Innovation & Inclusion: The Black Wolf App Story with Kerry King Brown

Tony Tidbit (: 00:02

Welcome to a Black Executive Prospective Podcast. This is, I lost. Start again. Three, two, one.

Kerry KingBrown (: 00:10

Okay.

Tony Tidbit (: 00:13

Welcome to a Black Executive Prospective Podcast, a safe space where we discuss all matters regarding race, especially race in corporate America. I'm your host, Tony Tickvich. And we talked about this before. We have a new partnership with COVDM Magazine. They're a digital publication who has a major mission, which is saving the Black family by first saving the Black man. So together, COVDM and VEP, you're gonna be amplifying impactful conversations and content.

So please don't forget to check out our partners at codemmagazine.com. So today we have a very exciting guest that's on. In this episode, we're joined by Kerry Kinground, the innovative creator by Black Wolf App, a trailblazing ride sharing platform that integrates advanced security measures to redefine safety and trust in transportation. Kerry shares his journey.

from his early years and significant military experience to the challenges and triumphs of launching Black Wolf app. He'll delve into the entrepreneurial journey and the fundamental goal of providing users with their safer ride sharing experience, underscoring his dedication to improving safety across the board.

Kerry King Brown is founder and president of Wolf Technologies as a seasoned clothes protection professional with over 13 years of experience. He excels in safeguarding high-profile individuals and physical assets. Kerry King Brown, my brother, welcome to a Black Executive Prospective Podcast.

Kerry KingBrown (: 02:00

Man, I'm glad to be here, Tony. I'm glad to be here, brother.

Tony Tidbit (: 02:06

you know, based on your background, I feel a lot safer just with you being on the podcast, right? So again, your magic is working even from a podcast standpoint, but we're going to dive into, you know, your background, you know, how you came up with the Black Wolf app, which is a fantastic story, you know, how you develop it, the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.

And then more importantly, you sharing some insights to the audience, because there's a lot of people who want to listen and watch this, who are right now out there trying to get their groove on, build their business or the idea that they have. So you'll be able to provide some excellent insights to be able to help them. But before we get into that, my brother, tell me a little bit about where you're living at and your family.

Kerry KingBrown (: 03:18

What is your family name?

some of the women down there, something to look at. But hey, but I reside in Atlanta, Georgia, man, to be exact, Walton County. I live in the country. I love land. I love goat carts, man. So I just wanted my own space.

Tony Tidbit (: 03:31

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 03:35

Got it. And Mary, kids, tell us a little bit about that, my friend.

Kerry KingBrown (: 03:38

Yes, sir. I've been married for three years now. I have a 11 year old daughter who's 36. She's older than me actually. And I have a three year old son. The joys of my life are, you know, a lot of people ask me, are you going to put him in sports? Because I played sports. I'm like, no, I'm putting them in shooting and self-defense tactics, all those type of crazy things, you know, because again, when I get older, they, you know, they need to whoop ass too, you know. So that's how I feel.

Tony Tidbit (: 03:45

Thank you.

Tony Tidbit (: 04:08

I love it, my man. I love it. You know, you are who you are, right? So speaking of that, why did you want to come on the Black Executive Perspective Podcast to talk about this topic?

Kerry KingBrown (: 04:18

Well, I mean, I think it's time because, again, I've done a lot of interviews. But doing these interviews, you don't really get to talk about the truth. You don't get to talk about, you know, what's really on the inside. You know, a lot of people ask me questions about the app. They don't ever ask me questions about who Carrie really is because I go by KB. So nobody ever calls me Carrie. It's very seldom that you'll hear Carrie. So I wanted to reach a different audience.

It's almost like coming home and telling the truth and telling your side. And then, because people like us, they reside with it. You speak to a bigger scale, you gotta speak proper. You gotta talk about that only topic. You can't take off your shirt, wear your white beater, just be real, brother, you know what I'm saying? You gotta use politically correct words. So yeah, it's just reaching those who need to be reached.

Tony Tidbit (: 05:15

Got him.

And listen, I love that. And if it's okay, cause I feel like, you know, we've chatted multiple times. So I feel a little bit like family. So is KB okay? Can I call you KB? All right, bro. But you ain't got, I'm a nickname dude, right? So KB, you know, I'm Tony Tidbit. So KB works, all right? So we'll definitely call you KB. And I definitely hear you my friend. So look, we want you to, you know, take your shirt off, you know, not, not literally, but we want you to relax and open up and share. We want to understand.

Kerry KingBrown (: 05:26

Yeah, yeah, I love KB.

Tony Tidbit (: 05:46

who the real KB is, and more importantly, you know, the things that you're doing and making successful. So, KB, are you ready to have this conversation?

Kerry KingBrown (: 05:58

Man, are you ready?

Tony Tidbit (: 06:01

I am buddy, so let's talk about it. So listen, you had told me a story that ever since you were five years old, you were always about safety. You don't know where it comes from. So tell the audience a little bit about your early years, where you came up and where did safety and trying to protect others come from?

Kerry KingBrown (: 06:28

I've always felt like I was chosen to do something. Everybody feels chosen to do something. We all have gifts and we all have talents. Like I told you, my mom, she was cleaning, we had a above ground pool and she was cleaning it and I had to plug something in and there was water inside the pool and she said, if you drop it, I'm gonna get electrocuted. And I said, hell no, over my dead body. And from that day, just me playing around and just at five years old saying that.

and I was holding it like this because I didn't want anything to happen to my mother. That was the first time I noticed, okay, I'm a protector. I'm five years old. I can't lift weights. I'm not strong. I'm not a man. But something inside of me said, you're going to be a protector. So growing up, I used to hate seeing poor people on the streets. I hate it, especially those who look like us. I hated seeing the signs. I hated seeing families. I hated seeing kids without clothes. And I always wanted to protect them. I didn't know how.

You know, I didn't, but something spiritually inside of me from five years old was like, you're going to protect people. And there's many ways you can protect people. Many, many, many ways. So yeah, so at the age of five, man, it really came in, and that's before sports, to be honest with you.

