(bright electronic music) (lively electronic music) - Hello everyone, I'm Rameca Vincent Leary, and welcome to this edition of "Connecting the Community."

There are self-starters who embrace challenges, men who are willing to roll up their sleeves and persevere regardless of obstacles that may come their way.

During the broadcast, we'll highlight various men making headlines from organizations such as the Watson Firm PLLC, Cognitive Big Data Systems, and much more.

But first, we'll focus our attention on radio and print journalism exploring a man whose expanse is far-reaching.

I'm happy to welcome a legend, the one and only Rick Outzen.

He's publisher and owner of Inweekly, and also hosts "Real News with Rick Outzen" on WCOA News Talk 104.9 FM and 1370 AM.

Over the years, he's impacted countless lives for the better, and now he's joined by several people who will share their personal experiences.

It's a pleasure to welcome Shandra Smiley, CEO of Community Health Northwest Florida.

Next we have Eric Stevenson, an attorney with Stevenson Klotz Injury Lawyers.

To round out the segment, we have Daniela Gonzalez Quezada, Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Pensacola State College.

Welcome to all of you.

- It's good to be here.

- Yeah, thanks for having us.

- All right, Rick, I have to pinch myself.

Rick Outzen is in the house.

We're going to take the viewers all the way back to your humble beginnings in the Mississippi Delta.

Why don't you talk about that?

- Well you grow up in Mississippi, if the story I like to tell is in the delta is, you know, imagine if you, it's so flat, if you stand up and really squint, you'll see the back of your head.

It's so flat.

So, but growing up there, I grew up in the Civil Rights era, grew up where dealing with injustice, where a newspaper, the daily "The Delta Democrat Times" wrote editorials every day, and people debated and argued over that, and papers meant something, and words meant something.

And that has always stayed with me.

- Now I understand you had actually an office at Ole Miss, Student Body President.

You must have been a very popular guy.

- Oh, you're humble.

I understand that.

- But talk about- - It was going to Ole Miss was for me, was life changing.

To go from a little bitty town and go to a university and realize that you know your brains meant something, and that you could, you could, the academic environment was very challenging.

And also to go to a place where just a less than a little bit over a decade is where James Meredith was the first Black man or first Black student at Ole Miss.

And to walk into that heritage and understand those struggles and to try to see Ole Miss try to change Ole Miss.

And then to go back in 2008 and see President Barack Obama and John McCain do the first presidential debate, Oh, my campus.

And to cover that amazing was life changing.

- So from Ole Miss to Pensacola, Florida, there has to be a backstory regarding that.

- Is where my family vacationed.

We were from the Mississippi Delta.

We would go down to Biloxi.

My dad was in the insurance industry, and then they would pick out a cinder block house on Pensacola Beach from 1962 all in through, up until the eighties when my dad passed away, This is where we vacationed.

So we fell in love with Pensacola Beach in Pensacola.

We thought it was such a big city.

And so all the fancy restaurants we here.

And so this is, we kind of got to the sand got into our shoes and this is where we wanted.

- To live.

Never went away much more with you in just a moment.

Now, Attorney Stevenson, as I mentioned in the introduction, what an amazing man Rick Elson is.

When did you first meet him?

- Boy, it was.

In the Ron Mc NSBE term when he was sheriff of Acaia County.

And I was representing a client who was opposite of, found it herself at the opposite end of Ron MC, NSBE's Ire and Wrath.

And she introduced me to Rick and she was working with Rick some on some, some issues that we were having with the Sheriff's office at the time.

And so that's where, that's where a lot of it began.

We have a, had a lot in common and have maintained a friendship since then.

- Now, what was your first impression when you actually met him face to face?

A lot of times we can communicate over the telephone via email.

I'm talking about this face to face experience.

- So I really, I had no idea what to expect.

I would read the Inweekly handsome.

That's right.

Brilliant.

When I would read the Inweekly, I really just read it for, for what live band was playing where at the time.

But I was impressed with Rick's passion for trying to pursue justice and trying to pursue stories that would change the community and expose things that were going on that other journalists were afraid to cover.

- Well, I like your answer to that, Sandra.

You're so beautiful, and I love your smile.

There is a story.

Tell us when you met Rick.

- So I met Rick during Covid.

I've known Rick, I've read his paper for years, but really got to know Rick during Covid.

He would regularly invite me onto his show to talk about what's happening with Covid as a healthcare provider.

He gave not only a platform and a microphone, but an opportunity to reach beyond that, to offer up information and support to a community during unprecedented and uncertain times.

And through that, I recognize the passion he has for giving a voice to the voiceless and pulling out of the shadows issues that our community needs to talk about.

And I found a kindred spirit.

- Oftentimes, Sandra, we, we give, give, give.

We want to do so much.

Sometimes we second guess ourselves and are we doing enough?

But I know that he must have just been a spark, maybe a catalyst for you to go the extra mile.

Would you say that?

- Absolutely.

Just again, bringing forward, making sure that what was happening in the community, from testing to vaccines, to how do we protect ourselves and really continuing to share that message consistently and giving us the opportunity to be a part of that.

- And we'll hear more from you in just a little bit.

