TELLING OUR STORY Atlanta Business League Podcasts

This is a story about storytellers.  Janis Ware has published the Atlanta Voice for 42 years.  It's a newspaper written for the African-American audience in Atlanta, GA.  But there's more to her life's work.  It starts with her father, J. Lowell Ware an immensely talented and hardworking man who honored a deathbed request that changed his life.  Lowell was far-sighted, creative and had an extremely strong personality.  When he paid his only daughter's college tuition at the University of Georgia - she had planned to work with him only long enough to pay off her debt to him. It didn't work that way.Instead, her father directed her to get a real estate and real estate broker's license and she discovered her passion for financial literacy.  She also developed a talent for flipping properties at a time when white Atlanta residents were moving to the suburbs.  She asked for and received 75 separate houses as donations to a community organization she and her father created.  They rehabbed the homes and sold them to families who wanted to live within the city limits.Janis also talks about the incredible shifts that have taken place within the print industry and how those shifts have affected the reading habits of her audience.  Her ability to adapt is both admirable and amazing, but the good news about this story is that there is a third generation in the family that has already started to take the reigns of publishing the paper.  The younger generation is also adding ideas and potential streams of income to an Atlanta publication that has served its audience for 57 years - and counting. 

This podcast is about two legal warriors who have spent the last 30 years protecting the concepts of equity in the courts, through analysis and by helping municipalities create policies that withstand assault.  Rodney Strong and Delmarie Griffin are also a married couple who have come together from very different backgrounds. Delmarie was raised in Columbus, GA and attended an HBCU as an undergraduate and the University of Georgia for her law and business degrees. Rodney Strong was raised in Memphis, TN by parents who were active in the NAACP.  One of his strongest memories is being a 5-year-old child who couldn't go to McDonald's because it was segregated. Both came of age as Jim Crow racial separation ended and the struggle to merge ideals in the newly integrated workplaces began.  Rodney Strong was mentored by people who were looked at as giants in his home state and Atlanta, GA.  He gained a reputation for combatting, and winning against, court rulings that threatened the concepts of DEI  (diversity, equity and inclusion).  His life's work started when former Mayor Andrew Young hired him to be the compliance officer for the City of Atlanta.  It continues through his firm, Griffin & Strong PC.  Delmarie worked as a corporate attorney for Hughes Aircraft for ten years.  She handled compliance and HR in government contracting with high clearance levels. The unexpected factor in this couple's story  is their  London School of Economics trained, Ph.D.-holding daughter.  She received a top-rated education and brought her skills back to the family firm as its director of operations.  When this interview took place, one of the most unsettling court cases on affirmative action in higher education  in recent history had not taken place.  But Rodney and Delmarie  knew it was on the horizon and were already prepared to tackle its ramifications.  They also showcase that the skills and experience they bring to clients are often stronger than those offered by majority-owned firms that dabble in Griffin & Strong's chosen legal fields of compliance and equity.   This podcast is both a profile and a story about family.  You will learn more than just what Delmarie Griffin, Dr. Imani Tucker and Rodney Strong do; you'll learn a great deal about who they are.  

This  podcast is a 30 minute history lesson.  When you listen, you'll hear stories about Black entrepreneurs who lived in  1800s, 1900s and 20th century that will make your jaw drop.  That's because William F. Pickard, Ph.D.  qualifies to be a part of this series for two reasons.  He's a very successful Black business owner  with more than 50 years of experience that includes owning a McDonald's franchise, a casino co-owner and being a parts supplier to major car manufacturers in Detroit, MI.  He's also a researcher and his field of choice is Black business history.  He's a great story teller and  shares facts most people have never heard. He spends a little more than 30 minutes describing what Black people did about banking - in the days before white owned financial institutions would accept their business.  He tells a fascinating tale about the family of Horace L. King, a Black builder who started constructing bridges while enslaved.  He also explains why there were devastating financial penalties attached to several Black industries after integration swept the nation. Along the way he drops hints to the fact that he's a billionaire.  But he's one who is committed to Black business development and has backed that belief with his dollars.  However,  it's probably the final story of the podcast that may stick with you the longest.  Dr. Pickard talks about how the  Negro Education Association in Georgia,   made all Black schools teach civics and political science classes - in 1920.  He doesn't say it.  But listeners will understand that a 20-year-old person taking one of those courses that year, wouldn't be able to apply what was learned - until 1964.  If that doesn't make sense to you - listen to the podcast.  It will.   You'll also see why it's a privilege and is of incredible value to have a gifted successful and articulate person,  show such passion for Black business history.  

