Career Cheat Code
Welcome to Career Cheat Code, a podcast that explores the stories of everyday people making an impact in the world through their careers and loving every minute of it. Whether you're already on your path or searching for your purpose, this podcast is for you.
Join us every Monday as we uncover the secrets behind successful careers and inspire you to make your own mark. Formerly known as Thank God It's Monday | TGIM, don't forget to subscribe for updates and share with your friends!
Career Cheat Code
080 | Leading A Social Justice Fund with Gregg Bishop
Gregg Bishop's journey from tech dropout to Executive Director of the Social Justice Fund showcases how non-linear career paths can lead to meaningful impact work through resilience, relationship-building, and recognizing opportunity.
• Working with Clara Wu Tsai to invest $50 million in Brooklyn focusing on economic mobility, racial justice, and the arts
• Providing capital access to businesses in underserved communities through initiatives like Revitalize Brooklyn
• Partnering with financial institutions to deploy capital strategically based on impact, scalability, and sustainability
• Leveraging networks and relationships to advance career opportunities - "You want people to talk about you positively in rooms you're not in"
• Dropping out of college with a 1.9 GPA before building a successful tech career earning $125K by age 25
• Returning to school at Florida A&M University at age 27 after facing unemployment and career ceiling
• Using connections to transition from radio work to NYC government, eventually becoming Commissioner
• Approaching the Mayor directly about a Commissioner position and following up with a 3AM email
• Creating workforce centers in underserved communities and loan programs that supported predominantly Black women entrepreneurs
• Building a diverse city team that addressed economic mobility for underrepresented communities
• Living with renewed purpose after surviving two blood clots and learning to seize every day
You can learn more about the Social Justice Fund at bksjf.org or connect with Gregg at greggbishop.nyc.
Disclaimer:
The views shared on Career Cheat Code are those of the guests and don’t reflect the host or any affiliated organizations. This podcast is for inspiration and information, highlighting unique career journeys to help you define success and take your next step.
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And so he was like hmm, I don't think you want to go to Boston. And I was like what do you mean? He's like, no, you don't want to, you don't want to do Boston, you don't, you're not going to like Boston. It's like you should go to Tallahassee. I was like what, what's in Tallahassee, florida A&M University? And he, you know, made a call. I flew down to meet, told him my story. You know he was looking at my transcript. Like you know, I dropped out of college. I didn't finish classes, all my incompletes turned into Fs. I had a 1.9 GPA and he was like I am impressed with what you have accomplished so far in life and literally gave me a Dean's Exception.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Career Cheat Code. In this podcast, you'll hear how everyday people impact the world through their careers. Learn about their journey, career hacks and obstacles along the way. Whether you're already having the impact you want or are searching for it, this is the podcast for you.
Speaker 3:So, greg, welcome to the show. Ready, what's up, man? Thanks for inviting me. Appreciate you taking the time. You have been doing a lot of great work recently, so we'd love to hear more about that and some of the stuff that has led you to this point. But you know, let's dive right in, man. Let's tell the world what it is you do for a living.
Speaker 1:So sometimes I wonder myself. No, I'm the executive director of the Social Justice Fund, which was founded by Clara Husai in 2020. And the Social Justice Fund was an initiative that she announced to invest $50 million in Brooklyn over 10 years. It was at the point in time when George Floyd was murdered, but Clara and her husband Joe, about six months before, had just acquired the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Liberty, so it was also an opportunity for her to invest in Brooklyn around issues that she cares about so economic mobility, racial justice and the arts and so I work with her specifically to help her execute her vision and also invest in organizations in Brooklyn. That's awesome.
Speaker 3:So you find organizations that align with those pillars of work typically nonprofit organizations, I'd imagine and you help financially support, scale, replicate, pilot some of the work that they're already doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we're a little bit different on the economic mobility front. We focus a lot on addressing access to capital, specifically for businesses and underserved communities. So what you'll find is that we're doing a lot of work in terms of providing capital, access to for-profits actually. So a good example is our Revitalize Brooklyn initiative, where businesses in the creative economy can actually receive a $50,000 grant from us. One of the things that I do is really look for great partners to help build out these programs. I do is really work for look for great partners to help build out these programs. So, for example, like I'm not the one sort of like reviewing financials and making loans and grants, et cetera, et cetera. For certain, for some of the programs we rely on like institutions, like community development financial institutions, cdfis, and so you know, they sort of get a grant from us and then they use that capital to get it out to the community. So there's a number of initiatives around business support. Our goal is really to, you know, sustain a lot of the businesses in Brooklyn, actually help create more jobs. So businesses are still in business, they'll hire, et cetera, et cetera. But there is a part of and that's like 60, 70% of the work that we do. The other remaining 30, 40% is actually exactly what you said.
Speaker 1:I find organizations that are aligned with Clara's priorities. I vet them. We look at different sort of the impact that those organizations have. I then sort of have meetings and, you know, kick the tires on their programming. One of the main, you know, there's like a couple of things. I look for One, you know, is it impactful, is it scalable, is it sustainable, and so is it innovative? And so, using those sort of like lens, I then make a determination on which organizations we should fund and then I present it to Clara and most of the times we are in agreement. Sometimes we have she has an organization that she wants me to look at, and vice versa. So it's a great partnership. It's similar to working for a foundation your standard foundation that your listeners might be familiar with, like the Ford Foundation, rockefeller Foundation, et cetera. They do similar work, but instead I work specifically for a family member.
Speaker 3:Wow, that makes a lot of sense and you know that requires a lot of trust, right Like for this person to trust you, your sound judgment, your advice, as this person is seeking to have their legacy, their impact, right On community.
Speaker 1:That's one of the biggest difference between this job versus, like you know, other jobs. It is. It's definitely a personal connection. Clara and I started talking in 2020 about the work that she wanted to do and we wanted to, and part of the conversation and you know there was multiple interviews, but part of the conversation was whether we were values aligned and the things that she wanted to do or the things that you know I cared about.
Speaker 1:And so, yes, there's a lot of trust involved. There's a lot of trust in terms of my connection to the community as well. I definitely need to be out there learning about, you know, what organizations are doing great things. The good part of this and the great part of the job was that I had that experience. My previous work in the city of New York required me to be out in all five boroughs and work with actually the same organizations that I'm working with now to sort of make an impact in the community. So everything just worked out that my lived experience, my previous experience, led me and made me, you know, sort of like qualify for this job.
Speaker 3:That makes sense. So you know, and we'll get to your your city experience and kind of how some of that background came, came together and that's you know when oh yeah, before we get there, because this sounds like a very, you know, unique type of role like these roles are not a dime, a dozen, right Like they're not always available.
