Unglossy: Decoding Brand in Culture

Troy White: World's Worst Bank Teller to Marketing Trailblazer

• Tom Frank, Mickey Factz, Jeffrey Sledge, Troy White • Season 4 • Episode 22

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What if your worst job became the catalyst for a legendary career in global marketing? Join us as we unravel the incredible journey of Troy White, who went from being dubbed the worst bank teller in Pennsylvania to a trailblazer in lifestyle marketing. Discover the secrets behind this HOWARD grad's astounding accomplishments, such as his pivotal role at SONY Music and his groundbreaking work in the music industry during the transformative 80s and 90s. With stories featuring music icons like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Sade, Troy paints a vivid picture of how culture and branding come together to create magic.

Our conversation with Troy takes an awe-inspiring turn as we navigate his entrepreneurial ventures. He shares candid insights into the birth of WYTEHOUSE Marketing and the strategic genius behind political campaigns for notable figures like Mayor Bloomberg and Barack Obama. Troy's innovative approach to marketing in diverse cultural landscapes, from Harlem to Nairobi, illuminates the transformative power of community engagement. Through his experiences, we explore how personal growth and adaptability can lead to monumental success in the ever-evolving world of marketing.

As Troy takes us from the bustling streets of New York to the energetic vibes of Nairobi, he imparts invaluable lessons on the importance of understanding cultural nuances. His passion for coaching and community involvement shines through, especially in his work with basketball programs for underprivileged youth. Troy's tales of international travel and cultural bridging are enriched by his humor and humility, offering a captivating narrative that celebrates the evolution of marketing and the boundless potential of virtual and augmented reality. Tune in for a laughter-filled, insightful episode that promises to inspire and entertain. Plus learn more about Troy’s upcoming Homecoming Kenya Trip 2025.

"Unglossy: Decoding Brand in Culture," is produced and distributed by Merrick Creative and hosted by Merrick Chief Creative Officer, Tom Frank, hip hop artist and founder of Pendulum Ink, Mickey Factz, and music industry veteran, Jeffrey Sledge. Tune in to hear this thought-provoking discussion on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you catch your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @UnglossyPod to join the conversation and support the show at https://unglossypod.buzzsprout.com/

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TOM:

This week on Unglassy.

JEFFREY:

And what was the first big contract you had?

TROY:

It was Dannon Yogurt.

TOM:

How did you get Dannon Yogurt, so you're out on your own for the first time, white House marketing. And how did you land Dan and Yogurt, the beautiful?

TROY:

thing about going to the Mecca is that when you go to the Mecca everyone gets dispersed after you graduate All these very important places. So you have connections, like the white boys do when they go to Harvard, yale or Princeton. You know so. I had a Howard friend was like yo, troy, we want more black people to eat yogurt. I was like yo, I could do that From the top.

TOM:

I'm Tom Frank. I could do that From the top. Yeah, I'm.

MICKEY:

Tom Frank, I'm Mickey Factz.

JEFFREY:

And I'm Jeffrey Sledge.

TOM:

Welcome to Unglossy decoding brand and culture. I'm Tom Frank, partner and chief creative officer at Merit Creative. This is Mickey Factz, hip-hop artist and founder and CEO of Pendulum Inc. And that is Jeffrey Sledge, a seasoned music industry veteran who has worked with some of the biggest artists in the business. We're here to explore the moments of vulnerability, pivotal decisions and creative sparks that fuel the relationship between brand and culture. Get ready for a thought-provoking journey into the heart and soul of branding the unscripted, unfiltered and truly unglossy truth. Hello, hello, fellas. Hey, it's been a minute since we've done a recording. We took a little vacation. We're back.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, we're back.

TOM:

We got some. We're heading here into the holidays. A lot of fun going on.

JEFFREY:

Happy holidays.

TOM:

Mickey Mickey's launching his new Pendulum Inc. It's Mickey.

JEFFREY:

He's lit, he's lit.

TOM:

We got lots going on here, but we had a very interesting guest on today. I had no idea where this was going to go Me neither but where it went was very good and very entertaining Very.

JEFFREY:

Yeah.

TOM:

We had Troy White, who you've known for a long time.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, for a long time.

TOM:

When did you guys first meet again?

MICKEY:

He did say we met in 90. That's 34 years.

TOM:

34 years, mickey was barely out of diapers at that point.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, mickey was like in PS whatever. I was eight years old, crazy, I was watching like Tiny Toons. He was watching Tiny Toons.

MICKEY:

Tiny Toons.

TOM:

Tiny Toons was lit tunes, tiny tunes, tiny tunes. I got, we got a lot of just from what I heard. I I dropped my notes down as we go. I got a million different titles for this, uh, for this episode. I'm gonna run a few by you guys okay we got episode title one young cat stuck in cleveland.

MICKEY:

That was one good one.

TOM:

Okay, all right, best marketers in the world come from the music industry. That's a long title. That's a long title. Maybe these are more.

JEFFREY:

I think this should be Wakanda forever. Well, that's a good one too.

MICKEY:

I like Ali, stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

JEFFREY:

Oh yeah.

MICKEY:

That was a crazy story. That's a wild story. B and you know we asked him about-. That's pretty good, that's pretty good. We asked him about Sade, and he just showed us a painting.

JEFFREY:

We just saw a painting. Yeah, he said she was mad cool.

TOM:

And I kind of liked his story about he's the worst bank teller in Pennsylvania, yeah.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, yeah, pennsylvania history.

TOM:

Yes, wow, it's a good one.

JEFFREY:

It's a real good one. It's a good one.

TOM:

This will probably come out right around the holidays, around Christmas. So Merry Christmas to everyone. Happy holidays.

MICKEY:

I'll gift to you. I'll gift to you.

TOM:

We're going to be back next year, big and better.

JEFFREY:

Blasting.

TOM:

Blasting, blasting. All right, with that, let's dive into a wild conversation with the one and only I believe I called him legendary Troy White. Troy White, unglossy is brought to you by Merrick Creative, looking to skyrocket your business's visibility and drive growth. At Merrick Creative, we solve your brand and marketing woes With big ideas, decades of experience and innovative solutions. We'll draw in your target audience and keep them hooked. Remember, creativity is key to success. Partner with Merit Creative and unlock your brand's potential. Learn more at meritcreativecom. And now back to the show.

