A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to chat with Carl Pretorius the founder of Red Espresso. Red Espresso is a new tea company from South Africa that seeks to take the US tea market by storm. Check out some excerpts from my conversation with Carl. -!YG
I hope that you found Part One to be interesting to read. Here is Part Two of my conversation with Steve Stoute. Steve & I talked about the power of the internet, what keeps him motivated and the haters. (Part 1- Click Here)-!YG
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A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to chat with Steve Stoute. Steve has definitely done a wonderful job of establishing a solid track record as a power broker in the Music Biz and in the Marketing/Advertising space with Translation (his company for those not familiar). I’ve admired Steve’s grustle since the Trackmaster days & he continues to raise the bar of excellence and achievement in the area of Brand Building. Steve’s company Translation has worked with numerous brands like McDonalds, RBK, Samsung, GM, HP and Carol’s Daughter (which he also runs). We chatted about a range of topics from what motivates him to what its like working with Jay-Z. Check out some excerpts from our conversation, I hope that you find it informative. -!YG
LA: I’ve always had a very diverse set of interests. My degrees are in chemistry and business, I’m a competitive athlete and I am fascinated by fashion, architecture and design. When I worked with a well-known kitchen and bath designer, I started adding to his residential projects with my input on wardrobe enhancement. Soon after I launched a wardrobe division for that company with the intention of making closets on-par with other luxurious living spaces in the home. Much like designing modern boudoirs, I wanted to create multi-functional wardrobe storage spaces that add to the value and experience of a home aesthetically and functionally. The reaction from clients was amazing so I made the decision to take that wardrobe design concept on my own and launched LA Closet Design. I am currently building my Pacific Design Center Showroom. It is a thrilling stage for my company.
This young man has been getting a lot of press for the past couple of weeks. I won’t front I threw a few softball questions @ him. I’ll do a follow up interview with him in a few weeks. I still have a lot of unanswered questions. Shout out 2 Joe Colli… -!YG
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Sickamore: I’m shocked at the level of response, actually. The feedback has been mostly positive. There must’ve been over 500 passionate e-mails regarding the resigning blog. I think people are just as frustrated as I am with the current state of things. There needs to be a change.
Sickamore: Not as hard as you think. What’s the worst that could happen? People would think I got fired? Who cares what people think. I’d be jobless? It was my first job! I know how to make money without a position. Those 2 reasons aren’t worth losing my soul.
Sickamore: They make a lot of money. I’m talking millions a year in salary, bonuses etc. It’s a sinking ship, but instead of trying to save the boat, they’re just looting it. Stuffing all their bags with the money and giving all their employees buckets.
Sickamore: A lot more freedom. They don’t have anything over me this way. they’re hiring The Firm to make a change. They know it’s a f’ed up model and they want to make some kind of effort. But it’ll never do a complete 180 without new people.
YG: Hey Dan! Thanks again 4 taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me. I’m sure you are still on cloud 9 with the successful Grand Opening of your 14th St. location in NYC. I definitely took the opportunity 2 try out your fro-yo. How has the response been so far in NYC with the Village & 14th locations?
DAN: THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN FANTASTIC! NEIGHBORHOODS SUCH AS THE VILLAGE AND UNION SQUARE WEST HAVE DISCRIMINATING CUSTOMERS WHO DEMAND QUALITY IN BOTH THE FOODS THEY EAT AND THE TOTAL RETAIL EXPERIENCE. RED MANGO IS FOCUSED ON PROVIDING CUSTOMERS WITH THE BEST-TASTING YOGURT IN AN INVITING AND COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT, WHICH I BELIEVE IS WHY THE RESPONSE TO ALL OF OUR NY RED MANGO STORES HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY POSITIVE.
I got a chance 2 chat with my dude Rik Cordero. We talked about videos, movies, politricks and Y he is the hottest Video Director in the game right now. You know he’s the homey… he throwing out my government….. lol! -!YG
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YG: Hey Rik! Thx 4 taking time from the editing suite to meet with me. Did you catch the Giants whip ass in the Super Bowl? Who did you have your $ on?
Rik: Honestly, I don’t really feel any pressure to raise the bar. I’m not even sure that I raised it. I think I simply adapted to this digital age of filmmaking and applied a combination of stories about real life struggles with my love for Hip Hop. Since I did a lot with the internet last year, the assumption is that I’ll receive bigger budgets and have more expensive items on screen. That’s not really where my interest lie. It exists in capturing the human condition and finding inspiration everytime I step outside. The moment I stopped thinking about success in terms of budgets and money and more about how successful I could make myself to others is when I became extremely motivated. Naturally I do have to make a living off of this so my business has to be straight. But my movement is a much bigger picture and my goal is much deeper than trying to get more money to make a Hip Hop music video. I could very well take the typical budget of a mainstream director and create quality feature films. 
We’ll see…
YG: Colin I would like to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me. I know ur busy having one of the hottest songs on the net right now. 
How do you feel about that?
Colin: Think nothing of it.. I enjoy answering questions actually! It’s obviously amazing that the track has had this kind of response. I thought it might get a little attention but nothing like this. I don’t know how I feel about people saying they like it better than Kanye’s version… I fell in love with the original which is why I wanted to do something with it. I’ve got nothing but the utmost respect for him and obviously my version would never have existed without his version first. But I appreciate the fact that people seem to really identify with my version.
