SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Exit Proof Podcast, the show for entrepreneurs ready to build a name that outlasts their business. I am your host, Kwame Kwade, Inc. 500 founder, Shark Tank Alum, and Ajahn professor of finance at Johns Hopkins University Kerry Business School. Here is the truth most founders learn too late. Every business has an exit. One day you will sell it, close it, or hand it off. But your name doesn't have to exit with it. We are living in the known economy right now. Attention is everywhere, and being known is all that is left. The founders who endure are the ones building a name, no sale, no algorithm, and no market can take away. Today's guest is that idea in motion. People don't just know his company, they know him. He turned his own name into a category. Joining us today is Delano David Massey, widely known as Mr. B2G. Delano is a veteran, entrepreneur, government contracting strategist, author, and founder of Mr. B2G and Associates. For more than three decades, he has helped businesses pursue and secure hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts while advising organizations on GovCon strategy, procurement, capture, proposal development, compliance, and sustainable public sector growth. He is also the visionary behind the Proposal Factory, an AI-enabled government contracting and proposal operating system. A retired US Army Jag Corp veteran and former EO Atlanta president, Delano is passionate about helping businesses become government ready, win the right opportunities, and grow with purpose. Thank you, Delano, for joining us today on the Exit Proof Podcast. Nice. So I want to start right off with you know, doing my research for this podcast. One of the interesting things that I found was that you founded Jacob's Eye in 2004 while you were still in the army. And then, you know, you took a detour. I don't know if it's a detour or whether it was intentional, but you then went to Hollywood doing screenwriting, producing for Steve Harvey. So my question there is, you know, was the agency the detour or was Hollywood the detour?

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Got it, got it. Yeah. Actually, Los Angeles is home. It's where I grew up as a child. Uh, it is where um I went to some school, all of my K through 12 and some college there. I went to uh UCLA, graduated, graduate degree, and so on and so forth, film, television. Uh, but you know, believe it or not, when you talk about Hollywood, I caught the Hollywood bug very early in life, Kwame. I uh most people don't know this, and I hope nobody goes out and tries to research it, but I was a child actor. And uh, you know, really cool commercials with me doing all kinds of wild things. I remember I was I was doing something for Apple Brand, I can't mention the name, but I was like this young kid. I had this huge big red apple, and I had to bite into it. You had like juice running down my face, and it was like this big promotion of agricultural products, and it was a lot of fun. So don't find those clips, don't find those 15, 30-second spots that exist out there. I'm I'm just old enough where it would be really hard to find it. If I was a younger guy, Kwame, you know, you probably could just do an internet search and there I'll be. So I was actually going back home, and as I was kind of retiring out of the military, I actually had um a medical retirement because I had a really bad fall and some some some challenging things happened with my lower extremity extremities, which we could talk about. But uh I was kind of going back to to my roots and and knowing that I was going to rebuild a this this thing that that really became you know to this point my signature brand, my signature company, the one that just was the rock star out of all the things that I've done.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Yeah. So let's let's go to the transition from the army. I know that you know, for a lot of people, that you know, it's like a core part of their life experience. And so you talked about you know your exit from the army. Yeah, what what did that bring you in, you know, that you were able to leverage to be able to take Jacob's eye to where it is today?

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Yeah, yeah. You know, the military and serving in the US Army, I was in the Jag Corps, um, it really um gave me a global perspective. Uh it it opened me up to the world, you know, and uh and it was in the military, wasn't it? Then I was in the military, that I fall kind of victim to, and my eyes are open to the fact that, you know, there are, you know, that the the United States doesn't necessarily sit in the middle of the universe, right? You know, and and everything surrounds us, you know. It uh it just gave me a different way of of considering a thousand different things. That definitely weighed into me wanting to operate at a uh a global scale. The other thing that it did, it uh it taught me about logistics and supply chain and uh the need for you know uh services, products to flow through smart processes and to to land in the hands of of a needed consumer to some degree, you know. And I've always had a propensity for business, uh, but um but the military really helped ground a lot of that. And then the third thing is discipline. It brought so much, so much discipline into my life that that was missing that I have now built upon uh to do a lot of different things. And um, and then the and then the last thing is is just risk management. Like there was a lot to say about risk and leaving no soldier behind and what it means to be in a foxhole and not fall asleep because like lives could be you know put at risk, you know, by by by by you not doing what you were supposed to do. So like the stakes rolls in my military service and where I was deployed and some of the things that I could talk about, things I can't talk about and all of that, but right it um it created the foundation for a lot of um a lot of what came thereafter.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Right, right, right. I mean I want to stay on on the army for for a bit. I mean, I think that you know when people think about service, or obviously there is the the honor um of service and and and there is the the building component of service. And then you know, it is one of those things that like sticks with you for life. I mean you talk about discipline and all these other things. So when you if if you were looking back at your career you know, starting from the army, is there any part of that that you would do differently in terms of just the beginning of it?