Daniella, you and I have so many similarities, both faculty at Pensacola State College, but once upon a time, and we'll talk about in weekly shortly, but I opened up the publication and I saw your Beautiful Face 2022 Rising Star.

What is it?

And what was your first impression when you found out that you had been selected?

- So Rick started this and I think, but he can correct me to honor and recognize young professionals.

And there were other publications that were doing that, but they were established names.

So he was giving a space for young professionals starting a career and showing leadership.

- Now I know our audience is curious, did you have to write an essay?

What were the criteria?

- No.

So I got an email that was nominated, I think it was last November.

And they just ask you for, to either link your LinkedIn or send your CV.

- So I'm curious, Rick, back to you.

I know there's a screening process.

There has to be.

Why don't you talk about that?

- My usual answer is all based on weight, but I'll be a little bit more accurate.

We started The Rising Stars because during the two thousands we were losing a lot of talent here.

And we wanted people to understand that we have young professionals here and we wanted to lift them up.

And we were looking for people that were in a variety of fields, education, legal field, medical teachers, artists.

And we select 64 a year.

We've got a panel that reviews all the LinkedIns.

But we're we, and we're looking for people that we think and that their peers think, or, and their bosses and supervisors think are gonna be difference makers.

We've recognized almost 700 people now.

And this last class was a, was a probably the most diverse class that we've had.

We've really worked harder over the last few years to be sure that we get diversity in it.

And we've got, we really have it in the community now.

- We certainly do.

And let's expand on what you're doing with Inweekly.

When was the first publication and the idea behind it?

- Well, the first publication was July 1st, 1999.

And the issue was whether or not we should limit alcohol on Pensacola Beach.

And I'm proud to say that 18 years later, the County Commission decided about it.

That's okay.

- 18 years later, that's how influential we were at the beginning.

No, it was, we were trying to start a newspaper.

We felt like the market was big enough.

We felt like that the Daily Newspaper was, was owned by a chain, that there was an opportunity to something to be more connected to the community.

The, we didn't realize how hard it was gonna be.

We didn't realize that we would deal with 9/11 and Hurricane and a recession and a BP oil spill and a world that didn't really want to have another voice.

The world was pretty comfortable with the way things worked and we wanted to be something very different than that.

- But how could we not hear you?

I know there's some influential covers.

Would you like to maybe just tell us about a few of those covers that really stand out?

- I think that early on we were one of the first ones that really questioned WD Childers, who was chairman of the County Commission.

That we did a story.

Is he crazy?

Like a fox or he just crazy.

And we did there, from there we covered, we did a lot of coverage in the, during Hurricane Ivan.

We were big supporters of the community Maritime Park, the Billings murder case, when we covered it in 2009, that got us on the New York Times coverage for that.

And then the BP oil spill was huge for us.

We represented The Daily Beast, and I still will not buy gas from BP based on what we, the things that we uncovered then.

- Now the Billings murders.

Why don't you tell our viewers about that?

Monumental and honestly, your coverage.

Please explain to us.

- Back story.

Story.

It was a, it was a unique, it was a unique time in the community.

We had a new sheriff that, that the daily newspaper was doing their best to try to make a one term sheriff.

We had this van pull up to a home in Bula, right on the Alabama Florida line on a Thursday night, July 9th, 2009.

The men break out of the car, come out of the car, burst into the house, and five minutes later they walk away with Safe.

And the couple that were in the home were both killed.

What made the story was unusual was that they had special needs kids about nine in the home, and they had cameras everywhere.

And the video caught everything but the actual murder itself.

And Sheriff David Morgan did a brilliant job of using the media to help.

They found the van and arrested all the people involved in less than a week we got involved because the average, the person that was in charge that was convicted of being the ringleader, Patrick Gonzalez was friends with a lot of the people that were our readers.

Even Eric Stevenson knew him in high.

- School with him.

- So we kind, people started giving us stories and we beat all the national media on the behind the scenes stories to it.

And the national media was not happy with us.

- And of course, no safe place, Dateline NBC, right?

- Now I understand Attorney Stevenson, you said you knew something about this.

Why don't you tell us your aspect?

- So I represented somebody who was interviewed by the, by the Sheriff's office as a guess as a witness, was a husband of Pam, what was her Wiggins, who was charged.

And she had a different Long Wiggins.

.

And I was brought down to, to the station when he was being interviewed 'cause he needed a lawyer.

So I worked with him and talked with him about what he knew.

The state attorney's office gave him immunity and he gave a lot of information to them that helped them, solve the crime.

And during that I realized, just how deep this story was.

And Rick and I were in communication and I, encouraged him to dig a little deeper besides just what the surface story was out there that was, was being spun by the regular press.

- And I must say, Attorney Stevenson, in your profession, helping people, I know that Rick has influenced you.

He is such a go-getter.

Listen, I would roll up my sleeves in a heartbeat to join him in any endeavor, but just the close connection that you share and how he has maybe lifted you up maybe when you had a rough day or times of trouble.

- Well, Rick's really encouraged me throughout my career.

I started doing a lot of criminal defense and did some personal injuries that I went along.

And Rick's always encouraged me to shoot for more and to push myself and my practice in ways that maybe I didn't personally think that I could do.

And so having a friendship with Rick and having breakfast with him, once a week until he started this radio show and bailed on me.