Tony Tidbit (: 07:43

Right, right. Do you have any siblings at all, my friend? So when it comes to protection, and I love the story, you know, your mother, hey, you fall into the pool on the electric scooter and you're like, not on my watch. And you know, you've been that way ever since, but how is that relationship with your siblings, especially with you being the younger individual?

Kerry KingBrown (: 07:47

Oh yeah, I'm the baby of my family.

Kerry KingBrown (: 08:07

I'll tell you like this man, my relationship with my siblings, me being the baby, of course, when you're the baby, they'll treat you a certain way or whatnot. But one thing I've learned from my siblings, I've learned from all the mistakes. I've learned what not to do and I've learned, hey, do that and you go this direction. So me being the youngest in our relationship, it was kind of a strain. I'm not going to lie. Because you know...

We grew up in the 90s. They made their own decisions. And they used to say, oh, mommy shelters you. Actually not. She did because a parent knows which one of their children are gonna become very successful. That's a fact. So my mom, she saw something in me, but the good thing is I had self-motivation. So we have grown apart. Me and my youngest sister, we've grown very close.

Tony Tidbit (: 08:49

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 09:04

as I got into my adulthood, because we started to realize that we are very mature, we're very alike, we're hustlers, we're go-getters, we're providers. People may treat us wrong, you know? So I love my brothers and sisters, but it's like when God has you on the path, you can't really coincide with everybody. And it's gonna show, and they get jealous of you. You know, you've been through that, they get jealous of you, even though you're trying to do the right thing.

It's a spiritual thing. They think you're the hot stuff and it's not that way. So, I respect my brothers and sisters, but I'm on this path where I can't take them. I love them. They see this journey and I hope they respect it, but I'm a grown man. I'm gonna keep on pushing because I have a goal and I have a wife.

Tony Tidbit (: 09:49

No, buddy, I love that. And talk about how that path, because you said, hey, I'm a go-giver, I'm a high achiever. Tell us a little bit, what made you go into the military to be able to do the things that you wanted to do?

pause just stop and start because i hear that vibration is that your phone no worries we can just mute it we stop and start no big deal just start again yes i'll just re-ask you the question again all right one two three

Kerry KingBrown (: 10:07

Well.

Kerry KingBrown (: 10:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tony Tidbit (: 10:25

Okay, my friend. So, you know, listen, yeah, I love when you talked about the spiritual path and you spoke a little bit about being a high achiever and a go-giver. Tell us a little bit of how you ended up in the military, you know, and what were you doing then?

Kerry KingBrown (: 10:41

Well, that's a funny story. So I actually contracted with the military, right? So I went in with under the Navy SEALs and how that happened was I was already with Gavin De Becker. I was already in my private security academy. I wanted more. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to have more credentials because what I was realizing in the private sector world,

There's not a lot of people that look like me and you. There's not. We don't get the accolades. We don't get the achievements. And if we do, you gotta spend 30 or 40 years. And I didn't wanna do that. I wanted to be the best of the best. I wanted to be the example. I wanted to be the face of security. I still do. So again, I went after things that were challenging. I went after things that would put me over everybody else because I realized that in the hip hop world, you gotta be six, seven, six, three, six, four, and I'm not that.

Tony Tidbit (: 11:36

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 11:36

I realized in the other world, you've got to have a CPP certification, a WPS, a PSS, you know, all these different things. I'm like, okay, I'm good at what I do, but why do I need a piece of paper that's going to tell a client, hey, I can actually do this, where I can get a piece of paper and lie to the client. So again, it was certain things that were in my way that I had to accomplish. So again, when they see my resume and they see my name, they're impressed. But when they see my face...

It's like, wow, okay, we can match it up with your face. So I realized that, I realized that young in the industry, in the security industry, that if you look a certain way and your credentials don't match and you're really good, it doesn't matter. So we're in an industry where it's clickish. It's very clickish, you know, it's who you know. So again, that's why I had to put myself in a different boat. I couldn't be like everybody else. I didn't wanna be a Walmart security guard.

Tony Tidbit (: 12:21

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 12:31

I couldn't do that.

Tony Tidbit (: 12:32

So back up a little bit because what I'm hearing is when you went in the military, you had already started your path on security. Is that correct? So tell us a little bit, how did that part get started? How did you get started with that?

Kerry KingBrown (: 12:42

Mm-hmm. Yes, sir.

Oh, OK. Well, I've been doing security man since 14. Right. My first job was with the old mayor of Atlanta. They were having a reception and I was at the door. And people were looking at me like, man, you're a big kid. You know, at this time, I was 14 years old, I was probably like maybe 225 pounds, but I was always big. And that was called static security. I was a door guy with a freaking, you know, Magdala and

But for some apparent reason, I loved it. I love talking to people and they're like, man, you know, you're a good young man. You know what you're doing. And that day I realized people were watching me because after the shift, the guy gave me a $500 tip. He's like, you did your job. I like that. So I realized, okay, this is what I want to do other than football. I'm big, I'm strong, I'm athletic, I'm fast. I love people, I love talking. I have to give the gap. Well, why not?

So I evolved from 15 years old, 16 years old, 17 years old. So as I was playing football, I was finding gigs and doing it and doing it. When I got really serious, I was probably around, I'd say 19. At 19 years old, I was in college, University of Miami, but at 19 years old, it was either or. It was either or. So at 19, I started to get in my certifications, go to the gun range, learning how to shoot, putting myself around Marines, Army ranges, Deltas, SEALs.

because something about it intrigued me.

Tony Tidbit (: 14:14

Mm-hmm. And when you said it intrigued you, was there a sense of a belonging? Was there like a sense of innate sense of, this is my passion, this is what I was put on the planet to do? Talk a little bit about that.

Kerry KingBrown (: 14:16

It isn't true.

