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Lanny Smith shares the incredible story behind the title "My NBA Career Ended in 33 Days… Then This Happened" and how he pivoted from a devastating injury with the Sacramento Kings to building a global empire. In this inspiring interview on Sway In The Morning, the founder of Actively Black breaks down how he turned an identity crisis into a premium athleisure brand that generated over $30 million in revenue in less than five years. Lanny discusses the importance of Black ownership, creating high-quality products, and his groundbreaking collaborations with Marvel’s Wakanda Forever, the Muhammad Ali estate, and Tupac Shakur. He also highlights the Harvest Collection, which supports Black farmers, and shares the game-changing advice he received from Daymond John. This conversation explores resilience, faith, and the mission to circulate wealth within the community through economic empowerment.
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro: Lanny Smith & Actively Black
01:24 - NBA Retirement & Life After Basketball
05:37 - Actively Black: Key Business Success Decisions
08:16 - Challenges of Black-Owned Brand Identity
09:19 - Meaning Behind the Actively Black Name
12:50 - Q&A: Listener Questions for Lanny Smith
16:36 - Major Brand Collaborations & Partnerships
20:23 - Heather B Interview & Discussion
24:14 - Lanny Smith’s Vision for the Future
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0:00
Hey man, let's keep talking. Keep the
0:01
applause going. This is Black History
0:04
Year.
0:05
>> I won't limit it to a month. U we've
0:07
been here for centuries helping to build
0:09
this country into what it is today. But
0:11
give this man a round of applause. Lanny
0:13
Smith um and his lovely partner uh the
0:18
co-founders of Actively Black.
0:20
>> Yes.
0:20
>> Right. Um this mic there.
0:24
>> Okay, there you go. Uh Tucson is here as
0:26
well.
0:27
>> Yes. Let me give you. He's the founder
0:28
of Actively Black. Black was a a premium
0:32
athleisure wear brand. He launched it in
0:35
2020
0:36
to uplift and reinvest in the black
0:38
community in less than 5 years. Have the
0:40
be
0:40
>> Yeah.
0:41
>> Actively black has grown exponentially,
0:43
earning recognition as one of the
0:45
fastest growing athleisure brands and
0:47
blackowned brands in America. Wow. It
0:50
has generated over 30 million in
0:52
revenue, solidifying his place as a
0:55
cultural and business force.
0:58
>> Um, he's actively inside of the black uh
1:03
ecosystem.
1:04
>> He has a full apparel line called
1:06
Harvest Collection was made with cotton
1:08
grown by black farmers.
1:10
>> Yes.
1:10
>> Further reinforcing the brand's mission
1:12
of economic circulation within the
1:14
community. Actively Black is positioned
1:16
to scale into a generational global
1:18
blackowned powerhouse brand. We have
1:21
this man here, Lanny Smith. He's he
1:24
started off as an NBA player. He could
1:25
still play if he wanted to, but he got
1:27
injured in his rookie season. His knee
1:30
went out, right?
1:31
>> Wish. Uh yeah, I uh
1:33
>> tore the articular cartilage in my left
1:34
knee, man. Had two micro fracture
1:36
surgeries. So, I actually uh tore my
1:37
knee up 30 days 33 days after signing my
1:39
first NBA contract. My career was over
1:41
with.
1:41
>> Just like that.
1:42
>> Yeah. Yeah. teammate fell into my left
1:44
knee, tore the articular cartilage, had
1:46
two microfarracture surgeries. I signed
1:48
with the Sacramento Kings in 2009.
1:50
>> Yeah.
1:50
>> And uh Yeah, it was it was a wrap, man.
1:52
>> That was it? No. Was it any guarantees
1:54
in the contract?
1:55
>> No, I I had a non-g guaranteed contract,
1:57
too, as an undrafted free agent. So, you
1:59
know, I I was back home, you know,
2:02
living with my mother as a grown man
2:03
after just being in the NBA, you know
2:05
what I mean?
2:05
>> For 33 days.
2:07
>> Yeah. Yeah. the dream that I worked for
2:08
my entire life since I was four or five
2:10
years old. I knew I didn't want to do
2:12
anything else other than play in the
2:13
NBA. And so that's what I worked for my
2:15
entire life. And so it was um it was one
2:17
of those moments, you know, I went
2:19
through all everything you could think
2:20
of, the depression, the identity crisis
2:22
of trying to figure out what am I going
2:24
to do next with my life? Who am I
2:25
without this game of basketball? And so,
2:28
>> uh, man, I've been blessed to make this
2:29
transition. So much so that the NBA
2:31
>> for the last several years has paid me
2:33
to come speak to players about
2:35
transitioning to life after basketball.
2:37
I speak at the rookie transition
2:38
program, all those things. So, yeah.
2:41
>> Transition to to speak about transition
2:43
life after basketball. The man had 33
2:45
days.