TOM:

On this episode of Unglossy, we're joined by the legendary how do you like that? Legendary? Troy White, a Philadelphia native I love Philly Howard University graduate who's been shaping the world of lifestyle marketing for over 30 years. Troy's career is a masterclass in cultural impact, from leading marketing efforts for Sony Music and working with icons like Michael Jackson, sade, snoop Dogg, to founding White House Marketing, a Harlem-based agency whose client roster reads like a who's who of global brands, from Adidas to Obama. Troy's journey didn't stop there. In 2015, he took his expertise across the globe to Nairobi, where he's been driving innovation as the Senior Creative and Event director for Africa's largest experiential agency, exp. From sneakers to spirits, street teams to presidential campaigns. Troy's career has redefined what it means to connect brands with culture. Welcome the legendary Troy White.

TROY:

I need to carry you around.

TOM:

I'll just walk around with you and I'll introduce you when you walk in the rooms.

MICKEY:

That's what I do.

JEFFREY:

Don't gas him up like that, bro. Come on, chill out.

MICKEY:

That's kind of lit Jeff. Yeah, he cool, I don't know man.

TOM:

I mean I'm impressed already, like we could stop right now and I'd be impressed.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, he was cool. He moved from Harlem and became a sucker. Wow, he was cool. He moved from.

MICKEY:

Harlem and became a sucker. Wow, wait a minute.

TOM:

We got to start here, though. We're talking to you live from Nairobi, Kenya.

TROY:

Nairobi, Kenya. I've lived here in this beautiful country for 10 years. 10? Has it been 10 years, bro? Yeah?

TOM:

I mean. Jeffrey, if you listen to my intro. I said in 2015 yeah, dang there, bro.

TROY:

Um, it'll be 11 next july um, and I love it like love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. You ain't never come up in philly, went to school, dc, lived around the states, lived in in London for four years, been blessed to travel the world and I will take Nairobi, kenya, over any fricking city, any country in the world.

MICKEY:

Wow, that's saying a lot, that's a lot.

TOM:

Huh, I've only I've only been to Africa once and I ended up in prison.

TROY:

Well, Dale, what the freak was you do?

MICKEY:

You got to love how the world works. Right, what do you mean? You gotta love how the world works. Yeah, man.

TROY:

The black man moves to Africa he gets a penthouse apartment.

JEFFREY:

The white men go to Africa and get locked up. Yeah, I guess that's what it is.

TOM:

I like to start at the beginning Philadelphia. I'm a Pennsylvania boy as well. I'm from State College, pennsylvania State College right where Penn State is. What's it big? Penn State? I did not go to Penn State, I grew up there.

TROY:

Okay.

TOM:

And then I left. I went to Virginia Tech, but I'm a Penn State fan and I'm a Philly guy.

TROY:

Nice, nice, nice. I love Philly. Jeff will tell you, I was a lone Philadelphian in New York in 1988. And there was nobody in the industry around in New York that was from Philly other than, like Troy Shelton and Craig Davis, gal Musgrove.

TROY:

God bless you bro, all these guys did props to the old Hays Like I would literally literally always say Philly has the best DJs and rappers in 88. You know, we had the best teams and everything. We had the best, even if we sucked. I was always talking crap In a womb for the New Yorker, Like I was never one of those cats that moved to New York and was like yo, I'm a New Yorker and shit yo.

JEFFREY:

I mean once from.

TROY:

Philly, always from Philly. We just happened to live in New York.

MICKEY:

It's too much pride for a Philly guy to say he's from New York. I can respect that.

TOM:

Well, and Philly people, let's be honest, are a little bit nuts especially when it comes to their sports team. I can say this because my wife is from Philly Ah, and she is the craziest Philadelphia sports fan you'll ever meet.

TROY:

You all are crazy, bro. It must be. We could go 0-16 and I will still talk shit to a giant fan when we had Bobby Hoyne and Coy Detmer and Ty Detmer as our quarterbacks. I was still losing money because I would always bet.

JEFFREY:

Bobby Hoyne is crazy.

TOM:

I forgot about that.

TROY:

Bobby Hoying is crazy, that's you know. So when did you?

JEFFREY:

When did you graduate, howard?

TROY:

I graduated Howard in 88.

JEFFREY:

You graduated 88, okay, and you moved right to New York. I graduated.

TROY:

Mother's Day weekend In May. That Saturday and that Monday I was in New York. Don Eason had me, don Eason had me, lovey don uh. Don eason had me um working in new york literally two days after I graduated and you, you only worked at epic, right, you didn't work at other labels only epic in red air later. Yeah, with uh ruben, god bless you yeah, ruben, yeah, so how?

TOM:

did you get that? I mean, what made you dive into marketing? How did you get to Epic?

TROY:

Well, it really started when I was at Howard, the mecca of all universities in the entire galaxy. Chill In the entire galaxy.

TOM:

You know what that means.

TROY:

That means if there's a university on Mars. We're better than them. Ok, that's why I say the galaxy the galaxy.

MICKEY:

So, relax, relax.

TROY:

Love Chrissy Murray. You'll hear me drop a lot of names because there's no Troy White without people helping me get to every place I've ever been, without people helping me get to every place I've ever been. So I was in, I was working at WHBC that's how it's AM station. I was a music director and then became program director and had a radio show.

TROY:

And Chrissy Murray, also a Howard grad, was a year ahead of me and she was interning at CBS Records at the time and I used to always bug her like everyone did Yo, I want your internship when you graduate, I want it. But she literally came to me one Saturday and was like Troy, you used to tell me you always want my internship, do you still want it? I was like, yeah. She's like yes, I'm graduating, I'll get you in touch with my boss, jim Chiato, who is the branch manager for CBS Records in Beltsville, maryland, and literally went in for the interview, got it. It was like a five-minute interview and that said Howard, shit, like he was like Chrissy spoke very highly of you. Come on, man, just tell the story, bro, just tell the story, bro, tell me.

JEFFREY:

Tell the story, bro, let's tell the story.

TOM:

It was that, allison. Hey, but I will agree with you the Mecca. You just said Beltsville. I'm sitting right in Greenbelt right now. Ah, this is the Mecca, that's right.