Speaker 1:I don't think you're going to find this type of role on Indeed. To be honest with you Exactly.
Speaker 3:So can you, can you speak a little bit about you know how you actually get connected to have these types of conversations and be considered for this type of role, and then also like what's your favorite part of your role?
Speaker 1:Yeah so. So I think you know, for your listeners, these, these types of roles are very, very limited. I think you know, one of the biggest questions I get from individuals is like well, how did you, you know, how did you get this job? Et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1:And, to be honest and actually transparent, my connection to Clara was based off of the individuals who I worked with previously with the city of New York, with the city of New York. Individuals who, you know, saw my approach to leadership, individuals who saw, you know, my passion for community, individuals who saw my ability to execute. And so, because of that, when Clara was, you know, sort of doing her own listening tour and talking to individuals about what should be done in Brooklyn, one of the questions that she asked was like, who should I talk to? And those individuals were like you should talk to Gray. So one of the most important lessons for your viewership is you know you want to have people that talk about you in rooms that you're not in, and not only talk about you but talk about you positively, right, because you know what you don't want is somebody to say like, no, not that person, right? And so I feel very blessed and fortunate that I was able to make strong connections in my time in my previous role and that led to this position.
Speaker 1:Now. There's not a lot of opportunities when you know you have somebody who wants to give back to community, has significant means to do that, and, once they're like, hire a team like. That's very rare. However, there are sort of like you know, jobs in this field, in philanthropy, that opens up once, you know, every now and then, but it really is about your network in terms of like. When those roles open up, you have to know about it, you have to get your resume in, et cetera, et cetera. So it is. You know, the philanthropic industry is very, very, very insular. I say because you know everybody knows everyone, and because the work is so meaningful the turnover is very, very low, and so when it happens, though, there's a huge disruption and you know folks move the chess piece of move, and then it calms down again.
Speaker 3:That makes sense, and I've definitely seen that it's kind of a revolving door right. If you're able to do something good in philanthropy in one place, you can typically take your talents to another foundation and, as you said, people just find so much connection with the work that they tend to stay in the field. Yeah, and especially.
Speaker 1:For example, the work that I'm doing is with a family right, and so there is a world where that work ends and the family recommends me to another family. You know what I mean. That's sort of like how that operates. Or you have a small foundation or another sort of individual that wants to start a foundation, and you have that expertise where you've worked with government, you've worked with the nonprofit sector, you've worked in a private sector, you've worked with a family foundation, and so they want that type of experience.
Speaker 1:But, as you can see, like the layers of experience that you need to have, which makes these jobs very, very, very competitive, but also and when I say competitive meaning experience wise, and so there's a very limited few that have that type of experience. So that's why it seems like a revolving door. But certainly you know, in like, for example, in my case, where you know Clara sort of, one of the conversations we had was she's not a philanthropist and I was like Clara, I'm not a philanthropist either, and she was like great, so that way we can, you know, do some innovative things. So so sometimes you do get that breakthrough where in newer individuals you know sort of step into the field and come with different and different ideas.
Speaker 3:No, absolutely so. That makes a lot of sense. You know, in this type of unique role, I will say philanthropy, while it is insular, you know for my experience. Right, just so viewers don't get discouraged and say, well, I have to know someone to get me in the door right. I got my job at the rockefeller foundation applying on linkedin without knowing anyone there.
Speaker 1:It was on linkedin and not like indeed, or something that's like correct, but you were connected. Were you connected to someone that posted? Not at all, they posted no they did so.
Speaker 3:they posted a linkedin job and I just applied blindly without knowing a soul in that building, and you know it worked out.
Speaker 1:But the reason why, though absolutely.
Speaker 3:I think that's exactly, you know to your point. It's because they were seeking folks that worked specifically in economic development, had experience dealing with government directly and had experience either building or supporting entrepreneurs, right Like those are very layered, specific things. So it makes sense. But you know, I completely agree that you need the experience to back it, to be sure that you're like a subject matter expert in something that aligns with that foundation, or have the end or have that network to to at least get you a conversation.
Speaker 1:Yeah absolutely I have to stress about that network, right, that network is so important. And, and you know, the other thing I want to make sure your listeners understand is, like you know, depending on you know your career trajectory, treat everyone with respect. I remember, you know, when I was just starting my career, the receptionist, the custodian, you know everyone in the building, you know. It was like, hey, how you doing, how's everything, everything you know, you have a conversation, etc. Etc. Because you never know like that person could know someone in you know, sort of in their off time, and say like, hey, I know, you know, I've, there's this guy that always says hello to me, blah, blah. You know, you just never know. Or that person could become your boss at some point in time.
Speaker 3:So absolutely always treat people with respect absolutely, and you know, and I'll get to I'll get to that now because that's kind of how you and I met each other, right, like we met each other early on in our at least in my career, for sure and at the time you weren't, you know, the head of a city agency or any of that. We were partnering together on a program to support entrepreneurs. We had to sit in the same classroom for, like you know, a couple of weeks in a row, just in the back of the classroom taking notes and doing things as like counterparts, basically doing it on behalf of the agency and supporting the work on that side Me doing it at the time on behalf of Columbia University and we just stayed in touch and we just build like a relationship from there, right, and you know, since then I think that was remarkable because not only have we built a friendship, then since then you're also a mentor to me. You're someone that's on my board of directors, right, like when I have a life decision to make, I'm calling.
Speaker 3:I don't know if I'm taking all that credit I'm expressing. I've called you for basically every job opportunity I've received since, right, and said, hey, this is. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what to think. You've guided me to make sure that I negotiated better salary, better titles. Sometimes you advise me not to take the roles, and then that's what I'm doing. I'm not taking that role, so you know. So I just appreciate it, and that came from just meeting people where they are and like just building from there.
Speaker 1:So, first of all, I appreciate that, you know I would say it's my pleasure, I would. You know I have a guiding principle that you know your success is my success, right? I don't think sometimes we operate with that in mind because you know, if you're successful, guess what? Like I benefit from that, right? Like, even if it's, you know, that steak dinner that you take me to. You know what I mean. Like your success certainly will help not only your family but all of us, right? You know what I mean. Like your success certainly will help not only your family but all of us, right?
Speaker 1:You know Sadiq Bello. You know I always talk about he was, I guess, 24, 25 at the time working at Vibe magazine. At the time I was probably 17 or 18. And I just, you know, I was teaching myself how to code and was stealing pictures from Vibe and was stealing pictures from Vibe, and you know they found out meaning Sadiq, and he sent me a cease and desist email. But in the second paragraph it was like we kind of like what you did with our stuff, why did you come in? And that's how I got my first start in terms of my career. But Sadiq Bello, he doesn't know this, but definitely was the person that shaped sort of who I am today.
