# Entrepreneur: Shark Tank winner and multi-million-dollar Sea Moss entrepreneur Alexiou Gibson overcame 500 lbs. weight gain.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 14 Jun 2024, 28 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/967863a4-b972-4649-a2db-b18900022091/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 Alexiou Gibson. He grew his Sea Moss Business From Zero to Multi Millions in Less Than a Year. Black-Owned Sea Moss Brand Secured $600K 'Shark Tank' Deal With Kevin Hart and Mark Cuban. The Transformation Factory (TTF) is the passion of founder Alexiou Gibson. In his current role as CEO and President, he leads the company as a continuation of his own transformation from one seeking answers, to one providing answers. TTF is the culmination of his more than 10 years of battling health issues. He has used every disappointment, achievement, heartbreak, success, and learning moment to create the concept of TTF as a resource and inspiration for those trying to become their best selves. The TTF website will become is depository of information, tools, support communities and products. These are things that Alexiou feels would have helped him a great deal when he started his “Alexiou 2.0” journey. The good news is that “Alexiou 2.0” has culminated into The Transformation Factory – a place that will give everyone the tools they need to succeed on their own journeys. 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

[0:05] Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.
[0:06] Speaker 2: I am Rashawn McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
[0:10] Speaker 2: where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success
[0:13] Speaker 2: stories and start planning their own. Listen up as I
[0:17] Speaker 2: interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities and
[0:21] Speaker 2: ask them how they are running their companies and speak
[0:23] Speaker 2: with nonprofits who are making a difference.
[0:26] Speaker 1: In their local communities.
[0:27] Speaker 2: Now sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets
[0:30] Speaker 2: to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Hi, I'm
[0:35] Speaker 2: Rashawn McDowell. I host the weekly Money Making Conversations Masterclass show.
[0:39] Speaker 2: The interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone.
[0:43] Speaker 2: It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and.
[0:46] Speaker 1: Start living your own.
[0:47] Speaker 2: My guest is the founder of the Universal Circus, an
[0:52] Speaker 2: African-American man who had a vision of creating a circus
[0:55] Speaker 2: with a large percentage of people of color performing. It's
[0:58] Speaker 2: based in Atlanta, Georgia. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass, Mr.
[1:03] Speaker 1: Cedric Walker. How you doing, Cedric? Hey, Sean. How are you?
[1:07] Speaker 1: And thank you a lot for this opportunity.
[1:10] Speaker 2: You know, it's great, first of all, taking the time
[1:12] Speaker 2: to come on the show. I know you're traveling around
[1:14] Speaker 2: the world and around the country of the United States.
[1:17] Speaker 2: What city are you in right now?
[1:19] Speaker 1: That's in New Orleans, Louisiana. Wow.
[1:23] Speaker 2: That's good Cajun food. Good food down there that everybody
[1:26] Speaker 2: wants to eat. Now, You know, you're a traveling man,
[1:30] Speaker 2: and I traveled a lot. When I was 94, I
[1:32] Speaker 2: wanted to be a stand-up comedian. I want to tell
[1:34] Speaker 2: you something. I thought I was going to be the
[1:35] Speaker 2: next Richard Pryor. I thought I was going to be
[1:38] Speaker 2: the next Eddie Murphy. Now, in 1994, you had an
[1:43] Speaker 2: idea about a circus. How can that happen? Please help
[1:49] Speaker 2: explain it to my audience, because it sounds incredible to me,
[1:52] Speaker 2: a vision will come to you like that.
[1:54] Speaker 1: Yes. So we were doing gospel plays. We actually had
[1:58] Speaker 1: a play. I was working on a play called Wicked
[2:01] Speaker 1: Ways with Michael Matthews out of Detroit. And Wicked Ways
[2:06] Speaker 1: was about a lot of the challenges that our community faces.
[2:10] Speaker 1: It dealt with kids growing up in the inner city
[2:16] Speaker 1: and getting into gangs. It dealt with fathers raising step-sons
[2:21] Speaker 1: as teenagers. It dealt with professional wives and mechanic husbands.