Kerry KingBrown (: 14:32

All right, so I'm gonna become very arrogant right now. The feeling was this, the feeling was, I'm better than everybody else, this is too easy. Even though I may not be, that's what I told myself. I'm like, no, I wanna be the greatest. I wanna be the face of this. So that feeling was so, so strong. When I say it was stronger than football, it was strong. Because...

Tony Tidbit (: 14:36

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 14:59

I can go to sleep and do security. That's how easy it is to me. No matter what I've done, every type of security, I've been overseas. So, and I always tell people like, man, I'm universal when it comes to this. I can do anything in every single thing. I'm a chameleon, I can adapt to it. So when to answer your questions, like, no, I didn't, yeah, I felt it, but I was like, it was like I was a God in this industry. And I've always felt that way. Again, and I may not be.

Tony Tidbit (: 15:06

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 15:28

I may not be, but that's what I tell myself. That's how I feel. Because this industry doesn't have a face. Like I told you, when you think of basketball, you think of Lebron, you think of Jordan, you think of everybody, you think of golf. Everything has a face, but security. I want to be the face of security. I want, when people think of security, I'm the first person they think about, because I wanna make it popular. I wanna make this like the shit. I want people to be like, when I grow up, I wanna be security.

Tony Tidbit (: 15:56

And so when you were saying, let's back up a little bit because I wanna make sure we're all on the same page when we say security, all right? So define what you're doing from a security standpoint. And then the second question I'm gonna ask you is you said that, hey, I thought this was easy. So in what part of that you thought was easy and it wasn't as big as you thought?

Kerry KingBrown (: 16:16

Oh, getting clients. You're gonna think that's easy. It is not easy. Again, I've been in every sector. Hip-hop clients. It's easy to get, but it's not easy to keep. Because they don't look at you as a valuable asset. They look at you as something that, okay, I can get another one of you tomorrow. When you're talking about some celebrities, some celebrities treat you the same exact way. You get paid more money, but they treat you like shit.

Tony Tidbit (: 16:39

commodity in a way.

Kerry KingBrown (: 16:46

You know, the best clients I've ever been around are either athletes or politicians. They're just in a different bracket.

Tony Tidbit (: 16:55

Got it. So when you talk security, you're talking personal security of individuals, right? Body guard, stuff like that. So that's basically what you're talking about from the security standpoint. So close protection. Go ahead.

Kerry KingBrown (: 17:03

Oh yeah, yeah. So that's close protection. Yeah, that's close protection. The best, yeah, the best security, one of the best security I've ever done was Director of Security. Obviously that's a little bit easier, but I love what's called Production Security. So Production Security is when I was with Netflix and Kevin Hart, you're pretty much over the venue. You run everything. When I'm on tour, I'm in charge of the whole entire tour. So you run everything. When I went overseas and we have 250 Xbox,

I was in charge of everybody. Now it's a headache now. Of course, you're going overseas. Is it laws and things you have to, you know, things you have to do? But when I'm over a certain amount of people, that's a lot easier, there's a lot less headaches, but it's a lot more stress. That's where you really know you're good in the security industry. When you're able to control and operate more than 10 people and yourself and communicate with the client.

Tony Tidbit (: 17:36

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 17:49

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 18:02

and do all the paperwork and oversee all the paperwork, that's when you know, okay, this is a gift or it's a talent. There's a big difference.

Tony Tidbit (: 18:10

And who was your first, you know, person that you did security for? Either one. Just tell me. Tell me what that experience was.

Kerry KingBrown (: 18:16

Celebrity or just first person?

Kerry KingBrown (: 18:21

Um, I've been around Mayor Kaseem Reed. Um, and it's different because, you know, when you're, when you're talking about political members, they, they're regular, they're just regular people, regular, daggler people. It's just a matter of, well, he was long time ago. We have a new mayor. Yeah. This was a long time ago. Um, uh, another person, um, like love and hip hop. I was around, um, Rashida. She's a rapper. Been around her.

Tony Tidbit (: 18:36

And this is the mayor of Atlanta? Okay, got it, got it, got it. Got it.

Tony Tidbit (: 18:49

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 18:51

But again, it really comes in the territory of who your client is. I'm a type of guard where I have a personality. I can't protect you if we can't talk. If we don't have a communication and you're so to the point where I have to be a standing board, I can't do that. Most of my clients, they love me. They love, they'll text me. And I'm talking about famous people, famous, famous people. They will text me and they're like, KB, what you up to? And I'm talking to them like...

They're my friend, you know?

Tony Tidbit (: 19:23

So speak to that a little bit, right? Because obviously the layman person, including myself, we're not hanging around politicians and celebrities and rappers and basketball stars and movie stars and stuff of that nature. Are they open to chatting or are some of them just standoffish? Talk a little bit about that.

Kerry KingBrown (: 19:44

Well, I mean, majority of them are standoffish because of their management team. So a lot of them are brands themselves, so they can't associate with certain things. So if you're able to get into the inner circle, they allow you in. But can you pull them out? No.

Tony Tidbit (: 20:02

Got it, got it, got it. So they're gonna stay within their burning and just go to that nature. And then in terms of the protection that you provide them. So let's use Kevin Hart, you spoke about Kevin Hart, the mayor. What typically are you looking for? Are you keeping people away? Talk a little bit about the procedures and processes.

Kerry KingBrown (: 20:05

No, yeah, yeah.

Kerry KingBrown (: 20:21

So when it comes to close protection, there's a lot of different things that you're going to look for. Obviously, you have to keep your principles safe. Obviously. Then there's some things called advancing logistics. And advancing means it's the same thing as doing a close protection. You're just getting to the whatever arena that they're supposed to get there. You're getting there first. You're checking out. You're making sure there's nothing in the rooms. You're making sure there's nobody in the rooms. You're looking for all the exits, the entrances points, safe rooms. So you're like a concierge butler.

with a gun, you know, if that makes sense or you got hands, you know, so you're pretty much like a high paid babysitter. Anybody would tell you that. You're just a high paid babysitter. Basically, you can bust ass.

