0:02

You're listening to Math and Magic. A production

0:05

of iHeartRadio.

0:09

Radio is very instant, and so

0:11

part of being on the radio is not being a celebrity.

0:13

It's being one in the community

0:16

and one of the community. And I'm always

0:18

always trying to educate too. Every

0:20

time I learn something, I want to bring it to

0:22

people.

0:25

Welcome to this recording of

0:27

Mathemagic special episode.

0:29

We're at the National Association of Broadcasters,

0:32

the NAB Conference. We're

0:34

being recorded live in Las Vegas.

0:37

This is the industry's brightest

0:40

gathering together to celebrate

0:42

one hundred years of innovation

0:44

in media, broadcasts and entertainment.

0:47

And our guest here today, Angela

0:50

Yee, is a big part of that

0:52

momentum. Angela was the founding

0:54

member of the wildly successful Breakfast

0:56

Club Morning Show along with Charlemagne to God and

0:59

DJMB that's heard on AMFM,

1:02

on the iHeartRadio app, and

1:04

has anchored on Power one oh five point

1:06

one in New York City. It's

1:09

also at the top of the charts

1:11

on YouTube, and it's also one of

1:13

the biggest podcasts

1:16

globally. After more than a

1:18

decade ride in that rocket, Angela

1:20

has just gone solo with her own

1:22

midday show Way Up with Angela

1:24

Yee. She is also the longtime host

1:27

of her podcast lip Service. She's

1:30

an accomplished entrepreneur, innovative,

1:32

philanthropist, and all around

1:35

great human being. Brooklyn

1:37

born, blessed with a great education

1:40

Brooklyn Polyprep, Columbia High,

1:42

Wesleyan College. She got her start

1:44

in the music business before radio, and

1:46

we got a lot to talk about.

1:47

Angela welcome, Thank

1:50

you, it's good to be here. Thanks everybody

1:52

who's here.

1:53

Before we get to the meat of it, I want

1:55

to do a quick overview. I

1:57

want to do you in sixty seconds,

1:59

if you don't mind, you ready, Okay? Do

2:02

you prefer cats or dogs?

2:03

Cats, early riser or night

2:06

owl early riser, East.

2:07

Coast or West coast, East coast city

2:10

or country city, eminem or

2:12

Wu Tang clan.

2:13

Oh, you can't do that. I

2:17

have to say Wu Tang.

2:19

Winter or summer, summer, salty

2:22

or sweet sweet beach

2:24

or mountains hip hoper rap

2:26

hip hop, coffee or tea.

2:28

Coffee call or text, text

2:31

podcast or YouTube podcast.

2:34

It's about to get harder. Favorite

2:36

TV show, The Office,

2:39

smartest person you know, Badman?

2:41

Oh good? I love that. Favorite

2:44

city.

2:45

Favorite city is Brooklyn.

2:48

Secret talent djang What

2:50

did you want to be when you're growing up?

2:52

Writer?

2:53

Favorite radio personality when you

2:55

were.

2:55

Growing up Angie Martinez.

2:57

Oh, I love that still

3:00

share the airways with Yes, So

3:03

let's dig in to you.

3:05

We're at the NAB Radio

3:08

is in the air here and

3:10

when you think about our company, mission

3:12

is to give everybody to America a friend anytime

3:15

anywhere. We're licensed

3:17

by the FCC to serve the communities,

3:20

and indeed we're there in time of need, hurricanes,

3:23

fires, pandemics, but we've also gone

3:26

through some really tough social issues

3:28

that we dealt with. Let's talk a little

3:30

bit about your commitment to the community. I

3:32

know you've been actively involved, have not

3:35

only a big heart, but have a big platform.

3:37

How do you see it and what are some of the examples

3:39

of some of the things you've done well.

3:41

I've made a commitment really early that if

3:43

I can get paid to go out and do things, I

3:45

also want to make sure that I'm doing things that give back

3:48

to the community at the same time. And

3:50

so I feel like, because I've been

3:52

really fortunate to be in the position that I'm in,

3:55

part of being successful and making money is

3:57

making money to be able to help other people,

4:00

and so that's always been something from

4:02

early on, even when I didn't have much time,

4:04

was always important to dedicate. And

4:07

so when I go places, I always want to

4:09

do everything, Like if I go to

4:11

a children's hospital, I'm like, I want to come back

4:13

and help. And so part of that for me is

4:15

I know just showing up can

4:17

mean a lot, and so I always tell people if

4:19

you can't give money, you can do a

4:21

post, you can give time, you can do all of those

4:24

things. And that's something that I've always believed

4:26

in. Education's been important to me. I

4:28

work with the New York Public Library, and I do

4:30

a book clubs with students in the public schools.

4:33

All of those things really do mean a lot.

4:35

I remember doing a town hall with these young

4:37

girls and we were talking about the Me Too

4:39

movement and they were just talking about all

4:41

of the things that they've been through and everybody ended

4:43

up crying.

4:44

It was like one hundred and twenty of us.

