Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where
we explore the journeys that lead to success.
I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five
Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you
insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders
and experts who will share not just their expertise,
but the milestone moments that have reshaped
their journeys and led to significant achievements.
So if you're looking for motivation, you're in
the right place. Subscribe now and discover the
milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome
to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. I'm Sheila Slick, your host,
and today my special guest is Dr. Letitia Wright.
Dr. Wright is the executive producer and host
of Right Place TV. A former chiropractor, Dr.
Wright transitioned into the media world over
22 years ago. Wright Place TV is in its 25th
season with a bandwidth spanning over six and
a half million homes throughout Southern California
and beyond. In addition to her media work, she
is a top 100 crowdfunding expert in the United
States, focusing on putting funding and money
into the hands of women and minority -owned businesses.
Welcome to the show, Dr. Wright. Thank you so
much for having me. I'm really excited to talk
with you today and hopefully share some things
with your audience to help them think differently
about what they want to do and where they want
to go. I'd love to start today's conversation
by asking you about this transition. You went
from chiropractor to media producer and helping
minority -owned women businesses secure funding.
Can you tell me a little bit about the transition
and what you do today? I can. I think of myself
sort of as the princess of pivot. I love looking
back over my life. I've made all of these pivots
that have just really built on top of themselves
and been able to really broaden my horizon and
broaden who I can help. So yes, I am a chiropractic
physician. I have said I'm going to be a doctor
since I was three years old. I've been telling
people that I'm going to be a doctor. My mother
worked for a chiropractor when I was about 11,
12. And I would sit in the lobby and do my homework
after school, waiting for her to get out from
work. And I would see people walk into the office
and they're all bent over in pain and they would
walk out and they would be like instantly better.
And that just really intrigued me. And it made
me feel like I want to be a chiropractor. And
so, you know, I pursued it and boom, graduate.
Here I am. Not boom, but, you know, graduate.
Here I am. And I became a chiropractor. The challenge
was that I did not have a mentor for the business
part of my practice. I struggled. I struggled
financially. I just struggled, struggled, struggled.
And it was really beating me down. I reached
out to other physicians who had been in business
and asked them directly for mentorship. And one
person said, well, you have kids. Go home and
be with your kids. One person said, your practice
is too close to mine. I'm not going to help you.
I literally couldn't get any help. And this is
before there was SBTV, before there were books,
before all of this kind of stuff was available.
And I went to a practice management company and
I applied for them to help me with the practice.
And so I waited for them to call and, you know,
tell me when they were coming in. And I got a
call and they called me up and they said, hey,
Dr. Wright, we got your application for, you
know. practice management. And what they do is
they come into the office, look at what's not
going right, tell you how to get things going
so that you're thriving as a practice. And they
said, yeah, we got your application, but you
know what, Dr. Wright, you don't make enough
money to be one of our clients. I was devastated.
I didn't have anybody else to give me any help
with this. At the same time that last year I
was in practice, I had started I'd been a guest
on someone else's TV show locally. And I thought,
wow, this is really, really great. And I did
a good job explaining what I do as a physician.
And just, you know, my hair looked good. I had
on this pretty peach suit. I mean, it was just
like, boom, boom, boom. And so I went back to
the station and said, how did this guy get a
show? Like, how does this work? And back at that
time, cable companies had a mandate that they
had to let the community have their own channels.
Since they were coming into the community, they
had to give back like that. And so I learned
how to produce my own show. I spent a year volunteering
on other people's shows. And just learning everything.
So I know how to direct. I know how to do sound.
I know how to be the assistant director. I know
how to run a camera. I know how to run lighting.
I know how to set up a set. All of those things
I learned how to do. So when I'm sitting in the
seat in the studio, I'm not rushing them. Come
on, let's go. I know what they're doing. I know
what's going on around me to have to make. the
next thing happened. And so, you know, I was
a kind of a crew favorite because, you know,
I always brought them food. A lot of times people
on the shows would bring me gifts or they would
be promoting their things. I always gave them
to my crew, like, you know, to work with me,
they knew they were going to get something, you
know? And so the show grew and grew, grew, grew.