This is an episode about the second generation of an incredible African American family.   We describe the topics discussed as generational continuance. Herman Jerome Russell founded his Atlanta based construction company in 1952.  He made it one of the largest Black owned companies in the United States and then diversified.  He owned a beer distributorship.  He managed real estate and he raised three children with his first wife, Otelia Hackney Russell. Those children have run their father's companies for decades.  They are not resting on his accomplishments.  The awe inspiring futuristic look of Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta and the National Museum of African American Culture and History in Washington, D.C. were erected under the leadership of the 2nd generation of Russells.But this isn't a podcast about buildings.  It's a story about families and what children remember when their father is building an empire.  Michael and Jerome Russell discuss family dynamics, personal aspirations and what it was like to live in one of the most famous homes in Georgia as children. They also show a level of love and respect for each other and what their father's legacy that's both touching and inspiring. 

Milton Jones, Jr.  is one of the most respected business leaders in Atlanta, GA.  He has a professional history in finance that spans decades and can trace his family tree back generations in Atlanta.  However, there's one characteristic about him that  almost everyone knows.  Milton's mathematical skills are so formidable that he has a nickname.  He's known as the walking calculator.   It's an attribute that  has impressed many people during his years as an executive banker.  But his ability to conduct  complicated equations "in his head" started long before that.   More than one member of Milton's family seems to have had that same talent and they made sure he developed it - starting at age four. But this is not just a podcast about a gifted finance guy.  It's also the story of a family who knew that their legacy would be lived through decendents capable of increasing their assets by developing their minds.  Milton's professional life exceeded their expectations.  He understood the responsibility that came with the way he was raised before he went to college in Indiana.  However, experiences in college allowed him to see life from a drastically different point of view.  It's a perspective that he carried with him after graduation and helped him to make history in the world of banking at age 39.  He did amazing things in major financial institutions until he and three other experienced African Americans decided to start their own bank.  It was a great success - until it wasn't. That didn't stop him or break his spirit.  In fact, he pushed past an incredibly unfair disappointment and co-founded a small business.  He still runs that company, and was doing so when he made history for a second time in his life.  Milton Jones, Jr. is the first African American to chair the United Negro College Fund.  He took that position in 2022.  This year he added another prestigious title when the members of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. voted him to be the chair of their 7,000 member organization.  This podcast is about a fascinating, dedicated and gifted man who needs to write a book.  However, by the time the podcast ends you realize he's too busy sharing his incredible leadership gifts to do that.  So what you learn about this man's impressive life will have to be a placeholder until he has time to share stories about himself with a much wider audience. 

