Kaiel | Son & Media Manager

Talking about the podcast, family business, and some fun stories. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the LJ's podcast. Wow, what addition is this? I'm not even sure. Five? Five. I think it's five. Episode five. Episode five. Welcome to the LJ's Podcast, episode five. Kenneth Jackson, um one of the members of a very special group of men and investors and brothers that is bringing this unique creation to life. But today it's up close and personal. It's family time. Yeah, yeah. It's family time. So for those that do not know, this is I'd like to introduce to you Kyle Jackson, my firstborn. Kyle is responsible and doing an outstanding job with basically all things digital. So social media, content, website, and the list goes on and on and on. And a few things in between time and in between time. So we're gonna talk a little bit about the business side, but also the family side because this is a family business. Let's do it. So uh I think the first question I have is and it's not on my sheet, but just how are you feeling about the overall experience as it relates right now? Just all the work you've put in watching the transformation, but just where are you at at this moment in time and how are you feeling about LJ's? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Uh I'm really grateful to be a part of LJ's, and I think it's a great experience. Uh I'm fortunate enough to have you as a dad, and you're a great dad. Gonna get me choked up out of the gate. But uh, but no, I mean it would be a very different conversation if I didn't enjoy your presence. I probably I would not be here, you know. Wow. So I I I I enjoy spending time with you, I enjoy hanging out with you, and it's uh it's a really cool experience to watch your own dad not give up on his dreams and to really go for it. Um like it it is a question I've been wanting to ask, but like it's also reflecting on your question. Like, I remember you, I think I was in, I don't know, sixth grade or something, and you gave me like this stack of papers, and it was a business plan. And you were like, I'll give you a hundred dollars. And it was like it was like 150 pages. Well you're like, I'll give you a hundred dollars if you can type this business plan into Word, and it was for a restaurant. I don't remember what the name was, but I know it was your restaurant that that was the business plan for. Um, so yeah, it's it's uh it's a really cool experience to even remember back as a kid of like, oh yeah, I do remember my dad always saying like he he didn't want to have his his own spot. Um so it's a it's an honor, it's and it's really cool to be able to help bring that to life, especially with something I creatively enjoy doing. You know, I love taking photos and videos, um, and I love the the candid and documenting aspect of videography so much. So uh it's uh it's a perfect playhouse for me to be able to put in the eight plus years of full-time videography that I have, but now to be able to apply it to you know, to LJs and for you, it's it's awesome. So, but what about you? Going back to you, um going back to thinking about that business plan, how does it feel for you? Gosh, I was 12 at the time when that business plan hit me, but like I'm 34 years old. So this twice, no, more than twice, that would be 24, Kyle. Good job. Uh recovery. Uh more than twice, more than two times. You know, it's been a long time. So, how does it feel for you to be able to go from not having LJs to having an LJs?

SPEAKER_00 4:33

So every day I walk in, and um I didn't do it as um explicitly as I typically do, but I I will typically come into LJs every morning and pray. And um, it's a gift. It's literally a gift. Um, I'm a firm believer in life that we have to go through seasons. You and I had that seasons conversation because I think uh you had a something going on with the youngest and school and and whatnot. And life is difficult. Yeah, you have to make difficult decisions and you have to go through seasons, but I think every season prepares you for the next season. And so it's still it still hasn't sunk in yet that we're sitting here at LJ's. Um, like right now, here we have a couple folks um that are key to this. Jara's here. What up, Jara? What's up, Jara? What's up, Monty? We don't need to say hi to him. Yeah, but you know, but it's still surreal to me because I've been thinking about this as long as I can remember. So one of my very first, and again, I'm gonna mention Jara's name again, but one of the very first clubs I DJ'd at um when I first started, um, it was called The Jack, and it was in Lake Forest. And I knew from that moment and even before then, I was that kid that got a worker's permit at 15 years old because I wanted to make my own money and do my own thing. But I knew the first time I DJ'ed, I'm not getting the value in this making money for someone else. Yeah. And it wasn't that I'm greedy, it was just like two things. One, I'm not getting my value. Secondly, I'm not in charge of the experience. Like there's so much more that can be done. There's so much more that could resonate with the audience. And so I had to work within someone else's footprint to bring my vision to life. And sometimes I could, but I've just I've always wanted to do things my way. And um, not, yeah, I have an ego and I can be a pain in the butt. I I get that piece, but I've always had this vision of how I wanted things done. And so to be able to bring my own vision, um, with the collaboration of others, it's been very humbling. Like I still pinch myself. It's like Christmas is every day. I wake up coming here, it's like Christmas every day.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Um, I will say you've done a really good job with me. I don't know about Monty, but with me at least. Um, if I'm not happy about something, you know I'm gonna say something. Um, so I really appreciate you, not just as dad, but as boss. Thank you for listening and uh always receiving input. Um, even if the decision ultimately is yours, you've been really good at being at least receptive from my point of view. Um, Monty clapped. Monty clapped. Yeah. Uh so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

