TELLING OUR STORY Atlanta Business League Podcasts

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When Andrella Kenner was a little girl her mother exposed her to a series of aviation professionals in  Nashville, Tennessee airport.  That information gave her the foundation necessary to establish an aerospace, information technology and aviation company that operates in three countries and 22 locations. 

What position did Andrella's mother hold at the airport?  She was a waitress.  

This podcast explains how her  mother's job helped Andrella learn about entire industries that most African-Americans didn't know existed.   Andrella used that knowledge to create, C1 Square,  a company that employs air traffic controllers  and aviation professionals.   

This podcast episode discusses more than  just Andrella's success.  It also allows her son,  Michael Baylis II, to share his professional life story.    He explains the  impact his grandmother had in his life and why he didn't think about becoming a part of his mother's very successful company when he chose his first career.  

This is a podcast about succession and parenting.  It also shows that the experience family members from previous generations have had  can help shape success  in professions that are technically sophisticated, but still powered by people. 

This is a story about the  generational transmission of knowledge and why in this family, it became  another way to transfer wealth. 

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There are very lucrative industries that aren't considered glamorous.  The fast food industry falls in that category for most people, but not for Mack Wilbourn, Jr.  He owns an Atlanta, GA based company named Mack II.   It has operated for more than 50 years and has allowed Mack to develop extraordinary business partnerships.  

He is the franchise operator for more than five fast food brands that operate out of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.  He also has a partnership with the Coca-Cola company for airport vending machines.  

But he started the development of his business portfolio much earlier in his life as a McDonald's fast food operator.   He was trained by McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc; became the eighth Black person in the country to be a McDonald's franchise owner and was assigned his first store in Atlanta, GA. 

Life changed for Mack after that.  He met and mingled with movers and shakers.  He became such a well known political contributor that four United States presidents came to his home for fundraisers.  

There were challenges, too.   One of them forced Mack out of his first franchise ownership position.  He now says it's the best thing that ever happened to him.   He explains why in this podcast and also offers a perspective about why more Black restaurant owners don't expand.  

Mack Wilbourn's story is an example of what happens when someone finds their calling early in life and uses all of the resources available to chase and catch dreams. 

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The sale of cars, travel and dealerships has a history in African-American communities that is often ignored or unknown.   That's why the story of Gregory and Juanita Baranco is so inspiring.  They own two Mercedes Benz car dealerships.  One is in one of the ritziest zip codes in Atlanta, Ga and the other is in their home state of Louisiana.  

In this episode of ABL DUOs you will hear stories about three generations of Juanita Powell Baranco's  family and  learn why Gregory walked away from a guaranteed occupation as a dentist to be a "car guy."

However, what makes the Baranco's individual stories about business success even more powerful is the fact that they achieved their impressive accomplishments as a married couple.  Greg and Juanita celebrated 54 years of marriage when this podcast was recorded.  They are also the parents of four grown children and several grandchildren. 

These two also have individual accomplishments that few can claim.  For example, Juanita is an attorney who never lost a case in 30 years and Gregory  founded two organizations that have changed how Black, brown and beige auto dealer owners collaborate all over the country. 

This podcast is the epitome of why ABL DUOs was created.  Each of these two people is worthy of accolades because of his and her success in business as individuals and it just doubles when you examine what they have achieved together. 

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This is the final episode created for Black Music Month, which is in June.  This broadcast completes a trilogy of information about the business side of music as experienced by the professionals who are in the industry.  

 Peabo Bryson is unique in this category because, at the time of his interview, he has been a performer for 58 years.  

His life story is fascinating. It also covers a variety of topics which include the exhilaration of being one of the most recognized R&B voices in the industry; to the absolute sorrow that came with experiencing a very public fight with the Internal Revenue Service.  What you will learn, when you listen to him talk,  is that his integrity and incredible singing talent allowed him to rebuild his career and that tangling with taxes made him a much more astute businessman.  

Peabo is the father of a 5-year-old son and the survivor of a major health crisis.  But he still is an incredible performer who still books sold-out shows.  In fact, he's so confident in his ability that he croons a few bars from one of the first songs he ever wrote during the interview. 

This podcast will help anyone listening understand why this particular musician is so adored by millions all over the world.  It will also offer a window in the financial machinations that both elevate and twist the lives of musicians who entertain us.  

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This episode takes a look at what structured  business planning looks like at the beginning of a person's career in a creative industry.  