The most important thing to know about T. Dallas Smith and Leonte Benton is that they are not quitters.  That shared characteristic has allowed them to make history.    T. Dallas broke barriers in commercial real estate by becoming the first African American broker in the Atlanta market and possibly the state of Georgia. He started his career, officially, in 1982 and  immediately learned it’s a very insular business.   He quickly understood the rules of the game and restructured his resume so that no one would who read it would think about race.  That meant deleting his time attending Tennessee State and even playing basketball from the written record of his accomplishments.  The foresight and planning worked.  The revamped resume landed him a chance to do a phone pre-interview with Thomas W. Tift, Jr.  Tift invited him to an in-office interview and was completely shocked when a young, Black man walked through the door.  Tift told his secretary the job interview with T. Dallas was going to be very short.  It lasted three hours.  T. Dallas not only landed a job in commercial real estate. He gained a mentor and a father figure with Tift.  He learned a lot about the business from a man whose family had owned property for generations.  Six years later T. Dallas left to find work at a larger company.  He  faced obstacles because neither of the two largest commercial real estate companies in Atlanta, GA had ever hired an African American broker.  One company told them they still weren’t ready to do so.  That was in 1989.  T. Dallas still managed to get his experience, take his lumps and then start his own company with a professional ball player as a business partner.   But he was burned out when the ball player met Morehouse College student Leonte Benton.  Leonte’s elevator pitch impressed the ball player who passed the young man’s telephone number on to T. Dallas.    The realtor had no plans to mentor anyone and thought he had a foolproof plan to send the young man packing.  It didn’t work.  In fact, Leonte shocked T. Dallas when the two met up again less than one month later. T. Dallas  was not pleased, but kept his promise and took Leonte on board.  It turned out to be the best decision of his life.  Leonte’s path toward meeting T. Dallas was also unconventional.  He had wanted to be in commercial real estate since he was a child.  But he didn’t come from a family with wealth, a history of traditional  entrepreneurship or even people with college degrees.  Instead, a godfather that made him see life as it really was and nurtured his drive to do good. That guidance put him in the right place to impress T. Dallas. There was another factor that guided the professional life experiences of both men.  They  credit the voice of God with helping them on their journey.  That voice made them change their hearts on more than one occasion.  It made them dream catchers instead of dream chasers. The ability to make changes that started in the hearts and radiated to other parts of their lives allowed them to build a true father and son relationship. Once their bond was forged, something explosive happened to them professionally. The company T. Dallas Smith founded became extremely successful.  In 2020, his company landed a contract with Microsoft that was the largest real estate deal done in the United States that year.  The company passed another milestone in 2022.  T. Dallas turned 60 and named Leonte as president of his company.  He’s 38.  This is a story about big business real estate from perspectives not usually acknowledged.  It gives a glimpse into the lives of two very successful Black men who show how hard work and preparation isn’t always enough to make it in one of the most lucrative industries in the world. 

Shirley Clark Franklin is remembered by most people as being the 58th mayor for the City of Atlanta, Georgia.   However, she had more than 20 years in various positions of city government that gave her a firm grasp on organizational structure.  But her leadership training began much earlier than that.  Shirley grew up in Philadelphia, PA.  and had unique life experiences.  She spent years training with one of the most recognized professional dancers in the world. She attended one of the oldest African American churches in the United States and attended an all girls public school run by Quakers.  She began making fiercely independent decisions for her life.  She told her rather not to give her money  to use on a downpayment of a car.  She wanted to use the money to go to Africa.  That changed her life. So did a teaching experience in Talladega, Al which is where she lived before moving to Atlanta in the late 1970s.  It's then she met a cadre of truly brilliant people who worked with Atlanta's first African American mayor, Maynard Jackson.   Shirley names them and explains what they did to establish the policies that gave the African American business community a strong foundation.   That business foundation helped Atlanta, GA gain the winning bid  for the 1996 summer Olympics.  Again, Shirley held a pivotal position during those important summer weeks.  But her motivation for taking a high ranking job with the organization is once again, related to her desire to see equity in business relations for women and minorities.Shirley Franklin's life is history lesson on a variety of topics.  She has spent her life surrounded by fascinating people.  Many of them changed  the business landscape in Atlanta, GA.   She spends a lot of her time giving them their due in this edition of Lessons from Leaders. 

This is a special edition of Atlanta Business League DUOs.  It features interviews from two Herman J. Russell CEO of the Year award recipients and the person conducting both interviews is ABL Chair Emeritus Albert G. Edwards.  These three men are powerhouse leaders.  Greer is the Co-President of Greenberg Traurig,  an international law firm that has more than 2,500 attorneys. Womack is the Chair, President and CEO of Georgia Power a subsidiary of the Southern Company,  it posted  assets of more than 53 billion dollars in 2022.   Edwards is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Corporate Environmental Risk Management, LLC (CERM), a nationally award winning regional engineering, environmental, and program management firm. Edwards interviewed Greer at the Greenberg Traurig headquarters in 2021 - because almost everything was produced virtually because of the COVID epidemic.  Womack's interview was recorded in front of a live audience during the ABL's CEO of the Year ceremonies in 2022.    The information gathered from all three of these outstanding and successful individual covers everything from collegiate sports to fishing for brim.  You'll have to listen to see how these topics impacts each man's life.  There is one other section on this podcast.  Host Marti Covington provides a brief history of the organization sponsoring this series  and why so many powerful African-American professionals in Atlanta respect it. 

