Arian Simone
Appearances
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And they said we were violating, they claimed we were violating a civil rights law. I thought that was still part of the hoax. Hello. I said, I did. I said, civil rights? I was like, civil rights were put in place for black people. For this very reason. What you talking about?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
So you saw it coming. I kept doing a post like, yes, because we were the first DEI case. I said, sound the alarm. I said, we are inaugural defendants in one of the most defining lawsuits of our time. Please let people know this is real and this is happening.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And during the court case, I was still deploying. I was still cutting checks left and right. I said, hey, we're going to keep this thing. Yes, I was still cutting checks.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
We're still cutting checks now, too. Well, the lawsuit is permanently dismissed, praise God. Oh, good. OK. Yes. Permanently dismissed. What was that? September 2024. So it was 13 months.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
The Promise, of course, looks like the Fearless Fund today, but the journey there, of course, took a lot of adventure. And there was a time when I gave up on the store. Some days you'd have $50,000, some days your account is negative, and I'm like, am I good at this, or what is happening here? And I stopped.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
yes of a federal court case so just mind you people here and they see what went on in the media yeah i said people have no clue yeah that fall was one of the hardest seasons of my life yeah that makes living out the car like a piece of cake listen i can i can't imagine but i can one of the hardest seasons of my life oh i had people coming for me honey that looked just like me and you
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I knew the moment it hit when I realized we had something real. I was like, God, your hand is on this. I was like, I grew up around Rosa Parks. I grew up around Coretta Scott King. I grew up around Betty Shabazz. I said, your hand is on this. You grew up around all those? Yes. What? Civil rights icons and just women in the movement. I said, this is not my happenstance.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I think it's crazy, too, because now I sit back. I'm like, I would have asked y'all so many
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Had I known this. And I was a kid. I will go back. Give me two seconds. So there was one moment when I remember being about 14 and my mom was like, I always travel with my parents. They were like, you know what? We're going down ahead. You and Ashley had come down after us. And I was like, okay. They were like, you're coming to Alabama. And I freaked out. I said, I don't go to Alabama.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Now, at this point, I'm well-traveled. I've traveled countries, states, all of it. Not going there. I said, Mrs. Parks has told me about the Klan and all these crazy people. I said, I don't want to see them. I said, Mama, do you have a gun down there? Like, what is going on? Like, I don't like this. Like, I didn't want to go for anything.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
She said, Arianne, Coretta Scott King, Juanita Abernathy, and Rosa Parks are waiting on you. And I told her, I could see those old women anytime. Lord, forgive me. But I was young, and I had no appreciation of it at the time because this was just my life. She was like a grandmother to me. I'm checking on her after school, bringing groceries, stuff like that.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
This is not even like, oh my gosh, it's my norm.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And she was like, Arianne Simone Reed, you will get your behind on that plane. So I got my behind on that plane.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I think I was like 14. Yeah. Yeah, I was 14. So it was an anniversary for one of the Montgomery bus boycotts. But yeah, I pulled on that. So yeah, my faith is strong. When it happened, I knew God's hand was on it. And I was just like, I knew my steps had been ordered. I knew I was covered. I said, okay, Lord, no weapon formed against me shall prosper.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I said, any tongue that rises up against me, I shall condemn. I said, okay, I'm going to stand on your word. I said, I believe you. You watch over it to make sure it is performed. I said, I'm with you. So, yes, my faith got me through, because I had no clue that through something like that, that even other people would try to attack you because they think you're vulnerable. I was like, oh my gosh.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But we had a lot of support, so we're going to keep it positive, sweetie. Always. Always. We had a lot of support through the process, and I'm so grateful.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I keep that on my computer, the financials from the store, because the business was actually profitable. I look back now and laugh because I wasn't failing. I just wasn't patient.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Before we got sued, my staff even has me on video talking about this. I didn't even notice it was coming around the corner. I told them at our retreat, I said, you all, when we finish raising fund two, I said, I'm gonna actually take a step back and get into more advocacy work. I said, I have to stand up for this kind of work that we're doing.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I said, because we don't need the fearless fund, we need fearless funds. I said, we need more people having the opportunity to do what it is that I do. I said, so I'm going to get into some more advocacy work. I said, and we're going to have to make sure that people are aware of what this racial disparity is and how do we actually fix it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