Speaker 1:There was a number of other folks, right, but Sadiq talked about us as black men not supporting each other. Sadiq talked about us as black men undervaluing the skill set that we have. Going to take the first salary, right, because we are so sort of appreciative, right, the market is so tough for us in terms of getting the right job that, when it happens, we don't want to, like, overplay our hand, we don't want to ask for too much, and so, therefore, we undervalue the skill that we have. Right. It's easy, I understand, for me to say that, especially when you're employed, right, but that is definitely something we suffer with in terms of, as I think, a culture, and I think we're getting better, obviously from the past decade or so, but we certainly can do more in terms of, like, demanding the salaries that we should be earning, and so I'll always remember those conversations.
Speaker 1:You know the teenage me, the young adult me, and so you know, even after, when I left five, I started practicing, sort of like what Sadiq put in me in terms of like, you know, you have a skill. I always remember that in my head. You have a skill that someone wants, what is the value of that skill? Right, and you determine that value Right, because if somebody is offering you to pay you $80, and you're looking to make one hundred fifty thousand dollars at some point in time, if you accept that eighty thousand, then you have devalued yourself Right, it is not on them. Right, they're a business, they're a corporation, they're looking to especially, you know, with labor costs. They're looking to reduce and keep the labor costs as low as possible. But they also know that you have the skill set that they're looking for.
Speaker 1:So I remember those conversations and the other thing that I practice is, like you know, pay it forward. So that is why, like you know, you and I, you know, connected I would tell you the same thing that Sadiq told me. And you know I continue to do that to this day because I think, you know, I always joke around with. You know all, all the folks who you know I have conversations with, and mentors that you know, when you make it, you know, I just want to have the first ride on your private jet. That's, that's all. That's all I want, you know just remember me.
Speaker 3:That's awesome for sure. So you know, let's talk a little bit about kind of what led you to that, to to Sadiq. So tell me more about where'd you grow up, oh man, and when you were around 17, when you were around that age of 17, 18 years old, like would you think you were going to be at that age, oh man.
Speaker 1:And how'd that come together to popular opinion? I didn't have a plan and you know and we talked about this I'm at the point in my career where, you know, folks are like, oh wow, like, look at his resume, he's done this, he's done that, he's done this, he's done that. You know, he must have, like, been structured. The only thing that was structured about me was that I felt like, okay, something will happen, like I don't know what, but something's going to happen. You know, I do give credit, obviously. You know I grew up in a single family household. My mom worked really, really, really hard. She worked actually two jobs to send me to private school. So let's start there. I had a strong foundation, with the resources necessary for me to get into the best high school and yes, brooklyn Tech is the best high school. I don't care what they say out there, but I went to Brooklyn Tech and that afforded me the exposure to things like robotics and programming, et cetera, et cetera. I was a mechanical engineer. I never played basketball and I love saying that I'm 6'6" and when people come in it's like, hey, you know, did you play ball? You must have played ball. No, I'm a nerd, right, I'm a nerd, right, like, like, I'm a mechanical engineer. And then when I said I'm a mechanical engineer, they're like, oh right, like, yes, you know what I mean T-square, like you know, all that kind of stuff. And so I was able to have the exposure, um, and and develop the curiosity in terms of, like, what this programming thing was and this language. And so when I ended up but I didn't have a plan, like I, you know, I only applied to one college. Chalk that up to the fact that my mom, you know, didn't understand the college system here, you know, didn't? You know, I went on, I think, one college tour and that's the only college that I applied to. They rejected me. I thought the world was going to end.
Speaker 1:No-transcript, taught myself how to code and again, I'm saying this casually, but remember, I'm living in East Flatbush I have to convince my mom to get me a computer. A computer at that time was almost like, I don't know, it was like $2,000 or something like that, and back then, you know, that's a lot of money, right, and so the fact that my mom had the ability to do that and provide for me, that's why I give her a lot of props, right and so, because there are a lot of folks out there that have like this burning, you know, skill, but they don't have the means to get the equipment to actually start doing the work Right. And so it's all about opportunity and access, and I'll talk a little bit about that, hopefully, throughout the rest of this conversation. And so that's that's what started me, man. I started working at Vibe but, like I said, I dropped out of college because, you know, I was that dot-com kid and I'm like, hey, you know it was a big deal. At home, my mom, like was like you're not staying here? No, she didn't kick me out, but she was very upset about the fact that I dropped out of college. But I worked for seven and a half years in tech without a college degree, and I tell that story because I want folks to know that not everyone is going to follow that linear path of, like, high school, college, grad school, you know, work right, sometimes people have like a different way of getting to the end goal, and in this case I had a skill, though, right. So if you decide like, okay, college not for you, make sure you have a skill, and a skill that's in demand, because at the time I was able to command salaries, you know, 50,000, 90,000, I topped off at $125,000, right At 25, right, and it's so. You know, that's because I had a skill set and that's because I poured a lot of energy in developing that skill on my own. And so there's a level of, there's a certain level of, you know, sort of hard work. You know, and you know we talk about that with this generation, but certainly, like you know, you do have to put in the time and the effort.
Speaker 1:And then September 11th happened and what we call the dotcom crash. So I know, like you know, gen Z, they've gone through like a whole bunch of life changing things. For me, I think the first major life-changing thing was September 11th. You know the fact that I was unemployed. This was 2001, into 2002. I was unemployed for almost a whole year. You know self-doubt, depression, you know there's so many things that came up during that time and I had no idea what I was going to do. You know because, remember, I built up a huge tech resume. I was like a vice president, I was a director, and now I was facing that glass ceiling of the only roles I could apply for would be senior management roles, but they require a degree. And I didn't have a degree.
Speaker 1:And so my uncle and I were having a conversation and he was like look, greg, you're a black man without a degree. What do you think your future is going to be? And I was like but I have a car, I have an apartment, I have a mortgage. I was 25 with a mortgage. It's like I can't go back to school now. I haven't been in math class since like 1993. What are you talking about? You know what I mean, but I spoke to a couple of my mentors Keith Klingscales, that's another name that I want to make sure I give credit to. He was a CEO of Vibe when I was working there, and I went back to him. He had gone to this school, you know, in Boston, called Harvard, and got his master's.
