INNOVATION IS THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE || KHIREE SMITH || EPISODE 057

What this episode is about

Khiree Smith discusses the evolution of his vision for Ora House, a creative space aimed at empowering artists by merging hospitality with utility, reminiscent of Soho House. He emphasizes the importance of amplifying human voices and ensuring that personal messages endure over time, drawing on his background in law and experience in Silicon Valley's tech startup ecosystem to inform his perspectives on business and innovation.

Key takeaways

• Ora House: where creativity meets utility, proving hospitality can be a canvas, not just a backdrop.
• In a world of AI, raw human expression will stand out—less efficient, but more essential.
• Great ideas never die; they get amplified—every artist's message is a legacy waiting to thrive.
• Innovation is the heartbeat of survival: remember Blockbuster, MySpace, and Nokia? Don't follow their lead.
• At Ora House, every creative voice gets a megaphone—because purpose should resonate louder than ever.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Adrian (Host) · 20 min speaking
• Kyrie Walker Smith (Guest) · 29 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Georgetown Law School, Kyrie Walker Smith, Production as a Product, Aerero Technologies
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Los Angeles
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Kyrie Walker Smith, Georgetown Law School, Hampton University, Adrian
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Suits, Scandal
5. 25:00 – 30:00: Aerero Technologies
6. 30:00 – 35:00: Pressure, Production as a Product, Blockbuster
7. 35:00 – 40:00: Pressure, Adrian
8. 45:00 – 48:53: Winning, Kyrie Walker Smith, Pressure, Adrian

Notable quotes from "INNOVATION IS THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE || KHIREE SMITH || EPISODE 057"

• You went to Georgetown Law School, one of the most prestigious and very good law schools in the United States. How was that journey? Halfway through college, when it was time to graduate.

  about Georgetown Law School · at 0:40

• He is actually the CEO and the founder of Aura House, which is these studios that you've been seeing in these past few interviews. At the same time, he's also in the general council of Aerero.

  about Kyrie Walker Smith · at 2:40

• And now we have what I call a production as a product type model. So it's more about the utility, but we still have the DNA of creating the space that people enjoy being in. And.

  about Production as a Product · at 4:19

• Next to Cryptolo.com Arena and like all the beautiful skyscrapers around downtown Los Angeles. was that always the vision as well? Did you always like paint that in your head…

  about Los Angeles · at 7:22

• Career there. And the time was just an excellent time to be in DC. I went to undergrad to a school called Hampton University, which is in southern Virginia. And a lot of people…

  about Hampton University · at 13:54

• I love that. Which kind of even perfectly segus right now to your role as in the general counsel of Aerero Technologies. can you just talk us about like what role you play in that right now?

  about Aerero Technologies · at 25:15

• Right? Start with accountability. we have this saying in my department that pressure doesn't excuse your behavior, it reveals who you are.

  about Pressure · at 33:37

• The code to winning is I've always loved the term winning because it means different things to different people, you know. but every single person has just answered it differently.

  about Winning · at 46:45

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Kyrie Walker Smith — Person · Main guest · 4 mentions · first at 2:40
  He explains the evolving vision behind Aura House, his legal/tech background, and his leadership philosophy around pressure, delegation, and winning.

Companies & orgs

• Georgetown Law School — Company · Key credential / background · 3 mentions · first at 0:40
  Central to Kyrie Walker Smith’s professional formation; discussed as a reason he gained structure, rigor, and options after White House exposure.
• Aerero Technologies — Company · Key employer / business context · 2 mentions · first at 2:48
  Kyrie Walker Smith describes his role as General Counsel (and head of People Ops) and explains GC archetypes (protector vs problem-solver).
• Hampton University — Company · Educational background · 1 mention · first at 14:01
  Kyrie Walker Smith’s undergraduate institution; discussed in the context of migrating to Washington, D.C. and identity/community networks.
• Blockbuster — Company · Referenced cautionary example · 2 mentions · first at 2:01
  Cited as an example of a company that failed to innovate, reinforcing the importance of innovation for business survival.
  We've seen so many things that lack innovation go down and under like Blockbuster or like Nokia or MySpace.

Concepts & topics

• Artificial Intelligence — Concept · Core topic · 4 mentions
  Frames Aura House’s thesis that human extemporaneous expression will become rarer and more valuable as AI-generated content becomes indistinguishable.
• Production as a Product — Concept · Core business model concept · 2 mentions · first at 4:19
  Kyrie Walker Smith’s framing for Aura House: treating studio production not as a service but as a scalable product, enabling tech-enabled scaling.
• Pressure — Concept · Core leadership theme · 7 mentions · first at 33:13
  Used to discuss leadership behavior and accountability; Kyrie Walker Smith’s maxim is that pressure reveals character rather than excusing it.
• Winning — Concept · Closing core topic · 4 mentions · first at 46:45
  The episode ends with Kyrie Walker Smith’s definition of winning as balancing accomplishment with acceptance.
• Adrian — Other · Mentioned participant (insufficient identification · 3 mentions · first at 12:52
  Referenced as someone present/associated with the studio and interview experience, but only a single name is provided so not modeled as a person entity.
  I love that. Love that. can see Adrian blushing from about 10 miles away.
• Free Will — Concept · Minor philosophical reference · 1 mention · first at 47:40
  Appears indirectly in Kyrie Walker Smith’s definition of winning, contrasting acceptance with feeling like you have 'no will in the world.'
  The other hand, if all you have is acceptance and you just accept any and everything, you will feel you will feel like you have no will in the world. You will feel like there's…

Places & events

• Los Angeles — Place · Primary setting · 1 mention · first at 7:26
  Where the interviews and Aura House studios are located; discussed as a strategic location (downtown near Crypto.com Arena and skyline views).