[2:26] Speaker 1: It just dealt with a lot of the challenges that
[2:30] Speaker 1: our community faces.
[2:31] Speaker 2: And I saw kids in the theater.
[2:35] Speaker 1: I saw whole families. And it looked like I was
[2:38] Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh at the Benidorm Theater. And it looked like
[2:42] Speaker 1: I saw a father, mother, granddaughter, grandchild. And I asked
[2:46] Speaker 1: the playwright, I said, man, this is a gospel play.
[2:49] Speaker 1: I know it's clean. I asked Mike and he said,
[2:52] Speaker 1: it's because theater is the oldest form of entertainment. And
[2:58] Speaker 1: went all the way back to be or not to be.
[3:01] Speaker 1: You could look on that stage on the Shakespearean plays
[3:05] Speaker 1: and see yourself. And our community is getting a chance
[3:09] Speaker 1: to look at itself through these plays. So that triggered
[3:12] Speaker 1: the idea to create something that, because we were very,
[3:17] Speaker 1: our entertainment was, it was comedy, it was R & B,
[3:22] Speaker 1: it was jazz, it was you know, hip hop. Right.
[3:27] Speaker 1: It was dance. It was kind of a mixed bag
[3:30] Speaker 1: of everything. And I said, how do we, I got
[3:34] Speaker 1: my team and I said, how do we create something
[3:37] Speaker 1: that touches everybody? So I went to the library and
[3:42] Speaker 1: every day, I worked, I worked, made part of my
[3:47] Speaker 1: job reading about black entertainment from the turn of the century.
[3:52] Speaker 1: And what I found was we train animals in the
[3:57] Speaker 1: five billion days. Black people train horses and dogs. And
[4:02] Speaker 1: so I shared that with my team. And the idea
[4:06] Speaker 1: was from that, the circus germinated. But it was all
[4:10] Speaker 1: about having something for every generation of our family, something
[4:16] Speaker 1: where father, mother, daughter, granddaughter, and grandson could all sit
[4:21] Speaker 1: on the same bench and enjoy each other enjoying the show.
[4:26] Speaker 1: So that's what started.
[4:28] Speaker 2: You know, when I went there, because I know Michael,
[4:31] Speaker 2: Michael Matthews, a great guy, and one of my many
[4:35] Speaker 2: days of being on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, we
[4:37] Speaker 2: promoted a lot of his plays. We probably popped heads
[4:39] Speaker 2: a couple of times in a good way. And so
[4:41] Speaker 2: when I talk about the circus, you know, you did
[4:45] Speaker 2: all this research, but it was some naysayers.
[4:47] Speaker 1: Out there, right? Oh, man, my investors all ran. Prominent,
[4:54] Speaker 1: both black and white. I had fun with some of
[4:57] Speaker 1: the guys, and they all just said, man, you are crazy.
[5:01] Speaker 1: Black people will not go to a circus.
[5:03] Speaker 2: Wow.
[5:04] Speaker 1: You know, that was just nobody believed it. So, you know,
[5:10] Speaker 1: I did. I felt it. I don't know where and what,
[5:15] Speaker 1: but I stayed the course. But it was challenging.
[5:20] Speaker 2: Because we get stereotyped. You know, we get stereotyped on technology.
[5:24] Speaker 2: We get stereotyped on the type of entertainment or movies
[5:26] Speaker 2: that we want to see. And also that means the
[5:29] Speaker 2: world can stereotype us. So I commend you in pushing
[5:32] Speaker 2: back and say, look, I feel that within my gut
[5:35] Speaker 2: and my research, this could work. And then 30 years later,
[5:38] Speaker 2: because you're celebrating your 30th year. a Universal service. So
[5:43] Speaker 2: I don't know if I'm going to do Don Cornelius'
[5:45] Speaker 2: version or we'll go with the Richard version, but either way,
[5:49] Speaker 2: it got a lot of soul in it, brother. And
[5:51] Speaker 2: so the name, I'm sure you had research when you
[5:54] Speaker 2: did name as well, correct?