2:46
>> They [clears throat] say you want to
2:47
make God laugh. Tell him your plans,
2:49
>> man. [laughter]
2:51
>> Right. You had a plan and it it was
2:53
there. You achieved your goal.
2:55
>> You made it to the NBA.
2:57
>> Congratulations. Come on, man. We got to
3:00
applaud that.
3:01
>> The journey. The journey.
3:03
>> It's it's it's it's lottery ticket
3:05
chances, man. It's it's 450 jobs. A lot
3:07
of people don't understand. It's 450
3:09
jobs in the NBA. It's millions of kids
3:11
trying to get there. You know what I'm
3:12
saying? And so I feel I feel blessed
3:14
that I was able to touch that dream for
3:16
sure because it's a lot of people who
3:18
dream that dream and never even get that
3:20
opportunity. You know what I mean? So I
3:21
I feel blessed for sure.
3:22
>> Lanny Smith is here. Actively black is
3:25
the name of the brand.
3:26
>> Go to activelyblack.com.
3:29
They got some of the best quality gear
3:31
you're going to find. Very creative.
3:33
Very intentional.
3:34
>> Yes. very intentional when you were laid
3:37
up in your mom's house
3:39
>> and your brain was just full of chaos
3:42
and indecision and
3:43
>> just not
3:44
>> fear.
3:45
>> Fear like what was going to happen?
3:47
[snorts]
3:48
>> Who were some of the people you leaned
3:50
on and what was being said to you to get
3:52
you back on your feet?
3:54
>> Shout out to my mom. Shout out to
3:55
Alfreda Smith. Um she is uh
3:59
>> I grew up with a superhero in my home
4:01
and that was my mother. You got to
4:02
understand my grandparents, her parents
4:04
had to stop school in the fourth grade
4:05
to pick cotton.
4:07
>> They were share they were sharecroers.
4:09
So her parents, my grandparents stopped
4:11
school in the fourth grade to go pick
4:13
cotton. My mother was the first in the
4:15
family to graduate high school to go to
4:17
college. She became a computer
4:18
programmer, became one of the top
4:20
computer programmers in the state of
4:21
Texas. She moved from Louisiana to
4:22
Texas. So you think about this, a black
4:24
woman in the early 80s as a computer
4:27
programmer, one of the top computer
4:29
programs in the south in Texas, right?
4:31
So you seen that movie Hidden Figures?
4:32
>> Absolutely. To Raj Rajie P. Hansen on
4:34
>> them doing that computer programming.
4:36
That's what my mother was doing. You
4:37
know what I'm saying? And so
4:38
>> to think about what she, you know, my
4:40
mother integrated school. So it's like
4:42
to think about what she's been able to
4:44
accomplish.
4:45
>> I've never had any limits on my dreams.
4:47
I saw what she did and so she poured
4:49
into me and she's always believed in me
4:51
and whatever I've I've chosen to do.
4:53
She's actually the third full-time
4:54
member of the actively black staff. So
4:56
my mother worked with us. Shout out to
4:58
your mother.
4:59
>> Mama Smith. Yes.
5:00
>> You know, I'mma I'mma go straight to the
5:02
carrot
5:03
>> and then I'm going to let HB jump in
5:05
because
5:06
>> you you may not even heard of actively
5:09
black yet. I say yet.
5:11
>> A lot of people are wearing it. It has
5:13
it's seeping into the into the
5:15
atmosphere into the zeitgeist in a in a
5:18
very organic way.
5:20
>> But actively black has gener now
5:22
citizens, here's the part.
5:24
>> The man had nothing. He didn't have a
5:26
Well, he had his mother. He had more
5:28
than nothing. Yeah. But monetarily he
5:30
didn't have the money, the backing to do
5:32
what he has been able to produce to this
5:34
date. But somehow he figured it out.
5:37
Actively Black has generated over 30
5:39
million in revenue in the last five
5:41
years.
5:42
Get that around of a last five the last
5:45
five years. So we're talking 2020 to
5:47
now. That's through the co years.
5:49
>> Yeah. We launched we launched in the
5:51
pandemic.
5:51
>> You launched in the pandemic.
5:53
>> Yeah.
5:53
>> Um can you recall some key business
5:57
decisions? Yeah,
5:58
>> that helped accelerate that level of
6:00
growth so quickly.
6:01
>> Yeah. Yeah. First and foremost, um h
6:05
know knowing your audience, right? A lot
6:07
of entrepreneurs will spend a lot of
6:09
time building a product, uh building
6:11
their idea and then they go try to find
6:13
an audience to sell that product to.
6:15
>> Um
6:16
>> I had a the first brand I actually
6:18
launched was called Active Faith. That
6:19
was the first thing that I launched
6:20
right after the injury. Uh Steph Curry
6:23
and and Anthony Tolliver actually my my
6:25
partners in that brand. And it was the
6:27
first faith-based sports apparel brand
6:28
of its kind. And what I learned through
6:31
building that brand was the power of of
6:34
of serving your niche audience. You
6:36
super serving your niche audience. Um
6:39
>> you're not competing with trying to be
6:42
everything to everybody.
