We were lucky to catch up with Kishawn Tyrell D. Gilliam recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kishawn Tyrell thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

I believe the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me is being patience with me & giving me a chance. I say that because folks don’t have to do that at all, just because we’d all like common respect an courtesy, does not mean it will be given to us. So i really believe folks that showed me that type of kindness are the realist folks i’ve known. From strangers to close friends, Even if we no longer speak, i love an appreciate that energy you gave me because it did help me in the long run. I hope to pay it forward, I give thanks.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Oi Oi, My name is Kishawn Tyrell D. Gilliam, I’m going to become one of the greatest this worlds ever seen. What will i be great in you ask? Anything i choose to do with all my might. I’ve dreamed of being the greatest explorer and scientist this worlds ever seen since i was 7 but now at 27 i see things a little more clear & there are a few other area’s i need to be great in before i can explore this giant earth & conquer all the magics of science we’ve yet to understand. So that’s who i am, but let me not get off track, what was the question again….? Ah yes, how did i get into business? We’ll sit back & get comfy dear reader, cause we gotta go back, way back before anybody even thought to add a Key to a Shawn.

The year is 1900 somethin on route 66, fire flying over the concrete as a young nappy afro’ed Wille Florence races his blazing red semi truck to his pick up location hoping to beat his own record timing. As he pull’s into the warehouse an get’s directed to which dock to back into, he see’s another semi pulling in beside him to the opposite bay. Both seasoned truckers jump out unaware of the ironic twist of fate happening before them both. As Willie walks into the warehouse to get his papers, he notices the much taller swole biceped well trimmed afro man in front of him gathering his signatures for drop offs before over hearing another man tell the tall trucker “Drive safe thru the Midwest Mr. Wright” Willie, always open for a conversation, chimed in expressively; “What part of the Midwest? I’m driving back that way tonight!” The tall trucker apparently named “Mr. Wright” turned to Willie responding with a voice deeper than Jame’s Earl Jones saying “Chicago, dropping off this last load then headed back to the family” to Willie’s surprise he exclaimed “Oh man i’ve had sum wild time’s in that city there, oh yeah Chicago! Yeah i’m head back that way to Ohio then on back to my sons, I’m Willie by the way” ending with a friendly hand extended to the tall man. “Franklin, Franklin Wright” said the tall man as he accepted Willie’s grasp with a firm hand of his own. Neither men knew the cosmic impact of that small moment as there hands came together in respect for another black man working hard to provide for their family, unaware that their families have already came together in way’s they could never imagine. Both trucker’s went there separate ways back on to the highways of life & time, for time to move forward as it always does, bringing them both together once again. This time meeting with familiar shock that the families they told each other about, happened to all reside in little ole Lansing Michigan, and their youngest children, Willie’s reckless son & Franklin’s athletic daughter, where standing in front of them embarrassingly revealing they were expecting a child of their own, at the young age of 15 years old.

And that’s how my story starts, my mom became pregnant with me at 15, my grandfathers was both truckers on the road that knew of each other, but never knew how connected they really was. As fate would have it, i would be born with a linage of black men who worked for themselves and never was afraid to get up & go get it by any means necessary. That mindset of being in business for yourself that my grandpa Willie has, was passed down to my father who tried his best to be an entrepreneur, he had many books on business lying around the house and i ended up finding the famous Rich Dad, Poor Dad book around 6th grade and reading that book over and over again just mystified by the concepts hidden within it’s pages. I watched my grandfather have his own mechanic shop fixing semi trucks an other vehicles, he also raced horses which was his claim to fame an with his race money he was able to buy 28 acres cash in hand. Between both of them, i learned to do for myself and i went out at a young age like most boys and pushed a lawn mower around my neighborhood cutting grass in the summer, then raking leaves in the fall, an finally shoveling snow in the winter. Thru that i built a consistent client base year round of folks that exclusively allowed me to tailor their yards. As a middle schooler. i was grossing $100 in a day, maybe $300-500 in a week, and my mom made me a bank account to put my money up. She taught me the importance of saving and spending wisely even a penny was worth saving & she made a game out of finding change to put inside me & my little brother’s piggy banks to see who could save money faster. So most of my money i invested at Barnes an Noble, reading everything i could, from fantasy, to fiction, business, to history, my eyes would absorb the words and send my spirit to other worlds where i lived many different lives, walking in many different shoes.