TROY:

We are the Mecca.

TOM:

I'm starting to agree with everything you're saying with this dude on the show, bro Dude.

TROY:

She got me the internship, I interned, got the gig in my sophomore year and so I was at CBS Records for three years and then it was like maybe 300. They had the biggest college division in all of the record industry at the time, during the 80s. It was literally like 200 college reps and they hired that year. Out of all of us they hired three and I was one of the three and it was Don Eason who hired me and brought me into Epic. And my first job was secondary marketing manager for Epic, where I was in charge of influencing the billboard charts and, as you can tell, I got a gift to gad. So, uh, I was able to uh persuade billboard reporters to record our records very favorably so this was your actual job, that was my, my job.

TOM:

Just make them listen to us.

TROY:

And freaking call 500 billboard reporting stores a week and they didn't even know. I had to build the rapport over the phone and make them. And then of course I had help. It wasn't just my unbelievable personality, you know something. I had to use CBS records at the time. Course I had help. Wasn't just my unbelievable personality, you know something, actually cbs records at the time so we could take care of things for them. So they we ported our records very favorable yeah, you know, yeah, you had some.

JEFFREY:

You had some uh, some uh leverage yeah we've with my action and char day and baby face, yeah you Vandross. So on and so on. You got a little leverage you know I get it.

TROY:

They be like yo, troy. Nobody's buying Michael Jackson Albies anymore. Shit's been out for six months. All the black people have bought it up. I'm like yo, Yo, I need this to report a number one this week.

JEFFREY:

Exactly, exactly, it's Michael man. Stop playing, stop playing. So wait. So we met in, I think, like 90. We met in 90. Yep, yeah, we met in 90. Yeah, I was a wild pig you were somewhere else.

JEFFREY:

No, I was a wild pig, you were somewhere else. No, I was a wild pig, wild pigs, and you were at Epic. Those other promo guys at that time pretty much knew each other. We were all kind of doing the same thing, you know. So we kind of really crossed paths a lot and knew each other at conventions, yeah. So we met in like 90. I remember you were working with Mike.

TROY:

Burrell, yes, mike was my assistant director there for the rap division.

TROY:

So literally after I did the secondary marketing position for like a year and a half they moved me out to Cleveland to do um secondary marketing. I mean not secondary marketing but regional marketing for Epic Records for Ohio, michigan and upstate Pennsylvania and upstate New York to make sure that all the records got played at the. Not secondary marketing but regional marketing for Epic Records for Ohio, michigan and upstate Pennsylvania and upstate New York to make sure that all the records got played at the records radio stations and all the tours that went through there. I had to handle. Video shows weren't really big back then so videos weren't really my responsibility. But press was in that region and just persuading all the program directors to play all of our records All the records exactly, and I did that for a year, based out of Cleveland.

TROY:

And then in 90s Sony purchased CBS Records and they wanted to get into the rap game. Uh, don eason was like yo, we need to bring troy back from the midwest and have him run the rap division. Um, and I was like yes, get me out of cleveland. I love cleveland, no diss to anybody, but he, you know I was a young cat yeah, and it freaking snowed from like september to may you know yeah so um.

TROY:

They brought me back to new york to be the um um, the vice president of alternative music and rap, um so rap was jammed in with alternative music. It was progressive music and rap, not alternative Progressive Wow, progressive music, because I handled a lot of remixes and stuff like that for the R&B artists that we had and that was the first major to have a rap division.

MICKEY:

Really, you were the first. Yeah, we were the first. Who were the artists that you guys had up there?

TROY:

oh my gosh bro, I don't know why you asked me that shit, cause they were horrible. I was like I was expecting him to say like the my first, like three or four artists that we had, I didn't have anything to do with them. So you know there was some older cats picking the music, picking the artists in A&R older white cats.

TROY:

I just had to make sure that DJs played the shit and we got exposure and I did that very well until we got some good records, like Snoop's Deep Cover record, which is the first west coast record to ever get played on New York City rap radio stations with Red Alert, chill Out, all-city 2, all them Cacks, you know, um Clarkark, uh, god bless bro. Yeah, um, the first sneak sneak and what broke it, jeff, and I don't know if you remember this other than my expert promotions course, but public enemy performed at the apollo theater I was at the.

TROY:

I think I don't know if you gave me tickets, but I was at that show and they came out to the deep cover beat and people were. I don't remember that, but I believe it, and there was no social media back then, but that shit spread like wildfire. I was talking to DJs that week in LA and it was like yo and they heard about it.

TROY:

He came out on stage. There was no social media at all. It's just crazy. It was straight word of mouth, you know um, and that helped out tremendously. We're getting that record played in new york, philly boston, connecticut, you know um, where they were kind of like eh, west Coast, eh, you know, you couldn't deny that song, that song and then that opened up doors for Compton's Most Wanted and Above the Law and a bunch of other West Coast artists that that's like y'all did a deal with.

JEFFREY:

Ruthless. Yes, yeah, that's right. That's like y'all did a deal with Ruthless. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, we're above the law on all of them, that's right. Before we move on to the other thing I just want to tell give us one quick, if you can, one quick Michael story and one quick Sade story if you got him. I mean like meeting him and all that type of.

TROY:

Thing yes, this isn't even directed towards Mike, but we had a big dinner for him in that type of thing. Yes, this isn't even directed towards Mike, but we had a big dinner for him in DC with all the program directors. Muhammad Ali was there. Muhammad Ali actually was giving him the award Huge, freaking dinner. So my girlfriend at the time sitting there at the table you actually know her, jeff. You met her several times, I'm sure I didn't say nothing.

TROY:

So I get up to do some work from the table and then Stevie Wonder. I come back to the table like about 30 minutes later and she's like yovie wonder wants me to leave with him wow, stevie, trying to be a girl he's like, yeah, his bodyguard came over and was like stevie would like to, you know, take you out after, out, after you know. The event is over. The dude waited until I got up from the table to approach my girl.

JEFFREY:

Oh wow, Stevie wanted a scumbag on the low.

MICKEY:

So he can see.

JEFFREY:

So he can see.

MICKEY:

Slightly slightly.

JEFFREY:

That's funny.