[5:55] Speaker 1: Universal. Yeah, yeah. The original name was Universal. I was
[6:00] Speaker 1: back and forth with my team on Universal. I wanted
[6:04] Speaker 1: Universal from the beginning. So when we got to L.A.,
[6:09] Speaker 1: Universal Studios sent us a cease and desist on Universal
[6:14] Speaker 1: Big Top Circus. So we asked them back, well, we
[6:19] Speaker 1: want to use Universal, which was my original idea to use.
[6:26] Speaker 1: And they said, oh, absolutely. Here we are.
[6:31] Speaker 2: And so you look around at the staff going, told you,
[6:34] Speaker 2: told you. Now you got to be out here. Looking
[6:36] Speaker 2: bad because you're going to follow my original idea.
[6:38] Speaker 1: We wouldn't even be here. Now, this is the good
[6:42] Speaker 1: part of it, you know, because we jumped a little bit.
[6:44] Speaker 1: We had the idea. We got the name. But you
[6:47] Speaker 1: were traveling.
[6:48] Speaker 2: You had the naysayers about the whole concept, Cedric. And
[6:54] Speaker 2: how did you get the axe originally? How did you
[6:57] Speaker 2: start putting the circus together?
[6:59] Speaker 1: Well, we, you know, when I wanted to do circus
[7:03] Speaker 1: and part of my research was, that, you know, circus
[7:08] Speaker 1: entrepreneurs traveled the world. And I couldn't wait to travel
[7:11] Speaker 1: the world. It was going to be a great experience,
[7:15] Speaker 1: but that's what it took to do circus. But I
[7:17] Speaker 1: do want to say that we started in 1994 in Atlanta.
[7:23] Speaker 1: And initially it was an effort to, the initial concept
[7:27] Speaker 1: and vision for it was to uplift and celebrate the
[7:31] Speaker 1: positive achievements and cultural contributions of African Americans through a
[7:36] Speaker 1: family attraction. And so that was the, you know, the
[7:42] Speaker 1: impetus for what people are seeing. And that still remains
[7:46] Speaker 1: in the show, what you saw. It's that feeling that
[7:49] Speaker 1: they get once they come under that big time. It's
[7:53] Speaker 1: that soul that we put in it that differentiates us. But, yeah,
[7:58] Speaker 1: I went around the world, and it was challenging to
[8:02] Speaker 1: look for talent, but I saw it. Now, I said,
[8:06] Speaker 1: you know, our audience, you know, we can't just give
[8:09] Speaker 1: them bland food now. I got to have that spice,
[8:11] Speaker 1: that salt and pepper. I can't. I got to bring
[8:14] Speaker 1: it real. Right. You know black people. You know black people.
[8:19] Speaker 1: I can't have a clothesline for a high wire or
[8:22] Speaker 1: a match, you know. So, no, I went around the
[8:28] Speaker 1: world and just looked. And it was amazing how many
[8:34] Speaker 1: Black circus performers were doing phenomenal things that were out there.
[8:40] Speaker 1: A lot of them in Europe. And right here in America,
[8:44] Speaker 1: the King Charles Troupe playing basketball on unicycles. Just stuff
[8:50] Speaker 1: that came out of the hood. Came out and basketball
[8:53] Speaker 1: on unicycles. was the only thing, we were the only
[8:57] Speaker 1: ones that did that. So you had so many original,
[9:00] Speaker 1: there was a girl named Pamela, Pamela Hernandez. Pamela was
[9:07] Speaker 1: an African-American from L.A., but she was one of the
[9:11] Speaker 1: most respected airless. She was on Ringling Brothers, but she'd
[9:16] Speaker 1: be in those arenas, about 30, 40 feet in the
[9:20] Speaker 1: air doing tricks, no net under her. her and her partner. And,
[9:25] Speaker 1: and when, when, when I started listing the name, the
[9:30] Speaker 1: acts that I wanted to bring, the rest, then they
[9:33] Speaker 1: were black and the rest of the industry, the whites,
[9:36] Speaker 1: the Europeans, anybody in the industry knew and respected these
[9:42] Speaker 1: black artists to the heights. And the Mel is going
[9:45] Speaker 1: to be there. I'm going to be there. King Charles
[9:48] Speaker 1: is going to be there. I'm going to be there.
