Lily Chen: All right. Today is Wednesday, August 17th. Um, and it is around 12:22. We this is Lilly Chen and we are conducting interviews for the Hustle project and we are really, really excited to have one of our nominee is here with us today. So why don't you start with just introducing your full name, go ahead and spell it out and then your business name.
Marc D'Andre: My name is Mark B-Andre, M-A-R-C, D'A-N-D-R-E, and my company is Seven Mile Radio.com or Seven Mile Radio LLC, which is a multimedia platform on radio, TV, Internet, radio, broadcast and platform. We also do journalism and event promotions and, you know, everything that you would think a media company could do combined with radio and TV. And that's pretty much what we are.
Lily Chen: Cool. And what year was your business founded?
Marc D'Andre: The business was founded in 2006. After I graduated from Space Howard, I went to the broadcast school out in South Philly or so. I went there for radio, TV broadcast and started the station and then ended up going back the second time for later graphic design. So I built my own website after that. So that's how Seven Mile Radio was born.
Lily Chen: Cool. Okay. Do you have a physical location right now?
Marc D'Andre: My studio is still at my house. It's in the basem*nt of my house, you know, me going on 15 years. So that's pretty much where we've been established as bad as as of about up to this point.
Lily Chen: Wow. Okay. And do you have a team or is it just you?
Marc D'Andre: For right now, it's me. I have clients that help out in certain ways. I mean, so it's almost like the on the staff side of it. I almost kind of operate almost like a social club or bike club, if you will, but it's like a podcast club, you know? So people kind of come in and out and we'll then kind of, you know, move up in positions and do different things besides just podcasts and such as engineering, audio, video production and things like that. You know, some people graduate out and do their own thing and, you know, some people stick around and stay a part of the company.
Lily Chen: So. Okay. Are you are you in Detroit right now? Okay.
Marc D'Andre: East side of Detroit.
Lily Chen: And are you from Detroit? From the East Side?
Marc D'Andre: Yeah.
Okay. All right, cool. So let's take it back all the way then. Tell me a little bit about your childhood.
Marc D'Andre: My childhood. I've always been artsy from being from from when I can remember. I'm always been used to draw comic books when I was younger, got into percussion and playing the drums at fifth grade. And that's kind of really where all of this started, is in fifth grade band. I started in a band and, you know, graduating into marching band in high school. I actually moved to Germany as a kid with my dad and I was in the intermediate concert Marching and Jazz Band as a percussion as I was a first year percussionist. So then that turned into being a music producer and a music producer turned into a media artist, you know, radio, TV, broadcast. And so that's pretty much where I started.
Lily Chen: Wow. So, I mean, even as a kid, you've been involved in the arts your whole life.
Marc D'Andre: Pretty much.
Lily Chen: Do you think you get that from your family?
Marc D'Andre: Yeah. So like somewhat, you know, I mean, a lot of my mother's side of my family were musically inclined, not so much of art inclined, you know. I mean, so they weren't everybody played an instrument, you know, I mean, especially having a church background, even singing, my grandmother was a singer. And, you know, a lot of my uncles played instruments. My uncle was one of my uncles was actually a DJ. And that was probably my one of my biggest influences as a child as far as getting into the arts and being in the music. So, you know, I got pictures of myself in my studio or in his studio rather, you know, as a kid around his DJ equipment and stuff. So, you know, and I got stories of being, you know, getting in trouble for scratching up his records, playing deejay as kids. So, you know, all of those, you know, type of memories is, you know, kind of where that where they're still from.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Classic. Uh, don't touch that. Don't touch.
Marc D'Andre: That. Yeah. Yeah.
Lily Chen: Do you think that your, you know, extensive experience as a musician factors into the your radio show?
Marc D'Andre: Most definitely. I mean, so my radio is basically a combination of all of my media skills combined, you know, when it comes to music production, you know, because as, as you know, so you're familiar with making commercials or jingles or, you know, audio commercials for a client or even it's a graphic design when it comes to making fliers or not images and banners to promote things for your podcast, on your website, you know, so, so my radio is, is a conglomerate of all of my media skills, whether it be photography, videography, radio, TV or on air personality, even, you know, engineering. You know, I've done engineering work for like sound for plays and things like that, you know, I mean, people have bugged me to do that. So, you know, this is a headquarters for all of my media skills. And that's why I say that my company is more so like a club, because I teach people, you know, I mean, it's not only look at people as as clients, you know, even though they pay for studio time to broadcast. Like I teach them things and I help them cultivate their media skills into what we can be better as a team and, you know, help to execute some of these media tasks that we have out here on the independent media front, because this is like a new a new lane out here, not with independent media, you know, because of technology. Open it up to where we can have our own news teams, our own radio platforms, TV platforms. So, you know, there's a lot of opportunity out there for people to have those type of skills. So that's just what, you know, that's what I'm trying to achieve, trying to teach and cultivate within my team.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Um, okay. So you were born on the east side. And what year were you born?
Marc D'Andre: 1981.
Lily Chen: Okay. And then, uh, you said you went to high school here?
Marc D'Andre: Yeah, I was more high school. I was well in high school. I graduated in '99.
Lily Chen: Okay, so on the east side, the whole time.
Marc D'Andre: Yeah. Okay. Except except for the short time that I lived in Germany with my father. So I went over there when I was like ten and came back right before I turned 13. So I was over there for a few years and, you know, got experience. Like I said, I was in, you know, the band over there. I went to school on the army base. So I had that whole experience of being, you know, just seeing, you know, and living around people from all over the world, you know, being on an army base. So I had had experience real early in being cultured and, you know, multicultural. I said, you know, I'm gonna learn about a different lot of different people. So that was that was a big impact and influence on me as a kid.
Lily Chen: So yeah, I mean, that would have completely changed your perspective. I can't imagine how many kids have that experience.
Marc D'Andre: Most definitely.
Lily Chen: That's really cool. And then you came back to the east side.