6:44
>> You are what you need to be for your
6:45
audience. And so um
6:47
>> you know I had a lot of issues
6:50
>> with that first brand. you know, hiding
6:53
myself from the public really knowing I
6:54
was the founder because I'd say 65 to
6:56
70% of my customers for that brand were
6:59
white evangelical Christian, which in
7:00
this country could be synonymous with
7:02
racist.
7:03
>> And that there was a lot of internal
7:06
conflict because my parents raised me to
7:07
be proud of my blackness, proud of my
7:09
culture, proud of who I am. And so I
7:10
thought to myself, if I can make a brand
7:12
for the faith-based community that way,
7:14
can I do that for my people, for black
7:16
people? And so the first thing is
7:17
understanding your audience, your core
7:20
audience. And if you can make something
7:22
where your audience sees themselves in
7:25
your product, in your brand, then you
7:27
don't have to really do as much selling
7:28
because the audience sees themselves in
7:30
it.
7:31
>> Man, I've had people hit me up and
7:32
they're like, "Yo, I got this t-shirt
7:33
idea. We going to make a million
7:34
dollars." and it'll be something that um
7:38
may mean something to them personally,
7:40
but they're not thinking about, okay,
7:42
does this resonate with an audience
7:43
beyond myself, beyond my family and my
7:46
friends and my neighborhood. Are other
7:48
people going to resonate with this
7:49
message? And that's what I try to tell
7:52
entrepreneurs is, man, you may have a
7:54
great idea that you think is amazing,
7:55
but like do the research and figure out
7:58
what is the size of my audience. Are
7:59
they going to resonate with this
8:01
product, with this message, what it
8:02
stands for? That's that's what I would
8:04
advise a lot of people to do, man, when
8:06
starting out.
8:07
>> But even right now, when you look at
8:09
some of the social climate, by the way,
8:10
that's incredible. Know your know your
8:12
audience. Be intentional. Uh service
8:14
that niche audience.
8:16
>> You're proud. You're actively black and
8:19
proud. And that there seems to be a um a
8:22
anti-
8:24
>> uh DEI sentiment in our in our society
8:26
today. people, they hear diversity,
8:29
equity, and inclusion and and they bark
8:32
at it. Ah,
8:33
>> why would we want to be diverse and
8:35
include people and treat folks like
8:37
equal?
8:38
>> I don't know what that is, but I would
8:40
imagine that would make it
8:42
>> give you even more challenges with a
8:44
company called Actively Black.
8:46
>> So, um, and what are those challenges?
8:50
>> So, for me, not really.
8:51
>> Okay.
8:52
>> And it's actually the opposite effect.
8:54
So when I first launched Actively Black,
8:56
I had a lot of black people telling me,
8:57
"If you name this Actively Black, it's
8:59
not going to be successful." I had black
9:00
executives telling me, "Do not Actively
9:03
Black."
9:03
>> Wow.
9:04
>> That that's how deep this fear of us
9:07
just standing in our own,
9:09
>> you know, our own skin and our own truth
9:11
>> because a lot of us have bought into the
9:14
lie that we have to assimilate and play
9:16
small in order to move up in in in the
9:18
world, right? Mhm.
9:19
>> Um, you know, I I I hate I hate to bring
9:22
this up because I understand the
9:24
virality of the moment, but when you had
9:27
that that interview with with Kanye and
9:29
you told him, "Why don't you do it
9:30
yourself?"
9:32
>> You really did have the answers.
9:34
>> He said, "You ain't got the answer,
9:36
Sway." You really did have the answer
9:38
because we create what's cool for the
9:40
entire world anyway.
9:41
>> Absolutely.
9:42
>> We influence what everybody wants to buy
9:44
and wants to wear and do anyway. So why
9:47
don't we own any of that and build any
9:48
of that ourselves? So my thought process
9:51
was instead of us asking for a seat at
9:53
the table, let's just build our own
9:54
table.
9:55
>> You know what I mean? And and in 2020
9:57
after the murder of George Floyd and
9:59
Bana Taylor and Ahmad Aubrey, I saw a
10:01
lot of these brands make performative
10:03
declarations about what they was going
10:04
to do for the black community. And it
10:06
felt performative. It felt like it was
10:08
just part of a marketing strategy. And
10:10
that's when I was like, man, there's a
10:12
Mackenzie report that came out and says
10:13
black people right now today, we spend
10:15
between 30 to 40 billion dollars
10:17
annually
10:18
>> on clothes and shoes.