Media & podcasts

• Suits — Media · Cultural reference · 1 mention · first at 19:03
  Referenced as a popular depiction of law; Kyrie Walker Smith says it helped him get through law school and is used to explain the US law pathway.
  And so that's why I want to kind of ask about American law because our perspective of law, I watch suits. So I see Harvey Spect and I see Mike Ross and like suits is one of the things that got me through law school. Suits and.
• Scandal — Media · Cultural reference · 1 mention · first at 19:10
  Mentioned alongside Suits as a show that helped Kyrie Walker Smith through law school and as a shared reference point with the host’s family.
  Like suits is one of the things that got me through law school. Suits and scandal.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 So the vision has evolved over time. When we started Ora House a little over 2 years ago, the original vision was to create a space for creatives and artists to come together and create. We wanted to combine hospitality with utility. Sort of like a Soho house, but for artists. One of my personal beliefs is that message is tied to purpose. And I think we all have a vested interest in making sure that our personal message or whatever message we're trying to get out there lasts as long as possible after we're gone. So when we talk about amplifying human voices, we're talking about scale. We want to help people, human people, get their message out there and for it to last as long as possible.

0:40 You went to Georgetown Law School, one of the most prestigious and very good law schools in the United States. How was that journey? Halfway through college, when it was time to graduate and I got that external stimulus of, dude, you got to do something next, I finally got my act together and then, you know, I made sure to get straight A's from then on and I ended up getting an internship at the White House in my senior year.

1:02 Wow. So, I interned for the Barack administration. My goodness. Yeah. In the in the executive office of the president. And I noticed that everyone at the White House had a law degree even though most of them or none of them were practicing law. They were they were in government, right? Barack was a lawyer, Michelle's a lawyer, and the people in my actual office that I worked with, they were also lawyers. So, I saw law school as an opportunity to keep my options open. I'm also an attorney, and I started my legal career in Silicon Valley. So, my background is with working with tech startups and massive tech companies and in the venture capital space. And a lot of my philosophies about business building come from some of the greats of that um that space. So for example, when it comes to design and and taste and the importance of that and vision, you know, I draw a lot of that from Steve Jobs.

1:51 You know, he's famous for injecting design into the DNA of Apple and having that be a major market differentiator for the product.

1:58 We've seen so many things that that lack innovation go down and under like Blockbuster or like Nokia or MySpace. I'm old enough to remember MySpace. You know what I'm saying? Innovation is very important to continue moving forward

2:12 with your experience Silicon Valley and all that. What are ways that you're implementing innovation to continue to stay ahead of the trends and insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow? Uh we're still in the golden state, the city of angels. I'm sure you've all noticed the amazing um scenery and the amazing studio that we've been in. Um we saved the best for last. We have an amazing guest. Uh an impeccable and amazing resume as well. He is actually the CEO and the founder of Aura House, which is these studios that you've been seeing in these past few interviews. At the same time, he's also in the general council of Aerero Technologies. Um, we're going to dive into that. And an important thing, he's also an attorney. He's a graduate from Georgetown Law School. Um, so without further ado, our amazing guest, the man, the myth, the very legend himself, Kyrie Walker.

3:09 I'm gonna have to pay you good for that for that uh that introduction, man. I appreciate it. I'm uh I'm humbled, man. Thank you for the invitation to be here. I'm excited for the conversation.

3:17 No, I I actually want to dive in just straight in these studios. Um, I want to tell you like my experience. I don't know if you've seen a bit of my podcast, but I've traveled most of the country. I've done interviews. I'm based in Salt Lake City. We have our own down there. Okay. But I've done in Utah, Idaho, I've done in San Francisco, I've done Miami. Um, I did almost every big metro except New York,

3:41 but we've never seen studios like these. That's what we like to hear. That's what we love to hear. That's what we love to hear.

3:48 I want to know the vision behind all of this. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. So, the vision has evolved over time. Um when we started Ora House um a little over two years ago, the original vision was to create a space for creatives and artists to come together and create. We wanted to combine hospitality with utility. Um sort of like a Soho house but for artists and with actual spaces for them to create. As the vision evolved over time, it became more about production. And now we have what I call a production as a product type model. So it's more about the utility, but we still have the DNA of creating the space that people enjoy being in. And um

4:32 so you asked about our our vision. So our vision now has evolved to we want to elevate, amplify, and preserve human voices. Oh,

4:40 right. And when I say elevate, what I'm talking about is the quality, right? We want the way you look and the way you sound to be top-notch. And we want to do that so that there's alignment with your message so that where you want it to land, it lands. And the way you want it to land, it lands. So that's what we mean by elevate. We want to elevate the product itself, right? And then when I talk about amplification, we're talking about scale. One of my personal beliefs is that um message is tied to purpose. And I think we all have a vested interest in making sure that our personal message or whatever message we're trying to get out there lasts as long as possible after we're gone. So when we talk about amplifying human voices, we're talking about scale. We want to help people human people get their message out there and for it to last as long as possible. And then the last piece of the vision is uh to

5:31 preserve human voices. Um, one of the thesises that we have is that as AI becomes more and more um, sophisticated, extemporaneous expression from humans will become more and more valuable, but also more rare because it'll be less efficient.

5:51 Um, as an artist myself, I feel personally threatened by how good AI is at um, at creative pursuits, at creative things. You know, I'm a person who my first talent, the first thing that made me feel special was the fact that I was a good writer of songs, of rap. Um, I had a decent voice. You know, my father was an artist, my grandfather was an artist.