4:46

And so things like that, I feel like if

4:48

I have the platform that I have and I can go and

4:50

talk to people, and somebody

4:52

can come up to me one day and be like, you know, I met

4:54

you at this event, and it really made

4:56

a difference That means more to me than anything.

5:00

How do you think you around the music business

5:02

too, which will come to in a minute. How do you think

5:04

radio is different from all the other media

5:06

and all the other forms of entertainment as it

5:08

relates to serving the communities.

5:11

Radio is very instant, and so

5:13

part of being on the radio is not being a celebrity.

5:15

It's being one in the community

5:18

and one of the community. And so I've never

5:20

looked at myself as a celebrity. I

5:22

look at it more like, I'm just like

5:24

you guys. I'm talking about the same things that you're talking

5:27

about. I'm affected the same ways that you're

5:29

affected, And so I just try to make

5:31

sure and I'm always always trying

5:33

to educate too. Every time

5:35

I learn something, I want to bring it to

5:37

people. So if I'm talking about like taxes

5:39

are due, you know, We've done a couple of different

5:42

episodes where we talk about taxes. I have a

5:45

segment called Wealth Wednesdays. Part of why I did

5:47

that was because growing up, I didn't get

5:49

the financial education that I

5:51

have now. It took me a long time to get there, and the

5:53

earlier you learn those things, the better that you'll

5:55

be. And so if there's anything tangible

5:57

that I can give, like providing resources

6:00

on the radio, that is the perfect platform

6:02

to do that.

6:03

I feel like radio is your friend.

6:05

It's not like a movie or a TV show that's

6:08

fictional. It's real life, and so

6:10

I enjoy that aspect of it.

6:12

You've made a huge impact on culture.

6:15

And before we get into some of those specifics,

6:17

I gave you sort of the trick question the beginning about

6:19

rap and hip hop. Can you define for the

6:21

audience here, what's the difference

6:24

between rap and hip hop?

6:26

Well, rap is really just the music aspect

6:28

of it. Hip hop is the whole culture that comes

6:31

with it. And so I feel like there's

6:33

a lot of people that can enjoy rap music,

6:35

but they may not be a part of the hip hop culture.

6:38

Hip hop is all encompassing, and

6:40

so I look at it as rap is just

6:42

like a form of the music, but rap is a part

6:44

of hip hop.

6:45

And so, looking back on the last

6:48

ten years, talk a little bit about what

6:50

you've seen the impact of the hip hop culture

6:52

on fashion, language, movies,

6:54

music, books, TV, the

6:57

whole Americana.

6:59

I think when it comes to the youth, hip hop.

7:01

Rap music is the most impactful

7:04

music that people can feel

7:06

like they relate to because that's where it comes from. It comes

7:08

from being in the community, it comes

7:10

from real life struggles. That's why

7:12

it's so important that people are like did

7:14

you write your own lyrics? Or being

7:16

able to relate to music more than in any other

7:19

genre. Right when it comes to rap and hip hop,

7:21

it's like, this is real life situations.

7:23

And sometimes people can say that things are

7:25

disturbing or it's not good for the community, but

7:27

it's more of a reflection of

7:30

what's happening. And so to me, when

7:32

people say that, it's like, okay, well, then that just means to

7:34

me that there are things that have to change, you

7:36

know, And it's unfortunate that

7:38

sometimes we listen to the music and we're like,

7:41

this is you know, something that we could look

7:43

at it is it's harmful to the youth, but it's also a

7:45

reflection of that, and so to me that's

7:47

kind of like a cry for let's figure

7:50

out what can we do to make things better.

7:52

And by the way, I also want to say, hip hop

7:54

is not just one thing, one

7:56

dimensional. We have such a wide variety

7:59

of representation. When it comes to hip

8:01

hop. So I also don't like when people act like hip

8:04

hop is harmful because we also

8:06

have hip hop that's very uplifting and

8:08

it's just multi dimensional. So there's the

8:10

struggle, but then there's also the successes.

8:12

There's also the educational aspect of

8:14

it, and so I just want to make sure that we embrace

8:17

all of those things. But because I

8:19

feel like there's such a microscope on it

8:21

as it being real, that's

8:23

why people really judge it more than anything

8:25

else.

8:26

So let's jump a little bit to you.

8:29

You interned at MTV. In college,

8:32

you worked at a management company for Wu

8:34

Tang Clan. That's why I give you the question,

8:38

just a question I'm sure people listening

8:40

of how on earth did you get

8:42

such a cool job right out of college

8:45

and such a cool internship.

