TSG Office Hours

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The room you wish you were already in.

In this episode, founder Thabiti Stephens sits down with Meech Golden — Emmy-nominated producer and founder of Good as Gold — for a conversation on brand-building, protecting talent, and the discipline behind real execution.

Join the Patreon! patreon.com/tsgofficehours

The room you wish you were already in.

In this episode, founder Thabiti Stephens sits down with Alex Ebanks, a corporate communications leader with an extensive background at brands including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Essence Ventures, for a conversation on career navigation, partnerships, and the real work behind storytelling.

Alex's career philosophy starts with reputation: excel at the tasks other people avoid, and long-term relationships will do more for your career than any job application ever will. She's specific about where influence actually lives inside an organization — build relationships with everyone, especially executive assistants, who often hold more real information and access than their titles suggest.

On corporate partnerships, her advice is tactical: research a company's fiscal year cycle so your pitch lands during actual budget planning, and chase shared value instead of what she calls "anti-logo slap" — partnerships built on real alignment, not just a logo on a banner. She points founders toward a company's existing community partners or industry associations as the fastest way to show you already fit their priorities.

The conversation's throughline is storytelling — Alex argues human connection still matters most, even in an AI-saturated landscape, and that founder-led storytelling works because people anchor to a face and an origin story, not just a product. For founders without big budgets, her advice is to use free tools like social media to build authentic momentum instead of waiting for a bigger platform. She closes with hard-earned lessons from the communications seat: strong writing is still non-negotiable no matter how good AI tools get, bad news should be flagged early so there's time to solve it together, and pushing back on leadership only works when it's solution-oriented and grounded in data, not preference.

If you've ever wanted a seat at the table where the real advice gets shared, this is where it continues.

© 2026 The Stephens Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Join the Patreon: patreon.com/tsgofficehours

The room you wish you were already in.

In this episode, founder Thabiti Stephens sits down with Dontrelle Inman — former NFL player turned wealth management professional at J.P. Morgan — for a conversation built specifically for athletes and high-net-worth individuals navigating money after the game.

Dontrelle draws a direct line from the field to finance: the same hard work, discipline, and ability to manage major transitions that carried him through football now shape how he thinks about wealth. His core message to athletes still playing — treat pro sports as a jump start to life, not the whole story, and start preparing for what comes after while you're still in it. He pushes athletes to operate like CEOs of their own finances, building a real team around them: a lawyer, a tax planner (not just someone who files a return), and a financial advisor who actually knows the game.

The conversation goes deep on strategy — diversifying into alternative investments like real estate and private equity, but only with real due diligence to avoid the pitches that sound better than they are. He's especially direct about leverage: borrowing against assets or brand equity as a tool for growth, and setting up trusts early to avoid probate, protect what's been built, and actually transfer wealth across generations instead of losing it by the third. On financial literacy, his warning is blunt — teach the next generation now, or watch the wealth disappear; don't fear the market, and don't let credit cards undo years of discipline.

For younger athletes navigating NIL deals specifically, his advice is grounded: know your tax bracket, treat yourself like a business from day one, and choose long-term wealth over short-term jewelry. He closes on something bigger than money — among his wealthiest clients, the real work eventually isn't building more wealth, it's finding and holding onto purpose.

If you've ever wanted a seat at the table where the real advice gets shared, this is where it continues.

© 2026 The Stephens Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/tsgofficehours

The room you wish you were already in.

In this episode, founder Thabiti Stephens sits down with Donte Miller of Village Micro Fund for a deep dive into how capital actually works — from venture capital and private equity down to micro-financing and decentralized ownership.

Donte breaks down the real difference between VC and PE: venture capital is a high-risk game chasing 10x returns on early-stage bets, while private equity typically targets businesses that already have real cash flow. He's direct about a point too many founders overlook — properly managing your accounting and paying your taxes isn't just compliance, it's the verifiable track record that makes you fundable when you go looking for loans or institutional capital. On fundraising itself, his framing is a negotiation, not a favor: know exactly how much capital you need, what you're willing to give up for it, and what an investor brings beyond the check.

The conversation's biggest idea is Endow — Donte's platform built as a digital cooperative, a DAO structure that lets communities collectively own assets and make decisions together, rethinking what community-led economic ownership can look like. For anyone looking to start their own fund, his advice is to start where you are — lean on community crowdfunding, build a real pipeline of credible entrepreneurs, and treat due diligence as a non-negotiable skill, not a formality.

Also announced: the next session features Dantrell Enman from JP Morgan Private Wealth Management, and Village Micro Fund's own program graduation and the launch of Endow are set for November 14th.

If you've ever wanted a seat at the table where the real advice gets shared, this is where it continues.

© 2026 The Stephens Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Join the Patreon: patreon.com/tsgofficehours

The room you wish you were already in.

Founder Thabiti Stephens opens this session with two big updates: Office Hours now has its own YouTube channel, with content posting a week or two after each live session, and the Patreon is officially live — guaranteeing spots for special sessions, with podcast audio available the day after recording and video the day after that.

From there, it's straight into the questions. On managing too many projects at once, Thabiti points to Essentialism by Greg McKeown — prioritize what's financially sustainable and built for long-term growth, and be honest about whether a venture increases your happiness or your bank account, because it should do at least one. On pitching opportunities, his framing is simple: aim to be the first, the best, or the only, and focus on how you help the other side make money with minimal lift required from them.

On international expansion — Africa, the Middle East — he suggests leaning into networks and regions with cultural familiarity already built in, like the UAE for those with UK ties, and starting with smaller, patient wins rather than forcing scale too early. On growth, he's candid about a hard truth: the skills that start a business aren't always the skills that scale it — sometimes the right move is stepping back to chairman and bringing in a CEO built for the next stage. He also covers the contract fundamentals too many founders skip — knowing exactly what terms like "perpetuity" mean and understanding which jurisdiction actually governs an agreement — and draws a sharp line between busyness and real productivity, which he measures by consistent output against real milestones, not activity for its own sake.

He closes on personal branding: treat it like an international entity, seed content consistently, and let real expertise — not noise — build the digital equity that makes you a thought leader in your space.

Also announced: Dante Miller of Village Micro Fund is confirmed as the next guest, joining for a session on the 27th.

If you've ever wanted a seat at the table where the real advice gets shared, this is where it continues.

© 2026 The Stephens Group, LLC. All rights reserved.