6:14 Guy for had the I appreciate that, man. Thank you. I I wanted somebody to notice. I was waiting for somebody to notice. Um,

6:22 keep the compliments coming. Keep the compliments, man. Keep the compliments coming. Um, so when when AI started to get good, you know, a lot of us artists who were considered talented, and you know, I know that that sounds arrogant, but a lot of us kind of took the position like, oh, this is cool, but it'll never do what real artists do. There's there's a certain level of creativity of human expression that we just kind of didn't believe AI would capture. But very quickly, we saw that with enough prep time, AI can create on a level that's indistinguishable from humans. So the thesis is that the value will be the type of expression in creation that does not have that prep time. So when we actually see humans expressing themselves and spreading their message and that's probably the biggest component of the vision for Aura House. We want to elevate, we want to amplify, and we want to preserve human

7:13 voices. Awesome, man. And I I just loved as well. I think the you guys have the perfect location. And I think one of the locations that we did in the in the previous interviews were the one right next to Cryptolo.com Arena and like all the beautiful skyscrapers around downtown Los Angeles. Um was that always the vision as well? Did you always like paint that in your in your in your head and like say listen this is the location I wanted or was it just something that this came about because of the vision that you had for your for yourself?

7:38 No, absolutely. Um part of it is a convergence of all of the different sort of components of me like the things that are important to me. So I talked about how I I was an artist and you know that was probably my first passion. I'm also an attorney and I started my legal career in Silicon Valley. So my background is with working with uh tech startups and massive tech companies and in the venture capital space and a lot of my philosophies about business building come from some of the greats of that um that space. So for example, when it comes to design and and taste and the importance of that and vision, you know, I draw a lot of that from Steve Jobs.

8:16 You know, he's famous for injecting design into the DNA of Apple and having that be a major market differentiator for the product because it speaks to the soul and emotion of the consumer. And that's sort of how we want people to feel about Aura House. One of the things we like is that when people step into one of our studios, they're blown away. There's an immediate sort of impact. there's an immediate sort of aura that the space has and some of that has to do with the view, some of it has to do with the interior design, some of it has to do with just taste and creativity in general that um you know our team is able to sort of execute and replicate.

8:52 But absolutely that's a part of the original vision and I and I can't take you know complete credit for it. One of the sort of superpowers is that my partner in this business is my wife and you know we work extremely well together on every level and one of those levels is the creativity and design. You know we come up with ideas together and we iterate on those ideas together. Sometimes I'm the origin of an idea and then she makes it better. Sometimes she's the origin of an idea and then I make it better. Um

9:20 I love that. And so one of the things um I think you and I spoke about it before we started the podcast is even though I was interviewing a lot of the guests out here, majority of them already have their own podcast. They have a big brand. They're already doing whatever they're doing, but each of them just had this certain feeling the minute they walked in and they started seeing just the setting as well. One of the guys I interviewed yesterday has traveled as far as Romania interviewing people. He's done like the UK. He's got a a big platform and him and his his cousin came in the studio and all they did was just take pictures like what is going on over here.

9:51 And that's when you know that something is going right when people that are in the space have done it for a while are professionals and have seen so much but still end up feeling that level of

10:01 experience. Yes. And I think that's what sets apart like the top 1% is experience. It's just very unique. and also like the vision that you have and and you know when you spoke about the Steve Jobs and implementing like as an artist everything just comes down to like how you end up perceiving your form of like perfection right would you agree

10:20 and which I want to add again um actually I want to talk a bit about like you like

10:26 okay um you you obviously you're an attorney you have legal background and um you're also in in a general board of a company um and doing this as well. How do you end up balancing everything on a day-to-day basis?

10:41 Um, so there's there's a couple of answers to that one. So, one thing I'll tell you is something that I've actually never said publicly. Um, people who know me know this about me and have always known this about me for as long as I've known it. But, um, I am high functioning ADHD, right? So, um, and this is something that I've always known about myself even without the label. And then the label became very clear in the past, you know, five or six years. But what that has meant for my ex the experience of my life is that I've always been in a constant engagement and relationship with what feel to me like an extremely large number of variables. And sort of the task of my life has been finding a way to balance those variables so that I'm not overwhelmed by them and sucked into the abyss. And what that has afforded me is, you know, some challenges, but also some incredibly fulfilling opportunities to balance my

11:39 life in a way that checks a lot of the boxes that fulfill me. And that to some people who haven't had that same relationship with these variables that I'm talking about

11:49 may seem, you know, it might seem impossible or or hard to understand, but for me, it's just another iteration of balancing those variables. But, you know, then that's sort of a sort of a broad sort of a non-answer answer. Um, but the other sort of practical answer is, you know, one of the ways I've been lucky enough to balance those variables is that, you know, God has blessed me with an excellent partner. You know, none of this would be possible without my wife being my my partner in in in the business and in everything that we do.

12:22 You know, I've built businesses before. I've had partners before. Um, you know, some of those businesses have been semi-successful, some of them have, you know, burnt out over time. Um, I've never had a partnership that has been able to work as well as this. Um, and that that's probably the biggest uh secret sauce of being able to balance, you know, practicing law, c being CEO of this business, and still having, you know, some semblance of a life, you know.

12:52 I love that. Love that. can see Adrian blushing from about 10 miles away. No, I love that. And I I couldn't stress uh so much on that. And I've seen some of the best business leaders, even some of the people I look up to, the um Alex Hermosis and and Leila Heroszi. I've seen people that are like well in tuned all performing their role because it all just works well when everyone knows, you know, what they're doing and adding their value as well and especially in a marriage and in a relationship as well. So, um, kudos to you, man. I love that.

13:24 I love that example. So, thank you, man. Um, I want to touch as well. You went to Georgetown Law School, one of the most prestigious and very good law schools in the United States.