- And we'll get to that story, right.

- But now we get, we get lunch at least a couple times a month and just, just talking about life and raising kids and you know, Rick's gotten to know my son Cole, who just started college and checks in on him and asks how he is doing.

He has become an important fixture and and friend in my life.

- Never give up those times.

So, Sandra, Community Health Northwest Florida, and we've already talked a little bit about Rick's influence, but seriously with the times that we live in right now.

And we have scenarios sometimes where people take things for granted and oftentimes, sadly, even their health for granted and having the various outlets that Rick provides.

Can you tell me just how much that means to you and your position as CEO?

- So, at Community Health, we strive to provide a comprehensive care or delivery care system for anybody who walks through our doors.

And it's not as much about equality as it is about equity, and it's a big difference.

- Oh yeah.

- And Rick gets that.

And what's special to me is that he's embraced our mission and our culture, and he's helped to elevate and promote awareness about all that we provide in the community so that people can be successful in managing their care and be thriving citizens of our community.

- All right, Daniela, Encouragement, encouragement, encouragement.

You're an exceptional professor at PSC, but if you had to give anyone out there watching some words of encouragement, especially after listening to all of you and Rick, what would you tell them?

- Well, I think that to be gentle with oneself, to be kind, because I feel like Rick was talking about how diverse the racing racing stars are.

Yes.

And when I was looking at the other people, I, I saw how they were all these different roles, so many different roles in the community, many different industries.

And I think that it's really, I really appreciate how you acknowledge and recognize that our job is really important.

And sometimes to get there, it, we just have to be gentle to ourselves, to be kind to ourselves and to find inspiration.

- Exceptional advice.

Rick, we still have a few more things to cover your radio show.

Enough said, right there is a lot there, but when did you start doing the radio show?

- We started just about a year ago, and we had this crazy idea that we were gonna do a thousand interviews.

We only own an hour and a half.

We do a thousand interviews in a year.

We did 1100 and you were one of the interviews.

Thank you for doing it.

I enjoy it.

But the goal is to bring the newsmakers, the people behind the news to tell their story and not get in the way of letting them talk about what they want to do and what they're trying to achieve.

And we've been pretty lucky.

It's really taken off really well.

- It has exponentially.

Author of two books, right?

Multifaceted guy, "City of Grudges".

That's the first one, right?

And then we also have "Blood in the Water" we talk about both briefly, please.

- All right.

Well, "City of Grudges" it's people like the book because it's, I collect stories.

The story is about a newspaper publisher named Walker Homes, who runs to fights.

Rather than walks away from him, he writes an article about his best friend.

His best friend gets arrested because of the article, and instead of the town liking Walker, they want to punish Walker for doing the story.

It's not uncommon to kind of some things I've run into, but the first book was very popular.

"Blood and Water" is built around the gel explosion that we had in 2014.

And it takes Walker in a whole nother different direction.

People like the characters, people like, it's all Pensacola scenes, It's all it's bad lands, It's New York Kns, it's Hop Jacks, it's intermission, it's Five Sisters.

And I think people like that component to it.

And so far they've been received pretty well.

- Oh, and like I said, he's such an humble guy.

I mean, well received folks, really.

Please get those now, future goals and people who have influenced you to wrap out the segment, Rick, I know it's probably a situation where Rolodex is full and they're just too many people to name, but if you had to mention any, who would they be?

- Well, I, my biggest influence is my dad.

My dad was a fantastic storyteller.

And I, I've tried to carry on that legacy as much as I can locally.

When you look around, Admiral Jack Federman was a big influence on me.

Quin Studer for what he's done in the community has, has been great.

I mean, just working with Chandra and Eric and the type of people that really are passionate about this community that really, really pushed me to be better working with the rising stars, see them grow and see them do stuff to the community.

It's not hard to wake up and do my job every day.

It's really not.

- And of course, we love listening to you every day as well.

I just want to thank all of you for joining us during the segment.

It is such an honor, and I'm still pinching myself.

Yes.

This is a reality now, folks, As we head to break, to check out Rick Sen's endeavors within weekly, log on to the website in weekly.net.

And remember to tune into Real news with Rick Outzen, Monday through Friday from seven to 8:30 AM WCOA News Talk, 104.9 FM and 1370 am We'll be back right after this.

(upbeat music) Hello everyone.

We're shifting our focus to a man who wears many hats such as litigator, husband, father, and humanitarian.

I'm happy to welcome attorney Aaron Watson with the Watson Firm, PLLC.

Folks, there's no better way to reflect on his journey than to make it a family affair.

So he's joined by his brother, Larry Watson Jr. Pastor of Inglewood Baptist Church.

So Attorney Watson, we definitely have a lot to talk about.

So let's get to it.

We're going to take the viewers all the way back to your childhood preacher's kid.

Let's talk.

- Oh, yeah.

Oh yeah.

Well, I always tell folks that we came from humble beginnings.

I grew up with a pastor who always looked out for the community, always looked out for his parishioners, always had a big heart, now as an attorney he used to preach in church, I'd do my preaching in the courtroom, but we both help people.

And no matter who comes in my office my experience as a preacher's kid, where we would embrace everyone in church has helped me to connect with a lot of my clients.