SPEAKER_01 8:14

You know, um what I didn't mention is back in Los Angeles before the army, on my 18th birthday, I was at the county courthouse, the Los Angeles County Center, whatever it's called, and I was getting my very first business license. So I have literally been a business owner my entire adult life. Um but what I took that with me into the military, I actually had a lot of different things going on. I you know, I had five degrees, um, three undergraduate, two graduate degrees. I started uh my entrepreneurial journey started when I was like 10, but at 18 it was official, and um and so here I was now, you know, wearing these army fatigues. And uh and it's funny you talk about transition, so I think we'll get to a point where we talk and we shifted from you know the military uniform to a business suit. Right, and uh, but it kind of started with a business suit, then I put on military uniform and and kind of wore both and then kind of shifted back to to the business suit. But right, that's a big journey, and uh I'm glad I had some of that seeded from before my military experience. Right. So I had something to come back to, but to uh but but not empty-handed, like with all of these new perspectives and resources and frameworks to kind of like excel right on the business side. But yeah, it um it was interesting um joining the military and serving in the military. I definitely wanted to to serve my country and um um and and own my country, you know, as as a person of color and and and you know, my people being brought here through slavery, you know, um there's there's a lot to to understand and to process um as as a black person in America and and how you find your identity in it all. And it was it was all of these things all kind of swirling around that I needed to to kind of grab and put into the right place so that I had clarity on on how to navigate well and and and um and a lot of that helped me to um I mean you know it most people ask me today is like, you know, what's the one thing that you're really good at? And um what's the one thing that you do, and and it's risk mitigation. You know, I I feel like I wake up and I spend most of the day mitigating risk.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

And and so I'm hearing like I want to call it tension, but you probably have a better word for it, because you started, you know, business has been in your blood, you know, all through like the common thread, and then you you went and and served, and then you came back to business, you know. And so there must have been a pool to to to serve. Um and was that something that was family? Where did that come from? Like where what what what was the impetus for that?

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Yeah, yeah, it's funny, it's it's a lot. You're asking a a loaded question. You probably don't know it, or you maybe you do know it, you know, you're really good at what you do, mommy. Uh so the um hmm. So uh I got a I got my girlfriend pregnant. That's one part, and um, I had to find a way to take care of you know of her and the new baby, and and a way to kind of keep things moving in a good direction because, you know, um I had to continue to do these things that I was called to do with my life. But uh there were these real responsibilities beginning to surface. And my father, you know, he was a professional uh uh athlete, and um he left the sport right wrong or indifferent to come home and kind of take care of uh my wife, my my mother and my brother, uh, who was you know, my older brother who was coming into the world and uh and they needed so he kind of abandoned a lot of things and and he would spend quite a quite a bit of our lives, you know. He talked about how you know that was a sacrifice he he made um for us. And and he didn't really do it in a way where he was kind of like rubbing it in our face, you know, like why we need to respect and appreciate him. It was more about like accountability and responsibility and kind of owning up to decisions you make. And um, you you know you got me you you threw me off with that because now you got me thinking about my dad, and and uh you know, just a few years ago my mother passed, and then six months later my dad passed. And uh I don't get a chance to talk about them as much as I want these days. You're making me think about that. So I don't remember what you asked me.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

If no, but but but no, but but I mean, while we are on it, if if you want to, I mean, I you can talk about him because I mean if it it looks like he was a big you know um factor in some of the big decisions that you made and what it meant to you. So I mean, is it's it's you know, you can go from the angle of what you want to tell him now or what it had meant to you. I mean, you can go with it, or we can move on to the next question.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yeah, we've got a lot of options here, right? I'll say this that you know um he definitely influenced me in my entrepreneurial journey. I remember uh in the summers he used to drive a uh ice cream truck, which I don't know where in Baltimore have you seen, like they come around and the music plays, the kids come hang out. Well, you know, he used to do that every summer, and then my brother and I would kind of take turns going out with him and kind of working the business, and and he would drive and we would work the window. So I learned a lot about customer service and helping them to make a decision on what they wanted to purchase and money management. And I remember one time, I must have been eight, nine, ten, uh, somewhere, you know, very early in life, and uh, and I was working the window, and there was a line, and and all I remember is I looked over, and there was my dad kind of sitting like like we're sitting, and he had the steering wheel and he was kind of watching me, and I was at the window kind of just tolling away with the custom version, grabbing ice cream and changing it for money, and and I and I'll never forget the look of um he was happy to see me in the zone, right? Working the window, yeah, dealing with people, yeah, making decisions, managing money, you know, making sure that the right product was delivered, and if there was something wrong with it, I'd clean it up or do something to make sure presented the way it needed to be presented. And I'll never forget how he was just proudly watching his nine-year-old son operate window. So I, you know, I like to, you know, uh I I definitely would say I've been entrepreneur my whole life, but it uh it didn't start with just me. Right. Like you know, there were seeds planted, and even before my dad, my grandfather, in the in the 50s, as a black man, you know, he um he ran to be the mayor of our city, which is which is a big deal. In Southern California, outside of Los Angeles, a city called Pomona, he ran for freaking mayor and uh he didn't win, but what he did for all of us is he said anything is possible.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Wow, wow. We've been living with that and running with that ever since, all of us. Right, right, right, right. You know, you talked about you know the entrepreneurship bug, and and I know that mine definitely comes from my mother, uh, who always found a way to hustle things out and make you know, because we didn't have much, and so the little money she'll have, she'll buy something to just sell buy and sell, basically arbitrage and or put you know, whatever it is that she could buy and make money off just to take care of her. So, you know, and and that uncertainty of that, but also the independence of that, you know, it's it's all wrapped up in and you learn that very quickly, you know, where one day you're sitting there, she's there in the stall and there's no customer, or like the regulars come in and you know the importance of taking care of the regulars because you send you learn that very quickly. You know, you're happy when the regulars show up because you know those are the people. So I I find I I found you I I really connected with um your story and become a part of your community, yes. Oh, absolutely, absolutely, and an exchange of value, yes, yes, it is, it is, and you know that you know, and sometimes you see that behind the scenes where somebody who has something that your your mom wants, they are essentially battering for certain services, and then there's a trust that is built there, and you you connect to that, you know, and there's a respect, there's a respect among families also for that.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