[9:50] Speaker 2: Wow.
[9:51] Speaker 1: So it was amazing. the quality of black entertainment even
[9:58] Speaker 1: back then in circus art.
[10:00] Speaker 2: We know it's really important as we tell this story,
[10:02] Speaker 2: and thank you for allowing me to ask these questions
[10:04] Speaker 2: because I think the origin story of Universal is important
[10:08] Speaker 2: as what's happening now. Because in my life, I first
[10:12] Speaker 2: was introduced to your circus in 2005. I was managing
[10:16] Speaker 2: Steve Harvey. and we was on WBLS in New York City.
[10:20] Speaker 2: And that circus, when I went into it the first time,
[10:23] Speaker 2: I didn't know what to think. I went in there
[10:26] Speaker 2: with curiosity, but I walked away inspired because it was
[10:31] Speaker 2: a circus by us, for us. That was the first
[10:34] Speaker 2: thing that really pushed me to positivity. And so I'm
[10:41] Speaker 2: sure over the years, there have been different versions of
[10:44] Speaker 2: the circus as you go. Because the circus I saw,
[10:47] Speaker 2: In 2005, I had an elephant. And the circus I
[10:51] Speaker 2: saw this past weekend recently didn't have an elephant or
[10:54] Speaker 2: any animals at the time. I think it was a lion, too,
[10:57] Speaker 2: that I saw at the time, too. So talk about
[10:59] Speaker 2: the transition and the vision of the circus over the years.
[11:04] Speaker 1: So, you know, just like Michael Jordan said, you have
[11:07] Speaker 1: to keep your eye on where the ball is going,
[11:09] Speaker 1: not where the ball is. We try to, and entertainment
[11:15] Speaker 1: is a form, is an art form that moves society forward.
[11:21] Speaker 1: So we try to inspire that new direction and wherever
[11:26] Speaker 1: it takes us. And it's kind of organic. It's just
[11:29] Speaker 1: a platform for young people to express new ideas, to
[11:35] Speaker 1: do their artistry. So, I mean, we've got a, it
[11:39] Speaker 1: was challenging with, well, you know, to even think about
[11:44] Speaker 1: or dare to venture into the show without the animals,
[11:48] Speaker 1: but we realized how the laws were changing, you know,
[11:53] Speaker 1: people were changing, and we no longer could carry the
[11:58] Speaker 1: animals from state to state. Some states could, some states wouldn't.
[12:02] Speaker 1: But what we found out is that our cultural artistry,
[12:10] Speaker 1: our who we are and how much fun we can have.
[12:14] Speaker 1: And the family unit where we're all grandmother, again, grandmother, father, daughter,
[12:22] Speaker 1: and son are all enjoying each other, enjoying the show.
[12:27] Speaker 1: We laid into that. How do we be authentically us
[12:31] Speaker 1: in a performance that is for everybody at the same
[12:34] Speaker 1: time and shares our culture? So a lot of the
[12:39] Speaker 1: Afro beach music, a lot of the music you've heard
[12:42] Speaker 1: on the show is kind of new ending music. A
[12:44] Speaker 1: lot of new dance styles that American hip hop has
[12:48] Speaker 1: inspired around the world, whether they inspired it in China
[12:52] Speaker 1: or Africa, it came from our streets, came from America
[12:57] Speaker 1: and it inspired the world. And so we've, we've incorporated
[13:01] Speaker 1: a lot of that inspiration. But just the, the, that,
[13:06] Speaker 1: Non-stop energy that is germane to our culture and our celebration.
[13:13] Speaker 1: It's sort of like a family reunion under the big top.
[13:16] Speaker 1: So we just leaned into our story and we continue
[13:20] Speaker 1: to do that as it evolves.
[13:22] Speaker 2: I was thinking of Cedric Walker, the founder of Universal Circus,
[13:27] Speaker 2: an inspirational voice in our community because he had a vision.