13:33 Um, how was that journey cuz it's very it's a competitive law school. It's hard to get into and all that. Can you just run us through that that experience and that journey for you, please?

13:42 Uh, absolutely. Georgetown is a great school. I had a a blast there. Um, the choice to go to Georgetown was more about being in DC. I, you know, love DC. I spent, you know, my entire law school career there. And the time was just an excellent time to be in DC. I went to undergrad to a school called Hampton University, which is in southern Virginia. And a lot of people who finish up at Hampton in undergrad, they migrate to DC um for one reason or another. So, it ends up just being this amazing place. if you are, you know, black, professional, ambitious, in your your mid20s, it just ends up being this this incredible place.

14:21 It's Howard in DC as well. Howard is also in DC. And Howard is actually the rival school of Hampton, which I went to. So, like they call themselves the real HU and we call ourselves the real HU.

14:32 Um, so I wanted to be in DC. Um, but what wasn't clear to me when I was graduating college or right when I was in my my senior year was it wasn't clear to me that I wanted to be a lawyer in general. it wasn't exactly clear to me what I wanted to do in general. Uh, prior to college, I had a public speaking and community problem solving career where I traveled the world teaching different communities around the world, community problem solving models and logic models to address violence and drug abuse and you know uh youth delinquency issues in communities around the world. I did some work with the United Nations. Um, and it all sprung from early local political things and community problem solving things that I was doing in my own community.

15:17 Um, and that journey led me to a place where I found myself at the end of undergrad and I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do next. And I had actually been this this and this goes back to the ADHD point. I had I had actually been in this weird dynamic where I was doing all of these sort of amazing things professionally in the world, but I didn't care about school. So, I had terrible grades leading into my junior year of college. I just I just couldn't I couldn't

15:48 care enough to focus. Um, and the only things I really focused on were things that stimulated me and that excited me. And that was traveling the world, you know, teaching community problem solving. I saw that as the stuff that mattered and school as the stuff that didn't. Um that changed and you know halfway through college when it was time to graduate and I got that external stimulus of dude you got to do something next. I finally got my act together and then you know I made sure to get straight A's from then on and I ended up getting an internship at the White House in my senior year.

16:22 Wow. So I interned for the uh Barack administration. My goodness. Yeah. in the in the executive office of the president and I noticed that everyone at the White House had a law degree even though most of them or none of them were practicing law. They were they were in government, right? And Barack was a lawyer, Michelle's a lawyer, and then the people in my actual office that I worked with, they were also lawyers. So, I saw law school as an opportunity to keep my options open while still doing something that was respected and would also continue to pour into me. Because the other thing that I that I recognized was that I was still um unstructured intellectually. I knew that I could use some additional discipline when it came to writing. I knew that there was some additional rigor in terms of the way that I thought about problem solving that I could use.

17:11 I was still just using my intellectual horsepower and my creativity to push me through. And I wanted to be more structured. So, I saw law school as sort of like a dojo or like an opportunity to get like an intellectual black belt and take my brain and shape it into a way that I could point it at something and, you know, start to predict the ultimate path that I would be on. I didn't know whether I wanted to go to a big law firm or whether I wanted to be in public interest. Um, so I tried a lot of different things and initially I thought I wanted to be in the public defender office. So I tried that and then I realized, you know, I think I want to push the black economic vanguard forward and to do that there's a certain kind of access and a certain kind of power that will be useful. So I decided to pivot and go into big law and that's how I eventually ended up in Silicon Valley representing big tech companies and you

18:03 know VC funds and I represent a lot of the black le and blackowned VC comp uh VC funds and and black tech startups and I did that for you know six years. I said I was going to do five but I did six and then

18:17 I wanted to come in house so that's what I did. Oh that's so powerful man. Long story long,

18:24 give the people what they want. No, so originally obviously I'm from South Africa. My dad actually is also an attorney. He's done it for like 26 years. Has his own law firm down there. But he does mine health and safety, environmental law, label law, all these different stuff because he's worked in the mines before then. In fact, his story was different where he worked in the mines and the way to get out of that was just get into law school. And so he used to study and do like night classes as well.

18:48 That's incredible. And so like yeah, he's like a role model for me. someone that looked up to it a lot. So

18:52 that's incredible. So mind, health and safety, labor law, and environmental law. Oh man, that's a perfect convergence.

18:59 Yeah. What a story. And so that's why I want to kind of ask about American law because our perspective of law, I watch suits. So I see Harvey Spect and I see Mike Ross and like

19:08 suits is one of the things that that got me through law school. Suits and uh and scandal.

19:14 Yes. My my my dad's a big is a big my parents love scandal. My sister as well. I was more in the suits then because it was just something drama and all that kind of stuff. But uh so I know that it's more of a graduate program in the United States, right? Because in South Africa you can do a BCOM where it's like you do an undergrad and then two years is added to make it five years or you can do a straight LLB which is like a fouryear degree when it's and then you do two years where you serve articles in a way where you kind of get the experience of working at a law firm and then you can only graduate and start like practicing law. What's the procedure

19:47 in the United States? So, American and uh I think UK law is like this as well. It's one of uh the more strict pathways to becoming a lawyer. Um yes, it's it's a graduate program. So, you have to finish undergrad first. You have to finish four years of undergrad and then um traditionally there are three years of law school and usually in your second or third year you start to do experiential programs where you go and you can actually practice under the mentorship of a law firm or another attorney whether it be um so usually if you're going to go the law firm route you'll be like a summer associate at some big law firm that you want to work at and then

20:26 inspector lit. Exactly. Exactly. Pierce respectively um if you're on suits and um and so you've seen the summer associates. Yeah. And then they decide whether they want to hire you at the end and then um you join that firm and then you become you know when you graduate you become a baby lawyer in your first year and then you either stay there or you go on and do other things. But yes, it's it's a graduate program. It's not technically a doctoral program, but that's probably the thing to compare it to. Um because what you get is called a JD, a jurist doctor.