TOM:

That's my, my like that's funny, that's funny, that's my, my, like that's your michael jackson story about tv any other?

TROY:

mike stories were just like regular shit, because he was a regular dude literally in person. I don't have anything fantastic to say other than he's like the michael jackson that you would see on television and videos and the shy guy and all that kind of stuff. In person, one-on-one or in a group where he knew everyone, he was just like a regular dude. It was like really regular cat like you would. Just he was not the number one artist in the world, he was just a regular and very cool.

MICKEY:

Your Michael Jackson story involves Muhammad Ali, stevie Wonder and Stevie Wonder's bodyguard and your girl and your girl.

JEFFREY:

Damn, they're sliding off with Stevie. That's crazy.

MICKEY:

Wow, let's talk to us about Sade. I'm sure we're going to hear about Whitney. Give us a quick Sade story.

TROY:

I literally had this thing up in my.

TOM:

We're getting a tour of the crib right now. Oh.

TROY:

Yeah, I have to have that up because to me she's the numero uno female artist of all time, like of all time, all time. Um, and I respect her immensely because she's cool as fuck, loves hip-hop. Um, her band, like they, love hip-hop. Um, even back then, like everybody in their band and her listened to hip-hop whenever they would come to the office. They would always come to my office to get all the rap records, all stuff. If there was a show in town or whatever, they would want to go. And if you listen to her music, the back beats are freaking smooth-ass hip-hop beats. Like if you listen to a lot of who was that? John, oh, fuck.

JEFFREY:

But it was a B-side joint that she did with the guitar.

TROY:

It was a B-side that she did. That was strictly all instrumental and that shit was all freaking. Just anyone could have rapped over that shit. Super Bean Total, that's the name of it. I can't believe my fans had picked that up. Super bean total super bean total yeah, it's an all instrumental joint to smooth and fly as shit.

JEFFREY:

But um so she's your all-time favorite.

TROY:

Yeah, she's my all-time fame and enjoyed working with her immensely. Very creative, always had a tight ass band, always had a tight ass crew around her. Um, just humble, um, no diva shit. Um, if we had to do a gang of radio stations in the morning, I didn't have to go banging on anybody's door or anything. They would meet me downstairs.

TROY:

Ready to go. That's interesting, you know who, the number one cat, though I'd have to say at being the most professional cat I've ever worked with on the music side, jabba Ranks. Really, moxie Priest and Jabba, we'd have him out. You know, because, doing all the nighttime shit, you do a concert, you're in a club.

JEFFREY:

The clubs.

TROY:

He's drinking flowing. I'm like Shabba, let's go back. He's like no, I'm having a good time. We would literally go from the club to do the 6 am, then a 7 am, then 8 am, then a 9 am, then 10, 11. And then at 3 in the afternoon, his ass wouldn't even be tired, he wouldn't be like oh true, I can't do anymore. We were up all night. He's like what else can we do? Like what?

JEFFREY:

can we do Wow?

TROY:

that's impressive. No sleep, that's why he's still around Like no sleep at all. He out of any artist, literally to me, was when it came to schedules, being on time and just being, never bitching and complaining about shit. Shabba, I would say, is new moon.

JEFFREY:

Wow, what year did you leave, epic I?

TROY:

guess why. Why did you leave Epic? What year did you leave Epic? And I guess why. Why did you leave Epic? I left, all right. So Don Easton was my first boss and then Hank Caldwell came in and he was my second boss and then Don went out to LA to do Quincy's label Quest, yeah, so Hank was there, quest. So Hank was there. And then Hank left In 95-96 To go to Death Row. That's right Let the deck work Because he needed some professionalism.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, he needed some structure, some structure.

TROY:

Stories he's told I can't even imagine, um. But when he left there were changes that they were doing there and I literally started to see the light in regards to seeing the radio stations being bought up by, like these huge conglomerates, huge, and then consultants started becoming really big in the late 90s. You know, um, where you had a cat that didn't even jeff you. You know if you would, if you only go see your cousins down south or whatever. When you're driving through every city, every state, you hear different types of music.

JEFFREY:

Changing the station. It's like oh, what were they playing? Were they playing in Virginia? Were they playing in North Carolina? I've never heard this song before and that shit changed.

TROY:

You know, and the consultants fucked all that shit up.

TROY:

You know because they didn't live in these cities. They're just doing their research and saying, okay, these 10 stations that I work for, even though they're 10 different demographics, different states, different cities, are all going to play these same freaking 30 records. You know, it took a lot of creativity out the game and I clearly saw that I was like, well shit, all these white companies are buying up all these radio stations, black radio stations, and then they're putting in white consultants to program those radio stations. They ain't going to need a brother to go into the radio station to deploy a relationship.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, because they just get the call from up high, Like this is the third records we're playing this week.

TROY:

I was like they ain't going to need my ass anymore. I was like and then, you know, the record labels started doing the same thing after the radio stations, you know, and all the small independent labels started getting bought out and all that kind of stuff and all these mergers, and I was like shit, they ain't gonna need none of us too.

JEFFREY:

Wow yeah.

TROY:

I literally moved, and I say this proudly in front of guys that have got advanced degrees in marketing and have read all the 50 books on marketing and all that kind of bullshit. The best marketers in the world come from music industry. Because we were taught to break rules. We were taught to think out the box. There were budgets made for bail. There were budgets made for bail. There were budgets made for fines. They didn't give a fuck about rules or regulations or anything, and if you came up with a corny ass idea or a gray area idea, people will shoot you down. So you will always be hard to come up with the wildest, craziest, freaking idea to gain attention to your particular artist or record, like the wilder.

TOM:

The wilder the better.

TROY:

Yeah. So I was like oh, I'm an out of the box cat, I'm a creative thinker. If I can market a record, I can freaking market a beverage. I can market a politician. Can freaking market a beverage, I can market a politician. I can market a car company, I can market anything. And literally using street team task tactics that you know, jeff, and I did, you know, with some neighbors and doing that shit from the early 90s with street teams, um, bringing that method to corporate brands was beautiful because nobody else was doing that shit on the corporate side and I love creating my own niche. Um, and that was, it was no competition, it was great, the money was amazing. Um, and I literally left the music business and then went into, uh, doing branding for, for, um, marketing for for brands, and we'll be right back.