So I had no clue that this would turn into the way it has and given me a platform to have a voice to speak about it more.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Not necessarily try to start their own business, but the second they have, and we have a program called Get Venture Ready. So people who have started their business and they're looking to get venture dollars, we have programs for them so they can learn about their options. And venture capital's not for everybody. It's very aggressive and it's very fast.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Venture capital, to those of you all who are listening, looks like Shark Tank. So people say, hey, can you give me $500,000? I'll give you 10% ownership of my business. And that's exactly what it looks like, just like Shark Tank. Now, that's semi-aggressive, because we're looking for you to exit in five to seven years. Whereas, we also have a loan program.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
We have a $200 million loan program, and people can apply for $5,000 up to $250,000 if you just have $50,000 in revenue. credit score 600. So that's the criteria for that program. And then in our foundation we have grants. So we have multiple financing options depending on where you're at and what it is you desire to get done.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Clothes, women's apparel. Amazing. Yes.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Well, there's four indicators, especially on the venture side. We do look for a good brand story.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
because you got to be able to sell it. Like I sold the vision and now we're here with the fun.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
You need to have a strong team because that's nice. Once you sell that story, it's like, okay, are you all equipped to actually go execute on what you're selling to us? You want to have a good product and you want to have traction. So traction can look like anything. So we invest in CPG, which is a consumer packaged good, any type of product. We also invest in technology.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But with that being said, technology is very capital intensive. So people may not have the revenue to say it's traction. They may have, oh, my email list has 50,000 people on this wait list. That's traction. Got it. I've had this many downloads. That's traction. I've got this many social media followers. That's traction. We know you have people who are interested in what you're talking about.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
It was a lot. Being a collegepreneur, it was definitely a lot. And me giving up on that, I moved to Los Angeles actually with a job. The only job I've had in my adult life. Because everything else I've done, I've worked for myself. And it was Nelly's Apple Bottoms, and I worked for 30 days. Yes, those Apple Bottom jeans, boots with the fur.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Wow. Those are our four indicators we look at, but ideas do get funded every day.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Oh, completely. But it's whatever your field of, I would say, like, field of influence is. I define it as, you know, just impact. If you've changed one person's life, you know, just by your presence and by what it is that you're doing, that's impactful.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
In your 20s and success was like a dollar amount.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
That is true. I've always looked at it like, of course, I'm always growing, always evolving, always achieving.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But I still think every level was successful. Yeah, no, for sure. So I get what you're saying, like, oh, no, I feel like I haven't made it. I'm doing this, doing that. But you're successful.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Maybe because I just operate from like a pure place of gratitude.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
so yeah i think so that was where i would say where has evolved okay i love that yeah i wouldn't have said it was successful all those times but now i look back and say all of that was success yeah i love it what actually inspired you to even create the fearless fund was it just seeing that promise I made to myself in college. I had the experience of going to pitch as a college student.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
What was your major? I was a business major, but I majored in business in high school. Like, we went to a high school that had majors, too. So... going through that process and seeing investors do not look like you. Going through that process, and I'm talking about I'm suited and booted, even as a college kid, and I'm giving them my best, at that time, business plan.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
This is before Dex, quote unquote, were around. I was like, this is not working. I was like, there's got to be somebody who can understand my story. There's got to be somebody who's going to believe in me. And I sat there on that floor amongst the inventory and I said, Erin, don't you worry about it. Because one day you're going to be the business investor you were looking for.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
You said plenty? I mean, we're investors. You know these companies, Partake, The Lip Bar, Slutty Vegan. What? Oh, yeah. I had no idea. We got the hit list, okay? We got the hot roster.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I don't think she came in. I was probably a sluttified, whatever they call it. You were taking a bite of the burger. Oh, yes. And then I heard through her manager at the time that they were having a round of funding. And I was like, oh, you're going to cut me in.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
