# Entrepreneur: Afro Unicorn was discovered on social media and has generated over 20 million in total sales in 5 yrs.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 9 Sep 2024, 35 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/d443457c-b22f-466c-b6f3-b1e3012ee6f7/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 April Showers. Founder of Afro Unicorn, joins Money Making Conversations Masterclass to share how she built the first Black woman-owned, fully licensed character brand in major retail. With over $20 million in sales, Afro Unicorn celebrates diversity and empowers women and children of color. 🔑 Key Themes & Highlights • Origins of Afro Unicorn • April was inspired by a friend's repeated reference to her as a "unicorn," highlighting her extraordinary ability to balance multiple businesses and raise two children. • Noticing existing unicorn imagery lacked representation, she created Afro Unicorn to uplift young girls of color. • Challenges & Early Growth • Despite facing personal hardships—including her son's hospitalization and several family losses—April remained committed to her mission. • Her persistence led to a viral moment where a young girl wearing an Afro Unicorn shirt caught Walmart’s attention, resulting in a licensing deal. • Licensing & Expansion • Instead of manufacturing herself, April strategically partnered with licensees to distribute Afro Unicorn merchandise. • Within a year, she secured 45+ licensing agreements, expanding into books, bedding, hair care, party supplies, and more. • Business Strategy & Advice • Trademarking Afro Unicorn early, hiring an accountant and lawyer, and writing a business plan were critical to her success. • She advises entrepreneurs to visualize success, stay consistent, and never quit. • Future Plans • April is developing Miss April’s Crown, an animated series teaching young entrepreneurs business skills through affirmations and mentorship. 📘 About the Brand Afro Unicorn is available at major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Amazon. #BEST #STRAW #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

[0:05] Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. I am Rashwan McDonald, the host
[0:08] Speaker 1: of Money Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to
[0:11] Speaker 1: stop reading other people's success stories and start planning their own.
[0:16] Speaker 1: Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country,
[0:19] Speaker 1: talk to celebrities and ask them how they are running
[0:22] Speaker 1: their companies, and speak with dog profits who are making
[0:25] Speaker 1: a difference in their local communities. Now, sit back and
[0:28] Speaker 1: listen as we unlock the secrets to their success on
[0:31] Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald, our host
[0:36] Speaker 1: is weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and
[0:40] Speaker 1: information that this show provides are for everyone. It's time
[0:43] Speaker 1: to stop reading other people's success stories and start living
[0:46] Speaker 1: your own. My next guest is the founder afro Unicon,
[0:50] Speaker 1: the first black woman owned, fully licensed character brand in
[0:54] Speaker 1: major retail with sales over twenty million. How groundmaking brand
[0:59] Speaker 1: celebrate diversity and empowers women and children of color, inspiring
[1:04] Speaker 1: countless individuals to embrace their uniqueness and potential. Please work
[1:08] Speaker 1: with the Money Making Conversations Master Class. April Showers, April,
[1:12] Speaker 1: thank you for coming on Money Making Conversations Master Colss.
[1:14] Speaker 1: How are you doing.
[1:15] Speaker 2: I am living the dream. How about you.
[1:18] Speaker 1: You know, when I was reading this intro when he
[1:20] Speaker 1: says inspires countless individuals to embrace their uniqueness and potential,
[1:26] Speaker 1: extrapolat or expound on that for me, please, Well.
[1:29] Speaker 2: After unicorn was created because of who I am, I'm
[1:35] Speaker 2: a serial entrepreneur, and I don't know, we'll probably get
[1:39] Speaker 2: into the story later about how it's actually a creator.
[1:41] Speaker 2: I can say it now because it all ties in when.
[1:44] Speaker 1: You talk now the flow of the conversation.
[1:46] Speaker 2: Okay, So I am a licensed insurance agent. I was
[1:50] Speaker 2: a licensed real estate broker. Single mama to amazing young
[1:54] Speaker 2: black boys, one who I just dropped off to LSU
[1:56] Speaker 2: a few weeks ago and the other one's in high
[1:59] Speaker 2: school now. But back in twenty nineteen, a friend kept
[2:02] Speaker 2: telling me I was a unicorn over and over again,
[2:05] Speaker 2: and so finally I asked them, why do you keep
[2:06] Speaker 2: calling me that? He said, Well, because you're running the businesses,
[2:09] Speaker 2: you're raising the boys, you're a unicorn. And I said, Cortias,
[2:13] Speaker 2: I am a woman. That is what we do. He's like, no, April,
[2:17] Speaker 2: you do it at an extraordinary level. Trust me. I
[2:19] Speaker 2: date these women in LA and you are a unicorn,
[2:22] Speaker 2: like you do it at an extraordinary level. So I
[2:25] Speaker 2: didn't know much about unicorns. I kind of was tom
[2:28] Speaker 2: boyish and I was a boy mom. So I had
[2:32] Speaker 2: to go look them up and I saw that they
[2:33] Speaker 2: were unique, they were mystical, and I said, I'm definitely unique.
[2:36] Speaker 2: I'm all things black girl magic. And so I started
[2:40] Speaker 2: to use the emoji of the unicorn and my phone
[2:43] Speaker 2: over and over again, not with text or have any copy.