MICKEY:

Master the art of lyricism with pendulum mink, the first school for rap. Learn elite techniques through immersive lessons, real world exercises and guidance from hip-hop icons. This is where MCs sharpen their skills and glow boldly on the mic. Ready to level up, visit PendulumInccom and start your journey today.

TOM:

And now back to the show.

JEFFREY:

And what was the first big win you had, and this way before you?

TOM:

jump to that. This was called then White House Marketing, right, and this was your company that you started in 1994-ish.

TROY:

I'll do White.

TOM:

House Marketing, because my last name's White and I rented out my house. Oh, there's that.

MICKEY:

That's simple, I like it Nice, I'm not mad at that.

JEFFREY:

No, and what was the first big contract you had? It was Dan and Yogurt.

TOM:

One of my boys, dan and Yogurt. How did you get Dan and Yogurt so you're out on your own for the first time? White House marketing. And how did you land Dan and Yogurt? The?

TROY:

beautiful thing about going to the Mecca is that when you go to the Mecca, everyone gets dispersed after you graduate All these very important places, so you have connections, like the white boys do when they go to Harvard, yale or Princeton, you know. So I had a Howard friend who was like yo, troy, we want more black people to eat yogurt. I was like yo, I could do that. I was like yo, come up with something. I was like he was like why not give you Harlem? I was like he was like why not give you Harlem? I was like I'll take you. I was like I'll make, I'll make yogurt hot in Harlem. And literally what I did street team method. Got some dope ass SUVs with I don't know if they were 20s back then, 20 inch rims and tires, shrink-wrapped vehicles with the yogurt on the outside. Got some beautiful brand ambassador women to go into the bodegas and sample the yogurt to people that were walking into the bodegas.

TOM:

There you go. I mean, it's the basics right there, but it works.

TROY:

Two-month campaign. They saw uptake and yogurt in Harlemlem was like yo, can you do this around the country? I was like, yeah, gave me 15 markets boom and there was mayor bloomberg um his first uh, when he ran for um mayor, and we ended up breaking a record for African Americans and Hispanics turning out to vote for Republican. And the wild shit is that I didn't want to dig because I'm a bleeding heart tree hugging liberal.

TOM:

Yeah.

TROY:

After meeting with him I was like yo, this cat's cool as shit, yeah right. And he literally told me he was like the only reason why I'm running as a Republican is because I would lose as a Democrat. So he ran and as soon as he got in because, remember, he was our mayor after Giuliani Black people, black politicians, black pastors didn't get a chance to meet with any of Giuliani's people during those eight years Bloomberg his first meeting met with every black leader, Hispanic leader, met with everybody. And I was like, OK, that was a good call on my point, on my on my side, um, but we ended up breaking a record for african-americans turning out to vote for um a republican in new york for mayor, uh, wow. And then we did his second campaign when he became an independent, and then we did his third and that's yeah he was there three times he went three times, but as an independent the last two times right, is that right?

TROY:

Yeah, wow. And then I got into politics because the money was unfreaking believable.

TOM:

I did politics for years and I used to call. I used to do a lot of direct mail and to me direct mail was crack. I could produce direct mail so fast and they would pay me so well for it. I would sit around for a week. They just direct mail come in, design it, put it back out, design it, put it back out, design it, put it back out. And campaigns were great because at the end of the day you either won or you lost, and so it. There was a high to it. Right, like you like, if you lost, it was depressing.

TROY:

I've only lost one campaign no, you did better than I did, and that was John Kerry's campaign. And the only reason why he lost is that his people didn't want to freaking listen. They knew every damn thing. That is the only campaign I've ever he lost to Bush, right, yes, yeah, but they didn't want to listen.

TROY:

They didn't want to do. Like campaign I've ever he lost the Bush right. Yes, yeah, yo. But they didn't want to listen, they didn't want to do. I did Claire McCaskill's campaign in Missouri. She was the first woman governor of Missouri and they listened. I took her to all the clubs and bars. Now this old white lady looked like somebody's grandmama.

TROY:

I had Claire at every barbecue, every club, strip clubs, like every place. Claire was little security. I was like when we go in these black spots, you can't be surrounded by a bunch of people, you can't be secret serviced out. You can't do that, no, no. And she was like okay. Her management was like okay, great, so they listened to Secret Service doubt? You can't do that, no, no.

TOM:

And she was like okay. Her management was like okay, great, so they listened to you yeah. She freaking warned how did you get that campaign?

TROY:

Well, actually this wasn't a Howard connection. This was Emmett Dennis Jeff. You know Emmett.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, emmett, put that together.

TROY:

Oh okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let me put that together with the Claire McCaskill, because I did the Bloomberg stuff and I'm not sure if Hillary was before or after Claire, but her senatorial runs in New York. I did those campaigns also. My biggest campaign was Obama, you know, when no one knew who the freak he was. Now wait a minute.

TOM:

Did you do Obama in Chicago when he ran for Senate or as president?

TROY:

I did Obama when he was running for Senate and I did marketing for him in New York, fundraising New York, philadelphia and DC.

TOM:

I worked on that same campaign when he ran for Senate, because I can remember they came up to me and said Barack Obama? And I was like, are you kidding me? There's no way a guy with the name Barack Obama is ever going to win anything. Green will win the rest of Illinois. Yeah yeah, I did a lot of direct mail for him in that first race. Yep, wow.

TROY:

Yeah, that's my world.

JEFFREY:

So then, when did you end up moving to London so well?

TROY:

that's skipping Kenya, because we came to Kenya.

JEFFREY:

Wait, you came to Nigeria, Didn't you go to Nigeria first?

TROY:

Hold on. So it was my ex-wife's job that brought us to Kenya.

JEFFREY:

Yeah. I remember that I remember that Because she had the whole Africa territory, correct?

TROY:

She was handling all of that for advertising and we were here for four years and then she got a promotion and we moved to London. But at that time I was working for Temple and I was like, okay, well, let me commute back and forth in between Nairobi and London every couple months, you know, and I did that for four years Living between London and Nairobi so you never lived in nigeria no, never lived at. The temple was based out of nigeria, out of oh, I knew there was a nigeria connection somewhere time.