Roosevelt Giles could only attend school, as a child, when it rained. Yet, he was such a talented technology person that a Republican billionaire from South Carolina, USA, sought him out and mentored him.  As a result, Roosevelt became an incredible international business owner with technical skills that were so impressive that he was a keynote speaker at major conferences all of the country.   He sat on stages that also featured Microsoft computer founder, Bill Gates and the president of communications giant, AT&T.  None of these accomplishments inflated his ego to a point where he became unapproachable.  Instead, he used his resources and contacts to help one of the most iconic African-American owned businesses in Atlanta, GA get acquired and become a company that has the potential to operate in perpetuity. This podcast ends by describing Roosevelt's newest challenge.  Roosevelt’s brother asked him to run a marathon in all 50 states and all 7 continents. He was successful in completing both.Roosevelt Giles's life is incredible because it ties so many separate parts of the American story together. He dramatically demonstrates what can happen when the right sequence of events combine with specific individuals to change a person's life.  Listening to this podcast about Roosevelt Giles may change how you think about the way the world works.  

When Andrella Kenner was a little girl her mother exposed her to a series of aviation professionals in  Nashville, Tennessee airport.  That information gave her the foundation necessary to establish an aerospace, information technology and aviation company that operates in three countries and 22 locations. What position did Andrella's mother hold at the airport?  She was a waitress.  This podcast explains how her  mother's job helped Andrella learn about entire industries that most African-Americans didn't know existed.   Andrella used that knowledge to create, C1 Square,  a company that employs air traffic controllers  and aviation professionals.   This podcast episode discusses more than  just Andrella's success.  It also allows her son,  Michael Baylis II, to share his professional life story.    He explains the  impact his grandmother had in his life and why he didn't think about becoming a part of his mother's very successful company when he chose his first career.  This is a podcast about succession and parenting.  It also shows that the experience family members from previous generations have had  can help shape success  in professions that are technically sophisticated, but still powered by people. This is a story about the  generational transmission of knowledge and why in this family, it became  another way to transfer wealth. 

There are very lucrative industries that aren't considered glamorous.  The fast food industry falls in that category for most people, but not for Mack Wilbourn, Jr.  He owns an Atlanta, GA based company named Mack II.   It has operated for more than 50 years and has allowed Mack to develop extraordinary business partnerships.  He is the franchise operator for more than five fast food brands that operate out of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.  He also has a partnership with the Coca-Cola company for airport vending machines.  But he started the development of his business portfolio much earlier in his life as a McDonald's fast food operator.   He was trained by McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc; became the eighth Black person in the country to be a McDonald's franchise owner and was assigned his first store in Atlanta, GA. Life changed for Mack after that.  He met and mingled with movers and shakers.  He became such a well known political contributor that four United States presidents came to his home for fundraisers.  There were challenges, too.   One of them forced Mack out of his first franchise ownership position.  He now says it's the best thing that ever happened to him.   He explains why in this podcast and also offers a perspective about why more Black restaurant owners don't expand.  Mack Wilbourn's story is an example of what happens when someone finds their calling early in life and uses all of the resources available to chase and catch dreams. 