This is the story of Jacques and Maretta Johnson; mother and son.   

Jacques, in June 2023, is a 26-year-old musician. He's had a mild degree of success,  has opened for internationally known acts and has his own reality TV program on a local station.   His mother has  a locally produced television series, too.  But what makes their story a part of the Atlanta Business League's TELLING OUR STORY series is their application of best business practices to the music industry.   Jacques became a solo performer at age 15. 

His mom used her marketing degree, experience as a paralegal and the knowledge she gained successfully bringing an invented product to market to  structure  her eldest son's career.  This means some of the financial mistakes young artists make have been avoided. 

But there are other aspects of making solid business decisions that can't be easily quantified.  They represent the  human side of any business formula and showing  how it has impacted the  lives and growth of  this mother and son team is what makes their stories so interesting. 

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June  is Black Music Month in the United States. 

This episode of LESSONS from LEADERS actually offers a mini-lesson about the music industry from the perspective of a professional who has been able to experience it from two different views.  

Frank Ski is the professional name of a radio personality who has been entertaining  African-American audiences in major markets up and down the East coast for 20 years.   In 2023,  he is syndicated with morning shows airing in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, GA. 

But Frank Ski is also a musician.  His first producing attempt actually earned him a minor hit.  It also threw him into a maelstrom of learning about the pitfalls of producing music and making money.  Frank, however, had a secret weapon in the form of a mentor, who was also an attorney.  The legal advice he received at the beginning of his career set him up for a string of business successes.  It did not prevent him from encountering other types of financial problems. 

He is both gracious and blunt when explaining what he has encountered.  

In this episode you learn about European royalties a distribution company never paid, a tax mistake that cost him a boatload of money and, on the positive side;  a decision he made in 1997 that gave him a multi-million music payday in 2022.  

There is  still a lot of the Frank Ski story to tell.  This podcast just gives listeners a sample of why this man has impacted so many lives.  It also shows why he is giant in an industry that many people never learn to navigate. 

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Friendship and respect,  in a challenging academic setting, helped  mold two women into history making captains of industries. 

Before Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice became President and Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA she studied chemical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.  That's where she met Wonya Lucas,  another chem-E student. 

Both were young,  extremely bright African-American women who needed to escape  unpleasant college roommates. 

They roomed with each other, graduated from GaTech and went on to become life long friends who broke barriers in important arenas. 

Wonya  Lucas is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hallmark Media.  It's a position that suits her perfectly because, in addition to earning an engineering degree, she holds an MBA from Wharton and has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the broadcast cable industry.  

This podcast shows the path each of these two women took to achieve their C Suite careers.   

This episode is unique, though, because most of the half hour is spent allowing  Wonya and Dr. Rice  to interview each other.   There is laughter,  moments of sadness and a whole lot of truth telling because these are friends who have stood by each other for decades.  What they say about their lives and to each other has the potential to inspire everyone who hears this broadcast. 

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

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This is a story about friendship. 

 Ryan Wilson and T.K. Petersen met each other in college.  However, learning  about their lives before they shared a dorm room on the campus of Georgetown University really helps more people understand why Variety Magazine, INC.,  Wired,  USA TODAY, Bloomberg,  Black Enterprise,   The Guardian, The Root,   All the Fly Kids,   Buzzfeed  and many, many more label them - with astonishment,  as super-star entrepreneurs.

Ryan and T.K. started a membership club called The Gathering Spot in 2016.  In 2023, it has more than 13,000 members and locations in Atlanta, Ga., Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, Ca.  

Both call Atlanta, GA home and started their company in that city.  But it's really their friendship and worldview that makes what has happened in their personal lives and their company so very listen worthy. 

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This is the story about how a brilliant builder used  the life  gifts of a stable family upbringing, good education,  and both cultural and business mentorship to do more than just benefit himself. 

Egbert Perry L. J. Perry is the dynamic and articulate chair and president of the Integral Group, LLC.  It's described as an Atlanta, GA based  real estate development, advisory, and investment management company.  However, under Perry's leadership the company has created urban environments with livability scales that were unthinkable before he came along. 

This podcast allows listeners to hear more than just stories about inner city building projects.  The topics of market permission, the Atlanta Project and the reasons poverty is treated as a crime are examined in ways not usually discussed. 

Perry also explains the global housing market from his perspective as the former chair of the $3 trillion organization, FANNIE MAE. 

LESSONS from LEADERS is produced as part of the Atlanta Business League's 90th Anniversary celebration.