That's it. That's it. What was your mother's name? She is she still with us?

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Yeah, she is, Agnes. And um she hustled all the way to her. I mean, she's 70, she's only 76 now, and hustled through her mid-60s before she gave it, she stopped doing something.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

So now let me ask you, Kwame, did she thank you and your and your siblings that you guys dealt with?

SPEAKER_00 18:30

One 100%. My dad never, my dad never was my dad was the good guy, you know. Really? You know, he's the kind of looking. He played that role of like he would look at you and he got you got the message, my mom was the yeah, you're playing soccer and he'll come and find you and in the field and and you know you're gonna get it.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

You know you're gonna get it. Unfortunately, in today's society, a dad may go to jail for something like that. Oh my god. It's kidding, but I give him a high five.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Oh, yeah, it shaped us, and today I am grateful for it. You know. Um, so I want to. That's the other thing.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

I have five children. I have three boys and two girls, and uh it's it's it's been an interesting journey of fatherhood to raise them and to see them do the things that they have been able to do. My eldest is Victoria, and she's 28, and she's got her master's degree in, bought her home, and moved to Minnesota, and what's crazy is she was a preemie. So there was a time in her life where her whole body would fit in the palm of my hand as she was in the NICU as 30 30 weeks, you know, in the NICU, and we're sitting there trying to see her grow. And it but I knew Kwame, I knew that she would be victorious, so I actually named her Victoria. Wow. Yeah, wow, that's that's wow. And then it just goes on from there. I got four. Yes, there's a lot of stories.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Yes, there's a lot of time, and then there is differences in how you know how you how they're you know they come up and and and the yeah, I get I get that. So let's wrap up the military part with you know the the there are two different um service, you know, so you have two new coming companies, Eradicate Imperment, and New Vision and OMP. And I know if I'm getting those wrong, correct me. Sure. Yeah, about getting prosthetics and recovery care to people, the system underserves. Yeah, you know, is this a personnel mission? How did these come about?

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Yeah, so in the military, when I served, what brought me to kind of a finish there is I actually fell down a cliff on a duty assignment in Hawaii, supposed to be there to to enjoy the sun and play on the beach, but I was there trucking, you know, as uh military person, and uh, and I fell, and and kind of when I regained consciousness and all of that, you know, I had um some serious issues with my my legs and uh the use of my legs. And um which which led to me, you know, being an inpatient and a spinal cord injury center for close to a year, and then an outpatient, and and uh and I and I and I wish I could say, Kwame, that that it was a miracle and God came in and he like took it all away and and and I'm able to do all these things now like it never happened and and that's just not true. You know, um uh I I every every day there is uh a medical challenge that's being um managed or uh you know uh overcome or are having to succumb to to what it's doing to me and my body. And um and and it's funny, you know, um people usually only see me on my good days. Well the bad days they never see it. So a lot of people don't know I have had to deal with with learning how to walk again. Yeah. So um you're asking me about closing the military, but but it it it's there's there's so much to say about what happened there and how it became a catalyst for all of these other things in my life. But if you jump to eradicate impairment, no, we is about like helping people overcome whatever type of challenge that they have. If it's sight or walking or talking or what have you. And New Vision OMP is a subsidiary of Eradicate Imperiment that focused in on people who have lost the limb, uh, arm, leg, foot, hand, and helping them uh refit them with like a prosthetic device that can allow them to have a better quality of life again. And so that definitely mapped back to when when I was in a wheelchair every day trying to make my way and and and and all of the work that has gone into the last 20 plus years of kind of navigating that space smartly with my with my medical team.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Right, right, right. So this podcast is definitely appropriately uh titled you know, it's looking at the exit, but you cannot look at the exit if you don't look at how we got here. That's right. You know, it won't be sale if you don't. So I don't want to, I want to weave the I want to weave through it in a way that you know lands us on the other two, and I don't want to leave important moments untouched. So, you know, I did not know. I mean, I've known you for a while now. I did not know about the learning to walk, the wheelchair, and all that. And I feel like there is a story there. What I want to tease out is it's a starting over story. So what what being in that moment by yourself, you know, going through that. Yeah, what what how did that shape you in terms of as a moment of just starting off? Because you you're going to this with you know honor, service, and then now you have to deal with this moment where you have to pick yourself back up into a functioning, you know, member to be able to then come in and do all the things that you do. Talk about that moment and and what that led you to.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