And no matter their background, they're somebody you know, and they're loved.

And whether or not they know it or not, I pray for 'em.

Just like my dad.

- Dad's preacher, right?

- Yep.

Before we go to trial, we don't have to pray together, but just know I'm praying for you.

- Silent prayer can be silent.

- And the success with your case, you know?

And so I I'm thankful for that experience as a, as a preacher's kid, because it helped me to number one, to build my faith, but number two, to have a heart, love and passion for the people.

- Now, growing up, didn't you have a fear of public speaking?

- Ah, I did.

Let's talk about that.

- I did.

And so I was the type that if, if we had to get up in front of the church and do Easter speeches and Christmas speeches I'm gonna get up there and stutter.

I get nervous my brother Larry, and my twin sister Heaven, they would love to sing, you know, and get in front of the church.

Sometimes my dad would preach and say, Aaron Heaven, Larry, y'all get up here and sing, and things like that, that breaks your, the shyness.

But honestly, I, I didn't become comfortable with public speaking until law school, until they teach off something called the Socratic Method.

And so what that means is that the teacher would get up and rather than pontificating they'd say, "Hey, Aaron explained this case or such and such, was this a contract?"

So the students are teaching.

And so it forces you every day.

You have to get up and speak.

And so it forces you to become comfortable with public speaking.

But as a kid, as a teenager, as a teenager, as a college student I was not comfortable with public speaking.

- We'll be back in a moment.

All right, brother Pastor Watson, and I see you smiling over there as he alludes to these stories from your childhood.

Was he right?

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

- So daddy didn't play, mom didn't play either, right?

- Not at all.

Not at all.

- So did that give you the unction to, to become a pastor, the influence of your father?

- Yeah, I guess seeing him kind of carve the humanity out for all of us.

All of us have, have this sense of service about what we do, and we just love people.

I think seeing him in action and seeing people helped by what he did, I think it did kind of lead.

I was forcefully, God had to really work on me to pull me to where I am.

But I wasn't afraid because I saw what it entailed through my dad.

And ultimately people were blessed by his work and by his action, by his words.

- Now, I hate to talk age, but who's the older brother?

- I am.

- So you are?

So I would imagine that you influenced your brother, attorney Watson quite a bit now.

What was the turning point in your life?

Did you have a calling to become a pastor at an early age?

Or was it something that came later in life?

- Actually, the first coming out of high school before I was 18, I think it was the year 2000 I felt the unction, which was, which it was really, really young.

But again, I was almost incubated in the atmosphere to be what I am.

And luckily because of my dad's leadership, I had the boldness to step out on the call.

- So at Inglewood Baptist Church, and we know that you're the pastor there, does your dad sit there and watch you preach?

I would imagine, "Okay, Dad was a preacher, you're a preacher now."

Does he ever give you any words of wisdom in that area?

And he thought, "Okay, my son, I'm going to tell you a few things about my life, and these are some things that you can share."

Because the life of a pastor, there's just so much.

- It is, it is, I'm grateful there were times where he was able to be a great coach.

Like it's one thing to be in the fight alone, but it's another thing to kind of have a person that has been there, done that to kind of lead the way he's been, that tool of just giving me what I need as far as knowledge and what to expect.

And even now, just to be able to, to pray with him and just speak to him about concerns that I may have as it pertains to the church.

But it's amazing to just have someone your father still alive to watch you do what he did.

You know, it's an honor.

- Now, as a younger brother, attorney Watson, I would imagine that you were probably the protector of him and your sister.

Am I right?

- For sure, for sure.

- Oh, that's always good to hear that.

Yeah.

I'll get back to you in just a moment.

So let's proceed with your life, attorney Watson, the impact that Fred Levin had on your life.

I do understand that he served as a mentor to you.

Definitely.

Please talk about that.

- Definitely, I always be grateful to Fred because, I know that when I applied to work with his firm that, you know, I had went to meet with him, and I know that, that he okayed, even though I didn't meet all the, the criteria that some of the other candidates that they hired did, he saw something in me.

And on my first week, he came to me and said, "You know, Aaron, I wanna mentor you."

And he meant that.

He said, "You can come in my office anytime," You know, I had Fred's phone number where I could reach out to them, to him.

He said, If I'm in trial, you're coming to trial.

And so Fred and I had the opportunity to try cases together, you know, and he had the, you really molded me.

He reviewed my legal writing and showed me where I could improve when I would argue in front of the judge he'd be right there with me, you know.

And so there's a photograph that I keep on my desktop at my law firm of he and I at council's table together.

And it's, it was so encouraging to me because, if I always say that if you wanna play basketball, to be able to be mentored by Michael Jordan is a blessing in my eyes.

Fred Levin was a Michael Jordan, just like a Willie Gary, who was another mentor of mine.

And so I look at that photograph of sitting by a legend and having him in my as pass the torch to me and pass, pass his knowledge and, and his skill, and allowing me to experience what took him.

I think Fred practiced for like 40 or 50 years.

But all of that knowledge, he was able to allow me to see it in the courtroom.

And I took notes and I learned, I'm sure he, he would always say, hit 'em where they ain't, you know?

And that that's, that always stood out to me.

- All right.