Speaker 1:And so here I am. I was like hey, keith, I need you to make a couple of calls and get me into Harvard, you know? So again, another, another gem a closed mouth don't get fed right. You've got to speak things into existence. And so I am definitely one like, if I wanted, like you know what they say, shoot for the moon right and get the stars. So I was shooting for Saturn, like, forget the moon, like I'm getting the Saturn right. And so he was like, hmm, I don't think you want to go to Boston. And I was like what do you mean? He's like no, you don't want to, you don't want to do Boston, you don't, you're not going to like Boston. It's like you should go to Tallahassee. I was like what, what's in Tallahassee, florida A&M University. And he, you know, made a call.
Speaker 1:I flew down to meet the Dean of know, I dropped out of college. I didn't finish classes, all my incompletes turned into Fs. I had a 1.9 GPA and he was like I am impressed with what you have accomplished so far in life and literally gave me a dean's exception. I applied to other colleges because I didn't make the same mistake. Morehouse was the other college that accepted me. Everybody else said you know, go to a community college.
Speaker 1:And I chose FAMU, not only because of Keith, but also, you know, the cost of living in Tallahassee was much cheaper than Atlanta, but that was the best decision ever, and so I love HBCUs and so a lot of the passion you see me bring to the work I do, even when I was with the city, you know around understanding folks who are unemployed. I've been through it, right, understanding how to train people in skills that are in demand so they can earn a decent living. I've been through it, right. You know supporting HBCUs right, I understand the importance of that right. And so the Greg that you see today is sort of shaped by you know. It's almost like you know how the Grand Canyon was shaped by the wind and the water and all that Like that's me. Life's failures shaped who you see today and that resume is based off of. It's like an iceberg. If you go underneath, you'll see everything that I just talked about in terms of the times where I thought I have no idea what I'm going to be doing.
Speaker 3:I thought I have no idea what I'm going to be doing. Wow, no, and I appreciate you sharing that right, because I do think it's easy to look at you and say he's so successful. He probably always had it figured out, he probably always had a roadmap. And then they hear oh actually, I dropped out of school with my 1.9 GPA, worked for seven years and then got convinced to move out of New York and go to Tallahassee, tallahassee, florida, right To be a student, right?
Speaker 1:The culture shock, bro. So let me tell you a sidebar. Growing up in New York, right, you think going down south is Virginia. Like, I kid you, not Like when I tell you, like you tell people, I'm going down south, we're talking about Virginia. Right, I was in Tallahassee, florida, which is like South Georgia. The first first thing is people when they hit Florida they always think Miami. Right, so Tallahassee, florida, has no beaches. It's all like, you know, sort of like. It's like redwoods or whatever, like these big trees, the big oak trees that if they could talk, probably would say, like I had, you know, dead bodies, dead black bodies on me hanging on me in the early 1800s, whatever Confederate flags. You know what I mean. Like this is. This is the part of Florida, the panhandle, where you are quickly reminded about who you are in terms of your skin color, and certainly me, coming from New York as a Yankee. You know what I mean. It was a huge culture shock.
Speaker 1:But guess what? The campus of Florida A&M was like a safety zone. You know what I mean. It was just like the culture, the teachers, my graduation. So I graduated when I was 30.
Speaker 1:I went back to school at 27, which is a whole hilarious episode in itself, because I was very determined, right, like I was that student who, like I'm paying my own tuition, so I need to make sure that I get every single cent out of this class. And so if the class ends at 9.50, at 9.45, I don't understand what you just said. Right, like everybody wants to go, I'm seated, like I don't get it, like you need to finish up and give me my last five minutes, right? But FAMU, when I tell you the teachers, their investments in terms of like pouring into you to make sure that you're successful, because they understand most of the population of FAMU, it's like you know, maybe it's about maybe 60% black, maybe a little bit more, but you know, some are first-generation students, some are legacy, but they understand like, okay, you may not be able to afford, you know, to pay for your tuition for four years, so it's going to take you five years, it may take you six years because you have to get a job, you know what I mean. Or you have, like, childcare duties, you have like a whole bunch of like the faculty, you know there's a slogan they call caring with excellence. But the faculty cares so much about your success that when I graduated, I was walking across that stage, I was 30. And I remember the first. It was a dean, oh my gosh, I just blanked on her name. But she, when I saw her, she was the first person that walked with me on campus. But she, when I saw her, she was the first person that welcomed me on campus. And when I saw her on stage, she gave me the biggest hug, like a mom would do, and said I'm so proud of you. And that was it.
Speaker 1:My eyes, my graduation picture, my eyes are of this is that I was afraid to go back to school. Right, and fear will always be the enemy to success, right, and a lot of people fear to do X Right, and sometimes you just have to do it Right. You have to take that leap of faith. And there were many times Right. Just remember, like I was making you know over one hundred thousand dollars. I was making you know over $100,000.
Speaker 1:Here I am in Tallahassee, florida, at, you know, tallahassee Mall, at a gap, with my resume, looking for a job. You know what I mean. They're confused, right, because they're seeing like director, this VP of that, da da da. And they're like you're looking for what Like a sales job. I was like, look, ignore the resume, I just need money. Right, I need to like. You know what I mean. But you know my church family came through and you know I lead a at least I hope I lead a balanced life, and so my church family sometimes would send me a check for like a hundred dollars, $200,. You know like, hey, you know, god just laid on my heart to send you some money and so that literally you took this faith and someone connected you to a dean of the business school.
Speaker 3:You took this leap of faith and some of the folks in your church were like let me support you. The dean gave you a big hug when you got there, because this person saw your struggles and understood what you went through to get there right. And I think the universe really comes together to make sure that we we succeed in what we set our minds to.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Valencia Matthews is her name. She was the dean of the school. I think it's like theater school of performing arts, I think it is. But let me tell you this so so the thing about you know, these leap of faiths you know sometimes, and I talk about opportunity, and I remember Keith was one that opened up the door right. I had to step through it right and I had to perform and, and so you know, I also want to make sure on the record, like when I graduated from FAMU I had a 3.7 GPA, right, Like you know I was. It's no joke, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:But when I got there, you know one of the things, I stepped into the school of journalism because one of my good friends, he went to Georgia Tech and he had a radio show in Atlanta on WREK, atlanta, and sometimes when I go, when I went to visit him, I'd go on the show I was like, oh, this is cool. And so FAMU also has a radio station called WAM 90.5. And I was like, oh well, I could go in there and like, maybe get a radio show, just like my friend Right. And when I went in there there was this guy called. His name is Keith Miles there are a lot of Keiths in my life and so, keith, he talks about the story about this kid. Now I'm 27, but he calls me a kid. This kid that kept on coming in to the station asking about opportunities and that was me. I kept on going. I was like, hey, is there anything I could do? I was willing to volunteer because I had nothing else to do.