[13:30] Speaker 1: A vision he wouldn't.
[13:31] Speaker 2: Allow other people to deny. He did his research. He
[13:34] Speaker 2: walked past the naysayer, and 30 years later, he's celebrating
[13:37] Speaker 2: the vision that we all can be entertained by because
[13:40] Speaker 2: the audience I saw was very diverse. And not by
[13:45] Speaker 2: accident because I saw it in the area of Atlanta, Georgia,
[13:48] Speaker 2: which is the Atlantic Station, which is a mixed race,
[13:53] Speaker 2: very up-up-ly mobile area of Atlanta, Georgia. And the audience,
[13:58] Speaker 2: not only that, I knew it was mixed race.
[14:00] Speaker 1: Because friends of mine, they went to the show.
[14:02] Speaker 2: Before me and went, wow, I didn't expect it to
[14:06] Speaker 2: be that diverse. Is that the goal now or it
[14:09] Speaker 2: just happens?
[14:11] Speaker 3: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[14:14] Speaker 3: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
[14:22] Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashawn McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[14:28] Speaker 3: continues online at moneymakingconversations.com and follow Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[14:34] Speaker 3: on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
[14:36] Speaker 1: Our goal is to stay authentically black, period. And how
[14:41] Speaker 1: do we do that? That is what transcends culture globally,
[14:47] Speaker 1: being authentically who you are. So, you know, we don't
[14:52] Speaker 1: have a direction, again, except for the origin of our
[14:58] Speaker 1: show to uplift and celebrate the positive achievements and cultural
[15:04] Speaker 1: contributions of African-Americans to family entertainment. So, you know, we're
[15:10] Speaker 1: not going after any specific audience. Right. We're going after
[15:14] Speaker 1: the world. Awesome.
[15:17] Speaker 2: Thank you for saying that. Now, let's talk about these acts.
[15:20] Speaker 2: The bottom line is the acts. Now, this Chinese trapeze
[15:25] Speaker 2: act that you got dazzled my daughter. You know, she's a,
[15:30] Speaker 2: I'm going to be honest with you, she's one of
[15:31] Speaker 2: those people who came in there with doubts, Cedric, because
[15:34] Speaker 2: she's a Cirque du Soleil. You know, she picked Cirque
[15:37] Speaker 2: du Soleil. She said, Dad, are you sure?
[15:40] Speaker 1: I said, hey, these are my people now. My boy Cedric,
[15:44] Speaker 1: they're going to take care of us. When she left, my.
[15:46] Speaker 2: Brother She is a 100% universal fan, okay?
[15:51] Speaker 1: So know that.
[15:53] Speaker 2: But that trapeze act, that put her on air. She
[15:55] Speaker 2: said that's better than anything she's ever saw anywhere. And
[15:58] Speaker 2: she's seen about 15 of those shows. So talk about
[16:02] Speaker 2: that Chinese trapeze act.
[16:04] Speaker 1: Right. So we had to, I guess, the grace and
[16:10] Speaker 1: blessings of having– scouts around the world, young scouts that
[16:15] Speaker 1: are always looking for what's new in different countries. And
[16:20] Speaker 1: our scout found this troop in their school performing and
[16:28] Speaker 1: hadn't been out of the country yet, but had won
[16:30] Speaker 1: gold in every competition in China. And there's no 15,
[16:36] Speaker 1: 16 people flying through the air and no trapeze act
[16:39] Speaker 1: in the world. So I said, I have to have
[16:42] Speaker 1: that act. And so when the price tag, with the
[16:46] Speaker 1: price tag, the guy said, if he buys it, he's crazy.
[16:51] Speaker 1: And we bought it as we wanted to. Because that's
[16:54] Speaker 1: what circus is all about. It's just bringing unbelievable stuff
[16:58] Speaker 1: to the audience. Well, you know, the difference that really
[17:03] Speaker 1: amazed me was the.
[17:04] Speaker 2: Distance between them swinging.
[17:08] Speaker 1: I was stunned.