20:55 I noticed that. Yeah. Um, so you become a jurist doctor and then to practice law in most states, you also have to become licensed, which you have to take the bar to do. So you take the bar exam and then you become a barred attorney and then you become So that little ESQ at the end of someone's name, that means they're licensed to practice law. They're a bar attorney. It stands for esquire. But if they just have JD at the end, it just means they've graduated law school and they've gotten their um law degree. That makes sense because I always see that in between people. JD or you end is it JD Vance is the similar is that is his name.

21:30 I think that's his name. I think JD Yeah cuz the JD would come it would come after the name.

21:36 So it would be Vance whatever his last name is J D. Okay. And the J D stands for jurist doctor.

21:42 Okay. No and I noticed that as well. And so with the bar exam I think every state's got different bars, right? Would you have the bar for California?

21:49 Yeah. Probably the hardest one to get into or Yeah. the the California bar exam is one of the hardest tests in the world. Not just hardest bar exam, but it's one of the hardest tests in the world. But every state has a bar exam. Some states have reciprocity, meaning if you get barred in this state, um you can, you know, do some paperwork and they'll honor your license in another state. Some states participate in what's called the UB, the uniform bar exam, where you can take this one bar exam and get multiple licenses. Um, but California is known and has been known for a very long time to have the most difficult bar exam. Um, when I first graduated law school, so I'm I'm from Connecticut originally. So when I first graduated, I got barred in Connecticut and then I came and took the California bar as well.

22:32 And you have to do it again when you move a state, right? You got to when you go to a new state. Yeah. You can't practice in that state um without getting licensed in that state. And that's just a creature of, you know, federalism. All the states are sovereign under the constitution. bar. Is it a written thing or was it like an inerson or is it both or

22:48 So, it's it's a written test. So, it's been a while. So, I've been practicing for going on 10 years. Um, so

22:54 some of these details are a little bit fuzzy, but but it's like a it's like six hours. Um there's a multiple choice component, there's a a written essay component, and then there's um another component where they give you like a lawyering style hypothetical, and you have to basically it's it's written also, but it's like a it's it's almost like an activity where you're specific kind of lawyer and there's a specific type of writing that you have to create. And um that's like the third component of the of the bar exam.

23:28 Okay. No, I love that. Yeah. I I had to ask that because we always hear this when when you know I don't have any experience of of seeing it firsthand, but I always hear about the bar, hear about all the different stuff. We hear about a graduate program. So I'm like, gosh dang, it's almost like 10 years before somebody starts practicing, you know? It's probably

23:44 four years undergrad, three years of law school. Wow. And then you graduate law school, you get your degree, then you get take the bar exam, and then you start practicing.

23:54 That obviously explains why they get paid so much when they start practicing because you, you know, all the years you've put in as well.

23:59 Yeah, absolutely. There uh so being a a lawyer, depending on the type of lawyer you are, is one of the ways to get the highest straight out of school salary that you can get.

24:10 The other ways are like investment banker um software engineering, software engineering kind of Yeah, software engineers are comparable, but the difference with software engineering is that um a lot of it is merit-based based on, you know, the value of that software engineer going into whatever, you know, big tech company that they're joining.

24:29 Whereas with um with law, it's more position based. So, if you go into big law and you join one of the big law for law firms, the salaries are lock step. So, if you're a first year lawyer at one of the big firms, you'll be making the same amount as every other first year lawyer, but that starting amount is a higher salary than 99% of every other job you'll get. But those jobs are also very rare. Um, you know, you have to go to a top law school, do really well at your law school, then you can get one of those jobs. But there are tons of other jobs that lawyers can do. And, you know, there's a balance. Sometimes the salary is not, you know, that crazy, but the experience is much better. um there's a much better work life balance um or there's more some of those jobs have more prestige, you know, it just depends.

25:15 I love that. Which kind of even perfectly segus right now to your role as in the general counsel of Aerero Technologies. Um can you just talk us about like what role you play in that right now?

25:27 Yeah. No, absolutely. So, I am the general counsel is is is my title. I'm also the head of people ops, but that's a sort of a separate department. Um but the general counsel of of any company really there there really like two types of general counsels, right?

25:42 There is what is you could call the protector type general counsel and then there's what you could call the problem solver type general counsel. Um so on the protector side, you're more a general advisor at the top level of the company, right? So you advise the board, you're concerned with setting policy, you're concerned with general compliance, um, etc. Your main job is to keep the company from risk, keep the company from liability, keep the company from legal trouble in general. That's the protector model of, you know, being a general counsel. Another type is what I would call like the problemsolver type general counsel. Some people call it like the whack-a-ole general counsel where you're more labor oriented and your role is primarily about solving problems as they come because in a growing company there are you know countless unpredictable problems that pop up every single day.

26:42 Some of them are legal in nature, some of them are business related in nature and then some of them are things that just people have never seen before. So they go to the lawyer, right? And that version of general counsel is uh more about prioritizing the labor of solving those problems. That's why they call it that's why they call it the whack-a-ole type general counsel because like things pop up and you got to you know you know you got to solve it or you got to be the one who uses your lawyer brain to think through the solution with the business teams. Um so there's the protector and the problem solver. I'm both. Um and some sometimes you know a GC is both.

27:19 Sometimes they're one or the other because especially with early stage companies that are in you know the the or emerging companies you never know often times most of the leadership team have multiple skill sets and they hold they they wear multiple hats. So sometimes there's you may not need a problem solver type general counsel or sometimes you know you might want to rely more on outside counsel for some of the compliance stuff or the general advising of the board. Um it really comes down to what works for the teams.