Tony Tidbit (: 21:03

Got it, got it. But with a gun, with a gun, right? With a gun, okay? Making sure nothing happens, checking out the scene before they get there, you know, just, and you're in a, and tell me if I'm wrong here. And doing your job well is staying out of the way. Is that correct? So in other words, making sure being visible but being invisible, is that correct? Okay.

Kerry KingBrown (: 21:22

That is Chris.

Kerry KingBrown (: 21:27

So that's called covert. So yeah.

Tony Tidbit (: 21:31

Talk to us a little bit about cold.

Kerry KingBrown (: 21:32

So, I mean, you have some celebrities that want you close to them, that you have some celebrities who like covert. Like, I'll give you an example, like Deontay Wilder, right? The famous boxer. He's more covert. So he does not want you close to him because again, he can fight. He's gonna knock everybody out. He wants to feel safe, but he doesn't wanna feel like he's pressured or you're claustrophobic. He's not like that. A lot of females are a little bit different. Kim Kardashian.

Tony Tidbit (: 21:49

Right.

Kerry KingBrown (: 22:02

Jennifer Aniston, the ones who I've been around, Viola Davis, those are more close because they're females. You understand what I'm saying? So it's really depending on the client. But covert is, I'm going to give you some space, I'm going to walk with you. A person may not even know I'm with you, but if they come close to you, that's when you see that wolf come out. You know what I'm saying? So some clients like it, some clients even like overt, which is totally different.

Tony Tidbit (: 22:09

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 22:31

Excuse me, my friend, but you got me dying laughing. What is that? What, you gonna send the wolf? Oh, okay. Well, that's all you have to say. All right, is that what your clients, is that the communication between their management team and your team, they send in the wolf and everybody feels good? I love it, I love it. So, buddy, you've been doing security five years now.

Kerry KingBrown (: 22:40

Yeah. Exactly.

Yes, sir.

Kerry KingBrown (: 22:50

You damn right, brother.

Tony Tidbit (: 23:01

Okay, you enjoy it, you get a high off of it. And more importantly, you wanna be the best at it. Okay, you started out on a local level. Tell us real quickly, before we go to how you developed Black Wolf, how did you get your first client and then how did you move from maybe somebody, a friend or a local celebrity to getting to LeBron and Kevin Hart and all these guys?

Kerry KingBrown (: 23:29

So, it's just like, Social Security is just like any other entrepreneurial job. Let me put it that way. It's not like a W-2. When you're good at your craft and you keep going, you pray, you have faith, you're

but you show the works and you keep grinding, you keep getting your name out there, it will come eventually, it will come. When you put yourself around the right people, mentors in this industry, they're gonna look at you and be like, hi, young blood, I'm gonna give you a shot. And that's what really happened. I just kept going. I kept my mouth shut. Even though I saw some guys doing it the wrong way, I said, yeah, I'm not gonna do it that way. But again, it's about loyalty in this industry, even though there is no loyalty.

There's no loyalty in the security industry. None. It's very cutthroat. But that's how I did it. I kept the faith. And I just kept walking. And I kept trying. And eventually, I got to one client. I did great. I got another client. I did great. And I got a little bit better. Then I put some swag on it. I had to put my own swag on it. And then people knew me by KB. And then we started going into the Black Wolf execs and creating that brand and creating the name. And

people getting to know me a little bit more because of how I treat people.

Tony Tidbit (: 24:48

Mm-hmm. So when you talk about you put some swag on it, tell us a little bit more about what you mean by that, my brother.

Kerry KingBrown (: 25:00

So swag is really personality and attitude and how they allow me to dress. I would always wear a polo, tactical polo, but I always look good. So I remember one time I was with, what is his name? I was with Jay-Z's camp, right? And we went out to lunch and we went to Nobu, right? And they were looking at me and they just kept staring at me. And they were like, damn, they think you famous or something. I'm like.

I don't know what it is. A girl came up to me, she was like, what do you do, like, do you play football? I know you're a celebrity. I said, no, the hell I'm not, I do security. She's like, oh my, so it was the aura. It's how you carry yourself. And that was the most beautiful thing, because it's like when you carry yourself well, when you treat people well, it's like God puts an aura around you, so people will look at you and be like, man, you look like you do something. You know, it's something that you kind of create. It's kind of unexplainable.

Tony Tidbit (: 25:41

Pfft

Kerry KingBrown (: 25:58

You know, but yeah, so that's how I did it, man. I just, I wanted to do things different in the game. I wanted to treat people how I treat my children.

Tony Tidbit (: 26:07

I love it because what I'm hearing is attitude. Okay, is that if I'm gonna do this I'm gonna be the best at it and I'm gonna put my personality on it. I want to look the part where people

uh see that I belong right regardless if I'm the security guy here they see me as being you know on the same level as the people that I'm protecting um so that is awesome and so talk to us and I just love it because I believe that and we'll chat about this a little later but having a positive attitude and attacking and being who you are if that's how you move forward in life

Tony Tidbit (: 26:50

and bringing that energy, that attitude, and you built your own brand, which is awesome. So tell us, what made you start Black Wolf app?

Kerry KingBrown (: 27:04

So the Black Wolf app came about. I was doing, I was finishing a detail over in Nigeria and I came back to America and I was doing a detail for a young woman and her daughter that was caught in sex traffic. She was caught for about two and a half years, almost three years, and she had a child out of that. And I used to drive her back and forth to work. And my last day she said,

Kerry KingBrown (: 27:31

since you are, can you create some type of transportation? She goes, if I need you, she knows thousands of people's minutes, she goes, I want you to create some type of transportation for people like me and my daughter, we need help. I said, huh, okay. I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do. I don't have any money for no vehicles. I do, but I'm not gonna buy them. And my brain, when I went home, it was like God put something inside of me says, now think. And I said, okay.

Tony, when I tell you in 45 minutes, I created a PDF file of transportation for human trafficking victims. And an hour later, I found the company to make the app. And my wife, she was watching me. She said, how the hell you do that? I said, man, I don't know. But I sat there, she filmed me. She was filming me. And I was sitting on the computer just typing and typing and typing.