Marc D'Andre: And then came back to Detroit.
Lily Chen: Um, in Osborne neighborhood? Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: Same neighborhood. Yeah. Cool.
Lily Chen: Um, and then where did you go to school after that?
Marc D'Andre: I went to immediately after that, well, after I got out of high school, I was really into I didn't go to school for media. After high school, I went straight to buy a studio equipment to become an art producer because my 12th grade year in high school, my band director's frat brother was an A and R for so so def was a popular rec label back in the day. And, you know, he came to the school for it was a talent show. And at the time a lot of the students either wanted to be rappers or they wanted to be dancers. The girls wanted to be back in like video dances or to do they wanted to be rappers. So I came up to him and I told him that I wanted to learn how to make beats, you know? I mean, so he, you know, he kind of sat me next to him. This is before the whole meeting for the talent show happened. He kind of sat me next to him and as all of the students came in and he began his speech. I'm still sitting next to him. So a lot of the students in the band with me looking at me like, wow, wow, wow, the marcs sit next to the so, so def dude already. So to think about it was he told me afterwards, he said, Man, you were the only student out of all the the students in the school who actually wanted to be in the back end of the industry. Everybody else wanted to be talent. And I felt like, yeah, he was probably like the smartest one out of everybody. So I guess you can be right there with me just to make that give you that impression in front of the students. So but then from there, he took me under his wing and he pretty much told me everything about taught me about computers. And, you know, I know how to fix computers because if he came in, you know, I know how to break down my own computer and, you know, and install the software. And like, that was my backbone and teach me everything that I know now, right now, being in media and knowing how to work computers and everything. So that was my beginning right there.
Lily Chen: Yeah, well, it immediately makes me think about, you know, a lot of people feel overwhelmed by new technology and it seems like you just have so much experience. You have any advice.
Marc D'Andre: I mean, the thing about it is you really have to find your niche, you know, and get in it. But it can be overwhelming because there's so much information that you feel like you have to take on. That is so much information out there. First, all authorized information. So, so much information out there that you can get overwhelmed with just because it's too much. It's almost like going to the grocery store when you're hungry, you want everything. I mean, and that's why I say you shouldn't do it, because you're going to waste money. You going to spend. So, you know, you really have to find your focal point on what it is that you want to do and then find your niche in doing that. Find your it was comfortable workflow wise for you to do that. And don't you know, you can take notes from people and what they what they have done but don't what works for somebody else may not work for you, you know. I mean, so don't take somebody else's advice to heed and try to implement the same way. Like make it your own. You know, do it's comfortable for you and everything. There is no instruction manual. There is no one way to do, especially in this arena, in media and in the technology is no one way to do it. So just find your way, because that's that's really what I did, you know, I mean, because I went from I started selling my radio to be a platform. It was to fill a void that I seen in the radio, the corporate radio scene in the city where they didn't really support too much local talent. So I wanted to have a platform to where the local artists, the local rappers, seniors, comedians could come in and have a platform to showcase their talent and material and get it out there to the masses without having to go through all the politics. But, you know, as time changed, technology changed, and, you know, the Internet changed, it kind of grew into something more than just a radio platform as more so now a lot of people look at me as the news man. You know, I do a lot of independent news journalism and reporting on different whether it be crimes, accidents, things that things that go around in the city, you know, kind of almost want to seem before Channel 7 and, you know, a lot of the local news outlets. So, you know, it's kind of a multi-media. Like I say, his podcast, his news is blogs, as you know, all all together, but is the name of the company is Seven Mile Radio no different and, you know, I always bring up TMZ to contrast because a lot of people don't know the abbreviation for TMZ is 30 miles off. And because it was a media company created to do media coverage in 30 mile radius, oh, the 30 mile radius of Hollywood. So but we know it now to do media coverage way beyond that. Right. So they have the same concept with Seven Mile radio kind of started to do one thing and it grew and expanded into into what it is today.
Lily Chen: So yeah, well it's really cool and I, I heard and what you're speaking about that, you know, a lot of these huge radio companies, there is bureaucracy and there's a lot of, um. As you said, you know, politics, a lot of politics. What you can do, you know, is incredible, not only as an independent artist, but as a black artist from Detroit. You are uplifting other voices and important voices that are local.
Marc D'Andre: It's funny that you mention that because I had an interview with Dick Gregory, so you know who he is. Right before he passed, maybe about a couple of months. And, you know, I was asking him some questions about how the music industry impacted the culture right now of the society or if the society influenced the music industry. He just basically broke it down. And the nugget that I took from his conversation was when he said, you know, back in my day, we had to pay hundreds and thousands of dollars to get on the radio. Black people, we had to pay big money to get on these corporate white radio stations to speak our piece and get our narratives out there, get our information out there. He said, Now all I got to do is call you. He said, We got black radio stations now where we can just call. So it was that at that moment that a light bulb went off in my head and I said, Wow, I'm not just like a dude with a bunch of pretty microphones in my basem*nt, which just go with it cause I'm a black radio station and I have Dick Gregory on me. So I was just like, This dude knows me. You know? And he's saying, giving me that. Putting that kind of crown on my head. I need to be taking this a little bit more serious. So that's when I, you know, I kind of, you know, start operating in that light and taking the more serious.
Lily Chen: Yeah. I mean, what you're doing is, like, crucial not only for the industry, but just to be able to hear black voices on the radio, to hear black artists on the radio and curated by someone who is actually from the community is so important.