The sale of cars, travel and dealerships has a history in African-American communities that is often ignored or unknown.   That's why the story of Gregory and Juanita Baranco is so inspiring.  They own two Mercedes Benz car dealerships.  One is in one of the ritziest zip codes in Atlanta, Ga and the other is in their home state of Louisiana.  In this episode of ABL DUOs you will hear stories about three generations of Juanita Powell Baranco's  family and  learn why Gregory walked away from a guaranteed occupation as a dentist to be a "car guy."However, what makes the Baranco's individual stories about business success even more powerful is the fact that they achieved their impressive accomplishments as a married couple.  Greg and Juanita celebrated 54 years of marriage when this podcast was recorded.  They are also the parents of four grown children and several grandchildren. These two also have individual accomplishments that few can claim.  For example, Juanita is an attorney who never lost a case in 30 years and Gregory  founded two organizations that have changed how Black, brown and beige auto dealer owners collaborate all over the country. This podcast is the epitome of why ABL DUOs was created.  Each of these two people is worthy of accolades because of his and her success in business as individuals and it just doubles when you examine what they have achieved together. 

This is the final episode created for Black Music Month, which is in June.  This broadcast completes a trilogy of information about the business side of music as experienced by the professionals who are in the industry.   Peabo Bryson is unique in this category because, at the time of his interview, he has been a performer for 58 years.  His life story is fascinating. It also covers a variety of topics which include the exhilaration of being one of the most recognized R&B voices in the industry; to the absolute sorrow that came with experiencing a very public fight with the Internal Revenue Service.  What you will learn, when you listen to him talk,  is that his integrity and incredible singing talent allowed him to rebuild his career and that tangling with taxes made him a much more astute businessman.  Peabo is the father of a 5-year-old son and the survivor of a major health crisis.  But he still is an incredible performer who still books sold-out shows.  In fact, he's so confident in his ability that he croons a few bars from one of the first songs he ever wrote during the interview. This podcast will help anyone listening understand why this particular musician is so adored by millions all over the world.  It will also offer a window in the financial machinations that both elevate and twist the lives of musicians who entertain us.  

This episode takes a look at what structured  business planning looks like at the beginning of a person's career in a creative industry.  This is the story of Jacques and Maretta Johnson; mother and son.   Jacques, in June 2023, is a 26-year-old musician. He's had a mild degree of success,  has opened for internationally known acts and has his own reality TV program on a local station.   His mother has  a locally produced television series, too.  But what makes their story a part of the Atlanta Business League's TELLING OUR STORY series is their application of best business practices to the music industry.   Jacques became a solo performer at age 15. His mom used her marketing degree, experience as a paralegal and the knowledge she gained successfully bringing an invented product to market to  structure  her eldest son's career.  This means some of the financial mistakes young artists make have been avoided. But there are other aspects of making solid business decisions that can't be easily quantified.  They represent the  human side of any business formula and showing  how it has impacted the  lives and growth of  this mother and son team is what makes their stories so interesting. 

June  is Black Music Month in the United States. This episode of LESSONS from LEADERS actually offers a mini-lesson about the music industry from the perspective of a professional who has been able to experience it from two different views.  Frank Ski is the professional name of a radio personality who has been entertaining  African-American audiences in major markets up and down the East coast for 20 years.   In 2023,  he is syndicated with morning shows airing in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, GA. But Frank Ski is also a musician.  His first producing attempt actually earned him a minor hit.  It also threw him into a maelstrom of learning about the pitfalls of producing music and making money.  Frank, however, had a secret weapon in the form of a mentor, who was also an attorney.  The legal advice he received at the beginning of his career set him up for a string of business successes.  It did not prevent him from encountering other types of financial problems. He is both gracious and blunt when explaining what he has encountered.  In this episode you learn about European royalties a distribution company never paid, a tax mistake that cost him a boatload of money and, on the positive side;  a decision he made in 1997 that gave him a multi-million music payday in 2022.  There is  still a lot of the Frank Ski story to tell.  This podcast just gives listeners a sample of why this man has impacted so many lives.  It also shows why he is giant in an industry that many people never learn to navigate. 