[2:46] Speaker 2: And then one day I looked at it and I said,
[2:48] Speaker 2: doesn't it represent who I am? Like, I don't see
[2:51] Speaker 2: myself in this unicorn. So then I went to find
[2:56] Speaker 2: one that looked like me, and I couldn't. So at
[2:59] Speaker 2: that point I was like, I'm going to create an
[3:00] Speaker 2: avatar for me. In creating it, I saw the potential
[3:06] Speaker 2: of wow, wait a minute, it's probably a lot of
[3:08] Speaker 2: women out there that felt what I was feeling, that
[3:12] Speaker 2: was probably dealing with some type of imposterum syndrome or something,
[3:16] Speaker 2: didn't know that they were unique or didn't know that
[3:18] Speaker 2: they had these qualities to be a unicorn. So I
[3:21] Speaker 2: then wanted to create a movement to find other women
[3:25] Speaker 2: entrepreneurs or those that wanted to join me on this
[3:28] Speaker 2: entrepreneurship journey and give them an avatar to represent who
[3:34] Speaker 2: they were. So when we launched after Unicorn on the
[3:38] Speaker 2: platform on social media, I really was targeting business owners
[3:43] Speaker 2: and I would specify on my page out they will
[3:46] Speaker 2: wear my shirt, and I would say, meet Latricia Leatricia
[3:50] Speaker 2: owns this business. She works nine to five two, she
[3:54] Speaker 2: does this, this, this is what makes her unique, divine
[3:56] Speaker 2: in magical. Be sure to follow her business and patriotize
[4:00] Speaker 2: her business. And then the movement started.
[4:04] Speaker 1: We've already told you got two boys. One you just
[4:06] Speaker 1: dropped off l s U. How are you balancing all this?
[4:10] Speaker 2: I am managing it.
[4:13] Speaker 1: The word balance and manages, not that you manage.
[4:18] Speaker 2: Because this is the thing. I don't believe that men
[4:23] Speaker 2: get asked that question. No one asked jay Z how
[4:26] Speaker 2: does he balance being a father and work?
[4:28] Speaker 1: Okay, hmm. I have not insulted you with the word balance.
[4:32] Speaker 2: No, no, no, But because to me, balance is even Wait, right,
[4:39] Speaker 2: I gotta get fifty here and fifty here to equal
[4:42] Speaker 2: one hundred. I gotta be a mom one er of
[4:46] Speaker 2: the time. I got to be a business owner one
[4:49] Speaker 2: hundred percent of the time. So I can't balance either
[4:53] Speaker 2: I have to manage those, so I give whatever I'm
[4:58] Speaker 2: in it. I'm given. All my kids are in school
[5:01] Speaker 2: right now, so I know I'm full CEO Mold right now.
[5:04] Speaker 2: Once I go get my babies out of school. My
[5:06] Speaker 2: sister knows all my calls stop at two thirty, so
[5:10] Speaker 2: when I can get them home. They're a little older now,
[5:12] Speaker 2: so I get them situation, make sure they've eaten, and
[5:14] Speaker 2: if I want to put on that sea hat, or
[5:16] Speaker 2: if I want to go out on a date, or
[5:18] Speaker 2: do whatever I can.
[5:20] Speaker 1: So you're out there dancing, you out there dating. You
[5:23] Speaker 1: just lid that little bad boy up in there, and
[5:25] Speaker 1: now you know the dating scene. You're business woman, you know,
[5:29] Speaker 1: you're motivator, you are a licensed you know I will
[5:33] Speaker 1: say what you can't do, and I'll be insulting right there,
[5:37] Speaker 1: because what you have not done is limit who you
[5:39] Speaker 1: could be and what you can achieve.
[5:42] Speaker 3: Now.
[5:42] Speaker 1: So in twenty and eighteen, friend of yours started calling
[5:45] Speaker 1: your unicorn. Okay, twenty twenty, we all know that's an
[5:50] Speaker 1: ad little period when you start talking into COVID and
[5:53] Speaker 1: it starts changing our whole outlooking perspective. And then after
[5:56] Speaker 1: that it's when you started kind of like a galvanizing
[6:00] Speaker 1: people in the Unicorn movement.
[6:03] Speaker 2: Oh, the movement started all day one. May twenty nineteen
[6:07] Speaker 2: is when the brand launched. Right May seventeenth, my son
[6:11] Speaker 2: went into the hospital May twentieth. Sorry, my son in
[6:14] Speaker 2: the hospital May tenth. I was reluctant to launch the
[6:18] Speaker 2: brand while my son was in the hospital, not knowing
[6:19] Speaker 2: he will be there for twenty days. With all the
[6:22] Speaker 2: encouragement from the people around me, I launched the brand
[6:25] Speaker 2: while he was in the hospital. When he got out
[6:27] Speaker 2: twenty days, my uncle died of a massive heart attack.
[6:30] Speaker 2: I got the call. Seventeen hours later. His eldest brother,
[6:33] Speaker 2: my second uncle, died of a of pneumonia. We got
[6:38] Speaker 2: a double funeral the following week. Then after that, six
[6:44] Speaker 2: months later, broke my grandmother's heart. She got spiraled down,
[6:48] Speaker 2: she died, and then a month later we were in
[6:50] Speaker 2: a global pandemic. But back all that up, I have
[6:54] Speaker 2: this mindset of all gas, no breaks. The marathon continues.
[6:59] Speaker 2: I'm from Los Angeles. Nipsey Hustle had just passed away
[7:04] Speaker 2: back in March. I had a pre launch a birth
[7:08] Speaker 2: birthday of after Unicorn with these women On April twenty eighth,
[7:12] Speaker 2: and I told them, look, I'm building something where we're
[7:14] Speaker 2: going to support each other and the marathon's going to continue.