We were on direct TV for a couple of years. It
just really expanded across the country. And
I've been doing it ever since. Now, today we
are still on, we're on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and
Apple TV. So people can subscribe for free, download
it and see all kinds of shows and other people's
shows. But Right Place TV is now a whole channel.
I continue that. So that is how I kind of transitioned
to TV. I wanted to interview business people
who were successful because I needed that information.
And I knew if I needed that, other people needed
that too. The show just has been thriving ever
since. And in 2010, I met someone who had this
cool comic called A Pug Named Fender. And it
was based on a real dog, his real dog, and his
real dog passed away. And sort of as a cathartic
thing, he decided to turn all the episodes into
a book. And he did with crowdfunding. And I got
to watch his crowdfunding up close. And I was
like, this is what entrepreneurs need during
this time when they are having difficulty getting
loans and everything. So I knew crowdfunding
was it. I started studying it. And I asked 10
of my business friends, would they let me crowdfund
for them? They didn't really know what it was,
but they just trusted me. Six went really well.
Four of them blew up and burned down so bad you
can still see the smoke from here. So it is,
you know, like I learned hands on. Then I started
teaching for the Los Angeles Small Business Administration,
the Las Vegas Small Business Administration.
I started traveling around and now I travel around
the world for an accelerated business school.
They go to different countries. This year it'll
be in Thailand. And I teach crowdfunding for
business people, women. have a hard time getting
funding. It's not just a mindset thing. It is
really how things are set up. It was only in
1972 that a woman could even get a credit card
or a bank account without her father or her husband
saying she could have one. So women being autonomous
in business and in the money world is still pretty
new. And so making sure that the system isn't
set against you, crowdfunding can go outside
of the system. It is about community. Women are
great at building communities and supporting
communities. We are the best. And women can use
their community to support them financially to
their next step. And so I get a lot of joy out
of teaching that. I love everything you just
shared. Since it was with the SBA, I served as
a certified score mentor and then chapter chair
for our counties. We have two counties. And I
absolutely loved when I would mentor women. And
I know firsthand the challenge of funding. Where
do I begin? I do want to talk about the money
because I'd love to hear your insights. But I
am so intrigued about the channel. I have a few
questions regarding that. Number one. The channel
is available today. If I tune in. What am I watching?
Am I watching Entrepreneurship 101 like a shark
tank? No, not a shark tank. You're watching a
couple of different shows. Right Place TV is
me interviewing business people about their journey,
very similar to how your show is. And so you
can get some insights and some information. We
also have some shows on a section called Yoga
Baki that are about health. We have health practitioners
that are talking about getting your health together.
We have people who have shows on getting your
mindset together. making sure mentally you're
ready for that game. That is the thing that comes
first. That comes before money and before everything
else. Because if you have the wrong mindset,
you're going to come into it wrong. For example,
with crowdfunding for business, it's very different
than crowdfunding for a personal issue. And so
a lot of people set up a crowdfunding that it's
like for their business for like, if you help
me do this, you'll be helping my dream come true.
Well, nobody cares about your dream, honey. Not
one person. But if you are, pre -selling an item.
You can get this little squeezy heart right now,
and this is what it is. You're pre -selling or
you're selling shares of your companies. My squeezy
heart is going to be the squeeziest, heartiest
thing in the world. It's going to make millions
of dollars. buy shares in my company and we'll
all grow together and people are able to make
money. So people have to remember with crowdfunding
for business, it's not about somebody helping
you or donating money or giving you money. It
is really about a partnership between you and
them to help your company grow. They are getting
something and you are getting money. It's a win
-win situation for both. So now I'm generation
X, right? So when I think TV or the big screen,
I'm thinking like these major national networks,
these giant. And things have changed. We are,
all of them are going digital. Everything is
digital. So I want you to think digital so that.
brings it down to your level. Now you can start
off new. Everybody had no followers at first.