And she was like, it was like a ghost took over your body. I said, that's the Holy Spirit. That's what the hell that was. So again, that's how it started. That's how Black Wolf app came about. It didn't come about as a ride share. It has nothing to do with the ride share. It evolved into that. We have to use technology, but it evolved from human trafficking. How do I protect human trafficked victims?

Tony Tidbit (: 28:30

hahahaha

Tony Tidbit (: 28:40

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 28:49

Mm-hmm.

And to be fair, just because when people hear human trafficking, they're thinking sex trafficking, they're thinking from a negative standpoint. What you're saying is from a positive, protective standpoint, correct? Exactly. Okay, so you developed it 45 minutes, hour, found somebody an hour later to develop the app. And then, buddy, if I remember correctly, you started promoting it.

Tony Tidbit (: 29:22

happened after you started promoting it.

Kerry KingBrown (: 29:24

Well, first of all, I didn't just promote nothing. Let me tell you that right now. I didn't do a doggone thing. What happened was me and my buddy PK, I reached out to him and said, hey, man, I need help. He goes, I'm going to redo your website. Pay them to redo the website. And he fell in love with it. He goes, man, this is a great idea. He goes, let's put it to work. When I say me, he came up with a couple ideas. Now watch this, Tony. I went to my buddy who owns Dreams Exotics.

Tony Tidbit (: 29:28

Hahahaha

Kerry KingBrown (: 29:53

I went and got a Rolls Royce Cullinan, which is the Rolls Royce truck. Right. And I got it. And I said, we're going to do videos. We did one in a Maybach and we did one in a Rolls Royce. He's never posted to Maybach. To this day, I'm pissed, but it's okay. He said, there's a thing on Tik TOK. He goes, you need to create a Tik TOK. I said, dude, I'm not creating no Tik TOK. He goes, we can go viral. And we did one, Tony, we did one video, bro. We did one video.

Tony Tidbit (: 30:20

What was in the video though? What did the video showcase?

Kerry KingBrown (: 30:23

So the video showcased me walking around the Rolls Royce and he goes, hey, what do you do for a living? And I said, who, me? He was like, yeah, you. I said, oh, well, I own a thing called the Black Wolf app. He goes, well, what is that? I said, you know what Uber and Lyft is? He goes, yeah. Well, mine's the same thing as the ride share, but the difference is we have armed drivers. When I said that and we finished the video, he said, dude, we're gonna become famous. I said, dude, no we're not.

And he went home, he edited it. We at 11.58, we created a TikTok. 11.58 PM, six o'clock in the morning, he calls me. We went viral. Now I'm looking at my phone, what the hell are you talking about? So I hung up on him. He texts me, we had 3 million views. I was like, what the hell? Nine o'clock he called me, we had 13 million views. I said, yo, by two, three o'clock? That thing was over 30 million.

That same day, we got called by Atlanta First News, then Fox, CNN, C-SPAN, Newsmax, Fox and Friends, Fox Business, we got called from South Africa, Australia, Dubai, Qatar, the UK, Switzerland, then I was on every single news station in the country.

Tony Tidbit (: 31:32

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 31:53

This all happened with one video. And from that, it just kept going and kept going and kept going and kept going until I saw the meeting certain people. Shaquille O'Neal hit me up. I was like, Oh snap, this is Big Diesel. And when he called, he was like, he said, Hey little fella.

Tony Tidbit (: 32:01

Thank you.

Tony Tidbit (: 32:10

Thank you.

Kerry KingBrown (: 32:12

He goes, where you at? I said, where the letter? Well, that's good. I like this. I'm watching you. And he gave me some very encouraging words. He goes, just understand that you as a young black man, he goes, it's not gonna be easy. He goes, what you created is genius. But it's not gonna be easy. You're gonna have a lot of haters. He goes, so please be prepared. He goes, one day I will take a ride with you. He goes, but I wanna let you know I'm proud of you. He was the first celebrity to ever hit me up. The first, I'm just like, oh snap. Then we got hit up by like.

Tony Tidbit (: 32:25

Mm.

Tony Tidbit (: 32:37

That's awesome.

Kerry KingBrown (: 32:41

Dr. Dre, I'm just like, the Kardashians. I was like, what the? Pretty much everybody, like almost every, I know a lot of rappers, Rick Ross and T.I. and GZ, then the political members, Donald Trump, his son. And then we're talking about actors, Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, Viola Davis. So it's like Denzel, his son. I'm like, oh.

Tony Tidbit (: 32:50

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 33:02

So all these people reached out to you and they were like, this is all, and then they wanted to do what? Be a part of it or be a client or what? Okay.

Kerry KingBrown (: 33:10

They want to be a part of it, but they more so wanted to take a ride. They were like, this is genius. Listen, I had to sit down with the president of Amazon and the chairman of legendary studios. These are two big wigs. They said, Mr. King Brown, let me tell you something. You've created the most dominant ride share app. They said, but this is 23. They said, but you're pretty much ahead of your time. They said you created something that's needed.

And they said, also remember this, you created something that's just not a ride share. And I said, I know. And even me telling you now, a lot of people don't even know what all that I have inside of this ride share. It's not just a ride share, man. This is the foundation of security and protection. But again, I sat down with these big wigs and they said, we'd rather hire you than pay these companies in California $50,000 just for two guys, no vehicle. That's just for them to sit outside the house. I said, well.

Tony Tidbit (: 34:02

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 34:07

I can give you the same thing with an app in a vehicle. They said, huh? I said, yep. They said, how much money do you want? I said, what do you mean? They said, we'll hire you right now. I said, I'm not in California. I said, ma'am, I just went viral. Let me tell you, Tony, when we went viral, we had almost 3,000 ride requests in a week.

Tony Tidbit (: 34:29

So were you able to facilitate any of those? So this was just, people were excited about the idea. They were excited about the video. They thought this was great. You met with the presidents of Amazon and they said, hey buddy, you put something together, but it's a little ahead of its time, right? So people were reaching out, they were excited. Some people even wanted to hire you, but you wasn't ready yet to be able to take it to that level. Is that what we're hearing?