I think I think I think Toyota was really good for me. And I also want to give I also want to give my mom credit. Um, my mom from you know Oh grandma. Oh grandma. Oh grandma LJ herself. LJ herself. So I want I want to give my mom credit because first it all started with with my mom, with grandma, that she even undersized, she made me feel like I could do anything from from day one. And I didn't even realize that I was undersized or super skinny and I shouldn't be able to do this. Like she just kind of the the wind beneath your wings. So then that transitions to I get into the corporate world, which is you know a little bit intimidating, right? You're trying to find your way and you're trying to compete. But I learned some, I had some great mentors and great leadership lessons where just I think I started, and listen, we've all worked for people that we know, you know who they are, where you're like, okay, when I'm a manager, I'm a boss, I'm not doing that because that doesn't feel good. Yeah, and we've all had crappy bosses and crappy leaders. We're like, so it's very important to me that everyone has a voice. Now we may not agree to your point, but I think it's very important as a leader, the team has to be heard. So I do I I work really hard to make sure two things. One, that the team is heard, and candidly, you know the vision. Because once you know where I'm trying to go, then you're like, okay, now I get it. We may not agree, but now I get where you're trying to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

And I'm I'm trying to find a a decent balance because I also know I'm your son, so I can still call you at 9 p.m. And it may, it usually has something to do with LJs, it has nothing to do with family or emergencies. Or my grandsons. Or grandsons, yeah. It has nothing to do with them. It's either pick them up or I have something to do with LJs. I have an idea. Uh so I'm trying to find a good balance of uh of of a work-life balance, but I appreciate the uh the the fun, the fun that we have.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

I receive I already know because you have the DNA of myself as well as your mom. Shout out Nicole. Um, but I know you have a lot of my passion. So uh again, as a leader, you don't want to sabotage, um, suppress that that passion. So yeah, I know where it's coming from, so have at it.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

I think too, just for like other people to know, I know that we're still hiring and looking for staff. I think one thing I obviously enjoy is your leadership style. Um, but I really don't know of like a uh fun, strategic, like good balance of a boss that I know you are to me, but are for everybody else so far. Um but I guess going into like going from work and the family aspect now or going to the family business side of like what um what do you feel like is something that you want to use LJ's experience to be able to teach your kids, either myself, Kimber, Kalen, grandkids, um like the family stuff specifically is what do you want us to get out of out of seeing you do what you love?

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Um you guys are already doing it to a great extent, and that is chase your own dreams. You don't we don't need another Kenny, right? You know, even though I did want to name you Julia. We do we do no, but we don't need another kidney. Oh no, it's all good. But the world needs Kyle. So go do how you're uniquely wired to go chase what you want to do. That and so that's what LJ's is. It's a platform for everyone to kind of come be their authentic self. Like, so it's a place where we can all the beautiful the beauty of the world is the diversity of the world. We're not all the same. And so to me, my goal is to give everyone a platform where they can be the best version of themselves.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

I'm excited for the I mean the podcast in general. You know, my my vision is for this to be like diary of the CEOs, is what I keep calling it. Um Yeah, you can go out this way, it's fine. Um uh yeah, my my hope is for it to be like Diary of the CEO because I I do envision this room being filled with people and having uh having quality conversations um that are fun, lighthearted, but like fruitful. Um and I don't know of many any. Not that I'm really looking for it though. I'm not I I'm not aware of any like good black-owned, black perspective professional podcasts. Um like I think there's places that you can go to, but I think a podcast is video, audio podcast, or whatever. I feel like it's a great resource for the culture that you want LJs to have is perfect for a podcast because we, as you were saying, you know, like being the example or pursuing your dreams, some people may not know exactly what it is. So I think the podcast will present many opportunities for people to actually come in and talk about those things.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