27:52 Um but because of my background because you know I come from big law so I have specific experience related to corporate governance and general corporate and and financings etc. Um, it just so happens that, you know, it makes sense for me to be holding down both roles.

28:08 Man, I love this so much. This is such an educational and just an amazing interview. The reason why I like it so much, um, there's certain entrepreneurs like the Cody Sanchezes that I follow. The reason why I like certain entrepreneurs like that, like yourself, is the fact that you also understand the importance of still educating yourself, having an educational background, and still being in in business and leadership as well. And I think both can be so complimentary because sometimes if you have like one of each um it can become you know it can work against you as well depending on what how the market is and how things work like but the fact that I've always stressed on because I I studied economics as well and I did internships as well in New York financial district but

28:48 entering the entrepreneurial space I feel like both can add you know because you use like your legal background your understanding your problem solving and like seeing things from a different lens compared to that and then having that grit, that hustle of being a business, an entrepreneur, a leader.

29:03 I think you're the modern day Iron Man. Yeah. Every every entrepreneur is the modernday Iron Man. You know, they may not have the personality of Tony Stark, but that that ingenuity, that resourcefulness, every entrepreneur has to be that, you know. Um Quincy Jones has a quote where he says, "Every artist, the music you make cannot be more or less than what you are."

29:27 That's powerful. Yeah. And that applies to business or anything you create really. And it's like every successful entrepreneur, they corral all of the experiences that they've had even from seemingly unrelated aspects of their life and they apply them to the business because you know

29:45 um we talked about Steve Jobs. You see that with with Steve Jobs. you know, he talked about the inspiration for the design of the first Apple computer coming to him as he was, you know, under a tree on a psychedelic trip. You know, that's seemingly an unrelated experience, but the way his entrepreneurial brain worked is that it grabbed anything that might be a relevant solution and applied it to the task at hand. You know what I mean? And that's that's what Tony Stark does. And I want to and I want to add on that and I know we've been jumping on a few things, but now that you brought that up, I have a question that I I want to kind of address. We've seen so many things that that lack innovation go down and under like Blockbuster or like Nokia or MySpace. I'm old enough to remember MySpace. You know what I'm saying? all these

30:35 all these different stuff um were not as innovative enough like the Apple I remember Apple like you know when you're showing Apple phone like in 2007 2008 and you started speaking about the touchscreen and

30:45 and like people often see a vision beforehand which kind of segus to my question to you right now obviously yes all the guests and myself have had an breathtaking experience however innovation is very important to continue moving forward

31:00 with your experience Silicon Valley and all that what's what are ways that you're implementing innovation to continue to stay ahead of the trends as well.

31:09 So, I don't want to give away a trade secret, right? Because, you know, Coke didn't do that. It's been like 50 years.

31:16 Yeah. Yeah. They, you know, they're smart. That's why, you know, it's still a good bet to bet on Coke. Um I will say that we have very a very real pathway to integrate some of the um you know the latest technology necessities I'll call them the latest technologies necessities into our business model. You know I I talked about how we think of a house in general I call it production as a product. You know, most people think of a production or a studio as a serviceoriented business, and we are serviceoriented in that we serve our clients and we we listen to our clients and we implement that. Um, but the way we think about this as a scalable business is really as a product. And what I'll say is, you know, we have some thoughts and plans about how to apply technology to make that product more scalable than we've ever seen with any type of a production company. Okay,

32:14 I'll say that. I won't say what the idea is because you know someone very quickly would might be able to to implement it given how technology works now and all that.

32:26 Yeah. Now ideas are king. So you know there was a time where in Silicon Valley where you know the the philosophy was that ideas are cool but they're not as important. What's important is can you build a team? Can you actually build the technology and can you implement and execute? That's kind of changed now because anybody can build the technology, you know, and you know, maybe anybody can't build a team, but the idea actually I think has a lot more value now. So, I'm gonna keep the idea to myself.

32:55 Yeah. We'll we'll run a reel in the next 5 years as well and people will kind of pick up to it. You know, we'll add two and two together.

33:01 Yeah. They're like, "Oh, that all right." That's what he meant. I'm glad he didn't say it cuz I would have stole it.

33:05 So, obviously you're working in highstake environments like, you know, private aviation with aerero technology. What have you learned about leadership especially under pressure because you're with your legal background you know problem solving is important but like working under pressure what have you learned from that?

33:20 Uh what have I learned about leadership under pressure? Um selfreflection self honesty and particularly when under pressure don't spill out onto others. Right? Start with accountability. Um we have this saying in my department that um pressure doesn't excuse your behavior, it reveals who you are.

33:48 Powerful. So when you're under pressure, you know, a lot of leaders are tempted to treat their teams a certain way or have a much shorter fuse or just become more difficult to work with in general. And they'll excuse that behavior within themselves because they say, "This is this is a time of pressure. I need to be this way." Um but what we say is that pressure is just going to reveal what's already inside you. So work on what's inside you so that when the pressure comes, what comes out is even more useful for the people around you and even more useful for your team. And what happens is there's a compounding effect because your team witnesses you become even better under pressure and then they want to rise to that occasion and they trust you more and when they trust you more they can perform better and the bonds become tighter and closer and everyone moves toward the vision the vision with more vigor.

34:38 I love that so much. Uh that's a mic drop right there. Can I just quickly do that? Is that okay?