10:20
>> That's what we are spending 30 to 40
10:22
billion annually. So, we're continuing
10:25
to generate wealth for other people but
10:27
not ourselves. So, why don't we own any
10:30
of what we're building? You know what
10:31
I'm saying? And so, what's actually
10:32
happened with all the anti-Dei and all
10:34
that kind of stuff is it's drawn a line
10:36
now. Mhm.
10:37
>> We used to be able to tow that line. Now
10:39
it's drawn the line to where there are
10:41
black people who once thought who were
10:43
afraid to wear Actively Black where
10:44
they're like, "Man, they going to treat
10:45
me like this anyway. I might as well be
10:47
proud of who I am and they're looking
10:49
for something like Actively Black cuz we
10:51
not going to be in the mainstream. We're
10:53
not going to be carried in none of the
10:54
big retailer stores." But the power of
10:56
the internet, being able to get directly
10:58
to my consumer, social media,
11:00
>> we don't need anybody else for us to
11:02
build what we need to build for
11:03
ourselves.
11:04
>> I love it, man. Lanny Smith. Man, y'all
11:06
go to activelyblack.com.
11:09
[cheering and applause] You could Man,
11:10
what is your Instagram? What is that?
11:12
L.Smith223.
11:14
>> Yeah, man. That's that's a basketball
11:16
players. Yeah, you can tell I ain't
11:18
chang. [laughter] That's my personal L.
11:20
Smith23, but uh the brand is actively
11:22
black.
11:23
>> I'm glad you said that because
11:26
>> the reason why I wear your brand
11:28
>> before I even knew who you who it was,
11:31
we we had it in the office. came. We got
11:34
some that arrived in the office. I don't
11:35
know how it got there. I'm Oh, okay.
11:38
Okay.
11:39
>> Segue.
11:42
Clear it up. Go ahead.
11:43
>> Not sure how it was just there. But I
11:45
don't know how it was in my office, but
11:46
it was there
11:47
>> and I wore it because it said actively
11:49
black.
11:50
>> I don't have to say it.
11:52
>> Exactly. Exactly. And you So you going
11:54
you going to find your tribe. That's the
11:55
thing about finding a niche audience is
11:57
your tribe will find you if you are
11:59
authentically yourself. And the people
12:00
who rock with it going to rock with it.
12:02
And that's how the tribe has been
12:04
feeling, man. The the testimonies I get
12:07
of people in the airport and they see a
12:09
complete stranger wearing Actively Black
12:10
and they're like, "Oh, you part of the
12:12
tribe." And it it it forms that bond.
12:14
So, the thing is, we not really building
12:17
a an apparel brand at all.
12:18
>> The clothes are just a uniform for the
12:20
movement. This is just really what I'm
12:21
using to build this tribe.
12:24
>> Then we get to super serve our audience
12:25
in all the different ways outside of
12:27
just clothing. You know what I'm saying?
12:28
So that unity of what we're creating is
12:30
really the the the purpose and the
12:32
mission.
12:33
>> And he he doesn't just talk it, he walks
12:35
it, too. I mentioned that he did a full
12:37
apparel line made with cotton grown by
12:39
black farmers.
12:40
>> Uh which I think is incredible. The har
12:42
the harvest collection and it it was he
12:46
that brought actively black into the
12:48
building.
12:49
>> Shout out to
12:49
>> All right, cool. Let me take a caller.
12:51
>> Wow.
12:51
>> All right, we got Jermaine on the line
12:53
for North Carolina.
12:54
>> What up, man? The hate you see.
12:58
Jermaine, [laughter] what up, man? What
12:59
What do you think of this story,
13:01
Jermaine?
13:02
>> Hey, man. Listen, the story is
13:04
wonderful, man. I remember when I got
13:06
flooded with all the algorithm of
13:08
Actively Black coming up on like all my
13:11
social medias. They're doing a
13:13
phenomenal job of keeping themselves out
13:15
there like that. Big ups to the whole
13:17
crew out there. Just they just got that
13:20
going on, man. And my personal story,
13:22
man, is brother, I at first I was
13:24
skeptical. Seems like there was a lot of
13:26
companies coming out with it. Brother, I
13:28
love what y'all are doing. I had an
13:30
order, one of the items didn't fit. Took
13:33
it back, dropped it off real quick.
13:35
Thought it's already on its way again.
13:36
The the upsides of it. I was like, "God,
13:38
man, this is so easy." So, don't people
13:41
don't be fearing this, man. This this
13:43
company is legit. Y'all need to get
13:45
behind this. Take it from somebody who's
13:47
just not just, you know, some random
13:49
customer. And I'm telling you, trust in
13:52
these guys, man. They got a good quality
13:54
product. And man, I just love everything
13:56
that you guys are doing, man. For real.
13:59
>> Appreciate you for being part of the
14:00
tribe, man.
14:01
>> You're a super citizen, man.
14:03
>> In the morning.
14:03
>> Yo. Yo, see he gets it. Yeah, Lanny gets
14:05
it. Treat appreciate you for being a
14:08
part of the tribe. That's how we do our
14:10
citizenship. You a citizen.