The first day Disney Channel was on TV, there
was nobody watching it. Now, of course, they
grew quickly because they are a legacy company
and they are loved by generation after generation
after generation. So they were able to grow quickly.
They've been around longer than both of us, right?
You know, they've been around for a long, long
time. But you as a podcaster can. Put your show
on your own channel, which allows you, and this
is why you would want to do it as opposed to
just being on Apple or Spotify or somewhere else.
You have complete control over how much money
you make. You have complete control over bringing
in sponsors and keeping that money together.
You have complete control over your distribution.
You can promote yourself as much as possible.
When you send me to Apple or Spotify to look
at your podcast. I'm not going to just find your
podcast. I'm going to find everybody else's podcast.
But if you sent me to your Roku channel to watch
your podcast, or you sent me to your Apple TV
or Amazon Fire TV, and there's a difference between
Amazon Fire and Amazon TV, you get to control
all that and you get to send me just to your
channel. There's not all these other distractions.
They're not social media. They are media. And
there's a difference. YouTube is still social
media. That's why YouTube has all these other
distractions and commercials and come and look
at this and come and look at that. Nothing wrong
with YouTube. It's a great way for people to
find you and it's a great directory. But in terms
of making your money and being in control of
your future, there's nothing like having your
own channel. And so that is something that you
can reach for right now. You do have to build
it. You do have to, you know. market it. And
you do have to be in total control of it in a
way that a lot of people don't want to, they
want to be the star and they want to be the star
of the show, but everything it takes to create
that star, they don't want to have anything to
do with. And unless you can pay other people
to do that, you've got to do it yourself. And
so it is amazing opportunity for anyone because
the control is your control. So since you have
an entire, channel. Are you always accepting
new shows? What does that process look like?
It is. I am accepting new shows because I'm always
looking at being able to promote people that
are doing good things in the world and getting
the distribution out there. It is about contacting
me and pitching me. And I usually dig into what
is your revenue plan for your show? Because when
people... come to me and they don't have their
own revenue plan in mind, it makes it very difficult
to help them make money. Because a lot of people
are saying, oh, I'm on your channel. I'm supposed
to help them make money. So I do want to work
with people who are very hands -on with their
own show, understanding that they can really
make a difference when they take control of it.
So is it like a profit, like a partnership, like
you share revenue or you share profit? I have
a couple of different plans. And so what I like
to do is I like to give people flat fees so that
they can create revenue at the level that they
want to create. I tend to be the person that
this is my fee. And whether you bring in $10
,000 or $10 million worth of sponsorships, you
still have the same fees with me because that
gives everybody a chance to make a profit. When
you're constantly... revenue sharing, it's hard
to get ahead and actually make a profit because
you've got to split off that money and then you've
got bills and then you're like, you can never
get ahead. It's sort of like you owe your soul
to the company store. So I like to do it a little
bit differently. People say I'm leaving a lot
of money on the table, but I've seen myself as
a queen maker. I love to see you get in there,
make a lot of money and be very, very comfortable
because now You can really give back to the community,
live a great life yourself. And it's not the
struggle bus. And what you're offering to gives
the person control of, you know, their show and
making the money off the show. So it's not just
a rented platform where. You say, okay, I'm going
to just, you know, turn you off. I'm sure there's
some sort of agreement where you need to meet
certain requisites and stuff, but it gives you
control. It's not necessarily a rented platform,
which is exactly what social media is. You lose
that sense of control when you are on social
media, right? And sometimes people put too much
emphasis on building their business around social
media. We just saw what happened with the TikTok
shutdown. And it still may be shut down again.
So we have to remember those are rented platforms.
I have a huge platform on TikTok, but guess what?
Not all of those people are on my email list.