TROY:

I've been to lake 20 times, okay, um well, yeah, they actually tried to give me nothing, nothing against my I don't know if I jump on my head but they were trying to get me to move to nigeria to run their entertainment division. And if I would have gone from nairo, if I would have gone from new york harlem to nigeria, to legos, I could have done that and I would have enjoyed it. But you can't go from new york to kenya, to Lagos, because the energy like New York energy and lasted in Lagos and would have been fine Because it's so city-fied. But come to Nairobi. I run at 75% here and I'm still running faster than everybody because the lifestyle, the people, the energy are different. East Africans are more smooth and more laid back than the West Side. It's almost something between New York and LA cats.

JEFFREY:

You know what I mean. Okay, okay, okay.

TROY:

You know the East Coast is more energy than the West Coast in the States.

TOM:

Yeah, so that's how it is in Africa, but opposite.

TROY:

But it's split. The West Coast has more energy than the East Coast.

TOM:

That's because they're on the Atlantic. It's the Atlantic Ocean water that's what it is. That's what it is. We just figured it out, folks.

TROY:

It's just more smooth and I prefer at my age to be running at 75% than 120. And older, every two seconds and thinking somebody's trying to get me and all that kind of shit. I'm too old and living here. I always say the quality of life is amazing, wow, amazing.

TOM:

Wow, I stayed away from Legos. Legos scared me a little bit. A white guy in Legos, not good. I was in Abuja, the whole time In Abuja and then around in different villages.

TROY:

Abuja's nice, it's nice.

MICKEY:

It's different, though. Then I got locked up abroad.

TOM:

I'm alright now, Don't worry folks Alright so you're back and forth, and then you. Then I got locked up abroad. I'm all right now, Don't worry folks, All right. So you're back and forth. And then you. So how do you, how do you end up hooking up with EXP? And that's where? Is that where you're at now?

TROY:

No, no, no. Exp was my first job when I came to Nairobi.

TOM:

Oh, okay, okay.

TROY:

Time was the largest marketing company in Africa. It offices 15 different countries throughout Africa and I was a creative marketing director. So I got in grabbed like their big clients. Safaricom is like their version of Verizon, and then EABL, which is East African breweries, so they handle all the liquor, so did all the marketing and stuff for them, and coming up with really cool creative marketing strategies. So I did that for like three years and it was beautiful because it got me into the culture, a combination of that. And then, jeff knows, I've always coached like kids and the first thing I did when I came, when I moved to Harlem, was to join the Harlem Jets and the Harlem Little League.

JEFFREY:

Harlem Jets, yeah, yeah yeah, Harlem. Jets.

TROY:

And you're in a different neighborhood or different community. It's the quickest way to get to learn the community and build relationships and know how to learn the community and how to move. And I realized that coaching opened up Harlem to me. To this very day, dude, I walk down the streets in Harlem Freaking after not living there in 10 freaking weeks. Every day I step on the streets in Harlem. I run into people. I know Coach, you know. So I was like yo, let me start coaching when I first get here.

TROY:

And that's a basketball program where we went into the slums and taught kids how to play basketball and once we got them, we got them scholarships into private schools in Kenya. We got them scholarships into private schools in Kenya. So we were taking kids that weren't even eating, sleeping on the floor, sleeping outside Private school, three meals a day, a bed, getting a good education and all a free ride. So literally over the past 10 years we've gotten over 350 kids, you know, out the slums and into private schools. We've got 20 kids into the states, um, in private schools, uh, and two college graduates. That's dope that's dope.

JEFFREY:

So, yeah, I mean you're right, the best way to infiltrate a community is through the kids and through the women, because you'll really you can learn how, how shit moves and where, and because you're gonna learn different neighborhoods or she lives over there.

TROY:

Yeah, that's definitely the way to do it many of my kenyan friends ain't never even been to or don't want to go to, because they're in the slums. You know, and I'm very comfortable there because of my background Growing up in Philly, yeah. Living in Harlem, yeah, never being really afraid to roll in To move wherever yeah. And you know, hood mentality works everywhere around the world.

JEFFREY:

Absolutely. I'm always comfortable when I go somewhere. You know Not to say I can't get got, but I'm always comfortable anywhere. But you know you got to pay attention, but I'm not like I ain't going over there, I'm like what are we talking about? Let's go. You know, whatever, detroit is a perfect combination of like a real bougie-ass nigga and a real hood dude. At the same time. He's both in one.

TOM:

The true unicorn, if you will.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's mad bougie. The first time I went to Martha's Vineyard I went with him. That's not bad. He's all of that Jack and Jill and all that bullshit, but then he's crazy ghetto at the same time.

MICKEY:

I love Martha's Vineyard. I don't know.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, martha's Vineyard. No, it's fine. We had a blast, except for your man waking us up early. But whatever, we had a blast though. You know what I'm saying. And your man stole my CD. I'll never forget that, bro. Your man stole my CD. What CD was it? It was a Howard Melvin and the Bluenose CD, but with the long versions of like the Love I Lost and the long versions, the remakes. And he stole your CD, his man James stole my CD bro.

JEFFREY:

Where is my CD? I had to go through Troy to get my CD back.

TOM:

Wow, you hold a long-time grudge right there.

JEFFREY:

No, because that was a rare CD, you couldn't find it and as man James also. We got up there, we drove, we left with Troy's crib we both lived in Harlem, he lived around, we were walking this is for me and we left him in his crib. It was like 2, 3 in the morning or something, to get our ferry and we drove up all night. So we got there, we got up there, we got the ferry. It was beautiful. We got to the crib I can't remember, but you know it was late, so we fell asleep. His man James is banging on our door at 7 am. Everybody get up. We're having breakfast. I was like my man. Are you crazy? Wow, crazy, fam, I'm on vacation. You can't tell me when I'm having breakfast and then he stole my CD, he stole your CD.

MICKEY:

I had to take it. I had to take it, it was necessary it was crazy.

TROY:

I'm Jeff.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, we've had a lot of amazing times together, man, you know what. I'm saying he was right in the corner for me so he would always have these parties. Yeah, he'd have these Super Bowl parties. Troy had a huge, beautiful brownstone on Hamilton Terrace. It was a famous block in Harlem that a lot of famous people lived. It's still real.