14:12
>> In the morning,
14:12
>> Lanny must be listening to the show. All
14:14
right, we got Ma on the line from
14:16
Dallas. Ma, what up?
14:17
>> What up, Ma?
14:18
>> What's up, family? What's up, family?
14:21
Hey,
14:22
>> I'm going to tell you. I'mma run it down
14:24
for you. Next to my Sway in the morning
14:27
hoodie in my closet, I have the Black
14:31
Panther Wakanda Forever series. I have
14:34
the hip hop, you know, uh, hoodie. I
14:36
have the Malcolm X by any means
14:38
necessary hoodie. I have the Black 365
14:41
hoodie. I have the Until We Are Free
14:43
Black Sag hoodie. I have the Cool
14:45
Runnings hoodie. I have the For My Kids,
14:48
I have the We Are the Future hoodie. I
14:50
have the socks. So, let me tell you, I
14:52
don't even wear Nike anymore. Not only
14:54
am I a citizen, I'm also a tribe member.
14:57
So, I love it. I love it. Keep doing
14:59
what you doing. Um, all my kids say,
15:02
"Why you got all these hoodies?" And I
15:04
said, "Because before we support Nike,
15:07
um, uh, Adidas, they ain't thinking
15:09
about us. Actively Black is who we are.
15:12
And so, we support our people. So, keep
15:14
doing what you're doing." And again, I
15:16
love everything. The quality is great.
15:18
Again, one side of my closet is all
15:20
hoodies from Actively Black. The hoodies
15:23
and the sweats. So, keep doing and I
15:25
love your story,
15:27
>> Queen. Thank you so much. I appreciate
15:29
you. I appreciate you, man.
15:31
>> Wow. Wow. You're getting love right now,
15:33
man. Ma, thank you. Ma in Dallas. You a
15:35
citizen. You went from North Carolina to
15:37
Dallas. Now we in LA. We got Narvin on
15:40
the line. Go. What up, Norvin?
15:42
>> Hey. Hey, guys. What's up? What's up?
15:44
How you doing?
15:45
>> Excellent, man. Say what's up to Lanny
15:47
Smith.
15:48
for 100% I want to man. I I um you know
15:51
I I ran into Lanny Smith man. Lanny,
15:53
what's up man? Um I we worked uh with
15:55
Richard Dennis on a show man and you
15:58
happen to show up at the house man and
15:59
of course I had on Actively Black, man.
16:01
You were a real a real standup dude,
16:03
man. And and I love what you're doing
16:04
with the brand for sure, man. Um love
16:07
the quality of the stuff. I've been
16:08
rocking it way before I met you, man.
16:10
And then I didn't even realize that, you
16:11
know, you and Rich were working
16:12
together. So praise to you, man. For
16:15
sure, man. That's all I just wanted to
16:16
give you flowers. No, I really
16:18
appreciate that, man. And
16:20
>> wow, man. It's like your life up here,
16:22
man.
16:22
>> Uh, you're a citizen. Northern
16:24
>> way in the morning.
16:25
>> Um,
16:27
you you partnered up with
16:31
>> the Muhammad Ali estate.
16:33
>> Yeah.
16:33
>> Tupac Shakur.
16:35
>> Yeah.
16:35
>> Marvel.
16:36
>> Yeah.
16:36
>> Disney. Bob Marley.
16:39
>> Uh, how do you decide when you want to
16:42
make a collaboration?
16:43
>> Yeah. Yeah.
16:44
>> And then have you gotten any protest
16:45
from anybody you reached out to?
16:48
>> No. I mean,
16:49
>> man, when it started, man, I I'm I'm a
16:51
big believer in in writing down your
16:53
vision.
16:53
>> Yeah.
16:54
>> And when I was writing down like for
16:55
Actively Black, for a brand like this,
16:58
Dead or Alive, like who would be the
16:59
people that would embody what this brand
17:01
would represent, man, those names that
17:03
you listed, man, I wrote I wrote all
17:05
those names down. You know what I'm
17:06
saying? Um
17:07
>> like a vision board.
17:08
>> Yeah. 1000%. And so, um,
17:11
>> the crazy part is that that first major
17:13
collab that we did with Wakanda Forever,
17:16
man, I gotta shout out Damon John, man.
17:18
Founder of FUBU.
17:19
>> Um, Damon John reached out to me and he
17:22
said, "Yo, I want to do a FUBU collab."
17:24
>> And I was like, "Man, I'm I mean, I grew
17:27
up wearing FUBU. That was everything to
17:29
me."
17:29
>> He flew out to LA to meet with me. Damon
17:32
walks into the meeting wearing an
17:33
actively black hoodie.