Speaker 1:Like I went from a full work schedule to school schedule, which you know is very different. Right, it's like Monday, wednesday, friday is class. What am I supposed to do? Tuesday and Thursday Like I have all this time. Like what am I supposed to do? And the New Yorker in me is like I can't waste time. I got to occupy that time with something and so I ended up volunteering at the college radio station for two, almost three years. Then I became the operations manager once I graduated, which is like a full time job. So a lot of people don't know that I have a radio background. A lot of people don't know that I'm the voice of Wm uh in tallahassee. So if you go to tallahassee, florida, and at the top hour of every hour and you're listening to wm, you'll hear me give you the id.
Speaker 3:That's great. I'm gonna have to test that theory and we're in a situation.
Speaker 1:Actually you don't even need to go to tallahassee, florida, you just like pull up wNM on the web and stream it. You know it's college radio, it's good, it's actually good, good music, a student program, but yeah, but that's how I ended up with almost a minor in journalism, and even today, you know, florida produces the most black journalists, and one of the things that I'm passionate about I'm on the board of visitors for the School of Journalism is how do we get more of our voices out there to tell our story?
Speaker 3:So when you took this job upon graduation right, you didn't go down there with the intentions to work at a radio station, right, so you take this job, but in your mind did you have an idea of what you wanted to do, Because that's also a big shift from working in tech to now working at a radio station? But you went down there for business. So where was your mindset?
Speaker 1:So this is the part that I'm telling you like I did not have a plan. So let's talk about the fact that the goal for me was to graduate right, and so that's what kept me focused, right, it wasn't sort of like, okay, I need to have a degree in this, et cetera, et cetera. It wasn't sort of like, okay, I need to have a degree in this, et cetera, et cetera. My goal was to have a diploma that says that now I could show to the world that, okay, this person can learn right, this person is teachable, and that's really what the paper tells industry. Right, it's like you have structured, you know how to like perform under pressure, like literally a whole bunch of you know. It's sort of like an understanding of your personality comes through your diploma.
Speaker 1:When I graduated and we go through this every decade every decade I think everyone changes, right, you have sort of like this crisis of like, this identity crisis of like, of like this crisis of like this identity crisis of like, what am I doing and what do I want to do? Right? And so when I graduated, I was like, okay, I knew for sure I did not want to go back into tech. I did not know where I wanted to go, but my resume was leading me into tech. And so I remember a recruiter from the New York times came up to campus and he saw my resume you know these recruiters, they're used to college resumes and he saw my resume, he's like, oh, wait, a minute, I need to, I need to put you in a different pile. And then I had, like, the CTO of the New York Times call me and he's like, yeah, you know, you have an interesting resume, you know, and there were. This was their space in Tampa, and there was a thought of me actually ending up in Tampa working for the New York Times. There was a thought of me just staying in Tallahassee and working at the university.
Speaker 1:But my network and because I sent my emails to a lot of folks the next name that I'm going to mention in terms of who have been instrumental in my life, barbara Chang, and so again and I wanted to make sure your viewers understand how to connect the dots so when I was at thestreetcom, one of the early investors of thestreetcom was Flatiron Partners. Right, that's Fred Wilson, who's a venture capitalist, and Jerry Colonna. I reached out to Fred and Jerry looking for opportunities and this is when I was laid off in 2001. And Jerry connected me to his wife at the time, barbara Chang. Barbara Chang ran a nonprofit called Empower and so I consulted with Empower for like three months and then basically went to Barbara. Actually, she hired me.
Speaker 1:This is a funny story. She hired me in october of 2002 I'll never forget that and I told her like hey, I made a decision to go go back to school, so I'm leaving in january. And she's like, okay, it's fine, you know, like she needed me to do some work. December came and I went into her office. I said, hey, so next week is my last day. And she stopped. You know, she last day and she stopped. She was like, oh, you were serious. She was like why are you going to Florida? There's plenty of schools in New York. But I was committed, so fast forward, I'm now graduating with my master's from Florida State, ready to figure out where I'm going to go. And I sent a note to Barb and said, hey, I'm looking for an opportunity. Let me know if you know, you know, if you hear of anything. This is what you typically use your network for. And she said I actually need someone here. And so, believe it or not.
Speaker 1:That's how I got back to New York, worked at Empower to rebuild their workforce program and again their workforce program. To do what? Train young people at Promise tech skills. So these are young people who came to Empower of alternatives to incarceration, potentially homeless, et cetera, et cetera, and we were training them in tech skills to then find a meaningful work, which is my lived experience. And so at the gala literally I'm talking about, you know, growing the program from like 40 students, 120 students and someone from the Bloomberg administration is in the audience and approaches me during one of the you know, the sessions, one of the breaks, and says have you ever thought about working for the city of New York? And I said absolutely not. But I need the city to help me place these young people into jobs because I'm struggling finding jobs. And she said I could help. And she brought me into this agency called Small Business Services and talked about, you know, the workforce system and how workforce could help the students. But then she said but I want you to, yeah, I want to talk to you about the Minority of Women Business Enterprise Program and she was talking about, you know, mayor Bloomberg wants to like restart the program and she's looking for someone to help her. And literally after about maybe three or four conversations, I realized she was interviewing me and then the final conversation was that I'm going to introduce you as a commissioner, but if he offers your job, you have to tell me you're going to say yes. And so that's how I got connected to the city of New York.
Speaker 1:There was no plan for me ever to work for the city of New York. A matter of fact, and your listeners might appreciate this government was an abstract thought for me. Like government was this thing where like is politicians. You know there's DMV, there's a police department, you know the sanitation department, but you know I'm not really. I don't know what this thing called government is Right.
Speaker 1:And so the fact that I was joining the Bloomberg administration which was interesting was it was supposed to be his last year and in his last term. And people asked me that question, like, why would you want to join administration at the end? And it's like I didn't know anything about that. All I know is that my resume needs a big name and the city of New York is the biggest name I know, right, and even if I have the city of New York on my resume for one year at least, I could get a better job after that. Right, that was my thinking. Right, one year turned into five, turned into 10, right, one year turned into five, turned into 10, turned into 13. And so so it has been a magical ride, and I think I say magical because the work that I was doing was right in my alley.
Speaker 1:It was addressing economic mobility for communities that I'm really really connected to. That I'm really really connected to, and also, you know, just being in the room to talk through policy and being able to bring your lived experience to that right. So there are many different times when you know I would, you know, talk about, okay, if we're going to help, you know, small businesses in Canarsie, it can't be online. How many of those businesses have, like, online access, right, like, those are the type of conversations I would have. So, anyway, so that's basically how I got connected after college into the career that I had and, of course, starting with our earlier conversation, I did 13 years with the city of New York and then that's how that got me connected to this job that I have right now. So now you know the complete sort of like infinity stone connection I love it.