Marc D'Andre: Hmm. Most definitely. And, you know, I've even, you know, because of that, you know, is a lot of people have encouraged me to actually get into politics like I've had like the local guy who is currently and I'm sorry, the guy who's currently in the seat for city council in my district of the amount of votes that he got. I posted a picture in front of the building where you get the paperwork to sign up to be run for city council. I posted a picture of the front of the building and I got as many likes and comments on that picture as he got votes to get in the office. Hmm. So there's a lot of people that want me to run, you know, put in a political office just because they know what I stand for. As far as the type of news coverage that I've done and the type of stories that I written, I mean, and they know what I believe in and what I stand for. So there's a lot of people that have, you know, tried to, you know, coach me or cheer me into getting into other avenues in the city. As far as, like I said, politics and, you know, business and philanthropy and a lot of things which I have, you know, I'm in the process of launching a nonprofit organization to go partner with with my media outlet and now getting into the community and doing a lot more for the community. Even though I have already, it just haven't been, you know, documented under an LLC, I mean, under a nonprofit. It's just, you know, just stuff that I do just because I feel like it needs to be done. Yeah. So.
Lily Chen: I mean, it sounds like your ethical drive is so strong, you know, doing what's right just because it's right.
Marc D'Andre: Yeah, just feeling isn't. Like I said, I started on my radio to fill a void that I seen, you know? I mean, so. And, you know, if you know anything about any company or any businesses, it's there. You if you're if you're a good business, you go there to solve problems, you know, mean you saw people's problems. So, you know, as I got deeper into this I just see more and more issues are voice that I felt like I had a skillset or a mindset to be able to feel. So I just try to put the groundwork necessary down to to try to make it happen in any way, you know, necessary to care.
Lily Chen: Yeah. So this was back in the early 2000s that the company started?
Marc D'Andre: Yeah, 2006. I graduated from Spinks Howard in 2006. So I would say 2006 is when I officially launched the stream on the internet, and then 2007 is when I actually launched the website. And, you know, I guess you could say make it official. Okay. So yeah, 2007. So we just celebrated our 15 year anniversary a few months ago in May actually. It just was the 15 year anniversary of some radio song and we just got our news van on the road. We got our whole news van for the company and ourselves. We do so much journalism. So this, you know, just a lot a lot of a lot of big things happening for the for the company this year.
Lily Chen: Yeah. I mean, congratulations. It's just really exciting. Thank you. Um, so talk to me. You know, you you're experiencing obviously so much success now. Back then, what were some of the, you know, hardest parts and what were some of the best parts about those early years?
Marc D'Andre: Hmm, the hardest parts about the early years is, you know, having and having a vision for what you want to do, but not really knowing how you're going to do it. I mean, and, you know, financing it all, you said let's get right down to the core of it, financing it all, maybe because this is something I've done out of my pocket for 15 years or it has been, you know, feeding off of itself. I haven't had grants, loans or any kind of, you know, big lump sums of money that's been dropped into the company. So this has just been organically grown all out of the self. So there's just maintaining that. But that's kind of the it's almost a bittersweet thing, right? Because when you when you after winning five awards, right after being on local news outlets from Channel 20, all the way up to CNN from, you know, being nominated and, you know, for a situation like this, it's like it's all it's all worked out. Well, I had to be I mean, these are the fruits of it. So it's like, okay, it's kind of bittersweet is, you know, it makes it worth it after a while. So, you know, it's kind of a combination of both.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Any advice for people who are at the, you know, at the very beginning stages and hitting rough patches?
Marc D'Andre: Oh, man, the never stop. Never stop. You know, believe in yourself. You know, I mean, because if you don't believe in yourself, then nobody else will. We a lot of times, you know, you were getting discouraged because you're either looking at what other people have going on to compare yourself to what they're doing or what they have or you listening to other people. Because you may be the type of person who needs confirmation and affirmation from other people to see the validation, whether you within yourself. But if you know, if you know, you know, if you fail in that, you know, you had that passion for it. You have a vision for something that you want to do, stick to it because you know you have to be the first person to believe in yourself and to make everybody else believe in your vision. You know, nobody else is going to believe in it if you don't. So, you know, you have to believe in yourself. Don't stop because it's going to be it's going to be roadblocks and it's levels to it. I get to the point I'm to the point now where, you know, I've had to develop this sense of being comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: Because as much as you want to be in control with everything, life happens, something always happens that you just have to be able to, you know, roll with the turbulence and be able to take those bumps and still, you know, fly as if nothing happened, you know? I mean, dance in the rain if you you know, I mean, it's not about running in the house. You know, a lot of people you see when they run into the cars or to you know, it's like you're going to get wet, you're going to get wet. So you run in is not going to make you any less wet. Just go ahead and just bask in it, you know, and just because, you know, it's not going to last forever, it's going to be over. And then, you know, in a lot of times, you know, it will make you tougher. They say, what, don't kill you, make you stronger. I mean, it is just another level of of, you know, another level of, you know, graduation if you will, it's just another level of where you have to go.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Tell me about, um, I mean, being on being on air and running your own business, you must have encountered so many different crazy, crazy things like tell me about any fun stories that you have or things that, um, just defining moments in your career.
Marc D'Andre: Oh, we. Fun moments. I don't even know where to start with the fun moments. It's been times where of like I interviewed a lot of celebrities, a lot of artists and profound people that I grew up listening to and watching. And I just had to, you know, in the moment, it's like you had that you had to force yourself out of star struck mode.
Lily Chen: Like, you got to be cool.
Marc D'Andre: You got to be you got to be like, this is you got to realize this is a human just like you. You got to be cool. But then, you know, when I get home, I'm, like, bouncing off the walls, like, oh, yeah, you're going crazy. So that's, you know, it's been a lot of moments like those and then, you know, it just, you know, I recently, you know, I have podcast clients, right? So I recently had a good friend of mine, a real close friend of mine who had a show on my network and she she interviewed a guy who ended up taking a liking to her and couldn't take no for an answer. Right. And she, she ended up being murdered by this guy. Like like right outside of my studio. And, you know, that was like this, and this is like last year. So this is like the worst. You know, talk out good and bad, like, so it's just like it's, you know, still things that you have to worry about with dealing with the public and, you know, just people in media. And when you are popular, you know, everybody wants to get close to you. Everybody wants to, you know, get to know you or try to get shine off you to get popularity off of you, whatever. So it's just been a lot of ups and downs to me. So, you know, just thinking about things like that, that was a, you know, some of the ups and, you know, probably the biggest down that I've experienced thus far, you know, I mean, and it causes you to rethink your thinking on just security measures and everything as regards to, you know, you out here in the public interviewing people or even inviting people to the studio, you know, I mean, there's just a lot a lot it for you to think about, you know, in the, you know, be an independent broadcaster. So, yeah, it's just been it's been going through a lot with this. So, you know, a lot of ups and downs.
