
[21:06] Speaker 1: So it's really interesting you saying that because I've never
[21:10] Speaker 1: you know, in a since. I do collaborate in a
[21:14] Speaker 1: sense because I'm a vendor. People bring me on board
[21:17] Speaker 1: as partners to they can't do like you said, they
[21:21] Speaker 1: can't do graphics. I do graphics. You know, they can
[21:23] Speaker 1: do website. I do websites and so but to say
[21:26] Speaker 1: the word collaboration with competitors, that's even more of a
[21:30] Speaker 1: profound statement to say to you. But also you have
[21:33] Speaker 1: to be very very confident in your brand.
[21:36] Speaker 3: Oh yes, oh yes, oh yeah, because I separate myself
[21:40] Speaker 3: from from from everybody else. Like I said my claim
[21:43] Speaker 3: to fame. I'm an installation company, right, so I don't
[21:48] Speaker 3: do what my competitors do, and then I do multiple
[21:51] Speaker 3: services that my competitors don't do. I am a solar
[21:55] Speaker 3: and signage installation company right now, right, That's what I do.
[21:59] Speaker 3: But I focus on emerging trades. My competitors don't do that,
[22:04] Speaker 3: and how I do things, they don't do it the
[22:06] Speaker 3: way I do it.
[22:08] Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll speak with the confidence that you do now
[22:11] Speaker 1: in doing business and organization that collaboration. Again, let's talk
[22:15] Speaker 1: about Street strategic partners and also the possibility of dealing
[22:19] Speaker 1: with upcoming investors because you're about expanding your business because
[22:23] Speaker 1: you started, like you said, Rishon, look, I came out
[22:27] Speaker 1: of my pocket in my garage. I had a vision.
[22:31] Speaker 1: My partner dumped me. Then I had to learn what
[22:34] Speaker 1: he was doing as well as the administrative's side. So
[22:37] Speaker 1: now how do you protect yourself and how do you
[22:41] Speaker 1: move forward with creating strategic partnerships.
[22:44] Speaker 2: Man, that's an excellent question.
[22:46] Speaker 3: So for me is I'm a great networker and what
[22:52] Speaker 3: I have been able to do is I walk into
[22:56] Speaker 3: companies that I have done business with where they called
[22:58] Speaker 3: me to do signage work for them, and I figure out, Hey,
[23:02] Speaker 3: what do they do that I can do more of
[23:07] Speaker 3: for them? Or you know, figure out how we can
[23:11] Speaker 3: have some type of senergy where we can work together.
[23:14] Speaker 3: That's how I met Cherry Street Cherry Street Energy. I
[23:18] Speaker 3: met the owner. He called me on on a weekend
[23:22] Speaker 3: to do some signage work for him. And the owner
[23:25] Speaker 3: we had a great conversation. His name is Michael Shannon.
[23:27] Speaker 3: We had a great conversation about what he does. I said, okay,
[23:31] Speaker 3: you're going to be like the premier's solar energy company
[23:35] Speaker 3: for Georgia. I was like, how can I be a
[23:38] Speaker 3: part of that? And he was like, well, I'm starting
[23:40] Speaker 3: a program called the shine On program. I say, look,
[23:43] Speaker 3: I want to be a part of that. It took
[23:46] Speaker 3: me about almost a year for him to actually put
[23:48] Speaker 3: me on put me on the shine On program. But
[23:51] Speaker 3: every since it's been a great, great partnership. And you
[23:55] Speaker 3: know I do I'll do extensive amount of work for
[23:58] Speaker 3: him and my crew and we're currently expanding the business
[24:02] Speaker 3: on the solar side of things, and the relationship is great.
[24:08] Speaker 3: Like I said, I'm helping him in the scenario where hey,
[24:11] Speaker 3: the workforce is what isn't demand, you know, where they
[24:15] Speaker 3: can just focus on that administrative of getting the contracts
[24:18] Speaker 3: and you know, all the red tape stuff out the way.
[24:22] Speaker 1: But let's let's talk about you. Let's give you more flowers.
[24:26] Speaker 1: I've heard mentorship, I've heard giving people opportunities. I've heard
[24:31] Speaker 1: about are you not afraid to collaborate with your competition? Yes,
[24:36] Speaker 1: a lot of people have never heard that. They don't
[24:38] Speaker 1: understand that. And again as understanding the plan, but Also,
[24:43] Speaker 1: there's a certain honesty about you that you go, can
[24:47] Speaker 1: I be a part of it? This is my strength.