Wow, there's so many thoughts that run through my mind as you describe that. Uh but but uh to be brief, when when I was in the hospital as an inpatient, um I I didn't want my kids to see me like that. I I believed I was going to be able to recover or at least recover enough to seem normal enough to fit in, which is a whole nother conversation. But but I wanted I didn't want them to feel like they were now at a deficit because their father is going through these medical challenges, and and it was gonna somehow stunt what they could achieve in life. So um I kind of kept them away, and there were a lot of dark nights there with me by myself at the hospital for weeks. Um but my recovery was strong, and I got I got well enough to be able to to leave and be you know outpatient, and then you know from there it just just kept improving and and now you know I have a really good sense of a of how to do a lot of things, a lot of things that people don't know um about me. But so one good question you could ask me if we had enough time would be Delana, why do you care about making sure that you seem normal to us? Woo! I mean that would be another thing. So yeah, yeah. No, we we and you know what?

SPEAKER_00 26:44

I feel like that if if the conversation, what I've learned about this process is that you come in prepared and then the conversation goes somewhere, go with it because you can always come back from another episode. You know, we can continue another episode, you know, so we don't have to. There's so much we haven't talked about. Exactly. So let's uh rush it. So something you said that really it's getting me to think I have, you know, the Delano I know in EO circles, and I wonder for our guests who are not familiar with EO, this is an entrepreneur's organization, it is an organization that we both belong to, and that's how we met. Um, I'm in the Baltimore chapter, exactly. You know, Delano is in the Atlanta chapter, um, recent past president of the Atlanta chapter, which we're gonna talk about. But you you know, I have always known you to be, you know, this, you know, every room you're in is like you have this personality, ability to connect with people, ability to connect people, uh, very engaging. And I I don't know this other part about the challenges that you have to overcome to show up. So I want I want to I want if if you're willing, you know, give us a window into what you're willing to share about what that means to you know to have to deal with something that happens so in my opinion early on in life, right? That continues to weave through, even though you are a successful entrepreneur with all these other uh things that you've accomplished. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Yeah, you know, um uh from a business perspective, that marketing agency, Jacob Science, the name of it, it um I took it from zero revenue up to 74 million. And and you know marketing agency, they don't normally do that well. No, no, no, no. I have been through a couple of them. Very few. Very few. Yeah. I remember once we were celebrating kind of some of the achievements, and um um uh there's something called uh Bloom Bloom Bloomberg um government, and then also uh USA Spending.gov, and um and it puts out kind of like which companies are winning government contracts and and to what degree and all of this and that. And um, and we were top five in one particular year for for um for all marketing agencies in the country. So man, little old me, you know, built this marketing agency that can go toe-to-toe with all of the big boys. Right. And um, but what was crazy, Kwame, is uh I went back to my office and uh three or four minutes later somebody knocked on the door and I kind of leave the door somewhat open because open door policy and all that. And so uh she kind of peeked her head in, and I was like, Yeah, what's uh everything okay? And she's like, I wanted to talk to you about something. It was something that I haven't been able to say. And I was like, are you sure you want to do this today? We're just finished celebrating, we're like hitting all these new heights. I'm like, I'm feeling really good. And she's like, no, no, no, Mr. Massey, you know, I just wanted to tell you this. And uh so she walks in and she's like, you know, um, you probably haven't thought about it, but if we are number on the, you know, within the top five marketing agencies in the country, that means that that you, sir, are you know number one minority-owned marketing agency in the country. I was like, what? Really? Oh, I didn't think about that. You're right. It's like, oh wow, what it that's cool. Thank you for telling me. Right. You can always bring those kinds of messages. Come on, anytime, anytime, anytime. Bring it, bring it, it's good news, bring it, yeah. Right. And so uh the reason why I bring that up is because, you know, you mentioned EO, and I'm I I've got such an affinity for us EORs and the things that these EOs have done and how they show up, and my gosh, this radical transparency that you see from time to time. And I'll never forget when Dave Preston at um a president summit or council, you know, I forget where we were, but I asked him a question, and um, and the way he responded is he's like, but let me tell you, Delano, the honest truth is my revenue dropped 70% since COVID. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know, I know that too well. I'm sitting here like where I come from, people don't share that kind of thing. Yeah, but but if he really knew, I want to raise my hand and say that happened to me too.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

I just didn't know how to do it. Yeah, yeah. Which is a whole nother conversation. Yeah, that's it. So maybe I will become a regular since you like. Yeah, no, no, I'm I'm telling you, we will we will have we will have another episode because that's so much done back. So let me say quite to answer your call, your your question, it is it is it is all of the struggle and all of these huge, insurmountable challenges that have been hurled upon me in life that has built up such a a resistance and an overcomer spirit that allows me to walk into a room and and and create electricity. So you say you you saw that side of me. Well, it's built on having to learn how to walk again, it's built on crashing and burning and all these other areas, it's built on, you know, somebody stealing three million dollars from the business and having to recover from that situation. It's built on all of these things, and so you know, if anybody thinks that hard times or troubled times, it's like, you know, woe is me, it's like, no, that's not that's not it. I mean, that's that's how you develop the strength and the character and the fortitude that you need to shine.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Yeah. So I see what answer the question, and I agree, I agree with that the very last thing that you said is triggering something that I'll bring up later, you know, like the you know, the the the the what our past informs into how we show up, yeah. You know, um, but we are often misunderstood. So I you know, I wanna I wanna talk about that. What it is what is it that the the Delano that we see, right? It's it's it's the public version. Yeah, is there anything that people don't understand about you that you wish they didn't they knew just given everything we've just talked about?

