This is the last part of my podcast with Levko & we began this podcast by talking about reducing waste. Lev brings endless knowledge on this subject, which is why I love picking at his brain every time that I'm with him.

How was this t-shirt made? What were ALL of the ingredients in your food? Lev has really shown me how to slow down and be more conscious about what I consume from media to food.

We also briefly talk about the 2015 documentary, "The True Cost", -- which is how this podcast got its title -- and more specifically about how the fashion industry is full of terrible practices and highlights that kick-started the movie. The scenario begins with when a building collapsed over and there were 1000 people inside of it, many of which felt unsafe working in that building because of the very visible crack in the structure. This movie shows the real true cost of the labor the world demands for fast fashion. Cheap labor means greed and when people become greedy and selfish, we do not think of other people's lives and even then, some economies just don't have the infrastructure to fix a problem that they have.

Levko also explains what a Social Enterprise is and the business model. I personally found it to be the best happy medium for businesses but not all businesses operate for a cause. I would HIGHLY recommend looking into social enterprises and find some of your local social enterprises and support them.

But I do hope that -- yet again -- this was an enjoyable podcast that provided some value to your lives.

Give Levko a follow: @levkarma https://www.instagram.com/levkarma

Sub to his Youtube: @levkarma https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBmfDZXIdwoyjkZ8c3Hflsw

Watch his Q&A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvLVOFIX3-c

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business site: www.vinmediagroup.com

What is the first thing you think about when you hear Sustainable or Ethically Produced Clothing? If it’s a trash bag, then you aren’t alone.

During this conversation, Levko and I discuss about his brand, The Molasses.

Manifestation really becomes a reality when you break down your big goals into smaller and smaller goals. Levko and I began discussing his idea for a sustainable/ethically produced clothing “directory” since December/January 2018/2019 respectively. From that day on, Levko has worked on gathering his data and teaching himself to build websites in order to properly reproduce his vision. When we reconnected again in 2019, Levko brought back his genius idea and since then it’s been go, go, go.

Having graduating Pitt University with an Environmental Sciences degree, Levko really delves into the nitty-gritty for how to reduce waste and how to stop unethical business practices by creating an online platform where people can discover and shop for these brands that are ethically producing clothing that is also sustainable for the Earth.

Fast-Fashion has taken over the industry and The United States of America are one of the most wasteful countries with 4.6 pounds of waste per person a day. That equates to about 230 million tons of trash a year. Can you imagine that? I cannot. We have to do what we can to slow down the rising heat of the Earth and also really learn creative ways to produce clothing that reduces waste or something as simple as recycling and/or repurposing clothing, S/O to Drifter’s MD https://www.instagram.com/driftersmd

The Molasses will be dropping very soon, so stay tuned for what’s to come.

Levko also speaks about CSA’s  — Community Support Agriculture — which is another great way to help support your local farms. Levko is an extremely insightful guy, and he is going to change the world with his vision and his determination to make a change.

Give him a follow: @levkarma https://www.instagram.com/levkarma

I have been blessed to be able to get this podcast up on the main channels for podcasting:

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: wwww.zacvii.com

Business site: www.vinmediagroup.com

From the moment I met Levko, we clicked. We’ve always been on the same vibe and began the process for us to assist each other with each other’s business.

In this podcast episode, I introduce Levko. Lev is the Web Developer for Vin Media Group. Levko and I go back as far as high school. Levko and I talk discuss  block-chain technology and specifically how to make it more sustainable and eco-friendly. Levko studied environmental sciences and he uses his perspective on how to sustain and make the world better through his business transactions. He mentioned a podcast by KommerceTF and their mission is:

“The lack of financing for small and medium sized merchants in Africa hurts people. It hurts many of them by depriving them of the ability to do business beyond basic levels. Traders sell less than they could, and make less money than they should, because they don’t get support from lenders to finance their trade in goods. Whatever they buy, typically has to be paid for in cash. It is hard to capture the full extent to which this puts a squeeze on the lives of people. Less money means less and lower quality calories. It means less to spend on housing, education, medicine, and communication. Overall, it also means more unproductive gaps between productive trading days, while traders wait for the arrival of goods they have purchased in cash. The mission of the Kommerce project is to make working capital more easily available to traders in Emerging Markets.” — Taken straight from their LinkedIn

We also discuss a bit about Bitcoin but tune into the next podcast tomorrow when we continue talking about the next generation of solutions of block chain — The Molasses.

Follow Levko on IG: @levkarma https://www.instagram.com/levkarma

I have been blessed to be able to get this podcast up on the main channels for podcasting:

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business site: www.vinmediagroup.com

Omar, “O”, the Creative, is the Creator of DC band Black Alley. He’s been on the DC Music and Entertainment scene for over 20 years now and is still grinding and pushing every single day. O curated the Chocolate City Farmer’s Market and fed over 100 families in need — and this event went on in the 108 degree weather we’ve been having.