So if it does go away 20, 30 days or whatever
the deadline is, I don't even keep track of that
because I literally don't care. I'm on social
media. I post, I see which ones are getting the
most traction and I put the most energy into
it. And we go from there. It's one place to meet
people. It's not the only place. And so I'm not
devastated. And I don't own those. If they go
away, there's nothing I can say about it. I have
no ownership in there. If they change the rules
and they now say, you got to have 2 million pixels
instead of 50 pixels, or we're not going to print
your, or put your stuff up. You have no control
over that. You have no control over updates with
my TV channel. I have a team that anytime there
are updates. Boom, they are on it. They're an
amazing team. I check the channels every day.
I check my clients' channels. And, you know,
sometimes there's an update. Roku is not good
about giving you, Roku is good about telling
you they're going to have an update. They give
you emails. Hey, it's going to be an update.
Apple's updates are so smooth. It's like they
just update and there's just never a problem.
It's like, yeah, we updated, but your channel
isn't broken down and you know what I mean? There's
nothing there. But Amazon, every once in a while,
they're not as great about giving you the updates
and you go check on an Amazon Fire TV channel
and it'll be broken. Well, I check them every
morning for my clients and then I'm able to get
my team on it and my team is just. great behind
the scenes they'll go in there and fix it before
the clients even know there's a problem so you
know that's the other thing you get with working
with me is you do have the tech backup because
again if you have your own channel then this
is Something that you also have to make sure
you keep up with that. We have the tech background
to help clients with that. And then if you're
on Right Place TV channel, you don't have to
worry about it. And we give people unlimited
uploads. So it's not like you can only upload
four shows a week or whatever. I give unlimited
uploads because I am a producer myself. I know
what it's like. And if people haven't seen it,
it's new to them. There's nothing wrong with
uploading a show that's a little bit old if nobody
has seen it. If you put it on YouTube and it
only got three views, nobody has seen it. So
promote it again, share it again. And so we allow
clients to have unlimited uploads with what they're
doing. It's digital. Yes, you know, I host clients'
content for them. So once I have it, they don't
have to worry about storing it or anything like
that. I, you know, pay for the storage. And life
is good like that. Well, thank you so much for
sharing those insights. It brings in a lot of
possibility to those wanting to make an impact
or start a channel. I know that when I jumped
into podcasting, it was like, oh, this is like
having your own radio station. And I've enjoyed
it so much. This is season two. So thank you
for opening up that new possibility that wouldn't
have been something that yesterday alone I would
have really contemplated. Yes, it's a great opportunity.
And again, the opportunity for you to create
revenue that belongs to you. So now we can talk
about the funding. Your work also focuses on
directing funding to women and minority owned
businesses. What patterns have you observed in
how women in general approach financial empowerment?
And if we talk about mindset, what have you found
to be the most impactful? Here's the thing with
women. We are really great at community. And
so the way. I get funds into Women's Hands. It's
crowdfunding, which is really bringing your community
together to support you. Or if your community
is very small, partnering with somebody, I can
partner with you and say, hey girl, this is what
I'm doing. I'm building the Hardy Hearts. Can
you, on my behalf, reach out to your community
and let them know that we've got the Hardy Hearts
ready and they can buy them now. Community does
not have to be your own community, but you do
have to have a community to go to with crowdfunding.
It's not put it up there and they will come and
you just try to figure out who you can sell to.
That's not what we're doing. We're doing pre
-sales or we're selling shares of our company.
And of course, if you're a nonprofit, then it's
donations. If you're not a nonprofit, it is not
about getting donations for your business because
nobody wants to donate for your business. So
me really just reminding women where their strength
is. Your strength is your community. We build
communities. We can build a community all by
ourselves. We have babies and we make our own
community right in our own houses. And so we
are very, very good at building. community. And
so it's about remembering, especially the older
you get, all those Girl Scout cookies you purchased
from the little girl down the street and all
the tickets and fair things and just all the
stuff that you have done to build community over
the years. Crowdfunding is about reaching back
and saying, hey, I now have a project and I would
love for you to participate in it. And it allows
people to participate at whatever level they're
at. So grandma can give you $25 because that's
what she has. And someone else can invest $10
,000 because that's what they have. And so you
allow people to come in at the level that they
want to come in at, work and support you and
create whatever the project is. We can save lives.