As i got older thru high school i started adding to the my hustle, i learned how to fix on cars & made a business out of that. I learned how to resell popular consumer products in a way i could see a decent profit by buying said popular products at a low price, and selling at a much higher rate to my class mates an peers thru the city and even some adults. My name got around as the kid who had what you need and i was selling all around my small town riding my bike dropping off products folks would ask me to find for them. I was able to create an income for myself in high school without going to work fast food or regular jobs for kids my age. As i added more skills to my ability list, i found different ways to make money. By the time i was in college, i still haven’t had a “normal” job and i didn’t really see the need for one until my goals got bigger and i needed more than cool headphones and a bike. That’s when my hustle went into overdrive and i actually got my 1st W2 job thru my cousin, my 1st job job was working at Trippers, a famous local restaurant where my big cousin Damien was the head chef in charge and he hooked me up working as a dishwasher. He was too real for that an i love him forever even though i got fired on sum stupid BS, i learned alot and learned how to cook for myself too as i worked my way up from a dishwasher to actually being on the line behind the grill. But while i was working at Trippers, i was using that money plus my side hustles to save my money and invest in other areas which lead me to having the money to buy my 1st macbook pro, my 1st camera, and my SS Chevy Impala all on my own.

Investing in my camera is what really opened the world up to me. I was already traveling around the American map as an independent contractor for concerts and festivals. Now that’s a whole nother story in itself but basically i started as a stage hand an worked my way up to a stage manager and capped off that career by going on tour with Beyonce during her “Who runs the world” tour and also doing 1 show date with Adele in the same year. It was great, but inconsistent, offering multi-media services tho? That became an everyday thing for me an i grew it to the point that it was taking me out of city every month doing weddings, events, parties, etc. I got my family an friends involved whenever i could take someone with me to a gig and became known as the guy who would always be on the road in my 2004 Impala SS with the bike racks! My photo’s were getting around by word of mouth really, i still haven’t made a website even though i should but my best marketing has just been recommendations. I got my 1st big published photo moment when my bro Jus Fly, who was a major local artist in Grand Rapids at the time, was approached by a bread grooming company to model for them, he had just went viral online and thru a big state wide festival in Grand Rapids that was sold out and was one of the most fun events i been too, sadly my hard drive with all that footage was broken smh but i’ll never forget that, but he hit me up and told me we gotta shoot asap for this company, i drove out to GR and we did the shoot and i didn’t realize how big these photos was going to be but they ended up in new york city in Time’s Square! That was the 1st time my photos was exposed in such a way i never thought so Shout out to you Fly, i appreciate those times forever learned alot with ya! My camera took my all over the map for a few years, and it landed me in Atlanta at Patchwerk Recording Studio’s where my latest chapter began.

This is becoming a long story and it’s still the start of this interview lol but it’s so much to my story, idk if i’ll ever be able to tell it all, but i’ll sum it up now that i really become a business as a kid even though i didn’t think of myself as that, i was doing so many things my peers werent without putting myself in the drug culture that most black youths feel they need to do to make fast money, i found another way to make fast money and i was still cool with those makin money with drugs, i never thought i was better than them, i actually was always trying to help them an teach them what i knew even telling them they could prolly sell drugs better if they did improved a few area’s of their own business! I just wanted to see everyone around me win and do better, that’s always been my driving force. So my business came together as K.T.D.G Enterprise when i was young and it’s all about helping people. K.T.D.G stands for “Kishawn Tashawn Doing Great” as this company is also my brother’s as well, he doesn’t know that but one day when I turn this into a trillion dollar industry, he’ll have a piece of it to give to his family too. After he learns to be responsible at least!

But yeah that’s how my story starts and even though it’s pretty long, this was also a very short version! I know i really didn’t talk about my business and the internal details of what i actually do but i have other articles that go into more details, i really felt i had to go into more of how i became me to even example what my business is because i’ve done a good amount of cool things. So i give thanks to my mom Tia for having the strength to have me at 15 and all the lessons she installed about business that she could. I learned good lessons from all my family and friends actually and all those lessons culminated into the me, the king born without a crown, who learned to build a kingdom from the wisdom all around. I’m blessed and grateful for everything honestly. It’s so many people who’ve helped me on this journey and even though i’ve lost alot of good friends cause of my own poor choices, i’m still happy i was able to meet such rare souls. I’ve learned to really have faith and believe in the Creator because I’ve had alot of dark times in my life, even thru this period of moving to Atlanta i was homeless for almost the 1st year i moved here sleeping in my Impala. There was a time when i didn’t know how much longer i’d have left on this earth but yet here i am and i’m happy to be alive. To quote the great Mac Miller, “I Love Life, Thank You”