Lily Chen: So I've heard from a lot of, um, entrepreneurs that one of the biggest challenges is literally managing the ups and downs. It's just like the craziness that comes with them.
Marc D'Andre: Yeah, most definitely. I mean, and when something like that happens, you know, I'm after, you know, my age. Like I said, I just celebrated my 15 year anniversary this year and last year, you know, I'm contemplating just, you know, stopping this, you know what I mean, after something like this happening, you know what I mean? So after all that working on it. So we're just like you have to be, you know, comfortable with being uncomfortable. Another thing that I noticed it like the higher level that you go you're going to is going to be more the the the deterrents are going to be heavier. You I mean, you're going to have more things to come your way, you know, as like P Diddy said, more money, more problems. And I mean the bigger that you get the heavier the weight is going to be. So you just have to be comfortable with that and you know, prepare yourself mentally for those ups and downs, you know.
Lily Chen: Yeah, well, I'm hearing you reflect on, you know, how things have changed over the years. So any, um, any additional thoughts on, you know, over 15 years, what has changed? What's gotten better? What, what?
Marc D'Andre: Oh, technology wise. I mean. I mean. I Some things almost feel like I was telepathic on a man because it's like I've seen certain things. I'm like, I knew this is going to happen. I prepare myself just for like certain things. How a lot of the social media platforms are now video driven now, I mean, live stream video driven, you know, and I was waiting for this day to happen for what was it for TV and phones to collaborate with the Internet? Basically, because I come from a day where the Internet wasn't on the phone. Yeah, we didn't have smart TV. So I mean, I mean, that was like the age of the time where I started Seven Mile Radio because I remember when I started, so I still had a flip phone. I mean, with the digital, it wasn't nothing. It wasn't, you know, a touch screen nothing. So back in that day, it was, you know, you had to imagine the things that were that were in play right now. So, yeah, I can I love what technology has done and the ability that has given people to create and publish and all of that. But it's a double edged sword, because now I hear you. Here comes all of the restrictions, right? All of the the community standards and terms, conditions of things that you can't do like this. A lot of people are upset at the fact that you can't publish industry music on like your Facebook page. You know how they say you don't have the rights to the music and all of that. So it's like it's pros and cons to it. But just as a content creator, I love it. I mean, because I know, you know, both sides of it. So I know how to do it in a way that will, you know, maximize the potential for me as opposed to breaching things that, you know, the industry doesn't want you to do. So I love I love how, you know, technology has advanced. I'm looking forward to the future as far as where is where it's going to go as well. So I'm here for it.
Lily Chen: Yeah. I mean, it sounds like even though you've been doing this for 15 years, the technology is still incredibly exciting for you.
Marc D'Andre: It is. Yeah, it is. It is. And I'm I mean, because I've always been like I said, since I was a kid, I've always been a creative mind. I've always been a creative thinker. So even when it comes down to like drawing with my hand, now I'm a graphic designer, you know, I mean, or making beats at the lunch table with the pencil in my knuckles. And now I got a keyboard and a drum machine. So just like that, I'm just looking I'm just looking forward to what technology will allow you to do in the future, because I see what it's went from and where it is now was like, Wow. I remember I was just having a conversation on one of my podcast about how with the phones, you know, just a touch screen and how we swipe to the left or swipe up. And this is technology we used to watch on Star Trek as a kid, and now it's in our hand, literally. Yeah. I mean, so this is stuff that we would think that we would probably never see or be old before we've seen it. So it was like, I'm just looking forward to what, you know, in the next ten years would bring, you know what I mean, because this is in technology is advancing so fast now especially so yeah. You know, looking forward to it.
Lily Chen: Are there other parts of your you know, sometimes when your passion becomes your business, you know, you, there gets to be a routine. Are there parts of your of your work that are still exciting? You know, other than the technology.
Marc D'Andre: I mean, the routine of it sometimes is exciting. You know, I mean, I just like because I like so much of what I do, but everything that I do, there's a routine to it. Yeah. I mean, as a as a, as a. And that's what I try to another thing that I try to instill into my podcast is as far as just brain being a brand name, podcast, group or club is like every fast room, every fast food restaurant or car company, right? They have a procedure on how they produce their product, right? So we should be no different. You know, we should we should pick up patterns and habits and procedures. We should all do the same, do things the same way. Like I tell them we should. For example, you see other platforms where, you know, that is obviously a team, but when they post things you don't see it doesn't look different. You can't tell who post it because it's all uniform, you know. I mean, they have a system that they follow on, you know, when they do things. And, you know, so that's what I try to instill in the people and and the people that work with me, that there's always a procedure that we see that we should follow to ensure the quality of the product. You mean that the same quality of product every time. So that's how all brand names do it. And I don't see why we should do it or be any different as a as a media production company.
Lily Chen: Hmm. What are some of the people that have, you know, that you're working with that have had a big influence on the company or people that have changed how you do your work or or, you know, positively impacted you?