So and not only do I agree with you the intent of the podcast, you know this, the audience may not know this, but we're gonna have multiple speakers from different walks of life, areas of expertise that can speak what's important to me in a relatable way that's tangible, it's um, you know what I mean. We so I think that's the goal digestible, digestible, yeah, right? You're gonna you're gonna on a layman's term, you know what I mean, a common understanding. So yeah, that's that's the goal. I I and I agree. I think Mondays, so for everyone that uh may not know, Mondays will be, we'll call it for now mental Mondays, and we'll do a podcast um with various um experts. So whether that's health and wellness, um, mental health, financial health, financial literacy, um, entrepreneurship. There's so much we've learned in this journey that I think everyone on our team can come up here, like our front of house manager, Monty. Yep. I'd love Monty to come on and and talk about different wines. Like, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Oh, we're gonna have guests too. Like Monty's brought up a good couple guests already that are either from Napa or actual connoisseurs. Because I mean, you and I we don't drink. We do not. So not acceptable. I I mean, yeah, I don't know anything about alcohol, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

So I do want I do want some good moscato. Monty knows. Monty, I want some moscato. We we know.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

We all know about the moscato. Didn't wait, wasn't Riesling, Monty? Isn't Riesling enough? Riesling was one, but now now Riesling can be dry or sweet. So we definitely want sweet. We never want dry. That's what I hear. Okay, cool. No, team Moscato. Yeah, yeah, team Moscato. Um, no, I'm I'm very excited. Also, music. One thing I'm really excited about, LJs, is the the ambient music that'll be playing in here. It's gonna be fire. 100%. Like the the I don't know, all those coffee shop things. Uh we're not doing that. I want like the good full.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

The music will stir your soul. Yeah. Simply put. Yeah, yeah. Stir your soul. Um, no, no, no. It's my time. Yeah, okay. No, no, no. I want no no no no no no no no. So you've been crushing it, handling all the social media, um, a lot of the digital um content. Once we open, what's a what's a moment that you're looking forward to capturing?

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Um I think probably just you and grandma in LJs. Like or or potentially if she's down, maybe having her on the podcast. Because I feel like if she's a lot of the inspiration for LJs, um, then I think I'm thinking like historical stuff. Um, you know, like, you know, I'm shooting weddings, so I I get the the text messages every now and then of like someone passed away, and I have that footage, yeah, you know, of those like precious moments. Um, I don't know grandma super well. Um, so I think it would be cool to get to know her through living more experiences with her, and I think having her walk through the doors and like getting that on footage, like I know some people want to be a part of that moment, but like my happy place is holding a camera um and documenting it. So like just slap a 360 and I can be in it, you know. But I think I think those like legacy moments where like grandma comes through, we have our first like sell-out podcast, we have our first sellout evening, we have our first buyout, like um opening the second LJs, like those legacy moments are what I'm like really looking forward to. All the other steps are great and part of the process that I want to document and make reels of and so on and so forth, but those moments are like are are special. Like the the video that we have of you walking around in here. I've been envisioning that video, that seven-second video, I've been envisioning that video for like, I don't know, six months since you said we're getting a restaurant, you know, or like I'm getting a restaurant. I was like, Oh yeah, that's sick. Okay, I want this video. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

What do you have for me?

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Um, let's see. What have been the biggest lessons you've learned that are fun to laugh at now that you can reflect on getting LJs? Like getting here. What are some uh funny moments that you're like, you know, this was a tough thing to deal through, but like I had to get through this and it it is what it is. And like, what was what was one of those instances?