8:47

Well, I went to Wesleyan University, and

8:49

part of what I learned in college was internships

8:51

are so important. And another thing that

8:53

I learned was when I interned, we had a career

8:55

resource center. And so the first internship

8:58

I had was at a label called tvt rec Right

9:00

and they also licensed like all the TV tunes,

9:03

the cartoon music that you hear, and

9:05

so When I did that internship, it was in

9:07

the legal department. I did not care about the

9:09

legal department at all, but I knew

9:11

that in order for me to get my foot

9:14

in the door, that was just a way for me

9:16

to get in. And so one thing I learned was just get

9:18

your foot in the door. And so I started doing

9:20

these internships. I had an internship with MTV

9:23

and the person I interned for he was the music

9:25

manager, so he would present the videos that

9:28

they would then have to decide what was gonna

9:30

air. So everybody wanted to get in with him,

9:32

you know. I remember going to Puffy's studio back

9:35

then when he was playing like big

9:37

these videos for him, and they gave a champagne

9:39

and I was just interning, and I was like, this

9:41

is amazing, like the fact that everybody is kissing

9:44

this guy's ass trying to get their music

9:46

on their music videos played on MTV.

9:49

And so for me, internships in college

9:51

were really important. Back then, we didn't get

9:53

paid. I know now interns like get paid and there's

9:55

certain things that they can't and won't do. But I was

9:57

like picking up dry cleaning. I was

9:59

doing everything that I had to do as an intern.

10:02

And I think it gave me like a really strong work

10:04

ethic. And so when I graduated from

10:06

college, I had an opportunity to work at either

10:08

Columbia Records, but I was actually

10:11

going to visit Wu Tang. It was the same day that they

10:13

were doing summer jam and

10:16

I didn't even realize it, and they were like, come with us a summer

10:18

jam. And the guy who I interned for was

10:20

like, you know, we've been trying to find you. We wanted

10:22

to hire you. This is when people didn't have

10:24

cell phones and you know, didn't

10:26

have social media, and so I

10:29

was like, okay, cool, and I turned down everything

10:31

else because I felt like this was a

10:33

better opportunity. My best friend was

10:35

interning at Epic at Sony in

10:37

the A and R department, and she was like, Angela, take

10:39

that job for Wu Tang.

10:41

They'll let you do a lot more.

10:42

Because I'm interning here and they're so threatened

10:45

by me wanting to take their job that

10:48

they're not letting me do anything. So go someplace

10:50

where you can actually do things

10:52

and get you know, get work done.

10:54

And that's why I took that job.

10:55

Speaking of learning things, there's

10:58

a story that you went on the road as a manager,

11:01

and you turned out to be a roaring

11:03

success because you were

11:05

good with money. Can you talk a little

11:07

bit about that, because there's a lesson in

11:09

there somewhere.

11:10

So I ended up going on the road with Jizza

11:13

from Wu Tang. He had to go to Europe

11:16

at the last minute, his manager couldn't go it with

11:18

some passport issues, and so

11:20

I had to get my passport same day to

11:22

be able to go. And so I went on the road,

11:24

and I literally when we came back,

11:27

had like a whole ledger down to the penny

11:29

of what everybody got paid and what money

11:32

we had left. And he had never gotten

11:34

that before, and I just thought, that's how I have

11:36

to do things. And so he was

11:38

so impressed by the fact that he got all

11:40

his money that he was supposed to get. Everybody was

11:42

paid what they were supposed to get paid, and everything

11:45

was correct to the penny that after

11:47

that I just was his manager.

11:49

Wow, that's pretty good. What's

11:51

a lesson in this? But both getting

11:53

your jobs out of college and

11:56

turning into a manager, what's

11:58

a lesson that you think is applicable

12:00

to other people in business?

12:02

I think that at the foundation of things

12:04

that hard work is the

12:07

fundamental thing. I feel like a

12:09

lot of times people see other people

12:11

who are successful and they think it just happens,

12:13

or they think it's just relationships. You can

12:16

get your foot in the door, but then what happens

12:18

after that? And so for me, I've always

12:20

been like the first person in the office the last

12:22

person to leave.

12:23

That's what I was doing.

12:24

And also, honesty is important, and

12:26

I don't feel like a lot of people are honest. I

12:28

feel like money can get people

12:31

to act very different when that gets

12:33

involved. And then a lot

12:35

of times people don't watch their own business

12:38

the way that they should.

12:39

I'll say that.

12:39

And I've worked for a lot of artists who may not even know what's

12:42

going on when it comes to legal

12:44

things, when it comes to their accounting,

12:47

and so they're always surprised when you

12:49

can be really transparent, but people appreciate

12:51

that it's rare.

12:52

So before we talk about your jump to radio,

12:55

let's go back in time to your childhood.

12:57

You're a fellow Capricorn. You grew

13:00

up in the eighties and nineties, mostly Brooklyn,

13:02

some New Jersey. Paint

13:04

the picture of those times in your life

13:07

and your family.

13:08

When I was young, and I actually

13:10

grew up listening to the radio a lot. Z

13:13

one hundred was my station and the Z

13:15

Morning Zoo. That's what I used to listen to. And

13:17

I feel like at that time, hip hop didn't have its

13:19

own station, Like we would have a

13:21

certain period of time that it would

13:23

air and we had you know, video music box.

13:25

And it's great to see like Ralph McDaniel's doing

13:28

his documentary because there were certain times

13:30

that we could see it and hear it, and we

13:32

didn't have streaming, so if you wanted to hear something, you

13:34

had to literally record it with a cassette.