17:34
>> Wow. And I had to I was like trying to
17:36
keep my cool, but in my mind I'm like,
17:38
"Yo, the founder of FUBU is wearing my
17:40
hoodie." You know what I'm saying? And
17:42
we sat down, talked about it, got all
17:44
the business straight with the FUBU
17:45
Actively Black collab. And he asked,
17:46
"What else are you working on?" I showed
17:48
him a deck of what a Black Panther
17:51
Actively Black collab would look like.
17:53
Just because the movie in 2018 was
17:56
something that really was an inspiration
17:58
for me. It's it's it's part of what
17:59
inspired Actively Black, right?
18:02
Damon John picked up the phone in the
18:03
middle of the meeting. He called the
18:04
head of licensing for Marvel and Disney
18:06
and he said, "Y'all need to see what I
18:07
just saw just now." Two days later, I'm
18:10
in a meeting with the head of licensing
18:11
for Marvel and Disney showing them this
18:13
deck. And they pushed this through for
18:14
us to get the official collaboration for
18:16
Wakanda Forever. And
18:18
>> so, shout out to Damon, man, because a
18:20
lot of people, you know, the stereotype
18:22
is that black people don't work
18:23
together. We don't help each other.
18:25
>> That black man picked up the phone for
18:26
me in the middle of that meeting and
18:28
made that call. And that's how that
18:29
first collab happened. And from that,
18:31
because of the way we executed in
18:33
excellence, which is also important, you
18:35
got to execute in in excellence.
18:37
>> What do you mean by that?
18:38
>> Um, you've heard multiple people and
18:41
yourselves talk about quality, right?
18:43
>> One of the things that was so important
18:44
to me, I didn't want anybody to feel
18:46
like if they bought black own, they had
18:48
to sacrifice quality. Yeah.
18:49
>> So, I spent months and months and I
18:52
invested money in making sure we were
18:55
using the best athleisure fabrics.
18:57
Everything that we make is cut and sewn
18:59
from scratch with our manufacturer.
19:02
There's nothing that we're we're not
19:03
buying blanks and printing on them. Like
19:04
this is real deal quality cuz I didn't
19:07
want anybody to say this is why I don't
19:08
buy black own
19:09
>> cuz I got to sacrifice quality. This
19:11
feels just like your Nike or your
19:12
Lululemon or your Jordan or anything
19:14
else. And so, um, breaking those
19:18
stereotypes, when Marvel and Disney saw
19:21
that, oh,
19:22
>> they're the real deal and they came
19:23
through and they executed it opened up
19:26
the doors for the rest of the collabs
19:27
that came through from from that
19:29
particular. So, you know, that's how we
19:30
got the Star Wars. That's how we got the
19:32
rest of them because of that. And then
19:34
Muhammad Ali's wife, she actually saw us
19:36
because of the Black Panther collab and
19:38
she reached out and she said, "My
19:39
husband, we've done collabs with
19:41
everybody,
19:42
>> but everybody focuses on Float like a
19:44
butterfly sting like a bee. My husband
19:45
stood for so much more outside of the
19:47
ring than I believe actively black can
19:50
represent that in a way nobody else
19:51
can." And so then they just started they
19:53
started coming. Bob Marley's family
19:55
reached out before the one love movie.
19:57
>> Uh Dr. Ilasa Shabbaz and the Malcolm X
20:01
family, Dr. Bernice King and Martin
20:03
Luther King's family. These are
20:05
>> pillars in black culture. Tupac, like if
20:09
if you could put up a Mount Rushmore
20:12
>> for our culture, they would all be up
20:14
there and we've been blessed to be able
20:15
to work with those families in the
20:16
States for these collaborations.
20:18
>> Lanny Smith is here. Actively Black. Go
20:20
on the site now. activelyblack.com.
20:23
Heather B, you want to jump in?
20:24
[cheering]
20:25
>> Yes. Thank you, Lanny. Um, thank you to
20:28
your wife. I was blessed to meet both of
20:31
them. way. I came back to work so
20:32
excited because I was out hanging out
20:34
with Rada, uh, my good friend Rada
20:37
Prime, who's a artist, actress, and we
20:40
went to a party at Macro. I I was just I
20:42
just happened to be hanging out. And
20:44
it's funny what social media can do
20:46
sometimes because we know the dangers of
20:48
it, but there's so many benefits. And I
20:50
I'm like, I'm new to LA. I need to just
20:53
get some fly t-shirts. And so I kind of
20:55
just put in black designers
20:57
>> and you popped up
20:59
>> and this amazing story about black
21:02
cotton the the farmers you know and I
21:05
went to the site and it was sold out and
21:06
I was like dag now this is something
21:08
that I would have purchased.
21:10
>> Mhm.
21:11
>> 24 hours later I go to this party and
21:14
he's wearing the t-shirt.
21:16
>> So I'm like hey you you come [laughter]
21:19
here. It was so harassing him.
21:21
>> That was Jersey. Yeah it was bad. I'm
21:23
sorry.