TOM:

It's gentrified now, but it's still real. It's a beautiful beautiful block.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, fat Friday lived right around the corner and you don't say, yeah, it was great, so we'd have these, he'd have these parties and cookouts and yeah, I mean I've seen his kids grow up. We had blast man when he moved, when he moved, I can't. I was a little sad, you know. I'm saying I was real sad because I was like damn my man moving, like the brownstone gone and like all that. We had a good time.

TROY:

It was a beautiful time it was, and I'll say this because I wanted to say this in the beginning, because I didn't get a chance to say this shit, but out of anybody that's my age that I met in the music industry over the last 40 years, f Sledge is the realest cat that I've ever met in the music business. My age Wow, he's true to the game. He's true to his birth. He was never a dude to fuck you over, never a dude to talk behind your back, never. Nah, if you needed help on some shit, jeff was there to talk and to help, even though we was competing. Yeah, we were competing, but still. But Jeff, we never had like he. I always say that Jeff is the realest cat I've ever met in the music business. My age Ever. Numu Uno and I had no problem. I appreciate that man.

TROY:

I appreciate that he's a giant fan, that he's an unbelievable dude, you know, uh. And then I want to give a shout out because we were talking about harlem. My ass would have never been in harlem unless len brunette who started landing.

TROY:

Uh, I was living on 43rd and 11th in a big, beautiful yep in that, in that apartment, yep on the 24th floor view of the empire state building in the world trade center, in the river and shit. One day he was like you need to buy a house in harlem, this is four. And I was like brother, you crazy. I'm living in this dope apartment. Women love it. Like I don't have to do shit, I don't have to fix shit, I don't have to do anything. My car is right below. I call Car is waiting for me.

TROY:

As soon as I come downstairs I walk in the lobby with my girl. The dude's like Mr White, welcome home, home. I was like I ain't leaving this shit. And he said, troy, you're making some us rich. I felt so dumb when he said that shit I was like, wow, okay, I am wasting my money and shit. Good point. He's like give me two hours in har Harlem this weekend and I promise you you'll buy a house in Harlem. And this was actually September 94 and I ended up buying a house in Harlem. Three months later, in November of 94, bought my house and when Harlem Best investment you ever made, like it wasn't sexy at all, like it wasn't Bill Clinton hadn't come up there.

JEFFREY:

No, none of that. It was still raw. It was still raw, I mean, when I moved to Harlem. That's when I moved in 92, so it was a couple years before Troy. But like that's when Brooklyn was popping Because they had, you know, a member living single and the Cosby show were based in Brooklyn. So Brooklyn was popping. I remember Living Single and the Cosby Show were based in Brooklyn, so Brooklyn was the hot shit. When I saw people I was moving to Harlem, they were like why are you moving to Harlem and not to Brooklyn? I was like I don't want to, because I had my son at the time. He was young. I was like I want to be able to get to my son. It's a much closer drive from Harlem to White Plains than from Brooklyn to White Plains. I said I'm going to do Harlem. But like Troy said, harlem back then was it was still super raw. It was still like drugs, crime you know all that.

TROY:

It was bad, but the energy was there, jeff, and that's what. It wasn't even the house that sold me, it was the energy, like when lenny and I was walking down the streets and shit, people were talking hey, what's happening, brother, old ladies, hi, baby, how you doing when we got little. You know restaurants we want to go eat in. You know, hey, mr lenny, how you doing cats talking to. I was like yo, I live on 43rd and 11th and only know two people in my building. You know like, and you walk around the streets in harlem and people were speaking and I'm that type of cat, I'm a hugger, shake your hands.

JEFFREY:

I got up to everybody and walking down the streets in harlem, man, that's what sold me the energy up in that joint yep, and because harlem is harlem is a real neighborhood, like when you live there, you're gonna know people, you're gonna know your neighbors. You, when you live there, you're going to know people. You're going to know your neighbors, you're going to know the super, you're going to know the man who stands on the corner every morning in front of Dunkin' Donuts. You're just going to know them, people, and you're going to speak to them. They're going to speak to you and you become connected to it. It becomes part of your DNA.

TROY:

And they're know. Look out for your kids, look out for your. I never in the. I was maybe 15, 15, 20 years. Never had a problem, not one in Harlem, never, not one Because of the love. As a friend. I always say I don't like New York, but I love Harlem.

JEFFREY:

I'm a leader in New York, shit. Oh boy, oh boy, we ain't got a lot of time.

TOM:

We are running out of time. I got four things. I got to ask this guy, I got to bring it back around. Number one marketing today. Has it changed since you started when you were originally decorating those SUVs with Danon stickers?

TROY:

It's changed dude Social media. But the word of mouth, like we were responsible, like Jeff and I, for getting people to talk about our shit. Word of mouth Same shit as social media. Getting people to repost your stuff, to talk about your event, talk about your brand on their social media profile.

TOM:

It's the same, all right, same thing. Different medium, different medium.

TROY:

Medium and, but it does the same thing. Yeah, and things spread faster. Now you can put some shit up in a day today.

TOM:

Just in one day, you can One tweet and you can hit everywhere in the world. It doesn't limit yourself anymore. So what advice? What advice do you give to a young cat coming out right now who is in your shoes from 40 years ago? What advice do you give to a young cat coming out right now who is in your shoes from 40 years ago? What advice do you give them to get into the game?

TROY:

not necessarily just getting in the game. I was literally just telling somebody the other day a young cat working your blessings, I'm a firm, I'm a, I'm a religious cat, so I believe in in Jesus, god. I'm riding on that team, so I believe that God. I don't care if you're I guess the proper word now is little people or if you're homeless or if you're slow I don't know what the appropriate word for that is these days but it's all these appropriate Special needs, not special needs. There we go. I don't care what your issues are. God has blessed every person that has ever been born with something special about that. You're better than every freaking body that you know at. You can do the eyes closed. Yeah, I believe that 50 other people it would take them hours or days to do this shit and you can do this shit with your eyes closed. I believe that everyone is blessed. You just gotta find what.

TROY:

And I was lucky because I was never the smartest cat in the world, but I've always had a great personality. So I knew I couldn't be a banker. I knew I couldn't go to law school If I'd be a dope lawyer. If I didn't have to go to law school, I knew I'd be a doctor. You know I had to work within my blessings.