[7:17] Speaker 2: That was before all this tragedy was getting ready to
[7:21] Speaker 2: happen in my life. But I had already poured in
[7:23] Speaker 2: these women to say, this is what we're building. We're
[7:25] Speaker 2: building this movement. So what they did is that they
[7:28] Speaker 2: pushed this movement with me, and so I the movement.
[7:32] Speaker 2: I just want to be very clear. The movement started
[7:36] Speaker 2: when we launched after Unicorn tifty had us jumped on
[7:39] Speaker 2: board in July, Alicia Keys jumped on board, Cherry Shepper
[7:44] Speaker 2: on it. And when I say jumped on board, I
[7:46] Speaker 2: would go on their comments and I would comment and say,
[7:48] Speaker 2: I mean, I'll go on a post and I would
[7:49] Speaker 2: comment and say, hey, have you ever seen after Unicorn?
[7:51] Speaker 2: Before I created a brand of women of color who
[7:54] Speaker 2: hustled follow the movement, and so they would click over
[7:57] Speaker 2: on my page. They would see what we were doing,
[8:00] Speaker 2: how I was highlighting other women, and they were like, oh,
[8:03] Speaker 2: this is something I could rock with. And it's been
[8:06] Speaker 2: organic like that from the beginning. We came out the
[8:10] Speaker 2: gates with the flags going. It literally was a marathon.
[8:13] Speaker 2: It was a whole race happening.
[8:16] Speaker 3: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[8:19] Speaker 3: money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
[8:31] Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[8:37] Speaker 3: continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
[8:42] Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
[8:47] Speaker 1: I love it. I love the fact that you know
[8:50] Speaker 1: is unique. But it was it galvanized people and that
[8:55] Speaker 1: galvil because people always ask me about marketing and they
[8:58] Speaker 1: always ask them about angle and branding. That you were
[9:02] Speaker 1: able to captivate people based on an idea of motivation, uplift.
[9:11] Speaker 1: We could do this together, you know, want all be
[9:15] Speaker 1: all dad thought process. Where did they come from?
[9:19] Speaker 2: I would say it was definitely instilled from me, from
[9:21] Speaker 2: my parents, my mom and my dad and my uncles.
[9:25] Speaker 2: So it was very heartbreaking when those two uncles passed away.
[9:28] Speaker 2: My grandmother, my family, my family. My name is April Showers,
[9:32] Speaker 2: so I was purposely named April Showers and I wasn't
[9:36] Speaker 2: as a real singer. I mean, I think I'm a
[9:38] Speaker 2: great dancer, but it's like this girl was destined to
[9:42] Speaker 2: be something that.
[9:43] Speaker 1: I think, why you think you're a great dancer. You
[9:47] Speaker 1: don't throw that out on my show and say you
[9:49] Speaker 1: think you a great because you put the word thank
[9:51] Speaker 1: you a great dancer and you put the word great
[9:53] Speaker 1: and think together, okay and stop.
[9:55] Speaker 2: I'm a great dancer and everybody know it except except
[9:58] Speaker 2: my kids.
[10:00] Speaker 1: There you go. I was wonder who was judging? You
[10:03] Speaker 1: think it's the kids. That's right. I've been there. I've
[10:06] Speaker 1: been there. Because that will throw doubt in you. Your
[10:09] Speaker 1: kids will you are great. You're a great motivator, You're
[10:12] Speaker 1: a great entrepreneur. Now when it comes to your dancing,
[10:15] Speaker 1: that's when your kids put that little doubt in your mind. Yeah,
[10:18] Speaker 1: which is always good. You need to be humbled by somebody.
[10:21] Speaker 2: Yeah, they definitely humble me.
[10:23] Speaker 1: Now the whole concept of because this is a video
[10:27] Speaker 1: interview but it's gonna be in for audio. I'm seeing
[10:29] Speaker 1: all these great different unicorns in the background. You have
[10:32] Speaker 1: a unicorn T shirt that you're wearing. Talk about the
[10:35] Speaker 1: development of the of these concepts.
[10:39] Speaker 2: So one of the first things you said on the
[10:40] Speaker 2: intro is I'm the first black woman to have a
[10:43] Speaker 2: fully licensed character. Brandon Major retail. It is a mouthful,
[10:46] Speaker 2: and most people, ninety nine point nine percent of the
[10:49] Speaker 2: world will be like, what the heck does that mean?
[10:53] Speaker 2: So I'm basically missus Walt Disney. I am the creator
[11:01] Speaker 2: of a character brand like Mickey Mouse, like the Star
[11:08] Speaker 2: Wars characters, Elmo, Sesame Street. I am the creator. The
[11:13] Speaker 2: products of Afri Unicorn sit on the shelves next to
[11:17] Speaker 2: those legacy iconic brands. So the way that I got
[11:24] Speaker 2: into is a lot of people think I'm sitting here
[11:28] Speaker 2: manufacturing all these products that have this huge warehouse as
[11:32] Speaker 2: a licensee. I do not have license or I do
[11:38] Speaker 2: not have any inventory. What I have as partners that
[11:43] Speaker 2: helped me manufacture these products. So in twenty twenty twenty
[11:48] Speaker 2: one August, because of the movement, there was a video
[11:52] Speaker 2: that went viral of a little girl wearing an afric
[11:55] Speaker 2: Unicorn shirt. Somebody who walked by her and said, I
[11:57] Speaker 2: love your hair. With all the confidence in the world,
[11:59] Speaker 2: she said, thanks, thank you, It's an afro. Everyone shared
[12:02] Speaker 2: it on all platforms, from Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mom, and
[12:07] Speaker 2: then Oprah Daily shared it, and then Oprah Daily shared it.