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Well, I mean my purpose is to help people. Like, you know, all of those challenges, it it crystallize why I'm here and what I'm supposed to do. And and and uh this is awesome. Um, I think it's a Disney special, but it uh it's it it the the image is what captured me. I think it was on Netflix actually when I saw it, and it was a guy sitting in kind of a a private aircraft and he's looking down and and and and then the caption hits the screen, it's we feed people. And I'm like, oh, that's me. That's so me right there. I love that. I love that. I haven't seen it yet. I actually find it and see it. Yeah, yeah. That's all I needed though, as as confirmation of how I relate with that. That is that is a reflection of of what I see in the mirror and what I know is inside me, and and call me, I had to spend a lot of time to understand. Um, you know, some people in the business world will say API and assume positive intent, but you know, I like to associate it better with love and and and and walking in love, operating in love, and and the thing about that is you know, on the other side of it, not everybody is loving and and looks to match your degree of love, right? But but the strength in love allows for like the messy middle or or allows for the pain and and and and the struggle that comes from those that are looking to take advantage, right? And how can you love through that? And so um that's what I love when one of these these I'm a bit of a movie bust. I mean Hollywood, right? But uh there was a scene in and I think Le Mesera where where the character does something horrible and the guy brings them in, and and then you know he steals all the guy's stuff and tries to leave that something happens and he ends up having to go back to the house, and the guy you would think would be like, What you stole from me when I opened our home to you, and he's like, No, come back in. And you hungry, let me make you another meal. And uh, and that's that's that's what I strive for. You know, that's where I I get a sense of importance uh in in life and and and and and that makes everything meaningful. You know, I love the stories of um uh Mother Teresa and and like when she was out with the lepers and and these uh foreigners were in town and kind of walking around, they saw her like bent over, kneeling, serving and cleaning some of the lepers and uh uh lepers. And and uh and then but I guess she was close enough to hearing them talking, but they didn't know it. And they were like, Man, there's no way you couldn't pay me a million dollars to do what she's doing. And so she turns and she looks back and she says, Sir, you couldn't pay me a million dollars to do this either. Because it's not about the money, it's about doing what's right, and this is the kind of stuff that moved my heart. And so no matter how much money I have in the bank or if it's high or low, it's like what gives me real significance is that time, Kwame, when I saw you in Nashville and you were leaving. I didn't realize you were leaving because I was just coming into jail, yeah. We both were like, oh no, this can't go, right? So you stop the cash, and then I saw you getting out, I started running, you started running, and we just hugged in the line, and then you gave up. You gotta take advantage of that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

You do, you do, you do. No, no, and so the thing, the thing that that brings me to is I was reading your LinkedIn profile, and you know, your LinkedIn profile, believe it or not, and I'm not surprised, had seven titles, and I said, so my question to you is if you could keep only one, yeah, you know, and it's the one that you want people to know you for, what would that be?

SPEAKER_01 38:09

Whoa, it's the hardest one to build. Eradicate impairment. The hardest one to build. For some reason, it's easy to sell stuff and and marketing and products, and and you know, that's it's just supply and demand, supply and demand, and tweak it so that the demand matches the supply. I mean the supply matches the demand and this and that. But but moving people's heart, positive social change, helping people make better decisions, right? Well, that's an affair of the heart. Right. And that's hard. That's hard to get people to overcome their fears, their insecurities, and all of these things that kind of hold them back from where they need to be and giving access to people who need access, underserved communities. Oh my gosh, there's such a systemic theme connected to it all. Yeah. There was something I put out not long ago, and it kind of shook the world of EO up a little bit. It was, I was saying that everybody deserves a birthday. Because, you know, a lot of people who talk about D E I and just, you know, white men have been in power for since the beginning of time and all these things, and we need to balance things out. And I'm like, everybody needs a birthday. One person shouldn't have to suffer for someone else to get the shine that they they need, you know. I mean, that there's enough sun out there for all of us.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

But I know how hard that is for people to swallow and how controversial it can be, but if we can't have uncomfortable conversations, Kwame, how can we how can we progress? You know, people say you should never talk about politics and religion. And I'm like, but those are the two things that impact our lives the most. How are we not gonna talk about that?

SPEAKER_02 40:01

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

But I know we're supposed to talk about business here, Kwame's society. No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Stop it. Why why why does why is it important, you know, what you know, because I think that why is it important that everybody deserves a birthday? Underneath of that, what is the central message that you're trying to push?