[17:09] Speaker 2: By that distance, I was like, wow, I've never seen
[17:13] Speaker 2: this athleticism, aerial athleticism like this. So, again, this is
[17:19] Speaker 2: one thing. Another thing that dazzled me, and a lot
[17:22] Speaker 2: of things dazzled me, by the way, Cedric, was the,
[17:27] Speaker 2: I think, the couple that was on the roller skates.
[17:30] Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, from Cuba. That's the Alcabana Knights roller skating thing.
[17:34] Speaker 2: Cedric, that right there, the G-force of them spinning, I
[17:39] Speaker 2: was taken aback.
[17:41] Speaker 1: I was taken aback.
[17:42] Speaker 2: What is the training like when you get a couple
[17:45] Speaker 2: like that? Because there's danger involved. Right.
[17:50] Speaker 1: So everything you see on the big top, we curated it.
[17:55] Speaker 1: It's been four or five years before it even hits
[17:58] Speaker 1: our stage. And it could have been in school, in
[18:03] Speaker 1: their schools. We work with schools all over the world.
[18:06] Speaker 1: We work with schools in Ethiopia and Cuba and South America.
[18:10] Speaker 1: We work with schools in China. And we identify what
[18:15] Speaker 1: we want and depends on what level of training they
[18:21] Speaker 1: have achieved and what countries they come from. We send
[18:28] Speaker 1: trainers to Ethiopia We send trainers to West Africa. We
[18:33] Speaker 1: send trainers to South America. Or we bring the performers here,
[18:38] Speaker 1: send them to training centers here. It's sort of, they
[18:44] Speaker 1: get out of what you would consider maybe high school
[18:48] Speaker 1: or entry level. And then we take them to that
[18:51] Speaker 1: doctorate level in terms of really putting the icing on
[18:57] Speaker 1: the cake in terms of performance. So that skating act
[19:02] Speaker 1: came from two schools. It was a dance school in
[19:10] Speaker 1: Cuba where I saw the young lady and an acrobatic school,
[19:15] Speaker 1: and they were combined. And they spent a few years
[19:18] Speaker 1: training in Cuba. Then we brought them here in Los
[19:22] Speaker 1: Vegas to elevate their training. Then we got them under
[19:27] Speaker 1: the big top and created a theme, the whole Cuban
[19:30] Speaker 1: theme around. So whatever you see, I mean, we spend
[19:35] Speaker 1: a good five years of investment at about 40 to
[19:40] Speaker 1: 50 grand a year just training these exes. You see,
[19:45] Speaker 1: our idea for our artists, and some of them we
[19:49] Speaker 1: don't have to train, like the Caribbean. Right. Their whole
[19:53] Speaker 1: culture is, you know, all about, to me, that's one
[19:57] Speaker 1: of the greatest acts on our show. Their culture is
[20:01] Speaker 1: designed to, you look at their faces and their smiling
[20:06] Speaker 1: and their, They're happy as they perform, and they're going
[20:10] Speaker 1: to fire four or five rows. And, you know, I mean,
[20:14] Speaker 1: you know, the culture in terms of the costuming, the characters,
[20:20] Speaker 1: the still, well, everything means something. Nothing is by chance.
[20:24] Speaker 1: Nothing is just for flamboyancy or your eyes. It all
[20:31] Speaker 1: traces back to that culture in some meaningful way. So...
[20:36] Speaker 1: Everything is deep-rooted that you saw.
[20:39] Speaker 2: Well, you know, the amazing thing, like I said, I
[20:42] Speaker 2: just want to share everybody my thoughts, my adventure. Go
[20:46] Speaker 2: there and see it. The show is over two hours long.
[20:49] Speaker 2: This is not a 30-minute show, an hour show. It
[20:52] Speaker 2: starts on time.
[20:53] Speaker 1: Let me tell you all this.
[20:54] Speaker 2: Universal Circus starts on time, okay, because of the fact
[21:00] Speaker 2: that a lot of people don't believe that because they come.
[21:01] Speaker 1: In late, okay?