[12:11] Speaker 2: The comments were flooded with that's afric Unicorn's baby, that's
[12:13] Speaker 2: Africanuncorn's shirt. And then a buyer at Walmart saw it.
[12:18] Speaker 2: A buyer Walmart saw the comments, looked up after Unicorn
[12:22] Speaker 2: and said, I think this is something we want to
[12:25] Speaker 2: bring into our stores as a licensed character. So she
[12:30] Speaker 2: reached out to me, sent an email and said, Afri
[12:33] Speaker 2: Unicorn ex Walmart collaboration, would you consider bringing in Afro
[12:39] Speaker 2: Unicorn into party supplies?
[12:42] Speaker 1: Okay, okay, okay, where were you at emotionally now, because
[12:46] Speaker 1: I'm assuming that you had trademarked afro Unicorn, right, Okay,
[12:50] Speaker 1: so you knew to do dilages on that end and
[12:54] Speaker 1: then but when you were putting this on social media,
[12:58] Speaker 1: was the marketing or the product aspect of taking this
[13:01] Speaker 1: to store branding anywhere in your mind prior to Walmart
[13:05] Speaker 1: contacting you?
[13:07] Speaker 2: So the thought process in my mind, I talk a
[13:10] Speaker 2: lot about visualization and seeing things before they happen, but
[13:15] Speaker 2: not always trying to figure out all the details of it.
[13:18] Speaker 2: The thought process I had met in April of twenty
[13:21] Speaker 2: nineteen was the African and Korna is going to be
[13:23] Speaker 2: a household name in the worldwide brand. I used to
[13:27] Speaker 2: say it all the time, so I knew that eventually
[13:33] Speaker 2: it was going to get out to the world. But
[13:36] Speaker 2: like the rest of the world ninety eight ninety nine
[13:38] Speaker 2: percent of the world, I didn't know about licensing. I
[13:41] Speaker 2: thought that I have to sell Afro Unicorn to like
[13:45] Speaker 2: a Hasburrow, or at one point I thought I had
[13:49] Speaker 2: to sell it to Diddy. I'm not I mean seriously,
[13:51] Speaker 2: I just thought I was going to have to sell
[13:52] Speaker 2: it to somebody who knew how to get it into
[13:58] Speaker 2: mass retail. I didn't think because I didn't know. You
[14:01] Speaker 2: only know what you know, So I didn't know that
[14:05] Speaker 2: the little girl from south central Los Angeles could be
[14:08] Speaker 2: the person to still sit in the C suite and
[14:12] Speaker 2: get it out to be a household name and a
[14:15] Speaker 2: worldwide brand. But I always knew it would be I
[14:19] Speaker 2: just didn't know how well.
[14:20] Speaker 1: This is impressive because of the fact that you know,
[14:23] Speaker 1: there's so many clients and so many people in this
[14:26] Speaker 1: business want to get in worldmart, and the big fear
[14:29] Speaker 1: is being able to handle the requests. Now you're the
[14:34] Speaker 1: licensing business. You clearly explained to as Rashall, I'm not
[14:38] Speaker 1: making anything. I don't have a warehouse storing product. I
[14:42] Speaker 1: licensed my brand through other people walk us through that step.
[14:49] Speaker 2: When the buyer at Walmart reached out to me and
[14:52] Speaker 2: we set up the first call, she told me that
[14:54] Speaker 2: she wanted me to meet with two other licensees. At
[14:59] Speaker 2: the time, I just didn't say that that language. She
[15:02] Speaker 2: just told me the name of the two companies that
[15:04] Speaker 2: I can potentially interview to see if I wanted them
[15:07] Speaker 2: to create the party supply line. Because at this point
[15:10] Speaker 2: I think now, I think she already knew I'm bringing
[15:14] Speaker 2: this in to Walmart, and we just got to figure
[15:18] Speaker 2: out who was going to help us bring it in.
[15:21] Speaker 1: And the how.
[15:23] Speaker 2: The way that it works is that, like number one,
[15:26] Speaker 2: you have to trademark. So because I knew, oh yes,
[15:32] Speaker 2: the first thing that I did before I started out
[15:38] Speaker 2: for Unicorn was to get it registered, or at least
[15:42] Speaker 2: apply to get the trademark registered. Because I knew, based
[15:47] Speaker 2: off of previous businesses that I run, that I wanted
[15:51] Speaker 2: to build this one to sell. Read a lot of
[15:54] Speaker 2: books about it, and I knew that I wanted to
[15:57] Speaker 2: build it to sell. So the first thing I did
[15:58] Speaker 2: was make sure I got to registered. Second thing I
[16:00] Speaker 2: did was make sure I had an accountant. I had
[16:03] Speaker 2: no money but I wanted her to count all the
[16:05] Speaker 2: pennies and make sure they was all there because I
[16:08] Speaker 2: have a fear of going to prison and I didn't
[16:11] Speaker 2: want to do that. So I knew. I knew that
[16:15] Speaker 2: it was going to be big, and so before it
[16:19] Speaker 2: got too big, I need to make sure all the
[16:22] Speaker 2: ducks were in order. So I trademarked, I made sure
[16:26] Speaker 2: that I had the right accountant, and then I got
[16:29] Speaker 2: an attorney on board. But I do have a little
[16:33] Speaker 2: tip we could insert right here. I went through legal
[16:38] Speaker 2: Zoom originally to get my trademark. The problem is legal
[16:43] Speaker 2: Zoom cannot respond. Only an attorney can respond if they
[16:47] Speaker 2: come back with some questions. So you should just always
[16:50] Speaker 2: start with the attorney. To start with the trademark attorney
[16:54] Speaker 2: because they are required to respond to whatever they submitted.