13:37

And so I would do that, Like there were certain times

13:39

that certain radio shows would come on and I would

13:41

make sure that I recorded it because you don't

13:43

know when you would hear it again if you didn't

13:46

have a chance to do that. And so that's

13:48

how I grew up. Just in Brooklyn. I'm from

13:50

Flap Bush. It's a very Caribbean community,

13:52

so we grew up with a lot of soca and a lot

13:55

of dancehall and reggae music and

13:57

a lot of the block party.

14:00

Those were always like my biggest highlights growing

14:02

up when we had the Black Party and so all

14:04

of those things, and I just remember I went to private school.

14:06

I went to Poly Prep, and that was after

14:09

going to a program that was for underprivileged

14:11

youth who were quote

14:14

unquote gifted, and so I had to test

14:16

to get into this program, and that's how I ended up going to

14:18

private.

14:18

School Prep for Prep.

14:20

Yeah, Prep for Prep.

14:21

And it's a great program, you know, because

14:23

it's free and they really give you the resources

14:25

so that when you go to a private school or get ready

14:27

for college, you learn things in advance.

14:30

And it was really instrumental for me because I

14:32

also got to meet a lot of kids from outside of Brooklyn.

14:34

I was very in my neighborhood, and

14:36

so I feel like that was really instrumental in opening

14:39

up my eyes to a lot of other things. And

14:41

then going to private school was different for me. That's when

14:43

I started really playing sports.

14:46

You know. I learned a lot just.

14:47

From even going to Polyprep, having smaller

14:49

classes and the impact that that

14:51

had. I wanted to be a teacher at one point after that

14:53

experience. I did this whole urban education

14:56

semester in Washington Heights when

14:58

I was in college, but just because because I understood

15:01

how much great teachers

15:03

can impact your future because I've

15:05

had great ones and I've also had terrible ones,

15:07

and so I've always understood the importance

15:10

of that too. But that was going from public

15:12

school to private school and learning those things, having

15:14

the smaller classes, having more attention.

15:17

So you have I think

15:19

anyone who knows you would say you

15:22

have enormous self

15:24

confidence. You have a lot of healthy

15:26

ambition. Where did that come from

15:28

in your childhood?

15:30

I don't think that I always had a lot of

15:32

self confidence, you know what. I think I

15:34

took the biggest risk in my life when I was always

15:36

at my lowest, and that's

15:39

something that I can appreciate that

15:41

I did. It would be like the worst time

15:43

for me, and I'd be like, I have nothing more to

15:45

lose, and I feel like that's

15:47

the time that you're supposed to take those risks, right

15:49

when you feel like, well, it can't get any worse. And

15:52

that taught me the worst thing that can happen is that

15:54

something doesn't work. You know, it doesn't

15:56

work the way that you intended, and I would hate to not

15:58

try. And so for me, I've

16:01

always like put my all on the line. I have things

16:03

that go wrong every single day all

16:05

the time, and somebody was just telling me if

16:08

the things always went right, then life would

16:10

not be interesting. So my life has been

16:12

extremely interesting with all the things that haven't

16:15

happened the way that they should. Even this last week, like,

16:17

I've had all kinds of things that sometimes

16:19

it's hard for me when it's not in my control,

16:22

when you have to rely on other people to make deals

16:25

happen and make things happen, and they don't hold up their

16:27

end, and then now you're left like what am I

16:29

going to do? But I've also learned from that is

16:32

it's kind of like betting is not to put

16:34

everything on the line always right, only

16:36

put out what you can afford to lose. And

16:38

so that's something that I always live by too. If

16:41

this is something that will devastate me, then

16:43

I just can't do it. But if I feel like

16:45

I can afford to, if this doesn't happen, make

16:47

this be a learning lesson. I look at it as like an

16:50

investment into my education. We paid

16:52

a lot to go to school, so it's okay if I lose.

16:54

Sometimes it's an investment.

16:58

Moral Mathem magic for this quick

17:00

break. Welcome

17:09

back to math and magic. Let's hear more

17:11

from my conversation with Angela. Ye, it's

17:15

time to make the jump to radio.

17:17

You're in the Radio Hall of Fame. You've won numerous

17:20

awards along the way in your radio career. Tell

17:23

us the story. How did you make the jump? From

17:25

you it sounded like things were going really well in the music

17:27

business and suddenly you jumped to radio.

17:30

I actually came from marketing, and I think

17:32

marketing is a great tool, you

17:34

know, to be able to do anything in life,

17:36

to be able to market yourself. So I was doing marketing.

17:39

I worked for Eminem's clothing line, and

17:42

you know, we all got laid off from that, and

17:44

so I took a little time. I had worked my whole

17:47

life up until then, I was, you

17:49

know, my whole life. I was twenty eight, but you

17:51

know, I had never had a break, like from when I

17:53

first was in college. Up until then,

17:56

I've always had a job. So I

17:58

said, let me take a few months

18:00

just to like sit back, get this unemployment

18:02

that I've been putting money toward, and figure

18:05

out what I want to do next. And I actually went on hot jobs

18:07

on Yahoo and I saw a job opening

18:10

as serious and I was like, this sounds

18:12

interesting. It was in the marketing department, and I called

18:14

up Eminem's manager, Paul Rosenberg,

18:16

and I said, Paul, you know, I really want to try to see

18:19

if you can just get me an interview in the marketing

18:21

department.