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Yeah, you know, it um it's it's because the material thing is easy. It is it is um, you know what's crazy is I I have attempted to um you know pursue you know positions in in US East and region and beyond and country. And we're talking about EO, right? EO and EO and EO, and some of that's just not debatable, not being debatable to me, right? And so I've actually thought about being a freaking chapter president again at EO Atlanta. And uh and people are like, what? You're crazy, why would you do that? And let me tell you, I I would do it because it's the community, it's the people. Right, that's where the investment is, that's where the return of investment, that's where that's where it that's where it is. Yeah, yeah. You know, and if we can if we can um take our eyes off of ourselves long enough to to help someone else, man, it it just if there's anything that I've learned in life is is to stop making everything about me. And as soon as I do that, all of a sudden I smile a little bit brighter, you know. I laugh a little bit deeper. And it the the the wine is tastes that much better, you know. All of the things that that I love, you know, that move me, you know, come to life when uh it's funny. I was just watching the other night, here I go, film television again, but I was watching um America's Got Talent or whatever he calls it these days, and uh, because it was actually in a different country. But what was beautiful is there was this 14-year-old girl who was scared to death, but she was like, I'm here, I've been given this talent, I'm gonna do it. And uh, and then she started to sing, and it sounded like a 30-year-old woman, gorgeous, beautiful voice. And then Simon reaches over and presses the big golden thing and all the thing, and and and a tear dropped from my eye as I'm watching and celebrating with her for rising to the occasion, right, delivering in this thing that she has to give us, right, and then being rewarded and recognized for that achievement and all of it together in those six minutes. Very touching. Yeah. So I want more of that. I yeah, I want a lot more of that, and I want to handle it.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

And I wanna call I want to clarify to my audience that you saying that you would be president again, it's a volunteer position. You know, so I want to get to the heart of that, you know, it's true where your heart is. Um and I want I want to also follow up by saying that you said eradicating impairment is the one title you want to be known for. Is that what people know you for? And if not, why not?

SPEAKER_01 43:27

You know, it's funny, Kwame, because even you in this conversation, you said, hey, you know, the guy that I see, he walks into a room and he's kind of, you know, um, you know, you didn't say larger in life, but you you definitely said there's something special there, and yeah, and and he's confident and he's able to like maneuver and connect and help others connect and all of that. Yes, yeah. Well, I um so I think that's what people see, and um, but I I hope that they they see that it's not just for me that when somebody says, Delante. Is a good connector, it it they see the benefit and the value in it for themselves. Like I love that story where they talk about the two different rooms, and in both rooms are this big, huge pots of food, and one side the people are perishing and they're dying, and the other side they're all fat and happy and flourishing, and it's like, well, what's the difference? Well, you try to put the ladder in, the spoon in, and you go down deep to get it, and you try to bring it back, it's too long, you can't feed yourself. Yeah, and that's why they're dying over in that other room. But someone was smart enough, a Kwame obviously was in the other room that said, Oh, well, if I can't feed myself, but I can feed you, right? Oh, well, then we all win. Okay. So I I I'm I'm striving for that. If people can see it or not, I don't know yet, but but that's who I am, and that's what I'm doing here.

SPEAKER_00 44:56

So 20 years from now, the agency is sold or wound down, yeah, or or pivoted, right? Because those are the three options that us entrepreneurs we have, but hopefully it's sold or pivoted. Yeah, the contracts are history. Right. When someone in Atlanta hears the name Delano Massey, what do you want it, your name to open doors to? What doors do you want it to open?

SPEAKER_01 45:27

Yeah. You know, I wrote a book. Um, you've heard of B2C and B2B, let's talk about B2G, which is business to government. And some of my buddies kind of saw that, and they know what I've done and and and and what I do to help others, and they're like, but man, you're Mr. B2G. You you are Mr. B2G. And so that kind of stuck with me. And so uh I launched this business called Mr. B2G and Associates. It's a consulting firm that helps other businesses learn how to navigate the muddy waters of government contracting. But um I I definitely want others 20 years from now to be able to tally goodwill that came into their lives because of an encounter I had with them. That that there was some sort of unlocking of, you know, it's funny, I was I was um another EO event, GLA Global Leadership Academy, something like that. And uh I was there uh a year or so ago, and uh there was something that was said that that was so true to me. They were comparing Hitler against um uh uh President Johnson. Um the uh I mean uh not Johnson, but uh uh Roosevelt. And uh since they were both kind of leading major parts of the world at that at the same time. And um at the end of it all, the note was it's not enough to be a good leader. You have to be a leader for good. You have to be a leader for good. And um, and I and and I hope 20 years from now that that you know my body of work and and the life that I've led that people say Delano was a leader for good. And and and he and he he impacted me in my life, and all of my businesses are built in such a way where they they they they carry some sort of positive impact requirement and and and why they exist and the problems that they solve.