What? And I worked for that company for 30 days doing product placement, placed product on Jessica Simpson and Tyra Banks. And I even found Oprah and put the jeans on her, and she had them on the show. So when the president said, Harry, I'd like to meet with you, I'm thinking, like, of course. I've changed, I've turned the company around. You want to meet with me?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
She actually came to us, but I was there probably maybe, I don't know if it's week one, two, or three. I pledged, Melissa.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Yep, we're adults. We have the same high school in common. We are both from the same side of town in Detroit. And then we both went to FAMU. Oh, so y'all know each other. So I was not in her diligence process, because I said, y'all have to keep me honest.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Because I was like, I was there week one when she was in her studio apartment in New York making vegan lipstick from the stove. So I was like, I got to step aside on this one.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
No, there was times we didn't think the deal was happening. She was like, Spesh, I don't think it's happening. I said, I don't know. They ain't giving me a good report right now. So it went on for like a couple months back and forth, legal, diligence papers. And then she called, she said, it's gonna happen. And I cried. I had never cried when we had invested.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But I said, this is somebody I saw day one. Yes, that's beautiful. Built this business. I said, I am honored to cut this check.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Donations to the foundation are at thefearless.foundation. Any information for the fund is fearless.fund, F-U-N-D.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Girl, don't get me started. I'm not on social as much lately, but I have had to say a few things here and there. I have a lot of feelings. I have told even the black and brown brands at Target, I said, if you can walk off the shelf the same way they can cancel you, you can cancel them. I said, and you all probably need to walk in your power.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I said, if I were you, I'd send a collective letter expressing your concerns that when I entered into an agreement with your company that these were your value systems. This is where things lined up. This is why I chose to be in partnership with you. I said, not have everybody sign it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I said, because you have now changed your values and I've entered into this business agreement with you, my products are now being part of a boycott that I wouldn't have wanted. So I may have to sue you for financial damages unless you want to change your values. Wow.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And she said, unfortunately, we have to let you go. And I was like, let me go. She said, if it was based on performance, you'd be the first to stay. I said, what is this based on? She said, I was 23 at the time. She said, well, the company's being sold. Everybody has to go. They're having a new team come in. You just have to be the last hired. You're the first fired. So, yes.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Oh, their board of directors would have heard from me had I been in that position. their board of directors, and their C-suites. You are sharp. And I would have had a meeting.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And make way more money. Collectively, I said, you all make them millions. Thank you. Thank you.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And at that time, my parents were in an unfortunate divorce case, called back. And I never knew I would never be able to not call back home. I grew up middle class. So I was like, what do you mean? They were like, hey, finances are not good here right now. And I said, you know, don't worry about me. I'll figure out life. Y'all worry about my sister. I'm going to keep going.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
and ran out of cash, and then they put on the notice on the door that says, pay rent or quit. I said, well, shoot, I guess I gotta quit. I'm not gonna forgive you. And I moved from my apartment to my car. My mom's best friend paid for my storage. I was like, I'll just figure it out. Don't look sad, I'm here.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The people.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I'm here. And I was without a place to stay for seven months. Welfare, food stamps, selling my clothes so I could eat, put gas in the car, et cetera. But my optimism, for the most part, in my faith kept me. I never knew it was gonna take seven months. I get up every daytime, oh, this the last day. This the last day, this the last day.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Oh, no, yeah. The moment I realized that letter was real, they were like, you have government protocol tomorrow morning because you need to know, of course, how to address people. I'm even still learning on the job to this day. I just went to go visit one of my girlfriends over there for her brunch. And she's like, well, Arianne, of course, you know, do your title. You're at the head table.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I was just like, OK. I'm thinking, like, I'm just sitting at the head table. I don't know that every time somebody speaks, I have to stand up and I have to greet them.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