18:21

I can take it from there.

18:22

So he set up an interview, but he also

18:24

said to me, Angela, would you want to try to audition

18:27

for the morning show. We're looking for someone,

18:30

And so I ended up auditioning for three months

18:32

and eventually getting the job

18:34

after a great interview with Jay Z.

18:37

One of your hallmarks on the air are

18:39

the interviews you do on satellite radio,

18:41

certainly on Power and on the Breakfast

18:43

Club. What's the secret to doing a

18:45

great interview research?

18:48

I think being prepared is

18:51

one of the biggest secrets. I've had people

18:53

say, Oh, I like to go into an interview and

18:55

just ask questions like I don't know anything,

18:58

and I don't feel like as somebody who's

19:00

in the position that I'm in, I should approach things

19:02

that way. I like to do research because

19:04

I feel like it respects the person who you're interviewing,

19:07

and then it also makes for a better conversation

19:09

because sometimes interviewees

19:12

aren't the most talkative

19:15

and maybe they're a little irritated. They've

19:17

been answering the same questions NonStop.

19:20

And when you do research, you can actually impress

19:23

them with oh okay, I haven't had

19:25

a chance to talk about this, or I would love to elaborate

19:27

on this, And I think it's a respect thing.

19:29

And so I feel like when I'm

19:31

well researched and I do an interview,

19:33

it always is way better and people appreciate

19:36

it so much. And so that would

19:38

be because there's been times early on

19:40

when something might come up

19:42

last minute and I'm doing an interview that I didn't anticipate,

19:45

and I don't like doing that at all because I never

19:47

feel prepared. It makes me feel flustered

19:49

and sometimes a little silly and foolish.

19:52

And so I would say, research.

19:54

Do you have a favorite interview?

19:56

I would have to say, well, of course, jay Z, because

19:58

that's what got me my first job and radio. When

20:00

I walked out of there, they were like, you're hired because

20:02

that interview was that good. But you

20:05

know, I mean so many I guess

20:08

we get to talk to so many iconic people all

20:10

the time. Sometimes it's people you wouldn't

20:12

expect, like I interviewed JB. Smooth Ones,

20:14

and I really enjoy that. Obviously,

20:16

I had like a August I've seeing an interview

20:18

that a lot of people saw that was

20:21

a big deal because that was the whole Will Smith, you

20:23

know, Jada thing during the pandemic, Tiffany

20:27

Hattish when she first was in Girls Trip.

20:29

I enjoyed that interview.

20:30

I just like people who are really open and honest,

20:33

and even on my podcast that's

20:35

a whole different type of interview, but I

20:37

enjoy those also just because it's

20:39

kind of off the beat in track and you never know what

20:42

people feel like getting off their.

20:43

Chests when you're speaking of getting

20:45

it off your chest. You have a feature on

20:48

your show now which is about people

20:50

telling their secrets. Can you tell us a

20:52

little bit about it's a great feature.

20:54

Yeah.

20:54

So this is really, like I think, has been a

20:56

hallmark for us. It's called tell us a secret,

20:59

and people call in anonymously

21:01

and we don't judge. That's the main

21:03

thing. We are like, it's no judgment, and they

21:05

tell us a secret. And so people have

21:07

called in to tell us all kinds of things. One guy

21:09

has a secret family and the Dominican Republic,

21:12

you know, we're not judging him, but we don't

21:14

know if those are his kids because he never got a DNA test.

21:17

There's somebody who stole a car in the nineties

21:19

and he still feels.

21:20

Bad about it to this day.

21:22

And so it's a great feature just because

21:24

you know, we sit there and we don't judge you. We let you

21:26

say whatever it is that you have to say. We ask whatever

21:29

questions, and then that person hopefully

21:31

feels a little relieved afterward.

21:34

So I want to jump a little bit to another

21:36

side of you, a Julie the entrepreneur

21:39

and business person, and also, by

21:41

the way, a generist. We've already talked about

21:43

the philanthropist. Tell us

21:45

a little bit about some of the business as you're in Juices

21:48

for Life and some of the other I know you're doing

21:50

real estate and some of the other things.

21:52

Well, my first ever brick and mortar business

21:54

was Juices for Life, which is a juice

21:56

bar in Brooklyn, which we're renovating

21:58

to make a coffee shop. Clash because

22:00

financially it's been a lot

22:02

dealing with the cost of fruits

22:05

and vegetables, so I've had to diversify

22:07

what we offer in there. From that,

22:09

I started a press juice business called Dring Fresh

22:11

Juice, just because people would come in all the

22:13

time and we're like, how can I get this?

22:16

You know where I live. And so that's been doing

22:18

well.