[16:59] Speaker 2: So that's what the that I learned through this journey
[17:01] Speaker 2: because I had to get a lot of classes, a
[17:03] Speaker 2: lot of trademarks along the way.
[17:06] Speaker 1: But again, you're doing it the right way because again,
[17:10] Speaker 1: you know, you put together a business model, a business plan.
[17:14] Speaker 1: You shut I needed legal Bam check that out, re shot,
[17:18] Speaker 1: I needed a bookkeeper, slash a county check that out
[17:21] Speaker 1: because when it starts happening. You don't want to be scrambling,
[17:24] Speaker 1: and so many people start scrambling. But you sit down
[17:27] Speaker 1: and and it's so so much of a vision of
[17:30] Speaker 1: Walmart just called me, I need to get my act together. No,
[17:35] Speaker 1: it was before Walmart.
[17:36] Speaker 2: No, because that's where people mess up. Because I have
[17:39] Speaker 2: a saying, if you stay ready, you ain't got to
[17:41] Speaker 2: get ready. I took it from sugar Free. No, if
[17:47] Speaker 2: Walmart would have called me, I would have missed the opportunity.
[17:50] Speaker 2: If I didn't already have my stuff trademark, if I
[17:53] Speaker 2: didn't already have an accounting in place, if I didn't
[17:54] Speaker 2: already have an attorney that I knew, I would have
[17:59] Speaker 2: missed opportunity. I would have been trying to scramble and
[18:02] Speaker 2: grab and do all of this, and I would have
[18:04] Speaker 2: missed opportunity. So no, day one, you brought up something
[18:07] Speaker 2: that triggered me, and I forgot before even all of this.
[18:13] Speaker 2: While I was waiting for the trademark, I went out
[18:15] Speaker 2: on upwork and found someone to help me write a
[18:18] Speaker 2: business plan. I gave her the idea of what I had,
[18:25] Speaker 2: and then she did all the research to tell me
[18:28] Speaker 2: who were my competitors what were my strengths, what was
[18:31] Speaker 2: my weaknesses, what were the threats, what were the opportunities?
[18:35] Speaker 2: Like laid it all out for me, so I had
[18:38] Speaker 2: a clear direction going in mind. You no money made,
[18:42] Speaker 2: nothing happening, but I knew in order to build a
[18:46] Speaker 2: successful business, I needed all of this on the foundation.
[18:51] Speaker 1: I love the fact that when I sit down and
[18:54] Speaker 1: talk about it, because I just had a big beating
[18:56] Speaker 1: conversation with a bankrupt and you used tod reshine it.
[19:00] Speaker 1: If you're come into my office and you don't have
[19:03] Speaker 1: a business plan, that's going to be a real short
[19:05] Speaker 1: conversation because that means that you have not sat down
[19:09] Speaker 1: and got a clear grasp of understanding of what you're
[19:11] Speaker 1: trying to do. You just out there operating. No hope this,
[19:15] Speaker 1: I hope this happened. I hope when the open these
[19:18] Speaker 1: doors is going to happen. A business plan, he says,
[19:21] Speaker 1: is the driver's license to start in your business. And
[19:25] Speaker 1: that's why I hop it in front of people all
[19:27] Speaker 1: the time, because, like you said, it triggered you in
[19:29] Speaker 1: your conversation. But that was the number one thing that
[19:32] Speaker 1: really gave you the confidence to be able to get
[19:35] Speaker 1: the accountant, the confidence to be able to get the
[19:37] Speaker 1: attorney because you knew exactly where you were going.
[19:41] Speaker 2: Correct, correct, absolutely.
[19:44] Speaker 1: Now let's look at that. Now, got the Walmart mentor
[19:49] Speaker 1: two potential license sees your license, so you're license licenre
[19:55] Speaker 1: and there's a license see right? Yes, okay, cool? They
[19:58] Speaker 1: had two of them for you. How did you make
[19:59] Speaker 1: it a on which one you wanted to go with?
[20:01] Speaker 2: I would win both they both sold.
[20:03] Speaker 1: Yeah, how did they work?
[20:06] Speaker 2: Well, one handle just like the paper goods, so plates napkins,
[20:12] Speaker 2: and then the other one could do plates and napkins
[20:14] Speaker 2: as well. But then they also did all the accessories.
[20:17] Speaker 2: And when we dropped party, this buyer, I love her
[20:21] Speaker 2: to death. Her name I can't. I'm not gonna say
[20:23] Speaker 2: her name, but I love her. I'm gonna call her BC.
[20:27] Speaker 2: She she basically brought me into all these categories. So
[20:32] Speaker 2: I was going into party, but I had a bouncy ball,
[20:36] Speaker 2: I had plush and party. I had a hair bowing party.
[20:40] Speaker 2: I have fake nails and party. I have rings and party.
[20:44] Speaker 2: So you're thinking toys cosmetics, these are all different category
[20:49] Speaker 2: hair accessories that she put in the party section. So
[20:56] Speaker 2: once you see it, then you know the opportunity that
[21:00] Speaker 2: can grow further. So I brought them both on because
[21:03] Speaker 2: one had, you know, could do the paper that I wanted.
[21:06] Speaker 2: This other company because they could do those other accessories.
[21:10] Speaker 2: But then it led to so many categories and the
[21:14] Speaker 2: first nine and twelve months I had over forty five licensees.