Peace, & Stay Gold-

-KTDG

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A huge lesson i had to unlearn was etiquette. Now i’m not saying i come from the ruffest toughest grimiest hood in the world, but i was born in a dirty water ghetto little city where everyone know’s everyone. So i didn’t have the most formal upbringing but i was taught manners and southern hospitality since all my family ties to the south. So i believed my etiquette with folks has always been excellent despite my environment, but i didn’t have great business etiquette, and it pisses me off to admit it lol because i thought i was doing great talking to business folks until i meant Curtis Daniel the 3rd and he made me aware i really didn’t talk that talk like i thought, i was just a great hustler, but hustling can only take me so far in certain rooms. He told me at some point i would have to stop hustling an learn how to have business etiquette because i was dealing with millionaires and billionaires on a regular basis now and they don’t respond the same way like people in poverty or low middle class do that i was used to dealing with. I’ll never forget the day it finally hit me, i was at Patchwerk walking down the halls with all the legendary plaques telling Curt all about my plans to conquer this big event i was going to that an my idea’s of how ima network with the people there and he said laughed and told me that’s not how you do business. He said, “You got the drive, but you don’t have any etiquette Kishawn, your not in Lansing, stop acting like it and learn how to do business the right way, stop hustling people that’s not what we do here.” I was so shocked and stuck on what he just said, i was thinking to myself all mad like this guy don’t even know who i am, i was doing business making $1000 in a day before i even came here! But then i had to check myself and realize i was standing in HIS place of business that he created making way more money than i ever seen in my life every hour! So as much as i prided myself on making $1000 in a day from a wedding, i had only did that less than 5 times and some of those times when i look back i can admit i didn’t do good business with some of those clients on the most important day of their life. So I wasn’t the hot shot i thought i was and i had to unlearn my idea of what business was and re-learn to discover what business really is to discover who i was in business at that time to ask myself, what kind of entrepreneur do i actually want to be? A pro in the streets or a pro who leveled up out the streets to the big rooms most civilians will never get a chance to be in? Now i will say i already had core idea’s of how to do good business and that’s why i believe Curt took a risk hiring me at Patchwerk because i wasn’t trying to screw anybody over, i was a pretty honest business guy when i 1st walked thru them doors of the studio, i just had alot more to learn than i ever expected. Thanks Fritty.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

My advice for managing a team is communication. Communication will literally make or break your team. Without GREAT communication, your team wont be able to grow. With the team’s i’ve been on, i’ve always been very attentive to how the leader of the team actually leads because i don’t mind being a team player but i won’t just follow anybody. If you can’t actually lead in a way i agree with than i won’t follow just being honest because i’m not going to follow someone that’s going to get me fired or lose any money. I actually was able to get my 1st stage managing gig because the actually stage manager wasn’t doing his job good and wasn’t leading our crew good so the folks who was running the festival they noticed how the team was listening to me and the next day they came to me and said hey do you want this job running our B stage and i watched them literally fire the stage manager and give me his job! That was when i realized a big lesson that how you treat your team is really going to determine how far you will go in any business!

Now when it comes to leading a team and maintaining high morale, i would say from what i’ve learned, the best way to lead is to listen. Listen to you team and learn who they are, allow them to express and you’ll get their best. I’ll be honest, i dont believe i’m a good person to be put in a leadership position but i’ve found myself in that role many times and i never feel like i’m doing a great job at it so if i dont have to lead, i gladly wont, but if i have to, i wont take for granted the folks i’m working with. I dont look at leading a team like anyone is working under me, when i work with a team, i’m getting dirty with them even if i’m the lead. I wont ask you to do something i wont do. My role right now at Patchwerk is being the manager of the Multi-Media Department and i have a team that i manage an try to lead to great opportunities to everyone and its not easy but i have a dope team honestly. Shout out to Cymandye, Simone & Jwillz they all legit with they skillz.
On any team you have to deal with egos, personalities, and trauma’s that all influence someone’s actions and sometimes those actions can put the whole operation at risk and you can’t be nice. You gotta be able to make the hard calls even when it’s breaking your heart to do so because you can’t let 1 person stop the whole show, the show must go on because it’s so many other people that’s depending on your production, kids, grandparents, etc, so it’s not fair to them if 1 person ruins it all, so you as the manger has to take care of the problems hopefully before it becomes a bigger problem.

Overall, managing a team can be cool, just dont act like sum dick head bossin everyone around and you’ll be fine. When the team is working, you work with them too, that’s not the time to kick your feet up. Be humble & be considerate. Your energy sets the tone. So set it right & be great!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.patchwerk.com/index.php/multimedia-team
• Instagram: @FantasyImages
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kishawn-tyrell-d-gilliam-969433a5
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHa3xT5pAKSwgb5EbTodoiQ

Image Credits
Photos Taken by 88 Vinatage LLC