Black Bridge Mindset

David Mollema: Redefining Entrepreneurship Through Creativity & Innovation

• Black Bridge Mindset • Season 1 • Episode 2

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In this episode of the Black Bridge Mindset Podcast, hosts CJ from Columbus, Ken from Atlanta and Mike from Chicago introduce their inspiring guest, David Mollema. 

Known for his vibrant personality and entrepreneurial prowess, David is the CEO of Epic Photography and Events, Destination Dream Makers, and Number 8 Tea + Co. 

The discussion delves into his ventures, his innovative use of AI and tech, and the invaluable lessons he has learned from early business mistakes. They explore his approach to addressing market needs, specifically in destination weddings, and his success in the premium tea market. David shares insights on maintaining motivation, navigating intellectual property issues, and overcoming challenges, such as hacking incidents. 

The hosts also share personal anecdotes, and the episode ends with a fun segment called the 'Wakanda Peace Pause.'

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Hosts:

CJ:

Hello, and welcome to the Blackbridge Mindset Podcast, where culture, entrepreneurship, and business intersect to fuel inspiration. This podcast celebrates the power of diverse voices shaping the future of business. So whether you're building a business, breaking barriers, or just looking for some serious inspiration, you're in the right place. The Blackbridge Mindset, where culture and entrepreneurship collide.

Mike:

So we give you the um, uh, The one to six. The one to, I don't know, It's like, Who wrote this? Who wrote this? Um, I wrote this, I wrote this, I wrote this, So I wrote this. And you got a little bit of a And uh, And this is This is This is You got it. I put in a little bit of

Ken:

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Blackbridge Mindset podcast. I'm Ken. I'm checking in today from Atlanta uh, originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So I bleed all things black and gold, excited to be here today. Excited for our guests. And I am looking forward to the weekend. Not that I have any plans. It's just been a very long work week. So I'm excited. I'm looking forward to today. Mike, over to you.

Mike:

Yeah um, today is going to be amazing. Um, It's one of my favorite people. Um, well, First off, I should introduce myself before I introduce him. My name is Mike Lovett. I am in Chicago, Illinois. um, Yeah, I, my backgrounds, there's a lot, there's lots of things we don't have to get into them all right now. I am super excited about the Black Bridge Mindset podcast that we put together. It's like this time next year, I'm going to be Like, I just can't wait. It's gonna be amazing. So continue to tune in. um, As far as this weekend, it's St. Paddy's weekend. And you're not doing anything? It

Ken:

Who me?

Mike:

Paddy's weekend. Yeah, you said you're not doing anything this

Ken:

We don't celebrate that in Atlanta. We don't do that here.

Mike:

we're gonna die at green. I don't know if I'm going. I mean, It's actually, yeah one, we have a show that we're recording Saturday morning. So we're gonna be up bright and early

Ken:

That is true.

Mike:

show. Third show. Yup. And then um, after that um, maybe a trolley uh, catching up with some friends on a trolley, it's supposed to be like 70 degrees here on Saturday. So, you

Ken:

Oh.

Mike:

these folks,

Ken:

Watch your right. Watch out.

Mike:

you know, you know, Certain folks are going to be out and about acting crazy.

Ken:

I don't want to see you twerking on the boat with Lori Lightfoot.

Mike:

Hey, we go way back. Me and Lori, we used to have drinks over at sidetrack.

Ken:

I know. Y'all used to go suit shopping together.

Mike:

We got our hair cut at the same place too. Yeah. Don't be, Don't be making fun of Lori. Uh Huh. Uh Huh. What are you doing, CJ? I'm assuming you're doing something. Oh,

Ken:

Okay. Okay.

Mike:

mean, The obvious, right? Orange is just causing havoc. I don't know if y'all saw the other day that he, he brought Elon and a bunch of Teslas to the White House to, you know, try to tell people. I saw that and I was like, what? I mean, I know our country's gone to shit, but like, who does, who, as a president, brings on a company And says

Ken:

You answered your own question,

Mike:

a hundred percent, A hundred percent. He wears

Ken:

but it's okay though, cause you know what, we're all still learning. Um, What is it? Boots on the ground. It's all you need to worry about, right? We're all learning the line dance. We can go out and drink and have a good time. Let it burn down around us.