[21:20] Speaker 1: Well, okay, not to do you know you've been calling,
[21:24] Speaker 1: you know, go on. You jumped on that. Your brand
[21:27] Speaker 1: became Afro Unicorn. Social media influences, celebrity influences took note
[21:33] Speaker 1: of what you were trying to do. Now it's time
[21:35] Speaker 1: that you're hide in an accountant, you hide their lawyer.
[21:38] Speaker 1: The lawyer's handling all your contracts with the licensees. Nine,
[21:42] Speaker 1: the money starts to come in. How do you track
[21:44] Speaker 1: the money?
[21:47] Speaker 2: How do I attrack the money?
[21:48] Speaker 1: Well, track the money with your account and how does
[21:50] Speaker 1: that work?
[21:52] Speaker 2: She does every month she closes out the book, she
[21:57] Speaker 2: reconciles everything. She does a profit and law and every
[22:01] Speaker 2: single month I get a we do a review. I
[22:04] Speaker 2: ended up hiring an agency to collect the royalty payments. Yeah,
[22:10] Speaker 2: so they collected and which was good because I get
[22:14] Speaker 2: a percentage of the royalty means a percentage of sales, right,
[22:20] Speaker 2: but then I also pay the agency, but I get
[22:23] Speaker 2: to less in my liability because the agency's collecting the money,
[22:28] Speaker 2: so they're getting their money off the top, so then
[22:30] Speaker 2: I get like less of that. Whatever that percentage is,
[22:35] Speaker 2: whether it's ten to twenty percent, I'm getting less of that.
[22:38] Speaker 2: So now I'm not that the tax liability is not
[22:41] Speaker 2: as great as it would have been at one hundred
[22:43] Speaker 2: and then me paying them so. And it also just
[22:46] Speaker 2: helps to keep track of everything that is happening. And
[22:50] Speaker 2: they keep an accounting record too of each licensee, how
[22:54] Speaker 2: much the pos were, what's my percentage? And how much
[22:58] Speaker 2: is due to me?
[23:00] Speaker 1: Wow, let's talk about you as an individual. You know,
[23:04] Speaker 1: I will tell you I'm impressed. I'm impressed with your story.
[23:09] Speaker 1: It's not a lucky story. It's a planning store. And
[23:12] Speaker 1: that's why I like about it, because you know, you
[23:14] Speaker 1: you sit around somebody to tell you an idea and
[23:16] Speaker 1: then you go along the way. But everything was a
[23:19] Speaker 1: business plan out there was a thought procesland out. Now
[23:23] Speaker 1: in your bio, they said age of nineteen you knew
[23:25] Speaker 1: you wanted to be an entrepreneur.
[23:28] Speaker 2: Yeah, age of nineteen is when I actually went into
[23:31] Speaker 2: gear with it. But I knew I was going to
[23:33] Speaker 2: be a business owner at fourteen years old, the age.
[23:36] Speaker 1: Of how how just how how just asking? You know,
[23:39] Speaker 1: I thought I was gonna be a basketball player. I
[23:41] Speaker 1: thought I was gonna be a football player. You know,
[23:43] Speaker 1: an entrepreneur, young African American girl. Where they were your
[23:47] Speaker 1: parents entrepreneurs, where you where you had mentors, you saw
[23:50] Speaker 1: they were entrepreneurs. What sparked that trigger point in your
[23:54] Speaker 1: head to say entrepreneurship, business owner, small business owner at
[23:58] Speaker 1: fourteen and you eventually purshoot it at ninety.
[24:03] Speaker 2: It was subconsciously. Both of my parents worked for the state.
[24:06] Speaker 2: They had they government jobs. I just discovered this in
[24:10] Speaker 2: the last year that my father, though used to hustle
[24:14] Speaker 2: aze a mechanic on the side. So every Saturday morning
[24:17] Speaker 2: cars were filled up down our long driveway.
[24:20] Speaker 1: Yoh, he was shade treated mechanic.
[24:23] Speaker 2: Yes, I didn't realize that. So doing multiple interviews, I
[24:27] Speaker 2: was like, no, my parents weren't entrepreneurs, this and that.
[24:30] Speaker 2: But I thought about it, I'm like, no, Daddy used
[24:33] Speaker 2: to have those cars lined up every single Saturday. So
[24:37] Speaker 2: the entrepreneurial spirit was there. I guess it's also because
[24:40] Speaker 2: my dad was also that guy throughout my life, like
[24:43] Speaker 2: you sure you don't want to get a government job.
[24:45] Speaker 2: You gotta got your pinshit, you gotta have this. So
[24:49] Speaker 2: I kind of didn't even look at him as being
[24:51] Speaker 2: that guy because he was always trying to make sure
[24:54] Speaker 2: I had some type of security. But when I think
[24:57] Speaker 2: about it, I think it was there. The also one
[25:01] Speaker 2: thing my mother did, and hopefully my foundation will mirror this,
[25:06] Speaker 2: my mother made sure that I experienced life out of
[25:09] Speaker 2: south central Los Angeles. Lifestyle matters for you to be
[25:14] Speaker 2: able to visualize and to see there's other opportunities out there.
[25:20] Speaker 2: So I don't care if we were going out to eat,
[25:23] Speaker 2: going to the movies, we were being Beverly Hills, Palisades,
[25:27] Speaker 2: Rolling Hills. My mom kept me in Culver City. She
[25:30] Speaker 2: always kept me out of the inter city. So at
[25:36] Speaker 2: a young age, I realized that the way to make
[25:39] Speaker 2: that kind of money, to afford that type of house,
[25:42] Speaker 2: or to live in that type of neighborhood was to
[25:45] Speaker 2: be your own boss.