Kerry KingBrown (: 34:32

Man, no.

Kerry KingBrown (: 34:56

Yep, because this was a viral story. I didn't even have a car when it went viral. You know what I had to do, Tony? I went up to my dealership, Jim Ellis, here in Atlanta, and they gave me a car. And I was doing rides like that. I didn't even own a car. I didn't own an SUV. I was literally renting cars because of the attraction we wanted.

Tony Tidbit (: 34:59

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 35:22

So you started implementing it slowly but surely, little by little, right? So you used a viral success to start slowly implementing. Now, did you have, and you're saying, hey, I gotta rent cars and I gotta do this, but you're living your dream, you're building this up, is you have people that wanted to invest in the organization and the company and stuff of that nature.

Kerry KingBrown (: 35:25

Yeah.

Kerry KingBrown (: 35:42

I mean, we have thousands of people that say, hey, I wanna invest, I wanna invest. And at that time, we weren't even looking for investors because we were just so sprung up off of what had happened. If we were ready at that time, if we had vehicles, if we had other states open, we did our calculations, I would have had at least 10 million right now. Easy sitting on 10 million because we had, our first week we had $80,000.

Tony Tidbit (: 35:49

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 35:54

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 36:10

Wow. So people were ready. So again, here's something that takes off, right? In the blink of an eye, people like I want it. It's not ready yet. It's not fully baked, right? But if it was, to your point, it would have just, it still would be, matter of fact, you know, probably be on a waiting list because you already had a million other media companies reach out and interview you and stuff

Kerry KingBrown (: 36:35

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 36:40

chat with you okay so tell us what happened after that man because although your idea took off and you started slowly building your business you even though you have to rent cars but you started taking it to the next level what happened next

Kerry KingBrown (: 37:00

I started learning what a tech company really is, what it takes. And then I learned a valuable lesson when you create something new, you're going to step on people's toes.

you're gonna anger a lot of different people. Because again, the industry I'm in is very cutthroat and there are certain people who they say run it. And when somebody's small, when somebody who doesn't look like them, that's something that brings in the attention of the world or you're getting more attention than they ever have. They may make...

Tony Tidbit (: 37:33

And as I was going to say, is a little bit of what Shaq told you. So there's a little bit of stuff that he foretold you. Sorry to cut you off, but you made a point about that. He said, look, they're going to come after you. It's not going to be easy. So you started experiencing that. Is that correct?

Kerry KingBrown (: 37:48

So, you know, like I learned very quickly because again, when I was 18 years old, I told God, make me the greatest example. And I'm 33 now. And what I've been going through since last year, I'm like, so this is what it is? This is the burden, this is my cross? And it has to be because again, when it became very successful, of course, you know, somebody had to go and make a new story about me and.

They said false things about me and did a, you know, they even interviewed me, but they lied because when they interviewed me, they said, Oh no, this is just a recap. And when that red light went on, it was a whole different ball game, man. I mean, I was accused of operating in a legal security company. I was accused of endangering people. And at first I laughed at it, but then it started to, it started to hurt me. It started to hurt our rise, started to hurt our fan base because people were believing what they heard and what they saw. They actually did two new stories on me. It didn't work.

Tony Tidbit (: 38:43

Right.

Kerry KingBrown (: 38:46

it has hindered investors because again, when you Google it, it's like that's one of the first things you see. But if you have common sense, you know it's not true.

Tony Tidbit (: 38:56

So we have just a small clip of one of the interviews that you had. We're gonna play it real quick and I just wanna get your reaction to it.

Tony Tidbit (: 39:26

So that's just a small clip. So when that happened, you had all this success. And then I think this was the reporter that kind of...

sabotaged you if I remember correctly, right? Who reached out and was like a fan and all of a sudden he caught you by surprise and then started asking you questions. Speak a little, you spoke a little bit about it, but tell us a little bit about what happened after this was shown on television.

Kerry KingBrown (: 39:39

Mm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 39:58

Well, man, I got tons of emails. So after that, that's when a lot of people started showing the true colors. I've had people reach out to me, call me the N-word. I had people reach out to me, said that you're going to fail. People on LinkedIn who are in the security industry said, this is why Black men should not have security companies. My name has been circulated as something called the ASIS.

where they talk bad about me. They say, don't hire him. There's certain jobs that I applied like last year, just to bring in some more income. And they denied me because of what people have been saying. When we try to open up California, they rejected me because of this news article. They told me I would have to pay $100,000 in a down payment. So I have been rejected and kicked and stomped and talked about, lied about. And

Like I said, it's done a lot, you know, and I tell people like, this is not, and I prayed, I said, God, this is heavy. This is heavy, because what I wanna do is protect people. Now, I feel like I'm the one that needs protection. So how does that work? You know, so again, it has hindered a lot, but, and that was last year, you know, but I'm still here because the second clip that they did was I was with Donald Trump and I was with Marjorie Taylor. And I saw him down there. I saw the same news reporter.

Tony Tidbit (: 41:04

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 41:24

And I looked at him and I winked. And he looked at me, he was furious because everything he said wasn't working. And they were like, well, how could a man who doesn't have a license, and it's funny, I said, you need to do your research. You should see how many licenses I have. And I said, here's the thing, you cannot be with a sitting political Congress member or a former president without any license. Do you really think you're gonna get into the government and protect a sitting official without having a license? That doesn't make any sense.

Tony Tidbit (: 41:52

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 41:52

You know, I said, you actually need a clearance to even walk into a congressional meeting or congressional halls or congressional room. That's a fact. You can Google that. So, and I have pictures proving that that's what I was doing. So now that, you know, people are starting to see and do their due diligence, they're like, wait a minute, nah, I carry.

Tony Tidbit (: 41:59

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 42:13

Let me in.