So I'm always still, like, learning on the job. Because French culture is very big on protocol.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Francophone countries and Anglophone countries are a little bit different. Like when I go to Ghana, I'm like all relaxed, just chilling. I'm over in Cote d'Ivoire, it's like, okay, I already know I have to be on. So, but yes, it's my honor to serve those people. Yes, that is incredible.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I have a whole bunch of funny stories I tell about what happened during that time. um there was a moment where i did do i did crash like i was like this cannot be happening to me yeah this is now i'm probably you know months in and i'm like wait a minute i went to school i got good grades What did I do wrong? And I was like, OK, am I being punished? What is this?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I go, technically I go, seems like I'm in Africa so often, but... I am there in Zawa at least once a year. I am on the continent sometimes every other month. We actually even at the fund and the foundation, so 80% of our funds are domestic, 20% are international. So I allocate grants through there. We have investments on the continent. So yes, it's wonderful.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Oh, yeah. I even have Ghanaian citizenship. So Ghana has done a great job with just marketing the year of the return. And I would say this, because they're like, Erin, what did you think when you got here? And I was honest with them. What did you think? I said, you all oversold this place. Now, I've been back and forth to Ghana so many times since then.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I said, only because I'm somebody who's traveled the continent. I said, I've been north, south, east, west. I said, so I know what Africa has to offer. I said, you all get enough, so much tourism here. I said, I did expect your infrastructure to be a little bit better.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I said, you go next door to Cote d'Ivoire and they said, we already know it's gorgeous. So like Abidjan is called Paris of the West. Like, I mean, it's Abidjan. I mean, the beaches, Ivory Coast is known for their white sand beaches, all of it. It's gorgeous. So I will say this. I think that any black person should have that experience of being on your own land. There's nothing like it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I think that they should know the culture, the history is part of who we are. Yes. So I do encourage that. I encourage even if you want two places, you know, it may be inexpensive to have a summer home out on the continent and then come back, you know, so I definitely encourage it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
No, one, I will say this, it's 54 countries. So no, it's definitely not all like that. Africa has everything that you will find in the world. You're going to find paradise. you're going to find Third World, and you're gonna find City. High skyscrapers, all of it, like you saw in Joburg. So you're gonna see everything.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But the level of beauty is unmatched. So you're gonna see all of it. And those of us who can, if we can come and do things to help make it better, the investment opportunity is huge. I sit on the board of Steve Madden, Our number one store right now is our South African store. Are you serious? Yes, we've expanded to the continent.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I love serving on the board. Yeah, that's amazing. I do. But Africa has so much to offer.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
investments, opportunities. I even know people in your field.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Yes, Accra. But let me tell you, there are people who couldn't get through the door here. but got through the door there. I'm talking, folks, you wouldn't know who they were. Now they got millions of followers. And I'm just like, oh my gosh.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
So luckily, somebody called me. They sought me out to do some PR marketing work. They saw my work at Apple Bottoms. I'm like, could you have called months ago? And it was to do some PR marketing work for their spouse. And they referred me to somebody who referred me to somebody who referred me to somebody. I looked up. I was like, OK, I got a business.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Blood and water, I just watched it. She's like, yes. That's one of my favorites.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Now, South Africa is 18 to 1. I have a girlfriend there. Yes, she runs actually an agency, a talent agency. Used to work at Interscope. Now that she's there, her and her husband and her kids, she said, Arianne, had I known I could get stuff at this level for this price? She said, I'd have had three more kids.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
She said, I'm just past childbearing age. She said, but I would have had three more kids, because she's like, my house staff, you know, is very inexpensive. They have so much help. Oh, yeah, I walked in the door. They pulled out champagne, everything. I'm at this gorgeous house of hers, and I said, girl, what does this cost? She said, about $500,000.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
She said, but you know, this over there in America would have been millions. Millions, yes. Wow. So 1801 there.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But that's not true for every place. Where I am queen, I will say this, it's not a steal. It's a little smidget, smidget less. No, a smidget less, but you don't see it. So now you're going to get that feeling of, oh, no, 500,000 is 500,000. Right, right.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I feel like we're just sitting in your house.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I know, because people will pick failure because they actually get to learn from it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
She's like, I don't want to fail. It's not a bad thing, though. So it's like, yikes.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I'm old school, I'm like cash is king. I'm real old school.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