Speaker 3:So what was your first role at the Department of Small Business Services, right, and then what was ultimately your last role? Because in 13 years, you grew a lot in your time there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I stayed with. I think it's possible. The uniform agency is that this happens. I stayed in one agency. So many people with the experience that I have, you know, usually bounce around from agent to the agency, which is actually one of the benefits of government because you, sort of like, have different responsibilities and the work is different and it remains exciting, it doesn't get stale. But I stayed with one agency but the work still remained exciting and didn't get stale, because the agency is responsible for not only helping businesses but helping New Yorkers with finding jobs and also supporting and strengthening commercial quarters. So I had to deal with everything from minority and women-owned businesses, hurricane Sandy, steam, pipe explosions, terrorist attacks, opening up workforce centers, pipe explosions, terrorist attacks, opening up workforce centers Like. There were so many different things that I had to do in this job that it just every day was always something exciting.
Speaker 1:I started as an assistant commissioner and you know, for those who are in government, that's listening they would say like oh, wow, that's like a huge title. I had no idea what assistant commissioner was Like. All I know is I know is I was at NPower. I was a director, actually a senior manager, of workforce development. They were asking me like, okay, what's the equivalent of that title, because you're coming into assistant commissioner. I was like I don't know, but I started as assistant commissioner, which once I got into government, I realized how blessed I was to actually come into government at that level and that rank. And then, you know about two, I think maybe three years later I got promoted by Commissioner Rob Walsh, who hired me to deputy commissioner, and so my portfolio expanded and then I went through you know sort of the transition from the Bloomberg administration to the de Blasio administration. I was asked by the incoming commissioner, maria Torres Springer, to stay on which is, you know, a blessing as well and I stayed as a deputy commissioner under her leadership. And then when she was moved to become the president of EDC, that is when I went to the mayor and it wasn't sort of like it was one of those situations Again, a closed mouth don't get fed.
Speaker 1:I was seven years in at SBS and I went through one transition and when Maria left I was like, ok, if I cannot sit in this commissioner seat, then why am I here, right? And so I was at Gracie Mansion at an event invited not by the mayor but by someone else, a close friend, who is actually the same close friend that connected me to Clara and the mayor came to our table and I stood up and I said, hi, mr Mayor, my name is Greg Bishop. He's like I know who you are, greg, with two Gs. And the minute he said two Gs, I was like, oh, he does know who, I am right. And I was like I'd like SPS and I want you to consider me being the commissioner. And he was like, oh, you want to, you want to figure out, like you know, I'd love to hear your ideas, et cetera, et cetera. And so I had to verbally, you know, say I want this role. I didn't, you know, was going to sit back and wait for somebody to come to me, and you know so.
Speaker 1:So there is a level when, when we talk about career growth, like you have to, a door could open. But you got to step through, right, and not only step through, but step through with confidence, step through. Sometimes you have to step through a little bit aggressively, and my aggressive behavior was like approaching the mayor at an event, right, and then. But I knew that that was not the right time to start spewing my ideas, right, he would not be. You know, he's distracted, et cetera.
Speaker 1:So what did I do? I asked him for his contact information and then, righty, that night, like right after the event, I probably stayed up until like 3 am, right, I composed the most. And now I'm you know, everybody has chat GPT, right? I feel like I could have done that in like 30 seconds, right, but I had to compose the most articulate email ever. That sort of states who I am, what I want to do and why I want to be considered. I sent it to a couple of friends to like wordsmith for me to make sure like my grammar was correct, like that was the most consequential email that I ever sent, I think.
Speaker 1:And I had, and one of the things that was driving me was I had to strike while the iron was hot and so I did not want to wait a day or two to email him because he would forget. I wanted to email him immediately. So around 3am, I fired off the email to him and then, of course you know, went through the process, spoke to the deputy mayor, et cetera, et cetera, and then, in November of 2015, he gave me the call that I was waiting for and I will tell you. Sometimes you ask for something. But when it happens then the weight is on your shoulders and you're like, oh, oh, this really is happening. And I remember him calling me I think it was the Friday, no, sorry, it was the Wednesday or either the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving and he offered me the job and said now you cannot say a word about this until Monday because that's when the press release is going to go out. So you know, at Thanksgiving everybody's like so how's work? And you're like, well, but I will admit I did tell one person, which was my mom, like yeah, I had to tell her. You know it's a big deal, but that's basically how I got to the point of being commissioner and you know it was a lot more right.
Speaker 1:Like a lot of folks, like my time at SBS as assistant commissioner, deputy commissioner, I was always in a community, you know, talking to so many different stakeholders. You know sometimes when I couldn't deliver to a stakeholder, I would actually tell them look, I can't do it this time. So there's that respect of communication. You know, sort of like delivering to different communities, being present in different communities, and so when the vetting started happening and folks at City Hall was like, okay, should Greg be? You know, I'm sure they spoke to stakeholders who were like oh yeah, we know Greg, we like Greg. You know what I mean, and so it made it easier for the mayor and others to actually put me in that position.
Speaker 3:So many cheat codes dropped right there, I unloaded on you today, right, I think that's great, right, because if you think about it, the close mouths don't get fed for sure. You had the gall to go up to the mayor of New York City and say, hey, that job opening you have. You should consider me for that right Exactly. Of New York City. And say, hey, that job opening you have. You should consider me for that, right, exactly. And granted, he was at that point, two people removed from your role, right, so it wasn't like such a leap, right, but you approached him not knowing if he knew your name, right? Right, so that says a lot, right. Then the follow-up, just the prep time that it took to write a very thorough explanation as to why you think you should be considered for this, which is basically your cover letter. Right, but in real time. In real time, and thinking about doing the same night, even if it's three in the morning, let me do it today, because this is the mayor of New York.
Speaker 1:Tomorrow could be a fire in another borough and he'll forget about it, believe it or not. That night, a police officer got shot, right, and so, to your point, there was a lot of distractions, right, and so that's why sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and just even before that, leading up to that, having a track record of delivering right. So you got to SBS. For seven years you've been delivering and you got promoted one time and you have this reputation, both in community and within the building, that you get invited to places like this to even have that proximity Right. So and so that when they then go back and say, all right, what's up with this great guy? You know the background check clears and people are like nah, he's, he's legit, exactly.