Marc D'Andre: I always again, you know, when I'm when I'm teaching people and I bring people into the company, I always have one of my good friends that I bring up as an example of success within the company is my dear friend Tracy Christian. She had been down with the company for maybe about eight years. Something before, you know, I had trained her to where she knew how to do everything in the studio to the point I didn't have to be there. So one year I just gifted her. I bought her a mixing board for Christmas because she's actually a book author and she wanted to do audio books. She wanted to put her own, or turn her own books into audio books. Yeah. So I gave her a mixing board and, you know, she kind of, you know, was inspired from that and went all the way and got a couple more microphones and new computer. And she ended up having her own little studio in her house. So we ended up, you know, as opposed to her having to come to my studio to do her radio show. She could do it remotely from her studio, from the house. And in that time, from her turn to her doing teaching her daughter and having her own remote radio stream and to doing audio books for everybody that she encountered on Facebook and through Amazon to the point where she quit her job as a DPS teacher. She was a she was a schoolteacher. And now she just does what she does with the media full time. So I just you know, I tell people that if I could teach one person the skills of how to maintain a lifestyle off of, off of media production, if I can teach one person to the point where they quit their job because they began to make, generate enough revenue that they can maintain a lifestyle, then I want to do that for ten people you know what I mean. So as you know Tracey is always you know and still is an inspiration to me and a confirmation to me that something that I'm doing is right. If I can teach one person to where they can, you know, quit their regular job and do what I taught them and generate money to the point where they can maintain it. Yeah, I feel like I, you know, did something. So that's one success story or one bright moment for me that I always bring up to people.
Lily Chen: Yeah, well, one of the coolest parts of that story, too, is that you, like many entrepreneurs of color, they don't you don't hold your knowledge to yourself. You're sharing it because you want to see everyone uplifted with you. That's that's amazing.
Marc D'Andre: Most definitely. Most definitely. Yeah. We still you know, and she's still doing her thing right now to this day, you know. So I'm going to celebrate her 50th birthday party, I believe, like in the week or two. So. Yeah, so yeah. It just I really want to, like I said, just, bring people up. You know, it's about filling a void. Like I say, there's a lot of different void, whether it whether it be helping the artists get the information out there, whether is helping someone who wants to get into media, get more comfortable and learn more and find their niche and what it is that they want to do. You know, that's that's what I feel like I'm here for. So, you know, I've I've made an impact in the city for myself. So now I just even my my ultimate goal is to open up a kids version of the school that I went to, almost like a digital recreation center where I can teach the youth the different aspects of media the way that I know it with my formula, you know what I mean? So I can have, you know, you know, all of the different aspects of, you know, what I do in different rooms and just, you know, teach different classes. So that's that's pretty much my ultimate goal. After my nonprofit got Seven Mile Radio wants to do my nonprofit, then, you know, I try to do my little school.
Lily Chen: I really like that. I, you know, in school you learn math and all these things.
Marc D'Andre: So it's great, a lot of things. And let's get to the point of a lot of things we may not even really need to do when we get grown, when we get moved to become an adult, like, why would we need to know? And I don't want to throw nothing out here because there's a lot of professions that use like social studies and a lot of these, you know, subjects that we feel like we didn't use or would need as media people, you know. But, you know, it's a lot of like we schools should be more about I feel like finding the focal point of the student and what the what it is that they want to do and cultivating that as opposed to forcing this pattern of systematic information down that kids throat and saying, hey, if you don't live up to these standards, then you're not going to succeed in life. Because I know way more millionaires that they're not graduated from college or even high school.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: For that matter than those that did?
Lily Chen: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think something that I really wish for my childhood is that I was introduced to more cultural things, like you're saying, the arts and whether that's like sound production or, you know, how to understand music, how to create music or how to write or how to draw.
Marc D'Andre: If it wasn't for band class in fifth grade, Ms. Scales my band teacher. Ms. Bennett, my band instructor in Germany. I don't know where I would be. I honestly, I don't know, because that actually just and that's what I fear about the youth today. And that's why I want to I put so much emphasis on wanting to do a school. At the end of the day is because of the lack of resources or lack of things to do to keep them occupied and to keep them interested is part of the reason why we have so many kids out here into things that they don't need to be into. We had we had some of the we didn't even have enough ourselves back in my day, you know, so we we had just enough sometimes to keep us occupied. But it was still a lot of kids, a lot of people that went to the wayside, you know, because they just didn't had the resources. They didn't had opportunity. But now is even less now, especially in our in my community, you know, I mean, as far as was I was available for the kids. It's even less there for them to do so was more opportunity for them to get into into mischief, you know? So that's that's really what I want to, you know, put an emphasis on at the end of my who are all right now even because when I get into philanthropy that's part of it is getting into mentoring kids and giving them opportunity, giving them resources and just different programs for them to be involved with me. So that's really what I'm focused on.
Lily Chen: Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, it will definitely. It's part of your bigger vision to fill that void, right? Because, you know, these kids are next generation and the void still there.
Marc D'Andre: It most definitely is. And it's, it's it's unfortunate. I feel that we are in a day and age. We sitting here talking about how technology is vast right and how much more opportunity has come out of those technological advances. But yet still we don't have as many resources in the black community as we had 20 years ago. Yeah, so it's almost like times are getting better, but it's getting worse for some people. Like I was there. So it's like, yeah, we need to, we need to bridge that gap. And that's, that's, you know, part of the reason why I feel like that I'm hear not only for, you know, the information because a lot of people, like I say, gravitate to me because, you know, they feel like I do a better job with the journalism in the news because I give them the raw, uncut, unedited, unfiltered, uncensored news as opposed to sometimes they feel like the news creates a narrative with their stories and put out what they want people to see and how they want them to see it. So all of that is just like everything that I do is about is about filling the void and just using my, my media skills to create content to present these voices and contrast.
Lily Chen: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we have to be very honest about it and very straightforward, which is that the news is overwhelmingly white. And so we get a certain perspective.
Marc D'Andre: Most definitely.
Lily Chen: Right.
