Invest Fest screenshot from Earn Your Leisure video, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr3yWy4hZ7MInvest Fest
The third annual Invest Fest wrapped up in Atlanta Aug. 27 with 20,000 in attendance and a star-studded lineup of entrepreneurs from hip-hop, sports, finance, and investing who shared their journeys to success, overcoming failures, and insights into how to earn your leisure.
The festival grew out of Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings’ podcast, “Earn Your Leisure,” which was launched in January 2019 after the founders saw a void. There were very few places where young Black people could go to get knowledge about the financial world, they said. Four years later, their podcast is recognized worldwide, peaked at No. 1 on Apple Podcast charts and consistently ranks in the top 20 business podcasts.
Entrepreneur, musician and music executive Sean “Diddy” Combs was the keynote speaker at the event, nicknamed the “Coachella of financial literacy” for its strategy of merging finance, music and culture.
A member of the billionaire’s club, Diddy spoke about the power of the Black dollar and the lack of money circulating in Black communities. One of the main issues in Black America is the lack of generational wealth, he said.
“That’s what energizes me,” Diddy said in an interview with Millings. “I don’t really look at it as far as I’m a billionaire. I’m more like, my people are not doing good.”
After 30 years in corporate America, Diddy said he realized “no one is coming to save us … we have a $1.8 trillion buying power and only 2 percent of that, we circulate in our own communities. We can’t complain. We know what it is. It’s time to change the tone. We have to unify our dollars or else nothing will change. We have to weaponize the almighty Black dollar to save us.”
At Invest Fest, Diddy wrote a $1 million check to the Earn Your Leisure Fund as a contribution towards financial literacy.
“We can’t have these festivals or conventions but then we leave here, and we don’t understand the power of our $1.8 trillion spending power,” he said. “Self-love is making sure that you take care of yourself, your family, and your people first.”
Robert F. Smith, the richest Black man in U.S. history with an $8 billion Forbes real time net worth, explored his journey in an interview with TV host and producer Steve Harvey. Smith was a guest on the Earn Your Leisure podcast in December 2022.
Jay Wayne “Jeezy” Jenkins was interviewed by Bilal and Millings on fulfilling his dream of transitioning from the streets to the boardroom. At the Invest Fest vendor marketplace, Jeezy held a book signing for his new book, “Adversity For Sale: Ya Gotta Believe.” In the book, he opens up about his journey through personal stories to motivate others to go out and get it. Jeezy performed his hit tracks at the Invest Fest finale.
Kamilah Moore, chairwoman of California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, was a panelist at Invest Fest and tweeted about “an amazing discussion on #Reparations.”
Moore said she shared the stage “with heavy hitters like @AttorneyCrump, @JamaalBowman, and moderator Arthur Andrews. A crucial conversation for progress!”
“People left the reparations panel energized and ready to get to work to finish the unfinished political and economic project of our ancestors, a great measure of the panel’s success,” Moore tweeted.
While Bilal and Millings are the faces of the Earn Your Leisure brand, Michael McDonald is a co-founder behind the scenes, handling visual content, operations, and technical details.
Since its inception, Invest Fest has grown from 4,000 attendees to 14,000 to 20,000, McDonald said in an interview at the event that was posted on Twitter. The most impactful thing of the 2023 event for him?
“My son’s here,” McDonald said. “I’m going to bring him on stage so he can see all these people. He’s 9 months old but it’s going to be psychologically in his mind of like, this is possible. I’m trying to start him early.”