Mike:

It is slowly, unfortunately, anyway,

Ken:

Let's get started.

Mike:

Because I do want to get to Mr. David Malema. Give me a thumbs up if I said that right. malema? David Mollema. All right, David Mollema. Here we go. I'm about to introduce you. So this week I am super excited to introduce one of my favorite people. When you see him on screen, for those of you who are watching YouTube, you're going to see that he is just a ball of energy. He is. Just a ray of sunshine when he walks into any room, his smile just lights up everything. You'll see that here in a second. Today we're sitting down with David Malema, the visionary behind Epic Photography and Events, Destination Dream Makers, and Number 8 Tea Co.. He's a master at crafting experiences, whether through stunning events, immersive storytelling, or redefining tea culture. We'll talk about his vision for the future, how AI and tech help him juggle multiple businesses, the power of storytelling and branding, and what brides and grooms really want in 2025. you're into innovation, creativity, and turning ideas into reality, then this one is for you. Let's get into it.

Ken:

Very good, how are you? Good.

Mike:

It is. It is. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. So just, just so you guys know um, I've known David, has it been like 10, 12 years for a long time? Oh, wow. Yeah. And so we met through a mutual friend here in Chicagoland. And then for some reason, you know, we met our separate ways, living our lives, always kept up with him on social media, of course. I always have seen the great things that he's doing. um, Back in the day, people always said that we, we looked similar. I think it's because I guess we're both light skinned, who knows. And they would call him my little brother. And I was like, oh, that's your little brother. And so we just stuck with it. I'm his big brother, he's my little brother. So that's what he was talking about.

Ken:

He said much older. He said much older brother.

Mike (2):

Who said much older? It's okay. It's allowed. And just in case people didn't catch it, I mentioned that this young man has founded and owns not one, not two, but three businesses. And how old are you? 32? That's crazy. I'm old and I'm trying to get my first business off the ground. Well let's get into it. Let's ask you some questions. So David, what was the first business that you started and how did you get into it?

Ken:

Thank you.

Mike:

Nice, I love it. And I know CJ, he's a big music guy too. So he may have a couple of things to talk to you about.

Ken:

Okay.

Mike:

there are some lessons that you learned with that business early on. Do you want to touch on that? Right. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so for young entrepreneurs who are out there and they're thinking about starting their own business, can you give I don't know how much you need to protect, but can you give one thing that you learned from that, that they can avoid when it comes to investors getting into situations like that? Because people are going to throw money at you every once in a while, right? And they're like, Ooh, this sounds like a good idea. Let me give you some money for it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. thank you. Hmm.

Ken:

Okay. You

Mike:

You are spicy. No, I love it. I think it's great. And so that's one of your businesses. Epic. Let's talk about the other two that you have. It could give a brief overview of those and then we could dive into one of them. No, you know, we have them here. Mm hmm. He got so

Ken:

Okay.

Mike:

Yeah. Mm-hmm Yes. That's awesome. Right? Yeah, right. Yeah. While you're talking about this, I took two notes. One of the biggest ones is that, you know, a CEO in a well run business, they go out and they, they see a need for something. And then they create a business to fill that need, right? I think it's awesome that you guys went to this show, not expecting to find a certain niche that wasn't getting the attention that it needed. so you're like, oh, there's all these people who are looking for destination weddings. Who else is doing this? I don't know how many people are in your field, but you guys had the wherewithal to say, think we should cater to these people because I think there's a business here. And here you are, and it sounds like you didn't waste a lot of time, right? You just took action, let's do it, which is awesome. Mm hmm. Right, I love it. I use that imperfect action all the time, and it sounds weird, it doesn't anymore. It used to sound weird saying it, because you're like, it's cliché, but now I just say it, and it's just a part of my normal vocabulary. Right. Yeah, and it's great. It

Ken:

Do you have any can tell us about the destination weddings? Thanks. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Was it, Was it like an intellectual property type issue? Yeah. That's right. Right, right.

Mike:

Abide by the rules.