No, I did do crypto and I made a lot of cash.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Oh yeah, but it's cash if I got to choose. I know, that's right.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I don't have the discipline to save. I have the discipline to invest. Don't get me wrong, I have a savings. Yeah. But I am so disciplined when I see that money going up. Mm-hmm. I just want to add. Yeah.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I found that so interesting because the moment that got started, it happened with such flow and ease. And I said, Erin, you were created to do business in this earth. And the moment you stepped out of that, you caused yourself more chaos and more headache than when you had the store. Mm-hmm.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I don't think that people who are givers should ever stop giving, because I'm a giver. I think you have to be mindful of who you're giving to. That's it, yes. Because by default, we're going to give.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Because that's just who we are and how we're wired to be.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But you have to be mindful of who you're giving to.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
So I think the boundary more so is, is where I'm giving going to bear fruit? Right, yes. And if it is not, then that's not, I'm not giving. Right, right, got it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Like the ups and downs at the store were nothing like me having to try to figure out how I'm going to eat the next day. Right. You know, I was like, you have to stay in alignment with your purpose and your calling in this earth. Because even if it has ups and downs, it's nothing like being outside of that.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Oh, I ended up building a PR and marketing company from the ground up, servicing clients like from the Sony Pictures to the Walt Disneys of the world and Universal and everything else. Yeah, we worked on blockbuster movies, so... Will Packer at the time was not the Will Packer. I called him when I was living out of my office space. So I went from the car to the office.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Yes, I'd love to, but thank you for having me. Absolutely. I'm honored.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I said, Will, I've started this company. This is what I do. I found out that studios actually outsource PR and marketing companies. He said, Erin, your timing couldn't have been more better.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I said, what's going on? He said, we are getting ready to release our first big theatrical movie, and we're going to produce it in Atlanta. And I said, what is it? And he said, Stefan. That was the working title.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And that was... their first big theatrical release. Exactly. Because they had The Gospel before, but that was the first big one. And the movie was number one, two weekends in a row. So my phone starts ringing with all the studios.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
They're like, what's going on, so yeah. Yeah, that is incredible. Oh, thank you.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
No, I had to come out to Atlanta for when it was being filmed, but I didn't just move to Atlanta from there, no.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Oh, small world. Yeah. I worked many films with Packer, but yeah, small world.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Okay, so I started meeting people who were in the space. I took a meeting at Gary Vaynerchuk's office, VaynerMedia, with Gary Vee himself. He's a social entrepreneur person known on even, you know, on the internet. And in the meeting, me and my friends were pitching to him a $10 million basically pitch.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Girl, we ain't get it, but it's okay. She said, wow. And we did not know at the time, he only had a $25 million fund and the fund had been deployed. So we find this out after the pitch, which was so funny. But afterwards, I remember standing on the streets of New York just froze. And my friend, he looked at me, he said, Arianne, he said, you want to be on the other side of the table? I said, I do.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I said, this is how I get to make good on the promise I made to myself in college.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And from there, having that awareness, I just started meeting other people in venture capital at different events. I started, let me tell you, this fearless fund, what people know today, it was words. I was like, I'm building a fund. I'm building this fund. It's for women of color. I was going around telling everybody. Girl, there wasn't a cent.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Right. I opened a bank account at Citizens Trust. This is a true story. I went there, met with the manager, and I said, I'm building this multi-million dollar fund. And I told her all about it. I said, I'm going to open it up with this $100 fund. I said, I know. I said, I know. I'm not mad at it. This person may have thought I was crazy. They're one of my biggest advocates now.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But I'm like, I said, I wonder what Tanya was thinking. Like, she's probably like, this girl's nuts. But I got $100. I'll take it right. We're going to set this account up. I mean, she saw a year later the millions coming in. She said, this girl really did what she said she was going to do.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And they were buying into the vision. And I told, I ran into somebody named Rodney Sampson, known in Atlanta in like the tech space, Tracy Gray. These people ended up being on our advisory board, but I just started telling people my vision. And they were like, okay, it's a little far-fetched, but if you believe and you sound like you believe, we'll rock with you. Wow.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
That's first and foremost. You need securities attorneys to even set it up. And you're talking about a setup fee that's probably six figures. Yeah, a setup fee. I figured out how to cut every corner, trust me. I was like, okay, can we figure out how to set this thing for like 15? I'm like, let me step this thing. But as I was selling the vision, I started to raise money.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