TROY:

I'm extremely freaking creative. I do come up with creative strategies sitting on the toilet or in the shower, you know, or partying or doing other things like some of my best creative strategies, just like a writer or producer, when, when beats come to them in their heads, it's the same thing Like ideas would just hit me out of the fricking blue. It's a blessing that I have and I can do it with my eyes closed and I can do it for 72 hours straight and think about it for 72 hours straight and think about it. Um, and I and I'm a people person, so I've always used my relationship abilities or my creativity and worked in that and anytime I've worked out of those blessings I've failed. Quick story advice one summer, sophomore year, I was an intern for PSF that says Pennsylvania Savings Bank. I was a bank teller. They hired 100 of us. They invited 99 of us back. I was the one person out of 100 that they wouldn't invite. That's funny.

TOM:

Bank teller in the history of pennsylvania. That is a good one right there but I was working outside my blessing you're outside your blessing horrible so what? What is next for troy? What are you up to right now? What's next?

TROY:

I mentioned to you earlier that I'm always trying to create my own lanes. So the past couple years I've been working with this virtual reality and augmented reality company that's based out of London, creating events and opportunities for museums and safaris and brands and artists and all that kind of stuff to be able to have virtual experiences when people can just sit at home. Just think about it During the regular day, a museum is closed, closes at seven o'clock, but that same museum can still make money at 10, 11, 12, 1 am 3 am with a virtual reality tour open during safari time. They had morning drives and they have evening drives. But say, if that company had 30 people that day, they could have a thousand. Do virtual.

TROY:

Yeah, you know that's where we're headed, so I'm I always try to stay like just ahead of the game. Um, so I'm doing a lot of virtual and augmented reality stuff and still doing my marketing, coming up with creative marketing strategies for brands. I have a holiday party coming up on the 20th and then a New Year's Eve party that I'm doing here. I've literally been doing parties since I was in high school. That's just one of my gifts. I love having parties.

JEFFREY:

Yeah.

TOM:

Man, that's some amazing stuff. I didn't know where we were going to go with all this stuff, but I think we came somewhere that I found fascinating. Thank you, can I say?

TROY:

one quick thing you absolutely can. I'm always jumping around and shit Right now, thank you. Can I say one quick thing? You absolutely can, always jumping around and shit Right now? A partner of mine and I, herb Long, who also went to Howard with me, who's visited Kenya three times, three or four times, and now this is like his favorite country. He and I put together last year a trip strictly for Howard grad grads. It was called bison in kenya, and we had 10 people come, uh, last march, and it went so well.

TROY:

We want to do it again this year and hopefully we'll have around the first 30 people who sign up. That's what we're going to do, um, but it's a dope trip and it's not just for howard people, it's for everyone now. So, um, and it's a beautiful trip. It's 10 days. You come, we spend a couple days in nairobi, in the city. You go out to the nice restaurants, clubs, bars, get the nightlife experience, and then from there we go to the masai mara, which is the best safari in the world, and we do that for three days, and then from there we go to the coast, to some of the best beaches in the world, to a place called Watamu, and we'll also spend a little time in Malindi, which is another really dope, sexy, unbelievable coastal place, which is another really dope, sexy, unbelievable coastal place, where we'll spend like four days in between those two spots and then come back to Nairobi, have meetings for people who are interested in starting businesses here, investing in property and things of that nature.

TROY:

So we're trying to make this fun but also a business trip and then every year just grow it, go from 10 to 30, 30 to 50, 50 to 100, you know, and grow it that way. But it's really really, really dope, like we had an unbelievable time go. Maybe you can put our, um, our website, but it's a wwwbisoninkenyacom and they can go on to the website. They can see videos and pictures and people's testimonials from um, our previous trip and, uh, look at the venues where we'll be going, where we'll be staying. They're all five star spots and this is a dope trip. This is a dope, dope, dope trip and Kenya is a great country.

TROY:

So, and everyone that I know that's ever come here, like over the past 10 years, I'd say I've convinced maybe 300 to 400 people to come in 10 years and not one freaking time have I had someone say it was all right, troy, thanks for telling me to come. It was cool. Everyone has said, oh my gosh, this is the best place I've ever been in my life the people, the weather, the opportunities, the vibe, the energy, the restaurants, the clubs, the bars they're just like whoa. And the quality of life. That's the number one thing that I love about this place is the quality of life, and people get a chance to see, experience the quality of life and the vibe and the energy and the food and everything of the people here, and it's addictive and it's really freaking. A lot of people would be giving that sunshine call.

JEFFREY:

I like it.

TOM:

I like it. Jeffrey, are you going to go? I could see you in Kenya.

JEFFREY:

I mean, Troy's been trying to get me over there for a couple years now, so I'm definitely going to.

TOM:

I don't know why you're going there, maybe a live podcast on the safari.

JEFFREY:

Come on, yeah, or on the beach, on the beach.

TROY:

Crabs and lions and elephants and stuff behind you Like come on bro.

JEFFREY:

That would be kind of fun.

TROY:

Yeah, bro.

TOM:

That would be kind of fire. Yeah, yeah, we'll talk about this. We'll talk about this. New year, new trips, yeah.

JEFFREY:

Yeah, new year, new trips, yeah Home to the motherland.

TROY:

Home to the motherland Sounds good to me.

TOM:

Carrying the flag for Kenya right here.

MICKEY:

Look at your guy. He look like he from Kenya. He look like a from Kenya.

JEFFREY:

He look like a Wakandan. Your man ain't got no sleeves on he look like a Wakandan chief man.

TOM:

He kind of does. Yeah, kind of does. All right, hey, troy, thank you. Yes, sir, Thank you so much for all the advice, for all the knowledge, for carrying the flag for Kenya. We should have you in the Olympics in four years. All right, folks, that's our show. Tune in to Unglossy, the coding brand and culture on Apple Podcasts, spotify or YouTube, and follow us on Instagram, at unglossypod, to join the conversation. Until next time, I'm Tom Frank.

JEFFREY:

I'm Jeffrey Sledge.

MICKEY:

Smicky.

TOM:

That was good.

People on this episode

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Jeffrey Sledge

Host
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Mickey Factz

Host
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Tom Frank

Host
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Troy White

Guest