So now fast forward, the Watson firm PLLC the ribbon cutting for that.

Was that something that you imagined doing at some point in your life?

- I was a prior shareholder at my prior law firm, and that's a dream for a young lawyer, to work yourself up from an associate lawyer to a shareholder, to an owner of the firm.

And so I had always thought that I would, you know make shareholder, but I didn't know I would jump out on my own.

And so I, I really think it was something from God talking with my brother, talking with my dad, with my wife, and letting them know that I thought God was telling me to jump.

And I, and I jumped.

- We'll tell you, his impact is definitely far reaching.

But you are, like I said in the introduction, a man who wears many hats.

So the Watson Family Foundation, I'm talking about Thanksgiving, other events, scholarships, laptop giveaways.

Please talk about some of the things that you do with, that you and your wife Kimberly.

- For sure.

You know God's blessed us tremendously.

And we would get phone calls.

We, I remember a young lady said, "Hey, Mr. Watson, my son and I have been sleeping behind your law firm."

They were hungry, they needed meals, and we were doing all this stuff for individual families.

But we felt that because God was blessing us so much that we could do it on a much larger scale.

And so we started the Watson Family Foundation to really promote the family unit, family bonds there's a issue in The Gambia County with, as it relates to hunger their food deserts.

And the, the idea behind the turkey giveaway, the Christmas giveaway, was to be able to feed folks give 'em a turkey and get 'em a bag of groceries so that as we're eating they could eat as well.

And the community has supported it and we're honored to do it.

And I think it goes back to that preacher's kid mindset.

You know, that's what dad taught us to do.

You know, you give back because the Bible says that if you give, you shall receive.

And certainly God has allowed me to receive, because we followed that mantra, that verse of giving back.

- And I want to mention the scholarship, the University of West Florida, $1,500 scholarship that you recently gave away.

And I know that we have a nice image of that.

Your first recipient, what an amazing thing.

- Yep, yep, yep.

We were honored to do it.

Honored to do it.

You know, my wife and I, we partner with, with those initiatives and I think it was an essay contest that we read various essays and we're able to, to bless a student $1,500 back when I was in school a.

- Lot of money.

Goodness.

A Gold Month.

Yeah.

And the laptop.

Give it, We have a picture of you and Kimberly and your law firm just surrounded this big conference table, all these laptops.

I don't know how many there were.

I said 21 2.

20 laptops.

So there are a lot, so big hearts that you.

- Can you imagine those kids surfing the internet and typing?

I wish I had a laptop computer when I was in middle school.

We were even high school.

I think we had to, I had to go to the public library to apply for colleges and all that stuff.

We finally got a desktop.

It was a little dialup computer system, but to give those kids that opportunity.

A laptop can take you a long way, can take it to college, Can you start a business with a laptop?

You know?

And so we were honored to do that.

- You certainly can.

All right.

Pastor Watson.

You have so many people who look up to you.

Actually, some of your former students attend Englewood.

So I have one that I taught in the business department, Jonathan Stallworth.

And he's actually helped me a lot with other initiatives with our scholarship campaign.

Now, I would know that as a pastor, when it comes to advice for others, your brother, Attorney Watson is probably just given you some very insightful words of wisdom.

Am I right?

- For sure.

For sure.

He, he's the one that I lead to, especially with legal matters or just in general.

We kind, we talk a couple times a week just about life in general, about decisions, business decisions.

But it's a great relationship.

I kind of feed him spiritually business.

He gives me legal, business, spiritual, and it's a great relationship.

- So what about your journey leading up to you becoming a pastor?

Did you take another road?

Was there another road that was traveled before you actually became pastor of Inglewood Baptist Church?

- I actually dabbled in the music industry a bit.

I did recordings also.

I did a lot of jingles and commercials.

I was in the Atlanta area also studying Bible and kind of managing back and forth.

Then eventually came back to Pensacola where I began to help dad a little more with ministry and actually started a church out in warranty.

It was called Faith World Community Church.

And we were, it was more of like a mission driven church.

It was kind of a depressed area.

And so we were there just kind of serving.

And then the, I would say the stars aligned, me and dad had a conversation about merging the ministries and me coming along aside him.

And it was a great opportunity to work with him for a few years.

And then eventually he passed the mental to me.

- We have much more with you in just a moment.

Attorney Watson, like I said, I could open up my book and read for two weeks, because there is a lot there.

You were voted the top attorney in Pensacola.

That is no easy feat.

How did you feel when you found out?

- And we also just received a word that we were voted best law firm in Pensacola.

- That's crazy.

- You know, we've been around for six years and, you know, I look back at God said that you know, start a firm.

I didn't have the money to start it.

I didn't think I had the money to start it within three months I had my first million dollar settlement with the Watson firm.

And to see it flourish so quickly, you Google personal injury lawyer in Pensacola, we're gonna be on page one along with the big boys here, here in town.

But that's, you usually don't see that.

And so we we're grateful about the progress we've made in the Pensacola community and beyond.

- Now, I must say, you and your wife, Kimberly, are really doing quite a bit, an exceptional Juneteenth celebration that you held recently.

I saw the images on your social media was all over the news dancers, performers.

Why don't you tell us more about that?

