Butternomics the Business of Culture

Oct 8, 2026 · 51m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with Modupe Babalola, founder of Lófinda Luxury, and Xama Gonzalez-Suarez, Senior Business Consultant with Chase for Business, to unpack how a self-taught candle maker landed her products in West Elm, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, and the Waldorf Astoria Spa. Modupe began making coconut-soy candles after store-bought ones gave her headaches, then spent six months learning on YouTube before sharing it with anybody. She walked into West Elm in Buckhead with product in hand, left with six pop-ups booked, and turned to a complimentary program to help build a national marketing plan. Xama, who supported Modupe through Chase's Coaching for Impact program, breaks down what a bank looks for in your P&L, why thinking about your exit strategy can sharpen your business strategy, and why paying yourself, even just $5, matters. If you have a product and a dream list of retailers, this episode is a good place to begin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 4, 2026 · 48m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with Congresswoman Nikema Williams about why ownership is the new black and how Atlanta keeps proving it. She drove here at 20 in a 1991 Honda Accord knowing nobody, taught in Fulton County schools, and lived at Centennial Place with the spot Roosevelt cut the ribbon on the country’s first public housing project sitting right outside her front door. Twenty years later she represents that district in Congress and sits on the committee that shapes housing and banking for the whole country. She breaks down the HEIRS Act and the four years it took to pass a bill that helps families untangle land titles so they can finally sell, borrow against, and pass down what they already own. She also gets into the $3 billion she secured to reconnect neighborhoods the highways cut in half, what data centers owe the communities they move into and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 29, 2026 · 56m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings, the founders of Earn Your Leisure, about how they turned financial education into something the culture actually wanted. Before there was a podcast, there were two years of daily social content and a classroom full of students, and the show only got made because the audience kept asking for it. That same instinct built everything after it. Free networking events in city after city with no cover and no upsell. Event promo written like news headlines instead of flyers. An eye test Rashad trusts more than any dashboard. It is also why big companies with real budgets keep trying to build their own InvestFest and keep coming up short, because they jumped in at 70 and Rashad and Troy started at zero with 100 people in a room. They get into why Atlanta became home for InvestFest and stayed home, what they notice about people who move at billionaire scale, and the difference between leaving a blueprint and giving somebody permission.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 28, 2026 · 56m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with Connie S. Falls, founder of Connie S. Falls and the operational systems expert known as Systems Bae. With 19 years of experience building the back end of everything from federal agencies to mega churches to record labels, Connie breaks down why there is no scaling without systems, and why most people saying “scale” actually just mean growth. She and Brandon get into the difference between a business and a hobby that makes money, why “nobody can do it like me” is the pride that kills companies, and how you can’t build generational wealth without generational documentation. Connie also shares the moment her five-year-old daughter forced her to confront her own hustle, plus the simplest first step any overwhelmed entrepreneur can take today: start with a checklist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 21, 2026 · 59m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with Doug and Ryan Stewart, the brothers known as the 2 Live Stews. It started with an argument. Two brothers screaming about a preseason game in a living room full of people who couldn’t look away. That energy became a pitch nobody in radio had heard before: an all Black sports talk show in the Blackest city in the country.  They took the late night slot on 790 The Zone in Atlanta. Did it for free. Then called every frat brother, every cousin, every homeboy and told them to flood the phone lines so the bosses had no choice but to pay attention. It worked. The barbershop made it to AM radio, and the industry has been copying it ever since. They get into all of it. The Sports Illustrated feature. Bringing real athletes in the studio before every athlete had a podcast. Riding with Mike Vick on innocent until proven guilty when it cost them. Getting fired on a Friday. The ten years apart. And the comeback that never lost the audience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 14, 2026 · 47m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with Big Block, the East Side Chevy rider and founder of Block Entertainment, and Ralph Sorrentino, VP of Operations for the Jim Ellis Automotive Group, about what happens when the music business and the car business come together to build something Atlanta hasn’t seen before. Block breaks down his run from Tupac and Bad Boy to building his own label, and why ownership is the only real way to scale. Ralph pulls back the curtain on how the largest privately owned dealership group in Georgia actually makes money, and why every business needs fans, not customers. Together they get into treating every vehicle like an artist, the Teachers Keep Us Moving program giving back to local schools, and why your neighborhood car dealership does more for the community than you realize. Follow Big Block at @bigblockesc and find Ralph at any Jim Ellis dealership in Atlanta.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 9, 2026 · 44m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with Fred Blankenship, morning anchor of Channel 2 Action News This Morning on WSB-TV, the voice waking up Atlanta since 2007. Fred takes us from a 12-year-old kid in Harbor City, California who wanted to be the guy inside the TV, to the biggest decision of his career: when New York’s number one market offered him the job but told him to change his name, he said no and kept Blankenship. Brandon and Fred get into building a personal brand inside a legacy institution, why authenticity became the whole strategy, using energy and 90s hip hop to connect with a city at 4:30 in the morning, protecting your peace in a heavy business, and how Atlanta made him who he is.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 7, 2026 · 37m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with entrepreneur and financial educator William Cross about how to teach the next generation what most of us had to learn late. William, founder of Wealthi AI, grew up in Tampa without ever hearing about 529s, trusts, or estate planning, then built a company to close that exact gap for kids. He opens up about going from a long Word document to a book that sold over 5,000 copies, turning that book into a 10-hour curriculum, and building Wealthi AI into what he calls the Duolingo for financial literacy. He also gets honest about what it really costs to build an app, why $500 won’t get it done, and why vibe coding gets non-technical founders in trouble. If you want to put real money skills in a kid’s hands, this conversation is the blueprint.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 30, 2026 · 45m

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, talks with philanthropic leader Cicley Gay about how nonprofits actually work and why so many people get it wrong. Cicley, board chairwoman of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and founder of The Amplifiers, breaks down why a nonprofit is a $1.5 trillion industry that runs like a business, why no money doesn’t mean no money, and why a nonprofit is supposed to solve the problem and go away. She explains the difference between a nonprofit and a foundation, what funders are really looking for when they read your grant, and why only 2.9% of donations go to Black-led organizations. She also gets honest about leading with love, why she calls bankruptcy a financial tool, and what it takes to build a foundation that lasts. If you have an idea for a nonprofit or you want to understand where the money really goes, this conversation is the blueprint.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.