We can create new businesses. We can create makeup.
We can do all kinds of things, bring them to
market and not have. to worry about credit checks
and are we getting a loan and are we doing this
and that. The other thing is with crowdfunding,
you can crowdfund and do other things. So I'm
trying to get women's mindset to be wider. It's
not this or that, it's this and that. You can
crowdfund and you can get a grant and you can
get a loan and you can do all of that. Crowdfunding
does not knock out anything else. That's what
I love about it. It allows you to do all of the
things you need to do to bring your tribe together,
to bring the finances together and create something
that makes the world better. Most women, even
if they're not a certified B corporation. their
businesses are somehow improving the world. There
are very few businesses that women put together
that are just vanity fund businesses. Even if
they're fun, they are doing good in the world.
And so I love supporting women because there's
a residual of good coming out of their business.
They're not just making money and feeding themselves,
but they're giving back to their communities
and they're supporting the things that they find
important. I love that. So I do have another
question for you. Drawing from this extensive
experience as a TV producer and host for over
two decades, how do you think women entrepreneurs
can better leverage their media opportunities?
Or even if they're not entrepreneurs, we all
have that personal brand. What opportunities
or industry insights? Are we all overlooking
that could help us grow? Well, I think for one
thing, I am really blessed to have a great publicist.
And she really, she's established in the business.
She has connections. That's the biggest thing
that you need in looking for a publicist. Do
they actually have connections? Can they actually
make some things happen? And I think that is
a big strategy for me because I can work on my
business, not spending time combing through and
looking for how to get on different shows. Yes,
you can promote yourself. Nothing wrong with
that. I've done that. I've written my own press
releases. I've learned how to do that. But there
gets to a point where you are growing and you
need someone else to take over that. You need
someone else who, that's actually their profession.
to take over that and get you opportunities to
be seen where you yourself may not be able to
make that connection. And so I think that's one
thing is that relying on yourself, you know,
it's time to bring in help. I've been doing this
thing about the pivot and telling women to, you
know, stop all this building in silence. and
build in silence and then come back strong. You
can't build in silence. You have to build in
community. You have to connect with people. I
have to call you and say, hey girl, thank you
so much for having me on the show. I have this
going on. Could I come back on? Can you fit me
on? Like there has to be relationships. It doesn't
just happen just you by yourself. And so we need
to stop all this. If you build in silence, they
won't know how to attack you. If you build within
the right community, you've got people to protect
you. Because we know each other now. So if somebody
comes to you and says, you know, Dr. Wright is
da -da -da -da -da, you know something about
me. You kind of know, hmm, that doesn't sound
right. That's not my experience. Versus, oh,
okay, you know, I'm going to spread that around
too. You can have a community that protects you
when you're in with people who don't mind that
you are successful. And that is the key thing.
The other thing is making sure people that are
surrounding you are really your friends, are
really okay with you being successful. As soon
as they're not there, you have to let that person
go. I had a camera person that he worked with
me a lot. And we were in the car driving somewhere
to something. And I was sharing with him what
the big vision is. And I said, what do you think
about that? Do you think it's something that
I can do? And he said, nah, I mean, you know,
it's nice to have a dream. But, you know, he
basically just said, hey, I'm just here because
you're paying me. And I don't really think anything
of what you're talking about is ever going to
happen. I never worked with him again. Why? Not
because I didn't need. his talent, not because
I didn't need, but that overpowered it. When
you're with somebody who thinks you're unsuccessful
or thinks you're never going to be successful,
that is not good for you. And we as women, we
just say, well, they've got other good qualities.
They can do this. They can do that. That is the
number one quality. You have to be around people
who want to see successful, who believe that
you can be successful. They may not know how
to help you. A lot of times we have people who
are supporting us, our moms and stuff. They're
like, leaving you. They have no clue how to help
you. But that is more powerful and impactful
for you than somebody who knows how to help you
be successful, but don't believe that you haven't.