Marc D'Andre: Definitely. I mean, we we can we always talk about I'll talk about many times I'll say like that on the news how if something bad happens in the suburbs. They'll include Detroit by saying, Oh, well, this crazy thing happened in the metro Detroit area, and this this thing happened in Sault Ste. Marie in Upper Peninsula. Why are you saying this? This is nowhere near Detroit? Like the Oxford shooting, for example, you know, they deemed this the metro Detroit the Metro Detroit school. Like this is nowhere near. What do you mean? Yeah. Metro Detroit. But let something bad happen in Detroit. They're not only going to say Detroit, but they're going to tell you the 36,000 block of Six Mile. Somebody's going to tell you the exact. Going to make sure that, you know, that it was on this block and on the vice versa side of things is something good happens in Detroit like a big festival. Something happens downtown. Oh, the metro Detroit. Now they're going to include the metro, right. So it just like the way they spin things in media, you know, to to to make Detroit out to be a bad place when it's convenient for them, they're not. Another thing that I'm trying to, you know, just trying to change the narrative of as well.
Lily Chen: Yeah. I mean, what you're speaking to is exactly on the point of why representation matters, why filling that void matters, because it changes even what the content is. Right, and it changes the perspective on that content.
Marc D'Andre: How it was delivered. How it was worded it and all of that makes all of that matters. Yeah, all of that matters.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Well, um. It, it, it's amazing the work that you're doing. And, um. It must be also, like, very cool to get to uplift other people that are around you to, to put their voices on the radio.
Marc D'Andre: You know, you can. It is I have a lot of Steve Urkel moments, right, where it's like you trail. You have to go hard so hard as something that you look back and say, oh, did I do that, like, wow, like that? Like I didn't, you know, so that's that's I have a lot of moments like that was like, man, I didn't even realize what I was doing or what. Like even, you know, when the the the George Floyd situation happened and, you know, I just got a niche to go around to the suburban cities in metro Detroit. Right. And interview the police chiefs. So I went to Royal Oak with the Southfield. I went to Novi, I went to and I'm interviewing all of the police chiefs, just getting information on a protocol on how they deal with African-Americans. And they you know, and lo and behold, the news picked it up. And I got a news story about me doing a documentary on the police chiefs. So it's like, yeah, so you just never know. Sometimes, you know, who's watching. That's another type of thing that I explain to my podcast is when they get frustrated sometimes that they not getting that many views on their shows. And I say, Look, I don't care if it's two people watch it. Those two people could be Barack and Michelle Obama.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: Right. Yeah. So always put your best foot forward, you know, I mean, because you never know who's watching, you know, me. So, you know, don't, don't let don't. And again, that goes back to what you asked earlier. Like, don't get discouraged. Always believe in yourself and know that what you are doing is what you're supposed to be doing. If you feel like that's what you're supposed to be doing, then go full force at it. And the right people are recognizing when it's meant, when it's appropriate, when it's necessary, when it's supposed to.
Lily Chen: Yeah, that's such good advice because I think it's so easy to get discouraged.
Marc D'Andre: It is. It is. I mean, because, you know, you have this thing, especially when, you know, sometimes you can be overconfident. Right. And that can make you discouraged because you feel like you're so good at it and I'm the best and I know I'm going to knock it out. And then when you start doing it, you don't get the results that you feel like you're supposed to get. Yeah. And then it's like, oh, man. Like, maybe I'm not, no its now, it's it's a process. You know, I mean, it's not a we also live in because of technology. We live in this popcorn era where microwave everybody does want to right now. They just want to hit a button and boom, it's done. And now I just got now, you know, you don't respect the work ethic that goes into play. There is a work that goes into it. You know, like people come to my studio and they see all of the lights and the cool set up and all of that. And they like, man. And especially if it's somebody who just probably found out about me, right? So they look at me and they just find out me about me today. They don't understand that this, this, this, this overnight or this is the thing that you see it is a 15 year process.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: You know, that that came to fruition now. So this is I didn't just flick a light switch and get 70,000 followers on Facebook and got, you know, all of this notoriety in the city. So, yeah, it's a process. You know, trial and error is a lot of ups and downs, a lot of fail. And I've learned more from failing and then I have from succeeding. You know, the succeeding is just basically the bent that the the the presence for your failures. I feel like that's your you know, I'm not going to say your presence, but it's like your you know, your you know, your confirmation for your fails is like your gift. You I mean, it's like, okay, you failed enough. Here's here's well, here's a win, you know me. So yeah, you. I learned way more from from fail than I did from, you know, the success. It's just been the icing on the cake for all of the failures. Yeah. And confirmation that I'm doing something right after I failed.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: So don't shun the failures.
Lily Chen: One of the coolest things about your, um, company is that, you know, a lot of a lot of people, when they start to succeed, they kind of I don't want to say sell out, but, you know, they.
Marc D'Andre: Most definitely you said it. I mean, you hit it on the head. And I said, especially in our community, it's crazy how. You know, we feel like we get to the point of success when we get to the point where somebody wants to come in and buy our company and we sell it to them, it's like, Oh, I want enough that if somebody came to me right now and offered me $10 million for my radio, I wouldn't take it because I know if you offer me ten, then it's worth 100. So something that I'm doing is right. I'd rather stick to doing what I'm doing and make my own hundred than, than than give it to you. And that's, you know, even like so much about technology has changed in a lot of industries. Like I just had a conversation with artists whose art is running for me all the time, like I'm Berry Gordy or something. They want to rap me to death. They want to play their music on the phone. It's like, listen, like, that's not the way to do it, right? I'm not gonna give you a deal like this is not there is a new day and age now where like what you're doing right now is how so many people get played. And maybe it's like how many great artists, how many big artists, you know, from the old days to now, right, have bad day or they get played. But you know why? Because they searched for a deal in the first place. We live in a day and age now where it's almost a direct consumer market on everything. You can eliminate the middleman and just sell whatever product it is that you have directly to your people. It is about people knowing that you have it, you know. And so when people don't know, I tell people that there's another thing. I tell my podcast as if people don't know you to do nothing good or know you to be consistent at it, they're not going to pay you to do it. So you just go, I got to go out there and make a name for yourself now. You don't look for somebody to say, Hey, put me on, put me on. So that's all. What I see is that the people with money are people that are big companies, say, Oh, you got this product and you have a good product and you don't. You have problems selling it. So what I'm going to do is take it and copyright it myself and sell it for you and get more money off of you than you're getting and just give you a cut of what you're supposed to be getting it just because I have the power to push you out there. Yeah. And a lot of people look for that. I mean, but now it's like, you don't need that. You just need to go out there pounding the pavement and get the people knowing if you really have a good product then it's going to, it's going to sell itself. You know what I mean, as they say, on the streets. So I was like, you guys, you got good work it's going to sell itself. So it's like you need to put it out there. And people, if it's something that people need, again, if you're solving a problem or if there's something that's good that people is going to get out, you're going to do what it's supposed to do. So don't look for somebody to, you don't look to give somebody some of your money back. So that's all the deal is nowadays, especially we deal with the rate with the record industry and stuff like that, like you can pound the pavement t get your own name big and sell the music to your own fans and that's it, you know.