34:44 No. And just to add on that, there's um they um I know Damen Little once said, "Pressure is a privilege." And and I actually heard it previously from um a coach, I don't know if you follow European football, soccer. Uh his name was Jose Mourinho. Uh he was uh he lost about uh I think four games in a row, but he had won the Champions League with Chelsea. He had an impeccable record and super young. And they asked him like, "Are you under pressure?" And he just took the mic and he said,

35:09 "Pressure?" What is pressure? pressure as a a woman in in South America and Africa who's trying to figure out to pay their, you know, their bills or trying to like take care of the kids or doesn't have a house to stay in right now. Like, listen, I have all these different stuff and pressure is a privilege and right now I have the privilege to be able to turn to work tomorrow. I'm obviously paraphrasing, but he kind of like turned that question completely around saying, listen, yeah, every day is an opportunity as well. So I want you to give me advice from from your experience and I've seen how everything you know runs almost perfectly and smoothly. I was uh in one interview I kind of stressed on I struggle with wanting to do everything by myself all the time. I want I want I want I not that I don't trust but I prefer cuz I know that I can do it like I want to do the emails. I want to do the qu I want to do the

35:56 stuff. I want to book the stuff. People are like but what are we doing? It's like it's fine you can do this. But like what advice would you give for somebody right now in that small business quadrant trying to like delegate but not really delegating?

36:10 SOPs, standard operating procedures. Build systems that are standard, that you can rely on, that you can trust, and that are iterable, and that can be communicated to other people. And bring on partners that you can trust. Hire people that are talented. Hire people that you believe in. And when you combine those two things, what you'll have is um a way to perpetuate the vision and keep it intact to a certain degree. You can't you can't keep your way of doing things 100% intact as you expand and as you bring on new people.

36:47 But if you build standard operating procedures, if you focus on operations, if you drill those systems, if you train yourself and train your teams well, you can make sure that the core that the most important parts translate as you grow and as you scale, and if you hire good people, then in those moments where the standard operating procedure doesn't apply, and you're not there to say, well, this is how I would do it, you can trust that their judgment will be good and many times better than yours, especially ly if you're hiring people for specific purposes and who have uh expertise in that area, they should be better than you. They should know better than you. Otherwise, you know, they're probably not the person for that job.

37:28 So no that's what I would say. No, that's perfect. It's it's hard sometimes cuz people can't buy in the same vision that you have. You know what I'm saying? and you've passionate like I mean you and Adrian may have like or a house the way it is and other businesses as well but trying to get people to see what you see you know like what you've done what Steve Jobs has done what Tesla Elon like people buying into that like what would you say is the way people can buy into something

37:53 yeah I hear you so I used to think of leadership as the act of motivating people to get on board with your vision right

38:02 and now I think of it or as the act of discovering the vision that aligns with um the people who who believe in that vision but maybe can't see it. Right? So we all have this idea of where we should end up or where something should end up. We have this idea of where the world should be, what how the world should look, right? That's the vision. That's the ultimate destination. There are people out there who if they could see it, they would agree. That is where we should end up. Right? So I think of leadership as being the person who sees it. And now your job is to find the other people who once you show it to them, they agree. Not motivating them once they see it to agree to just show it to them. And if you can effectively as a leader show people the vision, the people who agree with that vision, they they'll get on board and they'll align. powerful because most of the time that's what I

39:02 would do. Some people would do it's like listen this is good right? It's like yeah it's good. But it's like yeah they

39:09 they just don't get it. They don't get it. Yeah. They don't get it. And and that's the that's the hard part is knowing whether this is a person who sees it and just doesn't get it

39:18 or if I'm not doing a good job of making sure they see it. Right. Because as a leader that's your main job is to demonstrate the vision. Mhm.

39:27 So if that if you're not doing that as a first step, then you don't know whether it's you or whether it's them.

39:32 Okay. And then another advice for someone out there, not just me, but people that are small business owners, you've seen a lot, especially um some of the black startups in the Silicon Valley as well. What is the biggest mistake some of them did that kind of led to like their downfall that people can avoid today? Um, I think one of the mistakes that I see very often is people grow too fast. People want to scale too quickly. People want to raise money right away. And they think of the act of raising money as the accomplishment. You know, I've raised $10 million of someone else's money and now I have to actually deliver on that. And you know, they get these valuations that don't match the actual value of the company. And then there's a market reset and then they have to do a down round. and now they look like poison to other investors because they have a track record of losing people money on paper. And a lot

40:25 of that has to do with wanting to appear to be a successful entrepreneur and getting into and this is not just for black entrepreneurs. This is entrepreneurs in general. um wanting to be seen as someone doing something and wanting the accolades and wanting the public um applause as opposed to wanting to build something that is of value for the world. You know what I mean? And I think that's what happens and you know the universe is always going to balance things out. So when something is out of proportion in one direction there will be a correction and I think that's what comes back and you know knocks people off off their pivot.

41:03 That's powerful man. Let's start getting into the questions, right? Like I haven't

41:06 Oh yeah, let's do it. Um, how's being part of aerospace leadership shaped the way you think about building startups and navigating and scaling challenges?

41:19 Um, so being a part of uh leadership at Arrow has taught me so much. First of all, my mentor at the company is the CEO and this is a guy who he's also an attorney. um he was the GC when I joined the company and now he's the CEO. Um and he's also a pilot. So he's an attorney, he's a pilot and he's the CEO of of the company.

41:41 And he's also a guy who leads through humility and curiosity. Um he's extremely intelligent and cerebral. Um but that becomes clear to you through the work, right? as you're working with him, you recognize that, you know, he has his eye on all of the little details, but he comes across with so much humility that he just feels like someone working together with you. And I've learned a lot about uh leadership from that experience. Um, and I think that's one of the core components of building a company in general, you know, it's not about the hierarchy. Um it's more about the relationship between the people who are really there to do the work or who believe in the ultimate vision, you know.