[21:04] Speaker 2: This circus is professionally run. Not saying it wasn't, but
[21:08] Speaker 2: people need to understand, you can miss out on some
[21:10] Speaker 2: great entertainment if you don't arrive on time, because Universal
[21:14] Speaker 2: Soul Circus starts on time. Now, let's talk about the
[21:17] Speaker 2: acts from Ethiopia, because I noticed, you know, I'm looking at,
[21:20] Speaker 2: you know, I'm an exam, I'm a little producer too, etc.
[21:23] Speaker 2: And there's a lot of acts from Ethiopia. Tell us
[21:25] Speaker 2: about that.
[21:26] Speaker 1: So, Ethiopia is the leading country. world they're leading the
[21:32] Speaker 1: world in producing and providing black circus performers all over
[21:38] Speaker 1: Europe all over we had the we have we're very
[21:43] Speaker 1: proud that we got into Ethiopia in the maybe 90s
[21:50] Speaker 1: 96 97 98 and started working with those circus schools
[21:54] Speaker 1: and we were the first to bring an Ethiopian act
[21:58] Speaker 1: out of Ethiopia to a circus touring in America. I
[22:03] Speaker 1: think they had schools that were set up in Ethiopia
[22:08] Speaker 1: mainly to train kids. It was a program that was
[22:13] Speaker 1: developed by some European circus... Right. entrepreneurs and the idea
[22:25] Speaker 1: was to help the government keep the kids off the
[22:28] Speaker 1: street so they were training them circus arts and it
[22:31] Speaker 1: was cool it was a good idea but the the
[22:35] Speaker 1: performers showed such great enthusiasm and capacity until when i
[22:42] Speaker 1: went there i was totally blown away at the quality
[22:46] Speaker 1: of of some and the shows were all about messages
[22:50] Speaker 1: and they had full circus shows that were you know,
[22:54] Speaker 1: teaching kids about age or teaching kids about, you know, working.
[22:59] Speaker 1: They taught, they had a lot of good mentors. But
[23:02] Speaker 1: we were one of the first, and we've since invested
[23:07] Speaker 1: a lot of money and training in Ethiopia because the
[23:13] Speaker 1: kids show so much promise. So we're very proud of
[23:18] Speaker 1: the work that they've done. We sponsor a big festival
[23:21] Speaker 1: there or one of the sponsors of a festival they have.
[23:26] Speaker 1: But there's some great, we have a duo aerial act
[23:30] Speaker 1: that I've never seen. And in 30 years, I've seen
[23:35] Speaker 1: just about everything. But that duo, those two girls up
[23:39] Speaker 1: in the air, you saw them. They move at a
[23:42] Speaker 1: speed that no other duo aerial act will move at.
[23:47] Speaker 1: I think even dare to move that fast. changing all
[23:50] Speaker 1: those positions 30 feet off the ground with no net.
[23:56] Speaker 1: No net. No net.
[23:59] Speaker 2: And I won't describe in detail, but please go. What
[24:02] Speaker 2: he's saying is underselling the significance of what they're doing
[24:06] Speaker 2: because it's impressive. And they were doing some things. I
[24:09] Speaker 2: would tell you, Cedric, I was going, is she about
[24:12] Speaker 2: to do that?
[24:13] Speaker 1: Really? Okay. Now, are they sisters or were they twins?
[24:16] Speaker 2: No, no.
[24:17] Speaker 1: They work together. They come out of the school together.
[24:20] Speaker 1: We have in the performance, we have the Hoop Diving Act,
[24:24] Speaker 1: we have the Girls in Aerial Act, and we have
[24:29] Speaker 1: the three acts, the Tita Board. And those are the
[24:34] Speaker 1: three best, strongest schools in Ethiopia. We have their top acts.
[24:39] Speaker 1: So those are the three of the top acts from
[24:42] Speaker 1: the strongest trainers and producers in Ethiopia. And And we
[24:47] Speaker 1: were graced with that and blessed because we were one
[24:49] Speaker 1: of the early pioneers in helping them with training and programming. Wow, beautiful.
[24:56] Speaker 2: As we go, like I said, 1984, you had the vision.
[25:01] Speaker 2: We're sitting here now, 30 years later. What's on the horizon?