22:18

And then I launched Coffee Uplift

22:20

People, my own coffee company, which

22:23

by the way, will be in targets starting in June. So I'm

22:25

excited to make those things happen, and I'm very

22:27

hands on with it. So I literally will like

22:29

go to restaurants. You know, we're in

22:31

the Grill in Brooklyn, We're in Tatianas in

22:34

Manhattan, Brooklyn chop House, Like,

22:36

I will literally go to restaurants

22:38

and ask to talk to the person. I'm

22:40

very hands on with my business, and

22:42

so one thing I did learn too was even just talking

22:45

about my business, I like to know as

22:47

much as possible and so that way people don't

22:49

look at me it's just a face or somebody who's

22:51

endorsing something. I'm super involved

22:53

in all of it, and so I have a hair store in Detroit

22:56

also, and I do real estate. I just

22:58

got my first Airbnb property last year

23:00

in upstate New York. I'm closing

23:02

on a deal this week in Detroit. A thirty unit

23:05

building in Midtown. That has been really

23:07

difficult, but that's like my biggest project to date.

23:09

And then I have a condo and Williamsburg

23:12

two Brownstones in Brooklyn.

23:14

So how did you learn this? I

23:16

mean this is you've gone through your history and

23:18

nowhere in there did you say you had an MBA

23:20

or you did business training. Where did this come from?

23:23

You know?

23:24

My first house, I really bought a house because my

23:26

best friend bought a house. Her name is Santi

23:28

Gold and she's an artist. Also, we were

23:30

roommates. We went to college together, we were roommates there,

23:32

we were roommates after college, and when

23:34

she was looking for a house in Brooklyn, I went

23:36

with her and she was like, you know, come with me.

23:38

To look at this house.

23:39

And I learned a lot just from being with

23:41

her and like going on these trips, and I was like,

23:44

Okay, this is so exciting.

23:45

My best friend's buying a house.

23:47

I went to do that too, and so

23:49

I started really actively like saving,

23:51

taking on side jobs just so I could get enough

23:53

money for the down payment. And

23:55

so once I bought my first house

23:57

and got that out of the way, I felt like, okay,

24:00

it was a two family house.

24:01

It was a very practical purchase.

24:03

My realtor told me, when you buy a house,

24:05

this is not your one and only dream

24:07

house, this is your first house.

24:09

You know, it's an investment.

24:10

And that was something that really stuck

24:12

with me, like to this day, is this a good investment?

24:15

And that was the first house that I bought. And then after that,

24:17

I bought a couple of properties in Detroit and

24:20

flip those and then I use that money to

24:22

go and buy another I bought

24:24

a condo in Williamsburg.

24:25

That was a great purchase.

24:27

And then after that I was just like, Okay,

24:29

I have money coming in from these other things

24:31

that I've done, and I never like to have money

24:33

sitting in the bank.

24:34

I feel like it's not working.

24:35

I've seen interviews where people are like, I still

24:37

have you know, all this money that I don't touch

24:40

that I get from these other streams of income, but

24:42

with the way that interest is and you

24:44

know, with the money that you're not making because

24:46

you have money sitting in the bank. I learned

24:49

really quickly that my money has to work.

24:51

And so every time I set a goal for myself, and

24:53

once I hit a certain goal, it's time to invest in something.

24:55

Else, so yourself taught.

24:58

Yes, Google, thank you too well.

25:00

By the way, it's pretty impressive. I mean Google gets

25:02

a lot of credit here. You also flip

25:05

this around too in your Wealth

25:08

Wednesdays when you do the free

25:10

financial services

25:12

and education for people, talk a little

25:14

bit about it because you started that actually live in your

25:17

juice bar too, right.

25:19

Yes, So I met Stacy Tisdale and

25:21

she worked for the Wall Street Journal. She

25:24

was on the floor at the Nasdaq, and I learned a lot

25:26

from her. And I always feel like empowerment

25:28

comes from financial freedom too, right.

25:31

That's something that is really important for

25:33

our community.

25:34

And so I told her.

25:35

I was like, I would love for us to do something like on a consistent

25:38

basis, And so we strategized

25:40

and came up with Wealth Wednesdays. We started doing that in

25:42

the Juice Bar, and at first we didn't

25:44

make any it was just free. Like we had different

25:47

people coming through. The small business services

25:49

came through, they bought their RV people were

25:51

able to sign up for services on the spot, they

25:53

got to meet the commissioner ask whatever questions.

25:56

And then from that, you know, we did certain things

25:58

about like relationship, some money and credit

26:01

scores and then we

26:03

started monetizing it and we

26:05

were able to bring in people who actually,

26:08

you know, wanted to because we wanted to be able to offer

26:10

free services. But it was also costing us

26:12

to do that. And so the one thing that I

26:14

like to do is give it to you for free, but

26:17

make some of these corporations pay. And I think,

26:19

you know, that is a really good trade off

26:21

for them to get that. And so we've done a

26:23

lot of things with different corporations. Google has

26:25

come in a few times to talk about like Google

26:28

AdWords and how to really support your business with

26:30

Google and let you know how inexpensive it can

26:32

be, but how to do it right. And I just want people

26:34

to have, like I always say, tangible things

26:37

that they can walk away with and understand

26:39

and learn.