- Yeah I'm, I'm gonna look at the camera and say, you know, it was all Kim Kimberly Watson name, Along with Catherine Watson, my brother's wife, 10 Broughton with the city council.

Hopefully I'm not missing anybody, but they would get together and meet.

And I mean, they pulled together this event in a matter of months.

And I mean, what if thousands of people out there all food trucks and vendors, but to be able to bring not just African Americans out, everybody city out to experience African American culture, you know, in downtown Pensacola.

And in just a few years back I think there's a plaque there on Pox.

We weren't allowed there, but we are there in downtown Pensacola celebrating Black culture.

And it was amazing to see.

And it was a great to be able to bring something like that to downtown Pensacola.

- And I would imagine many more to come.

Now you have a very close knit family.

You and your wife Kimberly just renews your wedding vows.

And we have an awesome image near a waterfall over the two of you.

It's just amazing.

I tell you what about encouragement, having those family members that can do that, and with the busy schedule that you have with Kimberly and just encouraging every step of the way and everyone else, including your faithful brother.

Yes, Pastor Watson.

So we are just so thrilled.

But I would like to ask you, because of all the amazing things that you've done, and I know you don't take anything for granted, what advice would you give to just, I'm saying anyone out there who's having a hard time attaining their goals, maybe they've experienced a few bumps in the road and they feel that all is lost.

What would you tell 'em?

Because you are definitely a success story.

- I think it's important and I that I tie this in because I'm here with my brother tonight.

And so I think I, this segment, it speaks of family, the family unit.

It also speaks of the prayer unit.

You know, my brother is my pastor and my brother.

And so if ever I needed to pray with someone over my, my dream, my vision, I had someone I could call.

If ever I needed to speak with someone about business, I have I have my wife we we're big on family, you know.

And so before you can start building up a vision and a dream, you gotta build those relationships because there's gonna be times where you're gonna need that support.

- That's right.

Pastor Watson, man of many talents.

And we know that the Watsons have excellent singing chops.

That's no mystery to anybody out there, especially those that attend Inglewood Baptist Church.

They know that as well.

So you'd mentioned previously about your little path that you took before you became the pastor.

So, speaking of which, I understand that you have a new single that has been released, and it's, well, tell us what the name of it is.

- It's called Girl You Got.

- And it's dedicated to your wife, Catherine.

Catherine Watson.

Yes.

- Catherine Watson.

So did it take long for you to actually get those lyrics together?

It was probably.

- Not though.

The song just kind of came.

I kind of hear melody in songs all the time.

So I'm constantly writing in the car.

I have to pull over and singing into my iPhone.

But this one, I thought it was very catchy, and I thought that she would be really impressed with the lyrics of the song.

But it, it came fairly easy.

- Now, was it a huge surprise to her?

Was it an anniversary gift, maybe a birthday gift?

- Yeah, it was around this, this year it would be 14 years of marriage for us.

And it was just something special, something spontaneous that I, I thought that she wouldn't see coming.

But yeah, she was very, very, very impressed with the song.

- So I'm curious, where can people actually get the single, listen to the single, maybe download the single?

Are there different ways that people can do that now?

- Sure.

So they can go to larrywatsonmusic.com, and if you type in your email address, it allows me to bank those email addresses.

And when we do a formal release in the future, we'll be able to inform you about where, where it will be released and all of the information that is tied with that.

It's actually ringing some bells nationally.

- No, I've, I've heard that there's just a lot of, a lot of positive energy surrounding that song.

But we definitely have a special treat.

We're going to wrap up this segment, and we're so excited to have had both of you on the show.

- Thanks for having us.

- Glad to be here.

- So glad to be here.

Such a pleasure now, folks, you are definitely, and for a treat, because now you'll get to hear a snippet of Pastor Larry Watson Jr's amazing single, "You Got It Girl", which is dedicated to his beautiful wife, Catherine will be back in a moment.

(upbeat music) ♪ Some say I'm losing my mind ♪ ♪ And grip on reality I tell them ♪ ♪ That it's all your fought look ♪ ♪ What you've done to me ♪ ♪ Everyday I wake up I fall down on my knees ♪ ♪ And thank the Lord Up above for sending you to me ♪ ♪ I thought no one would ever steal my heart ♪ ♪ Girl you got it you got a girl ♪ ♪ I thought no one would ever ♪ ♪ Steal my heart girl you got it you got a girl ♪ (upbeat music) - Hello everyone.

He's a man with a commanding presence and a heart of gold.

I'm talking about a self starter who has a knack for finding solutions to what many deem to be difficult problems.

It's an honor to welcome Lloyd Rashard, CEO and founder of Cognitive Big Data Systems Incorporated.

Folks, it's no surprise that his impact has definitely been far reaching Carl Reeves, pastor of Greater Mount Lilly Missionary Baptist Church.

And Quinn bro, founder and CEO of the Know, are here to share their personal experiences with this humble servant leader.

So glad to have you here, Lloyd.

- Glad to be here.

- You're welcome.

We're going to take everyone back to your early life in college.

You awarded an IBM scholarship at Florida A&M University.

You've been a brainiac forever, right?

- Well, that scholarship was, it was pretty interesting situation.

Tell you how I found out about it.