[25:46] Speaker 1: Wow April shouts Wow fro Unicorn April beautiful name by
[25:51] Speaker 1: the way, as over twenty five product categories, including books, bedding, haircare,
[25:58] Speaker 1: poise supplies, and forty five five licensed partners world wide.
[26:03] Speaker 1: Does that scare you?
[26:06] Speaker 2: It motivates me.
[26:09] Speaker 1: Now because all you want to do was just get domestic.
[26:13] Speaker 2: No, I say, if you're grumba, be a household named
[26:15] Speaker 2: the worldwide brand from day one.
[26:17] Speaker 1: You just too much for me, April. You know, you know,
[26:21] Speaker 1: let me ask you this now, because you're a special.
[26:24] Speaker 1: Now I could see why your friend called you a unicorn.
[26:26] Speaker 1: You know, because people like you that come into my
[26:29] Speaker 1: life and I and some people might say, well, show
[26:31] Speaker 1: you're a visionary. But I don't see that because I'm
[26:34] Speaker 1: just grinding you know what I'm saying. But you're unique
[26:36] Speaker 1: because you've done things because I've had businesses. I didn't
[26:40] Speaker 1: have to lawyer up front, I didn't have to account upfront.
[26:43] Speaker 1: I was just happy to be in business. So I
[26:44] Speaker 1: made the mistakes that you sought not to make the mistakes.
[26:48] Speaker 1: I understand trademarking the fact that worldwide that you can
[26:53] Speaker 1: go to London, England, or go to Canada, or you
[26:57] Speaker 1: can go to Australia, or you can go to Brazil,
[27:00] Speaker 1: you go to Mexico and you could probably see your products.
[27:02] Speaker 2: Correct, it's coming. We have the capabilities to get it there.
[27:07] Speaker 2: But it's coming. So we're in Canada right now, but
[27:11] Speaker 2: we were working to get I want to get into
[27:13] Speaker 2: the continent of Africa first.
[27:15] Speaker 1: Wow, and that's impressive. So what's next for Afro Unicorn April.
[27:20] Speaker 2: Next is content. So we just dropped the Miss April
[27:25] Speaker 2: l We dropped the trailer for the Miss April's Crown
[27:27] Speaker 2: and Bookstore.
[27:30] Speaker 1: We are that, as you said, Miss April Crown.
[27:36] Speaker 2: Crown okay and bookstore.
[27:39] Speaker 1: Okay, explain that to me.
[27:41] Speaker 2: So it's the show is based off of the character
[27:45] Speaker 2: of Miss April, who has this Crown shop and affirmation
[27:49] Speaker 2: shop with a magical mirror, an affirming mirror and her
[27:53] Speaker 2: best the Magical who is a Unicorn puppet and Magical
[27:57] Speaker 2: has a glow where Magical can see into the future
[28:01] Speaker 2: of how your story ends. In this community, I have
[28:06] Speaker 2: four young entrepreneurs, young little girls between the ages of
[28:10] Speaker 2: seven and ten who own their own businesses. One has
[28:14] Speaker 2: a bakery, there's a beauty salon, a furniture shop, and
[28:18] Speaker 2: a fashion store. Problems come up in business, so when
[28:23] Speaker 2: they're dealing with their customers and things come up, they
[28:26] Speaker 2: come to Miss April to get affirmed. Well. First to
[28:30] Speaker 2: tell Miss April the problem. Then Miss April tells them,
[28:33] Speaker 2: we have to get into the right mindset. Let's go
[28:35] Speaker 2: to the affirmation era. The affirmation mirror then affirms to
[28:39] Speaker 2: them what they need to know for the day. They're like, okay,
[28:41] Speaker 2: I get the affirmation, but I don't see how this
[28:43] Speaker 2: is gonna work out because I got this, this, this, this, this.
[28:46] Speaker 2: The Magical comes with her globe and Magical's like, well,
[28:49] Speaker 2: I see it working out perfectly for you. Clearly you
[28:52] Speaker 2: see this working out. And they're like, what, that's me
[28:55] Speaker 2: and that's how it's gonna work out. And they're like, okay, well,
[28:58] Speaker 2: let me go back to my shop and let me
[29:01] Speaker 2: just keep on my journey knowing that I know the
[29:03] Speaker 2: end is going to work out. So in the end
[29:06] Speaker 2: it works out. They come back to the shop, they
[29:08] Speaker 2: tell me a Magical, Magical, Miss April, it worked out.
[29:12] Speaker 2: We know it would, and we crown them.
[29:14] Speaker 1: That's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Now that's in the works now,
[29:18] Speaker 1: production work.
[29:20] Speaker 2: It's in pre production. Now. We just dropped the trailer,
[29:23] Speaker 2: but it's in pre production.
[29:24] Speaker 1: We'll production that we see that show. Where will we
[29:27] Speaker 1: see that show?
[29:28] Speaker 2: So right now is going to be available on YouTube,
[29:30] Speaker 2: but so funny. We dropped the trailer and people are
[29:33] Speaker 2: already messaging me saying, why are you taking this to YouTube?
[29:35] Speaker 2: Why is there anyone buying it? I'm like, well, let's talk,
[29:38] Speaker 2: let's have a conversation.