Speaker 1:And and that that sort of like background check happened with this job. You know, I'm guarantee you I talked to more than just one person and so your reputation, right, you know people talk about you know just your reputation and reputation risk, et cetera, et cetera. But you have to protect it fiercely. And so you know, for your listeners, the things that you do on social media, the things that you do at work, you know what I mean. Like you have to be at a point where people will talk about you positively behind you know, behind closed doors, and some of it is just your work ethic. You know what I mean. Like you know I am definitely. You know the analog to digital generation. You know I recognize where I am right now in sort of like the ecosystem of you know generations.
Speaker 1:I strongly will go back to doors open when you work hard, right, and you don't have to give up, like, your personal time. You know you could have a good work life balance but you've got to deliver Right Things. Just don't come to you because you are John or Greg or whatever, right, like you've got to, like get your hands dirty. Those are some of the things that I tell you know my mentees now right, like especially those that are coming into their career early on. Like you got to get your hands dirty and you got to like you know, yeah, sometimes you might have to stay a little bit after work, you know, till six, seven, eight o'clock, right. But if someone gives you an assignment and you deliver on time, or even early, they'll remember that Right. And if you are consistent in doing that, that's when opportunities come in in terms of promotion, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 3:One of the things I'd like to highlight here is that in different sectors right, because this is one of the things that actually led me to starting the show was that you can make money in government, right, so can you talk about if you remember how much money can someone make in a place like the small business, services or other agencies? Right, as you think about your start and your ending, as the head of it.
Speaker 1:So the funny thing is and this goes back to our salary conversation right, I had to make some critical decisions in terms of, like, earning right. And if you remember, I started this conversation telling you that I, you know, at 25, I was making $125,000. Fast forward, I have my master's degree and when I went back to New York to work at Empower, I was making $ 90,000. So you're going to say, and your listeners are going to be saying, like, wait, he has a master's degree and he's making less right. The reason why I took that job? Two things. One, it got me back to New York, right, it was Barbara Chang, right, and it was a nonprofit. So I knew, like you know, when the street sorry, when the city came and knocking, right, the assistant commissioner position was paying $118,000. That's still less than what I was making prior to going back to school. So you will probably say, well, why did you take that job? Right, I told you why I took that job. It wasn't because of the salary, it was because of the, the brand, the city of New York on my resume. That was my thinking. Was that? Okay, I'm going to make this short term sacrifice in terms of salary because I know at some point in time I'll be able to flip that into something larger because I have the city and you know sort of working that the increases happened so once I became a deputy commissioner, that's when I sort of started seeing the value of, like you know, having a degree, et cetera, et cetera. So, deputy commissioners at SBS, I think they're much higher now, but at the time I was, I moved up to 130, then 150. And then, I think, deputy commissioners now at like 180, potentially, and then, of course, when I became commissioner, the interesting thing about government is that at the commissioner level we all make the same amount of money, right? So whether you're the commissioner of the police department or SBS, we're at 235, or it's probably a little bit more now, but like it's, you know, 235.
Speaker 1:And so leaving government right, philanthropy is a little bit trickier, because now you're in a private sector. But I would say that every or foundation, et cetera, it's such a wide range depending on what you want to do. So it could start at like 250 and you could end up, you know, at 1.5 million, right, it all depends on the size of the foundation, it all depends on the scope, the reach, the endowment. So philanthropy is a little bit different. But you know, I would say that the balance between you know, sort of like the work-life balance, the things that you're doing, the meaningful work that you're doing without the bureaucracy, like that certainly is a bonus for me. You know what I mean and so so that's that's sort of like that salary trajectory. So if you think of it like at a curve, like there was a high point in my twenties, then I sort of like dipped a little bit and then went up a little bit and then, sort of like, then it started. It's almost like a, you know, like a five-year stock chart.
Speaker 3:Right, they went up and then now it's like you know, yeah, absolutely, and that's super helpful, right, and I think, as we think about not just salaries, but now you also have like a city pension behind you, right? Oh yeah, so many other things that make it make sense right, wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 1:Here's the big thing I got my loans forgiven. Here's the big thing I got my loans forgiven. So that was, you know, 10 years in the public service, that public service loan forgiveness program. Thank you to the Biden administration for changing some of the eligibility criteria so that made me eligible in terms of the amount of payments that I made. But, yeah, but my gamble on paying for grad school, which, you know, a lot of people don't really need to pay it off because I was able to get my loans forgiven, see that's great.
Speaker 3:So loan forgiveness, pension, higher salary, ultimately and it led you on this trajectory of pivoting from doing tech to now doing community driven work, work for entrepreneurs, and now, ultimately, to where you are now with the foundation. Were there any programs or resources along the way that helped you that you think people should check out?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you know well, let's talk about if you have young children. I definitely am a big fan of junior achievement. I think that sort of helped me understand sort of financial literacy. I think that sort of helped me understand sort of financial literacy. You know how you know the private sector works, et cetera, et cetera. If you are young in your career.
Speaker 1:There are a number of programs that I attended. Coro Leadership, new York, for example, was a professional development program that I attended Great networking, not only great networking, but it also allowed you to explore different sectors and challenges in those sectors and actually interact with different individuals and personalities. Think they also have a similar version for those not in government, but those programs were very, very helpful for me. When I did the Harvard program, I remember coming back and I remember one of the modules that we had. I can't remember everything, but I do remember this One of the modules we had. We talked about, I guess, managing. I can't remember what it was, but this idea of disappointing people at a rate they can absorb. I came back with that I, I that was of all the things that we talked about. I just, it's instantly remembered that and realize, oh wait a minute, this is part of government right, like we can't say yes to everyone, but we have to be able to soften the blow when we say no Right.
Speaker 3:And so so that that I've, you know, used in my career ever since Are there any forms of media books, movies, shows, podcasts that you have consumed, that have helped you personally or professionally?
Speaker 1:So who Moved my Cheese is one of my favorite books because it talks about that, that fear, fear of change. And I remember when I became commissioner I had all my leadership team read who moved my cheese, cause it was like. You know, I wanted them to also understand, you know, how their sort of internal safeguards sort of shows up in the workplace. You know everybody has different levels of risk and so who Moved my Cheese is one of them. You know there was oh my gosh. How am I blanking on his name now?
Speaker 1:The book is called Winning, though Jack Welch, and one of the things that he talked about was making a decision. The decision was a bad decision and I think he had like, basically, a plant blew up right, like a plant caught on fire. Based on this is that he made, because I think he was like storing chemicals or whatever, whatever, whatever. And what did I get out from that? Like, no matter how bad you think things, that things are like, just remember you didn't blow up a plant right. So sometimes you have those days where you think like, oh my gosh, like work is so stressful, this is like, and I remember sometimes I was like well, I didn't blow up a plant. Like you know, I'll figure it out Right, so yeah, so those are the two, the two things that come off the top of my head in terms of, like you know, podcasts. You know I haven podcasts, you know I haven't. I don't have like a favorite podcast like I.