Let's back up on that, buddy, because I want to, because you said a couple of things and I want it first and I'm backing all the way up, but I want to stick a pen here just for a second. So you were saying earlier when we first kicked off the podcast, you were like, hey, you don't see a lot of people that look like me in this industry. Okay, that's at least running this industry, right. It's a cutthroat industry. It's, there's no loyalty. It's every man for himself. Okay. And

Kerry KingBrown (: 42:42

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 42:44

All of a sudden, this young black guy who's very smart, has a lot of swag, built his brand, built his brand with his clients, and came up with a fantastic idea that took off, right? Where within a few hours, you were a well-known commodity.

and everybody was calling me, all right? And everybody had an idea and people actually wanted to work with you thinking that your company, your idea was up and running. And then, and here's the kicker, if I remember correctly, you had interviewed with a ton of media, CNN, the whole nine yards, everybody, right?

Kerry KingBrown (: 43:27

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 43:28

And then all of a sudden you had this situation. And the reason I want to stop here for a second, do you feel, because now all of a sudden this person that now has a face, a black person, black male that has a face.

to this new security, to this new idea that everybody's taking off, do you feel that this individual targeted you? And I'm gonna ask you with two reasons. I just wanna hear your thought process, okay? Do you feel that was an issue? You, number one, being an African American entrepreneur.

somebody is taking off, so we gotta, is this real with him? We gotta look into this. And then number two, the political figures that you work with, a Donald Trump, a Marjorie Taylor Greene, that are not more the likable individuals, okay? Do you feel that also had an issue in terms of the vitriol?

and the venom that people kind of came at you with.

Kerry KingBrown (: 44:40

I mean, yeah, it goes both ways because again, I've gotten emails saying that you're a black Republican, you shouldn't be da da, you're with the wicked witch, you're with Donald Trump, he's racist. So I've heard it all. You know, I tell people, you don't know what racism is until you go into Washington, D.C. You have no clue until you get around the riches of the riches of the people who control the world. It's not even called racism. You understand what I'm saying? So it's like, I know the insides and I know the outsides. Was this planned attack? Yes. Do I have the proof?

It's to the point again where you shook up the industry and you have nappy hair. We don't want that. That's not good for us because I've gotten so many phone calls telling me where they said, man, you took my idea. Yeah, that's, you had years and years and years to do it. It's not that hard. But they, you know, what God gives for you is for you, you know, so it's both. And it's funny. The guy who I was licensed under in the state of Georgia.

Tony Tidbit (: 45:28

Yeah, exactly.

Tony Tidbit (: 45:33

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 45:39

He turned on me because they paid him. Because he was doing something illegal and they reached out to him and said, hey man, if you don't switch, we're gonna take you under. And I have all that proof. Like I said, when I do my documentary and I reveal everything, they're gonna look so dumb. They're gonna be like, oh crap, he had to go through that. Yeah, but here's the thing though, so did Christ, man. Can you imagine God basically saying, nah, you gotta die. Why?

Tony Tidbit (: 45:49

Hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 46:06

It don't matter, you gotta die. So it's like, I'm not Christ, but it's the fact that we who are chosen, and when you're on something great, you, man, pretty much you gotta die. Let me just be one thousand with you.

Tony Tidbit (: 46:17

Hmm. Let me ask you this, buddy. One thing that's been consistent throughout this conversation that we're having and other conversations that I've had with you is your spirituality. Right. You're you believe in Christ. You you you're spirit man is very important to you. It keeps you uplifted. Talk a little bit more about that.

Kerry KingBrown (: 46:42

Well, I mean, I grew up Caribbean, you know, so when I used to go to church, they used to be dancing. I'm like, what the heck is this? You know what I'm saying? So I grew up that way because again, I truly believe those who grow up less fortunate, you have to draw to something to survive. And it's just like when we were slave, we used to sing. So they were like, well, how were you slave? How were you getting beaten and your children being sold, but you're still happy? What is all the singing about?

So that's a spiritual thing that we have in us naturally. You know, and I mean, not just us, but it's more dominant on us. So growing up, seeing how my mom struggled, how my father struggled, and you know, the old heads, they said, man, pick up that Bible, that thing is real. And I challenged myself. When I was 18, we were dirt poor. We were kicked out of our 14th house in the state of Georgia. And I said, God, I'm tired of losing.

Tony Tidbit (: 47:27

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 47:36

Mm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 47:39

all these homes and I read the whole book from front to back. Now did I understand the whole thing? No. But one thing I took out of the Bible was the scripture where it says though it may tarry and it shall come to pass. It says write it down on tablet though it may tarry it shall come to pass. And when I got older I realized what it meant. That's patience.

is when God gives you something, you write it down and you follow his commandments, you follow his deeds. It shall come to pass, but you just don't know when. And that's my biggest thing. I don't have patience. And let me tell you something, Tony. I remember one time I sat in the car and I cussed God out. I said, let me tell you something. Let me tell you what the hell's on my mind. But that's how I show. And as I got older, I'm a father now, and patience, patience. So everything takes time. Every single thing takes time. And there's nothing easy.

Because again, you have good and you have evil. You have day, you have night. And even where I'm at now, I learned that from my first client to my last client. And I'm learning that through the Black Wolf app. This is something that God gave me. Because if it wasn't for him, nobody would know my name. Millions of people know my name. And it's so funny, because I said, God, make me the greatest example. I said, I want people to know who I am. They know who I am. He never said everything was gonna be good. And you know what I'm saying? So it was like...

Tony Tidbit (: 48:49

Mm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 49:02

Sometimes we've got to be careful what we ask for because he will do it and we don't even realize it

Tony Tidbit (: 49:06

Buddy, you are a very positive brother, my brother, and I love you a lot, and I love what you bring into the table, and you're right, right? And with everything you're saying, you're right. And those things come, but like you said, when God has something for you, it's for you. So speaking of that, what's next for the Black Wolf app? What does the future look like?

Kerry KingBrown (: 49:29

So the future, man, and I'm just going to give you a quick peek of my POV. It's a billion dollar corporation. Everybody can see it and myself. We're right now trying to raise capital. That's where we're at now. And we are reaching out to develop our own team. We have a tech team. My wife is calling me because she's about to take off.