[24:49] Speaker 1: See a lot of people don't want to say that
[24:51] Speaker 1: because a lot of people, like you said, want to
[24:52] Speaker 1: be three sixty. Yeah, they want to do it all
[24:55] Speaker 1: instead of going there. You know, hey, bro, I drive
[24:58] Speaker 1: the best jump truck in the city. That's all I do.
[25:01] Speaker 1: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna shit back there and
[25:03] Speaker 1: lay the concrete, but I drive it. And that's basically
[25:06] Speaker 1: what you're saying in the Solar and promotional signage. You
[25:10] Speaker 1: do the development, you installation, and the maintenance. Talk about
[25:14] Speaker 1: the maintenance side there before we wrap up.
[25:16] Speaker 3: Okay, Well, the maintenance on both sides is basically, Hey,
[25:20] Speaker 3: once I do installation and everything, I warrantee everything. So hey,
[25:25] Speaker 3: if there's a scratch or a crack or anything like that,
[25:29] Speaker 3: well then we come in and we basically we fix
[25:33] Speaker 3: the situation for you. You know, there's there's nothing that
[25:36] Speaker 3: you have to do as a client. You don't have
[25:38] Speaker 3: to repurchase anything, you don't have to do anything. We
[25:40] Speaker 3: come in and make sure that you're good.
[25:44] Speaker 4: Right.
[25:45] Speaker 1: Let me let me just ask you about solar because
[25:47] Speaker 1: I because the curiosity of solar energy. The Sun is
[25:51] Speaker 1: there endlessly. You know what you know, And I'm not
[25:56] Speaker 1: saying this is a bad thing to know, but I'm
[25:58] Speaker 1: trying to get my fan base. Not so much my
[26:00] Speaker 1: fan base, but my relstnership excited about looking into solar
[26:05] Speaker 1: What are the advantages of solar energy and some of
[26:08] Speaker 1: the things that a person like you can help them
[26:11] Speaker 1: out if they contact you.
[26:13] Speaker 3: Well, the advantages of solar energy if you on the
[26:17] Speaker 3: business side of things, utility scale or just commercial where
[26:23] Speaker 3: I have a great partnership where hey, we come in
[26:26] Speaker 3: if it's a big enough scale of what we do.
[26:29] Speaker 3: You don't pay for the solar panels, you don't pay
[26:32] Speaker 3: for the installation. All we do is try to figure
[26:35] Speaker 3: out ways to save you money on your electric bill.
[26:37] Speaker 3: And when that bill comes out, you pay a portion
[26:40] Speaker 3: of whatever that bill is to the solar company that
[26:43] Speaker 3: install that service for you for free.
[26:47] Speaker 2: So there's no.
[26:48] Speaker 3: Overhead for you other than you paying a monthly bill
[26:52] Speaker 3: like you is to pay PGN or Georgia Power, whatever
[26:55] Speaker 3: the case may be.
[26:56] Speaker 1: Right, Well, my brother, how can they get in judge
[26:58] Speaker 1: with you?
[27:00] Speaker 3: Contact me at seven seven zero seven two six zero
[27:03] Speaker 3: one seven one, or you can go to my website
[27:06] Speaker 3: www dot d W dot com dot co. My email
[27:12] Speaker 3: is info at d W dot com dot co.
[27:18] Speaker 1: My brother, it was enjoyment. I'm telling you something.
[27:21] Speaker 2: You know.
[27:22] Speaker 1: I interview a lot of people and you're definitely a
[27:25] Speaker 1: personality driven company and you understand that and you value that.
[27:29] Speaker 1: But the one point you value relationships, but but hard
[27:33] Speaker 1: work you're not afraid of. Brother, Listen, listen.
[27:37] Speaker 3: I tell people you could either be an.
[27:41] Speaker 2: Action hero or action figure, a superhero. I'm to be
[27:46] Speaker 2: an action figure.
[27:47] Speaker 1: I love it.
[27:48] Speaker 2: Brother.
[27:48] Speaker 1: Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversations. Thank you fantastic.
[27:52] Speaker 1: I appreciate you.
[27:52] Speaker 2: Thank you.
[27:53] Speaker 1: This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
[27:56] Speaker 1: posted by me Rashawn McDonald. Thank you to our guess
[27:59] Speaker 1: on show today and thank you for listening to the
[28:02] Speaker 1: audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
[28:04] Speaker 1: I want to be a guest on the show, visit
[28:07] Speaker 1: Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
[28:12] Speaker 1: Join us next week and remember to always leave with
[28:14] Speaker 1: your gifts. Keep winning.

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