Ken:

Did your clients notice anything crazy? Like, I'm assuming you don't panic in these situations, but, you know, sometimes people can inherently pick up on things. Hm. Yeah. Um, And then I'm going to uh, I'm going to do a uh, A uh, A uh, Right. Yeah. Okay.

Mike:

That's awesome. Love it. Well, I don't want to keep your excitement bottled up for too long. I know there's another company out there you're super excited to tell people about. We're over here sipping on our our little teas as well. We, we do, We do have branded cups. Little Yeti. I got you. I got you.

Ken:

I think we all have the same thing.

Mike:

no, no, no, No. Not Not in my

Ken:

We don't.

Mike:

So at the moment I have the chai, the Chaga Chai number 14. Yeah. But no, it's good. It's good. I think we all have the same favorite though. My

Ken:

Yeah.

Mike:

eight, the Bellini.

Ken:

That's what I have. That's what I have in my cup and it's delicious. Silence. Silence.

Mike:

And before you get to all your flavors, let's tell the people what we're even talking about.

Ken:

Right.

Mike:

people, at like, I'll let you start talking, but I gotta say it before I forget. This came in the mail.

Ken:

Yeah.

Mike:

And I was like, what kind of bougie ass tea is this? Cause I was expecting when you're like, yeah, I'm going to send you guys some teas to try, I'm expecting like a box.

Ken:

He was expecting Lipton. Yeah. Yeah.

Mike:

yeah, exactly. But then like your packaging is so cute. Okay, I'll stop talking. Tell the people what we're talking about.

Ken:

Okay. Um, Um, Okay. Okay. Yeah.

Mike:

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Wait, timeout. We can't just let you skip over that. You went to go help them rebrand. They asked you,

Ken:

Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence.

Mike:

Don't go in there being fake. You always say fake it till you make it, you are honest, you are yourself, and they could probably feel that and see that, and they're like, yeah, this is the guy we want to work with. Six hours. Mm hmm.

Ken:

That's awesome.

Mike:

Yeah.

Ken:

Okay.

Mike:

I'm applauding you even more. That's awesome. Again, like you, you're just one of those

Ken:

Right. I want to talk about that. I want to talk about the dessert collection. Like what made you think, what made you come up with that? Okay.

Mike:

you and me can no longer be siblings.

Ken:

Um, You

Mike:

It's okay. We could. Yeah, we can have opinions. Oh, yeah.

Ken:

Yeah, Do you have a favorite flavor?

Mike:

No, it's okay.

Ken:

I don't think so.

Mike:

Don't you worry, there will be,

Ken:

Yeah.

Mike:

oh yeah, I was gonna say, I'm gonna order some, oh yeah, you did, we got number 17 to paint well, I did. I haven't had this. You, the steeper you gave

Ken:

You sent us, yeah.

Mike:

This is a real steeper, but a fancier,

Ken:

The proper one. Okay. Um,

Mike:

Mm hmm. Mm hmm. All right. Mm hmm. You. Yeah. Nice.

Ken:

That's okay.

Mike:

Yeah, I was

Ken:

Can you,

Mike:

you freeze?

Ken:

and referral program? Okay. I'm gonna go ahead and get this guy out of here. I'm going to get a little bit of gray in here.

Mike:

And did you learn most of this just through trial and error? Or did you have a mentor or somebody who helped you out? Yeah.

Ken:

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. You Okay.

Mike:

Right. Right. That's awesome. Well, Yeah, I could definitely, oh, go ahead. Silence. Right. Silence. Right.

Ken:

Do realize he has an ulterior motive, right? Yeah.

Mike:

I love it. Well, You could definitely tell that you have a passion for this. So you're going to do really well. You're going to do big things with it. I love it. I really wasn't a big tea person. But then when you sent these and the first one I had was the number eight, the Bellini. And I was like, damn, this is good. then, of course, I started working through the other ones. It's just the one I haven't had yet. yeah, they are really good. And then of course you posted your lovely dessert teas online. And I was like well, damn,

Ken:

Okay.

Mike:

so people can find you and come check you out. We have a couple minutes left. just to you work, you obviously work hard, but I'm assuming you play hard as well. So what is the Daily life or week David? What does a week look like for you? Okay uh, what else we got for you? Yeah.