Stop. My bad, brother. So we're in a position right now where we're trying to develop our core team, which is the hardest thing. It's just me and my boy PK. We're running everything. We have another guy who helps us with our enrollment and whatnot. But that's where we're at. We're raising fund and we're looking for that all-star team to become the ultimate Black Wolf.

Tony Tidbit (: 49:59

No worries. Keep going, buddy. Let's get this over with.

Tony Tidbit (: 50:09

Mm-hmm.

Tony Tidbit (: 50:25

You came up with the idea. All you need is those couple of things that you're working on right now, that domino to fall, and the wolf will start wolfing again. So I'm really happy for you, buddy. And look, your story is inspirational, because at the end of the day, this is what life is about, is that there will be trials and tribulations.

there will be storms that we go through, right? Like we're never in the storm for a long period of time. We're either going through a storm or we're coming out of the storm. And I really feel my brother that you're definitely coming out of the storm. So real quick, tell us a little bit for the person that's the entrepreneur who's listening to this, they're inspired by what you put together. They wanna start something. What advice would you give them?

Kerry KingBrown (: 51:19

Let me tell you something, the best advice I would give to anybody that, it doesn't matter what you're trying to start, you gotta have a why to be successful. You have to have a why. And then the second thing is the how, right? You know how they say, don't worry about how. You have to worry about how, because God gives you every single thing. If you say, you know what God, I want to make a table, but I don't know how.

God will be like, well, I'll tell you what, go outside. You see all them damn trees? That's your table. We just have to come to a point and understand the things that are around us that we're supposed to use. So that why is gonna drive you. My why was the human trafficking. My why was how can I protect 336 million people at one time? That is my why. And the how is you figure out how I bring the right people in. Without people,

Tony Tidbit (: 52:00

Mm-hmm.

Kerry KingBrown (: 52:20

And that why you will never, ever, ever be successful. It's damn near impossible. It is impossible. Even Christ had disciples. So it's impossible without the right team, which God will give you, if you stay on the right path. That's the thing. A lot of us, we give up, we get weary, and then you're still going out there, but you're on the wrong path. You're on the wrong side of the damn street. You're gonna get hit. Now you gotta turn back around. You gotta wait six more. So again, know your why.

and know your how. Once you know those, stay on that same path. You're going to get tired. Tony, this is a tiring road. This is tiring and the amount of money I had to put in and put again. I know my why and I know I can see it. When I say I have dreams daily, Tony, man, I can see this house. I'm like, yes, sir. I can see my office, my cars, my family's happy. I'm able to travel. You see those things and God gives you the feeling.

And that feeling is what drives you, even though you may wake up and you don't have no money. You can't buy food, but you got, it's easier said than done. It's easier said than done. You know, like I told you, I feel like I was in the mud. You said, no, you're not in the mud. I'm like, I'm glad you said that because now you see where I was at. Even though I'm not, it's hard. It is hard. When God give you something this heavy, I feel like I got two crosses.

Tony Tidbit (: 53:46

Yeah, but here's the thing, though, buddy. God is with you, and he's still carrying the cross. And if you just keep doing what you're doing, my friend, with that type of attitude you got, and keep believing in him, he gave you the brain. He's gonna give you the solution. You already come up with a solution. Follow your advice in terms of the patience, and keep staying resilient. And buddy, the sun will shine on you again,

And we're going to have you come back on the show.

When the sun starts shining, it is already shining to be fair. Okay? But when you get this thing up, because you've got something that people want, right? Now, you got all you gotta do is make it happen, right? And you know now what to do to make it happen. Okay? So everything happens for a reason, right? And at the end of the day is how you see it and how you react to it and the difference between the people that make it and those that don't.

They just see it. The other ones react to it in a positive manner. They learn from it and they keep moving forward. So I'm really excited for you, my brother, because I'm sitting here, this energy, you got me all fired up, and all you're gonna do is keep moving forward. So final thoughts for the audience, my man.

Kerry KingBrown (: 55:14

I always remember the name Kerry King Brown, always remember the Black Wolf app.

We are coming to other cities right now. We're in Atlanta, we're in Florida right now. We're expanding to Texas, California, Vegas, Portland, Washington, New York, to DMV area, we're already going to be in certain places that actually would need the services. We're actually building another platform that's going to be even bigger than the Black Wolf app, but again, always remember to let the world know your name.

Tony Tidbit (: 55:43

You sound like my boy. What was my boy name in the, what was that flick, Detroit? What was that? I forget, Achilles. Yeah, Brad Pitt. It's like, they'll never know your name. All right, so I love it. I love it, but guess what? We do know his name and his name is Kerry King Brown, CEO founder of the Black Wolf app, okay? Which now I have a relationship with him, which I call him KB.

KB, thanks for coming on the Black Executive Perspective, my brother. We wish you nothing but massive success. We know that you're gonna have that success and we're gonna have you come back on when you're ready. Sounds great, my brother. All right, buddy, real happy. So now I think it's time for... Tony's tidbit. And look, my brother today, he epitomizes this tidbit that we're gonna talk about. The tidbit today is by Charles Swindoll.

Kerry KingBrown (: 56:23

Man, let's do it, brother. I'm happy.

Tony Tidbit (: 56:39

And the tip is, attitude is more important than facts. It's more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes. It will make or break a company, a church, or a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

So I'm convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And that's Charles Windall. And again, our guest, Kerry King Brown, epitomizes this tidbit up and down. So I hope you really enjoyed this episode of a Black Executive Prospective Podcast, Innovation and Inclusion,

with Kerry King Brown. Tune into our next episode wherever you get your podcasts. And you can follow a Black Executive Perspective on all our socials of LinkedIn, Twitter, X, YouTube, and Instagram at ablacexec. For our hosts, for our guests, Kerry King Brown, for the man behind the glass who makes all this happen, double A.

I am Tony Tidbit. I love you. We've talked about it. And we're out.