[25:06] Speaker 1: I mean, our culture is so rich and it deserves
[25:10] Speaker 1: so much. And we've got to, there's a lot we
[25:14] Speaker 1: have to do. I think, you know, family, and just
[25:18] Speaker 1: in the formerly attraction industry, ice shows that we have
[25:23] Speaker 1: yet to challenge. I mean, there's a Bourbon Street. Why
[25:26] Speaker 1: don't we have a street? I mean, there's just so
[25:29] Speaker 1: much that's, but it has to be authentic, and it
[25:34] Speaker 1: has to be created authentically. But I have a lot
[25:38] Speaker 1: of ideas. I have ideas that should live way past me,
[25:44] Speaker 1: And I have a lot of challenges. This is the
[25:46] Speaker 1: tip of the iceberg.
[25:47] Speaker 2: Well, my friend, the fact you allowed me to take
[25:50] Speaker 2: time in your business schedule, because you run a circus, okay?
[25:53] Speaker 2: I'm just running a little small business with animals and
[25:55] Speaker 2: trapezoids and all kinds of human beings running around here
[25:59] Speaker 2: trying to understand what life is. You're the entertaining business.
[26:02] Speaker 1: That's where you started.
[26:04] Speaker 2: You had the whole run of animals, the whole big
[26:07] Speaker 2: top theme. You did the gospel plays, which I'm very
[26:10] Speaker 2: familiar with. But the bottom line, Cedric, you just wanted
[26:13] Speaker 2: to do family entertainment, correct? Yeah, no, I thought it
[26:17] Speaker 2: was a need for it, you know, and I saw it.
[26:21] Speaker 2: And we needed this. We need something that uplifts our
[26:25] Speaker 2: families and joins us together.
[26:29] Speaker 1: It joins the generations. It ties the young. When a
[26:33] Speaker 1: four-year-old is watching their parents sing soul karaoke to Al
[26:38] Speaker 1: Green and the Grandparents are doing the latest dance with
[26:44] Speaker 1: the freshly clouds in the rain. It just has generations
[26:48] Speaker 1: to that.
[26:50] Speaker 2: It really did, because there was some little girls. There
[26:51] Speaker 2: was a song that those rappers, they started playing. It
[26:54] Speaker 2: was like 30 little girls, probably in the fifth grade,
[26:57] Speaker 2: were singing. I went, I don't know what they're doing,
[27:00] Speaker 2: but boy, it is really enjoyable to watch the connection,
[27:05] Speaker 2: because they just took off and did the little dance
[27:07] Speaker 2: and hit every word, and it was just fantastic. But
[27:10] Speaker 2: thank you for inviting me down there to see history,
[27:13] Speaker 2: my brother, because you're making history, man. It was diversity,
[27:18] Speaker 2: the safety, the professionalism, Walking in that door, man, it
[27:21] Speaker 2: was just a clean environment, safe environment.
[27:24] Speaker 1: And again, ladies and.
[27:26] Speaker 2: Gentlemen, Universal Circus starts on time.
[27:30] Speaker 1: Remember that.
[27:31] Speaker 2: Don't let nobody push no stereotype. Not saying it's out there,
[27:35] Speaker 2: but people generally think that when you do black things,
[27:37] Speaker 2: you know, CP time, you know, it's going to start
[27:40] Speaker 2: where it's going to start.
[27:42] Speaker 1: Not their circus. My brother, thank you for the time.
[27:45] Speaker 1: Thank you, Sean. Thank you so much. Appreciate you.
[27:49] Speaker 2: This has been another edition of Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[27:53] Speaker 2: hosted by me, Rashawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests
[27:56] Speaker 2: on the show today and thank you, our listening audience. Now,
[27:59] Speaker 2: if you want to listen to any episode or want
[28:01] Speaker 2: to be a guest on the show, visit MoneyMakingConversations.com. Our
[28:05] Speaker 2: social media handle is Money Making Conversations. Join us next
[28:09] Speaker 2: week and remember to always lead with your gifts.
[28:12] Speaker 1: Keep winning.

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