Friendship and respect,  in a challenging academic setting, helped  mold two women into history making captains of industries. Before Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice became President and Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA she studied chemical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.  That's where she met Wonya Lucas,  another chem-E student. Both were young,  extremely bright African-American women who needed to escape  unpleasant college roommates. They roomed with each other, graduated from GaTech and went on to become life long friends who broke barriers in important arenas. Wonya  Lucas is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hallmark Media.  It's a position that suits her perfectly because, in addition to earning an engineering degree, she holds an MBA from Wharton and has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the broadcast cable industry.  This podcast shows the path each of these two women took to achieve their C Suite careers.   This episode is unique, though, because most of the half hour is spent allowing  Wonya and Dr. Rice  to interview each other.   There is laughter,  moments of sadness and a whole lot of truth telling because these are friends who have stood by each other for decades.  What they say about their lives and to each other has the potential to inspire everyone who hears this broadcast. 

Science and business are not two topics that ordinarily operate in sync.  But this episode of LESSONS from LEADERS focuses on the achievements of an extraordinary man.  Lonnie Johnson's name might jog something in your memory that makes you smile.  That's because he's the acknowledged inventor of the Super Soaker a powerful water gun that, at one time,  was the best selling toy in the world.  This podcast allows Lonnie the opportunity to explain why something that became so well liked took ten years to go from concept to the cash register.  Along the way he tells stories about his time as an inventor rocket scientist  at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; a nuclear engineer for international space programs that are still receiving data and a teenager nicknamed "the professor" who built a functioning robot in his mother's Alabama kitchen.  This podcast will let you hear stories about a man who is humble but fiercely self assured.  This Hall of Fame inventor has faced challenges that would stop most people from reaching their life's potential.  Nothing has fazed him, which is why he has been able to secure funding for an engine that uses waste heat for power and a battery that has no moving parts.  Lonnie Johnson's story of taking the time to learn hard lessons in business is a blueprint for other inventors and many other creatives.  What he takes the time to share is invaluable information.  

This is a story about friendship.  Ryan Wilson and T.K. Petersen met each other in college.  However, learning  about their lives before they shared a dorm room on the campus of Georgetown University really helps more people understand why Variety Magazine, INC.,  Wired,  USA TODAY, Bloomberg,  Black Enterprise,   The Guardian, The Root,   All the Fly Kids,   Buzzfeed  and many, many more label them - with astonishment,  as super-star entrepreneurs.Ryan and T.K. started a membership club called The Gathering Spot in 2016.  In 2023, it has more than 13,000 members and locations in Atlanta, Ga., Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, Ca.  Both call Atlanta, GA home and started their company in that city.  But it's really their friendship and worldview that makes what has happened in their personal lives and their company so very listen worthy. 

This is the story about how a brilliant builder used  the life  gifts of a stable family upbringing, good education,  and both cultural and business mentorship to do more than just benefit himself. Egbert Perry L. J. Perry is the dynamic and articulate chair and president of the Integral Group, LLC.  It's described as an Atlanta, GA based  real estate development, advisory, and investment management company.  However, under Perry's leadership the company has created urban environments with livability scales that were unthinkable before he came along. This podcast allows listeners to hear more than just stories about inner city building projects.  The topics of market permission, the Atlanta Project and the reasons poverty is treated as a crime are examined in ways not usually discussed. Perry also explains the global housing market from his perspective as the former chair of the $3 trillion organization, FANNIE MAE. LESSONS from LEADERS is produced as part of the Atlanta Business League's 90th Anniversary celebration. 

This episode of ABL DUOs actually aired during one of the Atlanta Business League's signature events, the Super Tuesday conference, in 2021.  The event is the largest gathering of Black business and professionals in the United States. It is an all day conference that has several segments and this Q&A session ran as a 45 minute broadcast.  The two women who are a part of today's podcast are mold breaking icons in Atlanta, GA.   Monica Pearson is the first African American woman to anchor an evening newscast for a local network affiliate television station.   Leah Ward Sears is the first Black woman in the United States to hold the position of  a state Chief  Supreme Court Justice. Monica retired from her television news on air position and Justice Sears is now in private practice.    But both women share their life stories, both professionally and personally, with passion and honesty. This is broadcast is presented in honor of Women's History Month.