Speaker 3:well, now I do you do now?
Speaker 1:I was gonna say now I do right, but, but I do think that you know any type of program that allows you know these type of conversations where you can learn gems from individuals like I don't have enough time to meet with everyone, right, um, and so sometimes even someone looking at this might be the thing that they need to, like figure out the next step right, instead of like trying to get on my calendar, et cetera, et cetera. So I certainly would encourage folks you know to to seek out podcasts that deal with self-improvement and career development.
Speaker 3:Greg, in your career, which has gone from working at a magazine to running a radio show to ultimately reporting to the mayor and having hundreds of people reporting up to you to now working at a family foundation. What are you most proud of in your career to this date? Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:Well, let me start with the most recent. We created a loan fund to help businesses after the pandemic. Four out of five businesses that received a loan from us are still in business, you know, five years later. So super, super proud of that. 70% of those businesses were run by black women. 40% of those businesses hired additional staff.
Speaker 1:I could go back to now SBS, and there's such a long list of things that I'm proud of, but the biggest thing that I'm proud of is actually building a great team at SBS. You know, the team that we had when I was commissioner was, I think, one of the best. It reflected the diversity of the city. We did some amazing things. You know we had to deal with COVID. We had to deal, like I said, with the steam pipe explosions and terror attacks, but we also built out certain initiatives. Super, super proud of the fact that I was able to launch the NYC. It was an initiative specifically for Black entrepreneurs, and when I say super proud, even this administration continues to sort of like talk about the work around supporting black entrepreneurs, and that was the intention that I had. I had a hand in the NYC Women Entrepreneurs. I did some work with the Tenant Museum to highlight the contributions, the huge contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs. You know 50, I think it's 51 or 52% of businesses in New York City are owned by a foreign-born individual.
Speaker 1:The list, as you can see, the list goes down in terms of, like, the things that I feel super, super proud of. You know we built workforce centers in, like. I opened up a workforce center in Far Rockaway, you know thinking about. You know, for those center in Far Rockaway, you know thinking about. You know, for those who don't understand city, you know city, city, uh, geography, you know Far Rockaway is called Far Rockaway for a reason. Right, it's far right. You know, in order to get to, like, the nearest workforce in in Jamaica, you have to jump on a train. I think it's like an hour or two hour drive a ride. You know what I mean. And so why should individuals lose out on opportunities simply because they live in a certain zip code? We were able to open up a center there which the community really appreciated. So there's a number of things, a long list of things that I was. That's why my time working in the city, from the different levels, will always be the pinnacle of, like, you know, giving back to communities that I care about. I don't think I'm ever going to have an opportunity to have that impact that I had.
Speaker 1:This current job is terrific. We focus on Brooklyn, right With the city. I'm in Staten Island. I'm in the Bronx, right Like. I know so much about the Bronx in terms of like the challenges, et cetera, et cetera. You know what I mean. Like my Staten Island. I'm in the Bronx, right Like I know so much about the Bronx in terms of like the challenges, et cetera, et cetera. You know what I mean. Like my Staten Island IQ went up really quick. It's like North Shore Okay, okay. The South Shore was like yeah, okay, I got you, you got okay. Right Off the Avenue Right, okay, I got you Right. You know like like you know learning all about. You know Queens and diversity of Queens and you know all that stuff. Like you know. I would always be appreciative of the time that I had with the city.
Speaker 3:Is there anything else we haven't discussed today that the world?
Speaker 1:should know about Greg.
Speaker 3:Greg with two G's Right, right.
Speaker 1:Greg, greg, with two GGs who, you know, I think live every single day to the fullest, and I know that sounds cliche, but like three years ago I actually had two blood clots. So I started my fitness journey, was really struggling in the gym, you know my trainer was like breathe you're not breathing I was like I am, like, am like.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm trying to breathe and literally he, uh, nain, is barnaby, nain, barnaby is, uh, is my angel. All right, he's my guarded angel. I literally was working out with him in january I think it's now what are we 25, maybe 22 or something like that and couldn't even warm up and he's like okay, okay, I know you went to the virtual ER, but you got to go to a real ER. Something is wrong with you. You need to stop late. Right Like he's, and he's Jamaican, so you know, it's that sort of like you need to go now, right and ready.
Speaker 1:I went, you know they did a whole bunch of tests, et cetera, et cetera, and two doctors popped up on my bed and I remember I was planning you know I'm part of a fraternity called Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated Shout out to all the bros and we were having a gala that Saturday and this is like a Wednesday and we're planning to have the general president and I'm coordinating like who's going to pick up the general president, et cetera and the curtain opens up. It's two doctors and they're like so we have some images and we don't like what we see, so we're going to need to keep you for observation and we're going to need to put you on this and blah blah, and so like I'm hearing them speak, but I all I heard was keep right, and so I was. My first response was like so I can't leave. You know what I mean. I've never been hospitalized before. And so they found two blood clots in my lungs, and those clots were probably in my lungs for at least a month or two, and so I had to go on immediate blood thinners for a year, almost two years, I was on blood thinners, similar to like Chris Bosh. Thank God now that I need to take the thinners when I travel. But you know it hit me that at any given moment I could have died immediately. You know like instantly, and so I have a renewed passion for life and just you know this journey that we're on, and certainly I know there's, you know there's individuals who are on the journey.
Speaker 1:You get to a certain age where you realize you're, you know you're mortal, right, I think, for your listeners. Every day you need to live as if it might be your last. I know this sounds like a little bit morbid, but I think you know you can really do a lot, if you know. Imagine if somebody told you that you only have six days to live, right, you would do so much and remember that fair that I talk about. You wouldn't have that fair anymore because you'd be like I'm going to do it Doesn't really matter, because I'm going to do it right. And so I think you know just really appreciating life, you know pushing through and really, as they say, you know seize the day Like really there's 24 hours in a day. You're sleeping like maybe six to eight of them.
Speaker 3:Use those the rest of those hours productively that's great well, thank you for joining us today thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:I appreciate it. Congratulations to you, um on on the show and, and definitely you know, thanks for having me and uh, if folks want to learn more about the work that we do, uh, they can check us out online, bksjforg. Or if folks want to learn more about the work that we do, they can check us out online, bksjforg. Or if they want to learn more about me, you can check my website out, gregbishopnyc.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Thank you, and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're using, and share this podcast with your friends and your networks. Make sure you follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at Career Cheat Code and tell us people or careers you would like to see highlighted. See you next week with some more cheat codes, peace.