I was actually at my senior year in high school, I was actually taking electronics at the bot tech school there in Tallahassee.

And I had an English class back at Leon High School there.

And I ran into my industrial arts teacher and he asked me, what was I doing?

I said, Well, I'm taking up electronics at Lively Vo Tech.

He said, "Well, you need to go talk to the people at FMU in the electronics department."

And so I took him for his word and I did.

And I went up there talking to the head of the department.

And while I was sitting there still in high school, the guy offered me a scholarship by IBM Scholarship.

And so I left high school during my senior year to start college at Florida and Anthem University.

- Wonderful.

So this was a full ride, all expenses paid?

- No, no.

That was actually just a small, small scholarship.

And what the significance of the story was that my counselor had told me there wasn't any money.

Cause my I came from a poor family to go to college, but the truth of the matter is, I got so much money to go to school, I couldn't even take it on.

- Isn't that amazing?

- Yes, yes.

- So moving right along electrical engineering degree from the University of Florida.

- Yes, yes.

And so that's another, another story, talking to people.

I was interviewing for a summer job and the guy was from our force space and he, he shared some things with me that I wasn't aware of.

And he said, if you can get admitted to University of Florida, we'll pay your way to go down there.

Air Force Scholarship.

And so the funny part about the story was, I jumped in my 65 Chevy and drove down there and talked to the admissions guy, and the guy said he was looking at my grades and stuff, and they weren't all that great.

And he said, I don't think we can let you in here.

I said, What do you mean?

I have an Afor scholarship, a IBM scholarship, a Army ROTC scholarship, and I can't come to school down here.

And he said "How did you get all these scholarships?"

And I, and so basically the story of my life is all about networking and talking to people.

And you find out things.

- Absolutely and then you became an engineer at England Air Force Base.

- Yes, yes.

So that was interesting.

So I wanted to learn about becoming engineer.

So I, as a co-op student in, in college John Florida, I actually co-opted a LAN force.

And I learned a lot about becoming an engineer.

But the real, real idea, the way, the reason why I became an engineer, it didn't really dawn me, but my mother, when I was a kid, my younger brother and I, she used to bring these toys home from where she did days work.

But the problem was these toys were broken, so my brother and I had to fix them.

That's how I learned problem solving and how to do so.

And I, that's what led me to become an engineer.

- And a great problem solver you are.

Pastor Reeves I know that you have a history with Lloyd Rashard.

Why don't you talk about that?

- A number of years ago, I met Lloyd through his wife Robin, and I just found them to be genuine people who help people.

And as we became good friends, I realized that I could share this network of them with other people that crossed my path.

And they've helped everybody that I've sent to them in a great way.

And so I'm just, I'm glad to be supportive of, of Lord and Robin and what they do through the Kaku Institute and through their nonprofit, their startup, and their Pensacola network.

And so we meet a lot of people who are doing great things through their Pensacola network, which happens on the fourth Friday of every month.

- And we'll talk more about that shortly.

But Quinn, I must come over to your world with that nice smile over there.

You're ready to talk, aren't you?

So how did you and Lloyd meet?

- Yeah, so I actually met Lloyd through his wife Robin.

I was actually Robin's first intern.

So I actually transitioned back to Pensacola as I was studying at full university with my masters.

I was getting my master in business with the focuses entertainment.

And I had expressed that to Robin.

I was telling what I was doing at that point, I was online and she was like, "Ah, come on Quinn, I help you out."

So during that time as I was working with Robin, I found out Lloyd was in the tech space.

So I had an idea as I was going through my graduate program about an app.

So during that time I would go sit in the office and just pick Lloyd's brain and see how I could actually make this come to life.

Fast forward, I ended up moving to Atlanta for some time to get my first experience in entertainment industry.

And then I recently relocated back here to Pensacola from Jacksonville, and I reconnected with Lloyd and I was telling what I was working on far as the no.

So I was telling them the no is an app that I wanted to create, and I wanted to streamline business for the entertainment industry to make it easier for entertainers to function more independently.

So as I was telling him exactly what I wanted to do, he provided pretty much a roadmap.

And that came from Startup on the Blocks.

So by being able to go through Startup on the Blocks, it actually exposed me to how the tech ecosystem works.

And from being exposed, I was able to expand my network through Lloyd.

- Now talk a little bit more specifically about Startup on the Blocks.

How long was your experience with Startup on the Blocks?

- Yeah, so I've been with Startup on the Blocks since 2020 from, yeah, October, 2020.

I started with Startup on the Blocks, and Lloyd actually, kind of helped me build the idea and streamline the process.

So it's different resources available through Startup on the Blocks.

I recommend anybody who is, who has an idea revolving around tech.

To come to Startup on the Blocks is every Thursday, and then from there you can actually make your dreams come true.

- All right.

So Lloyd, now back to you Startup on the Blocks and we have a great foundation that you've laid for as Quinn.

But I want you to delve a little bit deeper into Startup on the Blocks, because there are a lot of people out there that I know could benefit from it.

Please just give us some more details.

- Yes, yes.

It's all about helping people who have ideas how to turn those ideas and into reality and launch a startup.

And so the, the what Startup on the Blocks is, is just making sure people learn the best practices, even if you have to, there's training to start a business, to run a business, but a lot of people just jump in and they don't, they don't actually actually know.