Ken:

You had mentioned earlier in the conversation about keeping the fire and staying motivated. How do you do that and also keep your non employees motivated and keep their fire stoked as well? Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Hello. very much. And again.

Mike:

there was, man, there, I know we're like keeping you so long, but there's two things I want to touch on. One of them is you told me a story when we first spoke on the phone about your business getting hacked and what you did after you got everything fixed. Can you briefly tell people? A little bit about what happened to the business and you know what your mindset was at that time and what got you to where you are now. to have a great week. Yeah. Right. Didn't you Didn't you take hacking classes or something like that or programming? That is crazy, but I think it's awesome that you're like, you know what, I'm going to learn how to, the hacks. I know how to protect myself. That's what it's people. Okay. I know you. It's that YouTube university! It has. Okay. Thanks. Right. Yeah.

Ken:

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Mike:

Mm hmm. Yeah. Mm. Nice. Okay. Well, Cool. I appreciate you talking about all of these things today, talking about your businesses. Thanks A. I. The T. Like I'm telling you, you have me sold on the T's and I'm definitely gonna I still have my screen up. I'm going to click on a couple of things and put them in my basket before we're done. Oh,

Ken:

Okay.

Mike:

Is this a discount code for us or for us to share on the site?

Ken:

Hello. Oh. We're done. Yeah.

Mike:

machine. Discount code All right. That brings us to closing, and what we are going to do with all of our guests is that we're going to have a little lightning round, today, that's going to be headed by CJ. So CJ, if you want to go ahead and take it and let them know what you're going to do. That is a good movie.

Ken:

Silence.

Mike (2):

No. Um, Okay. No, I don't think I had. Was it here seven years ago? I have to look it up. been places and I don't even remember. I'll check it. Okay. Listen, that's a real fear. I think about it every once in a while.

Mike:

That's

Mike (2):

That's real.

Ken:

Silence. Silence. Silence.

Mike:

okay. That sounds like a, that sounds like a journey number, like 70, 72, Blackbridge mindsets

Ken:

That'd be awesome.

Mike:

That'd be awesome. I love it. Yeah,

Ken:

Yeah.

Mike:

yeah, I have to say I need it some and perfect. I love it.

Ken:

Wow.

Mike:

Okay.

Ken:

Wow.

Mike:

Yeah, it's actually a pre workout tea. Nice. All right. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us. Tell us Your story, your journey it's, crazy that you're only 32 because everything you've told us, I would think that you're Ken's age. So, Thank you.

Ken:

But I'm not the much, much older brother. I will say that

Mike:

And, And so one of the things, since you haven't seen a podcast yet, since, we're getting them all together and March 25th is the drop date for our first one. At the end of the. There it is. There it is. We're gonna get that sound machine. Actually, we'll just do our own sound effects. We don't need a sound machine. But one of the things I'm asking all of our guests to do at the end of the show, I call it the Wakanda Peace Pause. Don't ask questions. You're just gonna do it. I'm gonna count to three you're just gonna do this pause and smile at the camera for a few seconds. Wakanda, peace, and then you're going to pause, there you are. then we're just going to hold that pose for a few seconds and then I'll let us know when to stop. And I'm just going to use this at the end at some point to take a picture, use it on Instagram, all those fun things. Oh, let's see. Our last guest told me I needed to rename it. She was like, the Wakanda, peace, pause. She's like, WPP. Thank you. Thank you, sir. This is from a This is from a marketer, guys. He loves it.

Ken:

He's making you feel good about it, that's all.

Mike:

does make me feel good. It does make me feel good. It does make me feel good. Because when I thought of it I died laughing. I was like, no one's going to go for this. This is so stupid. Oh, thank you. I feel it. All right. So you ready? All right. Everybody, the Wakanda peace pause in three. Done. Done. number two. Done.

Ken:

In the books.

Mike:

guest number two, David.

Ken:

Thank you. Fantastic conversation.

People on this episode

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Mike Lovett

Host
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Chris Johnson

Co-host
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Ken Peak

Co-host