26:41

So let's do some quick topics work

26:43

life balance, What does it mean to you? How

26:45

do you do it well?

26:47

I work a lot, but I like to bring my

26:49

friends with me sometimes, So say

26:51

I'm going, you know, to do something like an

26:53

appearance somewhere. If it's someplace

26:55

fun, then I'm like, Okay,

26:58

who wants to come with me? Let's make this a whole And

27:00

then I also try to make sure that and I just said

27:02

this. I know I'm launching this new show way

27:05

up with Antilae, but I

27:07

ay, I just told my producer, I said, I need just one

27:09

day a week where I don't have like a packed schedule,

27:11

and that way I can handle personal things that I need

27:14

to do because it is really important for me

27:16

to be there for my family, Like my cousin's

27:18

getting married.

27:19

I'm like, Okay, block this off.

27:20

So a lot of it is just about scheduling and making

27:23

sure that just like you schedule work, you have to

27:25

schedule that.

27:25

Time AI helpful

27:28

or scary.

27:29

Scary, but

27:33

you know, I think that it's

27:35

important to understand and

27:38

to be involved because you also don't want to get left

27:40

behind, right, And so it

27:42

is something that is scary though.

27:45

And I think a lot of times when things are new and different,

27:47

they're scary and just from what we've

27:49

been seeing, it's like, man, But at the same time,

27:51

I'm like, I could probably get AI

27:53

to come in and do my show.

27:56

You gotta have a little more time off the

28:00

post pandemic life. How do

28:02

you think it's different.

28:03

I think people's habits are different.

28:05

You know, a lot more people are working from home

28:07

or doing like a hybrid situation. I

28:10

feel like we as employees

28:12

have a lot more leeway

28:14

as far as being able to negotiate things

28:17

because you know, as a business owner myself,

28:19

I know how hard it's been to find employees

28:22

now. So a lot of times we're offering things, not

28:24

just financial things, but quality of life

28:26

things to make people feel like this is

28:29

a community. I think that people

28:31

are more interested in self care, a

28:33

lot more interested in their own mental well being

28:35

also, which I think is a positive thing.

28:38

And people's habits are just changed,

28:40

you know.

28:41

So even with radio, a lot of people

28:43

listen on the podcast, I feel like, and

28:45

so it's great. Like I said, we talk about AI

28:47

and people being scared, but the same thing

28:50

with podcasting, people feel it's important.

28:52

I think like even with iHeart, how iHeart

28:54

has really embraced it early on, you

28:56

know, because if not, you get left behind

28:59

music.

29:00

What's next.

29:02

I think the way that we've been going is,

29:04

you know, people have been putting out singles

29:07

and projects, and

29:10

it's not just like putting out an album.

29:12

People people don't even say albums anymore.

29:14

They'll be like I put out a project, and

29:16

people are also really I think back to

29:18

visuals. You know, that's important

29:20

too, because right now it's

29:22

so we're so inundated

29:25

with things that we can possibly listen

29:27

to and different regions and

29:29

everything, and you know, the ability to

29:31

not have to go and see somebody in

29:33

person somewhere that experiences

29:36

matter so much more so now it's like, how can

29:38

I be more creative and make sure that

29:40

I stand out from everything else that's happening, because

29:42

there's a lot of noise that people have to separate

29:44

themselves from so fundamentally

29:47

like it has to be amazing, But then how do

29:49

you support that? And what do you do for your fans

29:51

to show them that? Okay, you know, I'm giving

29:54

you X Y and Z. Also on top of.

29:56

This last point here

29:58

opportunities for young peopleeople and those who've

30:00

been historically disenfranchised.

30:03

What's the future I think with

30:06

leveling the playing field and having access

30:08

that's important. I think there's a lot of programs

30:11

that are available to that people really have to make

30:13

sure that they seek in order to

30:15

be able.

30:15

To have these opportunities.

30:18

And I just feel like, if you can be really

30:20

creative and consistent, okay,

30:23

and also just respectful of your

30:25

audience, that you can definitely have

30:28

a future and blow up.

30:30

You know.

30:30

I feel like sometimes people who have been really

30:32

privileged aren't taking advantage of

30:35

the things that, you

30:37

know, that's available to them because they don't

30:39

have to struggle in that way. But with

30:41

the kids nowadays, I mean, my

30:44

god, children know way more than I do. I'm asking

30:46

them for help on like how can you do this? And how can you

30:48

do that? And so it's just a great opportunity.

30:50

But if you're on your phone all day, or your kids are on their phone

30:53

all day, and you see that they can be actually

30:55

making money off of that. There's people getting paid to

30:57

play video games, you know, to go on

30:59

Twitch, to go on all these different platforms,

31:02

and so instead of doing things

31:04

that is a waste of time, figure

31:06

out how you can actually monetize that. I think

31:08

there's so many great apps when it comes to investing,

31:11

when it comes to different things, and kids are on

31:13

their phone, so we just have to make sure

31:15

that we're marketing to them, you know,

31:17

in that way, but also being really responsible.