42:24 And I I couldn't agree more. Thank you for sharing that. And with mentorship, I think it's just so important. It's such an underrated like thing because usually you get people that help you overcome a certain obstacle that they faced and they can help you like prevent it as well. And how important is as apart from that, have you had any other mentors that have helped you along the way as well

42:42 in life? Yes. Oh man, I I give credit to so many people, you know. Is there one specific that sticks out to you as well that you might want?

42:49 No, I Yeah, I I'll go through the list, you know. Um, you know, my you know, my mom gave me the uh ability to believe in the impossible. Uh, my grandfather gave me discipline and my father gave me talent. Um, you know, there's a there's a guy named Andrew Woods who became he's my first mentor. or when someone askked about a mentor, he's usually the person I say. And from the time I was, you know, 11 years old, he put me in leadership positions to lead organizations within my community, to, you know, have meetings with the mayor and, you know, travel the nation. Uh, so he's he was one of the first people to give me purpose. Um, you know, my other mentor is me. You know, I've always had a voice inside me that gives me spontaneous epiphies, that holds me accountable, that, you know, makes me feel guilty when I do things wrong, that, you know, commands me to apologize when I feel like I've done something

43:51 wrong to someone. Um, that hands me solutions to problems that I didn't even know were problems yet. Um, and I, you know, I'm forever grateful for that voice. And then of course, you know, God gave me everything. So, he's the ultimate mentor. But I think that that yeah, I'm mentored by so many people and uh I'm appreciative.

44:12 And I mean, you have amazing businesses. You you very experienced, very learned and intelligent. You've been um around in terms of like um in the legal space and investing, raising up, starting a business. Wonderful business partner and wife. What is your why? What keeps you going?

44:34 Um, that's a good question. Earlier I alluded to the fact that I tie message to purpose and um, oh, a few years back I had I retired from the practice of law and I went on a little bit of a spiritual journey because I I needed to discover my purpose. I was burnt out from practicing. Um, I think what I found is that creation of a message that represents you and perpetuating that into the world is the ultimate purpose. Um, that and building a family and perpetuating your actual DNA, you know. Um, and and I think that's that continues to be my why and all of the spirits that we've talked about and things that have been a part of who I am for my entire life from art to business to practicing law. um it translates into all of those different different sectors. Um it's about figuring out what my honest message is and continuing to push it out as far and as wide and as deeply as I possibly can

45:37 because I won't be here forever. And there will be a time when all of the people who know me or who have ever known me, they're also not here. So what will be left is the message that I hope will be useful to the people that still exist at that time. Wow, man. I came for an interview, not a motivational speech. That's amazing.

46:00 My bad, man. It's the coffee. It's the coffee. Oh, that was I really, really enjoy this interview. I I don't know even how you could possibly even answer the last one because it's been amazing and I think it's going to be a very educational, very enlightening, very um I hope many people can relate as much as possible by seeing how you've navigated your way and finding purpose and pleasure in that as well cuz the most important thing is not just going to work and doing what you do but just finding a passion and passion is shown by work and design as well. And that's this has been a great experience for me. Really appreciate you and Adrian for that. Thank you so much for that. I want to thank you.

46:37 Thank you for having me, man. Thank you for having me. And then the last question though, so I don't know how you're going to top it up because you've gave great answers. So no pressure.

46:43 Okay. Okay. The code to winning is I I've always loved the term winning because it it means different things to different people, you know. Um but every single person has just answered it differently and I've really appreciated that because that's one of the things I'll look at every time towards end to kind of keep me going. what winning is. Um, for Kyrie Walker Smith, what is your definition of winning?

47:07 How do I define winning? I think I think winning is finding the balance between accomplishment and acceptance, right? Those are the two sides of the equation. I think on one hand, if all you care about is accomplishment, everything you accomplish, you'll just want more and you'll never find happiness. You'll never find success. You'll never find contentment. And that can't be said to be winning. Right? On the other hand, if all you have is acceptance and you just accept any and everything, you will feel you will feel like you have no will in the world. You will feel like there's no reason for your existence because you're just subject to the whims of the wind and the variables. So, there has to be a balance between both. There has to be these things you want to accomplish to a certain um extent and a healthy ability to accept things as they are. And if you can find that balance, then you've won.

48:04 Powerful. Powerful. If you could let our our viewers know where they could get a hold of you if they want to try and like rent a studio or work with production or any other stuff that you do, let our viewers know. We'll put in the description section as well below.

48:16 Absolutely. Uh you can follow me on Instagram at kyrie_esq. That's kh i ree_esq. Um, you can check or house out at our website orurahouseclub.com or if you want to reach out to us directly, you can send us an email info@orahousclub.com.

48:38 Awesome stuff. The code to winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Kyrie Walker Smith. Thank you very much. There we go. Thank you, brother. All right.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "INNOVATION IS THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE || KHIREE SMITH || EPISODE 057"?

Adrian (Host), Kyrie Walker Smith (Guest).

What is "INNOVATION IS THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE || KHIREE SMITH || EPISODE 057" about?

Khiree Smith discusses the evolution of his vision for Ora House, a creative space aimed at empowering artists by merging hospitality with utility, reminiscent of Soho House. He emphasizes the importance of amplifying human voices and ensuring that personal messages endure over time, drawing on his background in law and experience in Silicon Valley's tech startup ecosystem to inform his…

What is mentioned in this Code To Winning episode?

14 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Kyrie Walker Smith, Artificial Intelligence, Production as a Product, Pressure, Georgetown Law School, Aerero Technologies. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "INNOVATION IS THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE || KHIREE SMITH || EPISODE 057"?

The episode runs 49 min; the transcript is about 9,609 words in 119 timestamped sections.

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