So when it comes to media, getting out there
and getting a professional to help you, I think
that is the biggest thing. Because you know what?
I don't have to get up every day and figure that
part out. I get up in the morning, I get a text
from her saying, hey, you're going to be on this
slick show and this is that. And I'm like, yeah.
So investing in yourself in that way, maybe if
you have a small budget, get what you can afford
and then grow to a bigger publicist as you grow.
But I think that a lot of times we will not bring
in the professionals that we need for certain
things. You can be a solopreneur, but you still
need to work with some other professionals. I
hope that kind of answered the question. It was
fabulous. And I loved when you shared the example,
because I'm the kind of person that thinks you
only need one person, you know, to believe in
you and it can make all the difference. When
I was 36 years old, I was a retail jeweler in
my family business. And that's when the iPod
touch came out, which doesn't even exist anymore,
right? This is what preceded the iPhone. But
when that little thing came out and I couldn't
figure out what the gadget was, but long story
short, I turned on the news and was seeing an
interview of a 13 year old boy saying he had
built an entire game, gave it away for free and
had a million downloads. And so I thought, wait
a minute, this is the future. And if he could
have done it, so could I. And it just took one
person to believe that I could. And I learned
how to code. It actually ended up in my third
business, a software development company. And
so I guess because of that, I love sharing stories
because one person's story can create the momentum
for you to take action. And two, by having just
one person that believes in you, even if you
fail, you learn. But that's like the motor that'll
continue driving that momentum and be there to
celebrate your win, no matter how small. Absolutely.
Absolutely. So what is your next milestone? My
next milestone is kind of two prong and it's
going into my philanthropy stage. And I am moving
into a phase where I'm working with women's organizations
and just saying, hey, would you like to start
a crowdfunding project for a nonprofit in this
area? This is what I work in. I'd love to show
you guys how this works and organize their entire
organization to do something good in an area
that they'd like to do it. And so I'm moving
more and more towards philanthropy in that area.
I work. with Stand Up for Kids, which is a nationwide
nonprofit that helps get kids off the street.
Children in homelessness look completely different
than adults. You don't see kids out on the street.
You don't see kids because they are couch surfing.
They are hidden. They are, you know, unfortunately
trading sex for a place to stay sometimes. There's
a lot of other complicated things. And so Stand
Up for Kids is one of the national organizations
that... helps get kids off the street. Los Angeles
youth emerging stronger. They are the largest
kind of foster care for teens. They bring teens
in off the street. They help them work. They
save their money for them. So by the time they
leave, they're 21, 22, 23, and they're leaving,
they can actually leave with a chunk of money,
move into a place and have a springboard. So
those are the kinds of things I support. I also
support a pastor in Pasadena that has a food
truck. He's been feeding people every week for
years. And what it is, is that the adults. Elderly
adults, he has a list of them where they actually
deliver the boxes of food to them because they
can't come out and they couldn't lift the box
of food if they even could drive out to get it.
And so he's been doing that for years. I'm working
on a campaign to raise money for him. That is
really my next phase. And so I am looking for
women's organizations who want to do projects.
They don't know what crowdfunding is. I can help
them with that process and really create some
good. in the world. Full of purpose. I love that.
Well, thank you, Dr. Wright, for sharing your
remarkable journey and these wonderful insights
with us today. Thank you so much for having me.
It was great to meet you. And I hope your audience
is inspired to do. Don't just listen to the shows
or all of the shows are good, but let one of
these shows inspire you to move forward on your
own dreams. Absolutely. So as we close this episode
of Milestone Moments in Business and Leadership,
I hope that you all feel inspired to embrace
your own transitions, transformations with the
same courage and vision that we discussed today.
And remember that every milestone is an opportunity
for growth. I will leave Dr. Wright's contact
details in the description for those looking
forward to connecting with her. Until next time,
keep leading, keep evolving, and keep creating
those milestone moments in your life and business.