But what they also don't know if they, if they develop a business model that's scalable, they can get more help to, with their idea to move forward from all the big companies or the different organizations that support startup.

But they have to learn how to pitch their idea clearly and concisely.

So we offer that training for, to teach them how to do that.

- Now is this once a month?

I know that you mentioned a specific time.

Is this every.

- Month?

So, so what I, what I learned from, from with cognitive founding cognitive and starting to think about it in 2014, locally, they were hosting a business plan, like pitch competition.

And they had $200,000 for of prize money.

Can you imagine such a.

- Oh yes, I can definitely imagine that.

Can't you quit?

- And so I got the ideas to say, "Well, I work with AI all my career mostly from the mid to late nineties."

And I said, "Well, why don't I try to apply that technology and come up with the a business?"

And so I talked my business partner in, you know, us centering the competition.

And so we didn't get the pitch, but we won $60,000 from Microsoft for hosting our app in the, in the cloud.

And so it was really, really surprising.

And so there were a lot of things like that that happened.

And this was actually before we actually even formed the company.

- Before you formed Cognitive Big data.

- Yeah.

This was in 2014, and I actually got incorporated to 2015.

And the reason why went ahead and incorporated because I had got admitted to another program that gave us 25,000 cash.

And then on and on.

- And the good news keeps coming, coming, coming.

So why don't you break down the premise behind Cognitive Big Data Systems and for anyone out there that may be interested in this.

- Yes.

So our basic product is called a they, and it's a software application that you instantiate behind a surveillance camera.

- Oh, surveillance.

- And so it gives that surveillance camera a memory of everything the camera sees, using some fancy artificial intelligence.

And so the camera software can let you know when something extremely unusual is happening.

And so, for example, like you may have a ring doorbell.

And I may have a ring doorbell, but what happens at my yard is different than what happens at your yard.

So our software actually develops a memory of what happens in my yard.

And it develops a memory of what's happened in your yard.

It's just like when a baby is born, it starts to develop in a memory.

And so AI stuff has the ability to develop a memory.

- It's fascinating.

Let's delve into the Pensacola network because your hands are really in a lot of hots here.

- When you look back at my career, it was all about connecting with people and getting connected to resources.

So I about think it was 2010, I was on this podcast and I had been hosting networking events over in OSA County since the early nineties.

And so the guy kept asking me you know, questions about it and while it was doing it, and so it, it dawn on me after several times I was getting a little irritated, but it really, what it amounted to, I started, came from a poor family and through networking I had a successful career.

- That's so important.

- Isn't it?

- To give you an example, people don't really understand having this attitude.

And believe it or not, this applies to startups too.

So like, I can talk to Quinn about his idea and then the both of us thinking about his idea, we can actually come up with new idea that creates value.

And so that's what the significance of it, of it is the networking.

And so what's different about the Pensacola Network?

It's a community event.

You don't, everybody's invited great.

And you can talk to people and you can get ideas.

You can get connections it's a really fascinating thing.

And so what I was getting ready to say before was when I worked for the government DOD and so it's an attitude thing.

So all the stuff we worked on had never been did before.

- So groundbreaking.

- So what happens is you have to know what your resources are.

And so the only way you know what the resources are that you connect with people.

And so like, and so attitude was when I started back, there was anybody that worked for DOD I can call 'em up and ask them for help.

- The beauty of networking.

- Yes.

And it's just, it's an attitude thing too.

- Is Pastor Reeves speaking to Lloyd Richards character and your pastor, Greater Mount Lilly Missionary Baptist Church.

I tell you his, he is such an amazing person.

What would you say in regards to his character, things that you have observed?

- He's beyond reproach, and Lloyd has a creative genius within himself.

And as he works with artificial intelligence, you can see it coming out.

And we can sit and talk for minutes on end, really about what's in his mind because he'll bring it to fruition.

And his character is unparalleled because I send so many people to him.

- Yes.

- And he helps every last one of them.

And I just shared with him in the Green Room about a young man he helped, that's from the church, and he didn't quite remember the name, but that just shows how many people you work with, because oftentimes you help so many people, you can't remember them all.

And so I, I'm just so thankful and blessed to have a relationship with him and Robining and continue to send people to him.

And so that he can help them.

He post a question one day to me, he said, how much AI, how much artificial intelligence, you know?

And I said, "Hey, I'm the wrong guy for that."

And then he said, "Well, you got a cell phone, a smartphone.

That's artificial intelligence right there."

- That's right.

And Quinn, as we wrap up the segment, can you think of one or two words that you believe best describe Lloyd Rashard?

- One or two words.

That's kind of hard cause it's a lot of words that would describe Lloyd, but I would say knowledgeable and open.

And the reason why I would say knowledgeable and open, because Lloyd is a wealth of knowledge.

And he's open to anybody who comes to him and willing to learn.

So thank you for being open.

- Absolutely.

Well said, all of you.

It's been such a pleasure to have all of you as guests on this show.

Now I would like to thank all of our guests for joining us.

I'm Ramica Vincent Leary, and remember to keep it locked in right here on WSRE PBS for the Gulf Coast.

(upbeat music)