Lily Chen: So I mean, you're in a line of people that I really admire where we're no longer like, you know, people of color. For the longest time, we had to essentially like to succeed. You would have to convince a white person that you're good. But now it's like, I know I'm good. You know, I'm going to put myself out there and that's it. I don't need that giant company. You know.
Marc D'Andre: You make those people come to you with it. That's what it is. You know, you go and you like I said, you get the notoriety and you get the crowd and get the, you know, the respect from, you know, the the the the crowd until you are noticed by those people to be like, Hey, who is this? Yeah, I need to, you know, and now you negotiate the deal, they come to you say, hey, well, I want to give you that because you're already making money now. So it's up to them to give you what satisfies you as opposed to you being a starving artist and is going to take the first thing. Oh, I'm I'm panhandling. I'm basically hitchhiking, trying to hitchhike into the industry and anybody any car that a pick me up I like, let's go. But you don't know how much gas this car got in it. You could get picked up in this car and go, you know, 20 miles out and they run out of gas and now you stuck and you can't get back home. You ain't at your destination. So, yeah, you got to, you know, you'd be better off like my mother was kind of the motivation for me to start my, my company back in high school because she, you know, back when I was in school, it was either one or two options that all of the parents had pushed for. Easy to, you know, go to work for one of the big three, the car companies or my dad was a military right, so go to the army.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: And I wasn't really that was not something that I wasn't I'm not no military do because I you know, I lived in Germany with my dad and I seen that life and he's like, no, that's not really me. And then working for the plant when my mom, you know, went through that whole thing would have been all of the layoffs happen, you know mean if she worked for a plant for 15 years some years and and getting laid off where they had nothing to show and I'm like, you know what? I would rather spend the next 15, 20 years of my life, if it's going to be a gamble like that, I rather I rather try to build my own empire, build my own plan. I'm not going to fire myself.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: So whatever success that I get that I render in that time, I know I feel like I'd be proud of whether I lost or I won. I mean, if I lost, it was because of me. If I won then so be it, more power to me. But I didn't feel too enthused about giving the next 15, 20, 30 years of my life to any company working for somebody. Because every business has a boss, a owner, right? Yeah. Why can't I be the owner? Why do I have to be the worker? You know, I mean, that's not to say that nothing is wrong with being a worker because you, me, you know, you need you need people that you can't be a good owner, a good, you know, boss, if you were never a good employee. Right? So I just I just didn't want to take that gamble for myself. I just feel like, you know, I feel like I was I was passionate enough. I had enough skill set to wear whatever it is I that that that time that I was going to do. Because, again, that was part of the hard part, that explaining the beginning, not knowing like, I know I got this burning thing in me, but I don't know how I was going to end up. Yeah. So it was hard for me to just, you know, it was hard in beginning to take that leap of faith. But, you know, I'm glad I did now, you know, and my mom, you know, everybody is, you know, proud of me. So it's like I feel like, you know, between that and, you know, situations like when my partner Tracy and her being successful and everything that she doing and just, you know, just a, you know, the respect and the love that I get from a city. I feel like, you know, I'm you know, after I interviewed, after I interview did Greg where I say I can retire after this. Well, what can I do now? I just interviewed Dick Gregory, man. I kind of. Yeah. So, yeah.
Lily Chen: You're thinking like, oh, can I get a signature? But you got to.
Marc D'Andre: Oh, no. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I got a picture with him and it's on the wall in the studio, like, yeah, I still got his I mean, he's been, he's been gone for, you know, a couple of years now. And I still got his house phone in my number, like, I can't believe it. And I mean, so yeah, I get new phones and I see. So yes, that was, you know, prior to my biggest moment for me as far as interview wise.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Um, something I heard you say that was just really important is that, you know, when you're a black entrepreneur, what's incredible about that is that you have so much self sovereignty, you get to control your stuff. There's not like someone trying to tell you how to be, who to be, you know?
Marc D'Andre: And and I'm glad you brought that up because, you know, as long as I've been doin news coverage in the city is a lot of people like every week, every time I post a story, everybody compare me to it. It's not in a bad way, but I say, man, you need to you know you better a Fox Studio you need to go, you need to go work with them? And I'm like, Yeah, I need to realize that, you know, if I went and worked for them, I wouldn't be the journalist that y'all love in like anymore. I wouldn't be, I would be put in a box and I would only be allowed to cover the things that they want me to cover, how they want me to cover it. It would be sending me to do the stories that they want me to do. And I couldn't do the things that I do like, like well. And I always stress it to them. I say, What I need you all to do is support by donating to the platform to make me as big as a corporate terrestrial, you know, say a radio broadcast or whatnot. So, yeah, that's that's, you know, the thing, you know, I don't want to be put in a box. I don't want to be, you know, especially now and then I started this thing just I actually started selling my radio when I graduated from space. How I started it just to have a place where I could practice, recorded a radio show so I could go to one of the major radio stations downtown and say, Hey, look, here's my, listen to my breaks, listen to my shows. I don't want to be an intern, I'm not going to get nobody's coffee. Just put me on the air. So after just trying to be so good at that back in MySpace days picture that after after being so good at that you know it was just a lot of artists that come to me emailing me, inbox me, man, how can I get my song on your show? How can I get my, you know, and then I say, Well, be $25 and I play you for a month and $25 turn to $50 in one artist, turn to eight artists. And I'm like, you know, why am I trying to go work in the radio station if I'm getting paid? Yeah, I'm on the air. What I need to do is fill these time slots. I have a 24 hour stream, so that's when it came about. The idea of booking people are running out to time slots to have other people do their show because I used to do recording production, so I just took the concept of, Hey, I'm paying people pay me hourly rate to come in here and, you know, record songs. I'm not going to turn my production studio into a radio studio and charge people an hourly rate to do radio shows. And that's kind of how, you know for me is when Seven Mile Radio was born, I just started having people coming over and, you know, of, I think probably the first radio studio, independent radio studio in the city. So yeah.