[29:40] Speaker 1: Right right. Well, you know, oblation because of independent programming,
[29:44] Speaker 1: YouTube streaming and all that, you can't you don't have
[29:46] Speaker 1: to wait on anybody. And you've already shown what your
[29:49] Speaker 1: brand that you just put it out there. You have
[29:52] Speaker 1: control of it. You put it out there and let
[29:55] Speaker 1: the general public set the markers of excitement. That's what happened.
[30:00] Speaker 1: You put it out there. You just be in April,
[30:02] Speaker 1: which I love about you just be in April. Now
[30:05] Speaker 1: that that is a motivating quality that I think that
[30:08] Speaker 1: naturally comes across with your personality. Natural comes across when
[30:13] Speaker 1: the ideas come to you, when people come to you
[30:16] Speaker 1: for advice, What are some of the things or is
[30:19] Speaker 1: it a couple of things or is the motivating tools
[30:21] Speaker 1: you immediately give them? April.
[30:26] Speaker 2: I subscribe to a book called The Secret, The Game
[30:29] Speaker 2: of Life and How to Play It? The Who not How?
[30:34] Speaker 2: I believe in asking for what you want and then
[30:41] Speaker 2: believing that you're going to receive it. But have a
[30:45] Speaker 2: clear focus on what the end result looks like, and
[30:51] Speaker 2: then you don't worry about how it's going to happen.
[30:54] Speaker 2: You just laser being on how the end is going
[30:59] Speaker 2: to be. I was just made aware, which I gotta
[31:01] Speaker 2: read this story of mister Walt Disney, since I brought
[31:03] Speaker 2: him up before. He his company was going down several times,
[31:13] Speaker 2: but he already knew how big it was going to be.
[31:16] Speaker 2: So the other part was just semantics. It's like, Okay,
[31:19] Speaker 2: we's got it. I mean, it's gonna connect the dots
[31:20] Speaker 2: and it's gonna figure it out. But I already know
[31:23] Speaker 2: that Walt Disney is gonna be the largest brand in
[31:25] Speaker 2: the world. He never once doubted to say. I don't
[31:30] Speaker 2: think this is gonna work out. I'm back in the red.
[31:34] Speaker 2: I just need to pull out real entrepreneurs like me,
[31:39] Speaker 2: real moguls like me, people who are going to change
[31:42] Speaker 2: the game, change the universe, leave a legacy. They don't quit.
[31:47] Speaker 2: So I tell my fellow entrepreneurs, you gotta show up
[31:51] Speaker 2: every day. You gotta be consistent, and you have to
[31:54] Speaker 2: be willing not to quit, because I'm afraid of quitting before.
[32:00] Speaker 2: It terrifies me to know that I was just about
[32:04] Speaker 2: to turn the corner before Walmart called me to know
[32:08] Speaker 2: I was just about to turn the corner before I
[32:11] Speaker 2: got this call. I just got to keep turning these
[32:14] Speaker 2: corners to see what's behind them.
[32:17] Speaker 1: I love it. I love it Afro you the Corner
[32:19] Speaker 1: brand designed to represent the uniqueness of women and children
[32:23] Speaker 1: of color that's truly diverse and inclusive fashion April Showers.
[32:28] Speaker 1: You know, I always do these shows, and the blessing
[32:32] Speaker 1: is I always learn something from them. I've learned motivation
[32:36] Speaker 1: from you. I've learned keep the faith. I've learned that
[32:41] Speaker 1: don't be intimidated when you look around that corner, because
[32:44] Speaker 1: all you see is opportunity, April, That's all you see,
[32:47] Speaker 1: and you want to look around that corner. A lot
[32:49] Speaker 1: of people fear. You've also told me that when tragedy
[32:55] Speaker 1: or dark moments happened, don't stop understand and the importance
[33:00] Speaker 1: of respecting that moment, dealing with that moment, but don't
[33:04] Speaker 1: let that sidetrack you from the mission. And that's why
[33:09] Speaker 1: we're on this call today, is that you have exemplified
[33:12] Speaker 1: every quality that I like to talk about on Money
[33:15] Speaker 1: Making Conversation Masterclass. And I always tell people to leave
[33:19] Speaker 1: with your gifts. You're not only leaving with your gifts,
[33:22] Speaker 1: you promote them, and you're not only promoting them, but
[33:24] Speaker 1: you're sharing them and you are managing your life. You're
[33:29] Speaker 1: a great dancer. You're out there on a social scene.
[33:32] Speaker 1: You drop your ball off at LSU Go Tigers and
[33:36] Speaker 1: guess what I got one mode You're gonna get right
[33:38] Speaker 1: And my friend afro Unicorn. Now when I walk in
[33:42] Speaker 1: this door, I know you are the first black licenseee
[33:47] Speaker 1: in a major retail market. Congratulations.
[33:50] Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. Can I tell them where
[33:52] Speaker 2: to find me?
[33:53] Speaker 1: Just ma'am?
[33:53] Speaker 2: Do you think you can find me at got April
[33:56] Speaker 2: Showers on social media? I am April Showers is my
[34:01] Speaker 2: website at Afrinicorn Undersquare Official and afrinacorn dot com. Thank
[34:06] Speaker 2: you so much for having me.
[34:08] Speaker 1: This has been another edition of Moneymaking Conversation Masterclass hosted
[34:12] Speaker 1: by me Rushaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests on
[34:15] Speaker 1: the show today and thank you our listening to the
[34:17] Speaker 1: audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
[34:20] Speaker 1: I want to be a guest on the show, visit
[34:22] Speaker 1: Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is Moneymaking conversation.
[34:27] Speaker 1: Join us next week and remember to always leave with
[34:30] Speaker 1: your gifts. Keep winning,

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