SPEAKER_00 47:42

Yeah. And I know that you the there's a B2G incubator, which is is is also part of that that mission. Right. And from my research, you know, you had over 200 entrepreneurs come through that. Um you know, like that is that is that is impact, right? When did you realize, you know, that it's not the agency that's the the legacy? Because I mean, you we talked, I mean, the success you've experienced with the agents, I mean, you know, 70 something million dollar agency, you know. I mean, I have run a couple of marketing agency and I understand, you know, so the success of that, and then here we are talking about you know, impact and and legacy, and you've picked this lane specifically to plant your flag, yeah. You know, when did you realize that it's not the agency that had become the product people want to buy, but that you want to make this mission the thing that you leave behind?

SPEAKER_01 48:53

You know, um, like the data on one side is there. When they talk about uh purpose and and how purpose is everything, you think about Patagonia, Tom's, you know, purpose-driven companies. Um the data says like those purpose-driven companies, they witness higher market share gains, that they um they grow three times faster on average than their competitors, uh, and and that they achieve like a higher workforce and customer uh um uh satisfaction. So the data's all there to say, hey, being a purpose-driven company and and operating from a place of of delivering impact and purpose is is a smart thing to do. So but personally, right, I know that that my reason for existing is to help people, right? And so it's easy to align with what the data's already saying, right, and all of the businesses and everything I do. Because what we haven't talked about is like everything I do that's not business, right? Like, I lead freaking um a summer program that's a summer camp that these kids participate in, and and and all of the instructors are their parents. So you got doctors coming in and they do these science experiments, and you got engineers, and you got food care people, and entrepreneurs, and and and chefs, and and and so the only instructors are their parents. And so it's doing something amazing to help young people see their parent as my gosh. I mean, if you're not my hero, you should be. You definitely could be, you know, and uh, and so so that's just very, very fun, impactful stuff. And then I've done other things like I've gone in and and led Bible studies and juvenile halls. And it's crazy, I mean I could talk about this enough, but uh I was I was talking to someone the other day, and and and there were a couple hundred young men that that you know I introduced God to in some fashion or form, and and and they said they wanted to to learn more and be a part of that world with them and God, and uh, and I have not seen any of them since. Not one. And uh, and I I look forward to later. You talk about the exit, well the big exit. You know, I hope you made a good decision about the big exit. Yeah, you know, but for me, you know, I believe in heaven, and I believe that that's a place I'll be going to when I get there. I hope to see. And and if I have to wait for them, I hope that I get to see all 200 or so of them again. That kind of we help get them to a place where they they can see and think differently. So some hardcore gangsters that are murder and rape and all this stuff. It was crazy. I don't know what what in the world was I thinking, Kwame, by going in there and trying to talk to these people about love. Who am I to think who am I to think I could go in there and do that, Kwame? What in the world?

SPEAKER_00 52:16

So I think I've picked the the the topic for our next our next conversation is going to be is gonna be service, impact, and legacy. You know, service, impact, and legacy, because that's a thorough thread through what and and I know that you know there's so much on parking entrepreneurship and and struggles and business cycles, but I feel like that's today what I have learned in the thorough thread about all of this is your heart for service, your heart for helping people, your heart for making sure that people who are underserved and are not visible are visible and and and and and and leaning to their own purpose, you know, and and are able to achieve it. So I want to talk about I want to end with being a parent, parenting, and and and two questions there, you know. I feel like everything we do, you know, a big part of what we leave behind is our role as a parent, and and and you know, I know how involved you are with your kids. Yeah, what have you learned about yourself as a parent? You know, maybe one or two things that jump out at you because I keep learning, you know, and as they also grow different stages of their life, I keep learning different lessons. So at this stage of your kids' lives, where they are in three, you know, probably three different buckets of you know, you have the 28-year-old who is you know out of the house, you have people who are still almost out of the house, and all right. What is that teaching you about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 54:12

You know, the hardest lesson for me personally has been um letting them make mistakes and fail. Um and and not trying to do everything for them, which is hard. You know, there's a big conversation that we're having with with our you know, our trust advisors and financial advisors with and asset management about how much money is smart to leave your kids. And why? What do you what what's what's the reason? What are you trying to solve for by by leaving them $50 million, $10 million, $1 million? Um and and uh but they need it, just like you and I needed it, and it still needed it. Like we need to be able to make a decision and then own the the the highs or the lows of that decision. And um, and there's obviously some things that I'm sitting back and I'm like, are you sure you want to turn left here instead of right? You know, are you sure that you want to blank and blank like I could do that all day and guide them to where it but but they need they need to be able to to navigate on their own. Right, and it's hard. It is hard, it is hard to see that. And um, and when they make mistakes and and um we're sitting there crying together, sometimes I feel like we could have avoided this. Uh, but but he's in love. Yeah. You know, and and since he was in love, and I keep talking about love, you know, it uh he had he had to figure it out, you know. And uh and but I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna cry with him, you know, and we're it's I'm gonna tell him it's gonna be okay. Right. I know it doesn't feel like you can like I know it doesn't feel like there's another side to this, yeah but but there is, and time will heal. So if I can live, that that would be the one thing that that I've I've struggled with the most, and that is um just being patient and and and willing to allow the kids to kind of make mistakes and go their own way and and learn from it all.