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Man, uh I've said it a lot lately, and I'm gonna say it again. It's the patience. If anyone that knows me well for any period of time, you'd use a lot of adjectives to describe me. Patient would not be one of them. It would not, like it would be like the bottom of the list, and so um, yeah, I think um it's not funny, but it is funny because it's like you don't get what you want when you want it, and you have to learn to sit your butt down and just like and be patient. And so um sounds like I'm talking to Kai right now. Yeah, it is, it is, you know, and you know, and Kai's, you know, Kai's coming from, he's got your DNA, my DNA. Yeah, so yeah, the it's it's learning how to be patient in the journey and and you can't rush it. And then I think the cool analogy, it's like good food. You can't rush good food. You can't, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, you can't rush a good experience, you can't rush maturity, you know what I mean? You can't rush perspective. So just really learning to be patient, um, which is hard, you know. I I can't tell you how many times I catch Monty just kind of shaking his head and laughing at me because we've worked so much side by side over the past five weeks or so, where like after a while I reach my point, I'm sick of looking at something, it's gonna change. Like, you know, I think about whether it's taking out the stuff on the bar, taking out the booths here, you know what I mean? Um, I'll never forget I was laughing. He said, he came in and one day and he looked at the floor and he goes, Who vacuum? I was like, I did. And he said, of course you did. So it's like um patience is something I always have to keep working on. And I think I think being vulnerable to for me, um having to, I think one of my goals going forward to is learning to be even more patient in my relationships. I think what for me, um, you guys have said it to me as kids, um, is like sometimes I will um I will be closed off. You know what I mean? There's a lot of things I'll share, but in some places I'll be very private. So I I think it's about being patient in my own maturation and my own journey to continue to be more and more vulnerable and to be just more and more patient in my relationships as well as I've learned this lesson. I've learned this lesson of LJs to open it. Now, how can I transfer that to other areas of my life? Yeah, love it. So now we'll land the plane with you. So my question, tray tables up, seat backs upright position, stow your stuff underneath your seat, seat belts buckled. My question for you is can you tell I fly a lot? Fly too much? My question for you is That's your outro. It is my outro. It is my outro. So my question for you is what has been one of your larger lessons, whether that's for myself directly or this process of now you're like, because you are an entrepreneur and a businessman. Yeah, you have dreams and aspirations, which I respect. Um, you're self-employed, which is not easy, but what's one of the lessons you've learned watching either your pops as you call me, or in this process?

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yeah, yeah. Um, I wouldn't say there's one. Um, a couple things that just come to my mind is balance. Um, there's a lot of balance and learning how to prioritize my needs, my family's needs, LJ's needs, your needs, um, and just trying to make sure I'm being clear about what I'm capable uh of doing in a certain Amount of time, um, or if I need help with something, asking for it. So um I can't have the balance of having a full-time, you know, wedding videography, photography business, and helping with LJs and dad and husband, the other things, if I can't communicate to each of those like sections about what I can give um and what I need help with. Uh so I think it's continuing like you were saying, uh like a level of vulnerability, um, but also just not uh sounds brash, but just not really caring. Uh not really caring about Nicole Gavin. The yeah, not really caring about um necessarily people's not not to say people's feelings, um, but not putting other people's desires and expectations that I think they have of me above what I can actually give. Um so if it means, hey, I can come in at this time and we're gonna do this, then then I expect to do that at that time. And if it doesn't happen, I need to communicate, hey, I didn't like this. Can we make sure that we do this for now on? If I don't communicate it, then there's bitterness, and then there's resentment. Resentment, and then ultimately, like that's not their problem. Yep, that's a that's a Kyle problem, and I have to com I have to learn how to continue to communicate clearly and balance all of the things. Um, because if it falls off of balance, then that's not a good Kyle, you know, that's not the best Kyle. No, I agree. So I'm trying to be the best Kyle in all of those areas, but um, yeah, I think I think seeing you also do that has helped though. Thank you. Um, like I've we've already had the discussions of like, I didn't like this, and you're like, my bad, I'm sorry. And you're like, I was like, all right, it was just that easy. I just needed to say I didn't like this. I I can drop it well. I don't need to hold on to feelings, I don't need to be upset. Like, let's uh as one of our favorite Hawaiian savings, Hawaiian sayings is emua, and emua means move forward. Yeah, and one of your things is turn the page. Turn the page, just you just gotta keep going.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Yeah, and and I want to recognize um as someone that's kind of historically been quote unquote a people pleaser, that you know, I had to grow out of that phase because trying to make everyone happy, you lose balance. To your point, you lose balance and you lose clarity and you lose yourself. Yeah, and so I think uh that's something that I feel good about. That to your point, I've learned to turn that page, have that balance, not try to people please because you're not gonna make everyone happy. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah, that's that's the thing, it's not people pleasing. I I said not care, but that's a way nicer.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

I knew what you meant. That knew what you meant. I knew what you meant.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

I knew what you meant. I'm not saying be mean intentionally. Yeah, yeah. That's what you're saying. It's all good.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Yeah. Thank you for sitting with me. Absolutely. Thank you for all your contributions and passions. And uh, I look forward to doing uh round two of this conversation again.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Sounds good. We'll see you guys uh next uh podcast for LJs. Peace.