31:20

So a little advice. Somebody's

31:23

listening today, They want to be you on

31:26

the radio. Are you, as the business person

31:28

entrepreneur, what advice would you give them.

31:31

Well, first, don't want to be me, because

31:33

I think it is important to know who you are and what

31:36

makes you different from everybody else and

31:38

really stand on that. And then it's

31:40

all about hard work and being consistent

31:43

and don't look at what other people are doing

31:45

and think I want to do it. Just like that, you

31:47

have to think, Okay, how can I create my own lane,

31:50

and how can I also educate myself.

31:52

I'm a big fan of like taking classes

31:54

and things. Like we said, I'm doing a

31:57

lot of real estate. Well, I'm getting my real estate license

31:59

just because I wanted to take the courses

32:01

to understand it better to make sure that I can be

32:03

an expert at it. And that's why, like even

32:06

where Robert Green's book Mastery, I always

32:08

talk about that book, But anything that it is that

32:10

you want to do, make sure that you're researching

32:12

it. There's too much information out there for us

32:14

to not educate ourselves to the highest level

32:17

on something. You know, it's people

32:19

dibble and dabbling things, But if you really care about

32:21

something and you want to go really hard. I'm a

32:23

big fan of making business plans every time

32:25

I want to do something, even if I'm not using

32:27

the business plan. I will sit down and

32:29

write a whole business plan for myself so I

32:32

can set clear goals and then always

32:34

go back and revise those and refresh those.

32:37

So, if you could give some advice

32:39

to your eighteen year old self, what

32:41

would.

32:42

It be, should

32:45

have bought some property earlier when it was really

32:47

cheap, Because I've

32:49

definitely had times in my life where I might have had

32:51

like a little chunk of money and that could

32:53

have bought a bit of down payment on something,

32:56

especially back then. And so investing

32:59

early at an earlier age, because

33:01

you know, I didn't start my roth Ira until I was

33:03

older, my four oh one k. All of

33:05

those things she has to prepare for the future. The earlier

33:08

you do it, the better.

33:09

So we usually end every

33:11

episode of Math and Magic with a shout

33:13

out to the greats of the math side

33:16

and the magic side of marketing and business. But

33:19

because we're here today at

33:21

the NAB conference, we're talking about radio.

33:24

Give us your shout out for your

33:26

mentors, heroes and role models

33:29

and radio.

33:30

Definitely Angie Martinez. You know I said

33:32

that earlier, but I just remember listening

33:34

to her on the radio, how personable she always

33:37

was, how as a woman being

33:39

in the field that she is in hip hop, there

33:41

weren't a lot of us that were representing in that

33:44

way. And then also her morals,

33:46

right, she never was like a shock jock type

33:48

of person and she never cared

33:50

about like, Okay, I'm gonna have this moment and not

33:52

care about another person. So that's

33:55

something that I've always looked up to her for

33:57

the way that she's conducted herself, conducted

33:59

her And if you have had the longevity that she's had.

34:02

That's fantastic. Well, Angela,

34:04

you are an inspiration to many people.

34:07

You do a fantastic job on the radio.

34:10

You are affecting culture,

34:13

driving culture, and

34:15

as well you're a successful business person.

34:18

Congratulations, thanks for sharing with us

34:20

today.

34:21

Thank you.

34:24

Here's a few things I picked up from my conversation

34:26

with Angela. One, get your foot

34:28

in the door when you're just starting out, take

34:31

any opportunity that's given to you. Angela

34:33

considers college internships to be among

34:35

her most valuable experiences. Don't

34:38

underestimate those small jobs. They could

34:40

be the biggest boost to your career. Two,

34:44

do your research. These days, we

34:46

have so many resources at our disposal.

34:49

If you have an interest, they could become an exciting

34:51

new venture or a meeting with someone

34:53

new. Become an expert. First

34:56

knowledge will put you one step closer

34:58

to success and strengthen your connections.

35:01

Three, create your own laying. If

35:04

Angel is just a successful radio host,

35:06

that would be enough, but she's positioned

35:08

herself as a host, entrepreneur,

35:11

and philanthropist to make a path

35:14

that's wholly her own. You don't have

35:16

to be one thing. Follow all your

35:18

passions to achieve a career that's

35:21

unique and satisfy. I'm

35:23

Bob Pittman. Thanks for listening.

35:31

That's it for today's episode. Thanks so

35:33

much for listening to Math and Magic, a production

35:35

of iHeartRadio. The show is hosted

35:37

by Bob Pittman. Special thanks to

35:39

Sidney Rosenbloom for booking and wrangling

35:41

our wonderful talent, which is no small feat.

35:44

Our editor Emily Meronoff, our engineers

35:47

Jessica Crinchitch and Baheid Fraser,

35:49

our executive producers Nikki Etoor and

35:51

Ali Perry, and of course Gail

35:54

Raoul, Eric Angel Noel, and

35:56

everyone who helped bring this show to your ears.

36:00

Next time,