Follow him on IG: @omarthe_creative https://www.instagram.com/omarthe_creative

Manny and I met him at his venue space in DC and discussed who he is, his history, what he’s up to, and he dropped some major keys throughout the podcast.

Throughout this podcast, Manny and I dig deeper into his brain about what he did back in the day and really connected with somebody that my mom put me on to; So shouts out to Madre.

I truly hope that this podcast, although an hour long, provided some serious context to what a real entrepreneur is about and what they do, how they move and what their vision is supposed to be like.

Please leave a 5 star review and comment in your review what you enjoyed the most

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business site: www.vinmediagroup.com

All too often photographers are asking the question of how to charge, who pays who and how to get started in the photography industry.

Now, I want to clearly preface this article by saying,

I would consider myself a more-serious amateur photographer, an experienced photographer, or even a “prosumer,” but that top level of photography, I am not. I leave that title for the photographers like Kevin Wong or Theo Skudra. A lot of photography comes from experience, network, and portfolio; aka clout.

This graph was taken from an article at FStoppers.

This is my guide to how to begin your business in the photography industry.

My tips are very straightforward for everyone that wants to know HOW to start a photography business. So here it goes:

I had a friend named Sophia that said to me “How can you say you’re a photographer if you don’t have photos up?” and I knew that I needed to change that.

Photographers are entrepreneurs also, we need to network and get our name out there it is very easy to make money with photography because EVERYONE needs a photographer. If you aren’t putting yourself out there with your personality and charm and SKILL, nobody will know and your process to grow can be hindered just because you’re sitting around dwindling.

I hope this was insightful and valuable.

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business site: www.vinmediagroup.com

In this 3/4 part podcast, Nate and I touch on the world and how we should do OUR part to save it. Although the Earth is heating up, we can do our job to slow that and cool off the world (before the world cools us off dun dun dunnnnn).

Nonetheless, there are some very important things discussed and it led me to more questions that will be asked with my fellow business partner, Levko Karma, on next Tuesday’s podcast.

What do you all think should be done? Let me know in the comments, DM me, or comment on my most recent photo what you feel.

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business website: www.vinmediagroup.com

Nate and I discuss what "mastery" is in relation to "expert" according to Malcolm Gladwell's "Ten Thousandth Hour Rule"

What do you consider a master? Would you agree with how an expert is considered ten-thousand hours?

I definitely agree and never thought of a more upper-echelon level to being an expert. The oh so concise Nate strikes again with word precision.

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business site: www.vinmediagroup.com

In this podcast, I introduce Nate. He's the third member of Fuck Boy Foodies. We discuss who he is and get into his mind a little. We touch on education and college, the job that we work at, and when/where/how we met.

Nate is a "cook" located in the DMV area and poses a great question: Who is your 'Mount Rushmore' of cooks? He said that his Mount Rushmore for chefs would be: His dad, Emerald Legasse, Alton Brown, and Matty Matheson

Shout out to Sean Evans and Hot Ones. Watch the interview with Andrew Rea on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ80ui7zur4

Also s/o to Anthony Bourdain, Emerald Legasse, Matty Matheson, Brad (and Vinny), and Action Bronson!

Shouts out to moms! But Lola definitely cooks better.

I hope you all enjoy!

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business website: www.vinmediagroup.com

In the final 4 for 4 special podcast with Nate R. We discuss how to commit our time to our crafts and more specifically what Nathan is doing with his own time.

There is no excuse for anybody not being able to get started on your own business; and as you can tell, the audio from these podcasts were not great but would I excuse not being able to find a good room to record in a reason to not record? No. We still did it, and this is still going out there for the masses.

The only obstacle that we face — outside of death — is ourselves. We put a majority of the walls up that we have to face when those mental blocks can easily be extinguished if we just get started.

Start the train, get it moving, and sooner than you know it, those 30 minutes a day, turns into 3.5 hours a week, which turns into 10 hours a week. Sooner than later, that time that you put into your craft, into what you love to do, will become your career. Be aware of this and make sure that you are living the life you want to be proud of and satisfied when you inevitably leave this world.

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business site: www.vinmediagroup.com

Manny and I talk about our business idea "The Black Market" which is going to be a 100% Black/Afro/African-American Farmer's Market/Block Party in the DMV Region. Our idea for this stemmed from watching Killer Mike's: Trigger Warning Series on Netflix.

So many questions were raised after watching this show including:

Why was it so hard for Killer Mike to find truly black-owned establishments?

Do we have any black-owned and operated farms in the DMV?

Which naturally led to the spawn of The Black Market.

We hope that you enjoyed this podcast. Please give us a like, comment, and/or share if you found this valuable. We would really appreciate it. Thank you.

Follow Manny on IG: @awkwardmanuel https://www.instagram.com/awkwardmanuel

Find me on all platforms: @ZACVii

My website: www.zacvii.com

Business website: www.vinmediagroup.com