21:24
>> Where you get that t-shirt from? I'm
21:25
trying to buy that and I can't get it.
21:27
He was like, have it be. [laughter]
21:31
>> It's mine. I WAS LIKE, WHAT? I WAS LIKE,
21:33
I NEED THIS. And it was just such a
21:35
beautiful and organic moment.
21:37
>> And I felt your faith.
21:40
>> I felt your faith. If that makes any
21:42
sense to you, because I was like, this
21:44
is not by accident. There's no way. You
21:47
could have been walking. This place was
21:49
huge. You could have been walking by any
21:51
place, but we connected. me and you and
21:53
your wife and you gave your word. You
21:56
talk about execute with excellence. I'm
21:58
going to send you guys some stuff. And
21:59
you did that and with pride and I think
22:02
from my husband to Sway to PB here and
22:05
everybody, we have all spoken about not
22:07
just the messaging but the quality of
22:09
this like it is unbelievable. And so I'm
22:13
I'm so happy that you're here and you're
22:15
able to share this and and I would say
22:18
um ask you how important is it for
22:21
entrepreneurs or
22:23
>> artists to actually wear their work?
22:26
Yeah. because I would not have known
22:28
you, you know, it was just you could
22:30
have wore anybody that day, but you wore
22:33
your work and that's how I knew. How
22:36
important is that,
22:37
>> man? It it's so important. You know, I'm
22:38
I'm always I'm a walking billboard every
22:40
single day for for my brand. If you
22:42
don't believe in it enough to to rock it
22:44
with confidence, you can't expect
22:46
anybody else to believe in it in that
22:47
way. You know what I'm saying? Even with
22:49
my social media, you know, there's some
22:50
people like, "Man, you post about
22:51
Actively Black all the time." I'm like,
22:53
this isn't um the other thing is this
22:55
wasn't a business that I launched in in
22:58
the way that some entrepreneurs launch
23:01
um launch their endeavors. This is a
23:04
purpose- driven, missiondriven thing for
23:06
me. So, I am intertwined into what
23:09
actively black is. It isn't this, yo,
23:11
let me go create something and make a
23:12
bunch of money.
23:13
>> My my co-founder, which by the way,
23:15
Bianca Winsel, today is her birthday.
23:17
So, I just want to make sure I shout out
23:18
the queen
23:19
>> sister's birthday, too. My sister
23:20
celebrated her birthday.
23:23
>> You ready?
23:23
>> B. [laughter]
23:26
Um and and and and
23:28
I just have to say this because it's her
23:30
birthday. She's here. Our son, she's
23:32
holding our son. He's two months old.
23:34
Tucant. This black woman right here. Um
23:37
normally this is the setup. I'm normally
23:39
in front of the camera doing all the
23:41
talking and everything, but none of this
23:42
is possible without that black woman.
23:44
So, I just want to make sure that
23:46
>> that that we shout her out.
23:47
>> Absolutely.
23:48
>> Yeah, man. You got you got to you got to
23:50
be you almost have to have this not not
23:53
just the undeniable faith and belief in
23:55
it, but this this um you can't have any
23:58
fear about putting it out there. You
24:00
know what I'm saying? A lot of people
24:02
the fear of failure, the fear of what
24:04
people think stops them from putting it
24:06
out there the way that they should. And
24:07
it's like, well, how do you expect the
24:08
world to find out about it if you being
24:10
quiet about it?
24:10
>> Yeah.
24:11
>> Yeah. You know what I'm saying?
24:12
>> I love it, man. Uh Lanny Smith is here
24:15
[applause]
24:16
>> and uh Tracy, you want to get in there?
24:18
Yeah, absolutely. Lanny, I'm so glad
24:20
that you was able to pull up, bro. You
24:22
are a rebel with a cause and I really,
24:26
really, really salute you for um using
24:28
your apparel as just a gateway to the
24:31
greater mission of black upliftment
24:33
throughout the globe. And I love that
24:34
you have your wife here. I love that
24:36
your son's name is Tusant giving, you
24:40
know, love to the preeminant preeeminent
24:42
uh leader of the Haitian Revolution. And
24:45
so everything just ties into your
24:48
northstar. But I'm wondering on a very
24:51
like um granular level for all of the
24:55
citizens who are on the way to creating
24:58
their own brand right now. You mentioned
25:01
how your wife is your co-founder. I
25:02
believe you mentioned that your
25:04
beautiful mom is your third hire. Can we
25:07
talk about that a bit when it comes to
25:09
employment? Who would you say are what
25:12
are the key roles to consider hiring in
25:16
the early stages of launching an apparel
25:19
brand?
25:20
>> Yeah, I'm going to be honest with you.
25:21
In the early stages of of of building
25:23
it, you ain't going to have no money to
25:24
hire anybody. You know what I'm saying?
25:26
Like, you got to understand, I know you
25:28
you you talked about the topline number,
25:30
the 30 million in five years.