Lily Chen: Um, final question. Are you still on seven mile?
Marc D'Andre: Yes, I am still on Seven Mile. So, yes, I am still over by the van dike. Yeah. Right where we started it.
Lily Chen: Well, I only have a couple more questions. So one is, um, what does the word hustle mean to you?
Marc D'Andre: Hmm? Hustle is. Is it means you are grinder. A grinder means that you are a go getter, meaning to to do it by any means necessary. You know, same as like, you know, going to get it. I got I guess I just say that by any means necessary. You've got this hustle. Yourl drive, you know, to do what it is that you want to do. Whatever your goal is you hustle to by any means necessary, you go and make it happen. Yeah. The hustling is making it happen.
Lily Chen: Yeah. What about the word hustler?
Marc D'Andre: Hustler is would be one who makes it happen. You know, the hustle is the act and the hustler is the person who did it, you know? So, yeah, you know, a hustle can be a thing. You know, hustler is a thing. A hustler is the person.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Um, I got another fun one for you. So if you know, your hustle is now your full time gig.
Marc D'Andre: Mm.
Lily Chen: So what's your new hustle?
Marc D'Andre: Huh? I don't know. I don't know if I? That's a good question. I don't know if I'm.
Lily Chen: Done with the side hustles.
Marc D'Andre: Yeah, I don't. I don't I mean, because the thing about it is my company is so many different things within itself, like is like sale merchandise. You know, I do photography, I do videography. So it's kind of like it is, is still my hustle and it is my career at the same time.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: And I mean, because I'm hustling still to, to make it happen, I have to get up every day. I have to have the, the, the discipline to get up and make it happen. I have to go out and make the moves. I have to talk to the people. I have to do the everyday hustle and the phone calls, the the, you know, the making of the meetings and, you know, everything that it takes to make this thing go is the hustle, you know? I mean, you you hustling to to make it happen.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: You know, not not to be confused with, you know, some people look at a hustler as saying that you are like, I'm getting over like I'm hustling you. I'm getting old. But the hustle is is this like I'm staying busy, someone who's busy and well, do what it takes to get what it is that they're trying to do done by any means necessary.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Um. Is there anything that you wanted to share that we didn't cover?
Marc D'Andre: Uh. No. No, I think we pretty much got the story of Seven Mile Radio. You know where I started? How I started you know what started it, you know. You know, some of my good experiences, some of my bad experiences and yeah we pretty much spread was got it out there but I would want to I guess just dedicate this interview to my, my friend Brittany Dillard, who lost her life at the studio. So that is what I wanted to add that to this is, you know, I wanted to dedicate this whole exhibit to of Seven Mile Radio that would be feature here to her. So, you know, that was what I wanted to add to it.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Can you spell her name for us so that.
Marc D'Andre: B-R-I-T-T-A-N-Y D-I-L-L-A-R-D?
Lily Chen: Okay. Well, thank you for sharing her story. Yeah. Um, you know, you're. You're on the radio, and you are a podcaster.
Marc D'Andre: Right.
Lily Chen: Um. So if we were flipped and you had the opportunity to ask yourself or any of you yourself, what's the question that you would want to ask yourself?
Marc D'Andre: What would I want to ask myself?
Lily Chen: See, I had, like, an out-of-body experience.
Marc D'Andre: Yeah, I know. I'm trying, and I'm trying to suck myself out of here. Yeah, man. What would I want to ask myself? Wow. That's a question I think I would have to think about for a minute, because it's like I'm myself. So how would I answer that? I don't know. I just. Hmm. You know, it's a lot of a lot of questions. Just flows fly through my mind. I don't know. I. I can't even I can't even pull I don't even know what I would ask myself. That's a hard question. That is a hard I don't even know if I've ever been asked a question that I couldn't answer.
Lily Chen: It is hard. It's like, can you see yourself outside of yourself?
Marc D'Andre: Yeah. That like that's the first thing is like pulling myself out of myself and then like, what would I. I don't know. You know, but I'm just I would say that, you know, I am, I am interested. If I could put myself outside of myself, I would be interested. Interested to just be able to see myself in ten years. Yeah. I mean and where, where I would be, I would the platform and the company also seeing how things has grown in the last ten years and the experiences that I've had in the last ten years, like I wish I could, you know, see into the future.
Lily Chen: Yeah.
Marc D'Andre: And to see where things would be, you know, maybe so I could, I could be prepared and go, you know, make the best thing, best, best situation out of it. But yeah, I don't know what I would ask myself. Yeah, good question.
Lily Chen: But I mean, you're set up for so much success over the next ten years, you're going to have you know, you've had 15. You have another 15. That's incredible.
Marc D'Andre: Most definitely. Most definitely. I'm looking forward to it. And like I said, my next journey is just get more into the philanthropy and doing things for the community and being opening up, opening up my school. I really want to teach the the science of what I've learned and what's worked for me to people younger than me, you know, going to see what they able to do with it in these, you know, different ages of technology that's coming.
Lily Chen: Yeah. Giving, like young people the tools to flourish.
Marc D'Andre: You know? Oh, definitely.
Lily Chen: Well, thank you so much. I'm going to turn this off. All righty.
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