SPEAKER_00 56:34

Okay, so we have three more questions and we'll wrap up. So three, you said two. Okay, go ahead. The other one is what is what would what is the story that your you want your kids in the future when they're looking back and thinking about you, the way you reflected on your dad, yeah. What is the story that you want them to keep telling about you?

SPEAKER_01 57:03

Perseverance.

SPEAKER_00 57:04

Okay, what does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 57:06

Just that um, you know, it's funny. I was I was reading uh a post from Tyrese the other day, and he was just talking about how black people in this country, all of these people who battled through slavery and on a boat and in shackles and underwater and then in slavery and picking cotton and and all these things and and having their babies been ripped apart, ripped out of their arms and sold into slavery, and and then rising out of all of that, and and then you know, for us to feel like that, you know, just because things are hard, we're gonna quit, or we're not gonna try, or we're not going to overcome. It's like that's not that's not the lineage. The people who did that, they probably didn't make it. The ones that were able to fight through and overcome this crazy stuff that they had to overcome with, we're part of that lineage. Yeah. And so um I hope that they they see a father who when he couldn't walk, that he didn't give up. I hope that they see a father that, you know, when um when you know there have been many rooms that I walk into and no one there looks like me, but they give me the microphone. And and and I need to rise above any insecurity or fear that I have to own it and to be there and to deliver this thing that I'm supposed to deliver. And so I just hope that they they believe that that anything is possible and and and that they're willing to put in the effort to to bring these things into reality.

SPEAKER_00 58:58

And that was a question from the previous guest you just answered. So I want to. Oh, good, good, good. I want you to provide yours. What is your question for the next guest?

SPEAKER_01 59:06

So, my question for the next guest would be um from a legacy mindset, yeah, how are you structured? You know, you know, I I personally have a a business trust, family trust, and private family foundation, and this is how we are managing and controlling and growing wealth and and assets and so on and so forth. But the question is, how are you structured? You structure in a way that aligns with the laws of of well if this is somebody in the US, the laws that that support wealth management, asset management, are you structured in the way where if you die all of these these these things will show up that will take away from from what is supposed to be passed on to the next generation? Or have you found ways to mitigate a lot of those losses and taxes and everything in between?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:08

Yeah, it's like how are you structured? Awesome question. Um no, that's that's I I I I have to think about that too.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:17

Great question.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:18

So is there anything that you were dying to talk about or intended to talk about that I haven't asked you? This is your opportunity to just leave some final comments to the audience.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:31

I do, and and believe it or not, Kwame, it's a question for you in this podcast, and and why? Why are you doing it?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

So I think for so the the the short answer is that I love learning um from people, and I felt like my biggest strength was asking questions and having conversations, and so when I was building a personal branding agency around, you know, you know, exit proof, which is like how do you you know leave yourself in a position where you build a name, you know, we've talked about some of that today, where you build a name that outlasts the business, you know, we are all wrapped around our business, and that is what defines us, but we're more than that. And I found that a lot of us are more than that. There's so much that we want people to see, but we don't get the opportunity to do it because we're so trapped in our business, and so that was the idea. But the podcast was a platform to just explore business legacy, and I felt like rather than creating content about it, rather than writing about it, I am very good at just talking and having a conversation. I felt like that would allow me to be able to talk to the people who are asking these questions of themselves, and I will learn more about it than any. So it is my love for conversations, and that is why I'm doing this. And I'm telling you, every time I talk to somebody, you know, I I I leave enlightened, I leave, I leave just challenged, I leave um humbled, you know, that there's so much we don't know about each other until you start asking questions.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:27

Well, Cody, thanks for having me. Thank you. Thank you, Zelanda.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

And so how what is the one place? Part two, part two is gonna come. Hope before the end of the year, you and I will be back doing this again. But I wanted to say, how can people follow your work? What is the one place we can go to learn about what you what you're up to right now and into the future?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:51

Yeah, you know, it uh I am working to consolidate, you know, um this this business portfolio and the and the impact work that we do and all of the investments that we make, and how those investments are turning into you know, all this measurable impact and uh corralling that back. And I think it's gonna live on my personal website. Okay, and uh it currently exists, and it's crazy. There's another Delano Massey around my age, I did find that he was not living in Atlanta, but he last year moved to Atlanta about him, and uh and and so he and I are actually friends. Oh, okay. We go here, right? Like if they Google the name who ranks higher, and right now he's beating me, so I gotta I gotta get my act together here.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:46

You do, you do, because he's out there. I found it. I think it works for Axios or something like that. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, so okay, all right. Well, we will we will LinkedIn will be where I would send people right now until your website comes up, but we'll be on the lookout for it. Thank you so much. This was an insightful conversation, and I hope it was for you too. Okay, yeah, thanks. I want to thank Delano again for being here and showing us what it looks like when a name becomes a category. If you take one thing from today's conversation, take this contracts end, companies get sold, but the name Mr. B2G opens doors that no contract ever could, and it compounds every year. If this conversation gave you something, share it with a founder who needs to hear it. That is how names get known. Until next time, remember your business will have an exit one day. Make sure your name doesn't want to be, and this is the exit. Thank you for listening.