25:32
>> We didn't we weren't able to take a
25:33
paycheck for the first three years. We
25:35
were reinvesting everything back into
25:37
the growth of the business. So there was
25:38
no money to even hire anybody. And
25:41
that's why I know like at least with
25:43
with this this core group that I have
25:46
with my lady, with my mother, they're in
25:48
it for the reasons of we're building
25:50
something bigger than ourselves. We're
25:52
building something that we're willing to
25:54
sacrifice the time and the effort and
25:55
all that to to to build. There's a lot
25:57
of people that are only going to do
25:59
something if they're getting a check out
26:00
of it. You know what I'm saying? And
26:02
>> the the thing about apparel, and I'm g
26:04
just be I'm I gotta keep it real with
26:06
y'all. I don't I don't advise anybody to
26:10
jump into the apparel game
26:13
>> because it is treacherous. It is the
26:16
failure rate is extremely high. And I'm
26:18
not saying that to discourage anybody
26:20
because I tell the same thing to these
26:21
kids that want to go to the NBA. I'm
26:23
just going to be real with you. It's
26:24
only 450 jobs, right?
26:26
>> Yeah.
26:26
>> Um if you're not willing to put in
26:30
>> the 24 hours a day for years at a time
26:33
without getting paid
26:34
>> Uhhuh. Don't jump into this thinking
26:36
because a lot of people are comparing
26:38
what they see on social media. Oh, I'm I
26:40
got this brand. I'm gonna launch this
26:41
and then I'm gonna be If you're not
26:43
willing to sacrifice and not be paid for
26:45
it. If you're not willing to go into
26:47
debt for this, don't don't do it. It's
26:50
got to mean something more to you than
26:52
just,
26:53
>> oh, I got a fly hoodie idea that I'm
26:54
going to put out and thinking you're
26:55
going to make a million dollars. It
26:57
doesn't it does it doesn't happen that
26:58
way. I promise you it doesn't. I mean,
27:00
so that groundwork that I had with my
27:02
core team enabled us to be able to build
27:05
to this point where now we're in a
27:06
position where I can start hiring some
27:07
people. If you're starting out, hiring
27:10
people should be the last thing that's
27:11
that's on your mind.
27:12
>> I've had to wear the I've had to wear 30
27:14
different hats. Yeah.
27:15
>> Design, update the website, talk to the
27:18
manufacturer, run the social media.
27:20
That's the sacrifice that it takes to do
27:22
this. Yeah.
27:23
>> Well, you've done an excellent job, man.
27:24
I want I want to give you a big round of
27:26
applause. MBB. Congratulations to
27:30
Tucson. He's he's the heir to all of
27:32
this. Um
27:34
>> Nanny, you you are black history.
27:36
>> Yes, indeed.
27:37
>> You are a history walking. What you're
27:39
doing right now and your purpose that
27:41
you're in,
27:42
>> it's much needed and it's it's an
27:44
inspiration and I wear your gear because
27:46
I'm aligned with the way you think.
27:48
Amen. You know, and uh I I I'm we're
27:51
going to support you continuously. We're
27:53
going to we're going to encourage our
27:55
audience to support you as well.
27:56
>> Yes, sir. This is great. This is part
27:58
one of a series of interviews we like to
28:01
do with you, especially surrounding
28:02
entrepreneurship, right? And just being
28:05
steadfast in your beliefs and your faith
28:07
in yourself. Bro, I I appreciate you the
28:10
way you represent your lady and your
28:12
baby. Um, your whole entire family.
28:14
Y'all give it up for the one and only
28:16
Lanny Smith. activelyblack.com.
28:20
Get your gear.
28:22
>> Look at it, man. Go on the website. Get
28:24
your gear. Get your gear. might have to
28:26
get Danny Tjo some gear.
28:28
>> Absolutely.
28:29
>> Danny might want some of this gear, man.
28:31
We got Danny Tjo coming up. But I want
28:33
to say Lanny, thank you for coming by.
28:35
Anything you want to say in closing,
28:36
>> man? Listen, there's greatness in our
28:38
DNA, man. I just want our people to
28:39
really understand that what we are
28:42
building is something that's bigger than
28:44
just the apparel. When you see the
28:46
prices, understand we are reinvesting
28:48
that money back into our community.
28:50
There's a lot of these brands that we
28:51
lend our culture to
28:53
>> that don't care nothing about our people
28:54
and we willing to put on the Louis and
28:56
the Gucci and the Lulu and the Nike and
28:58
everybody else. And these people have
29:00
been profiting from our culture for
29:02
decades. It's time for us to build
29:04
something that we own that that uplifts
29:07
our people. That's what Actively Black
29:09
is doing. So, I would appreciate your
29:10
support. Love to the tribe. Actively
29:12
Black. Activelyblack.com.
29:14
Citizens, go order yours now. Let's
29:16
flood them out.
#Arts & Entertainment