and started to raise it from individuals at first. And then from there, I was at a family homecoming and ran into somebody and I sold the vision again. And they were like, Hey, we'll have our company come down and meet with you. And they were our first institutional investor. So it was Lisk. And then after Lisk was like fifth, third and I think Costco. But the names were there.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And when the wake of George Floyd hit and a lot of the commitments to the black community took place, we were literally the right people in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. So now Inbound is happening. But mind you, I spent three years of grinding, two years plus of no salary just trying to figure it out. to get there.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
So yeah, it was a lot of years of still selling the vision.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Yes, thank you. Absolutely. The Fearless Fund is the nation's first or even the world's first venture capital fund that's built by women of color for women of color.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
We invest in women of color co-founded companies, and the reason why is because women of color are the fastest-growing entrepreneurial demographic, but unfortunately, the least funded. You're talking only 0.39% of venture capital funds are going to women of color in the U.S. Wow. It's over 20% of the US population. Yeah, so it's the stats are ridiculous. Yeah That's why we do what we do.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Well, when everything hit, if we have time, I'm gonna walk you through the day. So on August 2nd, 2023, the staff starts reaching out saying, the reporters are calling us about a lawsuit we have. I said, well, I have no lawsuit. I was just calm. I said, you know what? Just don't answer the phones. Keep going on with your day. And they kept calling. I said, y'all, this is ChatGPT.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Yes. It was truly a moment where... How should I put it? I was just more so out of alignment with my assignment and what I'm supposed to do on the earth. I was a college student at Florida A&M University, and I owned a store while I was there in the mall. And I made a promise to myself while I had the store that one day I was going to be the business investor I had been looking for.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I'm up here blaming it on ChatGPT, literally.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
And I was like, I said, it'll fix itself, because we don't have a lawsuit. Then they were like, Arianne, we are being caused by the Wall Street Journal and Reuters and very credible media outlets who are all over the news right now. And I was just like, if there's a filing, can you find it? Because lawsuits are public. Absolutely. They got to file it. And 45 minutes, I got a call.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Technically, no. So since COVID, you don't have to serve people in person. You can serve them through email, which I had not opened the email where they were sending emails at at all. And even then, I still didn't open it. I found out much later. I was just like, oh, I was being served through the Internet. I was like, who does this? You're like, okay.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But then I knew because I hadn't accepted being served that they were aggressively, of course, also looking for me. Yes.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Very, very. But I use my rights. Yeah. Yes, I'm well equipped, I use my rights. Wow. So, that day they found the filing and I saw the top of the filing and it said United States District and that's when I said, oh my gosh, we have a federal case? So I text Ben Crump, emergency. I'm hitting up everybody. I'm hitting up Derek Johnson, head of the NAACP. I'm like, y'all gotta help.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
Something's going on. I was like, I don't even know what happened. And I said, who is this? And they're like, Ed Bloom. And I was like, I know that name. They were like, the guy who stopped affirmative action. I said, at the Supreme Court. And I was like, oh my gosh. So I was thrust into this just overnight, like what is going on? So it was very abrupt.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
They filed three things against our company, a temporary restraining order. I thought those were for like crazy ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends. No, you can file a TRO on somebody's business and put them out of business. Yes, they wanted us shutting down operations by August 17th. And I said, what? They were like, do y'all have an event coming up to turn his ass? I said, yeah.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
I said, it's the 18th. They said, that's it. I said, oh my gosh. I said, why am I disturbing these people? This is literally, that's when you know it's the spirit of fear. This is literally a trillion dollar financial disparity as far as funding to people of color. Yeah.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
You're worried about, in the big scheme of things, I am so proud of what we've done, but you're worried about a couple hundred million. You've got to be kidding me. This is a trillion dollar issue. We're not even making a dent in this statistic. You've got to be kidding me. I'm that much of a threat that you want to shut this down?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
But prior to the Fearless Fund, the average fundraise for a black woman was only $30,000.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Selling The Vision w/ Arian Simone
oh yeah we came on the scene cutting seven figure checks so it was very disruptive but very needed yes yes so this is mind-blowing all this is happening and then so you have to cut off everything yeah so if anybody doesn't know the court case was for alleged discrimination they said we were being discriminatory because we were investing in black and brown women and not white businesses you are kidding me